Celce Murcia Mariam Teaching English as a Second or Foreign

Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language I

THIRD

EDITION

Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language THIRD ED ITIO N

MARIANNE

CELCE-MURCIA EDITOR

HEINLE & HEINLE

------------- * - -----------THOMSON LEARNING

U N IT E D STATES • A U ST R A LIA • C A N A D A • M E X IC O • S IN G A P O R E • SPAIN • U N IT E D K IN G D O M

Contents Foreword Acknowledgments

U N IT I.

Teaching M ethodology

vii viii

I

Language Teaching Approaches: An Overview M arian n e C elce-M urcia Communicative Language Teaching for the Twenty-First Century S a n d ra J. Savignon Guidelines for Language Classroom Instruction G rah am C rookes a n d C raig C h a u d ro n English for Specific Purposes (ESP):Tailoring Courses to Students Needs— and to the Outside W orld A nn M. Johns a n d D o n n a P rice-M achado Syllabus Design D avid N 'unan

U N IT II.

3 13

29

43 55

Language Skills

A. Listening

67

Aural Comprehension Instruction: Principles and Practices Joan M orlev Skills and Strategies for Proficient Listening P at W ilcox P eterso n

B. Speaking

69 87 101

Teaching Oral Skills A n n e L azarato n Teaching Pronunciation J a n e t G oodw in Developing Children’s Listening and Speaking in ESL S abrina Peck

C. Reading

103 I I7 139 15 1

Teaching Children Literacy Skills in a Second Language A rn e E d ig cr Developing Adult Literacies Gail W einstein Reading for Academic Purposes: Guidelines for the ESL/EFL Teacher W illiam G rabe a n d F red rick a L. S toller

D. Writing

I 53 I7 1

I87 205

Functional Tasks for Mastering the Mechanics of W riting and Going Just Beyond Elite O lsh tain Considerations for Teaching an ESL/EFL W riting Course

207

B arb ara Kroll Grammar in W riting

2 I9

J a n F ro d e se n

Contents

233

v

E. Grammar and Vocabulary Teaching Grammar D iane L arsen -F reem an Cognitive Approaches to Grammar Instruction S an d ra Fotos Vocabulary Learning and Teaching Jea n e tte S. D eC arrico

U N IT III. Integrated A pproaches

249 25 I 267 285 301

Content-Based and Immersion Models for Second and Foreign Language Teaching M arg u erite .Ann Snow Literature as Content for ESL/EFL

303

S an d ra L ee McKav Experiential and Negotiated Language Learning J a n e t L. E rrin g Bilingual Approaches to Language Learning M art M cG roartv

3 I9

U N IT IV. Focus on the L e a rn e r

333 345 357

Language Learning Styles and Strategies R ebecca L. O x fo rd Supporting Second Language Children’s Content Learning

U N IT V .

359

and Language Development in K—5 B arb ara H aw kins

367

Teaching Adults S h a ro n H illes a n d A n d re S utto n

385

S k ills fo r T e a c h e rs

401

Planning Lessons L in d a Je n s e n Textbooks: Evaluation for Selection and Analysis for Implementation Patricia Bvrd

403 4 I5

W hen the Teacher Is a Non-Native Speaker P e te r M edgves Building Awareness and Practical Skills to Facilitate Cross-Cultural Communication Eli H inkel The Use of Media in Language Teaching D o n n a M. B rin to n Computers in Language Teaching M aggie Sokolik Action Research,Teacher Research, and Classroom Research in Language Teaching K athleen M. Bailer Reflective Teaching in ELT J o h n M. M u rphy Second Language Assessment A ndrew D. C o h en Keeping Up to Date as an ESL or EFL Professional Jo A n n (Jodi) C ran d all

References Index

429 443 459 477 489 499 5 15 535 553 575

Foreword T h e p u rp o se o f this th ird edition o f Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, also know n as “T he Apple B ook,” rem ains the sam e as the first (1979) an d second (1991) editions: to pro d u ce a com prehensive in tro d u c ­ tio n to th e p ro fe ssio n of teach in g English to speakers o f o th e r languages. T h e goal has b e e n to m a in ta in a b alan ce betw een theory a n d p rac tic e — betw een provid­ ing necessary back g ro u n d inform ation a n d rele­ vant research, on th e one h a n d , a n d offering m any classroom suggestions an d resources for teachers, on the other. This ed ition covers the areas 1 believe to be critical to successful lan­ guage instruction: know ledge of past an d p res­ e n t teaching approaches, b ack g ro u n d on and techniques for teaching the language skills, vari­ ous options fo r in teg ratin g the skills, awareness o f im p o rta n t le a rn e r factors, an d info rm atio n th a t is useful for the classroom teacher's evervday p e rfo rm a n c e an d professional growth. I have tried to p ro d u ce an in tro d u c tio n to the field that would be o f sufficient d e p th and bread th to be suitable for students with som e p re­ vious teaching experience, vet straightforw ard enough n o t to needlessly bewilder the novice. This third edition covers m ore topics and has m ore contributing authors than the precious ones: ■ First edition (1979): 31 chapters, 27 con­ tributors ■ Second edition: 32 chapters, 36 contributors ■ T hird edition: 36 chapters, 40 contributors N ineteen of the thirty-six authors who contributed to the second edition have also contributed to this volume (often— but not always— on the same topic). Sixteen of the chapters appearing in this edition are rerised a n d u p d a te d versions o f ch ap ­ ters in the second edition and, in m ost cases, the revisions have b een substantial. Ten chapters have been com pletelv rew ritten; the rem ain in g ten chapters rep re sen t topics th at appear as Forew ord

chapters for the first time in this edition (the a u th o r’s nam e is in parentheses): ■ Communicative Language Teaching for the Twenty-First Century (Savignon) ■ Syllabus design (N unan) ■ D ev eloping C h ild re n ’s L iste n in g a n d Speaking Skills (Peck) ■ C ognitive A p p ro a c h es to G ra m m a r Instruction (Fotos) ■ Bilingual Approaches to Language Learning (McGroartv) ■ W hen the Teacher Is a Non-Native Speaker (Medgyes) ■ Facilitating Cross-Cultural Com m unication (Hinkel) " ■ Action Research, Teacher Research, and Classroom Research (Bailer ) ■ Reflective Teaching (Murphv) I am m ost grateful to all forty co n trib u to rs to this th ird edition for th eir splendid work. Many o f the new topics in this edition were originally suggested bv colleagues who anonymouslv reviewed the second edition for H einle & H einle. I am very grateful for their input, which I har e used along with mv own ju d g m en t to create this volume. T he reviewers also helped to com ince me that a rerised and updated third edition was necessary, and they encouraged m e to once again undertake the daunting task o f preparing a com ­ prehensive textbook for use in m ethods courses designed to prepare ESL/EFL teachers. As in both previous editions, each chapter concludes with discussion questions, suggested activities, a n d a n u m b er of suggestions for fu rth e r reading. These supplem entary m aterials show how the authors feel their ch ap ter can be used in m ethodology courses to stim ulate critical think­ ing, fu rth er reading on a topic, and application o f knowledge. T he new feature in this edition is the listing o f useful websites at the en d o f m ost chapters to m ake teachers in training atvare of the vast arrav of resources av ailable to them via the World W ide Web if they have access to a com puter, even if they are working in rem ote areas.

vii

A lthough designed prim arily as a textbook for a preservice T E SL /T E FL m ethods course, I feel th at this volum e will also be a useful refer­ ence a n d guide for those who are teaching ESI, o r EFL w ithout having h ad specific training and for practicing teachers who received th eir train ­ ing som e years ago. In trying to m ake the text com prehensive. I adm it to having m ade it too long for one course. T hus I w ould advise instructors who plan to use this book to be selective an d to focus on the chapters m ost relevant to the p rep a ra tio n of th e ir students as teachers. O ne colleague has w ritten th at he prefers to em phasize Units I, IV, a n d V in his m ethods course, w hereas a n o th e r colleague inform s m e th a t she uses Units II and III as the core o f h e r class. I even know of one setting w here U nits I, IV, an d V constitute one course a n d Units II a n d III a second course. D ifferent instructors an d different training p ro ­ gram s em phasize different topics a n d organize courses differentlv. This is un d erstan d ab le. I personally like to give students options when I assign chapters to read. For example, after evenone has read and discussed the five chapters in U nit I, students can select the chapter(s) that best m eet their current or anticipated needs:

■ Read one of the two chapters on listening • Read two of the three chapters on speaking, reading, and writing and so on

A nother approach I have used is to ask every­ one in a class to skim a particular unit o f the book (or subsection in U nit II). T hen I ask students to form pairs or small groups that are responsible for presenting and leading discussions on individual chapters. (The instructor m ust of course proride a m odel and explicit guidelines for what is expected in such a presentation.) The textbook chapters that are not covered in a course as a result of needs analvsis and careful selection then becom e useful reference m aterials for the teacher in train­ ing, whose interests and needs and target students mav well change after com pletion o f the m ethods course and the training program . Also, if one goes to an o th er region or countrv or works in a rem ote area, it is useful to have a single, com prehensive reference for language m ethodologv— just as it is useful to have a com prehensive dictionary and a com prehensive reference grammar. This volume is mv attem pt to compile and edit such a reference for language methodologv. I welcome com m ents and feedback on thi edition. In ou r role as teachers, we all hat e m uch to learn from one another. -M a ria n n e (ielce-M nrcia. e d ito r

Acknowledgments help and support from Sherrise Roehr, Sarah Many colleagues, students, and friends have been Barnicle, and Eunice Yeates-Fogle of H einle 8c o f invaluable assistance in the preparation of this volume. My greatest debt is to all the colleagues H einle in the com pletion of the m anuscript and once again had the pleasure o f working with who graciously accepted my invitation to write chapters for this edition. T he breadth and d epth of Tuncle A. Dewev of Dewev Publishing in the final their expertise make this collection tmlv unique. phase of production. Mv warm and sincere thanks I am especiallv indebted to Brent Green, my to evervone m en tio n ed in this paragraph. Finallv. I w ould like to note that I have in co r­ research assistant, who helped to prepare the cum u­ lative list o f references and the index. I could not p o rate d into this edition m anv suggestions for have finished this book without his and Jo Flilder’s im proving the second edition th at readers, stu­ dents. and colleagues have graciously shared assistance and offer them mv heartfelt thanks. with me oxer the tears. I offer special thanks to Many people at H einle 8c Heinle have helped in the shaping and production of this large volume. the anonvm ous reviewers who co m pleted H einle & H einle s q u estio n n aire, designed to elicit I had my initial discussions with Erik G undersen, suggestions for revision a n d im provem ent. T he th en h a d fu rth e r discussions an d signed the con­ tract with Eric B redenberg, who th en tu rn e d the responsibilitv for the choices m ade a n d for am critical om issions is m ine alone. pro ject over to Sherrise Roehr. I received m uch

I : T eaching M ethodology

I

Teaching Methodology In this first section, Celce-Murcias chapter gives the reader a historical perspective and outlines the principal approaches to second and foreign language teaching that -лere used during the twentieth century. Then Savignon's chapter goes into detail in describing the com ponents of communicative language teaching, the currently dominant approach. In their chapter Crookes and Chaudron discuss classroom research and its implications for developing a principled approach to language teaching. The following chapter by Johns and Price-Machado introduces the reader to the English for S p e o fc Purposes movement, which has had a profound influence on ail English language teaching. Finally, N unan’s chapter gives the reader an overview o f the syllabus design process, bringing us full circle, since tne syllabus ideally goes hand-in-hand with the materials and approaches used in the language classroom.

UNIT

UNIT

Language Teaching Approaches: An Overview1 MARIANNE

CELCE-MURCIA

In “ Language Teaching Approaches; An O verview ," Celce-Murcia gives some historical background, then outlines the principal approaches to second and foreign language teaching that w ere used during the twentieth century. She previews the book as a w hole and projects some trends for language instruction in the new millennium.

IN T R O D U C T IO N The field o f second (or foreign) language teach­ ing has u n d e rg o n e m any fluctuations and shifts ver the years. D ifferent from physics or chem i'trv. in which progress is m ore or less steady until a m ajor discovery causes a radical theoreti:oil revision (K uhn 1970), language teaching is a held in w hich fads and heroes have com e an d gr.ne in a m a n n e r fairly consistent with the kinds ut changes that occur in youth culture. I believe shat one reason for the frequent swings of the oendu lum that have been taking place until fairly recently is the fact that very few language teachers have a sense of history about their profession and are thus unaw are o f the historical bases o f the many m ethodological options they have at their disposal. It is h o p e d th at this b rie f and neces­ sarily oversimplified survey yvill encourage m any language teachers to learn m ore about the ori­ gins o f th eir profession. Such knotvledge yvill ensure som e perspective w hen teachers evaluate any so-called innovations or new approaches to m ethodology’, which yvill surelv continue to em erge from tim e to time.

Pre-twentieth-Century Trends: A Brief Survey Prior to the tw entieth century, language teaching m eth o d o lo g y vacillated betw een two types of approaches: getting learners to use a language li.e., to speak an d u n d e rsta n d it) versus getting learners to analyze a language (i.e., to learn its gram m atical rules).

Both the classical G reek and m edieval Latin periods were characterized by an em phasis on teaching people to use foreign languages. T he classical languages, first G reek and th en Latin, were used as lingua francas. H igher learn in g was con d u cted prim arily th ro u g h these languages all over E urope. They were used widely in philoso­ phy. religion, politics, and business. Thus the educated elite becam e fluent speakers, readers, and yvriters of the ap p ro p riate classical language. We can assum e that the teachers or tutors used inform al and m ore or less direct approaches to convey the form a n d m eaning o f the language thev were teaching and that they used aural-oral techniques with no language textbooks p er se, but ra th e r a small stock of hand-copied written m anuscripts of som e sort, perhaps a feyv texts in the target language, o r crude dictionaries that listed equivalent words in two o r m ore languages side by side. D uring the R enaissance, the form al study of the gram m ars o f G reek an d Latin becam e p o p u lar th ro u g h the mass p ro d u ctio n of books m ade possible by the invention of the p rin tin g press. In the case o f Latin, it was discovered that the g ram m ar of the classical texts was d ifferent from that o f the Latin bein g used as a lingua franca— the latter subsequently being labeled vulgate Latin, i.e., Latin o f the com m on people. M ajor differences had developed betw een the classical L atin d escribed in th e R enaissance gram m ars, yvhich becam e the form al object of in struction in schools, a n d th e Latin b ein g used for evervdav purposes. This o c cu rred at about the same tim e that Latin beg an to be a b a n d o n e d

as a lingua franca. (No one was speaking classi­ cal Latin anym ore, a n d various E u ro p ean ver­ naculars h ad b eg u n to rise in respectability and popularity.) Thus, in retrospect, strange as it may seem , the R enaissance p reo c c u p a tio n with the form al study o f classical Latin m a t hat e con­ trib u ted to the dem ise of Latin as a lingua franca in W estern E urope. Since the E uropean vernaculars h ad grown in prestige an d utility, it is n o t surprising that people in one country or region began to find it necessary a n d useful to learn the language of a n o th e r country or region. T hus the focus in lan­ guage study shifted back to utility' ra th e r than analysis d u rin g the seventeenth century. Perhaps the m ost fam ous language teacher and m eth o d ­ ologist o f this p eriod is J o h a n n Amos Com enius, a Czech scholar an d teacher, who published books ab o u t his teaching techniques betw een 1631 an d 1658. Som e o f the techniques that C om enius used a n d espoused were the following: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Use im itation instead of rules to teach a language. Have your stu d en ts re p e a t after vou. Use a lim ited vocabulary initially. H elp your students practice read in g an d speaking. Teach language th ro u g h pictures to m ake it m eaningful.

T hus C om enius, p erhaps for the first tim e, m ade explicit an inductive a p p ro ach to learning a foreign language, the goal o f w hich was to teach use ra th e r th an analysis o f the language b ein g taught. C o m en iu s’s views h eld sway for som e time; however, by the beg in n in g o f the n in e te e n th cen­ tury, the systematic study of the gram m ar o f clas­ sical Latin an d o f classical texts h a d once again taken over in schools an d universities th ro u g h ­ o u t E urope. T he analytical G ram m ar-Translation A pproach becam e firmly e n tre n ch e d as a m eth o d for teaching n o t only Latin but, by extension, m o d ern languages as well. It was perhaps best codified in the work o f Karl Ploetz, a G erm an scholar who h ad a trem endous influence on the language teaching profession during his lifetime an d afterwards. (He died in 1881.)

However, the swinging o f the p en d u lu m continued. Bv the e n d of the n in e te e n th centrin', the D irect M ethod, which once m ore stressed the abilitv to use ra th e r th an to analyze a language as the goal o f language instruction, had begun to function as a viable alternative to G ram m ar-T ranslation. Frangois G ouin, a F renchm an, began to publish in 1880 c o n cern ­ ing his work with the D irect M ethod. H e advo­ cated exclusive use o f the target language in the classroom , having b e e n influenced by an o ld er friend, the G erm an philosopher-scientist .Alexander von H um boldt, who had espoused the n o tio n th at a language c an n o t be taught, that one can only create conditions for lea rn in g to take place (Kelly 1969). T h e D irect M ethod becam e very p o p u lar in France and G erm an y a n d has enthusiastic followers am ong language teachers even today (as does the G ram m ar T ranslation A pproach). In 1886, d u rin g the same p erio d th at the D irect M ethod first becam e p o p u lar in E urope, th e In te rn a tio n a l P h o n e tic A ssociation was established by scholars such as H enry Sweet, W ilhelm V iftor, a n d Paul Passy. They developed the In te rn atio n a l P honetic A lphabet (IPA) a n d becam e p art of the R eform M ovem ent in lan­ guage teach in g in the 1890s. These p honeticians m ade som e of the first truly scientific c o n trib u ­ tions to language teaching w hen they advocated principles such as the following: ■ ■ ■ ■

the spoken form o f a language is prim ary a n d sh o u ld be tau g h t first; the findings of phonetics should be applied to language teaching; language teachers m ust have solid train in g in phonetics; learners should be given p h o n e tic training to establish good speech habits.

T h e work o f these p h o n etician s focused on the te a c h in g o f p ro n u n c ia tio n a n d o ral skills, which they felt h ad b een ignored in G ram m arT ranslation. Thus, a lth o u g h the R eform Move­ m e n t is n o t necessarily considered a full-blown pedagogical a p p ro ach to language teaching, its a d h e re n ts did have an in flu en ce on fu tu re approaches, as we shall see.

Q uite apart from the work o f the Reform M ovement, the influence of the Direct M ethod grew; it crossed the Atlantic in the early twentieth century w hen Emile de Sauze, a disciple of Gouin, cam e to Cleveland, O hio, in o rd er to see to it th at all foreign language instruction in the public schools there im plem ented the Direct M ethod. De Sauze’s endeavor, however, was not com pletely successful (in C leveland o r else­ where) since there were too few foreign language teachers in the U nited States, who were fluent speakers of the language thev taught. Later, the M odern Language Association of Am erica, based on th e C olem an R ep o rt (C olem an 1929), endorsed the R eading A pproach to language teaching, since given the skills and lim itations of most language teachers, all that one could rea­ sonably expect was th at students w ould com e away from the study o f a foreign language able to read the target lan g u a g e — with em phasis on some o f th e great works o f literatu re a n d philos­ ophy th at h ad b e e n p ro d u ce d in the language. T h e R eading A pproach, as reflected in the work o f M ichael West (1941) a n d others, held sway in the U n ited States until the late 1930s and early 1940s, w hen W orld War II broke out and m ade it im perative for the U.S. military to quickly and efficiently teach foreign language learners how to speak a n d u n d e rs ta n d a language. At this tim e, the U.S. governm ent h ired linguists to help teach languages and develop materials: the A udiolingual A pproach (Lries 1945), which drew heavily on structural linguistics (Bloomfield 1933) a n d behavioral psychology (Skinner 1957), was born. In Britain the same historical pressures gave rise to the O ral o r Situational A pproach (e.g., Pittm an 1963), which drew on Firthian Linguistics (codified in the work o f F irth ’s bestknown student, M. A. K. Hallidav [1973]) as well as draw ing on the ex p erien ce of B ritain’s lan ­ guage educators with oral ap p ro ach es to foreign language teaching. .Although som ew hat influ­ en ced by, b u t less dogm atic th an , its A m erican c o u n te rp a rt (the A udiolingual A p p ro ach ), the O ral o r Situational A pproach advocated o rg an ­ izing structures a ro u n d situations th at would provide the lea rn er with m axim um opportunity to practice the target language, with “p ractice”

nonetheless often being little m ore than choral repetition. Some historians o f language teaching (e.g., Howatt 1984) believe th at the earlier Reform M ovem ent played a role in the developm ent of both Audiolingualism in the U nited States and the Oral-Situational A pproach in Britain.

Nine Twentieth-Century Approaches to Language Teaching In addidon to the Grammar-Translation Approach, the Direct A pproach,2 the Reading Approach, the Audiolingual Approach, and the Oral-Situadonal A p proach— whose historical developm ent I have sketched above briefly— there are four o th er d iscernible ap p ro a c h e s to foreign language teaching that developed and were widely used d u rin g the final q u arter of the tw entieth century'. Thus, there are nine approaches altogether th at I shall be referring to: 1. 2.

3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

G ram m ar-Translation Direct R eading A udiolingualism (U nited States) O ral-Situational (Britain) Cognitive Affective-Hum anistic C om prehension-B ased C om m unicative

However, before listing the features o f each app ro ach , I w ould like to digress a m o m e n t to clarify som e term inology that is crucial to this discussion. Namely, what do we m ean by the term s approach, method, a n d technique? Are these term s synonymous? If not, how do they differ? A nthony (1963) has provided a useful set of def­ initions for o u r purposes. An approach to lan­ guage teach in g is so m eth in g th at reflects a certain m odel o r research p a ra d ig m — a theory, if vou like. This term is the broadest o f the three. A method, on the o th e r h and, is a set of p ro ce ­ dures, i.e., a system th at spells out ra th e r precise­ ly how to teach a second or foreign language. It is m ore specific than an ap p ro ach b u t less specific than a technique. M ethods are typically c o m p a tib le w ith o n e (o r som etim es two)

approaches. A technique is a classroom device or activity an d thus represents the narrow est o f the th re e concepts. Som e techniques are widely used a n d fo u n d in m any m ethods (e.g., dicta­ tion, im itation, an d rep e titio n ); however, some techniques are specific to o r characteristic of a given m eth o d (e.g., using cuisinaire rods = the Silent Way [G attegno 1976]). T he m ost problem atic o f A nthony’s three term s is method. M ethods proliferated in the 1970s. Thev were typically very specific in term s o f the procedures a n d m aterials that the teacher, w ho req u ired special training, was supposed to use. They were alm ost always developed and defined by one person. This person, in turn, train ed practitioners who accepted the m eth o d as gospel and h elp ed to spread the word. Some m ethods an d th eir originators follow: ■ ■ ■ ■

Silent Wav (G attegno 1976) G om m im itv L anguage L earning (C urran 1976) Total Physical R esponse (Asher 1977) Suggestologv, Suggestopedia, o r A ccelerated L earning (Lozanov 1978)

However, the lack o f flexibility in such m ethods led som e ap p lied linguists (e.g., R ichards 1984) to seriouslv q u e stio n th e ir usefulness a n d aroused a healthy skepticism am ong language educators, who arg u ed that th ere is no such th in g as the best “m e th o d ”: the com plex circum stances o f teach­ ing a n d le a rn in g lan g u ag es — with d ifferen t kinds o f pupils, teachers, aim s a n d objectives, a p p ro a c h e s, m eth o d s, a n d m aterials, classroom techniques a n d standards of achieve­ m e n t— m ake it inconceivable that any single m e th o d could achieve o p ti­ m um success in all circum stances. (Strevens 1977, p. 5). At this p o in t I will outline each of the nine ap p ro ach es listed above. In addition, I will note any special proficiency o r role th a t the tea c h e r is exp ected (or not expected) to fulfill. 1. Grammar-Translation Approach (an ex ten ­ sion of the approach used to teach classical languages to the teaching of m odern languages)

a. Instruction is given in the native language of the students. b. T h ere is little use o f the target language for com m unication. c. Focus is on gram m atical parsing, i.e., the form an d inflection o f words. d. T h ere is early read in g o f difficult texts. e. A typical exercise is to translate sentences from the target language into the m o th e r tongue (or vice versa). f. T h e result o f this ap p ro ach is usually an inability on the p a rt o f the student to use the language for com m unication. g. T he teach er does n o t have to be able to speak the target language. 2. Direct Approach (a reaction to the Gramm arTranslation A pproach and its failure to produce learn ers who could com m unicate in the foreign language thev had been studying) a.

b. c. d. e. f. g.

No use o f the m o th e r tongue is p e rm itted (i.e., the teach er does not n e e d to knew the stu d e n ts’ native language). Lessons begin with dialogues a n d anecdotes in m o d e rn conversational stvle. A ctions a n d pictu res arc used to m ake m eanings clear. G ram m ar is learn ed inductively. Literary texts are read for pleasure a n d are n o t analyzed gram m atically. T he target culture is also tau g h t inductively. The teacher m ust be a native speaker or have nativelike proficiency in the target language.

3. Reading Approach (a reaction to the prob­ lems experienced in im plem enting the Direct Approach; reading was viewed as the m ost usable skill to have in a foreign language since not many people traveled abroad at that time; also, few teachers could use their foreign language well enough to use a direct approach effectively in class) Only the gram m ar useful for read in g com ­ p reh e n sio n is taught. b. Vocabulary is controlled at first (based on fre­ quency and usefulness) an d then expanded. c. T ranslation is once m ore a respectable class­ room pro ced u re. a.

d. R eading com prehension is the onlv language skill em phasized. e. T he tea c h e r does n o t n e e d to have оgood oral proficiency in the target language. 4. Audiolingualism (a reaction to the R eading - oproach an d its lack of em phasis on oral-aural -sails: this ap p ro ach becam e d o m in an t in the V nited States d u rin g the 1940s, 1950s, and zoOs: it draws from the Reform M ovem ent and me D irect A pproach but adds features from m u c tu ra l linguistics [B loom field 1933] an d tehavioral psychology [Skinner 1957] ) a. b.

c. d. e. :. g. b. i.

Lessons begin with dialogues. Mimicry a n d m em orization are used, based on the assum ption that language is habit form ation. G ram m atical structures are sequenced and rules are tau g h t inductively. Skills are sequenced: listening, speaking— reading, w riting postponed. Pronunciation is stressed from the beginning. Vocabulary is severely lim ited in initial stages, A great effort is m ade to prevent lea rn er errors. L anguage is o fte n m a n ip u la te d w ith o u t regard to m ea n in g o r context, T he teacher m ust be proficient onlv in the structures, vocabulary, etc. that he or she is teaching since learning activities and m ateri­ als are carefully controlled.

5. Oral-Situational Approach (a reaction to the T rad in g A pproach an d its lack of em phasis on ral-aural skills; this ap p ro ach was d o m in a n t in brttain d u rin g the 1940s, 1950s. a n d 1960s; it araws from the R eform M ovem ent an d the Direct A pproach b u t adds features from F irthian anguishes an d the em erg in g professional field : language pedagogy) a. T he spoken language is primary. b. All language m aterial is practiced orally b efo re b e in g p re s e n te d in w ritten form i read in g a n d w riting are tau g h t only after an oral base in lexical an d gram m atical form s has b e e n established). c. Only the target language should be used in the classroom.

d. Efforts are m ade to ensure that the m ost gen­ eral an d useful lexical items are presented. e. G ram m atical structures are g rad ed from sim ple to com plex. f. New item s (lexical an d gram m atical) are in tro d u c e d a n d practiced situationallv (e.g., at the post office, at the bank, at the d in n e r ta b le ). 6. Cognitive Approach (a reaction to the behaviorist features of the A udiolingual A pproach; in flu e n ce d bv cognitive psychology [X eisser 1967] a n d C hom skyan linguistics [Chom sky 1959,1965]) a. L anguage learn in g is viewed as rule acquisi­ tion, not habit form ation. b. In struction is often individualized; learners are responsible for th eir own learning. c. G ram m ar m ust be taught but it can be taught deductively (rules first, practice later) a n d / or inductively (rules can either be stated after practice or left as im plicit inform ation for the learners to process on their own). d. P ronunciation is de-em phasized; perfection is viewed as unrealistic and unattainable. e. R eading and writing are once again as im por­ tant as listening and speaking. f. Vocabulary instruction is once again im por­ tant, especially at interm ediate and advanced levels. g. E rrors are viewed as inevitable, to be used constructively in the learning process. h. T he teacher is expected to have good general proficiency in the target language as well as an ability to analyze the target language. 7. Affective-Humanistic3 Approach (a reaction to the general lack o f affective considerations in b o th A udiolingualism an d the Cognitive Approach: e.g., Moskowitz 1978 and C urran 1976). a. R espect is em phasized for the individual (each student, the teacher) a n d for his o r h e r feelings. b. C om m unication that is m eaningful to the lea rn er is em phasized. c. In struction involves m uch work in pairs a n d small groups.

d.

("lass a tm o sp h ere is viewed as m ore im p o r­ tant than m aterials o r m ethods. e. P eer su p p o rt and in teractio n are viewed as necessarv for learning. f. L earn in g a foreign language is viewed as a self-realization experience. g. T he teacher is a counselor or facilitator. h. T he teacher should be proficient in the target language and the stu d e n t’s native language since translation may be used heavilv in the initial stages to help students feel at ease; later it is gradually phased out. 8. Com prehension-Based Approach (an o u t­ growth o f research in first language acquisition that led some language m ethodologists to assume th at second o r foreign language learn in g is very' sim ilar to first language acquisition; e.g.. Postovsky 1974; Winitz 1981; K rashen an d Terrell 1983) a. Listening c o m p re h en sio n is very im p o rtan t and is viewed as the basic skill th at will allow speaking, reading, an d w riting to develop spontaneously over tim e, given the right conditions. b. L earners should begin by listening to m ean­ ingful speech and bv responding nonverballv in m eaningful wavs before thev produce anv language themselves. c. L earners should not speak until thev feel ready to do so; this results in b e tte r p ro n u n ­ ciation th an if the le a rn e r is forced to speak im m ediately. d. L earners progress bv being exposed to m ean­ ingful in p u t that is just one step beyond th eir level of com petence. e. Rule learn in g mav h elp learners m o n ito r (or becom e aware of) w hat they do, b u t it will n o t aid th eir acquisition o r sp ontaneous use o f the target language. f. E rro r correction is seen as unnecessarv and p erh ap s even co unterproductive; the im p o r­ ta n t th in g is th at the learners can u n d e r­ stand a n d can m ake them selves u n d ersto o d . g. If the teacher is n o t a native (or near-native) speaker, appropriate m aterials such as audiotapes and \ideotapes m ust be available to pro­ vide the appropriate input for the learners.

9. Communicative Approach (an outgrow th of the work of anthropological linguists [e.g., Hymes 1972] and Firthian linguists [e.g., Hallidav 1973], who \iew language first and forem ost as a svstem for com m unication; see Savignon’s chapter in this volume) a. It is assum ed that the goal of language teach ­ ing is le a rn e r abilitv to com m unicate in the target language. b. It is assum ed that the co n ten t of a language course will include sem antic notions and social functions, n o t just linguistic structures. c. S tudents regularlv work in groups or pairs to transfer (and, if necessarv, negotiate) m ean ­ ing in situations in which one person has in form ation that the o th er(s) lack. d. Students often engage in role play o r d ram a ­ tization to adjust th eir use of the target lan­ guage to different social contexts. e. Classroom m aterials a n d activities are often au th en tic to reflect real-life situations an d dem ands. f. Skills are integrated from the beginning; a given activity m ight involve reading, speak­ ing, listening, and also writing (this assumes the learners are educated and literate). g. The teacher's role is primarily to facilitate com m unication and onlv secondarily to cor­ rect errors. h. T he teach er should be able to use the target language fluentlv and appropriately. To sum up, we can see that certain features o f several o f the first five approaches arose in reaction to perceived inadequacies or im practicalities in an earlier ap p ro ach o r approaches. T h e fo u r m ore recentlv developed approaches also do this to som e extent; however, each one is g ro u n d e d on a slightlv different theorv or view o f how p eo p le learn second o r foreign lan­ guages o r how people use languages, a n d each has a central p oint a ro u n d which everything else revolves: Cognitive Approach: Language is rule-governed cognitive behavior (not habit form ation). Affective-Humanistic Approach: L e a rn in g a foreign language is a process of selfrealization and of relating to o ther people.

Comprehension Approach: Language acquisition occurs if and only if the learner com pre­ hends m eaningful input. Communicative Approach: T he p u rp o se of language (and thus the goal of language teaching) is com m unication. These four m ore recent approaches tire not necessarily in conflict or totallx incom patible since it is not difficult to conceive of an inte­ grated approach which would include attention to rule form ation, affect, co m p reh en sio n , and c o m m u n ic a tio n a n d w hich w ould view the lea rn er as som eone who thinks, feels, u n d e r­ stands, and has som ething to saw In fact, many teachers would find such an approach, if well con­ ceived and well integrated, to be very attractiv e.

A Note on Approach, Method, and Syllabus Type We now u n d erstan d that an approach is general (e.g., C ognitiye), that a m eth o d is a specific set o f pro ced u res m ore or less com patible with an approach (e.g., the Silent Way), and that a tech ­ nique is a y e n specific type of learning activity used in one o r m ore m ethods (e.g.. using col­ ored rods of varying lengths to cue and facilitate language practice in the Silent Wav). Historically, an approach o r m eth o d also tends to be used in conjunction with a syllabus, which is an inv en ­ tory o f objectives the lea rn er should master: this inventory is som etim es presented in a recom ­ m en d ed sequence and is used to design courses a n d teaching m aterials. W hat sort of syllabuses have been used with the approaches discussed above? Most o f them have used — implicitly o r explicitly— a structural syllabus, which consists of a list of gram m atical inflections an d constructions that the tea c h e r is expected to teach a n d the lea rn er is expected to master. T he Gram m ar-Translation A pproach, the Direct A pproach, the Audiolingual A pproach, the Cognitive A pproach, and even some m ethods following the C om prehension A pproach have all em ployed a structural syllabus. In o th e r words, teachers and textbook writers following these a p p ro a c h e s have o rg a n iz e d th e ir lan g u ag e courses a n d language-teaching m aterials a ro u n d

g ram m ar p o in ts, with A u diolingualism also specifying p ro n u n cia tio n points a n d the OralSituational A pproach often specifying vocabu­ lary objectives in additional to gram m ar. In contrast to the structural svllabus, the R eading A pproach is text-based: this kind of language course is organized aro u n d texts a n d vocabulary item s with only m in o r consideration given to gram m ar. In the Oral-Situational A pproach, th ere is often a dual-objective svllabus in which various situations are specified for instruction (e.g., the post office, a restaurant, a bus, the doctor's office, etc.), along with some of the structures and the vocabulary that one m ight n eed to p ro ­ duce the language n eed ed in these situations. In the Com m unicative A pproach, one type of sv llabus is organized around notions (m eanings such as spatial location, time, degree) and func­ tions (social transactions and interactions such as asking for inform ation or com plim enting som e­ one). In this svllabus form at, gram m ar and vocaltularv are secondary, being taught not as ends in themselves, but only insofar as they help express the notions and functions that are in focus. Many adherents of the Com m unicative A pproach, how­ ever. reject anv sort of atomistic svllabus, w hether structural or notional-functional. They advocate instead a comm unicative svllabus (i.e., a processbased or task-based svllabus) in which real-world tasks and authentic materials are used to design language courses (Yalden 1983). T he .Affective-Humanistic A pp ro ach has p ro d u ced the most radical svllabus type— the learner-generated svllabus. Thus, in m ethods like Communitv Language L earning (C urran 1976) and Project W ork (see Evring's c h ap ter in this volum e), the learners decide what thev want to learn and what thev want to be able to do with the target language. For a fuller discussion o f syl­ labus design, see X unan's ch ap ter in this volume.

C O N C L U S IO N W hat is the solution for the ESL/EFL teacher, giv en the abundance of past, cu rren t, an d future approaches.- T he only wav to m ake wise decisions

is to learn m ore about the various approaches a n d m ethods available and to find out which practices have proved successful (see the ch ap ter by C rookes and C h audron in this volum e). This c h a p te r has just scratched the surface. F urth er inform ation is available in the rem a in d e r o f this volum e a n d in m any o th e r books, in journal articles, at professional conferences and work­ shops, an d on the W orld W ide Web. T here are also five o th er things the teacher should do to m ake good decisions concerning the choice o f an approach, a m ethod (or m ethods), and finally techniques and materials: 1. Assess student needs: Whv should thev be learning English? For what purpose? (See Jo h n s and Price-M achado’s chapter in this v olum e). 2. E xam ine in stru ctio n a l constraints: tim e (hours p er week, davs p er week, weeks per term ); class size (nature o f enrollm ent): ma­ terials (set syllabus and text, or com pletely open to teacher?); phvsical factors (classroom size, AV support). T hen decide what can rea­ sonably be taught. 3. D eterm ine the attitudes and learning styles (see O xford's c h ap ter in this volum e) of individual students to the extent that this is possible, and develop activities and m aterials consistent with the findings. 4. Identify the discourse genres, speech activi­ ties, a n d text tvpes that the students n e e d to learn so th at you can in co rp o rate them into m aterials an d learn in g activities. 5. Specify how the students' language learning will be assessed (see C ohen's ch ap ter in this volum e.) H aving do n e all these, the teach er will be in a position to select the m ost useful techniques or principles a n d to design a productive course o f studv by draw ing from available approaches, syllabus types, a n d existing research findings. Clifford Prator, a fo rm e r professor a n d col­ league of m ine, sum m ed up the professional EST te a c h e r’s responsibility nicely (personal c o m m u n ic a tio n ): Adapt; don 4 adopt.

Teachers are certainly in a b e tte r position to f klow P rator's advice if they are fam iliar with the history an d the state o f the art o f o u r profession Som e suggestions for fu rth e r read in g are pr o­ vided below to aid the re a d e r in attaining the>r objectives. In fact, all of the chapters in this volurtencl with discussion questions, suggested actruties. suggestions for fu rth e r reading, and. whenu relevant, useful Web sites. Section 1 o f this y.; tim e discusses topics in language m e th o d o lo r Section 2 focuses on teaching the individual lan­ guage skills. Section 3 presents som e integrate 1 ap p ro ach es to language teaching, Section о focuses on specific groups o f learners, an. a Section 5 provides language teachers with back­ g ro u n d inform ation and skills th a t will heir them becom e m ore know ledgeable a n d skill: vk practitioners.

D IS C U S S IO N Q U E S T IO N S 1. W hat has been the attitude tow ard the teach ­ ing of (a) p ro n u n cia tio n , (b) gram m ar, and (c) vocabulary in the n in e approaches dis­ cussed in this chapter? Has th ere been .swinging of the pendelum ? Why o r whv not? 2. W hat changes have occurred regarding the position of spoken language a n d w ritten lan­ guage in the carious approaches? Why? 3. W hich of these approaches have you person­ ally experienced as a language learner? W hat were vour impressions and what is your assess­ m ent of the effectiveness of the approach (es i? 4. W hich a p p ro ach (es) do vou, as a teacher, feel m ost com fortable with? Whv?

S U G G E S T E D A C T IV IT IE S 1. Select an in teg rated skills E SL /EFL text that vou have used o r expect to use. Exam ine its contents to d eterm in e which ap p ro ach it seems to follow m ost closelv. S u p p o rt your decision with exam ples. Discuss any m ixing of approaches that you observe.

2. Exam ine any English language proficiency test, standardized or otherw ise. See if you can d etect a m ethodological bias in the test. S upport your conclusion (s) with exam ples. '3. W hat kinds of language learn ers do you teach (or expect to teach)? Be as specific as possible. W hich ap proach (es) would s e n e such a p o p u latio n best? Why?

FU R T H ER R EA D IN G .reciters interested in the history of the language reciting profession should consult: H w att. A. P. R. 1984. A History of English Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Wily. L. G. 1969. Twenty-Five Centuries of Language Teaching. New York: Newbury Elouse. Teachers interested in the current state of the art in _ ;лцс teaching methodology should consult: Larsen-Frecman, D. 2000b. Techniques and Principles in Language 'Teaching. 2d ed. New York: Oxford University Press.

Richards, J. C., and T. S. Rodgers. 1986. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. New York: Cambridge University Press. Stern. H. H. 1983. Fundamental Concepts of Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

ENDNO TES 1 Precursors to this chapter were published in the Mextesol journal (Celce-Murcia 1980) and Practical English Teaching (Celce-Murcia 1981). This is a revised and updated version based on these and several other sources, notably Kelly (1969), Madsen (1979). Blair (1991), and Prator with Celce-Murcia (1979). and Celce-Murcia (1991b). - The term Direct Method is more widely used than Direct Approach: however, the former is a misnomer, since this is reallv an approach, not a method, if we follow Anthony’s (1963) terminology. The term humanistic has two meanings. One refers to the humanities (i.e.. literature, history, phi­ losophy) . The other refers to that branch of psy­ chology concerned with the role of the socioaffective domain in human behavior. It is the latter sense that I am referring to here. However, see Stevick (1990) for an even broader perspective on humanism in language teaching.

Communicative Language Teaching for the Twenty-First Century S A N D R A J. S A V I G N O N

In "Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) for the Twenty-First Century" Savignon identifies five components of a communicative curriculum. She sees the identification of learner communicative needs and goals as the first step in the development of a teaching program that involves learners as active participants in the interpretation, expression, and negotiation of meaning.

You may not loiter downtown in ire cream stores. You may not ride in a carriage or automobile with any man unless he is your father or brother. You may not dress in bright colors. You must wear at least two petticoats. You must start the fire at 7 Л.М. so the school room will be warm by 8 л.М. Rules for teachers, G oodland, Kansas (1915)1 W hat d o you th in k of the above 1915 Rules for Teachers? Do they seem som ew hat strange o r o u t­ dated? Do they m ake you smile? If vou had been a tale n te d new teach er in G oodland, Kansas, in 1915, you m ost likely w ould have fo u n d these rules to be the m ark o f a school system with high standards. No d o u b t the standards set for stu­ dents were as high as those set for teachers. Teachers in G oodland could co u n t on students to be respectful a n d diligent. In tu rn , teachers w ere expected to set a good exam ple. Teachers have alwavs been expected to set a good exam ple for learners, to provide a m odel of behavior. But as the 1915 rules for teachers so d early rem in d us, the m odel can an d does change. W hat seems a good exam ple in one tim e or place, a given context of situation, may seem quite strange or in ap p ro p riate in a n o th e r tim e or place. A nd so it is with language teaching. As this v o lu m e ’s in tro d u c to ry c h a p te r by M arian n e Celce-M urcia shows, teachers have fo u n d m any ways o r m ethods for teaching languages. All have b een ad m ired m odels in som e tim e or place, often to be ridiculed, perhaps, or dism issed as

in ap p ro p riate in yet another. Times change, fash­ ions change. W hat may once ap p ear new and prom ising can subsequently seem strange and outdated. W ithin the last q u a rte r century, com m u­ nicative language teaching (CLT) has b een p u t forth aro u n d the world as the “new,” or “innova­ tive," way to teach English as a second o r foreign language. T eaching m aterials, course descrip­ tions, a n d curriculum guidelines proclaim a goal o f communicative competence. For exam ple, The Course of Study for Senior High School, guidelines p u b lish e d by th e J a p a n e s e M inistry o f E ducation, Science, a n d C ulture (M om busho) state the objectives o f ELT: “To develop stu d e n ts’ ability to u n d e rsta n d a n d to express them selves in a foreign language; to foster stu d e n ts’ positive attitu d e towards com m unicating in a foreign language, and to heighten their interest in lan­ guage an d culture, thus d e ep en in g international u n d e rsta n d in g ” (Wada 1994, p. 1). M inoru Wada, a university professor a n d a senior advisor to M om busho in prom oting ELT reform in Japan, explains the significance o f these guidelines: T h e M om busho G uidelines, or course o f study, is o n e o f the m ost im p o rta n t legal precepts in the Ja p an e se educa­ tional system. It establishes national standards for elem entary an d second­ ary schools. It also regulates co n ten t, the stan d ard n u m b e r of a n n u al teach­ ing hours at lower level secondary [junior high] schools, subject areas,

subjects, an d the stan d ard n u m b e r of req u ired credits at u p p e r level second­ ary [senior high] schools. T he course o f study for the teach in g o f English as a foreign language a n n o u n c e d bv the M inistry o f E ducation, Science, and C ulture in 1989 stands as a landm ark in the history of English ed u cation in Japan. For the first tim e it in tro d u c ed in to English ed u catio n at b o th sec­ ondary school levels the concept of communicative competence. In 1989. the M inistry o f E ducation, Science, and C ulture revised the course o f study for prim ary as well as secondary schools on the basis o f proposals m ade in a 1987 re p o rt by the C ouncil on the School C urriculum , an advisory g roup to the M inister of E ducation, Science, an d C ulture. T he basic goal o f the revision was to p rep a re students to co p e with th e rapidly o c c u rrin g changes toward a m ore global society. T h e re p o rt u rg e d Jap an ese teachers to place m uch m ore em phasis on the developm ent o f com m unicative com ­ p eten ce in English. Parallel efforts are underw ay in nearbv Taiwan for sim ilar reasons. Based on in-depth interviews o f e x p e rt tea c h e r educators, W ang (in press) rep o rts on the progress (see also W ang 2000): M uch has b een d o n e to m eet the d em an d for co m p eten t English users a n d effective te a c h in g in Taiwan. C u rren t im provem ents, according to th e te a c h e r experts, in clu d e the change in en tran ce exam inations, the new curriculum with a goal of teaching for com m unicative com petence, and th e island-w ide im p le m e n ta tio n in 2001 o f English education in the ele­ m entary schools. However, m ore has to be d o n e to ensure quality teaching and learn in g in the classrooms. Based on the teach er ex p erts’ accounts, fu rth e r im provem ents can be stratified into th re e in te rre la te d levels rela te d to

teachers, school authorities, an d the governm ent. Each is essential to the success of the o th ers' efforts. This c h a p te r looks at the p h e n o m e n o n of com m unicative language teaching (GET). W hat is GLT? How and whv did it develop? W hat are the theoretical u n d e rp in n in g s o f this ap p ro ach to language teaching? How has GET b een in te r­ p re te d an d im p lem en ted in various contexts? K eeping in m ind the needs a n d goals of learners a n d the traditions o f classroom teaching, w hat are som e wavs for teachers to shape a m ore com ­ m unicative ap proach to ELT in the context o f th eir own situation?

W H A T IS CLT? Xot long ago, w hen A m erican structural linguis­ tics and behaviorist psychology’ were the prevail­ ing influences in language teaching m ethods and m aterials, second 'foreign language teachers talked about com m unication in term s of four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and w riting. T h ese skill categories w ere widelv accepted and provided a readv-m ade fram ew ork for m ethods m anuals, learn er course m aterials, and teacher education program s. Speaking and writing were collectively described as active skills, reading and listening as passive skills. Todav. listeners and readers no lo n g er are reg ard ed as passive. Thev are seen as active particip an ts in the n eg o tiatio n o f m eaning. Schemata, expectancies, a n d top-down/bottom-up processing are am ong the term s now used to cap­ ture the necessarily com plex, interactive n a tu re of this negotiation. Yet full and w idespread u n d e rsta n d in g o f com m unication as negotiation has been h in d e re d bv the term s th at cam e to replace the earlier active/passive dichotom y. T he skills n e e d e d to engage in speaking a n d w riting activities were described subsequently as productive, w hereas listening an d reading skills were said to be receptive. While certainly an im provem ent over the earlier active ’'passive representation, the term s “productive" and “receptive’’ fall short of captur­ ing the interactive nature o f com m unication. Lost

in this p ro d u ctiv e,/recep tiv e, m essage sendin g /m e ssa g e receiving re p re se n ta tio n is tlte collaborative natu re o f m aking m eaning. M eaning appears fixed, to be sent an d received, not unlike a football in the bands of a team q u a rte r­ back. T he interest of a football gam e lies of course n o t in the football, but in the m ores and strategies o f the plavers as tliev punt, pass, and fake th eir wav along the field. T he interest of com m unication lies similarlv in the m ores and strategies of the participants. T he term s that best represent the collaborative natu re of what goes on are interpretation, expression, and negotiation o f m eaning. T he com m unicative com petence n e e d ed for participation includes not onlv gram ­ m atical com petence, but pragm atic com petence. T he inadequacv o f a four-skills m odel of language use is now recognized. And the short­ com ings of audiolingual m ethodologv are wiclelv acknow ledged. T here is g e n e ra l a ccep tan ce o f the com plexity and in terrelatedness of skills in b o th w ritten and oral com m unication and o f the n e e d for learners to h are the experience o f com m unication, to participate in the negotia­ tion of m eaning. Newer, m ore com prehensive theories o f language an d language behavior have replaced those that looked to A m erican structuralism and behaviorist psvchologv for support. T he ex p an d ed , interactive view of lan­ guage behavior they offer presents a n u m b e r of ch allen g es for teachers. A m ong th em , how should form and function be in teg rated in an instructional sequence? W hat is an ap p ro p riate norm for learners? Hots is it determ ined? W hat is an error? A nd what, if anvthing. should be do n e w hen one occurs? Hots is language lea rn ­ ing success to be m easured? A cceptance o f com ­ m unicative criteria entails a c o m m itm en t to address these adm ittedlv com plex issues.

H O W A N D W H Y D ID C L T D EV ELO P? T h e origins of con tem p o rarv CLT can be traced to c o n c u rre n t developm ents in b o th E urope a n d N orth Am erica. In E urope, the language needs of a rapidlv increasing g ro u p of im m igrants and guest workers, as well as a rich British linguistic

tradition in cluding social as well as linguistic context in description of language behavior led the C ouncil o f E urope to develop a svllabus for learners based on notional-functional concepts o f language use. Derived from neo-F irthian sys­ temic o r functional linguistics that views language as meaning potential and m aintains the centrality of context o f situation in u n d e rsta n d in g lan­ guage systems an d how thev work, a T h resh o ld Level o f language abilitv was described for each of the m ajor languages o f E urope in term s of what learners should be able to do with the lan­ guage (ban Ek 1975). Functions were based on assessm ent o f lea rn er needs a n d specified the e n d result, the goal of an instructional program . T he term communicative attach ed itself to p ro ­ gram s that used a functional-notional syllabus based on needs assessm ent, and the language fo r specific p u rp o se s (LSP) m o v em en t was launched. O th e r E uropean developm ents focused on the process of com m unicative classroom language learning. In Germanv, for exam ple, against a backdrop of social dem ocratic concerns for indi­ vidual em pow erm ent, articulated in the writings o f th e c o n te m p o ra rv p h ilo s o p h e r Ju rg en H aberm as (1970). language teaching m eth o d o l­ ogists took the lead in the developm ent o f class­ room m aterials that e n co u rag ed le a rn e r choice (C andlin 1978). T h e ir svstematic collection of exercise tvpes for com m unicatively o rie n te d English language teaching were used in teach er in-service courses a n d workshops to guide cu r­ riculum change. Exercises were designed to exploit the varietv of social m eanings co n tain ed within p articular gram m atical structures. A sys­ tem of "chains" en couraged teachers a n d learn ­ ers to define their own learning path th ro u g h p rin c ip le d selection o f relevant exercises (P iep h o 1974: P iep h o an d B redella 1976). Similar exploratorv projects were also initiated bv C an d lin at his th e n academ ic h o m e, the L'niversitv of Lancaster in England, and bv H olec (1979) an d his colleagues at the University o f N aurs in France. S upplem entary tea c h e r resource m aterials p rom oting classroom CLT becam e increasinglv p o p u lar d u rin g the 1970s (e.g.. Males and Duff 1978).

M eanw hile, in the U n ited States. Hemes (1971) h a d reacted to Chom sky's (1965) ch ar­ acterization o f the linguistic com p eten ce of the “ideal native speaker” a n d p ro p o sed the term communicative competence to rep resen t the use of language in social context, or the observance of sociolinguistic norm s o f ap p ro p riat e. His concern with speech com m unities and the integration of language, com m unication, and culture was not unlike th at of Halliday in the British linguistic tra­ dition (see Hallidav 1978). Hvmes's com m unica­ tive com petence mav be seen as the equivalent of Hallidav’s m eaning potential. Similarly, his focus was n o t language learning, but language as social behavior. In subsequent interpretations of the sig­ nificance o f Hvmes's views for learners, m eth o d ­ ologists working in the U nited States ten d ed to focus on native speaker cultural norm s and the difficulty, if n o t impossibility, of authentically representing them in a classroom of nonnative speakers. In light of this difficulty, the ap propri­ ateness o f com m unicative com petence as an instructional goal was questioned (e.g., Paulston 1974). At the same tim e, in a research project at the University7 o f Illinois, Savignon (1972) used the term “com m unicative com petence” to charac­ terize the ability of classroom language learners to interact with o th er speakers, to m ake m eaning, as distinct from their ability to recite dialogs or perform on discrete-point tests of gram m atical knowledge. At a tim e when p attern practice and erro r avoidance were the rule in language teach­ ing, this study of adult classroom acquisition of F rench looked at the effect o f practice on the use of coping strategies as part of an instructional pro­ gram . By encouraging learners to ask for inform a­ tion, to seek clarification, to use circum locution an d w'hatever o th er linguistic and nonlinguistic resources thev could m uster to negotiate m eaning and stick to the com m unicative task at hand, teachers were invariably leading learners to take risks and speak in o th er than m em orized patterns. T he coping strategies identified in this study becam e the basis for subsequent identification bv Canale and Swain (1980) of strategic competence w hich— along with gram m atical com petence and sociolinguistic com petence— appeared in their

three co m ponent fram ew ork for com m unicative com petence. (The original Canale and Swain fram ew ork with su b seq u en t m odifications is discussed below.) Test results at the end o f the instructional p eriod showed conclusively that learners who had practiced com m unication in lieu o f lab o ra to ry p a tte rn drills p e rfo rm e d with no less accuracy on discrete-point tests of gram m atical structure. O n the o th er h and, their communicative competence as m easured in term s of fluency com prehensibility, effort, an d am o u n t of com m unication in u n reh earsed oral com m u­ nicative tasks significantly surpassed th at of learners who had h ad no such practice. L earner reactions to the test form ats lent fu rth e r su p p o rt to the view that even beginners resp o n d well to activities that let them focus on m eaning as opposed to form al features. A collection of role plavs, games, an d o th er com m unicative classroom activities were subse­ quently developed for inclusion in adaptating the French CREDIF- m aterials, Yoix el Visages de la France. T he accom panying guide (Savignon 1974) described their purpose as that o f involving learners in the experience of com m unication. Teachers were encouraged to provide learners with the French equivalent of expressions that would help them to participate in the negotiation of m eaning such as ‘'W hat's the word for . . . ?” “Please repeat," “I d o n 't u n d e rsta n d .” Not unlike the efforts of C andlin and his colleagues w orking in a E uropean EFT context, the focus here was on classroom process and lea rn er autonom y. T he use o f games, role play pair work, and o th er small-group activ ities has gained acceptance and is now widely reco m m en d ed for inclusion in language teaching program s. CLT thus can be seen to derive from a m ul­ tidisciplinary perspective that includes, at a m in­ im u m , linguistics, psychology, philosophy, sociology, and ed ucational research. Its focus has b een the elab o ratio n a n d im p lem en tatio n o f program s and m ethodologies th at p ro m o te the developm ent of functional language ability th ro u g h lea rn er participation in com m unicative events. C entral to CLT is the u n d e rsta n d in g of language learn in g as both an ed ucational a n d a political isstte. L anguage teaching is inextricably

tied to language police. Viewed from a m ulticul­ tural /н/m national as well as /м/m iatio n al p er­ spective, diverse sociopolitical contexts m andate n o t only a diverse set of language learn in g goals, b u t a diverse set of teaching strategies. Program design a n d im p lem en tatio n d e p e n d on negoti­ a tio n b etw een police m akers, linguists, re ­ search ers, a n d teach ers. A nd evaluation of p rogram success requires a sim ilar collaborative effort. T he selection of m ethods an d m aterials a p p ro p riate to both the goals and context of tea c h in g begins with an analvsis of sociallv defined lea rn er needs and stvles o f learning.

not include the abilitv to state rules o f usage. O ne dem onstrates gram m atical com petence n o t by staling a rule b u t by using a rule in the in te rp re ­ tation, expression, or negotiation of m eaning.

H O W H A S C L T BEEN IN TE R P R E TE D ? T he classroom m odel shows the hvpothetical integration o f four com ponents that hat e been advanced as com prising com m unicative com pe­ ten ce (Savignon 1972. 1983.1987. in press: Canale and Swain 1980: Canale 1983a: Bvram 1997). A dapted from the fam iliar "inverted pvram id ” classroom m odel p roposed bv Savignon (1983), it shows how. th ro u g h practice and expe­ rience in an increasinglv wide range o f com m u­ nicative contexts and events, learners graduallv ex pand th eir com m unicative com petence, con­ sisting of grammatical competence, discourse compe­ tence, sociocult and competence, a n d strategic competence. A lthough the relative im portance of the various com ponents depends on the overall level of com m unicative com petence, each one is essential. Me ireover. all com ponents are in te rre ­ lated. They cannot be developed o r m easured in isolation an d one cannot go from one com po­ n e n t to the o th er as one strings beads to m ake a necklace. Rather, an increase in one co m p o n en t interacts with o th er com ponents to pro d u ce a cor­ resp o n d in g increase in overall com m unicative com petence. Grammatical competence refers to sentencelevel gram m atical forms, the abilitv to recognize the lexical, m orphological, svntactic, and p h o n o ­ logical feature o f a language and to m ake use of these features to in te rp re t and form words a n d sen ten ces. G ram m atical c o m p e te n c e is n o t linked to anv single theorv o f gram m ar an d does

Figure 1. Components of Communicative Competence

Discourse competence is con cern ed n o t with isolated words or phrases b u t with the in terco n ­ nectedness of a series o f utterances, w ritten words, and or phrases to form a text, a m eaning­ ful whole. The text m ight be a poem , an e-mail message, a sportscast. a telephone conversation, or a novel. Identification o f isolated sounds or words contribute to interp retatio n o f the overall m eaning of the text. This is known as bottom-up protessing. On the o th er hand, u n d erstan d in g of the them e or purpose of the text helps in the in terp retatio n o f isolated sounds o r words. This is known as top-down processing. Both are im portant in com m unicative com petence. Two o th e r fam iliar co n cep ts in talking about discourse com petence are text coheimce and cohesion. Text coherence is the relation of all sentences or utterances in a text to a single global proposition. T he establishm ent of a global meaning, or topic, for a text is an integral p art of

both expression and in terp retatio n and makes possible the in terp retatio n of the individual sen­ tences th at m ake up the text. Local connections or structural links betw een individual sentences provide cohesion. Hallidav and H asan (1976) are well-known for their identification of various cohesive devices used in English. and their work has influenced teacher education m aterials for ESL/EFL. (for illustration, see Celce-M urcia and L arsen-Freem an 1999). Sociocultural competence extends well bevond linguistic form s and is an interdisciplinary field o f inquiry having to do with the social rules o f language use. S ociocultural c o m p e ten c e requires an un d erstan d in g o f the social context in which language is used: the roles of the partic­ ipants, the inform ation thev share, and the func­ tion o f the interaction. .Although we have vet to p ro tid e a satisfactory description of gram m ar, we are even fu rth er from an adequate description of sociocultural rules o f appropriateness. And vet we use them to com m unicate successfully in mamdifferent contexts of situation. It is of course not feasible for learners to anticipate the sociocultural aspects for even context. M oreover, English often se n e s as a lan­ guage o f com m unication between speakers o f different prim arv languages. Participants in m ul­ ticultural com m unication are sensitive not onlv to the cultural m eanings attached to the lan­ guage itself, but also to social conventions con­ c e rn in g lan g u ag e use, such as tu rn-taking, appropriacy of content, nonverbal language, and tone o f voice. These conventions influence how m essages are in te rp re te d . C ultural awareness ra th e r than cultural know ledge thus becom es increasingly im portant. Just knoyving som ething ab o u t the culture of an English-speaking country will n ot suffice. W hat m ust be learned is a general em pathy and openness towards o th er culture'. Sociocultural com petence therefore in clu d e ' a willingness to engage in the active negotiation f m eaning along with a willingness to 'in p e n d ju d g e m e n t and take into consideration the oo>sibilitv o f cultural differences in con v en tio n ' or use. T ogether these features m ight be 'u b 'u m e d u n d e r the term cultural flexibility < i Co on/ awareness.

T he "ideal native speaker." som eone yvho knows a language perfectly and uses it ap p ro p ri­ ately in till social interactions, exists in theory onh. N one of us knows all there is to know of English in its many- m anifestations, both aro u n d the world and in o u r tnvn backyards. C om m unicative com petence is alwavs relative. T he coping strategies that we use in unfam iliar contexts, with co n strain ts d u e to im p e rfe c t knoyvledge of rules or lim iting factors in thenapplication such as fatigue or distraction, are rep resen ted as strategic competence. W ith practice and experience, we gain in gram m atical, dis­ course. and sociocultural com petence. T he rela­ tive im portance of strategic com petence thus decreases. Hoyvever. the effective use of coping strategies is im p o rtan t for com m unicative com ­ petence in all contexts and distinguishes highly co m petent com m unicators from those yvho are less so. Bv definition. CLT puts the focus on the learner. L earn er com m unicative needs provide a fram ew ork for elaborating program goals in term s of functional com petence. This im plies global, qualitative evaluation o f le a rn e r achieve­ m en t as opposed to quantitative assessm ent of discrete linguistic features. C ontroversy over a p p ro p riate language testing m easures persists, an d m anv a curricu lar innovation has b e e n u n d o n e by failu re to m ake correspondingchanges in evaluation. C u rren t efforts at ed u ca­ tional reform favor essay writing, in-class p rese n ­ tations, a n d o th e r m ore holistic assessm ents o f lea rn er com petence. Some program s have initiated portfolio assessment, the collection and evaluation o f lea rn er poem s, reports, stories, videotapes, and similar projects in an effort to b e tte r re p re s e n t a n d e n c o u ra g e le a rn e r achievem ent. A lthough it now has a new nam e and is enjoving w idespread recognition and research attention, CLT is not a neyv idea. T h ro u g h o u t the long history of language teaching, there always have been advocates of a focus on m eaning, as opposed to form , and o f developing learn er abil­ ity7 to actually use the language for com m unica­ tion. T he m ore im m ediate the com m unicative needs, the m ore readily com m unicative m ethods

seem to be ad o p ted . In h e r book Breaking Tradition, M usum eci (1997) provides a fascinat­ ing account o f language teaching reform efforts dating back to the M iddle Ages w hen Latin, not English, was the lingua franca. Breaking Tradition is a favorite read in g of mv students. Then find it a refreshing an d reassuring rem in d er that dis­ cussions of m ethods and goals to r language teach in g pred ate the tw entieth cen trin ' bv far. D e p en d in g u p o n th eir own p rep aratio n a n d experience, teachers them selves differ in th eir reactions to CLT. Som e feel u n d e rsta n d ­ able frustration at the seem ing am biguity in dis­ cussions o f com m unicative ability N egotiation o f m ean in g mav be a lofts goal, but this view of language behavior lacks precision an d does not provide a universal scale for assessm ent of indi­ vidual learners. Ability is sie v e d as satiable and highly d e p e n d e n t u p o n context an d purpose as well as on the roles and attitudes o f all involved. O th e r teachers who welcom e the o p p o rtu n ity to select a n d /o r develop th eir osvn m aterials, p ro ­ sid in g learners with a range o f com m unicative tasks, are com fortable reiving on m ore global, integrative judgm ents of le a rn e r progress. An additional source of frustration for some teach ers are seco n d lan g u ag e acquisition research findings that show the route, if not the rate, o f language acquisition to be largely unaf­ fected bv classroom instruction. First language cross-linguistic studies o f developm ental universals initiated in the 1970s were soon followed bv sim ilar second language studies. Acquisition, assessed on the basis of expression in u n re ­ hearsed, oral com m unicative contexts, appeared to follow a describable m orphosvntactic sequence regardless of learn er age or context of learning. A lthough thev served to bear out teachers’ infor­ m al observations, namelv that textbook presenta­ tion and drill do not ensure lea rn er use of taught structures in learners' spontaneous expression, th e findings were nonetheless disconcerting. Thev contradicted both gram m ar-translation and aucliolingual precepts that placed the b u rd en of le a rn e r acquisition on teacher explanation of gram m ar and controlled practice with insistence on learn er accuracy. They were fu rth e r at odds with textbooks that prom ise •‘m astery” o f "basic”

English, Spanish. French, etc. Teacher rejection of research findings, renervecl insistence on tests of discrete gram m atical structures, an d even exclu­ sive reliance in the classroom on the learners’ nativ e or first language, w here possible, to be sure thev "get the gram m ar.” have been in some cases reactions to the fru stration o f teach in g for com m unication.

S H A P IN G A C O M M U N IC A TIV E C U R R IC U LU M In rec e n t vears. m am innovations in curriculum p lan n in g have been p ro p o sed th at offer both novice an d veteran teachers a dizzying array of alternatives. G am es, voga, juggling, a n d jazz have been p ro p o sed as aids to language learning. Rapidiv increasing o p p o rtu n ities for c o m p u te r-m e d ia te d c o m m u n ic a tio n , b o th synchronous— online chat room s — an d asyn­ c h ro n o u s— the full spectrum of inform ation an d interactions available on the In te rn e t as well as specialized bulletin boards an d e-m ail— hold prom ise for fu rth e r integration o f com m unica­ tive opp o rtu n ities for learners worldwide. In attem p tin g to convev the m ean in g of CLT to both pre-service a n d in-service teachers o f English as a second o r foreign language in a wide range of contexts. I have fo u n d it helpful to think of a com m unicative curriculum as p o te n ­ tially m ade up of five com ponents. These com ­ p o nents mav be reg ard ed as them atic clusters of activities or experiences related to language use a n d usage, providing a useful wav o f categoriz­ ing teaching strategies that pro m o te com m u­ nicative language use. Use o f the term component to categorize these activities seem s particularly a p p ro p riate in that it avoids am suggestion of sequence or level. E x p erim en tatio n with com ­ m unicative teaching m ethods has shown th at all five co m p o n en ts can be profitably b len d e d at all stages of instruction. O rganization o f learn in g activities into the following com p o n en ts serve n o t to sequence an ELT program , b u t ra th e r to highlight the range of options available in cu rricu ­ lum p lan n in g and to suggest wavs in which th eir very interrelated n ess benefit the learner.

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L anguage Arts L anguage for a P urpose My Language Is Me: Personal English Language Use You Be, Г 11 Be; T h e a te r Arts Beyond the Classroom

Language Arts, o r language analysis, is the first c o m p o n e n t on th e list. L anguage Arts includes those things th at language teachers often do best. In fact, it may be all they have been tau g h t to do. This c o m p o n e n t includes m any o f the exercises used in m o th e r tongue program s to focus atten tio n on form al accuracy. In ELT. L anguage Arts focuses on form s o f English, including syntax, m orphology, and phonology. Spelling tests, for exam ple, are im p o rtan t if w riting is a goal. Fam iliar activities such as trans­ lation, dictation, an d rote m em orization can be helpful in bringing atten tio n to form . Vocabulary expansion can be e n h a n c e d th ro u g h definition, synonyms, a n d antonym s as well as attention to cognates a n d false cognates w hen applicable. P ro n u n ciatio n exercises an d p a tte rn e d repeti­ tion o f verb paradigm s and o th e r structural fea­ tures can be useful in focusing on form , along with the explanation o f regular syntactic features, rules o f gram m ar. T here are also m any Language Arts games th at learners o f all ages enjoy for the variety an d group interaction they provide. So long as they are n o t overused and are n o t pro­ m o ted as the solution to all m an n e r of language learn in g problem s, these gam es can be a wel­ com e addition to a te a c h e r’s repertoire. Language for a Purpose, or language experi­ ence, is the second com ponent. In contrast with language analysis, language experience is the use o f English for real a n d im m ediate com m unica­ tive goals. N ot all learners are learning English for the same reasons. A ttention to the specific com m unicative needs of the learners is im p o r­ tant in the selection a n d sequencing o f m aterials. Regardless of how distant or unspecific the com ­ m unicative needs o f the learners may be. evenprogram with a goal o f com m unicative com pe­ tence should give atten tio n to o pportunities for m eaningful English use, opportunities to focus on m eaning ra th e r than on form .

In an ESL classroom w here English is the language o f instruction, th ere is an im m ediate an d natu ral n e e d for learners to use English. W here this h appens, L anguage for a P urpose is a built-in feature o f the learn in g environm ent. In an EFL setting w here the teach er may have a language o th e r th an English in com m on with learners, special a tte n tio n needs to be given to providing o p p o rtu n ities for English language experience. Exclusive use of English in the class­ room is an option. In so-called content-based instruction, the focus is o th e r th an the English language. T he content, fo r exam ple history, m usic, or literature, is tau g h t th ro u g h the иле of English. Immersion program s at the elem entary, secondare, o r even university level w here the en tire curriculum is tau g h t in English offer a m axim um am o u n t of Language for a P urpose (see Snow's c h a p te r in this v o lu m e). In addition, task-based c u rricu la are d esig n ed to provide lea rn ers with m axim um o p p o rtu n ity to use L anguage for a Purpose (see chapters by N unan; Jo h n s a n d Price-M achado; an d C h a u d ro n an d C rookes in this volum e). L earners who are accustom ed to being taught exclusively in th eir m o th e r tongue may at first be un co m fo rtab le if the teach er speaks to them in English, expecting them n o t only to u n d e rsta n d but, perhaps, to respond. V ire n this h appens, teachers n e e d to take special care to help learners realize th at they are n o t expected to u n d e rsta n d ev en word, any m ore th an they are expected to express them selves in nativelike English. M aking an effort to get the gist an d using strategies to in te rp re t, express, an d neg o ­ tiate m ean in g are im p o rtan t to the d evelopm ent o f com m unicative co m p eten ce. F or learn ers who are accustom ed to gram m ar translation courses tau g h t in th eir m o th e r tongue with an em phasis on gram m ar an d accuracy, th e tra n ­ sition will n o t be easy. Kivoko Kusano H ubbell (in press), a Japanese teacher o f English in Tokyo, recounts some struggles in h e r determ in ed effort to teach communicatively: Мапл Jap an ese students have b een tau g h t th a t they have to really know evert word in a sentence o r a phrase

in o rd er to u n d e rsta n d a foreign lan­ guage. They are n o t taught to use the strategies th at they already use in their native Japanese, th at is, to guess the m eaning from the context. W hen the blackboard is full o f writing a n d I am busy in class, I ask a student, “Please erase the blackboard!”, h an d in g him an eraser a n d p o inting to the dirtv blackboard. If he does n o t move, it is n o t because he is offended. H e ju st did n o t recognize the w ord “erase,” and to him that m eans he did not u n d erstan d m e. If he is willing to accept the am bi­ guity', he gets up and cleans the board. W ith en c o u ra g e m e n t an d h elp from their tea c h e r in developing the strategic com petence they n e e d to in te rp re t, express, an d negotiate m eaning, learners express satisfaction and even surprise. Kusano H ubbell goes on to rep o rt the positive reactions she receives at the en d of the term . (All com m ents have b een translated from Ja p an e se by the author.) “C om pletelv different from anv class I ’ve ever h a d !” “I have never expressed my own ideas in English before. W ork was alwavs to translate this section, to fill in the blanks o r read. It was all passive.” “In my career o f English education from Jr. H igh to C ram School th ere was no tea c h e r who spoke English o th e r th an to read the textbooks.” My Language Is Me: Personal English Language Use, the third co m p o n en t in a com m unicative curriculum , relates to the le a rn e r’s em erging identity' in English. L earner attitude is w ithout a d o u b t the single m ost im portant factor in learn er success. W hether a le a rn e r’s m otivations are inte­ grative o r instrum ental, the developm ent o f com ­ m unicative c o m p e te n c e involves th e w hole learner. T h e m ost successful teaching program s are those th at take into account the affective as well as the cognitive aspects o f language learning. They seek to involve learn ers psycho­ logically as well as intellectually.

In p la n n in g for CLT. tea c h e rs sh o u ld rem e m b e r th at n o t evervone is com fortable in the sam e role. W ithin classroom com m unities, as within society at large, th ere are leaders and th ere are those who p refer to be followers. Both are essential to the success of g roup activities. In group discussions, there are always some who seem to do the m ost talking. Those who often rem ain silent in larger groups typically partici­ pate m ore easily in pair work. O r they may prefer to work on an individual project. T he w ider the variety of com m unicative, or m eaning-based, activities, the greater the chance for involving all learners. Mv L anguage Is Me implies, above all, respect for learners as thev use English for selfexpression. .Although Language Arts activities provide an app ro p riate context for atten tio n to form al accuracy Personal English Language LTse does not. Most teachers know this and intuitively focus on m eaning rath er than on form as learners express their personal feelings o r experiences. However, repeated em phasis on structural accuracv in textbooks or on tests mav cause teachers to feel uncom fortable about their in atten tio n to non-nativelike features that do n o t im pede m eaning. .An un d erstan d in g of the im portance of opportunities for the in terpretation, expression, and negotiation o f m eaning in CLT an d o f the distin ctio n betw een L anguage Arts a n d My Language Is Me can help to reassure teachers that the com m unicative practice thev are providing is im portant for their learners. Respect for learners as thev use English for self-expression re q u ire s m o re th a n sim ply restrain t in a tten tio n to form al “e rro rs” th at do n o t in te rfe re with m eaning. It includes recog­ nition that so-called “nativelike” p erfo rm an ce mav not, in fact, even be a goal for learners. L anguage teaching has com e a long way from aucliolingual davs w hen “native” p ro n u n cia tio n a n d use was held up as an ideal. R eference to the term s "native” or "nativelike" in the evaluation o f com m unicative co m p eten ce is in ap p ro p ria te in todav's postcolonial, m ulticultural world. As observed earlier, we notv recognize that native speakers are never “ideal'' and, in fact, varv widely in range and style of comm unicative abilities.

M oreover, as the English language is increasingly used as a language of global com m unication, so called “non-native" users of its m am varieties overw helm ingly o u tn u m b e r so-called "native speakers.” T he decision of what is or is not one's “native” language is arbitrary and irrelevant for ELT a n d is perhaps best left to the individual concerned. C hennv Lai. a graduate MATESI. candidate studying in the U nited States, expresses his views: As to the definition of "native" or "first" language we discussed in today's class. I cam e up with the idea that we have no say about w hether a person's native lan­ guage is this one or that one. It is the speaker whet has the right to FEEL which language is his native one. The native language should be the one in which the speaker feels most com fort­ able or natural w hen m aking dailv com m unication, or m ore abstractly, the one in which the speaker does all his thinking. T here are two m ajor lan­ guages spoken in Taiwan: M andarin an d Taiwanese. I d o n ’t have any slight­ est problem using eith er of them since I use both even' clav in equal p ro p o r­ tion. But w hen I do mv thinking, con­ sidering things, or even kind o f talking to mvself', mv “m ental" language is M andarin. Because of this. I would say th a t mv native language is M andarin. . . . we probable can sav that a person's native language can actually “switch” from one to a n o th e r d u ring stages o f his life. Since a personality inevitable takes on a new dim ension th ro u g h expression in a n o th e r language, th at dim ension needs to be discovered on its own term s. L earners should not only be given the o p p o rtu n ity to say w hat thev want to say in English, thev also should be en co u rag ed to develop an English language personality with which they are com fortable. They mav feel m ore com fortable m aintaining a degree o f form ality not fo u n d in the in terp erso n al transactions of native speakers. T he diary entrv of a Jap an ese le a rn e r o f English offers im p o rtan t insight on the m atte r of identity:

I just d o n 't know what to do right now. I m ight have b e e n wrong since I began to learn English: I always tried to be b e tte r and w anted to be a good speaker. It was wrong, absolutely wrong! W hen I got to California. I started im i­ tating A m ericans and picked up the words that I heard. So mv English becam e just like -Americans. I c o u ld n 't help it. I m ust have b een funnv to them , because I am a Japanese and hat e mv own culture an d background. I think I alm ost lost the most im portant thing I should not have. I got California English, including intonation, p ro n u n ­ ciation. the wav thev act, which are not m ine. I har e to have my own English, be mvself w hen I speak English (Preston 1981. p. 113). On the o th e r hand, learners mav discover a new freed o m o f self-expression in th eir new lan­ guage. W hen asked what it is like to write in E nglish, a lan g u ag e th at is n o t h e r native tongue, the K orean w riter Mia Ann, a u th o r of House of the Winds (1998), replied th at it was “like pu ttin g on a new dress." W riting in English m ade h e r feel fresh, see h erself in a new way, o ffe red h e r fre e d o m to e x p e rim e n t. W hen expressing them selves in a new language, writers are not the onlv ones to experience the feeling of "putting on a new dress." My L anguage Is Me calls for recognition a n d respect for the indi­ vidual personality o f the learner. (We will re tu rn to the m atte r of the "native 'non-native” dis­ tinction with respect to users of English later when discussing sociolinguistic issues.) You Be. I'll Be: Theater Arts is the fourth com ­ p o n e n t of a com m unicative curriculum . “.All the w o rld ’s a stage." in the fam iliar w ords of Shakespeare (As You Like It, II, viii; 139). A nd on this stage we plav manv roles, roles for which we improvise scripts from the m odels we observe aro u n d us. Child, parent, sister, brother, em ­ ployer, em ployee, doctor, or tea c h e r— all are roles that include certain expected ways o f behav­ ing and using language. Sociocultural rules of appropriateness have to do with these expected wavs. Familiar roles may be plated with little

conscious attention to style. O n the o th er hand, new and unfam iliar roles req u ire practice, with an awareness of how the m eanings we in te n d are being in te rp re te d bv others. Som etim es there are no m odels. In the last h a lf o f the tw entieth century, w om en who suddenly found them selves in w hat had b e e n a "m an's world," w h eth er as firefighters, professors, o r CEOs, had to adapt existing m odels to ones with which they could be com fortable. And the transition is far from com plete. W ith the exception o f G reat Britain, no m ajor w orld pow er to date has h ad a wom an h e a d o f state. Bv the e n d o f the twentv-first cen­ tury th ere no d o u b t will be n u m ero u s m odels from which to choose. If the world can be thought o f as a stage, with actors and actresses who plav their parts as best they can, th eater mav be seen as an o p p o rtu ­ nity to experim ent with roles, to trv things out. Fantasy and playacting are a natural and im por­ tan t p art of childhood. Make-believe and the "von be, I’ll b e ” improvisations fam iliar to children the w’orld over are im portant to self-discoverv and growth. They allow voting learners to experim ent a n d to try things out, such as hats and wigs, m oods and postures, gestures and words. As occa­ sions for language use, role-plaving an d the m anv related activities that constitute T heater Arts are likewise a natural c o m p o n e n t o f language learn­ ing. They allow learners to ex p erim en t with the roles thev play o r mav be called upon to plav in real life. T h e a te r Arts can provide learners with th e tools thev n e e d to act, that is. to in terp ret, express, a n d negotiate m ean in g in a new lan­ guage. Activities can include both scripted and u n scrip ted role plav, sim ulations, an d even p a n ­ tom im e. E nsem ble-building activities fam iliar in th e a te r training have been used very successfully in EET to create a clim ate o f trust so necessary for the in co rp o ratio n of T h e a te r Arts activities (see Savignon 1997). T he role of th e tea c h e r in T h e a te r Arts is th at o f a coach, providing sup­ port, strategies, an d en c o u ra g e m e n t for learners as they explore new ways of being. Beyond the Classroom is the fifth an d final c o m p o n e n t of a com m unicative curriculum . Regardless o f the variety of com m unicative activ­ ities in the E SL /EFL classroom , th eir purpose rem ains to p rep a re learners to use English in the

w orld beyond. This is the wrorld u p o n which learners will d e p e n d for the m ain ten an ce and developm ent o f th eir com m unicative co m p e­ tence once classes are over. T he classroom is b u t a rehearsal. D evelopm ent o f the Beyond the Classroom c o m p o n e n t in a com m unicative cur­ riculum begins with discovery o f lea rn er interests and needs an d of opportunities to n o t only respond to but, m ore im portantly, to develop those interests and needs th rough English language use bevond the classroom itself. In an EST setting, opportunities to use English outside the classroom abound. Systematic "field experiences" may successfully becom e the core of the course, which then could becom e a w orkshop in which learners can com pare notes, seek clarification, an d e x p an d the range o f dom ains in which thev learn to function in English. Classroom visits to a courtroom trial, a public auction, or a church bazaar provide introductions to aspects o f the local culture that learners m ight n o t experience on their own. C onversation p a rtn e rs, a p p re n tic e sh ip s, an d activities with host families can be arranged. Residents of nearbv retirem ent com m unities can be recruited as valuable resources for a range of research projects. Senior citizens often welcome the opportunity to interact with international vis­ itors or new arrivals and offer a wealth of knowl­ edge and experience. Thev could be interview7ed about notew orthy historical events, child rearing in earlier decades, or their view’s on politics, health care, or grandparenting. In an EFT setting, on the o th er h and, the ch allen g e fo r in c o rp o ra tin g a B eyond the Classroom c o m p o n e n t may be greater, b u t cer­ tainly n o t insurm ountable, a n d is essential for both teacher a n d learners. As a child, I looked forw ard to receiving letters from my pen pals. Thev would arrive bearing colorful stam ps from France. Wales, Jap an , Taiwan, and Australia. I had vet to learn a second language, so o u r corre­ spondence was all in English. However, this reg­ u lar ex c h an g e o f letters p u t a sm all town m idw estern .American girl in touch with o th er places aro u n d the globe a n d with o th e r users of English. Technology has since b ro u g h t the whole w orld m uch closer. English language radio an d television program s, videos, an d feature length

films are readilv available in m am F F f settings, along with new spapers and m agazines. English speaking residents o r ■visitors m at be available to visit the classroom . T he In te rn et now provides o p p o rtu n ities to in teract with English speaking peers on a varietv of topics, to develop gram ­ m atical, discourse, sociocultural, and strategic com petence. These o p p o rtu n ities for com puterm ediated com m unication (CMC) will increase dram aticallv in the years ahead. T he following except from an e-mail exchange betw een classes of secondary school students in G erm any and the Lhrited States on the topic of the death penalty reveals th e p o ten tia l for dev elo p in g socio­ cultural and strategic skills in addition to gram ­ matical and discourse com petence (R oithm eier and Savignon in press): Death Penalty— an inhuman punishm ent . . . Finally. I th ink nobodv has the right to kill o th e r people but to kill a person because of m erev is inhuman an d should never be a law in certain dem ocratic states or countries. . . . LbSA 2: . . . I can see b o th sides o f the death penalty. I believe w hen discussing this inhuman tre a tm e n t vou m ust think ab o u t the victims o f these people. USA 4: . . . Basically, I think the d eath penalty is w rong and inhumane. USA 6: T he d eath penalty is inhumane . . .

GER 1: GER 3:

Exam ples such as the above provide strong su p p o rt for the claim that m em bers of a discus­ sion g roup are strongly influenced bv p rio r post­ ings an d that the language thee use is influenced bv what the\ read from participants. In addition to p rea rra n g e d exchanges, learners can check W orld W ide Web sites for a range o f inform ation, schedules, rates, locations, descriptions, and the like.

Arts, and Be\ ond the Classroom? These questions must be answ ered bv individual language teach­ ers in the context in yvhich they teach. Cultural expectations, goals, and styles o fle a rn in g are but some o f the ways in yvhich learners mav differ from each other. To the complexity o f the learn er m ust be added the com plexities of teachers and of the settings in which they teach. Established routines, or institutional belief about what is im portant, weigh heavily in a te a c h e r’s decisions as to yvhat and horv to teach and often m akes innovation difficult (see Sato in press; W ang in press). Finally, the need for varietv m ust be taken into account. Learners yvlm are b ored with rule recitation or sentence translation mav ju st as easily lose interest in games o r role play, if these are allowed to becom e routine. Difficult as it is. the teacher's task is to u n d e rsta n d the many factors involved and respond to them creatively. Teachers cannot do this alone, of course. They n e e d the su p p o rt of adm in istrato rs, the comm unity, and the learners themselves. M ethodologists and re a d ie r education program s have a responsibility as yvell. They should provide classroom teachers with the perspective and expe­ riences they need to respond to the realities of their world, a changing yvorlcl in yvhich the old way s of ELT mav not be the best wavs. T he optim um com bination of the analytical and the experiential in ESL EFF for a given context is a focus o f ongoing research. However, a noyv yvellestablished research tradition in second/foreign language learning teaching has clearly shoyvn the im portance o f attention to language use, o r expe­ rience, in addition to language usage, or analysis. But the ovenvhelm ing emphasis in most school program s is on the Fitter, often to the com plete exclusion of the former.

W H A T A B O U T GRAMMAR? P U T T IN G IT A L L T O G E T H E R How do we put it all together? Is there an opti­ m um com bination of Language Arts. Personal Language Use, Language for a Purpose. T heater

Discussions of GET not infrequently lead to questions of gram m atical or form al accuracy. T he perceived displacem ent of attention to morphosvntactic features in lea rn er expression in favor of a focus on m eaning has led in some cases to the im pression that gram m ar is not im portant,

o r that p ro p o n en ts of CLT favor lea rn er selfexpression w ithout re g a rd to form . W hile involvem ent in com m unicative events is seen as central to language developm ent, this involve­ m en t necessarilv requires attention to form . T he natu re o f the co ntribution to language develop­ m en t o f both form -focused and m eaning-focused classroom activitv rem ains a question in ongoing research. T he optim um com bination of these activities in any given in stru ctio n al setting depends no doubt on learner age. nature and length o f instructional sequence, opportunities for language contact outside the classroom , teacher preparation, and o th er factors. However, for the developm ent of com m unicative abilitv, research Findings overw helm inglv su p p o rt the integration o f form -focused exercises with m eaning-focused experience. G ram m ar is im ­ portant, and learners seem to focus best on gram ­ m ar when it relates to their com m unicative needs and experiences. C om m unicative com petence obviouslv does not m ean the wholesale rejection o f fam iliar m aterials. T here is n o th in g to prevent com m u­ nicatively-based m aterials from being subjected to gram m ar-translation treatm ent, just as there may be n o th in g to prevent a teacher with onlv an old gram m ar-translation book at his or h e r dis­ posal from teaching communicativelv. W hat m at­ ters is the teacher's conception of what learning a language is and how it happens. T he basic p rin ­ ciple involved is an orientation towards collective participation in a process o f use a n d discovery achieved bv c o o p e ra tio n betw een individual learners as well as betw een learners and teachers.

S O C IO L IN G U IS T IC ISSUES N um erous sociolinguistic issues await attention. V ariation in the speech com m unity an d its relationship to language change are central to sociolinguistic inquire. As we have seen above, sociolinguistic perspectives on variability and change highlight the folk of describing native speaker com petence, let alone non-native speaker com petence, in terms of "mastery " or “com m and” o f a system. .All language systems show instabilitv and variation. L earner language systems show

even greater instability and variability in terms of both the am ount and rate o f change. Moreover, sociolinguistic concerns yvith identity' and accom ­ m odation help to explain the construction by bilinguals o f a “variation space" that is different from that o f a native speaker. This mav include reten tio n of anv n u m b er of features of a previ­ ously acquired code or sy stem o f phonology and syntax as well as features of discourse an d prag­ m atics. in c lu d in g c o m m u n ic a tio n strategies. T he p h e n o m e n o n may be individual or. in those settings yvhere there is a com m unity o f learners, general. Differences not only in the code itself b ut in the sem antic m eanings attrib u ted to these different encodings contribute to identification yvith a speech com m unity or culture, the yvav a speech com m unity views itself and the world. This o ften in clu d es code m ixing a n d code switching. the use bv bilinguals o f resources from m ore than one speech comm unity. S ociolinguistic perspectives have b e e n im portant in u n d e rsta n d in g the im plications of norm , appropriaev, and variability for CLT and continue to suggest avenues o f inquiry for fu rth er research and m aterials developm ent. Use of authentic language data hits u n derscored the im portance of context, such as setting, roles, and genre, in in terpreting the m eaning of a text. A range o f both oral and written texts in context provides learners yvith a variety of language expe­ riences. which they n eed to construct their own "variation space" and to m ake determ inations of a p p ro p ria te in their own expression of m eaning. "C om petent" in this instance is not necessarily synonym ous with "nativelike." N egotiation in CLT highlights the n e e d for interlinguistic, that is. intcrcidturcd, awareness on the part of all involved (Byram 1997). B etter tm clerstanding of the strategies used in the negotiation o f m eaning offers a potential for im proving classroom prac­ tice of the n e e d ed skills.

Natives and Foreigners We m ight begin bv asking ourselves whose lan ­ guage we teach and for what purpose. W hat is o u r own relationship with English? Do we con­ sider it to be a foreign, second, or native language?

Webster's New International Dictionary. 2nd edition, published in 1950. a tim e w hen language te a c h in g in the U n ite d States was on the th re sh o ld o f a p e rio d of u n p re c e d e n te d scrutiny, ex p erim en tatio n , an d grow th, p ro tid e s the fol­ lowing definitions of these term s we use so often with respect to language. Foreign derives from M iddle English forein. forene. O ld French forain a n d Latin fonts, m ean in g outside. Related words are foreclose, forest, forfeit. M odern definitions include “situated outside one's own country; born in, belonging to, derived from, or characteristic o f some place o th er than the one u n d e r consid­ eration; alien in character; not connected or p e rtin e n t,” etc. Those identified as teaching a foreign lan­ guage, p erhaps even in a D ep artm en t of Foreign Languages, should ask. "Whv?" W hat does the label “foreign" signal to colleagues, learners, a n d the com m unity at large?- Toclav we are c o n ­ ce rn e d with global ecology an d global economy. A nd English has b een describe as a “global lan­ gu ag e” (Crystal 1997). N onetheless, one m ight object, “fo re ig n ” is still a useful term to use in distinguishing betw een teaching English in. sat-. Pattava, T h a ila n d , a n d te a c h in g E nglish in Youngstown, O hio. In Youngstown. English is taught as a second language w hereas in Pattava it is a foreign language. T he contexts of learning are n o t the same, to be sure. N eith er are the learners. N o r the teachers. But do these facts change the n a tu re of the language? A nd what ab o u t the teaching of Spanish in Chicago, in B arcelona, in B uenos Aires, in G uatem ala City, in M iami, o r in M adrid? In what sense can Spanish in each of these contexts be described as “fo reign” or “seco n d ”? And what are the im pli­ cations of the label selected for the learners? For the teachers? H aving tau g h t F rench in U rbana, Illinois, for m an \- years, I can easily identify with the problem s o f teachers of English in Pattava. M ore so, p e rh a p s, th an those w ho teach ESL in U rb an a with easy access to English speaking com m unities outside the classroom . O n the o th e r h a n d , teach in g F rench in U rbana or

English in Pattava is no excuse for ig n oring or avoiding o p p o rtu n ities for com m unication, both w ritten an d oral. T he potential o f com puterm ed iated negotiation o f m ean in g for language learn in g and language change in the decades ah e ad will be increasingly recognized, b o th inside and outside language classrooms. W hat mav be a p roblem is the te a c h e r’s com m unicative co m petence. Is he or she a native speaker? If not. does he o r she consider him- or herself bilingual? If not. whv not? Is it a lack o f com m unicative com petence? Or, rather, a lack of com m unicative confidence? Is he or she in tim id ated bv “native" speakers? Native Speaker is the title of a m oving first novel by C hang-rae Tee. an A m erican raised in a K orean im m igrant family in New Jersey. It docum ents the struggle and frustration o f know ing two cul­ tures an d at the same tim e not com pletely belonging to e ith e r one. As such, it serves as a p o ig n an t rem in d er of the challenges o f bilin­ gualism a n d b icu ltu ralism . How does o n e "belong”? W hat does it m ean to be bilingual? To be bicultural? To be a native speaker? Again, the exam ple o f English is im portant. Such w idespread a d o p tio n of one language is u n p re c e d e n te d . English users todav in clu d e those who live in countries w here English is a pri­ mary language — the U nited States, the U nited Kingdom . Canada. Australia, and New Zealand; those who live in countries w here English is an additional, m /ranational language o f co m m u n i­ c a tio n — fo r e x am p le. B an g lad esh , In d ia, N igeria, Philippines, a n d Tanzania; those who use English prim arily in /н/rrnational co n tex ts— countries such as C hina, Indonesia, Ja p a n , Saudi A rabia, a n d Russia. Bv conservative estim ates the n u m b e r of non-native speakers of English in the w orld todav o u tn u m b e rs native speakers by m ore th an 2 to 1. a n d the ratio is increasing. M odels of appropriaev vary from c o n tex t to con­ text. So m uch, in fact, that som e scholars speak n o t onlv of varieties of English b u t of World Englishes, the title of a new journal devoted to discussion of descriptive, pedagogical, and o th e r issues in the global sp re a d o f the English

language. As лее have seen above, d e p e n d in g on the context as well as le a rn e r needs, "native" speakers mav or m ar- n o t be a p p ro p riate m odels (see also K achru 1992).

W H A T C L T IS N O T D isappointm ent with both gram m ar-translation an d audiolingual m ethods for th eir inabilitv to prep are learners for the in terpretation, ex­ pression, and negotiation of m eaning, along with enthusiasm for an arrav of alternative m ethods increasingly labeled communicative, has resulted in no small am ount of uncertaintv as to what are and are not essential features of CLT. Thus, this sum m ary description would be incom plete w ithout brief m ention of what CLT is not. CLT is not exclusively co n c ern e d with faceto-face oral c o m m u n ic a tio n . T h e prin cip les o f CLT apply equally to reading and writing activities th at involve re a d e rs a n d winters engaged in the in te rp re ta tio n , expression, and n e g o tia tio n o f m ean in g : the goals o f CLT d e p e n d on lea rn er needs in a given context. CLT does not require sm all-group or p air work: g ro u p tasks have been found helpful in mans contexts as a wav of providing increased o p p o r­ tu nity a n d m otivation for c o m m u n ic a tio n . However, classroom g roup or pair work should not be considered an essential feature an d mav well be in ap p ro p ria te in som e contexts. Finally. CLT does not exclude a focus on m etalinguistic aw areness o r know ledge of rules o f syntax, discourse, and social appropriateness. T he essence o f CLT is the en g ag em en t of learners in com m unication in o rd e r to allow them to develop th eir com m unicative com pe­ tence. Terms som etim es used to refer to features o f CLT include process oriented, task-based, and inductive, o r discoi'ery oriented. Inasm uch as strict a d h e re n c e to a given text is n ot likelv to be true to its processes and goals, CLT c a n n o t be fo u n d in any one textbook or set o f cu rricu lar m ateri­ als. In keeping with the n o tion of context o f sit­ uation, CLT is properly seen as an ap p ro ach or

theory o f in tercu ltu ral com m unicative com pe­ ten c e to be used in d ev e lo p in g m aterials an d m ethods a p p ro p riate to a given co n tex t of learning. C ontexts change. A w orld o f carriages an d petticoats evolves into one of genom es and cyberspace. N o less th an the m eans a n d norm s of com m unication thev are designed to reflect, com m unicative teach in g m ethods designed to e n h a n c e th e in te rp re ta tio n , expression, and negotiation o f m ean in g will co n tin u e to be e x p lo red an d adapted.

D IS C U S S IO N Q U E S T IO N S 1. If vou h ad to choose th re e adjectives to describe CLT, what w ould thev be? 2. W hat m ight be som e obstacles e n c o u n te re d bv teachers who wish to im p lem en t a com ­ m unicative ap p ro ach to language teaching? How m ight these obstacles be overcom e? 3. Do vou feel English to be a foreign, second, or native language? How m ight vour feelings influence vour classroom teaching? 4. O f the five described co m p o n en ts o f a com ­ m unicative curriculum , which are the m ost fam iliar to vou as a language learner? As a language teacher? 5. W ho sets the norm for English language use in vour p articular context o f situation? How? Whv?

S U G G E S T E D A C T IV IT IE S 1. Request perm ission to observe two or th ree d iffe re n t in tro d u c to ry level ESL or EEL classes. N ote the interaction betw een the tea c h e r an d the learners. W ho does m ost of the talking? How m uch of the talking that vou h e a r is in English? Whv? 2. Interview som e language learners for their views on whv thev are learn in g a foreign o r second language.

3.

Look at the inverted pyram id diagram of com m unicative com p eten ce on page 17. Do you agree with the p ro p o rtio n s drawn? Draw your own diagram to show the relationship betw een the fo u r co m p o n en ts o f com m u­ nicative com petence. 4. Select one of the five co m p o n en ts o f a com ­ m unicative c u rricu lu m d e scrib ed in this chapter. Make a list o f co rresp o n d in g lea rn ­ e r activities or experiences th at vou would like to use in your teaching.

FU R T H ER R EA D IN G Breen, M., and C. Candlin. 1980. The essentials of a communicative curriculum in language teaching. Applied Linguistics 1(1) :89—112. Byram, M. 1997. Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence. Cleveclon. UK: Multilingual Matters.

Hollidav. A. 1994. Appropriate Methodology and Social Context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Xunan. D. 1989a. Designing Tasks per the Commu­ nicative Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Savignon. S. J. 1997. Communicative Competence: Theory and Classroom Practice. New York: McGraw Hill.

ENDNO TES 1 The author copied this passage mam years ago while visiting the Union School, a country school building that teas moved to the citv of Goodland, Kansas, bv the Sherman Countv Historical Society. It is owned and operated as a school museum bv the Society. - CRTDIF is the acronym for Centre de Recherche et d'Etude pour la Diffusion clu Francais. It was an institution specializing in French as a foreign language and functioned in association with the Ecole Xormale Superieur de Saint-Cloud from 1939 to 1996.

Guidelines for Language Classroom Instruction 1 GRAHAM

CROOKES

• CRAIG

CHAUDRON

In "Guidelines for Language Classroom Instruction," Crookes and Chaudron review research and practice in both second and foreign language contexts. The main areas of classroom instruction described are: presentational modes and focus on form, types of activities and parameters of tasks and interaction, classroom organization, teacher control of interaction, and corrective feedback.

I. IN T R O D U C T IO N W hat goes on in th e lan g u a g e classroom betw een the tea c h e r a n d students is obviously the core area o f inform ation p e rta in in g to for­ mal second language (SL) teaching a n d lea rn ­ ing. “O ut-of-class’' know ledge o f lan g u ag e teach in g in areas such as needs analysis, curricu­ lum design, lesson planning, m aterials design, a n d evaluation is, o f course, necessary for a truly professional op eratio n , but so long as th ere is a teach er w orking with a g roup o f students, the essence of classroom SL teaching resides in the n a tu re of instruction an d interaction betw een teachers an d students. In this c h a p te r we identify and discuss som e o f the m ore im p o rta n t characteristics and p rin ­ ciples o f this in teractio n .- O u r co n ception o f the tea c h e r is som eone with a great n u m b e r o f deci­ sions to m ake at even m o m en t o f classroom instruction. In som e cases, research findings can guide those decisions. In others, research can info rm professional ju d g m e n t, b u t decisions m ust be based on experience a n d in tu itio n ra th e r th an know ledge. However, decisions will be aided bv a know ledge o f the range o f instruc­ tional alternatives available, as well as by an awareness o f the cultural context an d personal values o f the tea c h e r an d students. W hen a second language is taught, a num ­ b e r o f m ajor steps m ust be taken. First, elem ents of the language o r its use. or skills such as learn­ ing strategies, m ust be bro u g h t into the classroom and presented or highlighted. T he teach er and,

u n d e r certain learn er-cen tered conditions, the students select elem ents of the SL in this p h ase.3 Second, th at which has b e e n selected a n d p re ­ sented m ust be learned; the tea c h e r has to arran g e m atters and events to brin g this about. T h ird, the tea c h e r m ust provide know ledge of results, th at is, co rrectio n o r feedback, to the students. We should n o t ignore that these processes take place in a social m ilieu, and that because of the wav language functions betw een individuals, these processes c an n o t be totally separated from the social clim ate which develops am o n g stu­ dents a n d betw een teach er an d students, th o u g h space does not p erm it us to address this im p o r­ tant p o in t here. Finally, let us note th a t consci­ entious SL teachers usually com e o u t of a class asking them selves how the class w ent— in o th e r words, engaging in a process o f self-evaluation. We believe that this is a vital process for profes­ sional self-developm ent, a n d one which needs to be explicitly structured into SL teachers’ routines. See M urphv’s ch ap ter on reflective teaching in this volum e, for a full discussion.

2. L A N G U A G E P RESEN TA TIO N 2.1 Meta-Planning for Lesson Objectives W hich elem ents of language are u n d e rta k en d e p en d s on the objectives a tea c h e r has in m ind for the lesson. Thev are th en the result o f lesson

p lan n in g and the general syllabus for the course (see the ch ap ters by J e n se n an d N'unan in this volum e). D espite considerable variation, generally the first elem en t of a lesson is the first c o m p o n e n t o f the traditional "present-practiceevaluate” seq u en ce, w hich co n stitu tes m any teachers’ u n d erstanding of basic lesson structure. Let us assume for present purposes that a teach er has selected a particular elem ent of language, or aspect o f language leanring, to be focused on as the first m ajor stage o f a class period. T here are then two types of choices to be made: those concerning the phvsical characteristics of the presentation, that is, materials, use o f audiorisual (AY) equipm ent, etc.; and those concerning the deductive o r inductive procedures that learners will be engaging in in o rder to acquire rules, items, analogies, and other aspects of the target language. T he fo rm er are considered in the following section, the latter in section 2.3.

2.2 Modalities (Materials, AV) W hile n o t espousing anv particular approach in this chapter, we feel that m anv professionals rec­ ognize the im portance o f practice in the acquisi­ tion o f anv cognitive skill. T here is increasing recognition4 of SL learning as a process of skill acq u isitio n (O 'M allev, C h am o t, a n d W alker 1987), which im plies the im portance of practice, o r ou tp u t, rath e r than m ere input (cf. Pica et al. 1996; Swain and Lapkin 1995). Teachers thus n e e d to rem ain aware that thev are not in the classroom to fill np the tim e with the sound of th eir own voices, b u t to arrange m atters so that th eir students do the talking (or writing, o r lis­ tening). Particularly in EFL ra th e r th an ESL situ­ ations, class tim e is so valuable that we believe the teacher should move on to practice phases o f a lesson as soon as possible in a m an n e r consistent with an adequate p resentation of m aterial and the giving o f clear instructions for som e practice exercises. Assum ing th at the instructor decides that a given teaching objective calls for som e su p p o rt in the wav of m aterials, w hat then? T he m ajor resource is o f course the textbook. In addition, o th e r tea c h in g aids fall into two categories

(Celce-M urcia 1979): n o n te c h n ic a l aids a n d technical aids (not counting the students th em ­ selves, who can of course plav a stim ulating role in the p resentation stages of a lesson). T he for­ m er include the chalkboard, realia. flashcards, m agazine pictures, and charts. T he latter include the overhead projector, audio and video reco rd ­ ings, CD-ROM. and In tern et. Both types o f aids are considered elsewhere in this book (see chap­ ters bv B rinton and Sokolik in this volum e). D espite in cre asin g rese a rc h in to som e m edia, the range o f classroom and cultural con­ texts for T E S /F L m eans that deciding w hether or not to use AY aids is usuallv a m atter for indi­ vidual teacher judgm ent, su p ported by general considerations. Does th eir use in a given circum ­ stance aid com prehension? Do thev stim ulate m ore student talk than would have otherwise occurred? Above all, does their use constitute an efficient use o f class tim e, particularly taking into account the teach er tim e req u ired to p ro d u ce them o r the logistics o f setting up an d rem oving am nccessarv equipm ent? This is an area in which careful teacher investigation and rep o rtin g of successes and failures in practice would benefit the profession. P erhaps because o f the com plexitv of the q u e stio n , a su rprisinglv sm all a m o u n t o f research inform s teachers of how to use a text­ b o o k (b u t see T om linson 1997). F o r the u n tra in e d teacher, a good textbook can stand in for a syllabus an d training program , while an e x p erien ced teach er can use the text as an aid, a d o p tin g som e parts, ad ap tin g others (Stevick 1971), or can even dispense with it completely. T he utilitv of the average textbook for a tvpical present-dav ESL EFL course is norm ally u n q u es­ tio n ed (but see Allwright 1981 and O ’Neill 1982 fo r positions on both sides o f this p o in t). N onetheless, лее urge teachers to rem e m b e r th at m ost textbooks in a given p erio d o f tim e are often verv m uch alike (Ariew 1982); thev are the p ro d u ct of the pressures o f the m arket, as im perfectlv in te rp re te d th ro u g h the p u blisher and m aterials writer, an d can often run c o u n te r to legitim ate ed ucational pressures. W hat sells mav n o t be w hat works; w hat works mav n o t necessarilv have a form at which book publishing

com panies can utilize or produce. Above all, th erefo re, a critical stance is called for (see Bvrd's c h a p te r in this volum e). Som e general points can be m ade about the p resen tatio n stage o f a lesson. First, the in stru cto r is, in fact, ra th e r free from constraints despite the various p ro ced u res suggested bv the teachers' notes tvpicallv accom panying the text. Texts designed for b eg in n in g an d in term ed iate learners still com m onlv p rese n t th e m aterial of each u n it via a dialogue, an d the tea c h e r is often in structed to have the students work with the dialogue. In m any traditional classroom settings (especially EFL settings), this involves having the class rep eat the dialogue in unison, possible m oving next to partial m em orization. Yet, an equally efficient p ro c e d u re for som e classes w ould be to have students p air off an d read the dialogue aloud while the teach er circulates and checks individual p erfo rm an ce. T he p o in t is th at teachers have the rig h t an d responsibilitv to utilize the m aterial in w hatever wav seem s a p p ro ­ priate, hopefully m aking use o f the findings that SL research suggests. For exam ple, an increasinglv well-established line of work has stressed the role of attention and awareness in SL learning (Schmidt 1990, 1995) and the im portance of drawing the learner's atten­ tion to certain characteristics of the language which m ight otherwise be missed (referred to as “in p u t e n h a n c e m e n t”; see R u th e rfo rd 1987. Doughty an d Williams 1998a). It follows, th ere­ fore, that the teacher should usually present the text o r illustrative m aterial with an im m ediate focus on the target points. O n the o th er hand, research over the last two decades has m ade clear th at SL learning does n ot take place in a simple linear fashion with one linguistic elem en t being ad d ed to the next. In the svntactic dom ain, learn­ ers p ro ceed at different speeds th ro u g h fairly reg­ ular sequences (P ienem ann a n d Jo h n sto n 1987). It is unlikely that structural target points will be internalized by rnanv in a class after one expo­ sure.0 C o n seq u en ts, the particular aspect o f lan­ guage to be learn ed should alm ost certainly com e up on o th er occasions, in o th er lessons. T he fact th at SL learning involves the learning o f a cogni­ tive skill im plies th at the first stage o f use (the

“cognitive stage”) will be erro rfu l a n d difficult for the learner. M ovem ent Uwvards autom aticity will req u ire a great deal o f active, realistic prac­ tice in the use o f the target language, w'hich may n o t be susceptible to general e rro r correction. Finally, at the p resen tatio n stage, it is relevant to consider w hat little is knowm ab o u t the le a rn e r’s d e v e lo p m en t o f co n tro l over the pragm atic aspects of the SL. An em phasis on realistic, com ­ m unicative language use in the classroom from an early stage is th erefo re justified, as is the d evelopm ent of the m etalinguistic term s n e e d e d to talk a b o u t language use (Flenriksen 1988). As a final com m ent, although we have used the generallv accepted term textbook th ro u g h o u t this section, it is clear that sole reliance on a text­ book within the classroom is becom ing less com ­ m on in richer countries or m ore wTell-resourced schools. D evelopm ents in technology have m ade the c re a tio n an d alm ost im m ed iate use o f in-house m aterials increasinglv possible. T he advantages of personalization and localization of m aterials are clear. In addition, o f course, the ease of access to all kinds o f supplem entary resource m aterials an d stim ulus m aterials via the Web has helped teachers supplem ent textbooks while at the same tim e raising students' expectations.

2.3 Rule Presentations and Explanations A great deal of research in the 1960s was con­ cerned with w hether and when to present explicit second language g ram m ar rules to students (L.evin 1972; see rec e n t discussion o f the issue in Borg 1999). T he upshot o f those studies was that explicit gram m ar instruction was n o t consistently superior in the long run to o th er practices. As a result, the various com m unicatively oriented language teaching m ethods a n d prescriptions developed after this tim e de-em phasized the use o f explicit gram m ar rule p rese n tatio n and even qu estio n ed the use o f gram m atically based m aterials. However, subsequent research on second language acquisition has increasingly established the legitimacv of a focus on form (see m ost recentlv Doughtv and Williams 1998a, 1998b; and

N orris and O rtega 2000), while still questioning the desirability of a persistent focus on correct­ ness at all times in a syllabus o r course of stitch. (These issues are dealt with in m ore detail in the chapters by Larsen-Freem an and Fotos in this yolttme.) Based on the claims o f most theorists that som e focus on form can be req u ired by learners o r bv a given classroom sequence, it is reason­ able for teachers to be aware of options in how to m ake a rule explicit or not; w hether or not to isolate a rule; w h eth er an ex p lanation should involve a deductive or inductive presentation; who should give the e x p lan atio n — the teacher, the text, o r a n o th e r student: w h eth er the lan­ guage is abstract or not; and w h eth er the expla­ natio n is provided orallv or in writing. Teachers m ust ensure the clarilv and sufficiency of their explanations bv checking stu d en t c o m p re h e n ­ sion, preferably n o t m erely bv solicitation o f a “yes” o r a nod. Follow ing th e a p p ro a c h of C h a u d ro n 's (1982) description o f teachers' vocabulary elab­ oration, Yee and W agner (1984) developed a discourse m odel o f teachers' vocabulary and gram m ar explanations. T h eir m odel contains several m ajor segm ents (a fram ing stage, a focusing stage, the explanation itself, an d a re s ta te m e n t), w ith several su b c ate g o rie s as optional features (e.g.. with or w ithout m ention of the topic item , m etastatem ents, teacher solicits of students, exam ples, etc.). At each stage, thev point out that com prehension checks bv the teacher are optional. .An exam ple of their m odel in a brief gram m ar explanation follows: T kach hr: Can we say “these" in a tag?

Focus + solicit

Student : You can 't use the w ord “th ese” in a tag.

Explanation + explicit rule

T eacher : W hat do we n e e d to use?

+ solicit

Taking a functional approach to analysis o f rules a n d explanations, Faerch (198bi found th at a typical sequence in teacher rule presenta­ tio n involved (1) a “Pro b lem -fo rm u latio n ": (2) an “Induction" with the teacher eliciting

student opinions: and (8) the te a c h e r’s “Ruleform ulation": followed optionally bv (4) “Exem ­ plification" bv the teacher or students. Alert teachers will adapt this typical p attern to their circum stances, eith er shortening the sequence if a rule is judged to be quickly learned, o r devel­ oping m ore student-generated ideas and interac­ tion if the students have difficulty.

3. TASKS T he next m ajor step in executing classroom lessons involves practice a n d “learning" of the m aterial. In this section we will identify the pri­ mary units of classroom teaching and evaluate the co m p o n en ts of those that m ost influence learning. To aid discussion an d com m unication am ong teachers (as well as for the sake o f com ­ parative research), it is useful to have a set of term s to describe sim ilar teaching procedures. O ver several decades o f classroom research, standard term inology for what ought to be the basic units for p lan n in g a n d executing lessons has b een lacking. In the following sections we will utilize the yvords adroit у an d task, a n d attem pt to show how these can be m ore system­ atically classified, described, and analyzed for their co n trib u tio n to instruction.

3 .1 Subsections of a Lesson— The Activity Probably the m ost comm only used an d general term for the parts of a lesson is activity. Most teachers will use this уvot'd in discussing th eir lesson plans a n d behaviors, although specific activities often have p articular nam es. In m uch recent analy sis o f SL. classrooms, m aterials, and syllabi, the term task has been used to discuss those less-controlled activities yvhich p ro d u ce realistic use of the ST (Crookes a n d Gass 1998a, 1993b). This term has also characterized certain c o m m u n icativ e approaches*1 yvhose u p su rg e m arks the c u rren t era of ST teaching. In fact, the yvidespread use o f the label task-based has in ntanv cases simply replaced the o ld er term communicative. In discussing both c o n tro lled and fre e r ty pes of classroom learn in g procedures, yve

will utilize activity as a b ro a d e r term ; task will apply to a separable elem en t o f a lesson that is prim arily geared to practicing language p rese n t­ ed earlier (or otherw ise lea rn ed ), usually involv­ ing students w orking with each other, to achieve a specific objective. It is often said that for each specific lea rn ­ ing point, learners n e e d to develop from m ore controlled and m echanical to fre e r an d com m u­ nicative behaviors. T herefore, a classification of activity types along such a con tin u u m provides the options from which the teach er can select a given sequence w ithin a lesson. Yalcarcel et al. >1985) have developed a tentative list of activity types. We have g ro u p ed this list according to fo u r phases o f in stru c tio n a l se q u e n c in g in lessons (see E delhoff 1981. p. 57): Inform ation and M otivation (in which learners' interest, experience, a n d relevant language knowledge are aroused); In p u t C ontrol (in which learners are involved in d e e p en in g their u n d e rsta n d in g by close atten tio n to detail): Focus W orking (in which individual linguistic and them atic difficul­ ties can be isolated and exam ined in d e p th ): and T ransfer/A pplication (in which new know ledge and the learn er's refined com m unicative abili­ ties can be put to active use). Teachers should be fam iliar with each of these activity tvpes and pav atten tio n to the various discussions in the litera­ ture of th eir benefits and disadvantages.

Information and Motivation Phase Warm-up: m im e, dance, song, jokes, plan etc.: the purpose is to get the students stim ulated, relax ed , m otivated, attentive, or otherw ise engaged and reach- for the classroom lesson; not necessarily related to the target language.

Story telling: oral presentation bv the teacher of a story or an event as lcngthv practice, although not necessarily lesson-based; it implies the use of extended discourse; it usually aims at m aintaining attention or m otivation and is often entertaining. A propos: conversation and o th e r socially ori­ e n te d in te ra c tio n /s p e e c h by teacher, students, or слеп visitors on general real-life topics; typi­ cally au th en tic a n d genuine.

Input/Control Phase Organizational: m anagerial structuring of lesson or class activities; includes reprim anding of stu­ dents an d o th er disciplinary action, organization of class furniture and seating, general procedures for class interaction and perform ance, structure and purpose of lesson, etc. Content explanation: explanation o flesso n con­ tent and gram m ar o r o th e r rules a n d points: phonology, gram m ar, lexis, sociolinguistics, or w hatever is being "taught." Role play demonstration: use of selected stu­ dents or teacher to illustrate the procedures (s) to be applied in the following lesson segm ent; it includes brief illustration of language or o ther content to be incorporated. Recognition: students identify a specific target form , function, definition, rule, or o th e r lessonrelated item, eith er from oral or visual data, b ut w ithout pro d u cin g language as a response (e.g., checking off items, draw ing symbols, rearranging pictures, m atch in g u tte ran c e s with pictures, u n d erlin in g significant inform ation from a text.)

Setting: focus is on lesson topic: either verbal or nonverbal evocation of the context that is relevant to the lesson point: teacher directs attention to the upcom ing topic bv questioning, m im ing, or picture presentation, or possibly a tape recording.

Language modeling: p resentation o f new lan­ guage bv the teacher th rough isolated sentences with the help of visuals, drawings on blackboard, realia. m im ing, recorded m aterial, etc.; involves students' participation in the form of repetition, question-answer display, translation, etc.; it usually aims at checking correct pronunciation and syn­ tax. or m eaning com prehension.

Brainstorming: free, un d irected contributions by the students an d teacher on a given topic to gen­ erate m ultiple associations w ithout linking them ; no explicit analysis or in terp retatio n is given by the teacher.

Dialogue Narrative presentation: reading or lis­ tening passage in the form of dialogue, narration, song. etc., for passive reception (students becom e fam iliar with the text w ithout being asked to per­ form am task related to the con ten t); it usually

implies students’ listening to a tape o r the teacher reading aloud while students follow with or with­ out the text.

of interaction; distinguished from mechanical drills in th at students have to m ake a choice with respect to the m ean in g conveyed.

Question-answer display: c o n tro lle d activity involving p ro m p tin g of student responses bv m eans o f display questions (teacher o r questioner already knows the response o r has a very lim ited set o f expectations for the appropriate response); these are distinguished from referential questions bv m eans of the likelihood of the questioner know­ ing the response and the speaker being aware of the questioner knowing the response.

Preparation: stu d e n ts p la n th e s u b s e q u e n t activity (in pairs, individually, o r in groups) by m eans of rehearsing, m aking notes, or simply thinking.

Review: teacher-led review of previous w eek / m o n th or o th er period; a form al sum m ary and assessm ent o f stu d en ts’ recall and perform ance.

Foe us/Working Phase Translation: stu d e n t o r tea c h e r provides L I or L2 translations o f given text. Dictation: students write dow n orally p rese n ted text. Copying: students w7rite dow n visually p rese n ted text. Reading aloud: student(s) read aloud from a given text— distinguished from dialogue presenta­ tion in th at the focus is on pro n u n ciatio n and rhythm . Drill: typical language activity involving fixed p attern s o f students a n d tea c h e r resp o n d in g a n d pro m p tin g , usually with rep etitio n , substitu­ tion, a n d o th e r m echanical alterations; typically with little m ean in g attached. D ialogue/N arrative recitation: students recite a passage o r dialogue which they have previously le a rn e d o r p re p a re d ; e ith e r in u n iso n o r individually. Cued narrative/dialogue: students b u ild up a dialogue or a piece of narrative following cues from m im ing, cue cards, pictures, flow charts, key functional requests, or o th er stimuli related to narrative o r dialogue (e.g., filling empty7bubbles, cued dialogues, com pleting a dialogue or a text, discourse chains, etc.). M eaningful drill: lan g u ag e activity involving exchange o f a lim ited n u m b e r o f fixed patterns

Identification: students pick out and p ro d u c e / label or otherwise identify' a specific target form , function, definition, or o th er lesson-related item. Game: organized language activity th at has a particu lar task or objective a n d a set o f rules w hich involve an e le m e n t o f c o m p e titio n betw een players (e.g., b o ard games, hangm an, bingo, etc.); it usually im plies e n te rta in m e n t an d relaxation. R eferential question-answer: activity th a t involves p ro m p tin g of responses by m eans o f ref­ eren tial questions (the q u e stio n e r does n o t know b e fo re h a n d the response info rm atio n ); distinguished from information exchange in th at th e in fo rm a tio n o b ta in e d is n o t m e a n t to achieve a task o r solve a problem . Checking: teacher guides the correction of stu­ dents' previous activity o r hom ew ork, providing feedback as an activ ity rath e r than within a n o th e r activity. Wrap-up: b rie f teacher- o r stu d e n t-p ro d u c ed sum m ary of points o r item s th at have b e e n prac­ ticed o r learned.

Transfer/Application Phase Inform ation transfer: students extract inform a­ tion from a text (oral o r w ritten) w hich they apply to a n o th e r m ode (e.g., visual w ritten; oral w ritten, etc.); it im plies som e transform a­ tion o f the inform ation by filling o u t diagram s, graphs, answ ering questions, etc., while listening o r read in g ; d istin g u ish ed from identification in th a t students are expected to re in te rp re t the inform ation. Inform ation exchange: activity th a t involves one-wav o r two-way co m m u n ic a tio n such as inform ation gap exercises, in which one o r both parties m ust obtain inform ation from the o th er

to achieve a goal: distinguished from meaningful drill in that the pattern o f exchange is not lim ited to a fixed set or o rd er o f structures; distinguished from information transfer in th at the inform ation is not reinterpreted: and distinguished from refer­ ential questions in that obtaining the inform ation is critical for the resolution of the task. Role play: students act out specified roles and functions in a relatively free way; distinguished from cued dialogues bv the cuing being provided only m inim ally at the beginning, n o t during, the activity. Report: p rep ared oral exposition of students' previous work (books or stories read, project work, etc.) and elaborated on according to stu­ d en ts’ own interpretation: it can also be students' reports on inform ation obtained from a previous activity as long as it can be considered as prepar­ ation (i.e., students rep o rt back with the help of data obtained during the activity). Narration: s tu d e n ts ' lengthv e x p o sitio n of som ething which thev have seen (film, video program , event, etc.), read (news, books, etc.), or ex p erien ced (events, storv. etc.); n a rra te d in their own words an d w ithout previous p rep a r­ ation; distinguished from cued narrative because of lack o f im m ediate stim ulus. Discussion: debate or o th e r form of g roup dis­ cussion o f specified topic, with o r w ithout speci­ fied sid es/p o sitio n s p rearran g ed . Com position: w ritten d e v e lo p m en t o f ideas, story, dialogues, o r exposition: akin to report but in the w ritten m ode. Problem solving: students work on an activity in which a problem and som e lim itations on m eans are established; it requires cooperative action on the p a rt of participants, in small or large groups, in o rd er to reach a solution; onlv one outcom e — som etim es am ong o th er possible solutions— is allowed p er group. Drama: p la n n e d dram atic ren d itio n o f play, skit, etc. Simulation: activity that involves com plex in ter­ action betw een groups a n d individuals based on sim ulation of real-life actions a n d experiences.

Borderline Activity Testing: formal testing procedures to evaluate students’ progress; considered borderline because it could be included in anv phase, dep en d in g on the content to be tested.

3.2 Task Types and Parameters A n u m b e r o f the labels from this list o f activities have e n te re d into the research an d pedagogical literature on "tasks.” C urrently th ere is consider­ able ex p erim ental work being c o n d u c te d on factors that d ifferentiate lea rn in g tasks with respect to th eir p aram eters an d th eir influence on lea rn ers' p ro d u ctio n in term s o f fluency, complexity, a n d accuracy. Som e o f these factors are sum m arized in this section (see also the sem inal collection of studies in C rookes and Gass 1993a, 1993b). Below are th ree com m only applied defini­ tions o f tasks, falling on a continuum from the n o tio n o f "real-w orld” tasks to specifically focused pedagogical activities: [a] piece o f work undertaken for one­ self or for others, freelv or for some reward . . . exam ples . . . include paint­ ing a fence, dressing a child, buying a pair of shoes . . . bv "task” is m eant the h u n d re d and one things people do in evendav life, at work, at plav, and in between (Long 1985, p. 89). a task is taken to be an activity in which m eaning is primary; there is some sort of relationship to the real world; task com pletion has some priority; and the assessment of task perform ance is in term s of task outcom e (Skehan 1996, p. 38 ). the smallest unit o f classroom work which involves learners in co m p re­ h en ding, m anipulating, producing, or in te rac tin g in th e target language. M inimally, tasks will c o n ta in som e form o f data or in p u t (this m ight be verbal, e.g., a dialogue o r read in g passage, o r nonverbal, e.g., a picture

sequence). T h e task will also have (implicitly or explicitly) a goal and roles for teachers and learners. (Neman 1989a, p. 5). Almost anything can be used as the basis of a task, such as dialogues, public announcem ents, new spaper headlines, telephone directories, or picture strips (N unan 1989). In many SL teaching situations, tise of a variety of texts (written and spo­ ken) is justified, since part o f developing learners’ skill is ensuring that thev becom e familiar with as wide a range o f text tvpes as possible. C urrent research is focusing on wavs and m eans to establish a priori the relative complexity o f tasks. This will aid task selection as well as su p p o rt the developm ent o f task-based syl­ labuses. R obinson (2000) has recently proposed a distinction betw een task complexity, task condi­ tions, a n d task difficulty, which can be com pared with schem as for the analysis of task factors and dim ensions p roposed in earlier work, such as th at o f N u n an (1989), Pica, Kanagv, an d Falodun (1993), an d Skehan (1996). Robinson includes in task complexity only those factors that affect lea rn ers’ cognitive resources for atten tio n and processing of inform ation an d th erefo re affect th e accuracy, fluency, an d com plexity of their p ro duction. These characteristics are \iew ed as continua, with e n d points rep resen ted bv the presence o r absence (±) o f features: ± few ele­ m ents, ± here-and-now1 reference (vs. there-andth e n ), ± reasoning dem ands, ± planning, ± single task, a n d ± p rio r knowledge. T h ere are several studies which have dem onstrated, for exam ple, th a t allowing for p lan n in g in the perfo rm an ce of tasks leads to im provem ents in e ith e r accuracy, fluency, o r complexity7 or com binations o f these positive outcom es (Crookes 1989; O rtega 1999). Similarly, less com plex tasks favor the m ore posi­ tive e n d o f each c o n tin u u m . As com plexity increases, fluency a n d accuracy ten d to drop. W hat Robinson proposes as task conditions have often b een exam ined in the literature with respect to their effects on am o u n t of learn er pro­ duction, interaction, a n d feedback. Thus, ' partic­ ipation variables” such as op en and closed tasks, one-way an d two-way tasks, a n d convergent and

divergent tasks have been shown to have substan­ tive effects on interaction. Some of these are dis­ cussed briefly below. Tikewise, “p a rticip a n t variables" such as g en d er similarities o r differ­ ences, familiarity am ong learners, and powrer rela­ tionships can have an influence on task outcom es. Finally. Robinson makes an im portant dis­ tinction between those factors that can be de­ scribed for specific tasks and the learner-internal factors that influence the difficulty that different learners will have in ability to perform on any given task. These include learners’ motivation, anxiety, confidence, aptitude, level of attained proficiency in the L2, and intelligence. Skehan (1996) has also pointed out the im portance of various pressures on learners (e.g., tim e pres­ sures) that can affect how successfully thev per­ form on tasks. It is im p o rta n t to n o te th a t w'hatever a p p ro ach one takes to the task analysis, it m ust be em b e d d e d in an analysis o f the effects o f task sequencing. T hat is. as suggested in the listing of activities within phases in the previous section, im p lem en tatio n o f tasks in pedagogicallv ratio­ nal sequences can accom plish a g rea t deal toward en su rin g lea rn er success on a given task. S k eh an ’s m odel (1996, p. 57) of task im p lem en ­ tation, for instance, suggests ways in which p re ­ tasks help establish target language o r reduce cognitive load th ro u g h consciousness-raising or practice, and post-tasks help learners to restruc­ tu re a n d in teg rate target form s o r functions, increasing the in teg ratio n o f learn in g goals as fu rth e r sim ilar tasks are perfo rm ed .

3.2.1 Relevant Characteristics Several of the characteristics to be discussed are am o n g th e “task c o n d itio n s” p ro p o se d by Robinson (2000). .Although thev mav n o t affect complexity p er se, thev have been shown to affect the nature of the language used in tasks. The m ain focus of such language has b een on the p ro ­ vision o f com prehensible in p u t as indicated by m arkers o f interactional m odification. It has been argued that language which is com prehensible to the ST learner a n d is at an ap p ro p riate level will

be o f high utility for learn in g purposes, an d that indicators o f such discourse are those deviations from norm al talk which are used to clarify mis­ un d erstan d in g s o r problem s in com m unication (Long 1980). T h e role o f practice in SL devel­ o p m en t has also been em phasized, an d Swain (1985) has refe rre d to this as th e output hypothe­ sis. This suggests th at valuable task characteris­ tics w ould req u ire learn ers to p ro d u ce m ore com plex constructions th an they w ould o th e r­ wise use (C rookes 1989; D uff 1986; for fu rth e r discussion see C rookes 1986; Pica, Kanagy, and Falodun, 1993). A typical task co ndition which was heavily investigated was '‘in fo rm a tio n structure" (an aspect of “inform ation tran sfer” activities — see section 3.1). In fo rm atio n gap tasks m at be designed so th at each particip an t holds different inform ation which m ust be shared verbally in o rd e r for the task to be successfully com pleted. Such a “two-way task” can be co m p ared with one in which verbal inform ation transfer is also nec­ essary for task com pletion, but w here the infor­ m ation is allocated solely to one participant, who is req u ired to convey it to the other. Classic work of this type (Long 1980) showed that two-wav tasks pro d u ced m ore interactional m odification (repetitions, expansions, confirm ation checks, etc.) than did one-wav tasks for native sp eak er' non-native speaker (XS-XXS) chads. A second set of task characteristics, in a sense com plem entary to the one-/two-wav distinction, is shared assum ptions. Some studies suggest that the extensive shared background inform ation avail­ able in some two-wav tasks mav work against call­ ing forth m ore negotiation of m eaning. It mav be. as Gass and Varonis (1985) argue, that if both par­ ticipants in an inform ation-gap task have a veryclear idea of the structure of one a n o th e r’s infor­ m ation, there will be less likelihood of partial or co m plete m ean in g breakdow ns. Similarly, as Gaies (1982) suggests, if both participants are well acquainted with each other, they will be able to m anage com m unication difficulties w ithout the n eed for the extensive negotiation that is probably useful for language acquisition. This may also apply to the availability of visual support for a task. In an investigation o f the degree to which three

d ifferen t tasks p ro d u ce d changes in le a rn e rs’ interlanguages (IL), C rookes a n d R ulon (1988) fo u n d th at o f two problem -solving tasks, the one in w hich observable IL d ev elopm ent was less evi­ dent was the one in which the task provided visual support to both m em bers of the dyad. Even th o u g h the pictures used were n o t identical, thev were versions of the same p icture, differing only in certain lim ited features (often called "Spot the D ifference”). A th ird feature which has b e e n posited as likelv to be relevant is recycling. If the discourse g e n e ra te d by a task requires the sam e linguistic m aterial to be used repeatedly, such a conversa­ tion w ould be potentially m ore useful to the XXS th an one in which m any item s o c cu rred once only (see Gass et al. 1999). A fou rth possible factor is convergence, which derives from the work o f D uff (1986). M am com m unicative tasks available on the ESL m aterials m arket require participants to “reach a m utually acceptable so lu tio n ” (D uff 1986, p. 150). often in solving som e values clarification problem . .Also quite com m on now are m aterials which req u ire students to take a stand on one side o f an issue and argue th eir positions (e.g., .Alexander, Kingsbury, an d C hapm an 1978). T he fo rm er mav be term ed a “convergent task type,” the latter a "divergent task type” (D uff 1986, p. 150). D uff fo u n d that convergent tasks lead to frequent exchange of turns and m ore com m uni­ cation units, whereas divergent tasks lead to longer turns of greater syntactic complexity. If convergent tasks produce m ore questions and shorter turns, one mav assume that m ore com pre­ hensible input is available in the discourse which accom panies their perform ance. Alternatively, if o utput and the role of practice are em phasized, divergent tasks mav be m ore highly valued, although the ex tended discourse (long turns) in [divergent tasks] reduces opportunities for negotiation o f input . . . coupled with the greater svntactic complexity of [discussion], this reduces . . . the am ount o f com prehensible in p u t avail­ able (Duff 1986, p. 170).

We hope that bv being aware of the factors which have been investigated, as well as the factors for which no evidence can legitimatelv be claimed (despite publishers' prom otional claims), teachers will find it easier to m ake the best possible deci­ sions when designing or selecting SL tasks.

4. FA C ILIT A TIO N A m ajor role o f the instructor is to arrange m at­ ters so the m aterial p resen ted gets used and thereby learned. This mav be far m ore critical in the learning o f a cognitive skill, in which practice assumes m ajor dim ensions, than in the learning of most school subjects, in which declarative know ledge (A nderson 1982; OAlallev, Cham ot, an d W alker 1987) is being p resen ted and clear p resentation mav be sufficient in itself to ensure learning (cf. West 1960). We need, therefore, to give som e consideration to such m atters as the overall organization of the classroom , the nature and dynamics of teacher-student and studentstu d en t interaction, and the interface betw een these m atters and the selection o f classroom learning tasks.

4 .1 Class Organization T he key participants in classroom organization are the teacher, the tea c h e r aide o r trainee, the individual stu d e n t an d groupings o f students, the class as a whole, the language p resen tatio n m aterials used (e.g., textbook. AY m edia), and any visitors or outsiders. Com binations of these result in particular structures in class organization and effects on language learning processes. T he d o m in a n t view o f second language classroom processes toclav favors stu d e n tc e n te re d lea rn in g instead o f the trad itio n al teacher-dom inated classroom (X unan 1988b). T h e tea c h e r-d o m in a te d classroom (“teacherfro n te d ”) is characterized bv the tea c h e r speak­ ing m ost o f the tim e, leading activities, a n d constantly passing jud g m en t on stu d e n t p e rfo r­ m ance; in a stu d en t-cen tered classroom , stu­ d e n ts typically will be o b serv ed w orking individually o r in pairs and small groups, each on distinct tasks an d projects.

L earner-centered instruction has the b e n e ­ fits of greater individualization of learning objec­ tives. increased student opportunities to perfo rm using the target language (w hether receptivelv or productivelv), an d increased personal sense of relevance and achievem ent, thus relieving the teacher o f the n e e d to constantlv supervise all students. Students often will pav m ore attention an d learn b e tte r from one a n o th e r since their p erform ances and processes of negotiation o f m eaning are m ore closelv ad apted to one an­ oth er's level of abilitv. Teachers should thus be p rep a re d to develop fewer teacher-dom inated activities and tasks, while rem aining conscious of their students' need for guidance in setting objec­ tives. for appropriate m odels of and feedback about the target language, a n d for constructive and supportive evaluation of their progress. In general, the m ost a p p ro p riate a n d effec­ tive classroom organization is pair an d g roup work. T raditional teachers still h a rb o r negative views o f the outcom es of learn er-d o m in ated activities, b ut a small am o u n t of im p o rta n t class­ roo m -cen tered research has d e m o n stra ted that w hen stu d e n ts h a te m o re o p p o rtu n itie s to em plov the target language, thev m anage to p e r­ form equallv successfullv in term s o f gram m ati­ cal accuracv as w hen the teach er is leading the discussion (D oughtv and Pica 1984; Pica and D oughtv 1983; cf. discussion in C h au d ro n 1988, pp. 151-152). G roup work has been shown to result in many advantages for SL learners (see, for example, Long et al. 1976; Pica and Doughtv 1983; Pica et al. 1996): learners speak m ore frequentlv a n d with longer stretches o f speech; thev p ro d u ce m ore in te ra c tio n a l m o d ific a tio n s d ire c te d at o n e an o th er; a n d thev utilize a w ider range o f lan­ guage. An especially im p o rta n t effect related to cultural differences is th a t the observable in hibi­ tions to speak in larger classes ten d to disappear in small g ro u p work. It should also be recognized that group work results in diversity of p e rfo rm a n c e betw een groups. This suggests th at ju st as individuals contribute to a group, the different groups in a classroom can be linked through different tasks, roles, and shared responsibilities to generate whole-class tasks a n d objectives. A lthough

competitive m odels can be em ployed in this way (as described in Kagan 1986), m any favor whole-class cooperative learning projects.

4.2 Aspects of the Teacher-Fronted Class A lthough we em phasize the relative productivitv of the small g ro u p over the teacher-fronted class, tea c h e rs so m etim es n e e d to o p e ra te in a "lock-step" m ode. We will discuss two general characteristics of teac h e r-stu d e n t in te rac tio n which can fairlv easilv be m an ip u lated u n d e r these conditions to the advantage of SL learn ­ ing: question tvpe and wait tim e.

4.2.1 Question Types Studies (Brock 1986; L ong an d Sato 1983) have shown that ESI. teachers' classroom questioning patterns are tvpicallv different from those used bv native speakers conversing casuallv with adult non-native speakers. SI. teachers ask m ore displav questions (those to which the questioner alreaclv knows the answer) than do orclinarv XSs talking to NNSs. T he latter usuallv use referential ques­ tions (those to which the questioner does not already know the answ er). This difference mav be because teachers tend to act as if the SL were inform ation which they must transm it to students, testing w hether it has been understood bv using display questions. T h e re are reasons to be co n c ern e d about this. First, it is generallv accepted that the m odel o f the target language provided bv the teacher in the classroom should n ot deviate greatlv from thatlikelv to be e n c o u n te re d in real life. Second, if teacher-student in teractio n is p redom inantlv th ro u g h displav questions, relativelv little real c o m m u n ic a tio n is g o in g on. As L o n g an d Crookes observe, Displav questions bv definition p re ­ clude students attem p tin g to com m u­ n icate new, u n k n o w n in fo rm a tio n . Thev ten d to set the focus o f the entire exchange thev initiate on accuracy ra th e r th a n m eaning. T he te a c h e r (an d usuallv th e stu d e n t) already

knows w hat the o th e r is saving or trving to say, so th ere is no m ean in g left to negotiate (1987, p. 181). W ithout negotiation of m eaning it is ques­ tionable w hether students addressed by a teacher are actuallv receiving useful input, in term s of appropriateness to their c u rren t level of com ­ p re h e n s io n a n d / o r lan g u a g e d e v e lo p m en t. F u rth e rm o re , less com plex language is likelv to be p ro d u ce d bv learners who know th at the tea c h e r is onlv asking the question to check th eir know ledge, ra th e r than really w anting a p ro p e r an d com plete answer to a real question. A fu rth e r distinction is relevant: closed ref­ erential questions versus o p en referential ques­ tions. T he fo rm er are questions to w hich the speaker does not know the answer, b u t to which th ere is e ith e r onlv one or a very lim ited set o f possible answers; the latter are questions to which the speaker does not know the answer and to which a large varietv o f answers are possible (see the the distinctions am ong activitv tvpes in Section 3.1). Long et al. (1984) fo u n d th at open referential questions p ro d u ce d m ore com plex student responses than did closed referential questions, with com plexitv m easured bv n u m b er of words p er student turn.

4.2.2 Wait-Time Wait-time refers to the length of the pause which follows a teacher's question to an individual stu­ dent or to the whole class. This lasts until eith er a student answers o r the teacher adds a com m ent or poses a n o th e r question. It can also apply to the p erio d betw een one stu d en t's answ er to a question and the response o f the te a c h e r or a n o th e r student. A n u m b e r o f investigations in general education have found that wait-times can be altered bv teachers but tend to be short, aro u n d one second (e.g., Rowe 1969; for a review see Tobin 1987). W hen wait-time is increased to th ree to five seconds, there is im provem ent in learning and in the qualitv o f classroom dis­ course. T he principal SL study o f wait-time (Long et al. 1984) found that increased wait-time after teacher questions resulted in longer SL student utterances. It did not result in m ore u tteran ces

p e r stu d en t turn, however, which mav have been cine to the low proficiency level of the students in th e studv o r possiblv to an in te ra c tio n b etw een cognitive level o f q u e stio n s a n d w ait-tim e. W hen asking "h ard e r" q u estions, teachers te n d e d to wait longer, b ut the difficulty o f such questions was n o t alwavs com pensated fo r by p r o p o rtio n a te d lo n g er wait-time. We advance the m atte r o f wail-time h ere as an exam ­ ple o f a classroom p ro ce d u re which is easv to m anipulate a n d which w arrants fu rth e r class­ room investigation. Teachers m ight want to trv the effects o f simply waiting lo n g er as thev in te r­ act with th eir SI. students, know ing that th eir findings, if com m unicated, could aid th eir col­ leagues a n d fu rth e r substantiate (or perhaps dis­ prove) the po ten tial of increased wait-time in SL teaching.

5. C O R R E C T IO N A N D FE E D B A C K In Section 2.3 we n o ted that a focus on form al aspects o f the SL has again becom e a c o n cern of m ethodologists an d practitioners. E rro r correc­ tion a n d feedback have tvpicallv been consid­ ered to be p art o f such a focus. As C hau d ro n notes in his review of feedback in language teaching In any com m unicative exchange, speakers derive from th eir listeners inform ation on the reception and com ­ prehension o f their message. . . . From the language tea c h e r’s p oint of view, the provision of feedback . . . is a m ajor m eans bv which to inform learners of the accuracv o f both their form al target language prod u ctio n and their o th er classroom behavior a n d knowledge. From the learners' p o in t o f view, the use of feedback in repairing their u tter­ ances, and involvem ent in repairing th e ir in te rlo c u to rs’ utterances, macconstitute the m ost p o te n t source of im provem ent in b o th target language developm ent an d o th e r subject m atter know ledge (1988, pp. 132-133 ).

W hile th ere is no reason to associate feed­ back a n d correction solelv with a form al focus, approaches to language teaching will vary in the degree to which the teacher is expected to be the source of "correcting" behavior. A traditional notion is that the teacher or m aterials provide a correction o f everv (im portant) lea rn er error, while a m ore c u rren t view em phasizes the im por­ tance of learners obtaining feedback (and pos­ sible correction) onlv w hen the m eanings thev attem pt to convex are not understood; even then, the feedback should be a natural outcom e of the com m unicative interaction, often betw een learners. Even in the m ost lea rn er-ce n te re d instruction, learners n e e d feedback in o rd e r to differentiate betw een acceptable a n d unaccep t­ able target language use. (See the chapters bv L arsen-Freem an and Fotos in this volum e for fu rth e r discussion.) T he provision of feedback, or even "correc­ tions." does not m ean that the inform ation pro­ vided m ust be staled in form alized gram m atical or o th er descriptive term s. T he teacher has inanv options available, from simple indicating lack of com prehension or otherwise signaling the occur­ rence o f an e rro r and getting the learn er to self-correct, to the most elaborate gram m atical explanation and drill of correct forms. Teachers frequently m ake the m istake of th in k in g that bv providing a correct “m o d el,” bv rep eatin g stu d en t statem ents with som e slight change in the grammatical form, learners will per­ ceive the correction and incorporate it into their developing grammars. This is the form of feedback known as "recasts," which is a relatively implicit focus on form (see Long, Inagaki, and O rtega 1998). As C haudron (1977) notes, and Lester (1998a) argues further, such feedback is likelv to be perceived bv the learner not as a formal change, but rather as a confirm ation, rephrasing, or clarifi­ cation of the functional m eaning. For example: Student : I can no go back hom e today early. T etcher : You c a n ’t go hom e early todav? Student : \ o . If th ere is in fact reason to provide form al feedback in such a case, it helps to focus on the specific correction by em phasizing a n d isolating

the m o d eled forms (C h au d ro n 1977): I can't go home, or earlv toda\. But it appears evident from studies of recasts that thev are in fact effective 20-25 p ercen t o f the tim e. This effectiveness mav be because th e r occur w hen the le a rn e r has reached a stage of gram m atical co m p eten ce that allows him o r h e r to perceive the slight differ­ ence in use. In som e recent research on French lan­ guage im m ersion classrooms in C anada, Lvster and Ranta (1997: see also Lvster 1998a. 1998b) illustrate a wide varietv o f feedback events, fre q u e n tlv in the m iddle o f c o n ten t-b ased exchanges. Thev argue that th eir data illustrate the positive value of explicit correction and nego­ tiated feedback in guiding learners' to the cor­ rect use o f target forms, since "uptake" of correct gram m atical form s occurred m ore frequentlv fol­ lowing such corrective mor es. It should Ire noted that a considerable higher rate of uptake of p ro ­ nunciation and lexical errors occurred in their data when the teachers provided onlv implicit feedback in the form of recasts. O n the o th e r hand, such practices mar be less effective th an e n c o u ra g in g le a rn e rs to self-correct (see Tom asello and H erron 1988) or having o th e r learners assist in corrections. Peer correction has the potential advantage of being at the right level of developm ent in the learn er's in terlanguage gram m ar. As we noted in Section 2.3. an im portant lim itation on the effectiveness of feedback and correction, especially with respect to gram m atical developm ent, is the natural o rd e r of acquisition o f a given structure o r function. Ultimatelv. teachers m ust rem ain cu rren t with findings of research in SL acquisition, to b e tte r u n derstand when it m ight be useful to correct.

of ig n o ran ce w here ideallv th ere should be knowledge. O n the one hand, teachers should know w hat relatively firm inform ation does exist, and w here th ere is room for investigation. This should aid their decision m aking. As the SL p ro ­ fession develops, m ore teachers are qualified to conduct their own research or to collaborate with researchers.' O n the o th e r h and, teaching trill alwavs be a series of ju d g m en t calls; its real-time cognitive complexity m eans it will never be just a science, and will alwavs rem ain som e­ thing of an art (cf. Clark and Lam port 1986; L einhardt and G reeno 1986). We have tried here to help the judgm ent calls be educated, inform ed ones through the teacher's com bined use of knowledge and educated professional reflection.

6. C O N C L U S IO N

S U G G E S T E D A C T IV IT IE S

This introductory' review o f SL classroom teach­ ing as an area of studv and professional practice could be extended; indeed, m anv o th e r chapters of this volum e continue the discussion o f kev areas for classroom practice. N onetheless, it is evident that teachers still e n c o u n te r m anv areas

1. Prepare (individuallv) and com pare (as a group) a mini-lesson. Select a specific point of language form or function, rule of conver­ sation. o r o th e r social use o f English. Individuallv develop a sequence of activities that vou m ight use to present, develop, and

D IS C U S S IO N Q U E S T IO N S 1.

Whv should LSL teachers be concerned about keeping up with the results of classroom research and second language acquis-ition research? 2. Do vou agree that teachers should m ake their lesson objectives clear to their students? Can t on think of situations in which this would be inappropriate? Whv? 3. I low m uch place do vou think presentation, ex p lan atio n , a n d discussion of rules for language use have in the SL classroom? W hat underiving view of language and language learning supports vour view? 4. Discuss the wavs in which one m ight investi­ gate the most effective wav of giving feed­ back (or correction). W hat data w ould vou collect, and how would vou identify successful correction?

evaluate this point, a n d then com pare your suggestions in a group. Develop a jointlv agreed-upon way of teaching this point and practice it with one another. 2. A useful alternative wav o f practicing the first activity is for each person to teach a p o in t in a language unknow n to the others in the group. Discuss your feelings on once again being a second language learner. 3. W orking with a partner, discuss tvays in which a teacher with a m ulticultural g roup of stu­ dents can best m aintain a positive classroom clim ate, p ro m o tin g s tu d e n t in te re st a n d m otivation.

FU R T H ER R EA D IN G Bailey, К. M., and D. Xunan, eds. 1996. Voices from the Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. An extensive and accessible collection of recent classroom SL studies, illustrating the range of current work of a more qualitative nature. Burns, A. 1999. Collaborative Action Research for English Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. A practical introduction to teacher research in SL contexts based on actual investigations by a team of SL teachers in Australia. Chaudron, C. 1988. Second Language Classrooms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. A comprehensive survey of earlier SL classroom research. Crookes, G., and S. M. Gass. eds. 1993. Tasks in a Pedagogical Context: Integrating Theon and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Multilingual Matters.

An illustrative collection of studies of pedago­ gical applications of the concept o f ‘’task” in SL teaching. Lurch. T. 1996. Communication in the Language Class­ room. Oxford: Oxford University Press. A useful introduction to basic processes of class­ room interaction and teacher talk, with clear examples.

ENDNO TES 1 We are grateful to mam people named for their assistance with the previous version (Crookes and Chaudron 1991) of this paper, and we wish to continue acknowledgement of Marisol Valcarcel, Mercedes Yerclu. and Julio Roca, of the Universidad de Murcia. - Our discussion is traditional to the extent that we will not deal with approaches to SL teaching that involve going outside the classroom (e.g., Ashworth 1985: Auerbach 1996: Fried Booth 1986). 4 5Vhat "size" the elements are is not at issue here. That is to saw we are not concerned with whether the units presented are structural or functional, or if the language of a given pedagogical task is an unanalvzed whole. 4 Though the idea is not a new one— see, e.g., West (I960). J This is. of course, a problem for the syllabus design­ er to be aware of and to resolve bv proper choice of learning targets (see Long and Crookes 1993). b We should point out that we deliberately avoid the word "method" here: we do not accept its general validity as a term of analysis (cf. Richards 1984). ‘ This is particularly clear in the increased recogni­ tion of the importance of action research in the area of SL teaching (Bums 1999; Crookes 1993; Freeman 1998).

English for Specific Purposes: Tailoring Courses to Student Needs— and to the Outside World ANN

M. J O H N S

• DONNA

P R I С E -M A C H A D О

In "English for Specific Purposes," Johns and Price-Machado argue that all good teaching is specific purpose’ in approach. Using Vocational ESL and other examples, this chapter covers key questions such as " W h o are the stakeholders?" and "W h a t is authenticity in the classroom?” which are addressed using needs and discourse analysis. Various program models demonstrate how ESP values are realized in different contexts.

W H A T IS ESP? English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is a move­ m ent based on the proposition that all language teaching should be tailored to the specific learn­ ing an d language use needs of identified groups of stu d en ts— and also sensitise to the sociocul­ tural contexts in which these students will be using English. Most of the m ovem ent's practi­ tioners are teachers of adults, those students whose needs are m ore readilv identified within academ ic, occupational, or professional settings. ,\n increasing n u m b er of ESP practitioners live and work in English-speaking countries, teaching in program s offering vocational ESL (WESL) or English for O ccupational Purposes (EOP) pro­ grams for new im m igrant and refugee popula­ tions o r in contexts em phasizing academ ic (LAP) o r business langu age (English for Business Purposes). However, ESP continues to be even m ore com m on in English as a Foreign L anguage (EFL) contexts, w here an increasing n u m b e r of a d u lt stu d e n ts are e a g er to le a rn business English o r academ ic English in o rd e r to pursue th eir careers o r studv in English-m edium educa­ tional institutions. O ne rem arkable exam ple of the explosion o f ESP program s in EFL contexts has taken place in C hina, w here foreign trade has risen from 10 p e rc e n t to 45 p e rc e n t o f the Gross N ational P ro d u ct over the last thirty years an d the n e e d to speak English in in te rn atio n a l

trade is u rg en t (H u an g 1999). Many em ployers an d e d u catio n al institutions th ro u g h o u t the w orld are searching for E SL /EFL teachers with solid ESP backgrounds.

ESP Categories T he m ain interests of the ESP m ovem ent can be categorized in a n u m b er of ways (see, for exam ple. Dudley-Evans an d S t.J o h n 1998, p. 6). For the purposes o f this discussion, we have created a set of categories as shown in Figure 1 on page 44. Because of their c u rre n t im portance, a few of these categories will be h ighlighted in this chapter: English for O ccupational Purposes, particularlv \ TESL an d English for Business Purposes (EBP), a n d English fo r A cadem ic Purposes (EAP). It is im p o rta n t to note, however, th a t this chart is far from exhaustive; th ere is a rem ark­ able arrav o f ESP courses offered th ro u g h o u t the world. In various cities in Italy, for exam ple, there are project-oriented curricula for white-col­ lar workers in the tourist industry (English for T ourism ). In M orocco, H asan II U niversity devotes m any of its EAP courses to specific grad­ uate m ajors such as agronom y. In som e nations, learning English to contribute to the develop­ m en t o f a com m unity o r region is a central goal (Gueve 1990). As the prison p o p u latio n grows

English for Specific Purposes

English for Academic Purposes (БАР) English for Science

English for Business

English for Medical

English for

and Technology (EST)

and Economics (EBE)

Purposes (EM P)

the Law (ELP)

(Academic)

(Academic)

(Academic)

(Academic)

English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) English for Professional Purposes (EPP)

English for Medical

English for Business

Pre-employment

Occupational-

Cluster

W orkplace

Purposes (EM P)

Purposes (EBP)

V ESL

Specific V ESL

V ESL

V ESL

Figure I . Classification of ESP Categories

in the U n ited States, th ere are ESP courses in co m p u ter rep air an d o th e r areas of com puter language an d technology for the incarcerated. T his rem a rk a b le diversity o f situations a n d curricula highlights one of the virtues of ESP: the program s are ad ap ted to the contexts and needs of particular groups o f students.

* relevant to the lea rn er ■ successful in im parting learning ■ m ore cost-effective th an “G eneral E nglish."1 An ESP definition needs to distinguish betw een four absolute a n d two variable characteristics: 1.

C E N T R A L ESP C O M P O N E N TS A lthough the m odern ESP m ovem ent has evolved in m any directions since it was fo u n d ed in the m id 1960s (see Swales [1988] for an excellent overview), several com ponents have rem ained relatively constant th ro u g h o u t its history. In 1988, P eter Strevens provided the following overview o f ESP a n d its features. T he claims for ESP are th a t it is ■ fo cu sed on th e le a r n e r ’s n e e d a n d wastes no tim e

A bsolute characteristics: ESP consists o f lan­ guage teaching which is ■ designed to m eet the specified needs of the lea rn er ■ related to c o n te n t (i.e., in its them es a n d topics) to p a rticu la r disciplines, occupations, o r activities ■ centered on the language appropriate to these activities in syntax, lexis, dis­ course, semantics, and the analysis of this discourse ■ in contrast to “G eneral E nglish.”

2.

Variable characteristics: ESP mav be. b ut is n o t necessarily ■ restricted to the language skills to be learn ed (e.g., read in g only) ■ not taught according to any preordained methodology.

T he “absolute characteristics” of the m ovem ent, in particular, have provided guidance in the design of ESP curricula and teaching over the vears. Thus, they are im p o rtan t for u n derstand ­ ing how ESP practitioners distinguish themselves from o th e r ESL/EFL teachers in professional organizations, such as TESOL, and elsewhere. Each characteristic will be discussed later in this chapter. First, however, it is necessary to lat' a fo u n ­ dation, to consider those issues that ESP practi­ tioners m ust address as they plan program s and develop curricula.

ISSUES A D D R E SS E D IN ESP PROGRAM P L A N N IN G ESP pro g ram s are developed because th ere is a d e m a n d , because teach ers, supervisors, gov ern m en t agencies, professionals, students, or o thers see a n e e d for language courses in which certain co n ten t, skills, m otivations, processes, a n d values are id entified a n d in teg rated into specialized, often short-term , courses. As ESP p ra c titio n e rs a p p ro a c h course d ev elo p m en t, they m ust consider a m u ltitu d e o f fa c to rs— an d som e essential q u estio n s— before, an d during, pro ject initiation. 1. Stakeholders in the Class or Project W hat are the sources o f d em an d for this ESP program ? W ho are the clients? An employer, an agency, a governm ent, a m ore traditional educational insti­ tution, o r the students themselves? W hat do the stakeholders view as the essential elem ents of the ESP program they desire? These are the first questions posed— for a n u m b er of reasons, one o f which is funding: Stakeholders generally provide the m oney for courses and curriculum developm ent. A nother reason is m andates: G overnm ents and institutions

th ro u g h o u t the world require specialized lan­ guage training or education for certain employees and students. Som etim es m andates, funding, a n d govern­ m en t reco m m en d atio n s create a intricate web o f re q u ire m e n ts , resp o n ses, a n d oversight. For exam ple, vocational ESI. (VEST) program s in the U nited States2 have b een developed as com plex responses to welfare reform a n d the needs o f fu n d in g agencies such as th e A dult E ducation a n d Family Literacy Act.3 Many VEST program s, in th eir attem p t to m ee t c u rre n t re q u ire m e n ts , are in fo rm e d by th e U.S. D ep artm en t o f L a b o r’s SCANS R e p o rt1, th o u g h no fu n d in g for \T.SL com es directly from this agencv. T he SCANS R eport established two levels of criteria for w orkplace skills (see, for exam ple, M arshall 1997). At the first level, the F o u n d atio n Skills include basic components (reading, writing, active listening, quantitative operations, in te r­ p retin g , o rg an izin g in fo rm a tio n a n d ideas), thinking skills (learning a n d reasoning, thinking creatively, m aking decisions, solving problem s), an d personal qualities (responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, integrity, self-m anagem ent). At the seco n d level, th e W orkplace C o m p eten cies include resource management (organizing, plan­ ning. etc.), interpersonal skills (working in teams, teaching others, negotiating, working effectively within culturally diverse settings, etc.), informa­ tion management (acquiring a n d evaluating facts an d data, using com puters, etc.), systems manage­ ment (u n d ersta n d in g social organization and technological systems), an d technology (selecting equ ip m en t and tools, applying technology to tasks, etc.). Becattse of the influence of this report, m anv \T S L textbook writers and teachers have used SCANS as the basis for their curricula (see, for exam ple, Price-M achado 1998). In o th er contexts, the stakeholders are the stu d en ts them selves, particularly in private ESL/EFL schools th ro u g h o u t the world which professionals attend to upgrade their language skills. These students are often very precise about what thev want to learn and achieve. Even if the students do not, or cannot, initiate o r direct an ESP project, there has been considerable

attention given to wavs in which thev should be em pow ered to participate within it. Somerville (1997, p. 92), working in Australia, argues that we m ust be asking questions such as the following if we are to design workplace literacy curricula that are learner-centered: ■ ■ ■ ■

W ho are the participants in workplace literacv programs? How do the workers experience the programs? How do program s change w orker participa­ tion in workplace culture? (W hat happens to the workplace during and after w orkers’ participation in the program ?)

O th e r m ajor stakeholders are educational insti­ tu tio n s, p a rticu larlv universities in v o k e d in academ ic-purposes program s, an d private com ­ panies that n e e d focused English language an d skills train in g for th eir professional emplovees. An exam ple of co m bined governm ent and institutional stakeholder influence has taken place in re c e n t years in Tunisia. This countrv's president, with his en to u rag e, m ade diplom atic a n d trade-related trips to countries such as South Africa w here English plavs a central role. A lthough the p re sid e n t’s m ajor advisors and business peo p le spoke F rench and Arabic, thev did n o t have sufficient com m and of business o r diplom atic English to be successful. As a result., he has req u ired all institutions of h ig h er learn in g in Tunisia to step up th eir teaching of the English language.5 2. Available Teachers A central issue to be con­ sidered is the natu re of the teachers who will be involved in an ESP program . W hat content, skills, a n d literacies will they be expected to teach? How m uch teacher training have thev com pleted? Are they linguisticallv sophisticated, i.e., can they dis­ cuss how English works and analvze specialized discourses? W hat tvpes o f cu rricu la a n d approaches are thev m ost com fortable with? .All o f these questions are cen tral to design. Inexperienced or "traditional” teachers cannot work within an experim ental ESP context, for exam ple. In nianv EFT contexts, the ESP teacher is n o t a native speaker of English (See M edgves’s ch ap ter in this volum e); this, too, will influence the type o f ESP curriculum designed.

ESP teachers face challenges that o th e r instructors rnav be able to circum vent. O ne chal­ lenge relates to ESP content: discerning the p ar­ ticular vocabularv, discourses, an d processes that are essential to the ESP training o f students w ithin a specialized context. W hat does the teach er have to know about electrical e n g in e e r­ ing and its practices to assist students to write a research p a p e r in that discipline? W hat does a tea c h e r have to know about the language of welding, or tourism , to address the needs of stu­ dents who have chosen these vocations? Manv ESP practitioners argue that if thev can analvze language an d discourses a n d study language use. thev do n o t n e e d specialist expertise. O th ers argue that tit least som e fam iliaritv with the students' discipline or vocation is valuable. In all cases, the te a c h e r/p ra c titio n e r con­ ducts some research in the form of needs assess­ m e n t a n d targ e t situ atio n analysis b efore designing the curricu lu m — and often, th ro u g h ­ out the course. In English for Academ ic Purposes program s, practitioners often analyze the dis­ courses of the stu d en ts’ discipline, visit classes, talk to faculty, and study the strategies and lan­ guage that students use to succeed. In business or diplom atic English, as discussed in the Tunisian exam ple above, the p ractitio n er may have to accom pany a delegation to an Englishspeaking country in o rd er to u n d erstan d the required language for that context. In VEST, this needs analysis research often includes inter­ viewing vocational instructors or em ployers and atten d in g vocational classes. In Fairfax County (Virginia) Adult EST Program s, for exam ple, [The \T.SL. teacher attends vocational classes], taking notes on troublesom e vocabularv, idiom s, slang, concepts, cultural differences, an d th en s /h e addresses these things in the EST class. This makes up most o f the co n ten t of the EST class with additional practice in the developm ent o f reading, listen­ ing. speaking, writing and problem solving skills (Schrage, personal com ­ m unication, 2 /2 6 /0 0 ) • A n o th e r c h a llen g e fo r ESP tea c h e rs involves a tta in in g th e necessary b re a d th of u n d e rsta n d in g about successful com m unication

w ithin a context that they, a n d th eir students, n e e d to develop. How is a good w orking and com m unicative relationship established am ong professionals from differen t cultures who are negotiating o r p resen tin g papers in English? W hat kinds o f problem s a n d relationships exist betw een L2 w orkers a n d th eir supervisors? How should a person use language to be polite, give orders, or perform o th er English language func­ tions within the target context? Or, to give one very specific purpose area, how does a pilot estab­ lish contact with a n d give clear messages to air traffic controllers? These are subtle and not-sosubtle com m unications issues that can m ake or break businesses and affect safetv and good work­ ing relationships. 3. Authenticity Issues Because ESP involves special Englishes an d contexts, n o t "G eneral E nglish,” efforts to achieve m axim um linguistic, strategic, a n d situational authenticitv are m ade in designing curricula. O n e of the m ost advanta­ geous “a u th e n tic ” possibilities is provided bv courses offered wholly, or in part, on site in the target location: at a w orkplace, such as a factorv o r shipyard, or w ithin specific academ ic con­ texts, such as an en g in e e rin g or biologv d e p a rt­ m ent. On-site ESP provides o p p o rtu n ities for an accurate a n d rich needs assessm ent a n d o n ­ going training an d evaluation, as well as for in p u t from the stakeholders involved. In univer­ sities, on-site language training may occur in ad ju n ct courses o r o th e r tvpes o f content-based arran g em en ts th at p erm it students to ex p eri­ ence language a n d literacies in th eir n atural contexts (see J o h n s 1997). If on-site courses c an n o t be offered, practi­ tioners search for o th e r wavs to provide students with authenticitv. T h e re is a long a n d som etim es contentious historv o f in tro d u c in g in to th e class­ room w ritten o r oral discourses th at are central to, b u t rem oved from , the target situation in w hich th e students will eventually be using English. Manv curriculum designers analyze and segm ent these discourses so th a t they can be studied w ithin a curriculum . However, som e experts argue th a t when practitioners im p o rt into the classroom target situation texts (or “g en res”) taken o u t o f th eir original settings,

these texts lose th eir authenticity of context, audience, an d o th e r factors: a traditional belief that now appears problem atic is that genres for use in one co n tex t— historv lessons o r office w ork— can be straightforw ardlv taught in a differen t co n tex t such as the English lesson. . . . Producing an exam ­ ple o f a genre is a m atter n o t ju st of generating a text with certain form al characteristics b u t o f using generic resources to art effectivelv on a situa­ tion th rough a [written or spoken text] (Freedm an and Medway 1994, p. 11). Supporting this claim, som e practitioners argue that authenticitv should relate to the transferabili­ ty of strategies or activities rath e r than to spoken or w ritten texts from target contexts. Thus, for exam ple, if students practice politeness strategies in the target language, thev may be able to use these approaches in a variety o f som ew hat u n p re ­ dictable contexts. In the following quote, which continues to influence ESP curricula, W iddowson argues the following: [a] process-oriented ap p ro ach accepts from the outset th at the language data given to the le a rn e r will n o t be p re­ served in store intact, b u t will be used in the m ental mill. H ence the lan­ guage c o n te n t of the course is selected not because it is representative of w hat the learner will have to deal with after the course is over b u t because it is likelv to activate strategies for learning as the course progresses (1981, p. 5). Efforts at activating strategies and processes in ESP classrooms can take m anv forms. For exam ple, after research in g the targ et EFL situation, Souillard (1989. p. 24) found certain oral activities for French students to be relevant and transfer­ able to their disciplinary classrooms in which English was the m edium o f instruction: dictating calculations, describing a geom etric figure, giving instructions for a p ro ce d u re , describing a p lan t site, p rep a rin g a schedule, a n d describing a g rap h or flowchart.

4. Curricular Decisions O th e r chapters in this volum e address the issues o f curriculum . (See especially those bv N unan, Snow, Erring, and M cGroarty.) All o f those issues m ust also be addressed in ESP. In m aking curricular decisions. ESP practitioners have b een influenced over the years by trends in applied linguistics and general ESL/EFL teaching, w hen relevant to their stu­ d en ts, m oving th ro u g h th e m eth o d o lo g ical variations, from gram m ar-based to com m unica­ tive, to process-based, an d to genre-based curric­ ula. But whatever the c u rre n t trends, it is a basic responsibility' o f an ESP practitio n er to be con­ text- a n d student-sensitive. Thus, in several EFL contexts, only ESP reading is taught, often using m ethods such as intensive reading that are most am enable to local student learning. In o th er con­ texts, the con cen tratio n is u p o n o ra l/a u ra l skills. (See L azaraton’s c h ap ter in this volum e.) T he purpose of any ESP curriculum , then, is to m eet the specific linguistic and pragm atic needs of students as they p rep are for identified Englishm edium contexts. No texts and discourses and no tasks or activities should be extraneous to student needs a n d the req u irem en ts of the target context. O f course, this makes the selection of o ff the-shelf textbooks very difficult, as Swales (1980), am ong others, has noted. Should a text­ book be Avide-angled" an d inclusive, such as m any English for Business texts are. losing some o f the specificitv of local student needs? Should textbooks be “narrow-angled," addressing some o f the focused needs of the learner? State-of-theart ESP classes often m ust also include the inte­ g ratio n o f c o m p u te r technology. Plow this technolog)' is used, and which skills are integrat­ ed, will again d e p e n d u p o n the specific needs of the students. K appra (2000), for exam ple, makes these suggestions for integrating SCANS ATSL and co m puter technologies: a. Have students keep co m p u te r records of th eir progress a n d assess that progress bv com pleting reports, b. Assign co m puter-related tasks such as dis­ trib u tin g disks an d trouble-shooting. c. Use problem -solving activities that require basic c o m p u te r skills (p. 14).

W h eth er practitioners choose p u blished textbooks or develop th eir own m aterials, revi­ sion an d u p d atin g m ust occur constantly in ESP. In "adjunct" EAP classes in universities, for exam ple, the ESP teachers m ust consult fre­ quently with the c o n te n t instructors to adjust or ren egotiate th eir assignm ents. In E O P A U S L program s, job shadow ing can be used to u p d ate curricula. \T S L program s are also frequently revised an d new m odules created to reflect the language and o th e r skills n e e d ed for jobs that becom e available in the com m unin'. 5. Assessm ent All ESI. EFL teach ers m ust consider issues of assessm ent, discussed in the c h a p te r bv C ohen in this volum e. W hat is partic­ ularly c h allen g in g in ESP pro g ram s is that students and th eir sponsors, governm ents, or academ ic institutions are anxious to see im m e­ diate a n d fo cu sed assessm ent results th a t address specific objectives. Tims, the dem ands of assessment, both in terms of formative and summative evaluation, are great. In a work on ESP testing. Douglas (2000) points out the following: [a] specific purpose language test is one in which test c o n te n t a n d m eth ­ ods are derived from an analysis of the characteristics of a specific target lan­ guage use situation, so that test tasks and c o n te n t are authentically rep re ­ sentative of the target situation, allow­ ing for an in teractio n betw een the test taker's language activity a n d specific pu rp o se c o n te n t know ledge, on the one h an d , and the test tasks on the other. Such a test allows us to m ake inferences about a test taker's capacity to use language in the specific p u r­ pose dom ain (p. 19). ESP assessment m ust also be appropriate to the instructional context. In \T S L program s, for exam ple, interviewing supervisors or the students themselves about language, content, and task pro­ ficiency can be m ore effective than anv traditional oral exam ination or reading and writing test. Some ESP experts, particularh- in large YESL and EAP program s, are now testing students on-line to

encourage the developm ent of com puter skills and to m ake testing m ore efficient. In EAP pro ­ grams, th ere is a long history o f attem p tin g to design discipline-sensitive exam inations at insti­ tutions such as the Universitv o f M ichigan.

PREPARING A N ESP C U R R IC U LU M

3.

After this discussion of the questions and topics th at m ust be addressed before a curriculum is p rep ared , we notv tu rn to the "absolute charac­ teristics” m en tio n e d bv Strevens (1988) and their application to curriculum design. T h ough ESP shares m uch with "G eneral English" curric­ ula a n d overlaps with content-based designs, there are certain features which distinguish it from o th e r approaches. N eeds A ssessm ent In everv g e n u in e ESP course, needs assessment is obligatorv. and in m ant' program s, an ongoing needs assessment is integral to curriculum design and evaluation. In perform ing an assessment, practitioners attem pt to determ ine as closelv as possible what students will need to d o — and how thev will need to do it— in English language contexts or with English language literacies. Over the tears, m ethods of assessing learner needs have becom e increasinglv sophisticated a n d process-based. H e re are a few of those em ploved, often for the same curricular design: 1.

2.

Q uestionnaires a n d survevs: These can be given to the students them selves, th eir em ployers or supervisors, or the audiences to w hom then will be w riting o r speaking. Thev can be adm in istered as “precourse questionnaires" (Ducllev-Evans a n d St. John 1998), th ro u g h o u t the course, o r after it is com pleted. Interviews o f experts, students, an d o th er stakeholders: Particularlv useful for aca­ dem ic English are som e o f the interviews about uses and functions of specific linguistic items in discourses, a practice th at has becom e increasinglv popular after a land­

4.

5.

6.

m ark study o f the uses of the passive p u b ­ lished in The ESP Journal/ (Tarone et al. 1981). In VESL (Vocational ESI.) a n d Business English, interview ers ten d to rely u p o n the supervisors and experts w ithin the target situation in which the students w ould be working, as well as the w o rk e rs/stu d e n ts themselves. O bservation, job-shaclowing, a n d analysis: T hese ap p ro ach es can take place on the job. in academ ic contexts while students are reading and writing (i.e., “processing”) texts, while individuals are speaking, work­ ing in groups, etc. ESP needs assessments have been greatlv influenced bv recent qual­ itative research, specificallv ethnography. M uch o f the c u rren t work is "thicker” in term s of description than that o f the past, so careful observation tends to be integrated with o th er forms o f needs assessment. Job-shadowing is very valuable to YES I. teachers, who explore the linguistic, cultural, and pragm atic experiences of workers as they experience a tvpical dav on the job. M ultiple intelligence an d lea rn in g stvle .survevs of the students: ESP practitioners use standard instrum ents as well as o th er m eth­ ods for d eterm ining stu d en t approaches to learning and text production such as pro­ tocols and interviews (see S t.Jo h n 1987). M odes o f working: W orking in team s is a n o th e r aspect o f job p erfo rm a n c e th a t is com m on in m anv VEST contexts as well as in som e academ ic classes. A needs assess­ m en t may thus include analysis o f how team s work in the target context, break­ downs in negotiation in culturally m ixed groups, a n d o th e r factors th a t may in hibit or e n h a n ce success. Spoken or w ritten reflections by the stu­ d e n ts — or th eir supervisors— before, d u r­ ing. o r a fter in stru ctio n : In reflectio n , stakeholders are able to look back cm what thev h a te experienced with an ESP p ro ­ gram . Reflections can be used to determ ine how a current program should be revised or future program s should be designed.

T here is im portant literature distinguishing between student needs, wants, and larks (see, for exam ple, H u tc h in so n a n d W aters 1987, p. 55), and for adults, these are im portant distinc­ tions. Readers interested in exploring these issues are encouraged to consult the considerable litera­ ture in both ESP an d jo b training program s on needs assessment for curriculum design. From the established needs, specific objec­ tives for students are w ritten, an d from these objectives, the classroom tasks a n d m ethod s for assessm ent o f th e p ro g ram a n d its students are d e te rm in e d a n d revised as th e course progresses. Relating to Content (of Occupations, Disciplines, etc.) Since 1988 w hen Strevens wrote his ESP overview, th ere has been an explosion of research and theory on co n ten t (see, for exam ple, Snow’s ch ap ter in this volum e), as well as on the wavs in which values established within com m unities of workers and practitioners influence the m an n er in which c o n ten t is ap proached and visually dis­ played. B erkenkotter and H uckin (1995, p. 14), discussing academ ic content, argue that "what constitutes true . . . knowledge . . . is knowledge of appropriate topics and relevant details.” O ne exam ple from the litera tu re may show how u n d erstan d in g the uses of c o n ten t influences stu­ d e n ts ’ success in universities. G iltrow a n d Valiquette (1994) asked teaching assistants from psychology a n d crim inology to read their stu­ d e n ts’ papers a n d critique their ability to m anage the knowledge o f their respective disciplines. T he teaching assistants found that successful student papers were quite different, d ep en d in g on the field. In psychology, students were required to dem onstrate how thev could m anage details in texts by including some inform ation and exclud­ ing o th er topics. In criminology, on the other hand, the m ost im portant skill involved relating concepts to exam ples, again m aking the co n ten t work within a disciplinary framework. W hat does this m ean about co n ten t selec­ tion for curricula? It tells us that in all ESP situa­ tions, practitioners m ust continuouslv assess what types o f c o n te n t are central, how content is used a n d valued, and the relationships betw een vocab­ ulary and central concepts. A nother essential

e le m e n t o f successful c u rric u lu m d esig n is selecting c o n te n t th at m otivates students: those topics that these im p o rta n t stakeholders w ant to address. In a volum e on adult participatory literacv instruction a n d VESL, A uerbach et al. (1996) argue the following: verv o ften , [a d u lt stu d e n ts] are im m ersed in the struggles o f adjusting to a new cu ltu re, sep aratio n from families, p reo ccu p atio n with the polit­ ical situation in th eir hom e countries, trving to find work, a n d so on. R ather th a n seein g th ese p re o c c u p a tio n s as obstacles to lea rn in g , a participatorv ap p ro ach allows them to focus on th em as p art o f learn in g . . . [and thev are] m ore engaged in c o n te n t (p. 158). Identifying and Analyzing Essential Language and Discourses Since ESP can be co n sid ered a subdiscipline of applied linguistics, practitioners have m ade effective use of the trends in this area to analvze, for curricular purposes, the language a n d discourses (genres) o f the targ et situations in which th eir students will be studying, living, or working. In the 1960s, language analysis te n d e d to c e n te r on the p articu lar gram m atical o r lexi­ cal features (i.e.. “registers”) of discourses. Thus, researchers fo u n d th at certain verb form s p re­ d o m in a te d in scientific discourses (B arb er 1966), th a t a lim ited g ro u p of cohesive devices are fo u n d in business letters (Johns 1980) and th at abbreviations are characteristic o f telexes (Zak a n d Dudley-Evans 1986). Now, o f course, m uch business and academ ic com m unication takes place via e-mail, so p ractitio n ers are researching the registers of e-mail com m unication in o rd er to develop m ore authentic curricular m aterials (see, for exam ple, Gim enez 2000). .As com m unicative syllabus design (especially N otional Functional syllabi) becam e popular, the types o f discourse analyses conducted relied m ore upon language function th an u p o n counts o f spe­ cific linguistic item s. M atsunobu (1983), for exam ple, fo u n d th at university business profes­ sors used th re e m ajor types o f speech acts in th eir lectures: inform atives, m etastatem ents, and

discourse m arkers: thus, she developed a listen­ ing curriculum in which these acts were the focus. As it has m atu red , research into com m u­ nicative functions has drawn increasinglv from pragm atics, showing, lo r exam ple, that the wavs in which individuals are polite to each o th er d e p e n d upon their disciplines an d u p o n their rel­ ative status. Hyland (1998) found that when pub­ lished authors in the sciences write to their peers, they ten d to “hedge" their conclusions, m aking com m ents such as, “T he data ap p ear to show . . or “Perhaps this indicates . . . " Nett surprisingly, com puters are now used to d e te rm in e the gram m atical features shared bv large num bers o f spoken or w ritten discourses within certain genres (Biber 1994). A related app ro ach , m ore tvpical o f the British ESP spe­ cialists, is c o n c o rd a n c in g (Jo h n s 1989). a m eth o d for d e te rm in in g lexical collocations in a large n u m b e r of spoken and w ritten texts. In con co rd an cin g , p ractitio n ers d e te rm in e what language most com m onlv surrounds a word in authentic discourses. Tliev m ight explore a com ­ m on word such as take, and through exam ining a large n u m b er of written and spoken discourses from particular situations, they can determ ine the linguistic environm ents in which take appears. This work is a boon to ESP. of course, since teach­ ers organize their curricula according to the most com m on contexts of central vocabularv. C on co rd an cin g and corpus linguistics tend to be m ost co n c ern e d with bottom -up studies of texts, m easuring the natu re and interactions of various gram m atical and lexical features. O th e r ESP practitioners have co n c en tra te d upon the m acro features o f texts — and th eir co n tex ts— bv studving the relationships betw een the structure an d language o f w ritten texts a n d the situations in which these texts appear. John Swales’s Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings (1990) set the tone for ESP research of this type, an d mans others have followed his lead. Drawing from earlier u'ork in applied lin­ guistics. ESP specialists have studied genres from a variety of occupational and academ ic com m u­ nities such as the law (Bhatia 1993) and business (Eustace 1996). T hough using curricula in which genres are central has been characteristic of EBP for a n u m b er of t ears ( Johns 1987). these

approaches h a te onlv recentlv influenced the teaching of reading an d waiting in academ ic set­ tings, particularly at the graduate level (see Swales and Feak 1994).

PROGRAM M ODELS W hat do ESP program s look like? It should be clear from this discussion th at th ere is a wide range o f courses an d program s in a wide range o f locations, always keved to the language needs, skills, co n ten t, an d processes req u ired . Perhaps one of the best articulated a n d w idespread sets o f program m odels in EST contexts falls u n d e r the \T S E rubric. It includes the following: Preem ployment VESL This is a m odified ver­ sion o f a "general" EST class in that the c o n te n t is den oted to job readiness and g en eral “soft” job skills as ou tlin ed in the SCANS R eport. Students practice general jo b functions such as resp o n d ­ ing to com plaints, m aking requests, an d answer­ ing the p h o n e. Tliev mav also p rep a re for job interviews and o th e r initial job skills. Occupation-Specific VESL H ere, the c o n te n t is related to a particu lar job such as nu rsin g assis­ tant o r electronics assembler. It can be tau g h t eith e r as p rep a ra tio n for. or con cu rren tly with, a vocational program . An exam ple m ight be a th re e -h o u r class, th ree d ais a week, in w hich stu­ dents studv vocabularv an d o th e r skills they will n eed for an electronics assem ble class th at also enrolls native speakers o f English. .After the VESL class, thev atten d the regular electronics assembly class— or thev mav attend both concurrently. T here is freq u en t com m unication betw een the W S L and vocational instructors. Cluster VESL These classes include students from differen t vocations in one classroom . Students studv all four "skills” (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), often in a them e-based pro­ gram (e.g., "The World of W ork”). In one class, for exam ple, students read about how to m eet people and make small talk in the workplace. T hen, they m eet in pairs or teams answering jigsawr com pre­ hension questions o r com pleting a problem ­ solring or writing exercise. Later, students work

on individualized m odules devoted to th eir cho­ sen professions a n d are assessed on this work. (Note: Because o f the a tte n d an c e req u irem en ts in m any ad u lt schools, this is probablv the most com m on type o f program .) Workplace VESL This term applies to skills a n d c o n te n t o f a specific w orkplace. It can be job-specific, such as for electronics assemble, or it may have a b ro a d e r em phasis. O ften, the em ployer pays for som e o r all o f the course, and em ployees are excused d u rin g th eir workdav to a tte n d (Thom as, Bird, a n d G rover 1992, p. 108). English for Business program s are the m ost p o p u la r in the English as a Foreign Language world. Businesses, o r individuals, req u ire classes in negotiation, co rresp o n d en ce, bid and rep o rt w riting, a n d in su p erv isin g b ilin g u al a n d E SL /E FL workers. N ot surprisinglv, program design com es in m any shapes an d sizes d e p e n d ­ ing u p o n the large variety o f contexts an d stu­ d en ts served. (See the special Business English issue o f English for Specific Purposes, 15(1), 1996.) English for Academic Purposes also has a long historv o f program specialization, particularlv in science and technology areas at advanced levels (see Swales 1988). Some excellent research and curricula (see, for exam ple, Swales and Feak 1994) have been developed for graduate students in the areas o f research p a p e r analysis and advanced academ ic writing. U nfortunately for m any ESL contexts, the EAP tradition at the undergraduate level has been clouded with con­ troversy. T here is little agreem ent on how, or what, EAP should consist of for those students who have n o t yet advanced into their academ ic majors. ESP and the Future T here is no question that ESP is well established, particularly in EFL aca­ dem ic an d business contexts and in VESL pro­ gram s in English-speaking countries. O u r largest professional organization, TESOT, has an active ESP Interest Section whose m em bers represent a wide variety o f EFL and ESL contexts. T here is considerable dem an d for ESP teachers who can p erfo rm a variety o f needs assessment tasks, such as collecting authentic discources and analyzing them , m aking appropriate observations, and con­

sulting various stakeholders— and th en produce curricula sensitive to the students and context. T h e re is also a n e e d for discourse analysis research, particularlv in English for Business a n d \T.SL contexts. In ad d itio n , th e re is a grow ing d e m a n d for specialists who can develop com puter-based curricula and m ore a u th en tic tests. T eachers with professional tra in in g in these areas find them selves in great d e m a n d in tern atio n allv — an d often thev are leaders in adult school sites within th eir ho m e countries. In the future, ESP mav include m uch m ore studv o f genres, particularlv the “hom ely” genres of the workplace and community. It may lead to the developm ent of m ore sophisticated, learnercentered or team -oriented curricula, particularly in \T S L and professional program s. T here may also be greater involvement of ESP in econom ic developm ent and nation building. ’W hatever its directions, ESP will rem ain central to ESL and EFL teaching th ro u g h o u t the world.

D IS C U S S IO N Q U E S T IO N S 1. How can a \T S L teacher (or am - ESP teacher, for that m atter) integrate the essential areas o f sociabilitv, teamwork, and self-esteem into his or h er teaching? 2. Your supervisor has decided th a t you will initiate a VESL class (an ESP program ) at your school. W hat are som e of the questions you n e e d to ask a n d things you n e e d to do to p rep a re for th at class? 3. W hat areas of ESP appeal to you most? Why? If you were to teach a class in the m ost appeal­ ing area, what would its focus be? Why? 4. How can a perso n effectively assess the results of an ESP program ? .After consulting the c h a p te r bv C ohen in this volum e or the work bv Douglas (2000), discuss som e possi­ bilities for assessment. 5. T h ro u g h o u t this chapter, the au th o rs ju x ta ­ pose "G eneral E nglish” a n d ESP. W hat is “G eneral E nglish” in vour view? To w hom should it be taught?

S U G G E S T E D A C T IV IT IE S 1. D esign a “tria n g u la te d ” needs assessm ent for a particu lar class, which includes obtaining the same data in d ifferen t ways. C onsider questionnaires, observation, interviews, and discourse analysis. 2. W h ere does c o m m u n ic a tio n b reak d o w n occur? W here do E SL /EFL students face the m ost difficulty in using English in target situations? O bserve a class, a lab, bilingual workers on-line or at a construction site. D ecide what th e areas of breakdow n are (e.g., question-posing skills) and how vou m ight teach them . 3. LTsing inform ation from needs assessments o r o th e r sources, develop some g roup activ­ ities that relv u p o n e ith e r strategies for achieving ends (e.g., negotiation) o r essen­ tial linguistic features (e.g., hedging). Assign these activities to a class. 4. W hat are the features o f a p articular genre th at students will n e e d to read or write? Classify som e o f these features an d discuss how you m ight p resen t them to a class. 5. If available, survey the th ree ''wide-angled" VESL textbooks listed below. Make a list o f sim ilarities and differences am ong these volum es that considers: a. the use a n d w eighing o f the SCANS com petencies, b. the te x t’s organization. c. central activities. Does one textbook seem m ore ap p ro p riate for certain groups of students? Whv? ■

Price-Machado, D. (1998). Skills for Success. New York: C am bridge University Press.

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Magv, R. (1998). Working It Out. Boston: H einle 8c H einle Publishers.

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English ASAP (1999). Austin, TX: SteckYaughn.

FU R T H ER R E A D IN G Douglas, D. 2000. Assessing Languages for Specific Purposes. New York: Cambridge CYriversitv Press. This is the first volume devoted exclusively to assessment, a central issue in ESP and in other specific purposes languages (ESP). A text that is accessible to nonexperts, it includes a variety of actual test tasks taken from a num ber of LSP areas. Dudlev-Evans, T, and M. f. St. John. 1998. Develop­ ments in ESP: A Multi-Disciplinary- Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. This is a verv good text for those new to ESP. It includes discussions and examples of all the “absolute characteristics” of the movement and provides a variety of examples from EAP and English for Occupational Purposes (both pro­ fessional and \TSL). English for Specific Purposes: A n International Journal (formerly The ESP Journal). Founded in the earlv 1980s, the journal includes articles on all of the "absolute characteristics” of ESP (needs assessment, discourse analysis, etc.) as well as discussions of research and the practical issues of curriculum design. .Also included are metre infor­ mal discussions of ESP issues and book reviews. Gillespie. M. 1996. Learning to Work in a New Land: A Review and Sourcebook for Vocational and Workplace ESL. Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied linguistics. This text examines the role of immigrants in the workforce, the status of English language learning in vocational and workforce educa­ tion. and the wavs the educational and govern­ mental systems can enhance opportunities and productivity for the English language learner. Grognet. A. 1997. Integrating Employment Skills into Adult ESL Education. (A project in adult immi­ grant education. PAIE). Washington, D.C.: National Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Educa­ tion. [Sponsoring agenev: Office of Educational Research and Improvement, Washington, D.C.] (ERIC PRODUCT 071). This question and answer text discusses how employment preparation can be integrated into an English as a Second Language curriculum, whether in a workplace or general ESL program. Johns. A. M.. and T. Dudlev-Evans. 1991. English for specific purposes: International in scope, specific

in purpose. TESOL Quarterh. 26(2): 297-614. Commissioned for TESOL’s twentv-fifth anniversary, this article provides a short overview of the ESP movement and its history.

EN DN O TES 1 “General English” is enclosed bv quotes throughout this chapter because the authors do not believe that such a language exists. All language and language classes are specific to the learner, the context, and the content.

- The authors would like to thank Gretchen Bitterlin, ESL Resource Teacher, San Diego Community College District: and Brigitte Marshall, Educational Programs Consultant, Adult Education Office, California Department of Education, for their assis­ tance in the \TiSL discussions found in this chapter. 4 As Title II of the Workforce Investment Act (WTA). 4 Secretary of Labor's Commission on Achieving Xecessarv Skills. ■’ The authors are indebted to Mohamecl Daoud, one of Tunisia's foremost ESP experts, for this anecdote. b Now called English for Specific Purposes: An Inter­ national Journal.

Syllabus Design DAVI D

NUNAN

in “ SyMabus Design," Nunan describes and evaluates a range of syllabus types including grammatical, notional-functional, content-based, task-based, and integrated, he also sets out and illustrates key procedures for developing syllabuses.These include needs analysis, goal and objective setting, and the development of competencies.

O V ER V IEW In o rd e r to define svllabus design, we n e e d to start with the b ro a d e r field o f curriculum devel­ o pm ent. Curriculum is a large messy co ncept which can be looked at in a n u m b e r o f warns. A very b ro ad definition is that it includes all of the p la n n e d lea rn in g experiences o f an educational system. T he field o f curriculum developm ent was first system atized bv Tr ier in 1949, who artic­ ulated fo u r fu n d am en tal questions that m ust be answ ered bv anv cu rriculum developer: 1. 2.

3. 4.

W hat educational purposes should a school seek to attain? W hat educational experiences can be pro ­ vided that are likelv to attain those purposes? How can the educational experiences be effectively organized? How can we d eterm in e w h eth er these p u r­ poses have b een attained?

In the context of language teaching, the first two questions have to do with syllabus design, the th ird with language teaching m ethodology, and the fo u rth with assessm ent an d evaluation. Syllabus design, then, is the selection, sequencing, and justification of the content of the curriculum . In language teaching, c o n te n t selection will include selecting linguistic features such as items o f gram m ar, pronunciation, and vocabulary' as well as experiential content such as topics and them es. This selection process is guided by needs analyses o f various kinds. Needs analysis provides the designer with a basis both for content specifi­ cation an d for the setting of goals a n d objectives.

In 1976, David W ilkins p u blished an influential b o o k called Notional Syllabuses, in w hich he argued th at the p o in t o f d e p a rtu re for syllabus design should n o t be lists o f linguistic item s, b u t a specification of the concepts th at learn ers wish to express (notions such as tim e a n d space), an d the things th at learners w ant to do with language (functions such as co m p lim en tin g o r apologiz­ ing). M ore recen tly th ere have b een calls fo r the ad o p tio n o f a process approach, in which the point o f d ep a rtu re is n o t lists o f linguistic or notional-functional content, b u t a specification of com m unicative and learning processes. This has resulted in proposals for task-based syllabuses. A nother significant trend, particularly in second as opposed to foreign language contexts, has been the em ergence of content-based syllabuses. Most recently, an integrated approach has been called for. In such an approach, all or m ost o f the ele­ m ents and processes described above are incorpo­ rated into the svllabus. In this chapter, I wall elaborate o n the con­ cepts an d processes described in the p reced in g p aragraph. W here a p p ro p riate, the concepts will be illustrated with extracts from syllabuses of differen t kinds.

Grammatical Syllabuses T raditionally the p o in t of d e p a rtu re for design­ ing a language syllabus has b een to select a n d sequence lists o f gram m atical item s, a n d th en in teg rate these with lists o f vocabulary items. Lists o f phonological item s have som etim es b een throw n in for good m easure.

G ram m atical syllabuses are still very p o p u ­ lar today, alth o u g h thev were at th eir most p o p ­ u la r th ro u g h th e 1960s. w hen virtually all syllabuses were crafted in gram m atical term s. T he assum ption underlying these syllabuses is th a t language consists o f a finite set of rules which can be co m bined in various wavs to m ake m eaning. T he task for the language lea rn er is to m aster each rule in the o rd e r p resen ted bv the svllabus before m oving on to the next. T he w hole purp o se o f the gram m atical svllabus teas to control in p u t to the lea rn er so that onlv one item teas p resen ted at a tim e. This created a dilem m a, which becam e m ore and m ore press­ ing with the advent of Com m unicative Language Teaching: How co u ld one co n tro l in p u t at the same tim e as one is providing learners with exposure to the kinds o f language thev would e n c o u n te r outside the classroom? This problem can be addressed in a n u m b er o f ways. O n e solution is to ab andon anv attem pt at structural grading. A nother is to use the list of graded structures, not to d eterm in e the language to which learners are exposed, but to d eterm in e the items that will be the pedagogic focus in class. In o th e r words, learners are exposed to nat­ uralistic samples o f text which are onlv roughly graded, and which provide a richer context, but thev are onlv expected form ally to m aster those items which have been isolated, graded, and set o u t in the svllabus (X unan 1988a, p. 30). D uring the 1970s, the gram m atical svllabus cam e u n d e r attack on two fronts. In the first place, the linear sequencing entailed in gram ­ m atical syllabuses did not rep resen t the com ­ plexity of language. Secondly, evidence from the field o f second language acquisition showed that learners did not necessarily acquire language in the o rd e r specified bv the gram m atical svllabus. For exam ple, Dulav and Burt (1973) and Bailey, M adden, and Krashen (1974) showed that cer­ tain gram m atical items ap p eared to be acquired in a p red e term in e d order, and that this o rd er ap p eared to be im pervious to form al instruction. This led K rashen (1981. 1989) to argue that we sh o u ld a b a n d o n gram m atically stru c tu re d syllabuses com pletely in favor o f a "natural a p p ro a c h ” to language learning. In the natural a p p ro ach , gram m atical g rad in g is eschew ed.

replaced bv com m unicative activities that pro­ m ote subconscious acquisition following the ''natural" o rd e r ra th e r than conscious learn in g based on classroom instruction. An alternative explanation for the lack of congruence between the input provided by gram ­ matical syllabuses and the language actually used bv learners at different stages of developm ent has been provided bv P ienem ann a n d Johnston (1987). These researchers argue that the o rd e r in which learners acquire a p articular item will be d eterm in ed , not bv the gram m atical com ­ plexity of the item , but bv its speech processing complexity. T h eir hypothesis predicts that the third person singular verb inflection (present tense) s. which is grammatically simple but com ­ plex in term s of speech processing, will be acquired relatively late in the language acquisition process, and this is indeed what we find. T hird person s is one of the first gram m atical m or­ phem es to be taught, but for m am learners it is one oi the last items to be acquired. In fact, some learners never acquire it. T he speech processing theory predicts that the following items will be acquired in the o rd e r below, and that this is th erefo re the o rd e r in which thev should be in tro d u ced in the svllabus: W hat's the tim er W hat's so u r nam e? How do vou spell X? Are vou tired? W here are vou from? Do vou like X? P ienem ann and Johnston (1987) argued that the structural svllabus should be retained. However, the o rd erin g of item s in the svllabus should follow a very different sequence — that established bv th eir research as being “learnable." Thus. гг/equestions with do would not be taught until learners had m astered tr/equestions with be. T he problem with this proposal, particularly in light o f Com m unicative Language Teaching, is that m am of the items that are required for com ­ m unication are "late acq u ired ”— for exam ple, re/z-questions with do. Teachers w orking with such a sv llabus w ould be able to use few com m u­ nicative tasks in the earlv stages o f learning. Critics of the P ienem ann an d Johnston proposal have argued that “u n learn ab le” structures can be introduced, but thev should be p resented as

holistic form ulae. In o th e r words, learners would be taught question forms such as Whal do \ou do ? and Where does she live? as single “chunks” for use in com m unicative tasks such as role plats, infor­ m ation gaps, and so on. They would not be expected to break these down into th eir con­ stituent parts immediatelv; this would h appen gradually over time. In fact, som e second lan­ guage acquisition researchers argue that this pro ­ cess of learning strings o f language as unanalvzed chunks and then later breaking them down is a key psycholinguistic m echanism in the acquisi­ tion process (Ellis 1994).

T H E “O R G A N IC ” A P P R O A C H TO GRAM M AR U nderiving the traditional linear svllabus is the notion that learning is a process of m astering each item perfectly one at a time. In fact, when the structural svllabus teas at its height of popular­ ity, masterv learning was an im portant m ovem ent within educational psvchologv. In m etaphorical terms, it teas believed that a language develops in the same war as a building is constructed— one (linguistic) brick at a time. However, the complexitv of the acquisition process revealed bv a growing bodv of second language acquisition (SLA) research led some syllabus designers to argue that language develop­ m ent is basicallv an organic process. A ccording to this m etaphor, a new language develops in a wav that is m ore akin to plants grotring in a garden ra th e r th an a b u ilding being constructed. Learners do not acquire each item perfectlv. one at a time, but num erous items imperfectlv. all at once.

developed to assist designers a d o p tin g such an approach. W hile needs analysis was a crucial tool for those working in the areas of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and English for Academic Purposes (EAP), it was also widely used in General English svllabus design. T he appearance of needs analysis in lan­ guage education (it had existed in o th er areas of educational planning for manv years) was thus stim ulated bv the developm ent of Com m unicative Language Teaching (CLT). Proponents of CLT argued that it was neith er necessary n o r possible to include every aspect o f the target language in the svllabus. Rather, svllabus c o n te n t should reflect the com m unicative purposes and needs of the learners. Language-for-tourism syllabuses will contain different content from svllabttses designed for teaching academic English. (See Johns and Price-Machado's chapter in this volume). N eeds analysis includes a wide variety of techniques for collecting and analyzing inform a­ tion. both about learners and ab o u t language. T he kinds o f inform ation that svllabus designers collect include biographical inform ation such as age. first language b ack g ro u n d , reasons for learn in g the language, o th e r languages spoken, tim e available for learning, an d so on. T he most so p histicated in stru m e n t for d o in g a needs analysis was developed bv M unbv (1978). Called the communicative needs processor, it involved spec­ ifying the following: ■ * * *

N EED S A N A LYSIS W ith the advent o f C om m unicative Language Teaching (CLT) in the 1970s. a very different ap p ro ach to svllabus design was p ro p o sed by a n u m b e r o f linguists. This ap p ro ach began, not with lists o f gram m atical, phonological, a n d lex­ ical features, but with an analysis o f the com m u­ nicative needs of the learner. A set o f techniques an d procedures, know n as needs analysis, teas

*

■ ■ ■ *

particip an t (biographical data ab o u t the le a rn e r): purposive dom ain (the purposes for which the language is req u ired ); setting (the environm ents in which the lan­ guage trill be u s e d ): in teractio n (the people that the le a rn e r will be com m unicating with); instrum entality (the m edium : spoken versus written: the m ode: m onologue or dialogue, face-to-face or indirect): dialect: target level (degree o f m asterv req u ired ); com m unicative event (productive and re­ ceptive skills neded); com m unicative kev (interpersonal attitudes and tones req u ired ).

Brincllev (1984, 1990) draws a distinction betw een “objective” needs and “subjective"needs: Objective needs are those which can be diagnosed bv teachers on the basis o f the analysis o f personal data about learners along with inform ation about th eir language proficiency and p at­ terns o f language use. . . . w hereas the “subjective” needs (which are often “w ants,” “desires,” “expectations" or o th e r psychological m anifestations) c an n o t be diagnosed as easily, or, in m any cases, even stated bv learners them selves (Brincllev 1984. p. 31). Objective needs analyses result in c o n ten t derived from an analysis o f the target com m u­ nicative situations in which learners will engage, as well as an analysis of the kinds of spoken and w ritten discourse they will n eed to c o m p re h en d a n d pro d u ce. Such analyses were fu n d am en tal to the d evelopm ent o f an im p o rta n t and e n d u r­ ing m ovem ent within language tea c h in g — that o f language for specific purposes. N eeds-based course design, particularly w hen it results in tightly specified learning out­ comes, has been heavily criticized. W'iddowson (1983), for exam ple, claims that such courses are exercises in training ra th e r than in education because learners can only do those things for which they have been specifically prepared. He argues th at learners should be to able to do things for "which they have not been specifically p rep ared . However, the extent to which learners are able to transfer learning from one context to a n o th e r is basically a m ethodological issue rath e r th an a syllabus design issue. Syllabus designers can facilitate learning transfer by building into the svllabus opportunities for recycling. A n o th er criticism of needs-based course design is that, "while it m ight be relevant in sec­ o n d language contexts, it is often irrelevant in foreign language contexts, w here learners have no im m ediate, o r even foreseeable, n eed to com ­ m unicate orallv. In such contexts, subjective needs, relating to such things as learning strat­ egy preferences, mav be m ore relevant than objective needs.

Goal and Objective Setting N eeds analysis provides a basis for specifying goals and objectives for a learn in g program . Goals are broad, general purposes for learn in g a language. At the b roadest level. Halliday (1985) argues that individuals use language ■ ■ ■

to obtain goods a n d services, to socialize with others, and for e n te rta in m e n t an d enjoym ent.

These t e n broad goals can be elaborated and refined, as the following goal statem ents illustrate: Instruction should enable learners to 1. 2. 3.

4. 5. 6. 7.

8. 9.

participate in conversation related to the pu rsu it o f com m on activities with others; obtain goods and services th ro u g h conver­ sation or correspondence; establish and m aintain relationships through exchanging inform ation, ideas, opinions, attitudes, feelings, experiences and plans; m ake social arrangem ents, solve problem s, an d com e to conclusions together; discuss topics of interest; search for specific inform ation for a given purpose, process it, a n d use it in som e way; listen to or read inform ation, process it, an d use it in som e way; give inform ation in spoken or w ritten form on the basis of p ersonal experience; listen to or read, a n d /o r view a story, poem , plav, feature, etc., and respond to it person­ ally in some wav (Clark 1987, p. 186).

Having established the goals o f a learning program , the syllabus designer articulates a set of objectives desig n ed to realize th e goals. Objectives are th erefo re m uch m ore specific th an goals, an d n u m ero u s objectives will be specified for any given goal. Form al p e rfo r­ m ance objectives have th ree elem ents: a “task” o r p erfo rm a n c e elem ent, a standards elem ent, an d a conditions elem ent. T he task elem ent specifies w hat the lea rn er is to do, the standards elem en t sets out how well the p e rfo rm e r is to carrv out the task, and the conditions elem ent establishes the circum stances u n d e r w hich h e or she is to perform .

T he following exam ples illustrate just how specific p erfo rm an ce objectives are:

n o rm -referen ced a n d this is the m ajor differ­ ence betw een the two approaches.

1.

Exam ple o f a com petence statem ent:

2.

In a classroom role plat' (co n d itio n ), stu­ dents will exchange personal inform ation (p erfo rm an ce). T h ree pieces o f info rm a­ tion will be ex ch an g ed (standard). W hen listening to a taped w eather forecast (condition), students will extract inform a­ tion on m inim um and m axim um tem pera­ tures and o th er relevant inform ation such as the likelihood of rain (perform ance). All key inform ation will be extracted (standard.)

In the field o f general education, the objec­ tives ap p ro ach has been criticized over the years. O ne criticism th at is relevant to language educa­ tion is th at trulv valuable learn in g outcom es cannot be accuratelv specified in advance. (This belief is c a p tu red bv the aphorism . "E ducation is w hat’s left w hen evervthing th at has been taught has b e e n forgotten.") In language teaching, our aim is to help learners develop the abilitv to com m unicate m eanings, attitudes, and feelings that can onlv be prespecified in a verv general sense. Proficiencv requires creativitv. a n d profi­ cient language users know m ultiple wavs of achieving com m unicative ends th ro u g h lan­ guage. Identifving objectives a priori m ar th e re ­ fore be problem atic. A n o th er criticism is that the prespecification o f precise an d detailed objectives p rese n ts the tea c h e r from taking advantage o f instructional opp o rtu n ities occur­ ring unexpectedlv in the classroom .

C O M P E T E N C E -B A S E D LA N G U A G E T E A C H IN G (CBLT) A ccording to Richards (in press), com petencvbased training developed as an alternative to the use o f objectives in program planning, although th ere are m anv sim ilarities betw een the two approaches. As with the objectives m ovem ent, CBLT focuses on what learners should be able to do at the en d of a course o f instruction. As with objectives, com petencies are co n c ern e d with the attain m en t of specified standards ra th e r than with an individual's achievem ent in relation to a group. Thev are th erefo re criterion- ra th e r than

T h e le a rn e r can n e g o tia te c o m p le x / p ro b lem atic spoken exchanges fo r p ersonal business a n d com m unitv purposes. H e or she * * и * ■ *

■ *

Achieves purpose of exchange and provides all essential inform ation accurately Uses a p p ro p ria te staging, for exam ple, o p e n in g an d closing strategies Provides and requests information as required Explains circumstances, causes, consequences, and proposes solutions as required Sustains dialogue, for exam ple, using feed­ back. tu rn taking Uses gram m atical form s an d vocabulary a p p ro p riate to topic an d register; g ram m at­ ical errors do not in te rfe re with m eaning Speaks with pro n u n ciatio n /stress/in to n atio n that does not im pede intelligibility Is able to in terpret gestures and o th er paralinguistic features (Adult M igrant Education Service 1993).

T he com petencv-based a p p ro ach has had a m ajor influence on svllabuses in p articular sectors o f th e e d u c atio n a l systems in m ost English-speaking countries, including Australia, New Zealand, the U nited K ingdom , and the U nited States. CBLT first em erged in the U nited States in the 1970s and was widely ad o p ted in vocation­ ally o riented education and in adult ESL pro ­ grams. By the en d of the 1980s, CBLT had come to be accepted as the "state-of-the-art” approach to ESL bv national policvmakers and leaders in curriculum developm ent (A uerbach 1986). If we look at the sample com petency state­ m ent provided above, we will see that it has several points of similarity with the objectives described in a prerious section. It contains a "task" statem ent and a n u m b er of "how well" or standards state­ m ents ("achieves purpose o f ex ch an g e,” “p ro ­ vides all essential inform ation accurately,” “uses a p p ro p riate staging," "errors do n o t in terfere with m eaning." "p ro n u n ciatio n does n o t im pede intelligibility").

T H E STA N D A R D S M OVEM ENT T h e m ost re c e n t m anifestation o f perform ancebased ap p roaches to syllabus design, in the U n ited States at least, is the standards move­ m ent. T h ro u g h o u t the 1990s, th ere was a con­ c e rted push for national ed u catio n standards. This push was seen at all levels o f governm ent, a n d it resu lted in legislation m an d atin g the d evelopm ent an d im p lem en tatio n o f standards. For exam ple, the A dult E ducation Act an d the N ational Literacy Act of 1991 req u ire ad u lt basic ed u cation program s in all states to develop indi­ cators of pro g ram quality' a n d to attach p e rfo r­ m ance standards to these quality indicators (see website at the e n d of c h a p te r). In manv ways, ju st as the com petency move­ m en t was a repackaging of concepts from the objectives m ovem ent, the same is true of the stan­ dards m ovem ent. “O b jectiv es/co m p eten cies" are redefined as standards, which can also be used in work done in o th er areas such as m ath and language arts. For exam ple, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE 1997) standards docum ent for English language arts states, “By c o n te n t standards, we m ean statem ents th at define what students should know and be able to d o ” (p.1-2). In ESL, the TESOL organization has comm issioned several sets o f standards in areas such as pre-K -12, ad u lt education, a n d w orkplace education. T he m ost fully developed o f these are the pre-K -12 standards (S hort et al. 1997). T hese are fram ed a ro u n d th re e goals an d nine standards. T h e standards are fleshed o u t in term s of descriptors, progress indicators, and classroom vignettes. T he nin e c o n te n t standards “indicate m ore specificallv [than the goals] w hat students should know an d be able to do as a result of in stru ctio n ” (p.15). D escriptors are “b ro a d categories o f discrete, rep resen tativ e behavior” (p.15). Progress indicators “list assess­ able, observable activities th at students mav p er­ fo rm to show p rogress tow ards m ee tin g designated standards. T hese progress indicators rep re sen t a varietv o f instructional techniques th at may be used by teachers to d eterm in e how well students are d o in g ” (p. 16).

T h e follow ing e x am p le from th e ESL Standards illustrates the d ifferent co m p o n en ts of the standard. It is w ritten for grades pre-K-3. Goal: ■

To use English to com m unicate in social settings

Standard: ■

Students will use English to participate in social interactions

Descriptors: *

Sharing a n d requesting inform ation

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Expressing needs, feelings, and ideas

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Using nonverbal com m unication in social interactions

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G etting personal needs m et

■

E ngaging in conversations

*

C o n ducting transactions

Sample Progress Indicators: ■ Engage listener's a tte n tio n verbally or nonverballv ■

V olunteer inform ation and requests about self and family

resp o n d

to

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Elicit in fo rm a tio n a n d ask clarification questions

■

Clarifv and restate inform ation as n eeded

■

D escribe feelings an d em otions after w atch­ ing a movie

■

Indicate interests, opinions, o r preferences related to class projects

■

Give a n d ask for perm ission

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Offer and respond to greetings, compliments, imitations, introductions, and farewells

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Negotiate solutions to problem s, interper­ sonal m isunderstandings, and disputes

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R ead a n d w rite in v itations a n d th a n k you letters

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Use the telep h o n e (Short et al. 1997, p. 31)

N O T IO N A L -F U N C T IO N A L SY LLA B U SE S The b ro ad er view of language as com m unication that em erged during the 1970s was taken u p bv syl­ labus designers. .As indicated earlier, an im portant figure here was Wilkins (1976), who argued for syllabuses based on no tio n s a n d functions. Notions are general conceptual m eanings such as time, cause, and duration, while functions are the com m unicative purposes th a t are achieved through language such as apologizing, advising, and expressing preferences. Like m ost syllabus proposals, n o tionalfunctionalism was n o t im pervious to criticism. Early versions of notional-functional syllabuses e n d e d u p n o t being so very different from the g ram m atical syllabuses th a t thev rep la ce d . Instead o f units en titled “sim ple past,'' we find units e n title d “talking a b o u t the w eek en d .’’ W iddowson (1983) also p o in te d out that simplv replacing lists of gram m atical item s with lists of notional-functional ones n e ith e r re p re se n te d the n a tu re of language as com m unication n o r reflected the way languages were lea rn ed anv m ore th an gram m atical syllabuses did. W hen syllabus designers began tu rn in g away from gram m atical criteria as the p o in t of d e p a rtu re in designing th eir syllabuses, selection and grading becam e m uch m ore problem atic. .As soon as one looks beyond linguistic notions of simplicity7 and difficulty, the n u m b er of criteria begins to multiply. These criteria include situa­ tional, contextual, and extralinguistic factors. T h ere are no objective m eans for deciding that one fu n ctio n al item is m ore com plex th an another. In addition, m ost functions can be expressed in m any d ifferent ways an d at m any different levels of complexity. A pologizing, for exam ple, can range from Sorry to I really must apologize— I do hope you can forgive me. The relative arbitrariness of selecting and sequencing can be seen in the following list of func­ tional com ponents from a well-known EFL course: 1. 2.

Ask a n d give nam es; say hello; ask a n d tell w here people are from Say h ello form ally a n d inform ally; ask a b o u t an d give personal inform ation

3. 4.

D escribe people; tell the tim e D escribe places; give com plim ents; express uncertainty; c o n firm /c o rre c t inform ation 5. D escribe houses a n d apartm ents; m ake a n d answ er tele p h o n e calls 6. Express likes a n d dislikes; ask ab o u t and describe habits an d routines 7. Ask a n d tell ab o u t quantity 8. Ask for a n d give directions; ask for a n d tell a b o u t physical an d em otional states 9. Talk about frequency; express degrees of certainty7 10. Describe p e o p le ’s appearances; write simple letters; give com plim ents (Swan a n d W alter 1984)

C O N T E N T -B A S E D SY LLA B U SE S C ontent-based instruction (CBI) com es in m any d iffe re n t guises (see Snow’s c h a p te r in this volum e). However, all variants share o n e charac­ teristic— language is n ot p rese n ted directly, b ut is in tro d u c ed via the c o n te n t o f o th e r subjects. In school settings, this c o n te n t is typically the reg­ ular subjects in the curriculum such as science, geography, and m athem atics. Learners acquire the target language in the course of doing o th er things. T he approach draws strongly on the expe­ riential view of learning, th at is, th a t active engagem ent in com m unicating in the language is the m ost effective m eans of acquiring it. .As we saw at the beginning o f this chapter, the three core tasks for the syllabus designer are select­ ing, sequencing, and justifying content. In CBI, the justification comes from the content area itself. For example, if the content area is general science, the topic of photosynthesis would be introduced on the grounds that it is a core topic in the field. A rec e n t book on content-based in struction presents teaching suggestions in the following categories: ■

Information management: H e re learn ers sift data into different categories, or are given categories and are required to find examples to fit these categories.

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■

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Critical thinking: Learners go beyond classify­ ing to evaluate or analvze data, for example, by determ ining a point of view or arguing from a given stance. Hands-on activities: T hese involve m an ip u ­ lating data th ro u g h games, experim ents, a n d o th e r experiential activities. Data gathering: These tasks involve learners in scanning fo r specific in fo rm a tio n a n d / or collecting and assem bling facts, data, and references. Analysis and construction: This final category involves “ (a) breaking a text into its com ­ p o n e n t parts, elucidating its rhetorical pat­ tern, an d exam ining text flow (cohesion a n d co h eren ce) o r (b) applying know ledge o f oral an d w ritten discourse conventions to create a specifically p a tte rn e d text with the goal of increasing fluencv, accuracv, or b o th ” (M aster an d B rinton 1997, p. vi).

T he following is a fairly com m on exam ple of a pedagogical task: In pairs, students com plete an infor­ m ation gap task to get instructions on how to get from o n e ’s hotel to the nearest subwav station. S tu d en t A has a m ap of the town c e n te r with the hotel m arked. S tudent В has the same m ap with the subwav m arked. Having specified target and pedagogical tasks, the syllabus designer analyzes them in o rd er to identify the knowledge and skills that the learner m ust have in o rd er to earn- out the tasks. T he next step is to sequence and integrate the tasks with enabling exercises designed to develop the requisite knowledge and skills. O ne kev dis­ tinction betw een an exercise and a task is that exercises will have purely language-related out­ comes, while tasks will have nonlanguage-related outcom es, as well as language-related ones.

TA SK -B A S ED SY LLA B U SE S

Exam ples of exercises:

Task-based syllabuses rep resen t a particular real­ ization of Com m unicative Language Teaching (N unan 1989, see also Crookes an d C h a u d ro n ’s c h ap ter in this volum e). Instead o f beginning the design process with lists of gram m atical, functional-notional, an d o th er items, the designer conducts a needs analysis, which yields a list of the com m unicative tasks that the learners for w hom the syllabus is in te n d e d will n e e d to carry out. In syllabus design, a basic distinction is draw n betw een target tasks an d pedagogical tasks. A target task is som ething that the learner m ight conceivably do outside of the classroom. Examples of target tasks include

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Taking p a rt in a jo b interview C om pleting a credit card application Finding o n e ’s way from a hotel to a subway station C hecking into a hotel

Pedagogical tasks are unlikely to be deploved outside the classroom. They are created in order to “push” learners into com m unicating with each other in the target language, on the assum ption that this comm unicative interaction will fuel the acquisition process.

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Read the following passage, from which all prepositions have been deleted, and reinstate the correct prepositions from the list provided. Listen to the dialogue a n d answ er the following tru e /fa lse questions. Rearrange these questions and answers to form a conversation, and practice the conversation.

E xam ple of a task: ■

Listen to the w eather forecast an d decide what to wear. (Such a target task m ight be carried out in the classroom by having students circle pictures o f clothing and accessories such as jackets, shorts, um brellas, and sunglasses.)

T Y P E S O F TASKS A n o th e r wav of distinguishing betw een tasks is to divide them into reproductive an d creative tasks. A reproductive task is one in which the learn er is rep ro d u cin g language following a m odel pro­ vided bv the teacher, textbook, tape, o r o th er source. A task is reproductive if the language that the learner is to use is largely predeterm ined and

predictable. This does not m ean that such tasks are necessarily noncom m unicative. Many com m u­ nicative tasks, such as the following, are o f this type. Class survey. Find som eone yvho lik es/ d o e sn ’t like the following: likes

d o e sn ’t like

E ating chilis

_________

_________

Playing tennis

_________

_________

W atching sci-fi movies

_________

_________

D oing homeyvork

_________

_________

This task is reproductive because we know that if the students are d o in g it right, thev will be saying, “Do vou like eating chilis?" “Do y o u like playing tennis?” etc. It is com m unicative in that the person asking the question does n o t know w hether the classm ate's answer will be y« or no. Creative language tasks, on the o th e r h and, are less predictable. L earners m ust assem ble the words an d structures thev have acq u ired in new and u n p red ictab le wavs. H ere is an exam ple of a creative task. Pair -work. W ho is the best person for the job? Read the following resum es, and decide who the best person is for the following jobs: И

School building supervisor

И

R eceptionist

И

L ibrarian

И

Bookstore clerk

In this task, the language used bv the students is m uch less predictable. If we were to eavesdrop on the task, we m ight p red ict th at we w ould h ear utterances such as: “I th ink . . . “ “We should . . . " “This person m ight . . . ” However, th ere is no wav o f p red ictin g precisely the language that will be used.

A N IN T E G R A T E D A P P R O A C H TO SY LLA B U S D ESIG N In this chapter, I have ou tlin ed the m ajor trends an d developm ents in syllabus design over the last twenty years. In my own work, I have tried to em brace an in te g rate d a p p ro ach to syllabus design in which all of the elem ents and options discussed above are b rought together into a single design. T he follofong exam ple illustrates one way in which this m ight be done. 1. 2.

3.

4.

5.

Identify- the g en eral contexts a n d situations in w hich the learners will com m unicate. Specify the com m unicative events th at the learners will engage in. M ake a list of the functional goals th at the learners will n e e d in o rd e r to take p art in the com m unicative events. List the kev linguistic elem ents that learners will need in order to achieve the functional goals. Sequence and integrate the various skill elem ents identified in steps 3 a n d 4.

In developing integrated syllabuses, I find that cross-reference planning grids are very use­ ful, because thev enable me to m ap out a n d coor­ dinate the different elem ents in the svllabus. H ere is a cross-reference grid integrating func­ tions and structures for the first few units in a syl­ labus u n d e rp in n in g a textbook series for yo unger learners. N ot only does the grid help guide m e in selecting which items to teach w hen, it also shows m e w here and w hen recycling is necessary-. I can also see if there are gaps in the svllabus.

C O N C L U S IO N In this chapter. I have provided an in tro d u ctio n to the field o f svllabus design. I suggest th at syl­ labus design is that part o f curriculum develop­ m ent which is co n cern ed with selecting, grading, integrating, and justifying the c o n te n t of the cur­ riculum . D ifferent ty pes of syllabuses, from gram ­ m atical to task-based, are in troduced, described, a n d critiqued. T he key theoretical a n d em pirical

Structures F u n c tio n s

'i Introduce yourself

Simple present tense +

W h at questions

Demonstratives: this, that

Prepositions: on, in, u nd er

be

X

Identify ownership

Simple present tense + have

X

X

Introduce people

X

X

Talk about where things are Talk about likes and dislikes

W h ere questions

X

X

X

X

(Source: Nunan 1999a)

influences on the field are also in troduced. In th e last p a rt o f the chapter, I argue for an inte­ g rated syllabus which draws on a n d incorporates all o f the key experiential an d linguistic elem ents discussed in the body o f this chapter.

D IS C U S S IO N Q U E S T IO N S 1. W hat do you see as the role o f the classroom teach er in syllabus design? 2. W hat do you see as the advantages a n d disadvantages o f an objectives-based syllabus? 3. W hat do you think that content-based and taskbased syllabuses m ight have in comm on? How m ight they differ? 4. If you w ere asked to design a syllabus fo r a new ESL o r EFL course, w hat are som e o f the first things you w ould do as prep aratio n ?

S U G G E S T E D A C T IV IT IE S 1. L ook a t th e “C ourse Overview” in A ppendix В o f J e n s e n ’s c h a p te r on lesson p la n n in g in this volum e. Is this a syllabus? E xplain your answer. 2. D esign a needs analysis q u estio n n aire fo r a specified g ro u p o f learners. 3. C om pare th e selection a n d seq u en cin g o f fun ctio n al an d gram m atical co m p o n en ts in several g en eral E SL /E FL textbooks. W hat sim ilarities a n d differences are there? Is th ere a “com m on c o re ” o f elem ents across the textbooks? 4. Identify a target group o f learners a n d carry o u t the five p lan n in g tasks suggested in the section on the integrated syllabus on page 64. Develop a cross-reference grid sim ilar to the one set o u t in the chapter. 5. Design four three-part perform ance objectives for the group of learners in Activity 4 above.

FU R T H ER R EA D IN G Dubin, F.. and E. Olshtain. 1986. Course Design. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. This hook is designed for teachers who have the planning and development of courses as part of their duties. It covers what the authors call the “fact-finding" stage — establishing realistic goals, surveving existing programs, realizing goals through instructional plans, selecting the shape of the syllabus— and the considera­ tions involved in constructing communicative syllabuses. Brown, J. D. 1995. The Elements of Language Curriculum. Boston. MA: Heinle if- Heinle. Although it is a book on curriculum, and there­ fore deals with issues that go bet ond svllabus design, it also provides an accessible introduction to svllabus design issues. Graves, K.. ed. 1996. Teachers as Course Developers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. This book contains six interesting case studies of teachers as course developers and svllabus

designers. The narratives of these teachers, who work in very different contexts worldwide, illus­ trate the process of course development from the perspective of the teacher. Nttnan. D. 1988a. S\llabus Design. Oxford: Oxford University Press. This book explores the principles involved in selecting, grading, and integrating the carious components of a language svllabus and demon­ strates how teachers can go about analyzing the syllabuses in use in their own classrooms. It offers analytical tools and techniques for evaluating, modifying, and adapting syllabuses.

W E B S IT E S Both the U.S. National Literacy Act of 1991 and the U.S. Aclult Education Act of 1991, along with related police resources, arc available on-line at www.nifl.gov lines/collections/policy/resource, html

: L istening

UNIT

11 A

< HH HH

Language Skills

H

z

Listening Until quite recently, listening comprehension had been neglected with regard to both its place in second or foreign language teaching methodology and the development of techniques and materials for use

in the

classroom. As

Morley's

chapter points out. listening

comprehension is now felt to be a prerequisite for oral proficiency as well as an important skill in its own right. She offers guidelines for developing activities and materials, including the development of a selfaccess, self-study listening program. In Peterson's chapter the acquisition of listening skills in a second or foreign language is explained with reference to a cognitive processing model. She presents a taxonomy of exercises and activities, showing how at eacn stage of learning, students can be assisted in developing bottom-up and top-down strategies and skills.

listening

Aural Comprehension Instruction: Principles and Practices IO A N MO R L E Y

In "Aural Comprehension Instruction: Principles and Practices," Morley first traces the changing patterns of second language listening instruction, outlines four generic instructional models, and discusses some of the psycho-social dimensions of listening. She then goes on to present suggestions for developing activities and materials for coursework, including detailed guidelines for developing a self-access self-study listening program.

IN T R O D U C T IO N D uring the past thirty rears, theory and practice in language learn in g an d language teaching have ch anged in som e fu n d am en tal wavs. In retrospect, the fo u r them es that d o m in ated the S econd AILA (In te rn a tio n a l A ssociation o f A pp lied linguistics) C o n fe re n c e in 1969 (C am b rid g e, E n g la n d ) seem to h a te b een pro p h etic in p o in tin g the wav toward tren d s in s e c o n d /fo re ig n lan g u a g e (S /F L ) e d u c a tio n d u rin g the last q u a rte r o f the tw entieth century. They h e ra ld ed new views on the im portance of 1. individual learners an d the individuality of learning; 2. listening an d read in g as nonpassive a n d very com plex receptive processes; 3. listening c o m p reh en sio n 's being recognized as a fu n d am en tal skill; 4. real language used for real com m unication as a viable classroom m odel. Every facet of language study has b e e n influenced bv these trends, b u t n o n e m ore d ra­ matically th an listening co m p reh en sio n . In the 1970s, the status o f listening began to change from one of neglect to one of increasing im p o r­ tance. Instructional program s e x p a n d ed their focus on pragm atic skills to include listening as

well as reading, writing, a n d speaking. D uring the 1980s special a tte n tio n to listening was in co r­ p o ra te d in to new in stru c tio n a l fram ew orks. P ro m in en t am ong these were form ats th a t fea­ tu red functional language a n d com m unicative approaches. T h ro u g h o u t the 1990s, a tten tio n to listening in language instruction increased dram atically. A ural c o m p re h e n sio n in S /F L acquisition becam e an im p o rta n t area of study. .Although aural c o m p reh en sio n is notv well recognized as an im p o rta n t facet o f language learning, m uch work rem ains to be d o n e in both theory an d practice. U nfortunately, as Brown (1987) observed, a significant n u m b e r o f p u b ­ lished courses on listening co m p reh en sio n a n d classroom practices in m anv schools in m any countries continues to d em o n strate th a t listen­ ing is still reg a rd e d as the least im p o rta n t skill. T he first three parts of this ch ap ter discuss general aspects o f listening and language learn­ ing. (See Peterson's ch ap ter in this volum e for additional inform ation.) T he last three sections outline principles and guidelines for developing a n d /o r adapting listening com prehension activi­ ties and materials. Lesson suggestions are given for class, small-group, and pair work a n d for indi­ vidualized self-studv using equ ip m en t in the class­ room , at hom e, o r in a language laboratory setting.

T R A C IN G T H E HISTORY: L IS T E N IN G A N D LA N G U A G E L E A R N IN G

Emerging Recognition of the Importance o f Listening in Second/Foreign Language Study

Today the centrality o f listening in language lea rn in g is well established. An a p p ro p riate a u ra l c o m p re h e n s io n p ro g ra m th a t targets le a rn e r listening at all levels of instruction is an essential fo r se co n d lan g u a g e c o m p e te n c e . A ural co m p reh en sio n establishes a base for the d e v e lo p m e n t o f oral lan g u a g e w ithin the “speech c h a in ” o f listening a n d speaking (D enes an d Pinson 1963, p. T). It is im p o rta n t to note th at m ultiple benefits accrue to the learn er beyond the obvious im provem ents in listening skills. In particular, listening com p reh en sio n lessons are a vehicle for teaching elem ents of gram m atical structure a n d allow new vocabulary item s to be contextualized w ithin a bodv of com ­ m unicative discourse.

It is easy for us to take listening for granted , often with little conscious awareness of o u r p e r­ form ance as listeners. W eaver c o m m en ted on the elusiveness o f o u r listening awareness: “After all. listening is n e ith e r so dram atic n o r so noisy as talking. T he talker is the center of attention for all listeners. His behavior is overt and vocal, and he hears and notices his own behavior, whereas listening activity often seems like m erely b ein g — doing nothing" (1972, pp. 12-13). Much o f the language teaching field also has taken listening for gran ted until relath'ely recent times (but see G ouin 1880; Xida 1953; Palm er 1917; Sweet 1899). M odern-dav argu­ m ents for listening com prehension began to be voiced in the mid-1960s an d earlv 1970s by Rivers (1966) and others. Xewmark and Diller u n d e r­ scored "the n e e d for the systematic developm ent of listening com prehension not only ns a founda­ tion for speaking, but also as a skill in its own right . . . " (1964. p. 20). Belasco expressed his concerns as follows; "I was rudely jo lte d bv the realization that it is possible to develop so-called 'speaking ability' and vet be so virtually incom pe­ tent in u n d e rsta n d in g the spoken language. . . . [Students] were learning to audio-com prehend certain specific dialogues and drills, but could n o t u n d e rs ta n d [the lan g u ag e] o u t o f the m ouths of native speakers" (1971, pp. 4 -5 ). Morlev decried the fact that "virtually' no special­ ized textbook m aterials exist in the area o f in ter­ m ediate an d advanced listening” (1972, p. vii). a n d Blair (1982) observed that special attention to listening just d id n 't "self’ until recen t times.

Making the Case: The Importance o f Listening in Language Learning It has taken m any vears to bring the language teach in g profession a ro u n d to realizing the im portance o f listening in second and foreign language learning. As observed bv Rivers, long an advocate for listening com prehension. "Speaking does n o t of itself co nstitute com m unication unless what is said is c o m p re h en d e d bv a n o th e r person. . . . T eaching the com prehension o f spo­ ken speech is therefore of prim ary im portance if the com m unication aim is to be rea c h e d ” (1966, pp. 196, 204). T he reasons for the nearly total neglect of listening are difficult to assess, b u t as M orley notes, “Perhaps an assum ption th at lis­ tening is a reflex, a little like b re a th in g — listen­ ing seldom receives overt teaching atten tio n in o n e ’s native language — has m asked the im por­ tance and complexity o f listening with u n d e r­ standing in a non-native language” (1972, p. vii). In reality, listening is used far m ore than any o th e r single language skill in norm al daily life. O n average, we can expect to listen tyvice as m uch as we speak, four tim es m ore th an y\e read, a n d live times m ore th an we write (Rivers 1981; W eaver 1972).

Four Perspectives— Four Models of Listening and Language Instruction In the English language teaching program s of the 1940s. 1950s, an d 1960s, n e ith e r the British Situational A pproach to language teaching nor th e A m erican A ucliolingual A p p ro ach paid m uch a tten tio n to listening bevond its role in

Procedure: Asks students to (a) listen to an oral text along a co n tin u u m from sentence length to lecture length a n d (b) answer pri­ marily factual questions. Utilizes fam iliar lo pes of questions ad ap ted from traditional reading com prehension exercises; has been called a quiz-show form at of teaching. Value: Enables students to m an ipulate dis­ crete pieces o f in form ation, hopefully with increasing speed and accuracy o f recall. Can increase students' stock of vocabulary units a n d gram m ar constructions. Does n o t req u ire students to m ake use o f the infor­ m ation for am real com m unicative purpose beyond answ ering the questions; is n o t interactive two-wav com m unication.

gram m ar a n d p ro n u n cia tio n drills and learners' im itation o f dialogues. T he language learn in g theories of those tim es a ttrib u ted little im p o r­ tance to listening beyond the sou n d discrim ina­ tion associated with p ro n u n cia tio n learning. Listening, along with reading, was reg ard ed as a "passive” skill a n d was simply taken for granted. However, slowlv an d steadily, m ore a tte n ­ tion has b e e n given to listening co m p reh en sio n . Today, the role o f listening a n d the purp o se of listen in g c o m p re h e n s io n in stru c tio n in the S /F L curriculum , can be one of fo u r different perspectives. A generic instructional m odel for each perspective that reflects underlying beliefs about language learn in g theory an d pedagogy is o utlined below.

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Model # I Listening and Repeating

Model # 3 Task Listening

Learner Goals To pattern-m atch: to listen and im itate: to m em orize.

Learner Goals To process spoken discourse for functional purposes; to listen an d do som ething with the inform ation, that is. carry o u t real tasks using the inform ation received.

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Instructional material: Features audiolingual style exercises a n d or dialogue m em oriza­ tion; b ased on a h e a rin g -a n d -p a tte rn m atch in g m odel. Procedure: .\sks students to (a) listen to a word, phrase, or sentence pattern; (b ) repeat it (imitate it); and (c) m em orize it (often, but not always, a part o f the procedure). Value: Enables students to do p attern drills, to repeat dialogues, and to use m em orized p re fa b ric a te d p a tte rn s in conversation: enables them to im itate pro n u n ciatio n pat­ terns. H igher level cognitive processing and use o f propositional language structuring are not necessarily an intentional focus.

Model # 2 Listening and Answering Comprehension Questions Learner Goals To process discrete-point infor­ m ation; to listen and answer com prehension questions. ■

Instructional material'. F eatures a stu d e n t response p a tte rn based on a listening-andquestion-answ ering m odel with occasional innovative variations on this them e.

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Instructional material: Features actisities that require a student response p attern based on a listening-and-using (i.e., “Listen-and-Do”) model. Students listen, then im m ediately do som ething with the inform ation received: follow the directions given, com plete a task, solve a problem , transm it the gist o f the inform ation orallv or in writing, listen an d take lecture notes, etc. Procedure: Asks students to (a) listen and process inform ation an d (b) use the orallv transm itted language in p u t im m ediately to com plete a task which is m ed iated th ro u g h language in a context in which success is judged in term s of w h eth er the task is p erfo rm ed . Value: T he focus is on instruction that is task-oriented, not question-oriented. T he purp o se is to engage learners in using the in form ational c o n te n t p re se n te d in the spoken discourse, n o t just in answ ering questions about it. Two tvpes o f tasks are (a) language use tasks, designed to give stu­ dents practice in listening to get m eaning from the in p u t with the express purp o se of

m aking functional use of it im m ediately a n d (b) language analysis tasks, designed to h elp learners develop cognitive an d m etacognitive language learn in g strategies (i.e., to guide them tow ard personal intel­ lectual involvem ent in th eir own learning). T he latter features consciousness raising a b o u t language a n d language learning.

Model # 4 Interactive Listening Learner Goals To develop a u ra l'o ra l skills in sem iform al interactive academ ic com m unica­ tion; to develop critical listening, critical think­ ing, an d effective speaking abilities. ■

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Instructional material: Features the real-tim e,' real-life give-and-take of academ ic com m uni­ cation. Protides a variety of student presenta­ tion and discussion activities, both individual and small-group panel reports, that include follow-up audience participation in question / answer sessions as an integral part of the work. Follows an interactive listening-think­ ing-speaking m odel with bidirectional (twoway) listening/speaking. Includes attention to group bonding and classroom discourse rules (e.g., taking the floor, yielding the floor, turn taking, interrupting, co m prehen­ sion checks, topic shifting, agreeing, ques­ tioning, challenging, etc.). (See Morley 1992 and 1995.) Procedure: Asks students to participate in dis­ cussion activities that enable them to devel­ op all three phases o f the speech act: speech d eco d in g , critical thinking, a n d speech encoding. These phases involve (a) continu­ ous on-line decoding of spoken discourse, (b) sim ultaneous cognitive reactin g /actin g upon the inform ation received (i.e., critical analysis a n d synthesis), an d (c) instantresponse encoding (i.e., p roducing personal propositional language responses ap p ro p ri­ ate to the situation). Value: T he focus here is instruction that is c o m m u n ic a tiv e /c o m p e te n c e -o rie n te d as w'ell as task oriented. Learners have o pportu­ nities to engage in and develop the com plex arrav of com m unicative skills in the four

com petency areas: linguistic com petence, discourse com petence, sociolinguistic com ­ petence. and strategic com petence (Canale a n d Swain 19r 'h e attem pts to decode speech and a "ig : meaning.

The acoustic signal itself carries few cues to the meanings that are encoded within it: the listener must use his or her knowledge of the language to recognize m eaningful sound units, to determ ine sellable boundaries, and to identify words. This phase of com prehension is known as perceptual pro­ cessing (Anderson 1983). Next the listener works with the words and phrases he or she has decoded to form m eaningful units, which are stored in short­ term memory. This is the parsing phase. Finally, the listener searches long-term m em ory for ideas that relate to the new information: when a match is m ade between old and new information, com pre­ hension occurs. This is the utilization stage. With h igher lew is of language proficiency, the listener works m ore efficiently and is able to m aintain activity on till levels simultaneously. At b e g in n in g proficiency levels, p e rc e p tu a l (bottom -up) operations require great am ounts of conscious attention, so that little capacity rem ains for h ig h er level operations. Later, after lower level skills have been rehearsed m any times, they can be p erfo rm ed autom atically and the learner's intention can be freed up for topdown operations (M cLaughlin. Rossman. and M cLeod 1983). In proficient listeners, top-down and bottomup processes interact, so that lack of inform ation at one level can be com pensated for bv checking against inform ation at the o th e r level. For exam ­ ple. advanced listeners max use their knowledge of lexis and topic to in terp ret the confusing sounds in the speech stream and to aid in xvord recognition. On the o th e r hand, they max’ also use their basic decoding skills to check the progress o f the argum ent and to determ ine w h eth er the discourse is going in the direction thev had predicted. Listening in their natixe lan­ guage. people newer hear all the inform ation in a message, and thex do not n eed to; proficiency in c o m p reh en sio n is the ability- to fill in the gaps an d to create an u n d ersta n d in g that m eets one's purpose for listening. Rost (1990) credits the contributions oi second language reading research for pointing to the im portance o f the student's prior knowledge in m aking sense of incom ing linguistic data. This general com prehension m odel has been extended to listening as well. T here are mans’ terms for the

m eaning structures in the mind; they have been called frames (Minskv 1975), scripts (Schank 1975). and schemata (R um elhart 1980). We will use Rum elhart's terminology. H e defines a schem a as "a data structure for representing generic concepts stored in memory" (p. 34). Carrell and Eisterhold 1 1983) suggest that background inform ation in the l eader's m ind is of two kinds: content schem ata and form al schemata. C ontent schem ata include cultural knowledge, topic familiarity, and previous experience with a field. Formal schem ata have to do with people's knowledge of discourse forms: text types, rhetorical conventions, and the struc­ tural organization of prose. Both content and for­ mal schem ata can aid the reader (and the listener) m com prehending text (Flovcl and Carrell 1987).

Models of the Comprehension Process One view of listening com prehension describes com prehension of a speaker's message as the inter­ nal reproduction of that message in the listener's mind, so that successful listening reproduces the m eaning m uch as the speaker intended (Clark and Clark 1977). This is the inform ation processing view of listening. A second view (Rost 1990) places m ore emphasis on the goals and internal m eaning 'tructures of the listener: in this view, the listener does not receive m eaning, but rather constructs m eaning. The constructed message differs some­ what from the intended message and is influenced bv context, purpose for listening, and the listener's own prior knowledge. Both views acknowledge the complexity of the listening process and the im por­ tance of both top-down and bottom -tip operations. Nagle and Sanders (1986) offer a m odel of com prehension that incorporates the distinction between controlled and autom atic processing as well as the active role of the listener in attention and m onitoring. Thev propose an executive decision m aker that decides how to deal with input, a n d a feedback loop that allows the listener to m onitor ongoing com prehension. T heir m odel is specifi­ cally in ten d ed to describe com prehension in a second language. Thev m ake the point that while com prehension is not exactly the same thing as learning, successful com prehension makes m ate­ rial available for learning.

Principles for Listening Comprehension in the Classroom The above findings suggest a set of principles for teaching listening in the second language classroom. Increase the amount o f listening time in the second language class. Make listening the prim ary chan­ nel for learning new m aterial in the classroom. Input must be interesting, comprehen-sible, sup­ ported bv extralinguistic materials, and keved to the language lesson. Use listening before other activities. At begin­ ning and low-interm ediate levels, have students lis­ ten to m aterial before thev are required to speak, read, or write about it. Include both global and selective listening. Global listening encourages students to get the gist, m ain idea, topic, situation, or setting. Selective listening points student attention to details of form and encourages accuracy. Activate top-level skills. Give advance organizers, script activators, or discussions which call up stu­ dents' background knowledge. Do this before stu­ dents listen. Encourage top-down processing at even proficiency level. Work towards automaticity in processing. Include exercises which build both recognition and reten­ tion of the material. Use familiar m aterial in novel combinations. Encourage overlearning through focus on selected formal features. Practice bottomup processing at ev e n proficiency lev el. Develop conscious listening strategies. Raise stu­ dents' awareness of text features and of their own com prehension processes. Encourage them to notice how their processing operations interact with the text. Prom ote flexibility in the m any strate­ gies thev can use to understand the language. Practice interactive listening, so that thev can use their bottom -up and their top-down processes to check one against the other.

Skills and Strategies Before p ro ceed in g with a developm ental de­ scription of listening proficiency, it is helpful to d iffe re n tia te betw een th e follow ing term s: listening process, listening skill, an d listening strategy. T he m odels in the p reced in g section

p rese n t a view o f som e sim ultaneous, interactive op eratio n s w hich are hvpothesizecl to constitute th e successful c o m p re h e n sio n process. T hese o p erations are m ade up o f various subprocesses: chunking input into svllables, recognizing words, recalling relevant schem ata, and m atching key words to the sem antic structure of the text. These subprocesses are the skills of the co m petent lis­ tener. If these skills are practiced enough, thev becom e autom atic and are activated m uch m ore quickly. W hen things are going well, the listener is n o t conscious of using skills at all. At the point w hen the com prehension process breaks down for some reason, the listener becom es aware of the need for repair and seeks an appropriate strategy for com prehension. A m ajor difference betw een skills and strate­ gies is that strategies are u n d e r the learner's con­ scious control; thev are operations which the learner chooses to use to direct or check his or h er own com prehension. C ham ot explains:

time, and in a m anner appropriate to the learners’ proficiency lexel. Strategv train in g does not replace language practice, but rather is inter­ spersed with practice th roughout a course. In fact, u n tu to re d students use strategies anyway, b u t thev do n ot alxvaxs choose wisely. E astm an (1991) points o ut th at students som e­ tim es use ineffectixe strategies such as on-line translation. T ranslation o f single words max- be the only strategv that beg in n in g listeners th ink to use, b u t it restricts listeners to the surface fea­ tures of the language and uses up all o f th eir available processing capacity. T he urge to trans­ late is so natural at lower proficiencx lexels that students m ust be explicitly e n co u rag ed to avoid it. Teachers can help th eir students to practice m ore productixe strategies such as atte n d in g to longer chunks o f language a n d relating new info rm atio n to what thev already know.

WITs d esirab le fo r basic cognitive skills to becom e autom ated, the same is not true for strategies, which n eed to be controlled consciouslv if learners are to m aintain awareness of different lea rn in g co n d itio n s turd select the strategies most appropriate for specific tasks (1995, p.16).

Taxonom ies of learn in g strategies haxe b een p ro p o sed for second language use in general (O xford 1990). Strategies specific to listening co m p reh en sio n are based on these general lists and include the categories of metacognitix'e, cognitive, an d socioaffectixe strategies. M etacognitix’e strategies inxolxe planning, m o n ito rin g , and evaluating c o m p re h e n sio n . Cognitive strategies are used to m an ip u late inform ation. Exam ples of cognitixe strategies are rehearsal, organization, sum m arization, a n d elaboration. Socioaffectixe strategies hax’e b een less studied but are th o u g h t to be particularly im p o rtan t xvhen the listening is two xvay and m eaning can be n eg otiated betw een speaker an d listener, as in conversations. Exam ples of socioaffectixe strategies are cooperatix’e lea rn ­ ing. q u estioning for clarification, a n d m anaging o ne's em otions in the learning situation. A com ­ plete list o f strategies w ould be quite lengthy, since it xvould haxe to describe all the possible actions that a le a rn e r could take in the face of xvidelv different texts and tasks. Strategx' use xaries xvith proficiencx1, a n d so the relationship betw een strategx' use a n d profi­ ciency lexel is an im p o rta n t one. M ore advanced learners use a g rea ter n u m b e r of strategies th an

C om petent listeners tend to m onitor their com prehension rath er steadilv and, when necessarv, to select appropriate strategies for the task at hand. Field (1998) points out the com pensatoiv nature o f strategies in that thev make up for a lack of linguistic skill or topic knowledge. As the lis­ tener's abilitv improves, strategies mav be used less frequendv (or mav develop into unconscious skills). Students mav not im m ediatelv see the bene­ fits o f strategy use or thev mav feel that strategy instruction takes time awav from the practice of language skills. According to MacIntyre and Noels (1996), teachers can motivate students bv showing them how and w hen to use strategies. Teachers m ust also show students how effective strategy use can be th ro u g h successful experiences. M endelsohn (1995) calls for strategy instruction to be delivered gradually oxer an extended period of

Types o f Strategies

beginners do, a n d they also use th em with m ore flexibility, choosing strategies to fit a specific sit­ uation. O ’Malley, C ham ot, a n d K upper (1989) fo u n d th at effectiye learners select strategies ap p ro p riate to the processing phase. In the p e r­ ceptual phase, they use focused, selective a tte n ­ tion; in parsing, thev p refe r top-dow n strategies: and in the utilization phase, they draw on p e r­ sonal experience an d world knowledge. Several studies have fo u n d that advanced learners are able to process larger chunks o f inform ation and to draw on linguistic a n d w orld know ledge sim ultaneously in building m ean in g (Rost and Ross 1991; V andergrift 1998). In contrast, beginning and low-interm ediate listeners relv too m uch on inform ation at one level, either at the top or at the bottom , a n d fail to check one level against the other. Thev matcome to the listening experience with a fixed idea of what thev will hear, and be unwilling to change their idea as the text com es in. Thev are less able to revise th eir schem ata w hen faced with contradictory inform ation an d e ith e r ignore the contradiction or shift their conceptual fram e­ works too frequently. Alternately, such learners may be b o u n d to surface features o f the data, m aking all th eir inferences at the local level and lacking anv overall schem a for u n d e rsta n d in g (V andergrift 1998).

A D EV E LO P M E N TA L V IE W OF L IS T E N IN G SK ILLS Profile o f the Beginning-Level Student in Listening True b eginners in a second language lack ade­ quate bottom -up processing skills because thev have n o t yet developed the linguistic categories against which the language m ust be heard. They perceive the new language as und ifferen tiated noise. They are not vet able to segm ent the speech stream into w ord units — to tell w here one w ord begins an d a n o th e r ends. T he new p h onem ic svstem is an u n b ro k en code: Sounds which native speakers consider sim ilar may be perceived a n d classified as different; sounds which native speakers consider d ifferent may be

perceived a n d classified as the sam e. If the stress p attern s of words differ from those in the L I, true b eginners may have trouble identifying L2 word boundaries. Thev h a te no idea ab o u t phonological rules th at change sounds in cer­ tain environm ents o r cause reductions of sound. To decode the sensory data as a native speaker would, learners m ust first build a linguistic struc­ ture of im p o rta n t sou n d distinctions a n d cate­ gories. B eginners’ structural com p eten ce also places lim itations on th eir bottom -up processing skills. They are n o t fam iliar with rules for w ord form ation, inflections, o r w ord order. T h eir vocabulary store is practically nonexistent. T h e novice stage is of very sh o rt du ratio n . Alm ost im m ediately u p o n h e a rin g the new lan­ guage, learn ers begin to sift an d sort the acoustic info rm atio n by form ing categories a n d building a representation of the L2 svstem. If the teacher follows principles o f com prehension training, learners will have m any opportunities to work with a lim ited am o u n t o f language th at is focused on dearly illustrated subjects. T he sim plified code that is used in the classroom at this point helps learners direct their attention to the im portant features of the message. .After a few hours of instruction, the learners know a tiny bit o f the language very well an d can use th eir em erging u n d e rsta n d in g o f linguistic categories to decode new utterances. Despite its brevity, the notice stage is im por­ tant for the developm ent of positive attitudes toward listening. Learners should be encouraged to tolerate ambiguity, to venture inform ed guesses, to use their real-world knowledge and analytical skills, and to enjov their success in com prehension. The world outside the classroom asks, Do you speak English? and ignores the verv form idable accom ­ plishm ent of skilled com prehension. Rarely does anyone ask, Do you understand English ?Teachers can help correct this situation bv attaching value to stu­ dents' progress in listening skills. True beginners are found in beginning classes for immigrants to English-speaking countries and in F.FL classes abroad. Many of the teachers in the second setting are not native speakers themselves, and some ntav lack the confidence to provide stu­ dents with the kind of global listening experiences thev need (see Medgyes’s chapter in this volume).

Yet, considering the great value of exposure to spo­ ken English, all teachers should attem pt to provide this im portant input. The following suggestions are m eant to encourage such teachers. 1. 2.

3.

4.

5.

Global listening selections should be short— one to three m inutes in duration. The teacher does not have to speak as if he or she were addressing colleagues tit a professional meeting. Teachers' m onologues are most effec­ tive at beginning levels if thee- are delivered in a simplified code. Such language involves short, basic sentences, d e a r pronunciation, repeti­ tion o f ideas, limited vocabularv. and risual or situational support for new words. It is best to ad d new m aterial (vocabularv a n d structures) graduallv. E xperience with recom binations of fam iliar m aterial builds lea rn ers’ confidence and lessens the am ount of totallv new texts the teacher m ust prepare. Global listening exercises such as short teacher m onologues can be given to large classes, which are often found in the EFL setting w here it is m ore difficult to proride speaking activities for the same n um ber of students. Students should be kept active with a task to perform while listening, so the teacher can be sure that he or she is using class time wiselv. Selective listening exercises, which focus on structures o r sounds in contrast, are relatively easv to prepare. Most EFT teachers have come through educational svstems w here gram m ar was em phasized and are quite com fortable with this kind o f task. Listening discrim ination tasks can focus on tenses, singular/plural dif­ ferences, w ord order, or new vocabulary; there are manv possibilities.

Techniques for Global Listening O n e im p o r­ tan t use of global listening is the p resen tatio n of new m aterial. Until students are skilled readers, it is best to p rese n t new m aterial orallv. T he teach er may select anv p art o f the lesson for a global listening experience, o r he or she may write a text based on the lesson. In tro d u ctio n of new m aterial th ro u g h global listening is com ­ m on to m anv o f the new er com p reh en sio n approaches, vet the tech n iq u e is n ot described in language textbooks. O nce the teacher has m astered a few sim ple principles and routines, he o r she can use the tech n iq u e daiiv

Texts for global listening should be short, and preceded bv a prelistening actiritv. W herever pos­ sible. the them e and situation of the story should be presented risuallv bv drawing on the chalk­ board. overhead projector, or a large poster. If the new material is a dialogue, draw- the participants and tell their ages and relationships to each other. Setting the scene in this wav activates the learners’ background knowledge and encourages them to make predictions about the text. New vocabularv can be used in short, illustrative sentences before learners hear it as part of the lesson. If possible, use new vocabularv in a personal wav, supported by the context of the classroom, so its m eaning is clear. Descriptive words, colors, num bers, sizes, shapes, action verbs, and spatial relations are easv to m odel and to support with tangible examples. T he prelistening stage should develop learn­ ers' curiositv about how all the phrases and words thev have heard will fit together in a context. The new text should be m odeled at norm al speed, b ut with pauses betw een natural phrase groups. Teachers should not slow their speech, because the students' short-term m em orv capacitv is too lim ited to rem em ber sentences w hen they are ex tended bv slow speech. T he psvcholinguistic processing m odel described above indicates that short phrases can be held in working m em ory until the next pause: d u ring the pause, the phrase is anah zed. in terp reted , related to the rest of the message, and com prehended. If objects a n d actions are d em o n strated clearlv an d if the message contains a clear dra­ m atic structure, even beginners will soon begin to perceive p attern s o f sound. Vocabulary from the prelisten in g phase will stand out especially clearlv from the rest o f the speech stream , p ro ­ viding listeners a pleasant experience of recog­ n itio n . W orking with a few c o n te n t words, learners can use top-down processing to fill in the gaps a n d guess the general m eaning o f the text. C om prehension of every function word a n d gram m atical m arker is really n ot necessary w hen the goal is simple to get the gist. It should be clear from this description of global listening that com prehension at the begin­ ning stage is not total— rath e r real-life com pre­ hension does not d e p e n d on u n d erstanding even- word. Students on the first dav of class will

be able to u n d erstan d some words o f the storv through use o f these techniques. They will not rem em ber the words o r be able to produce them , but the\’will quite likely recognize the words when they h ear them again in a familiar context. At the least, they have been exposed to three to five m in­ utes o f the new language with its own distinctive 'o u n d svstem, intonation patterns, pause system, and word order. C om prehension theorists such as Xida (1957) point out that during this time a great deal o f active processing has been going on just below' the students' level of conscious awareness. Selective Listening Techniques T he o th er half of the listening plan is to bring some of the new con­ trasts a n d p attern s into conscious awareness through selective listening exercises. H ere are the listening goals for beginners with exercise types. T he classification of exercises as bottom -up or top-down does not indicate that onlv one kind of cognitive activity can occur during each exer­ cise, but rather that some foster predom inantly bottom-up responses, and some exercises prom ote predominant!}' top-down processing. An exercise is classified as bottom -up if focus is on form and the exercise deals with one of the structural sys­ tems of English. Alternately, this designation mav indicate selection o f specific discrete items from the listening text such as listening for details. .An exercise is classified as top-down if the focus is on m eaning and the listener uses global listening strategies. Alternately, this designation mav indi­ cate a reliance on extralinguistic skills which the learner brings to the listening task. All listening is to some degree interactive due to the nature of the processing m echanism . An exercise is classi­ fied as interactive if the listener must use inform a­ tion gained by processing at one lev el to check the accuracy of his or her processing on an o th er level.

Bottom-Up Processing Goals and Exercise Types, Beginning-Level Listeners Goal: Discriminate between intonation contours in sentences ■ Listen to sentences with e ith e r rising or falling in to n a tio n a n d m ark th em with a p p ro p riate p u n c tu a tio n for statem ents (.),

■

questions (?), surprise (??), or excitem ent (!) (Rost a n d U ru n o 1995, p. 54). Listen to pairs o f sentences spoken by a driver a n d a policeofficer. In each case the police officer’s words are the sam e as the driv er’s. Use the in to n a tio n p a tte rn o f the policeofficer to d e te rm in e w h eth er he is rep eatin g o r q u estioning w hat the driver said (Foley 1994a, p. 83).

Goal: Discriminate between phonemes ■ Listen to the tea c h e r read pairs o f words. Each p air differs by one sound. T h en listen again as the tea c h e r reads onlv one o f the w'ords in each pair a n d circle the word you h e a r (Benz a n d Dworak 2000, p. 126). ■ Listen to th ree words a n d d e te rm in e which w ord is different from the o th e r two (Rost an d U ru n o 1995, p. 55). Goal: Listen for morphological endings ■ Listen to a num ber of verbs that end in -s or -es. For each verb, note the pronunciation / s / , / z / . or / 3 Z / (Benz and Dworak 2000, p. 189). ■ Listen to sentences a n d decide if the verb is in the p rese n t tense o r the past tense. T h en listen to a list o f verbs that en d in -ed an d note the p ro n u n cia tio n / t / , / d / , o r / a d / (Benz a n d Dworak 2000, p. 226). Goal: Recognize syllable patterns, number of syllables, and word stress ■ Listen to a short radio commercial. In each word, count and note the num ber of sylla­ bles, and underline the stressed syllable. T hen practice reading the com m ercial aloud to vour partner, preserving the stress pattern (Benz and Dworak 2000, pp. 47-48). Goal: Be aware of sentence fillers in informal speech. ■ Listen to sentences and identify' sentence fillers such as: "well," "I m ean," "like,” “vou know" (Folev 1994b, p. 82). Goal: Select details from the text ■ L isten to a re c o rd e d te le p h o n e m en u about the movies playing, the theaters, and th e show times. Circle the n u m b e r th a t you m ust press at each p o in t to work down the m enu (Benz and Dworak 2000, p. 69-70). ■ Listen to som e conversations about sick­ ness. R efer to a list o f sym ptom s and check

to the sh o rt dialogues to confirm your prediction. Analvze features of the speech (tone, speed, w ord choice) to d eterm in e w hat m akes an in tro d u c tio n m ore form al (Benz a n d Dworak 2000, pp. 5 -6).

those symptoms which are m entioned in the conversation (Benz and Dworak 2000, p. 112).

Top-Down Processing Goals and Exercise Types, Beginning-Level Listeners Goal: Discriminate between emotional reactions ■ Listen to a statem en t a b o u t a vacation and decide w h eth er o r n o t the speaker enjoved the vacation (Richards 1995, p. 29). Goal: Get the gist or main idea of a passage ■ Listen to a dialogue an d decide what tvpe o f w eather is being described. Find the picture th at shows the w eather (Benz and Dworak 2000, p. 80). ■ Listen to a series o f short conversations and for each one m ark a picture that shows w here the conversation took place (Rost a n d U ru n o 1995, p. 49). ■ Listen to a n u m b er of short biographies and for each one write a title that expresses the m ain idea o f the passage (Benz and Dworak 2000, pp. 142-143). Goal: Recognize the topic ■ From a list of possible topics predict the topics that people will discuss when they d o n ’t know each other well. Listen to a series o f short conversations in different settings and note which topics are actually discussed (Benz and Dworak 2000, pp. 71-72). ■ Listen to a series of process descriptions, telling how to do so m eth in g a n d m ark a pictu re th a t tells the topic of the descrip­ tion (Rost an d U ru n o 1995, p. 78).

Interactive Processing Goals and Exercise Types, Beginning-Level Listeners Goal: Use speech features to decide if a statement is formal or informal ■ Look at five pictures which show people m eeting each other. Based on extralinguistic inform ation such as setting, age. and profes­ sions of the people, predict w hether the lan­ guage will be form al or inform al. Listen

Goal: Recognize a familiar word and relate it to a category ■ Review the nam es of objects th at are sold in differen t stores. Listen to statem ents that tell w hat people want to buy and select a picture of the store thev will visit. T h e n m ark the picture o f the item thev will buy (Rost a n d U runo 1995. p. 41). Goal: Compare information in memorу with incom­ ing information ■ Read a sentence and th e n listen to a sen­ tence on tape to decide if the m ean in g is the same or different (Foley 1994a, p. 71). ■ Listen to a passage that describes a dram atic event such as a natural disaster. T hen listen to a sentence from the passage a n d rem em ­ b er its m eaning. O n a w orksheet, read two se n te n c e s a n d d e c id e w hich se n te n c e w ould best follow the sentence you heard (Foley 1994b. p. 107). Goal: Compare information that you hear with your own experience ■

Listen to statem ents about receding in the U nited States Com pare them with recycling in vour countrv. Tell w hether your country' is the same or different (Foley 1994b, p. 116).

Profile of the IntermediateLevel Learner

Interm ediate-level learners co n tin u e to use lis­ ten in g as an im p o rtan t source o f language input to in crease th e ir vocabularv a n d stru ctu ra. u n d erstan d in g . A lthough they have internalizec > the ph o n em ic system o f the language fairly well they mav have little u n d e rsta n d in g of the com ­ plexities of phonological rules that govern fast speech: reductions, elisions, assim ilation, a n d S' forth. Thev n e e d practice in word recognition in discrim inating fine differences in w ord orde: a n d gram m atical form , in registers o f speakinc an d in em otional overtones. !

Interm ed iate-lev el lea rn ers have m oved beyond the limits of words a n d short phrases: their m em orv can retain longer phrases a n d sen­ tences. Thev can listen to sh o rt conversations or narratives that are one o r two paragraphs in length. Thev are able to get the gist, to find the m ain idea an d som e su p p o rtin g detail (ACTFL Proficiency G uidelines 1988). Thev are reach to practice m ore discourse level skills: p redicting what will h a p p e n next and explaining relations betw een events an d ideas. Techniques for Global Listening At the in te r­ m ediate level, it is no longer necessary to protid e learners with sim plified codes and m odified speech. In d eed , learners n eed to h ear authentic texts with red u c e d form s, fast speech features, false starts, hesitations, errors, som e n o n stan ­ dard dialects, and a variety o f different voices. T here are several definitions of authenticity in materials. Porter and Roberts (1987) state that authentic texts are those "instances of spoken lan­ guage which were not initiated for the purpose of teaching . . . not intended for non-native learners" ip. 176). Rogers and Medlcv (1988) use the term authentic to refer to till language samples which "reflect a naturalness of form, and an appropri­ ateness of cultural and situational context that would be found in the language as used bv native speakers" (p. 468). With this definition, verv good teacher-m ade or adapted materials mav qnalifv as authentic. Techniques for Selective Listening At the interm ediate-level, students n e e d a well-organ­ ized p rogram of selective listening to focus their atten tio n on the systematic features of the lan­ guage code. Accuracy in discrim inating gram ­ m atical features is verv im p o rta n t at this level. If learners c a n n o t h e a r certain unstressed endings, articles, inflections, and function words, thev are less likelv to in co rp o rate them into th eir gram ­ matical com petence. Interm ediate-level students who were train ed with sim plified codes a n d with clearly p ro n o u n c e d m odels mav not recognize the sam e words and phrases in norm al fast speech. G ilbert (1995) suggests th at som e p ro ­ nunciation training has an im p o rta n t place in the listening class — to draw stu d e n ts’ conscious atten tio n to the features o f natural speech.

Finally, the interm ediate level is an appro­ priate tim e to teach explicitly some strategies of interactive listening: how to use one's knowledge of form al gram m ar to check the general m eaning of a speaker’s statem ent and how to use o n e ’s background knowledge to predict and direct the process of com prehension.

Bottom-Up Processing Goals and Exercise Types, Intermediate-Level Listeners Goal: Differentiate between content and function wonts by stress pattern e Read a series of sentences and predict which words will be stressed (content words) and which will be reduced (function words.) Listen to the sentences and confirm vour predictions (Hagen 2000, p. 8). Goal: Find the stressed syllable * Listen to a list of multisyllable words. Repeat each one and check w hether the stress is on the first, second, or third syllable. Note which syllables were m ore frequently stressed (Carlisi and Christie 2000, pp. 153-154). Goal: Recognise words with reduced vowels or dropped syllables Listen to a series of statem ents ab o u t sports activities and use word stress to d eterm in e w h eth er the speakers are saving "can” or "can't" (Gill and H artm an n 2000, p. 81). Read a list o f polysyllabic words and predict which syllabic vow el will be d ro p p ed . Listen to the words an d confirm vour predictions (H agen 2000. pp. 6-7). Goal: Recognise words as they are linked in the speech stream * Listen to a series o f short sentences with c o n so n an t vowel linking betw een words. M ark the linkages on the answ er sheet (H agen 2000. p M 6 ). Goal: Recognise pertinent details in the speech stream * Listen to a short dialogue between a boss and a secretary regarding changes in the daily schedule. Use an appointm ent calendar. Cross out appointm ents that are being changed and write in new ones (Schecter 1984, p. 36).

Listen to a short telephone conversation between a custom er and a service station m an­ ager. Fill in a chart which lists the car repairs that must be done. Check the part of the car that needs repair, the reason, and the approx­ im ate cost (Schecter 1984, p. 26).

Top-Down Processing Goals and Exercise Types, Intermediate-Level Listeners Goal: Discriminate between registers of speech and tones of voice ■

Listen to sentences with e ith e r flat o r varied in to n a tio n a n d d e te rm in e w h e th e r the speaker is enthusiastic, friendly, o r sincere by the am o u n t o f pitch change an d energy in the voice (Gill a n d H artm an n 2000. pp. 120-123).

Interactive Processing Goals and Exercise Types, Intermediate-Level Listeners Goal: Use word stress to understand the speaker’s intent ■

Goal: Recognize missing grammar markers in collo­ quial speech and reconstruct the message ■

«*

Goal: Listen to identify the speaker or the topic ■

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Listen to fo u r short conversations with p e o ­ ple m aking small talk and m atch each to a picture o f the speakers an d the setting (Gill an d H a rtm a n n 2000. pp. 10-11). Read the headlines for live different news stories on th e topics o f e n v iro n m e n t, health, an d lifestvie. Listen to the news stories an d m atch each one with the a p p ro ­ priate h eadline (Gill and H a rtm a n n 2000, pp. 187-189).

Goal: Find main ideas and supporting details ■

Listen to a short conversation betw een two friends. O n vottr answer sheet are scenes from television program s. Find and write the nam e o f the program and the channel. Decide which speaker watched the program (Schecter 1984, p. 22).

Goal: Make inferences ■

Listen to a wom an an d a m an o rd erin g d in n e r in a restaurant. Based on the food choices thev m ake, tell which person is m ore conscious o f health concerns (Gill and H artm an n 2000, p. 72).

Listen to a series of statem ents about m onev problem s. In each statem ent, circle the words that are em phasized. With a partner, discuss what is im p o rtan t to the speaker a n d how the speaker feels about it (Garlisi and C hristie 2000. p. 116).

Listen to a series of short questions in which the auxiliary verb and subject have been deleted. Lse gram m atical knowledge to fill in the missing words: "(1 lave vou) got some extra?" (H agen 2000. pp. 9-10). Listen to a series of questions with assimilated verb auxiliary and subject, and use gram ­ matical knowledge to identify the missing verb (does d/is it). Example: "Zit need m ore salt?" and "Zit Ok?" (Hagen 2000, p. 17).

Goal: l 'sc context and knowledge of the world to build listening expectations: listen to confirm expectations *

Based on vour know ledge o f o th er cultures, predict w hether their topics of conversation in an academ ic setting will be personal or im personal, direct or indirect. T hen listen to a new com er describe his experience in that culture and note what kind of culture shock actually occurred. After listening, discuss with a p a rtn e r w hether vour initial idea was correct and how vou have to revise vour ideas because of to u r added knowledge (Garlisi and Christie 2000. pp. 4 0 -4 2 ).

Profile of the Advanced Learner T h e re is evidence that in the learn in g c o n tin u ­ um . som ew here betw een high-interm ecliate and advanced levels, a qualitative shift occurs in the le a rn e r's p ro cessin g stvle (C um m ins 1981). C um m ins notes that truly proficient bilinguals are able to use th eir second language skills fully to acquire knowledge: Thev h a te cognitive and

academic language proficiency (CALP). Advanced students are no longer simply learning to listen or listening to learn the language. They are listening in the language to learn about the content of other areas. To build toward this level, curriculum and program planners have established courses in English for Specific Purposes (ESP), English for Academic Purposes (EAP). and adjunct courses in which m ainstream content classes offer language support (see chapters bv Jo h n s an d PriceM achado. and Snow in this volume). The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines (1988) list the following com petencies for advanced listeners: Thev can listen to longer texts such as radio and television program s and academ ic lectures. T heir vocabulary includes topics in cur­ rent events, history, and culture: thev can deal with a certain degree of abstraction. The listeners begin to fill in gaps and can make inferences when the text is incom plete or their background knowledge is lacking. How сл ег, their understanding of the lan­ guage rem ains on a iairlv literal plane, so that thev may miss jokes, slang, and cultural references. Academic lectures in English-speaking coun­ tries mav employ a m uch less form al delivery style than the lectures that international students know from their hom e countries. Instead of the rcadaloud lecture. Am erican lectures tend to be con­ versational a n d even interactive (Flowerdew 1994). Professors mar include jokes, cultural ref­ erences, asides, and digressions: thev mar allow interruptions from students who ask questions, which ther then go on to weave into the inform ­ ation structure of their lecture. T he non-native lis­ ten er needs to determ ine what is relevant and what is not. Rost (1994) suggests strategies for learning from lectures, including form ulating questions to ask the lecturer, searching lecture notes for logical relationships, and building a list of'kev term s to form a lexical base. Manv advanced learners are m ore skilled at read in g than ther are at listening. This is partic­ ularly tru e of students who h are learn ed th eir English in a foreign language context and whose trainin g has em phasized gram m ar, vocabulary, an d reading. Such students mar learn to com ­ p re h e n d spoken discourse m ore easily if thev can activate th eir know ledge bv com pleting the assigned read in g before the lecture (M ason

1994). Som e experts also suggest judicious use of lecture transcripts in listening classes as a m eans o f using students' fam iliarity with w ritten text to m ake an explicit co n nection with the spo­ ken form of the language (L ebauer 2000). For m anv in te rn atio n a l students, red u c­ tions in norm al speech p resen t a m ajor co m p re­ h e n sio n p ro b le m . L isten in g classes at th e advanced level mar- n eed to include a systematic p ro g ra m o f e x p o sin g le a rn e rs to re d u c e d speech. A review of stress, pause, pitch, a n d into­ nation patterns can serve to unlock m vsteries of discourse structure and p o in t students toward recognition of organizational m arkers, cohesive devices, and definitions in context. For listening to fit the interactive m odel of the skilled native speaker, both top-down an d bottom -np processes m ust be learned. T h e fol­ lowing reco m m en d atio n s for advanced listeners assum e an intern atio n al stu d e n t p o p u latio n th at needs to develop cognitive an d academ ic lan­ guage proficiency for effective study in English.

Bottom-Up Processing Goals and Exercise Types, Advanced-Level Listeners Goal: Use features of sentence stress and intonation to identify important information for note taking a L isten to a n u m b e r o f se n te n c e s a n d extract the c o n ten t words, which are read with g rea ter stress. W rite the c o n te n t words as notes (Lint an d Sm alzer 1995, p. 50). Goal: Recognise contractions, reduced forms, and other characteristics of spoken English that differ from the -written form ® Listen to sentences c o n ta in in g red u c e d form s an d write the sentences as they would ap p ear w ithout reduction in form al, w ritten English (Leshinskv 199.5, pp. 1-6). Goal: Become aware of common performance slips that must he reinterpreted or ignored * Listen to and look at sentences that contain fillers (hesitation p h en o m en a such as “u h ,” "er." and "um") and phrases such as “I m ean." "you know," "sort of,” and “like.” Rewrite the sentences w ithout the fillers;

om it any words that d o n 't add to the infor­ m ation (Leshinskv 1995. pp. 6- 8 ). Goal: Become aware of organizational cues in lecture text ■ Look at a lecture transcript and circle all the cue words used to e n u m e rate the m ain points. T h e n listen to the lecture segm ent an d note the organizational cues (L ebauer 2000, pp. 14-15). Goal: Become aware of lexical and suprasegmental markers for definitions ■ Read a list o f lexical cues that signal a defi­ nition; listen to signals o f the speaker's in te n t such as rhetorical questions: listen to special in to n atio n pattern s a n d pause pat­ terns used with appositives (L ebauer 2000. pp. 52-54). Goal: Identify specific points of information ■ R ead a skeleton outline of an interview a b o u t s o u th gangs a n d n e ig h b o rh o o d watch clubs in which the m ain categories are given but the specific exam ples arc left blank. Listen to the interview and take notes on the inform ation which belongs in the blanks (X um rich 1995. p. 51).

Top-Down Processing Goals and Exercise Types, Advanced-Level Listeners Goal: Use knowledge of the topic to predict the content of the text ■ Before listening to a conversation about food, write a description about the was that food is p rep ared and eaten in so u r culture: share this inform ation with others. Use sour ideas to write questions that sou think mav be anssvered in the listening text (Leshinskv 1995, pp. 27-28). Goal: Use the introduction to the lecture to predict its focus and direction ■

Listen to the introductory section of a lec­ ture. T hen read a n u m b er of topics on so u r answer sheet and choose the topic that best expresses w hat th e lec tu re will discuss (L ebauer 2000, pp. 49-51).

(dial: Use the lecture transcript to predict the content of the next section ■ Read a section of a lecture transcript. Stop reading at a juncture point and predict what will com e next. Then read on to confirm vour prediction (L ebauer 2000. pp. 18-20). Goal: Find the main idea of a lecture segment ■ R ead a skeleton outline for a lecture about A m erican svork habits, noting the n u m b er o f m ain ideas and digressions. W hile listen­ ing to the lecture, fill in the outline and identify the m ain points and digressions (Lim an d Sm alzer 1995. pp. 24-25). Goal: Recognize fwint of view Take notes on a debate about w hether or not it is ethical to keep dolphins in captivity. Afterwards, organize vour notes u n d e r two headings: the argum ents for keeping dol­ phins and the argum ents against keeping them (Leshinksv 1995. p. 95).

Interactive Processing Goals and Exercise Types, Advanced-Level Listeners Goal: Use knowledge of phrases and discourse markers to predict the content in the next segment of the lecture *» Identify the lec tu re r's in te n tio n bv his choice of discourse m arkers and predict the kind of inform ation that will follow (Ваше 1995. pp. 221-224). Goal: Make inferences about the text. Listen to a conversation about restaurants, ethnic cuisine, and good food. Read a num ber of statements about people's food preferences and decide if thee are possible inferences based on the text (Leshinskv 1995, p. 22).

Directions for Future Research Recent re\iews of research in the field of listening com prehension have pointed to the need for additional research in a n u m b er of areas. A com ­ m on them e is the link betw een proficiency level and strategy use. We need to know m ore about what good listeners do and how thev learn th eir strategies. Introspection, self-report, an d in te r­ view m ethods show great prom ise in this elusive

area. Rubin (1994) calls for a prioritization of the im p o rtan ce o f elem ents in bottom -up and top-down processing that affect listening at each proficiency level. Since the selection of strategies can also be influenced by factors o th er than proficiency level, it seems im portant to investigate some of these variables as well: learning stvle, personality type, previous educational experience, task constraints, and text ty pe. M uch o f the research to date has concentrated on schem a use and top-level pro­ cessing. However, given the im portance o f automaticity in perceiving and parsing, it would also be helpful to know about the effects of m ore inten­ sive classroom practice on bottom -up processing. O ne of the difficulties of comparative studies with low and high proficiency groups is that there is no com m only accepted m easure of proficiency in ESL listening. Thus, it is difficult to com pare the results of studies; some use TOEFL1*, CELT,1 or MLA test scores, some use teacher assessment, and some use the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview as a global m easure. Rubin (1994) reports that ACTFL and the Interagency Language R ound­ table are working on tests that mav sen e as a stan­ dard in future listening com prehension research. O ther research areas include the effect of social, cultural, and affective factors on listeners. Me need to know m ore about the dem ands placed on students bv formal and informal classroom styles, interactional teaching styles, and group work. As m ultim edia resources becom e m ore avail­ able, and as we come to value the visual elem ent in listening com prehension, a studv of the effects of \ideo and other visual m edia is of growing interest (Rubin 1995). Finally, it would be verv instructive to repli­ cate a studv do n e bv B erne (1998) in which she asked practicing foreign language teachers about their areas o f research interest. T he list from teachers onlv partly overlaps with the topics given by academ ic researchers. Teachers w anted guide­ lines for setting appropriate goals for different levels of proficiency; for using the appropriate am o u n t of repetition; for in co rp o ratin g support m aterials such as visual aids and physical activities into listening tasks; for choosing the LI or L2 in assessing co m p re h en sio n ; fo r re d u c in g the am oun t o f m ental translation that students do;

for assessing the level of difficulty of a listening text; for incorporating authentic and culturally relevant texts; and for com bining listening with o th er skills. How7 m any o f these issues would em erge from a similar survey o f ESL/EFL teachers and what additional issues would the responses of ESL/EFL teachers raise?

SUMMARY ESL/EFL teachers have several responsibilities with respect to the listening skill. First, they must understand the pivotal role that listening plays in the language learning process in o rd er to utilize lis­ tening in wavs that facilitate learning. Second, they must understand the com plex interactive nature of the listening process and the different kinds o f lis­ tening that learners m ust do in ord er to provide their students with an appropriate variety7 and range of listening experiences. Finally, teachers m ust und erstan d how listening skills typically develop in second language learners— and m ust be able to assess the stage of listening at which their students are — so that each student can engage in the most beneficial types of listening activities given his or h er level of proficiency7.

D IS C U S S IO N Q U E S T IO N S 1. In a group, recall the stages that you went th rough in listening when vou learned a second language. W hat elem ents did you h ear first? MTiat elem ents took a long tim e to hear? W hat part did m em ory play in your listening at each stage? 2. In vour o p in io n and based on vour experi­ ence, what is the m ost effective relationship betw een teach er talk an d stu d en t talk in the L2 classroom? 3. D escribe the differences in texts with sim pli­ fied codes an d au th en tic language. MTiat purp o se does each text type have in the L2 classroom? 4. T he learner proficiency profiles given in this ch ap ter are loosely based on the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for listening. T he pro­ files assume a certain learning context, one in which the target language is n o t spoken out­ side the classroom (similar to an EFT co n tex t).

5.

Discuss wavs in which context variables m ight lead to a different learner proficiencv profile at each level. (Consider class size, age of learners, am ount of exposure to the language, length of instruction, and similar factors.) Review the results of Berne's studv, listed in the last section o f this chapter. Survev vour classmates a n d /o r colleagues and find out w h e th e r these issues are o f in te rest to ESL/EFL teachers. Do vour classmates and colleagues have o th er issues to add to the list?

S U G G E S T E D A C T IV IT IE S 1. Prepare a presentation o f new m aterial from an ESL/EFL text. Choose a short dialogue or narrative passage. Plan a prelistening phase in which you use visual and situational support to teach the new words and concepts. T hen pres­ en t the text orally. Your presentation should last no longer than three to five m inutes. 2. Prepare a selective listening exercise which focuses on language form and guides students to discrim inate between structural features. 3. Choose a listening com prehension text that has been published in the last five tears. Select a typical chapter and analvze the cognitive pro­ cessing dem ands of its exercises. How many are top-down? How manv are bottom-up? Inter­ active? W hat is the plan for sequencing the exercises? 4. R ecord one or two m inutes o f authentic text from the radio or television. Develop a fram e­ work of language support for the text and show how you could use it in an interm ediatelevel class. 5. W ith a partner, conduct an experim ent to dis­ cover your (or vour p a rtn e r’s) preferred lis­ tening strategies. O ne of you trill act as the investigator and the o th er trill serve as the consultant. Choose a language which you both know but which is not native to the consultant. T he investigator trill prepare a one- to threem inute tape in that language and transcribe it, noting junctures w here there are natural pauses (approximately evert' two or three sen­ tences). The investigator will plat the tape, pausing at the junctures, and ask the consultant to report what he or she is doing mentally to

com p reh en d the tape. Make note o f all the lis­ tening strategies m entioned and classify them as cognitive, m etacognitive, or socioaffective. W hat does this tell to n about vour listening strategies? W hat hat e t on learned about doing this kind of research?

FU R T H ER R EA D IN G Blair. R.. ed. 1982. Innovative Approaches to Language Teaching. New York: Xewburv House. "Learning to Listen." the third chapter of Nida’s (1957) hook, is reprinted in Blair, pp. 42-53. Also, this anthologv includes representative articles bv Asher. Postovskv. Xord, and Krashen. Xagle. S.. and S. Sanders. 1986. Comprehension Theorv and Second Language Pedagogy. TESOL Quarterly 20(1 ):9-26. Presents the information-processing model of listening comprehension with suggestions for classroom applications. Flowerdew. J.. ed. 1994. Academic Listening: Research Perspectroes. Cambridge: Cambridge L’niversitv Press. A collection of chapters bv experts in the field of English for Academic Purposes, with insights into the structure of various tvpes of lectures and information on how students understand. Joiner, E. 1997. Teaching listening: How technology can help. In M. D. Bush and R. M. Tern-, eds.. Technology Enhanced Learning (pp. 77-120). Lincolnwood. 1L: National Textbook Companv. Describes the kinds of technology that are avail­ able for teaching listening (audio, video, radio, computers, videodisc, multimedia workstations 1 and how to use them. Mendelsohn. D.. an d j. Rubin., eds. 1995. A Guide for the Teaching of Second Language Listening. San Diego. CA: Dominie Press. .An excellent collection of articles on the full range of listening issues, with consideration o: teaching and assessment. Vandergrift. I.. 1998. Constructing meaning in L2 listen­ ing: Eridence from protocols. In S. Lapkin, cd. French as a Second Language in Canada: Recen: Empirical Studies. Toronto: Toronto University Press Presents the methodology" for a study of listen­ ing strategies and includes a lengthy taxonomy of tvpes of listening strategies.

ENDNO TE 1 CELT is the Comprehensive English Language Test bv Harris and Palmer (1986).

Speaking

UNIT

II В

Й

Language Skills Speaking This section focuses on

how

H HH z

p

ESL/EFL teachers can facilitate their

students' acquisition of oral skills. Lazaraton's chapter draws on current practice in oral skills pedagogy to show teachers how to develop the speaking skills of their students through appropriate course design and materials developm ent The chapter by G ood w in describes a principled and systematic approach to pronunciation, recognizing that intelligible pronunciation is critical for effective oral communication. She treats the skills needed for comprehension, self-expression, and monitoring. Peck's chapter discusses the teaching of listening and speaking skills to young learners, emphasizing how' children differ from adults when learning aural-oral skills in the classroom. According to Peck, these differences require the use o f special resources and activities.

Teaching Oral Skills ANNE

LAZARATON

In "Teaching Oral Skills," Lazaraton discusses current practice in o ral skills pedagogy in terms of how to structure an oral skills class and determine its content, along with implementing a variety of classroom activities that prom ote skills development, anc understanding issues related to classroom evaluation of speaking skills and testing via large-scale о ’'a examinations.

IN T R O D U C T IO N For m ost people, the ability to speak a language is synonym ous with know ing that language since speech is the m ost basic m eans ok h u m an com ­ m unication. N evertheless, "speaking in a second o r foreign language has often been s iev ed as the m ost d e m a n d in g of the lo u r skills" (Bailev and Savage 1994. p. vii). W hat specifically makes speaking in a second o r foreign language diffi­ cult? Brown (1994) m en tio n s a n u m b e r of features that interact to m ake speaking as chal­ lenging a language skill as it is. To start, fluent speech contains red u ced forms, such as contrac­ tions, vowel red uction, a n d elision, so that lea rn ­ ers who are not exposed to or who do not get sufficient practice with red u c e d speech will retain th eir ra th e r form al-sounding full forms. T he same can be said for the use of slang and idiom s in speech: W ithout facility in using these ubiquitous features o f spoken language, learners are apt tea sou n d bookish. Students m ust also acquire the stress, rhvthm . a n d in to n atio n of E nglish, a c o m p lic a ted task for m anv (see G oodw in's c h a p te r on teaching p ro n u n ciatio n in this volum e). Perhaps the m ost difficult aspect o f spoken English is that it is alm ost always accom plished via interaction with at least one o th e r speaker. This m eans that a variety of d em ands are in place at once: m o n ito rin g and u n d e rsta n d in g the o th e r speaker(s), thinking ab o u t o n e ’s own con trib u tio n , p ro d u cin g that c o n trib u tio n , m o n ito rin g its effect, an d so on.

This is one reason whv m anv o f us were shocked and disap p o in ted when we used o u r second or foreign language for the first tim e in real in te r­ action: We had not been p rep a re d for sponta­ neous com m unication and could not cope with all of its sim ultaneous dem ands. T hat is. speak­ ing is an "activity req u irin g the in teg ratio n of mans' subsystems. . . . all these factors com bine to m ake speaking a second or foreign language a form idable task for language learners. . . . vet for mans people, speaking is seen as the central skill" (Bailev and Sasage 1994. p. s i—s ii). O ral skills base not alsvass figured so cen­ tralis in second and foreign language pedagogy. In classes th at utilize co m p re h en sio n -b a se d approaches to language teaching, listening skills are stressed b efore speaking, if speaking is stressed at all (see the section on listening skills in this solum e). Esen in a production-based approach such as the Silent Was; student speech is carefully controlled for structure and content. And while audiolingualism stressed oral skills (evi­ d enced bv the am ount of time spent in the language laboratory practicing drills), speech production was tightly controlled in o rd er to rein­ force correct habit form ation of linguistic rules. But with the advent of the theory o f com ­ m unicative com petence (Hvmes 1972) a n d the practice of com m unicative language teaching (see Savignon's c h a p te r in this so lu m e), the teaching o f oral com m unication skills as a con­ textualized sociocultural activity has becom e the focal point in mans' ESL classroom s. Briefly,

C anale a n d Sw ain's (1980) a d a p ta tio n of Hym cs's theory o f com m unicative com petence proposes that the ability to com m unicate in a language com prises four dim en sio n s:1 grammati­ cal competence (including rules of phonology, orthography, vocabulary, w ord form ation, and sen te n c e fo rm a tio n ), sociolinguistic competence (rules for the expression an d u n d e rsta n d in g of a p p ro p riate social m eanings and gram m atical form s in different contexts), discourse competence (rules of both cohesion — how sentence ele­ m ents are tied to g eth e r via reference, repetition, synonymy, etc. — a n d c o h eren ce — how texts are co n stru cted ), and finally, strategic competence, (a rep e rto ire o f com pensatory strategies that help with a variety of com m unication difficulties). T he im pact of com m unicative com petence theory on second an d foreign language teaching c a n n o t really be overstated: few ESI. m aterials published in the last decade or so fail to claim th at th eir m aterials reflect "the com m unicative a p p ro a c h .” W hat features of this theoretical ap p ro ach are relevant to teaching oral skills? P erhaps the m ost obvious wav in which oral skills pedagogy has evok ed as a result of this theory is th at it is no longer acceptable to focus on!у on developing the gram m atical com petence of o u r students, as was the case with a n u m b er o f lan­ guage teaching m ethodologies which were p o p ­ u lar in the past. Todav. teachers are expected to balance a focus on accuracy with a focus on fluency as well. A ccording to H edge (1993. pp. 275-276) the term fluency has two m eanings. T he first, which is “the ability to link units of speech to g eth e r with facility an d w ithout strain o r in ap p ro p ria te slowness o r u n d u e hesitation." is w hat is com m only u n d e rsto o d as fluency in language teaching m aterials and in language assessm ent procedures. But H edge proposes a second, m ore holistic sense of fluency that of “natu ral language use," which is likelv to take place w hen speaking activities focus on m eaning a n d its negotiation, w hen speaking strategics are used, a n d w hen overt correction is m inim ized. This second, b ro a d e r definition is certainly c o n ­ sistent with the aims of m any ESL classroom s todav w here the negotiation o f m ean in g is a m ajor goal.

A second im plication is that m ultiple skills should be tau g h t w henever possible. In fact, M urphy (1991) believes that oral skills teachers should always co nnect speaking, listening, an d p ro n u n cia tio n teaching although the focus in an\- one class or activity mav highlight one or another. M ore broadly oral skills classes m at- use reading an d writing activities as the basis or follow­ up for speaking activities. T raining learn ers to use strategies a n d enco u rag in g strategy use is a n o th e r p ro m in e n t feature o f today's oral skills classroom . Books such as Language Learning Strategies: What Lx’ery Teacher Should Know (O xford 1990) discuss this topic in detail: while the utility of teaching "com ­ m unication strategies" is a deb ated theoretical issue (see Dornvei 1995). it is clear that language le a rn e rs m ust b eco m e c o m p e te n t at using strategies, such as circum locution, hesitation devices, an d appeals for help, and that the oral skills teach er should at least advocate and m odel their use. A final feature which characterizes the cur­ ren t ESI. classroom is that students are e n co u r­ aged to take responsibility for their own learning. No longer is learning seen as a one-wav transfer of know ledge from teacher to student; todav we u n d erstan d that students learn from teachers, from classmates, and from the world outside the classroom , and the m ore the lea rn er seeks these opportunities, the m ore likelv he or she will learn to use the language. In the oral skills classroom , students should be allowed and en couraged to initiate com m unication w hen possible, to d e te r­ m ine the co n ten t of their responses or co n trib u ­ tions. and to evaluate their own p roduction and learning progress.

The Oral Skills Class In deciding how to structure and what to teach in an oral skills class, questions such as the fol­ lowing should be considered: W ho are the stu­ dents? Whv are thev there? W hat do thev expect to learn? W hat am I expected to teach? O ne basic consideration is the level o f the students an d th eir perceived needs. Level mav be d e te rm in e d bv a p lacem ent test adm inistered

bv the institution o r by a diagnostic test given bv the teacher. Info rm atio n on lea rn er needs c an be o b tain ed bv m eans o f a stu d e n t inform ation sheet on which tliev rep o rt the am o u n t of lim e they spend speaking English, th eir fu tu re goals, th eir goals for the course, a n d th eir assessm ent (p erh ap s a four-point scale from “poor" to “excellent") o f th eir overall speaking abilitv. co n ­ fidence in speaking English, th eir p ro n u n cia ­ tion, social conversation, and listening abilitv W ith low level adults, the teach er nun need to find El speakers to help him or h er get infor­ m ation on stu d e n t experiences, ed ucational background, and needs. It will be especially im p o rtan t with this student group to build on th eir experiences, to share expertise, and to use realia in o rd e r to keep learning as concrete as possible. M ore often than not. oral skills courses for n o n a c a d e m ic adults focus on survival English a n d basic co m m u n icatio n functions based on a strong struc tural com ponent. On the o th er hand, academ ic learners will n eed practice with different sorts of activities. Based on su n e v responses from university faculty. Ferris and Tagg (1996a. 1996b) suggest that, in general, what academ ic ESL students need most is extensive authentic practice in class participa­ tion, such as taking part in discussions, interacting with peers and professors, and asking and answer­ ing questions. In fact, these students mav be facing some sort of exit exam ination at the conclusion of the course that will determ ine w hether or not thev are com petent to teach in English, to take other academic courses for credit, and so on. As a result, these learners take their course work seriously and have high expectations of the teacher. Yet even these students can probable benefit from (and mav even ask for) some instruction on the m ore interpersonal aspects of oral com m unication. Nowadays, oral skills classes at all levels are often structured around functional uses of lan­ guage. In a nonacadem ic context, these m ight involve basic greetings, talking on the telephone, interacting with school personnel, shopping, and the like. In Xeie \'islas: (ielting Started (Brown 1998), a multiskills book for beginners, students learn to introduce themselves and greet other people; give and request personal inform ation,

directions, and prices; talk about family m em bers; tell time; give and accept invitations; describe clothing; and give and accept com plim ents. With academ ic adults, practice in activities such tts leading a n d taking p art in discussions and giv ing oral reports is n e e d ed to be done. For exam ple, in Speaking of Business (E ngland a n d Crosse 1993). a text for high-advanced learners in business Helds, students learn to plan and conduct business m eetings, give speeches, m ake oral presentations, participate in conferences, and socialize with colleagues. With (prospective) in tern atio n al teaching assistants, course activi­ ties mav be even m ore specific— sim ulations of teaching a lab section, h o ld in g office hours, or in teractin g with regular faculty. In m ore inform al conversation courses, the c o n ten t can be stru ctu red a ro u n d speech acts, which are actions such as g reeting an d apologiz­ ing that are en co d ed in language in "ro u tin ized ” form s (e.g.. "hi" and "hello" for greeting, “sorrv” for apologizing). O ne of the stan d ard text­ books for this purpose is Speaking Xalurally: Communication Skills in American English (Tillitt and Bi n d e r 1983). which has chapters covering o p e n in g an d closing a conversation, in tro d u cin g a n d a d d re ssin g p e o p le , giving invitations, expressing thanks, apologizing, com plim enting, getting atten tio n and in te rru p tin g , agreeing a n d disagreeing, controlling the conversation, and getting inform ation. Teachers mav. o r mav not, be given text­ books or m aterials for teaching the oral skills class. Buver beware: N ot all m aterials live up to th eir claims about what thev p ro m o te or teach in term s of language content, teaching m eth o d ­ ology. and textual task authenticity. In an analy­ sis of a n u m b e r of ESL speaking texts published betw een 1(176-1993. L azarato n a n d S k u d er (1997) found that even the m ost recen t texts fell short on the authenticity criteria used (for­ mality. turn taking, quantity o f talk, etc.). For this reason, teachers need to becom e critical con­ sum ers of published m aterials bv asking questions such as the following: Is the text appropriate for the level audience being taught? W hat sorts of c o n te n t topics are used, an d are thev a p p ro p ri­ ate for this group of students? Is the focus on

a u th en tic com m unication? Does th e text in te ­ grate speaking, listening, an d p ro n unciation? M ore often than not, teachers will decide to pick a n d choose activities from a variety o f sources a n d create som e o f th eir own m aterials as well.

Activities T here are m any ways to p rom ote oral skills in the ESL/EFL classroom. T he discussion below cen­ ters on the m ajor types o f speaking activities that can be im plem ented: discussions, speeches, role plays, conversations, audiotaped oral dialogue jo urnals, and o th er accuracy-based activities.

Discussions Discussions are probably the m ost connnonlv used activity in the oral skills class. Tvpicallv. the students are in tro d u c ed to a topic via a reading, a listening passage, o r a videotape and are th en asked to get into pairs or groups to discuss a related topic in o rd e r to com e up with a solu­ tion, a response, o r the like. Teachers m ust take care in p lan n in g an d setting up a discussion activity. First, p lan n e d (versus ran d o m ) g ro u p ­ ing o r p airing of students mav be necessary to ensure a successful discussion outcom e. W hile th e re is no one "right way" to g roup students, considerations such as gender, ethnicitv, back­ g ro u n d , talkativeness, etc. mav com e into plav. Second, students n eed to be rem in d ed that each p erso n should have a specific responsibility in the discussion, w h eth er it be to keep tim e, take notes, or re p o rt results; these decisions can, and should, be m ade by the g roup m em bers. Finally, students n e e d to be clear ab o u t what thev are to discuss, why they are discussing it, an d what out­ come is expected. In o th e r words, it is insufficient to tell students, “G et in groups a n d discuss this to p ic.” T h ere should be guidance b e fo re h a n d a n d follow -up afterw ard. T h in k a b o u t how success o r completion can be defined for the activ­ ity a n d ob serv ed in th e g ro u p s. G reen , C hristopher, a n d Earn (1997) believe th a t stu­ dents will be m ore involved with and m otivated to participate in discussions if they are allowed to select discussion topics an d evaluate th eir

p eers' perfo rm an ce: this idea is in line with the principle o f students taking responsibility for th eir own learning. Books such as T he Son-stop Discussion Workbook and Let's Start Talking (Rooks 1988, 1994) contain mans' excellent ideas for in terest­ ing and provocative discussions that can be m od­ ified to suit learners at different ability levels. A well-known exam ple is the "D esert Island" dis­ cussion activity w here students are p resen ted with the task of choosing five survivors out of a g ro u p o f ten possible candidates to start a new civilization after a nuclear war. O nce groups reach a consensus, thev m ust p rese n t th eir choices to the o th e r groups and argue for them if the groups disagree. A creative s atiatio n on the discussion is the "Cocktail Parts " activity (Tester 1994), svhere an actual social occasion is sim ulated. Students are given nesv identities, which thev com m it to m ent­ ors. T hen thes' try to find th eir partner, th ro u g h in tro d u ctio n s a n d questions, w ithout revealing th eir osvn identity (for exam ple, Bill and Hillary C linton; a vegetarian a n d a m an a g e r of M cD onald's). .After partners are located, the stu­ dents can write a dialogue consistent with their identities.

Speeches A nother com m on activity in the oral skills class is the prepared speech. Topics for speeches will sTaiv d ep en d in g on the level of the student a n d the focus of the class, but in anv case, students should be given some leeway in determ ining the content o f their talks. In o th er words, the teacher can pro­ vide the structure for the sp eech — its rhetorical genre (narration, description, etc.) and its time restrictions— while the students select the con­ tent. For exam ple, asking students to “tell us about an unforgettable experience you had" allows them to talk about som ething that is per­ sonally m ean in g fu l while at th e sam e time encourages n arration and description. Speeches can be frightening for the speaker and, after a while, b o ring for the listeners, so it is a good idea to assign the listeners som e responsi­ bilities d u rin g the speeches. This is an excellent

tim e to req u ire p e e r evaluation o f a classm ate's speech. Generally, one o r two students can be assigned beforehand the responsibility for evaluat­ ing a certain speech, using guidelines created bv the teacher o r — with m ore advanced students— by the learners themselves. W ho better to decide what is or is not im portant w hen listening to a peer's speech? At the speech's conclusion, the evaluators can be asked to summarize its content, note strengths or weaknesses, or relate the speech topic to a personal experience. V ideotaping o f speeches allows all evalua­ tors (the speaker, peers, and teacher) to do a m ore in-depth critique at a later tim e with the videotape. For self-evaluation, students th em ­ selves can com e up with their own evaluation guidelines, use teacher-m ade criteria, or a com ­ bin atio n o f the two. Students are usually sur­ prised to see how thev ap p ear and sound on the tape a n d can often com e up with their own ideas about how to im prove th eir perform ances. If the speeches are a u d io tap ed or videotaped, som e of the language analysis activities described below can be used to en courage learners to becom e aware o f th eir individual problem s with p ro n u n ­ ciation, gram m ar, vocabulary, an d fluency. T eacher evaluation of speeches can also benefit from the availability o f videotapes since thev allots' for m ore sustained a tten tio n to both the overall speech and to the details o f p e rfo r­ m an c e th a n real-tim e ev aluation does. O f course, the evaluation criteria used should be consistent with the goals of the class: categories o f p erfo rm a n c e that ntav he considered include deliver (Was the volum e loud enough? Was the speed appropriate? Did the speaker stay within the tim e lim its?), interaction,/ rapport with audience (How were the visual aspects of the p rese n ta ­ tio n — eve contact, posture, gestures, nervous­ ness?), content and organization (Was it easy to locate a n d u n d e rsta n d the m ain event o r m ain p oint of the talk? Was there an ap p ro p riate in tro ­ duction a n d conclusion?), a n d language shills (Were there anv particular problem s with gram ­ mar, fluency, vocabulary, or pronunciation?). A second tvpe of speech is the impromptu speech, which can sen e several purposes in an oral skills class. O f course, this actirity gives students m ore actual practice with speaking the language.

but it also forces th em to think, an d speak, on th eir feet w ithout the benefit of notes or m em o­ rization. A variation on this activity can be part o f a lesson on using hesitation m arkers, such as um. eh. well, sent of, and like. Students are told that using hesitation m arkers is a speaking strategy that is an acceptable, if not p refe rre d , alternative to silence, which can cause em barrassm ent and confusion and can also perm it o th e r people to take over a conversation. .After going ewer a list of hesitation m arkers and letting students practice their pro n u n ciatio n and intonation, each learn er is assigned a topic he or she is likelv to know little about. For exam ple, in university academ ic English classes, topics such as finding a derivative in m athem atics or describing the m olecular struc­ ture of carbon are likelv to be unfam iliar to at least some m em bers of the class. With nonacadem ic learners, describing how a cam era works or explaining how to p re se n e fruit or to change spark plugs in a car mav be suitable topics. O nce students understand the task and are familiar with the markers, they are given a strip of paper with the topic on it just before being asked to speak. Thev are then asked to give a one-m inute, unpre­ pared response in which thee should keep talking using the hesitation m arkers— not be silent, and give as little actual inform ation as possible. This is actually a quite a hum orous activity that students enjov: it can be expanded bv basing students who do know the topics give a short explanation of their own after each attem pt.

Role Plays A th ird m ajor speaking activity tvpe is the role plav. which is particularh suitable for practicing the sociocultural variations in speech acts, such as com plim enting, com plaining, a n d the like. D ep en d in g on student level, role plavs can be p e rfo rm e d from p rep a re d scripts, created from a set of prom pts and expressions, or written using and consolidating know ledge gained from instruction or discussion of the speech act and its variations p rio r to the role plavs them selves. O lshtain and C ohen (1991) reco m m en d several steps for teaching speech acts. First, a diagnostic assessm ent is useful fo r d e te rm in in g what students already know about the act in question.

A m odel dialogue, p resen ted aurallv and or in writing, serves as language in p u t, after which the class is e n co u rag ed to evaluate the situation so as to u n d e rsta n d the factors that affect the linguis­ tic choices m ade in the dialogue. Students can listen to and practice prototvpical phrases used in the speech act. and th en perform a role plav (a fter c o n sid e rin g a p p ro p ria te in fo rm a tio n ab o u t the participants and th eir ages, genders, relationship, etc.) as a final practice. Because sociocultural factors are so crucial in the p ro d u c tio n o f speech acts. Lee a n d M cChesney (2000) suggest that discourse rating tasks, in which students rate dialogues or scenar­ ios on various co n tin u a of fo rm alin ’ and the like, can raise awareness about language a n d can h elp transfer this know ledge to p ro d u ctio n activ­ ities such as role plavs. Adclitionallv. requiring students to observe native speakers interacting can su p p le m e n t in-class p ro d u ctio n activities such as role plat s. For exam ple, when teaching a u n it on com plaints, one assignm ent m ight be to have students go to places w here com plaints m ight be com m on (the re tu rn desk at a discount store, for exam ple). T h ere, thev can listen care­ fully for how com plaints are stated and re­ sp o n d ed to, perhaps using a checklist that the students them selves create for observing that particu lar speech act.

Conversations O n e of the m ore recent trends in oral skills pedagogv is the em phasis on having students analyze an d evaluate the language that thev or others p ro d u ce (see. for exam ple. R iggenbach 1999). In o th e r words, it is not adeq u ate to have stu­ d e n ts p ro d u c e lots of language; thev m ust b ecom e m ore m etalinguisticallv aware o f the m any features o f language in o rd e r to becom e c o m p e te n t speakers a n d in te rlo c u to rs in English. O ne speaking activitv which is p articu­ larly suited to this kind o f analysis is conversa­ tio n , th e m ost fu n d a m e n ta l form o f oral com m unication. Alm ost till ESL/EFL students can benefit from a unit o n 2 an d practice with inform al conversation, but few students rep o rt having e ith e r the o p p o rtu n ity o r the confidence

to engage in u n p la n n e d conversations with native speakers. A conversation assignm ent car. be helpful in this regard. O ne wav to approach this activitv is to assign students to find a native speaker (or near­ native speaker) thev know — a friend, room ­ m ate. or colleague — and arrange to taperecord a 20- to 30-m inute interaction with this person. O f course, not all of the discourse that results from this e n c o u n te r will be trulv "natural con­ versation"— the native speaker mav fall into the role of "interview er" and ask all the questions while the non-native speaker m erely responds; therefore, the instru cto r mav want to encourage the lea rn er b e fo re h a n d to com e up with a few questions to ask the native speaker. In anv case, the resulting interaction will provide a sam ple of sp ontaneous p roduction from (and for) the lea rn er to analyze. The next step is for the students to tran­ scribe a p o rtio n of th e ir in te rac tio n . T ran­ scription involv es a faithf ul reproduction of what was said on the tape onto paper and can provide a genuine awareness of what speech is rcallv like. O ne can "see" speech the wav one can "see” writ­ ing. and students mav be surprised to discover that native speaker speech is far from "perfect.” Students are shown an exam ple o f a tran ­ script and its no tatio n before starting, an d are rem in d ed that transcription is tedious an d frus­ trating for native speakers, too. T h ere is no need to require a very detailed transcript although som e students mav want to use p h o n etic svmbols for th eir p ro n u n ciatio n . Students should be w arned not to correct gram m ar o r p ro n u n cia ­ tion mistakes, an d to include all the hesitation m arkers, false starts, and pauses. O nce the transcript is produced, there are various activities that can be pursued. O ne that works well is to have students find several instances of "com m unication difficulties.” Thev can be asked to define and exemplify the ones, on their own tapes and then ask them to determ ine what happened, whv. and how the difficulty’ could have been avoided or repaired. In a class where stu­ dents feel com fortable with each other, tapes can be switched and critiqued, or the teacher can use critical incidents from each for a group or wholeclass activitv on com m unication breakdow n and

repair. Additionally, the tea c h e r can highlight several in terestin g sections in each stu d e n t tra n ­ script a n d th en ask th e students to analyze the in te ra c tio n a n d d e te rm in e why th e te a c h e r p o in te d them o u t as interesting. In a variation of the conversation assign­ m ent, learners are req u ired to tape-record an interview with native speakers on a topic o f their choice a n d th en re p o rt the results to the class. For exam ple, students can b rain sto rm som e c o n ­ troversial issues (abortion, gun control, illegal im m igration), choose the topic th at m ost in te r­ ests them , a n d th en alone, in pairs, o r in groups, survey native speakers ab o u t th eir opinions. T he results o f th e survey can th en be p rese n ted in the form o f an oral p resen tatio n which in tu rn can be au d io tap ed a n d /o r videotaped for self-, peer, an d tea c h e r evaluation.

Audiotaped Oral Dialogue Journals T he activities discussed so far have em phasized fluency a n d m ean in g neg o tiatio n ra th e r th an accuracy. O n e activity that lends itself well to b o th concerns is the oral dialogue jo u rn a l (Allan 1991; Foley 1993). Like w ritten jo u rn als, which are used extensively in w riting classes, the oral dialogue jo u rn a l has m uch to offer both the tea c h e r a n d the students in the oral skills class­ room . O ral dialogue jo u rn a ls are one form at w here practice with fluencv an d atten tio n to accuracv can be accom plished at the same tim e. Ordinarily, the student gives an audiocassette tape to the teacher, who starts the oral jo u rn a l on the tape by giving some directions for the assign­ m en t an d perhaps suggesting a topic, such as Tell me about yourfirst day in the United States. Be sure to rem in d students to speak extem poraneously and explain why; some students will w ant to write their entries an d read them , or tu rn the tape recorder on an d off so that they can sound “p e rfe c t.” R em ind th em th at the purp o se o f the activity is to work on u n p la n n e d speaking; also give them som e guidance as to the exp ected len g th o f th eir responses. T h e tape is th en re tu rn e d to the student, who reacts to the tea c h e r p ro m p t, an d th en retu rn s the tape to the teacher, who can resp o n d in various ways. It is always nice to m ake some com ­

m ents about the co n ten t of the response to rein­ force that what is said is as im portant as how it is said. Nevertheless, these audiotapes are an excel­ lent resource for the teacher to provide individual feedback and instruction on pronunciation or gram m ar problem s since the student has a record­ ing o f speech to which he or she can refer. In a small class, it is n o t unrealistic for the teach er to listen to all the tapes on a regular basis: perhaps five o r six tim es a semester. A large class, on the o th e r h an d , m akes this u n fea­ sible, so several variations are possible. T h e tapes can be tu rn e d in on a ro tatin g basis, som e one week, an d som e the next. O r students can switch tapes with each o th e r a n d provide feedback, given som e guidance from the instructor. Even in a small class, this sort of p e e r exchange can be useful. Lucas-Uvgun (1994) describes an activity called “Secret A udio Pals,” in w hich students are paired anonvm ously a n d exchange tapes for sev­ eral weeks before trying to guess who th eir p art­ ners are. She suggests th at the activity can be e x te n d e d to students from o th e r classes, o r to exchanges o f videotapes. Finally, a grad u ate stu­ d e n t may be willing to resp o n d to the stu d e n t tapes in o rd e r to have access to th e m for research purposes (M arianne Celce-M urcia, p e r­ sonal com m unication, 8/ 1 / 00).

O ther Accuracy-Based Activities Still o th er classroom activities can be used for accuracv practice.3 In the past, speaking activities that focused on accuracy inv ariably involved drills (com m onlv uncontextualized p a tte rn practice exercises), which have, for the m ost part, fallen out of favor in language teaching. Brown (1994) rec­ om m ends that if drills are to be used, they should be short, simple, and snappy, they should be used sparingly, and they should lead to m ore authentic co m m u n icatio n activities. In th e activities described below, a drill using the particular struc­ ture may prove useful as the first step towards m ore com m unicative output. Activities th at pro m o te stu d e n ts’ getting acquainted with each o th e r lend themselves to practice with specific structures b u t in a realistic context. For exam ple, W ong (1994) recom m ends an activitv called “Two-Minute Conversations: “If I

W ere . . in which students becom e acquainted with each o th e r by taking on the identity of vari­ ous foods, anim als, buildings, etc. using the struc­ ture “If I were (a /a n ) ____ , I would be (a /a n ) _____ because . . . M ore advanced students w ould be expected to produce m ore than just the structure; lower-level students would probablv benefit from som e preteaching o f the vocabulary, a n d all students could benefit from some instruc­ tion on the p resent unreal conditional! A n o th e r early course activity is a stru ctu red interview in which students talk to th eir class­ m ates using an interview form which requires th e use o f wh- a n d /o r ves-no questions. A varia­ tion on this is an activity in which students n eed to “Find som eone who . . . .” H ere, thev are given a sheet of habits or characteristics (smokes a pipe, runs m arathons, has a tattoo) a n d m ust find at least o n e o th e r classmate who can answer yes to th e question “Do you . . . ?” T h e first stu­ d e n t to “find som eone who" can answ er each question wins th e gam e. Before closing this section, a word about e rro r correction is in order. In the m eaningcen tered activities discussed here, explicit erro r correction will probablv be out o f place because it disrupts the com m unication that is going on. Teachers may note errors that occur at these times for som e later instruction to the class as a whole or to individual students, as necessarv. During accuracy-based activities, the basic deci­ sion to be m ade is w hether to treat anv actual erro r o r to ignore it, which will d ep en d on several factors, including the erro r being m ade and the context in winch it occurs. In the unreal condi­ tional activity above, it may be instructive, if not necessary, to correct errors in the conditional form , b u t n o t errors in subject-verb agreem ent. Som e teachers choose to correct onlv those errors which im pede com m unication (such as incorrect w ord order) and ignore less serious errors (such as th ird person singular -s or p h o n em e confu­ sion). Teachers m ust determ ine, perhaps in con­ sultation with their students, how these errors sh o u ld be co rre c te d , an d by w hom . Brown (1994) presents som e useful guidance on the topic o f e rro r co rrection, b u t he stresses th a t teachers should strive for “optim al feedback,” which shows that learner contributions are valued

in their own right rath er than representing im per­ fect native speaker speech that needs rem ediation (see also Pica 1994 for a sum m ary o f research on erro r correction and language learn in g ).

Teaching Oral Skills in an E F L Context This c h a p te r is prim arilv w ritten with the ESL teach er in m ind, teaching a h etero g en eo u s (by native language an d ethnicitv) class of learners in an English-speaking environm ent. However, hom o g en eo u s EFL classes, w here all students speak the sam e first language an d English is not used outside the classroom , p resent certain addi­ tional challenges for the teacher. In a survey of EFL teachers, X u n an (1993) fo u n d the biggest challenges in the EFL classroom to be lack of m otivation, getting students to speak (a cultural issue for som e w here speaking in class is p ro h ib ­ ited except w hen called o n ), an d the use o f the first language. In addition, large classes are often the n o rm overseas, lim iting b o th stu d en t o p p o r­ tunities to talk and teacher o p p o rtu n ities to pro ­ vide feedback. O th e r problem s may arise if the curriculum does n o t stress speaking skills or views them solelv as an avenue to gram m atical accuracv; fu rth e rm o re , if the tea c h e r is a n o n ­ native speaker of English, he or she may n o t be c o m p e ten t o r con fid en t in speaking English. W hile solutions to these problem s are bevond the scope of this chapter, some general suggestions can be m ade. W hen teaching speak­ ing skills, EFL teachers need to be particularlv adept at organizing class activities that are authen­ tic, motivating, and varied. T he use of authentic, engaging materials should be the basis for in-class activities. If the necessan' technology is available, showing movies or recorded television program s and placing audiotapes o f program s can be enjoy­ able for students and can provide them with authentic practice in listening to native speaker speech. T he teacher can also assign out-of-class learning activities, such as watching a n d /o r listen­ ing to an English-language film, television show, or radio program . This m aterial then becomes input for subsequent in-class activities such as oral reports or discussions. Students can be encouraged

or assigned to go to English-speaking businesses or em bassies/consulates to find native speakers to observe or interact with. Thev can also be encour­ aged to start an English club or to find a Englishspeaking conversation partner. Finallv, the teacher can incite native English speakers to the class to give speeches, talks, or presentations, followed bv questions from the students: learners can also be assigned to inteniew or interact with the guest speakers.

Assessment T he oral skills teach er mac be req u ired to m ake decisions about two kinds o f oral assessment. T he first, evaluation of classroom p erform ance, has b e e n discussed above along with various oral skills class activities. Brown an d Yule (1983) m ake several useful reco m m en d atio n s for class­ room oral assessment. First, w henever possible, e x te n d e d chunks of speech that have a purpose an d that are stru ctu red o r organized should be elicited. This m eans that isolated sentences, spontaneous p ro d u ctio n with no p lan n in g time, and decontextualized tasks do not m ake for the best p erfo rm an ce. A second im p o rtan t sugges­ tion is that the in p u t given to students, w hether it be visual (e.g., a picture for description), aural (e.g., a directive to "tell m e about the most excit­ ing clay vou have h a d "). or interactive (e.g., ques­ tions in an interview ), be consistent for all exam inees. This can be especially problem atic in an interview situation w here the interviewer must respond to the turn-bv-turn interaction taking place and, in the process, may inadvertently devi­ ate from the in te n ie w agenda (see Lazaraton 1996 for m ore on this issue). Finally, the results of oral assessment should be rep o rted using term s that are clearlv defined for an d u n d erstan d ab le to students. For exam ple, term s such as commu­ nicative effectiveness d o n 't m ean m uch unless they are o p erationalized in wavs th at are consistent with course goals, the student level, a n d the speaking task itself. N ote the difference in speci­ ficity betw een “generallv effective com m unica­ tion” and "can answer questions about hom e, familv, and work with a range of simple vocabu­ lary and accurate linguistic structures with confi­ dence and can find o th er wavs o f expressing

m eaning th ro u g h parap h rase.” Obviously, learn­ ing how to write these operational definitions, to create assessment procedures which test such constructs, an d to elicit language which d em o n ­ strates this com m unicative abilitv takes a great deal of training (but see C o h e n ’s chapter on lan­ guage testing in this volum e and U n d erh ill’s [1987] useful guide to oral testing techniques). A second assessm ent situation with which the oral skills teacher mav be c o n fro n ted is p rep arin g students to tak e— in te rp re tin g results fro m — large scale oral exam inations, successful p erform ance on which has becom e increasingly com m on as a req u irem e n t for adm ission to u n i­ versities. as a m inim um standard for teaching assistantships. and as a qualification for various tvpes of em plovm ent. O ral skills exam inations from fo u r intern atio n al testing organizations are described here: in terested readers should consult the websites for m ore inform ation. T he Universitv of Cam bridge Local Exam ­ inations Svndicate (UCLES: www.cambridgeefl.org) offers two large-scale speaking tests (which are in d ep en d en t parts of larger test batteries in o th er language skills). O ne is the Oral Interaction test in the Certificate in Communicative Skills in English (CCSE). in which candidates take p art in three task-based interactions, lasting about 30 minutes: an in ten iew with the exam iner, a pre­ sentation with an o th er candidate, a n d a discussion with the exam iner and the second candidate. The test can be taken at one of four levels; at any given level the test taker is aw arded a Pass or Fail based on the degree of skill in five areas: accuracy, appropriacv, range, flexibilitv, a n d size of c o n tri­ butions. T he second test is p art o f the Business Language Testing Service (BULATS), a language assessm ent p ro ce d u re for businesses an d o rgani­ zations to assess the English language skills of th eir em plovees. jo b applicants, o r trainees. T he 1 2 -m inute face-to-face speaking test, consisting o f an interview, a presen tatio n , a n d a discussion, is co n d u c te d bv a tra in ed ex am in er a n d th en rated bv the ex am in er and a n o th e r assessor. Results are re p o rte d on a five-point scale of over­ all speaking abilitv and are su p p lem en ted with a detailed abilitv profile which describes w hat the candidate should be able to do in English in the w orkplace.

T h e E d u c a tio n a l T esting Service, who ad m inister the TOEFL* (Test of English as a Foreign Language; www.toeIl.org), offers the Test of Spoken English (TSE). a test of overall speaking abilitv, whose scores can screen p o te n ­ tial in te rn atio n a l teaching assistants and health professionals, am o n g o th e r uses. T he 20-m inute test is co n d u cted a n d rec o rd e d on audiotape and is com posed o f 12 speech-act based tasks th a t are p rese n ted in a p rin te d test booklet and on the audiotape. C andidates are given some­ tim e to plan what to sav. an d th en given 30-90 seconds to resp o n d to each task. T he test answer tapes are scored in d e p e n d e n th bv two trained raters using the five-point TSE rating scale of com m unicative effectiveness; each point c o n ­ tains descriptions of functional abilitv. response appropriaev, cohesion and coherence features, and linguistic accuracv. Results tire reported to candidates as a single score on a scale of 20 to 00. T he Educational Testing Service also provides institutions with the Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit (SPEAK), an ''off-the-shelf version o f the TSE, that can be adm inistered and scored bv institutional staff. A third large-scale oral exam ination, adm in­ istered by the .American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL: tvww.actll.org). is the ACTEL Oral Proficiency Interame. The interv iew can be used to assess the language com petence of teachers, workers, and students in a num ber of lan­ guages, including English. The 10- to 30-minute tape-recorded interview is adm inistered (either over the telephone or face-to-face) bv a trained Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) tester who care­ fully structures the interaction to elicit the best pos­ sible perfo rm an ce from the candidate. T he interviewer and a different tester independenth rate the tapes bv com paring the speech perfor­ m ance with the ACTEE Proficiency Guidelines— Speaking (Revised 1999); (Breiner-Sanders et al. 2000), which define proficiencv at ten lev els, from S u p e rio r to Novice Low. Each level in the Guidelines is accom panied bv an extensive descrip­ tion of what the speaker can do in various settings and with various tasks. Finally, a relativelv new spoken English test is PhonePass (www.ordinate.com), which provides an assessment o f English speaking and listening

ability that can be used to place students in ESL courses, screen international teaching assistants, and judge the English language abilitv of (poten­ tial i employees in the health care, hospitalitv, and inform ation technology industries. T he 10-minute test, which is given over the telephone and graded bv a com puter svstem. presents the candidates with a n u m b er of interactiv e tasks, such as reading aloucl. repeating sentences, producing antonvm s of cue words, and answering questions. .An overall sum m ary score on a two- to eight-point scale is reported, along with subscores in listening vocabularv, repeat accuracv. pronunciation, reading fluency and repeat fluency

Conclusion/Future Trends Oral skills are not onlv critical for com m unication in the ESL classroom, thev are necessarv for com ­ m unication in, and with, the English-speaking world. As a result, all ESL EFL teachers will want to do whatever thev can to prom ote the develop­ m en t of speaking, listening, and pronunciation skills in their students. This chapter has given an ov erv iew of the theoretical basis for teaching oral skills com m unicatively described some features of the oral skills class, detailed a n u m b er of speak­ ing activities that prom ote oral skills develop­ m ent. and discussed some considerations that go into oral assessment and some large-scale oral exam inations that ESL EFL students mav be required to take at some point in their learning. While it is difficult to predict with certainly what the future holds for language teaching in general, and oral skills pedagogy in particular, it is reasonable to assume that the focus on the sociolinguistic and sociocultural dim ensions of oral com m unication will continue. .As we learn m ore about how people behave in real life and how this behavior is encoded in speech (bv accum ulating research on speech acts and different varieties of English, for exam ple), we will be in a better position to teach and design materials based on authentic language and com m unication patterns. Content- and task-based teaching seem cer­ tain to rem ain im portant aspects of oral skills pedagogy as well. In particular, teaching materials for specific speaking contexts will likelv becom e m ote prevalent. For example. Tarone and Kuelm

(2000), in their studv of non-native speaker ( \ \ S ) perfom iance in a social services oral intake inter\ie\v, found that the XXS used little or no backchanneling (uh huh. right) and fewer responses, suggesting lack of understanding. Thcv point out that m isunderstandings in this context can have potentiallv serious consequences, such as the applicants' failing to receive needed funds, or in the worse case scenario, inadvertentlv com m itting welfare fraud. Thev suggest developing teaching materials for this specific context, which m ight include a description of the purpose and the nature of the encounter, actual forms used during the interview, audiotapes and transcriptions of sample interactions, and exercises based on these m aterials. Clearlv. these suggestions can be applied to o ther special purpose situations as well and we can expect m ore such teaching materials and courses to suit the special needs in these inter­ actional contexts. But perhaps the most p ro fo u n d im pact on language teach in g will com e from the neveren d in g developm ents in technologv. Video tech­ nology allowed the Czech a n d G erm an KFI. learners in Gersten and Tlustv's (1998) studv to u n d e rta k e stu d en t-g en erated video exchange projects, which prom oted learning in a num ber o f areas including practice with self- and peer eval­ uation, fluency in using English, and increased cultural sensitivitv. Various forms of technologv have also m ade recording and analvzing large cor­ pora o f spoken English m ore easilv accom plished. As a result, we have a m uch better idea of what “spoken gram m ar" is like (see. for exam ple. McCarthy [ 1998j for a corpus-based account of spoken English gram m ar). How will we as ESI. EFI, teachers deal with this spoken grammar? Should we teach it alongside o u r rules of written grammar? Will features of written gram ­ m ar be seen as incorrect in speech as features o f spoken gram m ar tire in writing toclav? Furtherm ore, because recorded sound can now be transm itted over the Internet, it will be possible for learners to com m unicate with teachers and other learners w ithout having to use audiotapes. Distance learning courses alreach' perm it teaching, learning, and interaction with others who are not present in the actual classroom. .Aid it is probablv not too far in the future that speech recognition

software will allow actual oral com m unication betw een a student and a com puter to take place. As language educators, we must rem ain open to these new developm ents in o rd er to provide the best possible instruction for our students.

D IS C U S S IO N Q U E S T IO N S 1. T h in k about a foreign o r second language class von have taken. How were oral skills addressed? How do you ju d g e your speaking abilitv as a result of the class? How could the class have been im proved so th at your ulti­ m ate a tta in m e n t m ight have been better? 2. W hat are the advantages and disadvantages of having (a) a native English speaker or (b) a non-native English speaker as the teacher in an oral skills class (see Medgves's chapter in this volume)? 3. W hat role, if anv, should the first language play in the ESI. oral skills class? Would vour answer change if the class were in an EFL, context? 4. W hat would vou tell a student who asks you to correct all of his or her oral language errors (pronunciation, gram m ar, lexical choice) in till of his or her oral production work? 5. W hat considerations go into g ro u p in g or pairing students lo r speaking activ ities? 6.

How would von prepare vour students to take anv one of the large-scale oral exam inations m en tio n ed in this chapter?

S U G G E S T E D A C T IV IT IE S 1. You teach an ESI., oral skills class w here som e students, perhaps due to th eir personalities a n d or cultural backgrounds, are the m ost talkative an d d o m in a te class discussions, while others never speak up in class and, even when called on. m erelv agree or claim thev have no opinion. Develop a set of con­ tingencies vou can chaw on to equalize o p p o rtu n ities for class participation. 2. Imagine that vou hav e access to audiotapes and transcripts of authentic native speaker/native speaker and native speaker/'non-native speaker conversation, such as the excerpts from taped

tele p h o n e closings shown below. W hat sorts o f activities could be developed based on this type of m aterial? (1) B ro th er a n d sister (native speakers of A m erican English); T elephone 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

B: S: B: S: B: S: B:

okav Viola. Em g o n n a get going, okay. alright? alright. see vou this evening. okay bve bye. bye. ( (clicks))

(2) MATESL stu d e n t (NS) and universitv ESL course stu d en t (NNS); T elephone (B argfrede 1996)34 1

NS:

right, right, well it'll com e, d o n 't worry. 2 NNS: okay, th an k vou. (.5) oh alright. I will (.8) finish mv conversation. 3 4 NS: okay 5 NNS: okav? u h have a good tim e. okay 6 NS: 7 NNS: bye bve 8 NS: bye 9 ((clicks)) 3. You suspect th at the classroom text that vou have b een assigned to use in your 1M. I l l oral skills class presents dialogues containin g stilted, awkward language. How could vou test this assum ption? In o th e r words, what criteria w ould vou use to evaluate dialogue authenticity? 4. Im agine vou have b een assigned to teach a university-level oral skills class for in te rn a ­ tional teaching assistants. You are req u ired to cover m aterial specificallv tailored to th eir fu tu re teaching needs, b u t vou find that nearly all the students n e e d practice with a n d ask for m aterial on inform al conversa­ tion. W hat should vou do in such a situation?

Ask at least two e x p erien ced ESL/EFL teach ­ ers w hat thev w ould do. Did vou offer sim ilar solutions? 5. You have been h ired to tu to r two rank begin­ ners, m arried w om en who are highlv educat­ ed in th eir native languages but have alm ost no abilitv in English. Thev w ant to learn how to m ake travel plans over the telep h o n e for an anticipated trip to Disney W orld in Florida with th eir families. How would you go about teaching oral skills to these learners? P repare a course outline for this teaching situation.

^

^

FU R T H ER R EA D IN G

Bailee, К. M., and L. Savage., eds. 1994. Sew Ways in Teaching Speaking. Alexandria. YA: TESOL. A useful "how-to" book containing over 100 speaking activities developed bv professional teachers which focus on fluencv. accuracv. pro­ nunciation. and speaking in specific contexts. \Iurphv. J. M. 1991. Oral communication in TESOL: Integrating speaking, listening, and pronuncia­ tion. TESOL Quarterly 25(1):51-75. One of the most comprehensive journal articles on teaching oral communication. The "concep­ tual framework" Murphv proposes is accompa­ nied bv an extensive list of activities that focus on accuracv and or fluencv lor beginning- to advanced-lev el ESL students. Riggenbach. H. 1999. Discourse Analysis in the Language Classroom. Volume 1. The Spoken Language. .Ann Arbor. MI: Universitv of Michigan Press. This book is designed to assist ESL EFL teach­ ers in becoming familiar with discourse analysis as a both of knowledge and as a language anal­ ysis technique. It presents various student activ­ ities that focus on many aspects of spoken language. Underhill. X. 1987. iTesting Spoken Language: A Handbook op Oral Testing 'Techniques. Cambridge: Cambridge Universitv Press. A practical, teacher-friendlv gttide to the testing process which covers numerous testing tech­ niques and suggests how to elicit and rate spoken language and how to evaluate tests themselves.

ENDNO TES 1 Canale and Swain's model did not include dis­ course competence until Canale (1983a), and it has since been modified a n d /o r expanded; see. for example, Bachman (1990) and Celce-Murcia. Dornvei, and Thurrell (1995). 2 Of course, students can also benefit from some explicit instruction about the structure of conversa­ tion. Markee (2000) presents a theoretical overview of the nature of conversation and its relevance to SLA theon and research; Dornvei and Thurrell

(1994) highlight the basics of conversational struc­ ture and suggest some ways these issues can be cov­ ered in the ESL/EFL classroom. -1 A number of useful resources are available for teaching grammar in contextualized, interesting wavs; see Rinvolucri and Davis (1995) and the end-of-chapter “Teaching Suggestions” in CelceMurcia and Larsen-Freeman (1999); CelceMurcia, Brinton, and Goodwin (1996) contains m am valuable and innovative techniques for teaching pronunciation.

Teaching Pronunciation A N E T

G O O D W I N

In "Teaching Pronunciation." the goal of instructor s t - 'e e 'c c: to e^ab'e our (earners to understand and be understood, to build their confidence in enter rg c c ' - o c i i ,e situations, and to enable them to m onitor their speech based on input from the e w re-m em . To accomplish these goals, G oodw in describes the tools we need to teach pronunciat c r

n a s-stemate and pr'rc p ed wav.

“/ feel that I am judged hv my way of talk­ ing English. In other classes, teachers often treat me as inferior or academic disability because of my muttering English."

pairs.] In recent vears. the locus has shifted to include a b ro ad e r em phasis on suprasegmentalfeatures. such as stress and intonation. How­ ever. m am teaching m aterials still do n ot m ake d e a r that pronunciation is just one piece of the whole com m unicative com petence puzzle. As Seidlhofer (lT.fifi) states, '’p ronunciation is newer an end in itself but a m eans of negotiating m ean­ ing in discourse, em bedded in specific sociocul­ tural and interpersonal contexts" (p. 12). Indeed, pronunciation instruction needs to be taught as com m unicative in teractio n along with o th e r aspects of spoken discourse, such as pragm atic m eaning and nonverbal com m unication.

U n d e rg ra d u a te stu d en t in an ESL p ro n u n ciatio n course “Sometime when I speak to native American. I guess because of my Chinese a sense or m/spronunciate the word, they ask me wind did you say. can you repeat, or I beg your pardon. Sometime my face turn red. and become so embarrassed in front of them. I remembered once my tears were in my eycc " G raduate student in an ESL p ro n u n ciatio n course

T H E SEG M EN TA L/ SU PR A SEG M EN TA L D EBATE IN T R O D U C T IO N The above quotes highlight whv the teaching of p ro n u n ciatio n is so crucial to o u r students. P ro n u n ciatio n is the language feature th at most readily identifies speakers as non-native. It is a filtet th ro u g h which others see them a n d often discrim inate against them . W hen we witness o th ­ erwise proficient learners who are barely intelli­ gible while speaking, we can u n d e rsta n d their frustration an d the h o p e then place in us. In the past, p ro n u n ciatio n instruction usu­ ally focused on the articulation of consonants and vowels an d the discrim ination o f minimal

Pronunciation instruction historicallv has em pha­ sized masters of individual sounds. With the advent of Com m unicative Language Teaching (see Savignon's chapter in this volum e), the focus shifted to iluencv rather than accuracv, encourag­ ing an almost exclusive emphasis on suprasegm entals. However, just as ESL. teachers have acknow ledged that an emphasis on m eaning and com m unicative intent alone will not suffice to achieve gram m atical accuracv pronunciation has em erged from the segm ental suprasegm ental debate to a m ore balanced view, which recognizes that a lack of intelligibilitv can be attributed to both m icro and m acro features. It is clear that learners whose com m and of sounds deviates too I 17

broadiv from standard speech will be h ard to understand no m atter how targetlike their stress and intonation m ight be. Thus, it is no longer a question of choosing between segmentals and suprasegm entals but of identifying which features contribute most to kick of intelligibility, and which will be most useful in the com m unicative situa­ tions in which our learners will need to function.

S E T T IN G R E A L IS T IC G O A LS M orley (1999) has ou tlin ed four im p o rta n t goals for p ro n u n cia tio n instruction: functional intelli­ gibility, functional com m unicability, increased self-confidence, and speech m o n ito rin g abilities. For o u r purposes, intelligibility is defined as spoken English in which an accent, if present, is n o t distracting to the listener. Since learners rarelv achieye an accent-free pro n u n ciatio n , eve are setting o u r students up for failure if we striye for natiyelike accuracy. Eradication of an accent should not be our goal; in fact, some practi­ tioners use the term accent addition as opposed to accent reduction to acknowledge the indiyidual’s first language (L J) identity w ithout dem an d in g it be sublim ated in the new second language (L2 ). Functional com m unicability is the learner's ability to function successfully within the specific com m unicatiye situations he or she faces. Be exam ining the discourse ou r students will need to use in real life, we can see which features of pro ­ nunciation m ight be particularly im portant for them to master. Ideally, this entails obserying or videotaping the target com m unicatiye situa­ t io n ^ ) , be it a bank transaction, a friendly conversation with neighbors, a patient-doctor interview, or some o th er situation. At the very least, it is useful to distribute a survey to students at the beginning of instruction that elicits their needs and interests. This inform ation guides us b oth in the features we choose to em phasize and in the co n ten t into which the pronunciation prac­ tice should be em bedded. Dalton and Seidlhofer list six com m unicathe abilities related to pronunciation: ■

Prom inence: how to wake sat.lent the important points we make

? *

■ ■

■

Topic m anagem ent: how to signal and recog­ nize where one topic ends and another begins Inform ation status: how to mark what we assume to be shared knowledge as opposed to something nrw Turn-taking: when to speak, and when to he silent, how iess D egree o f involvement: how to convey our attitudes, emotions, etc. (1994, p. 52)

If we teach learners how to em ploy pauses, pitch m ovem ent, an d stress to achieve the above com ­ m unicative goals, th en thev will have attain ed a great deal of "functional com m unicability.” As ou r students gain com m unicative skill, thev also need to gain confidence in their ability to speak and be understood. To accom plish this, we can design ou r materials aro u n d the situations learners will actually face, move carefully from controlled to free production in our practice activ­ ities. and provide consistent targeted feedback. Bv teaching learners to pay a tte n tio n to th eir own speech as well as th at of others, we help o u r learners m ake b e tte r use o f the in p u t thev receive. G ood learners "atten d ” to certain aspects of the speech thev h e a r and th en try to im itate it. Speech m on ito rin g activities help to focus learn ers' atten tio n on such features both in o u r courses a n d bevond them .

A D E S C R IP T IO N O F T H E S O U N D SYSTEM O F E N G LIS H Traditionally, the sound svstem has been described and taught in a building block fashion: sounds "» syllables phrases and thought groups extended discourse T hough this mav m ake sense from an analytical point of view, this is n ot how our learners experi­ ence language. As speakers, we d o n 't usually think about what w e're saying sound bv sound, or even syllable bv sellable unless com m unication breaks dow n. So the bottom-up approach of m astering one

sou n d at a tim e a n d eventually stringing them all to g eth e r is being replaced by a m ore top-down a p p ro a c h , in w hich th e so u n d system is addressed as it naturally occurs— in the stream of speech. In this m ore balanced approach, both suprasegm ental and segm ental features can be addressed th ro u g h a process akin to that of a zoom lens. Global aspects are addressed first: vet w henever the "picture” of speech is unclear, we "zoom in" to exam ine it at a m ore m icro level. This approach recognizes that all features of the sound svstem work in tandem .

m em bers o f the clergy, ten d to pause m ore fre­ quently in o rd e r to em phasize th eir ideas m ore strongly a n d m ake them easier to process. In a speech, a politician m ight u tte r as a conclusion:

Thought Groups

Prominence5

In natural discourse, we use pauses to divide ou r speech into m anageable chunks called thought groups.-’’ Ju st as p u n c tu a tio n helps the rea d e r process w ritten discourse, pausing helps the listener to process the stream of speech m ore easily. L earners u n d e rsta n d the co ncept of paus­ ing b u t do not alwavs m anage to pause at a p p ro ­ priate junctures. In fact, the m ost com m on erro r o f less fluent speakers is pausing too frequently, thereby overloading the listener with too m am breaks to process the discourse effectively. Since th o u g h t groups usually rep resen t a m ea n in g fu l gram m atical un it, the sen ten ce helow could be divided up like this:

W ithin each th o u g h t group, th ere is generally one prominent elem ent, a sellable'5 th at is em p h a­ sized. usually bv len g th en in g it and m oving the pitch up or down:

I was speaking to him /on the phone \este>rla\. b u t not like this: I was speaking to/him on the/phone yesterday. Som etim es utterances can be divided in m ore th an one way. This is illustrated nicelv bv G ilbert (1987), who m akes use of am biguous phrases to show how pausing in different places can cause a change in m eaning. Read these exam ples aloud to vourself. Gan von figure out echo is stupid )412 1. Alfred said/the boss is stupid 2. Alfred/said the boss/is stupid (G ilbert 1987. p. 38) T h ought group boundaries are also influenced bv the speaker's sp eed — faster speakers pause less frequently and have fewer but longer tho u g h t groups. Public speakers, such as politicians and

Ms fellow eilizens/this/is/our/moment. O r a fru strated p a re n t m ight sav to a recalcitrant child: Come/here/ right/ now! In each case, the speaker has a clear com m unica­ tive reason for w anting to em phasize each word.

I was SPFAKing to him/on the PHONE sesterdas. T he p ro m in en t elem ent depends on context b u t generally represents inform ation th at is eith er a. new: (I got a postcard from Sue.) She's in MEXieo. b. in contrast to som e o th e r previous­ ly m en tio n ed inform ation: (Are sou leaving at five thirty?) No, SIX thirty. c. o r simplv the m ost m eaningful or im p o rta n t item in the phrase: He's studying ecoNOMies. Keep the following phrase in your m in d for a m om ent: "I am rea d in g .” Now, answ er these questions: What are you doing? Who's reading? Whs aren't sou reading?!!

I am reading. I am reading. I am reading.

W hat word did y o u emphasize most in each reply? It should have been reading, I, and am respectively. Each question provided a context for the reply. Since the speaker chooses the p ro m in e n t e le m en t

b ased on th e c o m m u n icativ e c o n te x t, this feature should be p resen ted and taught only in context.

Intonation Tims far, we have looked at how speech is divided up into thought groups m arked bv pauses, and how within each thought group one prom inent elem ent is usually stressed. Each thought group also has an o th er distinctive feature, namelv its intonation — the m elodic line or pitch pattern. T he interplay o f these pronunciation features becom es evident as we note that the pitch move­ m ent within an intonation contour occurs on the p ro m in en t elem ent: Going Out T ed : Are

yo u

/r EAD y vet?

L ee : N o , I n e e d to call/D A \T first. T ed : Whv's/TElAT? L ee : B ecause/HE'S [the o n e w ho's giving tts a/LII In tonation patterns do vary but certain general patterns prevail.' G eneral rules about intonation patterns are not m eant to denv the regional and individual variation of authentic speech. Still, by offering o u r learners at least some generalized patterns for specific contexts, we give them an appropriate option, if not the sole appropriate one. Certainly, it is crucial to provide continued exposure to real speech for listening analysis so th at students can be aware of the contextual m eaning o f intonation choices. A lth o u g h in to n a tio n c e rta in ly c arries m ean in g , it is d a n g e ro u s to m ake one-to-one associations betw een a given e m o tio n an d an in to n a tio n contour. O ften, in to n a tio n is one facto r am o n g m any th at co m m u n icate an atti­ tude. W ord choice, gram m atical structure, the situational context, facial expressions, and body m ovem ent all c o n trib u te to infusing an u tte r­ ance with em otion.

Rhythm Just as lo n g er and sh o rter notes m ake tip a m usi­ cal m easure, longer and sh o rte r syllables occur in speech. This altern atin g of longer (stressed) a n d sh o rte r (unstressed) syllables can be a p p re ­ ciated in poem s read aloud. Even if not as noticeable as in poetrv. regular spoken English has rhvtlnn as well. English speech rhythm is usually referred to as stress-timed, i.e.. with stiesses or beats occurring at regular intervals: •

•

•

She would 've liked to have gone to the movie. (11 syllables but only 3 beats) This contrasts with so-called syllable-timed lan­ guages. such as fre n c h and Japanese, in which each syllable receives roughly the same tim ing and length. In reality, natural English speech is not p er­ fectly stress-tim ed an d the "one syllable, one beat" explanation for svllable-timed languages is also an oversim plification. N onetheless, the highlighting of certain syllables over o thers in English th ro u g h syllable length, vowel quality, and pitch is a crucial road m ap for the listener. How can a learn er of English predict which words should be stressed and which unstressed: In general, content words (words that carrv more m eaning, such as nouns, m ain verbs, adjectives, and some adverbs) are stressed whereas function words (structure words, such as articles, pro­ nouns. auxiliary verbs. and prepositions) are not. A point of clarification should be made here. Rhvthm . or sentence stress, refers to ALL the syllables that receive stress in a though: group, typically the c o n ten t words. Prom inence refers to ONE of those stressed elem ents, the one which receives the m ost em phasis within the th o u g h t group:

• She attends the University of MARy/and. (of the th ree stressed syllables, the th ird is p ro m in en t) Traditionally, p ro n u n cia tio n m aterials haw included analytical exercises in which learnerlook at w ritten utterances and carefully analyze the part o f speech o f each word in o rd e r n d eterm in e which syllables will be stressed anti

w hich unstressed. A lthough such an exercise can help an analytical le a rn e r u n d e rsta n d the con­ cept of rhythm , th e speaker does n o t have tim e to do this d u rin g a conversation. C hela Flores (1998) rec o m m e n d s th at teachers help learners develop an awareness of rhythm by highlighting rhythm ic patterns apart from words and m eaning. To rep resen t rhythm graphically, she uses written dots and dashes to em phasize the short and long syllables. To intro­ duce a new pattern orallv, she uses spoken n o n ­ sense syllables, such as ti for unstressed syllables, ТА for stressed syllables, a n d TAA for the prom i­ n e n t elem ent in a th o u g h t group. H ere are two possible four-syllable patterns a teacher m ight present: Teacher writes on board:

Pattern A

Pattern В

. ___ . .

__ . . ___

While clapping or stretching a rubber band, the teacher says: “ti ТАЛ. ti ti" “ТА ti ti TAA" First, the teacher pronounces one o f the two pat­ terns that students distinguish bv pointing to it on the board. O nce students are able to hear and also reproduce the selected patterns themselves using the nonsense syllables, thev can trv to distinguish actual phrases (adapted from Chela Flores 1998): Listen and circle the pattern you hear. Student hears: 1. (A little one)

Student circles: a. . __ . .

b. __ . . __

2. (Lots to be done) a. . __ . .

b. __ . . __

3. (It’s marvelous)8

b. __ . . ___

a. . __ . .

By first divorcing rhythm from its c o n tex t and co n ten t, we can draw the le a rn e rs’ a tte n tio n to it, help th em internalize it, a n d th en , finally, practice m eaningful phrases with it.

Reduced Speech W hen we speak in th o u g h t groups in a rhythm ic way, we find wavs to highlight im p o rtan t syllables and to de-em phasize others. L earners will have

less difficulty7stressing syllables than they will миstressing them . O n e wav to w eaken unstressed syllables is to sh o rten them . A n o th e r is to relax the m o u th w hen articulating the vowels a n d to use less energy or m uscular tension. Because we are not spreading o u r lips so widely or letting the jaw d ro p so far, these reduced vowels can be spoken m ore quickly, help in g us to m aintain a m ore or less regular interval betw een stressed syllables. T he m ost com m on red u c e d vowel is called schwa / э /. This is the vowel vou m ake w hen your m outh is com pletely relaxed with no p articular effort to raise or lower your jaw or to spread o r ro u n d vour lips. Exam ples include the unstressed vowels in the words ban an a and police.9 Since m any function words are unstressed, thev have b o th a citation form (also know n as full, strong, or stressed) a n d a reduced form (unstressed o r weak). H ere are two exam ples: Citation Form

Reduced Form

HAS He has? Inez '

What has he done now? / э г /

TO

a ticket to Tucson Д э /

Do vou want to?/tuw,

T he red u c e d form of has exhibits two tvpes o f reduction: ( 1 ) loss o f full vowel quality (the vowel fe has been red u c e d to a schwa / э / ) an d (2) loss of a sound, the initial h. In the second exam ple, to, onlv the vowel ,/u w / has b een reduced.

Linking Words that non-native listeners can co m p reh en d easily in isolation can som etim es be unrecogniz­ able to them in connected speech. T he b o u n d ­ aries betw een words seem to disappear. Linking is a general term for the adjustm ents speakers m ake betw een words in connected speech. Say to your­ self: Why don 7 you fin d cm/ / ? W hen you say find out, it probable sounds a lot like fine doubt. In o th er words, you have linked the syllables to g eth er (and m ade them easier to p ro n o u n ce ) by shifting the final c o n so n an t o f fin d to the next syllable, w hich begins with a vowel. Som e speakers, p ar­ ticularly in N orth A m erican English, also p ro ­ n o u n c e don’t you so th at it sounds like don-chew.

In this form of linking, sounds b len d to g eth e r to form a th ird sound. M orphological inform ation (plurals, verb form and tense, possessive, etc.) can be conveyed bv endings, which are often easier to pro n o u n ce an d becom e m ore salient to the listener when linked: She change-dit is easier to p ro n o u n ce th an She changed-it. If learners simple leave off an ending, im portant inform ation can be lost. Instead, we need to focus learn ers’ attention on the linked sound, which, in the exam ples below, provides the listener with the distinction betw een present and past: P resen t They live in Miami. (T he e should be linked clearlv betw een live an d in) Past

They live-din Miami. (T he d should be linked to the next sellable in)

We n eed to m ake learners aware that all of these pronunciation features (thought groups, p ro m in e n c e , in to n a tio n , rhythm , red u c e d speech, linking) work together to package our utterances in a wav that can be processed easily by o u r listeners. So, rath e r than being m ore com ­ prehensible bv speaking each word separately, o u r learners actuallv becom e less fluent a n d less intelligible.

Consonants C on so n an t sounds are characterized by place of articulation (where the sound is m ad e), manner o f articulation (how the sou n d is m ad e), and voicing (w hether the vocal cords are vibrating or not). These three dim ensions are com m only illustrated in a consonant chart (see A ppendix 1). T he place of articulation is usually illustrated in a diagram called a sagittal section diagram , often refe rre d to as "The O rgans of Speech" (see A ppendix 2). To teach consonants, we first n eed to decide w hether phonetic symbols are necessarv. In m ost cases, the orthographic letter is the same as the

p h o n etic rep resen tatio n . However, for certain sounds (this, thum b, shop, decision, b u tch er, p ageant, lo n g ). a single lette r th a t represents the m ost com m on spellings is n o t available. T he In te rn atio n a l P honetic .Alphabet uses the fol­ lowing svmbols for these sounds: this / 5 / . th u m b / 0 / , shop /J 7 , decision / 3/ . b u tc h e r / t j / , p agean t / d j / . long / 1] / A com plete p h o n etic alp h ab et for English can be fo u n d in A ppendix 3. A second consideration is that the articulation of a consonant varies, depending on its environ­ ment. For example, the sound / р / occurs twice in the word paper, but the first / p / is accom panied bv a small puff of air called aspiration while the second p '' is not. This and other examples of positional variation reflect sound svstem rules that native speakers have com m and of but rarely any conscious knowledge of until it is pointed out to them. Clustering is a third feature of English conso­ nants that presents a challenge to our students. Since mans o ther languages never allow two. m uch less three or four, consonants in sequence, learners from such a language background struggle with words like strengths or texts. Our learners need to know how consonant clusters function in English and also that there are accept­ able cluster reductions for some forms. For example, in the phrase: The facts of the case are . . . , mans speakers would pronounce facts as fax, omitting' the / t without ans- loss of intelligibility.10 Learners will usuallv have difficulty7 with sounds that d o n ’t exist in their LI, such as the twc th sounds o r the 1and the r sounds. Despite these isolated difficulties, instruction should alwav focus on sounds in context. How a particular sound is articulated in real speech, or how7crucial it is to intelligibilitv, will becom e evident onh w hen em b ed d ed in spoken discourse.

Vowels W hereas consonant sounds in English occur at the beginning or end of a syllable, vowel sounds arc the se llable core, the sound within the syllable that resonates and can be lengthened or shortened

In fact, a vowel can even constitute a syllable or a word, as in eye. Unlike consonants, vowels are articulated with a relatively7 u n o b stru c te d air­ flow, i.e., there is usually7 no contact betw een articulators. As a result, vowels are often defined in relation to one a n o th e r ra th e r than to some fixed point. Thev are distinguished bv tongue position (front c e n tra l/b a c k ), tongue and jaw height (high 'micf'loyv), degree o f lip ro u n d in g and the relative tension of the muscles involved (tense versus lax vowels). Some of this inform a­ tion is conveyed in a vowel chart, representing the space within the oral cavity (see A ppendix 4). W hat are the challenges in teaching vow­ els? First, English has m ore vowels than many o th e r languages. Japanese has 5 voyvels; English has 14 (or 15. if you include the /-colored voyvel sound in bird). Also, there is a great deal of vari­ ation in vowels betyveen dialects ( Oh. you pro­ nounce the vowel in "doll" and "ball" differently? I pronounce it the same!). Unlike the "pure" vowels o f m anv o th er languages, several English voyvels are accom panied bv a glide m ovem ent. Trysaving eye slowlv. Do you notice lioyv your jaw glides upward? This glide feature is especially im p o rta n t for English diphthongs.11 A nother challenge for learners is the fact that most voyvels can be spelled in many different yvavs. Learners who are used to a strict sound spelling correspondence in their El will often be misled byEnglish spelling. For EEL learners, yvlio often depend m ore on the written text than on what they- hear, this can cause many pronunciation errors (see Olshtain's chapter in this volume). Finally, voyvel sounds are usually- red u c e d in unstressed sy llables: notice the difference in the p ro n u n ciatio n of the two a s in madam or the nvo as in motor. In both cases, the first syllable is stressed an d the second is not. As a result, the first vowel has its full voyvel quality, so the first syllables sound like mad and moat, respectively. T h e second vowel in each word is red u c e d so the second sy llables do N O T sound like clam atrd tore (as they w ould if they yvere stressed) b u t instead like dumb a n d ter. As m en tio n e d earlier, the process of re d u c in g o r w eak en in g a vowel involves a relaxing of the articulators, i.e., usingless effort to raise or lower one's jaw o r to ro u n d or spread o ne's lips.

T he following phrases from M orlev (1979, p. 116) help learn ers initially associate each vowel with a key word ra th e r than a p h o n etic symbol: SEE IT iy i 1 4

SAY YES /еу/ s 3 4

a FAT BIRD /ж? /зг/ 5 б

a BUS STOP л a 7 8

TW O BOOKS uyy- /о/ 9 10

XO LAW

MY COWBOY a y /aw/ h y ! 13 14 15

OW

0

11

12

Together, students should rhythmically repeat these phrases until they can rem em b er them .T he teacher can also attach a n u m b er to each key word (as shown above) w ithout introducing anv phonetic symbols at all. It is easier to tefer to the "it" vowel or the #2 vowel rath er than the /4 / vowel, since many listeners will not be able to dis­ tinguish iv and : when h eatin g either sound in isolation.

Word Stress T he discussion of vowels provides a good fo u n ­ dation for u n d ersta n d in g word stress. Just as th o u g h t groups can have m ore than one stressed syllable but only one p ro m in e n t elem ent, m ulti­ syllabic words can also have m ore than one stressed sy llable, but only one o f those syllables receives prim ary stress ( • ) . T he o th er(s) receive secondary stress (•) o r alm ost no stress (•):

com

man

i

ca

lion

This can be com pared to the cognate word in French where the stress is m ore equal, n ot alter­ nating. with slightly m ore stress on the final syllable: •

•

•

•

•

com

mini

i

ca

lion

English w ord stress p attern s are som ew hat com ­ plex a n d can d e p e n d on several factors: the his­ torical origin o f a word, the p a rt of speech, an d affixation.12 In very general terms: 1. Stress falls m ore often on the root o r base o f a w ord an d less often on a prefix: beLIEVE, preDICT, comPLAIXT 2.

C om pound nouns ten d to take prim ary stress on the first elem ent and secondary stress on the second: A IR

3.

p ia x e

,

BUS

sto p,

comPUter d is k

Suffixes can eith e r a. Have no effect on stress

BEAUty deEI\rer perFORM

— — ►

-*

BEAUtiful deLIYerance perFORMer

b. Take the prim ary stress them selves (m any of these are from French): picturESQUE, trusTEE, enginEER, balLOON c.

Cause the stress p a tte rn in the stem to shift to a different sellable: PERiod SEquence ORganize

—*

periODic

—►

seQUEXtial organi/Ation

While our students may still need to look up the stress of an unfam iliar word in the dictionary', these basic rules will aid them in understanding how7the system of word stress can function in English.

A C O M M U N IC A TIV E FRA M EW O RK FO R T E A C H IN G P R O N U N C IA T IO N Celce-M urcia, B rinton, a n d G oodw in (1996) p rese n t a fram ew ork for the sequencing of activ­ ities within p ro n u n cia tio n instruction. T h eir five teach in g stages include description an d analysis, listen in g discrim in atio n , c o n tro lle d practice, g u id ed practice, an d com m unicative p rac tic e .13

T hese stages are sim ilar to a presen tatio n , prac­ tice, an d p ro d u ctio n sequence. K eeping such a fram ew ork in m ind helps us to plan lessons th at m ove the students forw ard in a p rin cip led tvay, b uilding the fo u n d atio n for m ore intelligible sp o ntaneous pro d u ctio n .

1. Description and Analysis Initially, the teacher presents a feature showing w'hen and how it occurs. T he teacher m ight use charts (consonant, vowel, o r organs o f speech) or he or she m ight p resen t the rules for occurrence e ith e r inductively or deductively. For exam ple, the teacher can e ith e r p resent the rules for -ed endings o r provide m ultiple exam ples and ask the learners to figure o u t the rules them selves.14

2. Listening Discrimination L istening activities include contextualized m ini­ m al pair discrim ination exercises such as the fol­ lowing from G ilbert (1993, p. 20). T h e speaker (who mav be the teach er o r a n o th e r student) p ro n o u n ces e ith e r sentence a or b. T he listener responds with the a p p ro p riate rejoinder. a. He wa n Is to b uy mv boat.

11 ill у о и

sell

b. He wants to buy my vole.

T hat’s against the law!

it ?

In a n o th e r discrim ination activity, the student listens for e ith e r rising o r falling in to n a tio n in utterances w here e ith e r is possible. Instructions: Circle the arrow which corresponds tc the intonation you hear at the end of the uttercmc, either rising or falling: Rising

Falling

The plane's leaving

s

4

Sam finished it

A

4

You can 7

V

L'sing a transcript with a short listening pasage, learners can m ark the pauses a n d /o r circT the pro m in en t elem ents they hear. In general, tlw

listener's task should be clearly defined and focused on only one o r two features at a tim e. At this stage, we want to focus le a rn e rs’ a tten tio n directly on a feature that they m ight n o t be rec­ ognizing yet. T he th ree final stages, which involve prac­ tice an d p ro d u ctio n , actuallv progress on a co n ­ tinuum . It is less im p o rta n t to define an exercise as strictly controlled, guided, o r com m unicative. Rather, it is im p o rta n t to sequence our oral p ro d u ctio n activities so th at thev move forw ard systematicallv.

3. Controlled Practice At the beginning, in m ore co n tro lled activities, the lea rn er's a tten tio n should be focused alm ost com pletely on form . Any kind o f choral reading can work if the learn er's atten tio n is clearly focused on the target feature. Poems, rhvmes. dialogues, dram atic m o n o lo g u es— all o f these can be used if the c o n te n t and level engage a le a rn e r’s interest. W hen p e rfo rm e d with student p artners, contextualized m inim al pair activities (as m en tio n e d above) are a com bination of con­ trolled practice for the speaker an d listening discrim ination for his or h e r partner.

4. Guided Practice In guided activities, the learn er’s attention is no longer entirely on form. T he learner now begins to focus on m eaning, gram m ar, and com m unica­ tive intent as well as pronunciation. Teachers need to develop a continuum of bridging activities, which shift attention gradually to a new cognitive task while the learner attem pts to m aintain con­ trol of the pronunciation target. As an example, Hewings and Goldstein (1998. p. 127) m ake use of a m em ory activity while practicing -s endings. Students are instructed tea stuch a picture contain­ ing a n u m b er of com m on objects for one m inute (two bridges, three suitcases, four glasses, etc,.). With the picture hidden, thev then try to recite the correct n u m b er of each item, while concen­ trating on p ronouncing the plural -s correctly.

5. Communicative Practice In this stage, activities strike a balance betw een form and m eaning. Exam ples include role plays, debates, interviews, sim ulations, a n d dram a scenes. As the activities becom e gradually m ore com m unicative, the le a rn e r’s attention should still Ire focused on one o r two features at a time. It is overw helm ing to suddenly m onitor all p ro n u n ­ ciation features at once. Set an objective, which can be different for different learners, and let stu­ dents know it in advance. For exam ple, “W hen p erform ing this role play, Marco, pay special attention to linking between words.” Feedback should then be focused on the stated objective.

SOME T E A C H IN G T E C H N IQ U E S A wealth of good m aterial has been published fo r tea c h in g p ro n u n c ia tio n . This is n o t an exhaustive list o f techniques; instead, ju st a b rie f overview of possibilities with sources for the tea c h e r to investigate.

Contextualized Minimal Pair Practice Bowen (1975) was one o f the first to stress the im p o rtan ce o f teaching p ro n u n cia tio n in m ean ­ ingful contexts. R ather than just distinguishing pen and pan as isolated words, Bowen em b e d d e d these m inim al pair contrasts into contextualized sentences and rejo in d ers:1'1 This pen leaks. This pan leaks.

Then, don't write with it. Then, don’t rook with it. (p. 17)

C ontextualized m inim al pair drills include m ore th an individual sou n d contrasts as shown, for exam ple, in Clear Speech (G ilbert 1993): Word stress Is it elementary? Is it a lemon tree?

Лo, it’s advanced. No, an orange tree. (p. 69)

Rhymes, Poetry, and Jokes

Prominence I didn 7 know she urns out there.

I thought she was inside.

I d id n ’t know she was out there.

I thought it was ju st him. (p. 117)

Cartoons and Drawings C artoons an d drawings can be used to cue p ro ­ du ctio n o f particu lar sentences or an entire story as well as for showing language in context. Rhythm and Role Play (G raham a n d A ragones 1991) uses h u m o ro u s cartoon stories to illustrate sh o rt plays to practice rhythm in English. In the description a n d analysis stage o f teaching a p a r­ ticular feature, cartoons can be shown on an overhead for the students to read a n d analyze: W hat’s going on here? W hat’s funny?

Gadgets and Props To help learners u n d e rsta n d the rhythm ic pat­ te rn in g o f stressed an d unstressed syllables, G ilbert (1994) suggests using a thick ru b b er b a n d . T h e te a c h e r holds th e ru b b e r b a n d betw een two thum bs. W hile p ro n o u n c in g words or phrases, the teach er stretches the ru b b er ban d widely ap art for the stressed syllables and lets it relax for the unstressed ones. As kines­ thetic rein fo rcem en t, students each ttse a sim ilar ru b b e r b a n d to stretch while speaking, first at the word level an d th en with phrases. G ilb ert (1994) also rec o m m e n d s using kazoos to highlight in to n a tio n patterns. Since learners can have difficult} a tten d in g to in to n a ­ tion, the tea c h e r can speak into a kazoo, which focuses the le a rn e rs’ atten tio n on the m elodv o f speech ra th e r th an the m eaning. C uisenaire rods, often used in the Silent Way, can illustrate various p ronunciation features. These rods (each color is a different length) can illu strate rh v th m bv u sin g lo n g e r rods for stressed syllables an d sh o rter rods for unstressed syllables. L in k in g b etw een syllables can be shown by m oving the rods nex t to each other. F or tactile learners, m an ip u latin g objects p ro ­ vides a pow erful learn in g tool.

Nursery rhymes, lim ericks, a n d mans poem s all have strong p attern s o f stressed and unstressed syllables th a t help o u r learners h e a r (and to a certain ex ten t feel) the rhvthm o f English. O ne well-known use of rhythm ic chants is G ra h a m ’s jazz Chant series. These short, easy to learn chants have a strong beat an d can be ttsed with adults as well as c h ild re n .10 Vaughan-Rees (1991) has devised poem s to illu strate a n d re in fo rc e som e o f th e basic spelling rules in English. Since English spelling is usually p rese n ted as com plex, he deliberately presents exam ples w here p ro n u n cia tio n an d spelling are predictable so that learners can begin to internalize these associations: “W hat's the m atter!" said the H atter to his m ate bv the gate. "The cat ate mv hat a n d notv it's m ade m e verv late.” (p. 36) Jokes can also be used in the p ro n u n cia tio n classroom . Noll (1997) suggests using knockknock jokes to illustrate an d practice linking and red u ced sp eech :1' A: Knock Knock. B: Who's there? A: Jamaica. B: Jamaica who? A: Jamaica mistake?

(=l)id you make a mistake?)

Drama D ram a is a particularly effective tool for p ro n u n ­ ciation teaching because various co m p o n en ts o f com m unicative com petence (discourse in to n a ­ tion, pragm atic awareness, nonverbal com m uni­ cation) can be practiced in an in teg rated wav. Stern (1980) proposes a m eth o d for using eight- to ten-m inute scenes, usually involving two characters. Each pair o f students receives the script to a different scene. R ather than m em o­ rizing the lines, they are sim ple to provide a d ra­ m atic re a d in g — looking u p frequently at their p a rtn e r an d read in g with feeling. T he teach er

helps th em p rep are bv m odeling each line and having students repeat, draw ing a tten tio n to aspects of p ro n u n ciatio n as they appear. After rehearsing, the pairs are videotaped p erfo rm in g the scene. Following this, the pair o f students, rem ain in g in character, are first interview ed bv the audience a n d th en perfo rm a sh o rt im provi­ sation based on the scene.

A N IN T E G R A T E D W H O L E -B O D Y A P P R O A C H TO T E A C H IN G P R O N U N C IA T IO N 19

Kinesthetic Activities “We speak with our voral organs, but we converse with our whole bodies. " (A bercrom bie 1968. p. 53) O ne im p o rtan t wav to effect change in p ro n u n ­ ciation is th ro u g h kinesthetic techniques. In addition to relaxation and b rea th in g exercises. C han (1987) m akes use of basic h a n d gestures to teach p ro n u n c ia tio n .14 Svllables are shown bv the n u m b e r of fingers one holds up or b\ tap­ ping out the n u m b er with o n e ’s hand. An open h a n d indicates stress while a closed h an d shows a lack of stress. Linking th u m b and forefingers betw een both hands illustrates linking. A sweep­ ing h a n d m otion for rising a n d falling pitch illus­ trates in tonation. O nce students are fam iliar with the gestures, the teach er cam use them as silent correction techniques. In the film. The Wizard of Uz. Dorothv. the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow walk arm in arm down the vellow brick road worriedlv repeating the phrase. "Lions. Tigers, and BEARS. O h MY!" G rant (2000) suggests a technique in which learners stand up and take a step in svnchronv with each stressed sellable while repeating the above phrase at least three times. In the next stage, learners create new phrases in the same four-beat pattern. For example:

1

2

HyEXas and

trving to imitate the both movements, gestures, and facial expressions of an o th er speaker, w hether face-to-face or on video. Acton recom m ends this approach for helping fossilized learners develop m ore acceptable rhvthm patterns.

3 CROC.oddes and PYthons

4 oh M Y

L earners should take steps at regular, natural intervals regardless o f the n u m b e r o f syllables betw een beats. In this wav. thev begin to in ter­ nalize the rhvthm of English. A cton (1984) m akes the p o in t that to “p ro ­ n o u n c e like a native one m ust move like a native as well" (p. 77). T he technique of mirroring involves

D eveloped out of Isaac's (1995) spoken fluenev ap proach an d Stern's (1980) use of dram a, the basis of this in teg rated ap proach is spoken in te r­ action. W h eth er one is co n trib u tin g to a class discussion, giving instructions to an em plovee, o btaining directions to the bank, or simple ch at­ ting. the intelligibility of one's p ro n u n ciatio n is m easured bv the success of the interact ion. This approach involves using short (60 to 90 second) videotaped interactions as the spring­ board for instruction. O ne possibility would be actual videotaped interactions of communicative situations vour learners face. Otherwise, clips from film or television can be used (with copvright perm ission). T he class analv/es the video, first shown silently for general nonv erbal cues an d then with sound to confirm predictions about the content. O nce a context has been established, each line is carefully analvzecl (th ro u g h rep eated listening) for prosodic features, accom panying gestures, and pragm atic m eaning. Students m ark pauses, p ro m in en ce, and in to n atio n on a copy o f the transcript and note gestures. This intensive lis­ tening focus is followed bv intensive speaking practice in which learners trv to im itate the p ro ­ n u n ciation as well as the m ovem ents o f each line. C horal and individual rep etitio n of lines allows the instru cto r to provide feedback on errors. Individual practice is particularly effec­ tive in a co m p u ter lab using software th at allows the lea rn er to b oth h e a r each line a n d see a visu­ al pitch trace of its in to n atio n p attern . Learners com pare both the sound of their utterance and the visual contour of it with the m odel. In the next stage, learners work in pairs to rehearse the inter­ action while the teacher m onitors p erfo rm an ce

a n d provides m ore feedback. T h en , the teach er videotapes each pair p e rfo rm in g the interaction. S tudents review th eir p erfo rm a n c e outside of class (if a video lab is available) a n d fill in a guid­ ed self-analysis sheet. T he p erfo rm a n c e is evalu­ ated bv the instructor, who m akes decisions a b o u t w hat p ro n u n cia tio n features to cover in m ore d ep th . Finally, pairs are given role cards for a situation sim ilar to the original interaction a n d asked to p erfo rm it w ithout a script. This allows the instru cto r to see if learners can trans­ fer w hat they have le a rn e d to a new b ut sim ilar in teraction.

M EDIA A N D T E C H N O L O G Y Audio A udio rec o rd in g is the m ost basic way to capture s o u n d — e ith e r a m odel or the student's own sp e e c h — for the le a rn e r to review. Tapes from a variety o f textbook series can be m ade available in a language lab o ra to ry e ith e r for use in class with teach er supervision o r as self-access. Bevond com m ercial atidio program s, learn­ ers should p e rio d ic a ls record th eir hom ew ork on tape for the instructor to respond to. As a p er­ sonal resource, learners can create a p ro n u n cia­ tion tape log bv bringing in a blank tape and a short w ritten list of words and phrases thev find hard to p ro n o u n ce. T he teacher or a tu to r aide th en records each student's phrases (the teacher should em b ed any individual words the student requests into a phrase) onto the cassette. This m otivates learners to m ake choices about what they want to learn and gives the instructor insight into learners' needs a n d interests. If vou hold office hours or if learners have access to p ro n u n c ia tio n tu to rin g , encourage them to rec o rd the session. T utoring can be very effective, b u t w ithout a reco rd in g of the advice a n d corrections it will be nearlv im possible for th e le a rn e r to co n tin u e w orking with the feed­ back on his o r h er own. Sim ilar to w ritten dialogue jo u rn a ls, stu­ dents can reco rd oral entries on an audiocas­ sette in an exchange with the teacher. T he entries can be stru ctu red bv the teach er o r left

com pletely to the student's choice. Such oral jo u rn a ls can be an effective wav of h elp in g stu­ dents to locate e rro r patterns, review the instruc­ to r ’s feedback, direct th eir own learning, an d note progress over time.

Video A growing n u m b er of com m ercial videotape pro ­ gram s focus on p ro n u n c ia tio n -0 an d usuallv involve the a u th o r teaching pronunciation lessons o r actors perform ing a scene with exercises. Such videotape program s serve as additional m odels that the instructor can bring into class: most les­ sons are no m ore than 15-30 m inutes long. As suggested earlier in this chapter, vou can videotape local com m unicative situations th at vour learners m ight face. If vou teach in te rn a ­ tional teaching assistants (ITAs), tape skilled teaching assistants in the same disciplines at vour universitv. If vou are teaching recent im m i­ grants. find out what th eir em ploym ent goals are an d trv to set up a m ock job interview and reco rd it. If vou are teaching voting adults in an intensive program , trv to find a g roup of th eir “age-mates" from vou r area an d record a conver­ sation. R ecordings can provide m otivating p e e r target m odels for vour learners. C om m ercial films a n d off-air television recordings can be used to teach p ro n u n cia tio n but are subject to copvright law. T he showing of short clips from a film to illustrate a p o in t in a lesson is perm issible if the instructor uses a p u r­ chased video and not an illegal copy. Off-air recordings for educational purposes are subject to a tim e lim it from the date of recording. For m ore inform ation on ITS. copv right code, check the following websites: http: / vwwv.nolo.com/encyclopedia/ articles pet/nn72.html http: / vvYvw.law.cornell.edu topics copyright.html A video cam era is a w onderful tool for reco rd in g stu d en t perform ances. It allows the lea rn er to see the en tire com m unicative p e r­ form ance. not just the sound. T he teach er can also evaluate the p erfo rm a n c e in m ore d e p th than would be possible from notes taken d u rin g

the p erfo rm an ce. In a class w here students are v id eo ta p ed regularly, class m em bers can be trained to operate the camera.

Computer Software A n u m b er of CD-ROM program s now exist that target pro n u n ciatio n . These w in1 in scope, price, type of hardw are needed, platform (Mac or W indows), a n d ease o f use. Some program s focus prim arily on sounds, whereas others visually dis­ play the length, pitch, and loudness of an u tter­ ance. Some program s have a u th o rin g systems in which the instructor can upload his or h er own c o n ten t to the program : others com e with a stock set of utterances for the lea rn er to practice. In some cases, the visual feedback that is provided is hard for students to in terpret or is inconclusive, i.e., even native speakers cannot m atch their pitch trace to the m odel. Most teach­ ers who use com puterized visual feedback stress that it is necessarily useful in and of itself— the learner m ust be trained to make effective use of these visual representations of speech. O th e r program s function m uch like a tradi­ tional language lab — students record their voice and th en press a button to plav it back— but thev still use their own perception to hear the differ­ ence betw een their production and the m odel utterance. An overview of mans' of the software p ro ­ gram s available for teaching p ro n u n ciatio n has been com piled bv D eborah Hcalev and can be found at this website: h ttp ://o su .o r st.e d u /d e p t/e li/ junel998.htm l This overview contains a b rie f description of each program with ap p ro x im ate cost a n d con­ tact inform ation.

Internet The In tern et offers a wide array of resources for both teachers and learners o f pronunciation. W hile not replacing CD-ROM program s, the Internet protides a continually expanding num ­ ber of websites which can be m ined for pronunci­ ation instruction. These include articles about

teaching, lesson plans, charts, diagram s, audio and video listening tasks, dictionaries with p ro ­ nu n ciatio n features, and so on. B rinton an d I.aBelle (1997) created an a n n o ta ted list o f p ro ­ n u n ciatio n websites. It is available at: http: / / www.sunburstmedia.com/ PronWeb.html Using voice-encoding technology, the in­ structor can e-mail sound files back an d forth with students. This type of software com presses the speech signal into a com pact digital fo rm at.21 For activities such as oral dialogue journals, the p ro n u n ciatio n log, and oral hom ew ork exercises, this option elim inates the n eed for exchanging audiocassettes. O ne of the m ain stum bling blocks for ou r learners is access. Although we may have sophisti­ cated com puters and Internet connections where we teach, m am of the new websites require exten­ sive plug-ins. In general, the m ore interactive the site, the m ore powerful the hardw are and plug-ins need to be. In addition to a fairlv sophisticated com puter with Internet capability, m any sites will require a sound card, headphones, speakers, and a m icrophone.

A SSESSM EN T In this section we will exam ine three types of pro ­ n u n ciatio n assessm ent: diagnostic evaluation, ongoing feedback, and classroom achievem ent testing. (See C ohen's ch ap ter in this volume.)

Diagnostic Evaluation T h e m ost com m on form s o f diagnosing a learn ­ er's p ro d u ctio n are the use o f a diagnostic pas­ sage an d a free speech sam ple. In the first, learners read a passage designed to co n tain a variety o f features a n d sounds. In the second, learn ers are p ro m p te d by a topic, a series of questions, or an illustration. In o rd e r to obtain the truest sam ple o f speech proficiency, learners should have tim e to form ulate a th o u g h tfu l resp o n se — however, thev should not write it o u t a n d read it aloud. A n o th e r possibility includes an oral interview rec o rd e d for later evaluation.

Ongoing Feedback Think about the rules we have learned con­ cerning -word stress. Listen carefully to your tape white looking at your transcript. On the transcript, underline any words that you think you stressed incorrectly and draw an arrow to the syllable that you should have stressed. Here is an example: f\

Feedback during instruction gives learners a sense of their progress and indicates where they need to focus their attention for improvement. With a growing awareness of progress, learners also gain confidence in their pronunciation. There are three main wavs of providing ongoing feedback.

My name is Lee and I study economics.

Self-Monitoring O n e wav to guide learners to self-correct is to point out their errors silentlv (rather than sim­ ply p r o n o u n c in g it correctly for them ). We can use various means to cue correction: 1.

2.

As m entioned earlier, hand ges­ tures can represent different aspects of pro­ nu n c ia tio n (e.g.. n u m b e r o f syllables, linking, rising or falling intonation, etc.). P ronunciation co rrection signs Signs can be placed around the room, displacing the fea­ tures that you have taught. Once learners understand what is meant bv each sign, it becomes shorthand for error correction. O ne sign might sac -ed. which cues a learner to think about past tense endings in his speech (which he might have either omitted or pro­ nounced incorrectly). O ther signs might sac: G estu res

-s 3.

Intonation

Ifvou have introduced a vowel chart (see Appendix 4) and have a lai ge version of it hanging in the classroom, t on can point to the vowel con hear the learners making and guide them toward the correct one. An understanding of the vowel chart can guide learners toward raising or lowering their jaw, gliding, or spreading or rounding their lips to better approximate a particular vowel.

Charts

A second way to encourage self-monitoring is to record student speech, in either audio or video format. Learners can m onitor their own perform ance with the guidance of a self-analvsis sheet. This is particularly effective if the learners’ first task is to transcribe their speech (not ph o n et­ ically, just regular orthography). Working with their transcript while listening to their tape, learn­ ers can monitor for a specific feature. For example:

Peer Feedback During a traditional minimal pair activity, rather than Inning students onlv work in pairs (one speaker and one listener who responds with the appropriate rejoinder), students can be placed in groups of four. In this scenario, the first speaker reads one of the two minimal pair options and the three o ther group m em bers each mark what thev hear. If onlv one listener is giving the feed­ back. it is less reliable a n d convincing to the speaker since that listener might have difficulty hearing that particular distinction. If a role pla\ betw een two students is recorded on tape, then the two can transcribe it together and also fill in the analysis form together. In this case, it would be good to pair students together who don': necessarily share the same pronunciation difficul­ ties. Learning from someone who is onlv a little fur­ ther along than vou can be an effective alternative to instructor feedback alone.

Teacher Feedback During class, the teacher can use gestures or pr< nunciation correction signs to provide feedback silently. Out-of-class feedback can be provided th ro u g h audiocassettes or c o m p u te r sound filein an e-mail exchange. Which errors should we correct? Rathe: than overwhelming the student with feedback or. even' possible error, follow the guidelines below: 1. 2.

3.

Errors which cause a breakdown in commu­ nication Errors which occur as a pattern, n o t aisolated mistakes Errors which relate to the pronunciatior. points we are teaching

This last point is not to be viewed as the least important; it is related to the first two in an inte­ gral wav It is the errors that learners make that guides ns toward what to teach. Thus, what we a ttend to in o u r lea rn ers’ speech is the feedback we m ust have in o rd e r to navigate o u r teaching in a targeted wav.

Classroom Achievement Tests Classroom achievem ent tests evaluate learners' progress according to what has been taught and are consequentlv m ore focused than diagnostic assessment. T he testing tasks should resemble the classroom teaching tasks in o rd e r to reduce the effect of an unfamiliar format on learner perform ance. Am oral p erform ance to be evaluated for a grade should be recorded on tape. This is not only to m ake the teacher's evaluation of it easier (although this is the case); it also allows the learner to review and revise the tape before tu rn ­ ing it in. In fact, since one of ou r goals is to help learners m o n ito r their own speech, this step is crucial. A lthough our ultimate goal is intclligibilitv du rin g spontaneous speech, for assessment purposes it is also critical to know w hether learn­ ers can control their p ro n u nciation du rin g a communicative task when thev are m onitoring for specific features. This abilitv to determ ine what m ight have gone wrong in their p ro n u n c i­ ation allows learners to recover from a c o m m u ­ nication breakdown in real life. In o th e r words, w hen thev notice the puzzled look or blank stare, thev can mentallv run through what thev just said and in all likelihood, reform ulate the same utterance intelligible.

C O N C L U S IO N The discussion of assessment brings us full circle back to the goals we have set lor ourselves an d our learners. These goals are realistic— the ability of our learners to understand and be understood in the communicative situations they face, the confi­ dence to enter these communicative situations with ease, and the abilitv to m onitor their speech in ord er to make adjustments and improvements

based on input from the environment. If we con­ sider the frustration expressed by the learners quoted at the beginning of this chapter, we now have tools to respond to their pronunciation needs in a systematic and principled way.

D IS C U S S IO N Q U E S T IO N S 1. T hink about a foreign language vou have learned. How good is vour accent? W hat fac­ tors have contributed to how well you p ro ­ nounce this language? 2. T hink of one communicative situation vou engage in even’ day. W hat kinds of language do vou use? What aspects o f p ro n unciation do you n e e d to know to function well in this situation? 3. W ho is better eq u ip p e d to teach p ro n u n c ia ­ tio n — a non-native who speaks the LI of her learners or a native English teacher who does not? U pon which factors m ight vour answer depend? 4. W hich aspect of p ro n u nciation is the hardest to teach? Whv?

S U G G E S T E D A C T IV IT IE S 1.

Consult one o f the references listed below that contain contrastive analyses a n d sum ­ marize the inform ation for a language that vou know well (other than English). W hat are the predicted pro n u n cia tio n errors for learners from that language w hen learning English? How does this com pare with your knowledge of the sound svstems o f the two languages? Averv. P., and S. Ehrlich. 1992. Teaching American English Pronunciation. Oxford: Oxford Lhiiversitv Press. (Chapter 8) Deterding, D. H., and G. R. Poedjosoedarmo. 1998. The Sounds of English: Phonetics and Phonology for English Teachers in Southeast Asia. Singapore; Prentice Hall. Swan, M.. and B. Smith, eds. 2001. Eearner English. 2d ed. Cambridge: Cambridge Lhiiversitv Press.

2.

Choose one pronunciation teaching point (e.g., word stress in c o m pound nouns, / 1/ ver­ sus / г / , one rhythm pattern). Develop one or two activities for each of the five stages of the communicative framework to teach this point. 3. Interview a non-native speaker of English who has a good accent. How did this person achieve good pronunciation? 4. Exam ine a textbook for teaching p ro n u n c i­ ation a n d evaluate it in terms of ■ ■ ■ ■

Layout: Is it user-friendly? Are the diagrams, charts, and explanations clear? Use of phonetic symbols Focus: segmentals, suprasegmentals, or both? Exercises: logical progression from con­ trolled to communicative? .Are the instruc­ tions clear? Is the language authentic? (See Byrd’s chapter in this volume as you do this activitv.)

FU R T H ER R EA D IN G Teacher References Avery, P., and S. Erlich. 1992. Teaching American English Pronunciation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Celce-Murcia, M., D. Brinton, and J. Goodwin. 1996. Teaching Pronunciation: .4 Reference for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press. Dalton, C., and B. Seidlhofer. 1994. Pronunciation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Morlev, J., ed. 1987. Current Perspectives on Pronun­ ciation. Washington, DC: TESOL. ---------, ed. 1994. Pronunciation Pedagogy and Theory. Washington, DC: TESOI.. Student Texts Dauer, R. 1993. Accurate English: A Complete Course in Pronunciation. Engleyvood Cliffs, X }: Prentice Hall Regents. Gilbert, J. 1993. Clear Speech. 2d ed. Neyv York: Cambridge University Press. ---------, 2001. Clear Speech from the Start. Neyv York: Cambridge University Press. Grant, I.. 2001. Well Said: Pronunciation for Clear Communication. 2d ed. Boston, NLA. Heinle & Heinle. Heyvings, M. and S. Goldstein. 1998. Pronunciation Plus: Practice through Interaction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Miller, S. 2000. Targeting Pronunciation. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Collections o f Pronunciation Activities Boyven, T., and J. Marks. 1992. The Pronunciation Book: Student-Centered Activities for Pronunciation Work.

London: Longman. Hancock, M. 1995. Pronunciation Смит. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

TESOL Speech and Pronunciation Interest Section Contains information about pronunciation issues, resources, activities, articles, and links to relevant sites. http: / / www.public.iastate.edu/~jlevis / SPRIS

LATEFL Pronunciation Special Interest Group .At international site for teachers of English. Contains links, articles, bibliography, and infor­ mation about SPEAK. OUT! (the neyvsletter for this group). http: / / m em bers.aol.com /pronunciationsig/

Prolinks John Murphv's list of sites related to phonology and teaching pronunciation. Includes Murphv's annotated list of resource books, journal articles classroom texts, etc. http: / /www. gsu.edu/~esljm m /ss / prolinks.htm

The Internet TESL Journal's pronunciation links This site includes a variety of links for botf. learners and teachers. http: / / w w w .a itech .a c .j p / - ite s lj /lin k s /E S L /Pronunciation/

Dave's ESL Cafe Web Guide for Pronunciation Dave Sperling's source of annotated pronuncia­ tion links. yvww.eslcafe.com search Pronunciation

Lessons A nice selection of lesson ideas and links T both British and American English. h ttp:/ / eleaston.com /pronunciation/

Pronunciation Information and resources covering British .. yvell as American resources. Well organized : learners and teachers. http: / / esl.about.com /hom ew ork / esl / msuh 17.htm

ENDNO TES 1 A minimal pair is a set of two words that are alike except for one sound, e.g., bet and bat, or great and crate. - The term segmentals refers to the actual consonant and vowel sounds. The term suprasegmentals refers to the features which occur “above the segments." e.g., the stress, rhvthrn, and intonation. 3 Other terms for this include tone units, breath groups, and intonation units. 4 1. Alfred said, "The boss is stupid.” 2. “Allred." said the boss, "is stupid." ° Other common terms for this include nuclear stress, tonic syllable, focus word, emphasis, and primary phrase stress. 8 When words of metre than one sellable are promi­ nent, it is onlv the sellable receiving primarv stress that is prominent (e.g.. SPEAKing. ecoXOMics). ' See Bolinger (1986); Brazil. Coulthard. and fohns (1980); Celce-Murcia, Brinton, and Goodwin (1996) for descriptions of intonation patterns. 8 The correct answers are a, b, a. 9 In many North American learner textbooks, the schwa / э / svmbol also represents the full stressed vowel / л / , as in "bus." This pedagogical simplifi­ cation thus describes the two vowels in the word “above" as being similar in quality if not in length. 10 See Celce-Murcia. Brinton. and Goodwin (1996). for further explanation of cluster reduction. 11 A diphthong is a sound that combines two vowel sounds in one vowel nucleus. 12 See Dickerson (1989). (1994) or Celce-Murcia. Brinton, and Goodwin (1996) for further expla­ nation of word stress rules. 13 These stages are not necessarily meant to occur in one 50-minute lesson. They simply represent a pedagogical sequence which could take place over several lessons.

14 The -ed ending has three realizations in English, depending on the sound preceding the ending. Following any voiceless sound except / X/ , the ending is pronounced / X/ . Following am voiced sound except / d / , the ending is pronounced / d / and following the sounds /X/ or / d / , the ending is an extra syllable: /э й / or /id /. l j Good sources for minimal pair contrasts include Bowen (1975), Grate (1987), Henrichsen et al. (1999), and Xilsen and Nilsen (1987). A very thorough list of minimal pairs for British Received Pronunciation can be found at http :/ www.stir.ac.uk/departm ents/hum an sciences / ce lt/sta ff/h ig d o x / w ordlist/index.htm

1,1 The series includes: fritz Chants (1978), Jazz Chants for Children (1979), Crammarrhants (1993), Small Talk (1986). Mother Goose Jazz Chants (1994). 1' Noll has many more examples in her book, American Accent Skills: Intonation, Reductions and Word Connections, available at http: / / www.anieri-talk.coin /books.htm l

18 Videos bv Marsha Chan include “Using your hands to teach pronunciation” and “Phrase by Phrase." both available from Sunburst Media: http: / / www.sunburstmedia.com

19 I am indebted to Anne Isaac for a workshop she gate at UCLA in 1998. Her presentation, “An inte­ grated approach to teaching spoken fluency” and the video "The rhythm of language” (1995) inspired mv version of the approach described here. 2n These include Phrase by Phrase by Chan, Pronunciation for Success bv Mevers and Holt, and Breaking the Accent Banierhs Stern. 21 One such technology is "PureYoice,” available for download at http:/ www.eudora.com /purevoice

P la c e Manner of A rticulation *

Stop

Bilabial

Labio­ dental

of

A r t ic u la t io n

Dental

Alveolar

Palatal

Velar

P

t

к

b

d

9

Fricative

f

e

s

I

V

б

z

3

Glottal

h

tj

Affricative

d3

Nasal

m

Liquid Glide

N o te:

n 1

w

q

r

У

the voiceless sounds are in the top p a rt o f each box, voiced sounds are in the lower half.

Ma n n e r o f A r t ic u l a t io n * W h at happens to the air stream as the sound is articulated Name

How the Sound Is Pronounced

Stop

A ir stream is blocked completely before it is released

/р/

Fricative

A ir stream is compressed and passes through a small opening, creating friction

Ы

Affricative

Combination of a stop followed by a fricative

/tj*/

Nasal

A ir passes through the nose instead of the mouth.

/m/

Liquid

A ir stream moves around the tongue in a relatively unobstructed manner

/г/

Sound is close to a vowel

/у/

Glide

Example

A P P E N D IX 2 Organs of Speech

A. nasal passage B. alveolar (tooth) ridge C. hard palate D. velum/soft palate E. lips and teeth

F. tongue 1. tip 2. blade 3 . body 4 . root

G. uvula H. jaw

I. pharynx

J- trachea K. larynx and vocal cords

P o in t s o f A r t ic u l a t io n (from the front of the mouth to the back) E x a m p le

N am e

W h e r e th e Sound Is P ro n o u n ced

Bilabial

Two lips together

/Ы

Lab io d e n tal

Lower lip and upper teeth

/V/

D e n ta l

Tongue tip and inner edge of upper teeth

A lv e o la r

Tongue tip on tooth ridge

/0/ /d/

Palatal

Body of tongue on hard palate

/У

V e la r

Back of tongue on soft palate

G lo tta l

Throat passage

/д/ /h/

A P P E N D IX 3 The Phonetic Alphabet for English The Consonants of North American English

1.

/р/

pat, clap

13.

/JV shy, dish

2.

/Ы boy, cab

14.

/3/ leisure, beige

3.

/t/ tan, sit

15.

/h/ his, ahead

4.

/d/

dog, bed

16.

/tj/

5.

/к/ cry, side

17.

М3/ just, bridge

6.

/д/ go, beg

18.

/m/ me, trim

7.

/f/ fine, safe

19.

in/ not, van

8.

/v/ vein, glove

20.

/ц/ sing(er), long

9.

/0/ thumb, bath

21.

/1/ last, ball

10.

/5/ this, bathe

22.

/г/ rib, tar

1 1.

/s/ sun, class

23.

/w/ win, away

12.

/z/ zoo, does

24.

/у/ yes, soya

cheek, match

The Vowels of North American English

1.

/iy/ bee, seat

8.

/ow/ code, low

2.

/i/ gr|n, fix

9.

/и/ put, book

3.

/еу/ train, gate

10.

4.

/е/ set, then

1 1. /ау/ line, fight

5.

/ж/ fan, mad

12. /aw/ pound, foul

6.

/а/

hot, doll

13.

/оу/ noise, boy

7.

/0/ taught, walk

14.

/л/ gun, but

15.

/зг/ bird, curtain

/uw/ boot, threw

g Pronunciation

1 37

Developing Children’s Listening and Speaking in ESL SABRINA

PECK

In "Developing Children's Listening and Speaking in E SL .1 Peck addresses teachers of adult ESLVEFL

who are beginning to work with children. She ouhmes how children differ from adults as classroom learners of oral language. She also discusses how со maire use of resources such as songs, chants, drama, and storytelling.

IN T R O D U C T IO N Perhaps you have taught ESL or EFL before, but never to children. You mav have some hunches about how child second language learners could differ from adults. In manv wavs, children who are learning ESL are different from adult stu­ dents. Consider these anecdotes: 1. An ESL teacher instructs a group of 7 children even- dav for 45 minutes. Thev sing "I'm a Little Teapot" over and over again. Standing, they use on e arm as the spout of the teapot. Bending, they use the o th er arm to show the tea p o u rin g out. It feels like an eternitv to the teacher: “I ’m a little teapot, short and stout, he re is mv handle, he re is mv spout. W hen I get all steam ed up, he a r me shout, just tip m e over an d p o u r me out." And then the g roup starts again. 2. A kindergarten child, alreadv in school for six months, still declines to speak in English. She hides u n d e r the table during group lessons. She speaks u n d e r her breath in Japanese to the other children, who speak English a n d / o r Spanish. 3. In visiting the class o f a n o te d a n d successful ESL teacher, you are struck that each activity lasts no m ore than ten minutes, that chil­ d r e n are usually in m o v e m e n t— m aking s o m e th in g , h o ld in g s o m e th in g , m oving their h ands or walking somewhere. T he class looks like an art class.

There are a few major contrasts that we can make between child and adult ESL learners. Children are m ore likely to play with language than adults are. Children can be m ore effectively engaged through stories and games. Younger children are less likely to notice errors or correct them. In general, children are m ore holistic learners who need to use language for authentic com m unication in ESL classes. In this chapter, I explain some wavs in which children often differ from adults as developing listeners and speakers of a second language. I suggest listening and speaking activities and ways to focus on gram m ar within the authentic and communicative language of a children's ESL class.

H O W C H IL D R E N D IFFER FROM A D U LT S AS L A N G U A G E LEA RN ERS In an ESL class for adults, the materials are books, papers, the blackboard, an overhead projector, and little else. In a children’s class, all sorts of materials are used— magnets, hamsters, stuffed animals, art supplies, costumes, and so on. Activities n e e d to be child c e n te re d a n d c o m m u n ic a tio n sh o u ld be a u th e n tic . This m eans that children are listening or speaking about som ething that interests them , for their own reasons, and n o t merely because a teacher has asked them to. Many authors (e.g., E nright

1991; Enright a n d Rigg 1986; Genesee 1994: Phillips 1993; Rigg a n d Allen 1989; McKeon and Samwav 1993; Scott an d Ytreberg 1990: Mile 1995) advise teachers to teach ESL holistically a n d to focus on the whole child. Several themes repeatedlv com e up:

the characters and read aloud a version of the storv written on word cards an d sentence strips. Eventuallv, some will copy their own version of the storv and make a small book to take home. «

T reat learn ers ap p ro p riately in light o f their age and interests. At the e n d of an

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Focus on m eaning, not correctness. Eight-

vear-olds, in groups, decide on themes for a class partv: cowbovs. dancing, or dinosaurs. Each group makes a poster and presents an argum ent for their theme. Children speak, write, listen, or draw according to their abil­ ity. T he teacher does not correct errors. ■

Focu s on collaboration and social develop­ ment. Twelve-vear-olds form groups in which

thev compare maps of North America that were drawn in different centuries. Thev dis­ cuss the comparison as a group, prepare an oral report, and do a written report. Each child has a role in the group. ■

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T reat language as a tool fo r children to use fo r their own social and acad em ic ends.

Eight-vear-olds enjov being part of a group as thev sing an d chant the same pieces in ESL class. Tiles' enjov activities that allow them to work with friends in the class.

F o cu s on the valu e o f the activity', not the value o f the lan guage. Advanced beginners

each receive a potato. Each child has to nam e his or h e r potato, p rep are an oral introduction (e.g., "This is mv potato. H er nam e is Patricia."), a n d make a poster with an image of the potato that could be used if the p o ta to were to get lost. (Activitv described bv Perros 1993.) ■

ESL co n te n t unit on volcanoes, eleven-yearolds plav bingo using vocabulary a n d pic­ tures from the unit.

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U se language fo r authentic com m unication, not as an o bject o f analysis. Eleven-vear-olds

in one class do not know the term modal verb, but enjov making up role plays in which characters are polite to each other. (Activitv from Ur 1988, p. 178). Thus, the principles that underlie children’s ESL classes are those of progressive education: that teachers adjust to the child's developmental level, use materials and techniques that appeal to children, and stress com m unication a n d the expression of authentic meaning. This progressive stance is not alwavs carried out in schools.

Provide a rich context, including m ove­ m ent, the senses, objects and pictures, and a variety o f activities. Six-vear-olds learn

terms for c om m unin' occupations such as doctor, teacher, and police officer. Thev wear appropriate hats, line up in order, fol­ low directions bv the teacher, act out brief scenes, an d sing a song while moving and pointing. Note that in this wav teachers accom m odate the kinesthetic and visual learning slvles favored bv most children (Keefe 1979). ■

T each E S L holistically, integrating the fo u r skills. Seven-vear-olds listen to the storv of

Tittle Red Riding H ood. Later, thev repeat a refrain in the storv a n d supplv some miss­ ing words. Thev help the teacher retell the storv, and discuss the qualities of each char­ acter. Thev label cards with the names of

H O W ESL C H IL D R E N APPROACH ORAL LAN GU AGE In some wavs, children approach oral language differentlv than adults do. T h e role of language plav within language learning is e xam ined bv Cook (2000). C hildren a ppear m ore likely than adults to plav with language (Peck 1978) and mav learn th ro u g h language plav (Peck 1980; Tarone 2000). Thev enjov rhythmic a n d repeti­ tive language m ore than adults do. Thev plav with the intonation of a sentence, an d m ost are willing to sing. Thev enjov repeating a word or an utterance in a plav situation. With less aware­ ness of the wavs in which languages can differ, children are m ore likelv to laugh at the sounds

of a second language, or to be rem inded of a word in the first language. Young children such as kindergartners mac comfortably talk to them ­ selves, perhaps as part of a fantasy role plav.

T E C H N IQ U E S A N D R ESO U R C ES Using Songs, Poems, and Chants Given c h ild re n ’s greater ability to plav with lan­ guage, teachers n e e d to use songs, poems, and chants m ore than thev would with adults. Mamchildren do n o t tire of practicing a repetitive and rhythmic text several times a dav, manv davs a week. They build up a repertoire of songs or chants an d delight in reciting them , or plavfullv altering them . O ften thev incorporate gestures and m ovem ent into their songs an d chants. Some suggested poem s are M other Goose rhymes. Anthologies of children's poem s from language arts anthologies for children are also useful (e.g., dePaola 1988). A guiding principle in choosing poems, chants, a n d songs is to pick the ones that you like, both as a teacher an d as an individual. This is im portant because vou will find yourself listening to them again and again! Sometimes the line between poems and chants can be thin. In general, chants have a strong a n d catchv rhythm. Manv are written for two parts, with a call an d a response, such as for two groups or an individual an d a group. Manv reflect jazz or rap rhythms. Carolyn G raham originated the term jazz chants an d has p u b ­ lished several books of chants for children and for adults (am ong them , G raham 1978; 1979; 1993). Mans- c urrent EST materials for children, such as Into English! (Tinajero a n d Schifmi 1997) include a chant (and a song an d poem ) in each them atic unit. In the following example, note the two voices or parts and how simple past forms o f irregular verbs are practiced. Y o u D id It A gain !

You did W hat You did W hat

it again! did I do? it again! did I do?

I told you n o t to do it, an d you did it again! I ’m sorry. I’m sorry. You broke it! W hat did I break? You took it! W hat did 1 take? You lost it! W hat did I lose! You chose it! W hat did I choose? I told vou not to do it, a n d you did it again! I ’m sorrv. I'm sorrv. You score it! W hat did I wear? You tore it! W hat did I tear? I told vou not to do it, a n d you did it again! I'm sony. I’m sorrv (Graham , Jazz Chants for Children , 1978, p. 25) Written collections of children’s folklore (for example, Opie and Opie 1959) are an o th er source of chants. You will need to make sure that the values conveved in a folk chant fit with your own values and the overall requirem ents of your school. Much of this folklore conveys rebellion against authority, put-downs of various ethnic groups, and joking about body parts and sexuality. Still, as vou read Opie and Opie, you may rem em ­ ber less offensive rhvmes from your own child­ h o o d that sou s\ ill be able to use. Chants and ju m p rope rhvmes overheard on vour own school plavground might also be used in EST lessons. Printed versions of these chants mav exist, but children usuallv learn them from their class­ mates. In the process, ESL students become familiar with the culture of their English-speaking classmates. H ere are some examples from my childhood and from a child in the year 2000: Made vou look, You clirtv crook, Stole vour m o th e r ’s pocketbook. (Massachusetts, LTSA, 1950s) Down bv the banks o f the hanky panky W here the bullfrogs j u m p from bank to bankv

With an eeps, opps, soda pops, Down by the lilies and 1 got vou. (California, USA, 2000) G randm a, G randm a, sick in bed, Called the doctor an d the d octor said, L e t’s get the rhvthm of the head: ding-dong [touch head], L e t’s get the rhythm of the hands: clap-clap, L e t’s get the rhvthm of the feet: stomp-stomp. L e t’s get the rhvthm of the H O T DOG [move hips]. Put ’em all together an d what've vou got? Ding-dong, clap-clap, stomp-stomp. H O T DOG. Put it all backwards and what've vou got? H O T DOG, stomp-stomp. clap-clap, ding-dong. (California, L’SA. 2000)

T h e re are several issues to consider when you choose songs for children's ESL instruction. First, vou n e e d to like the song vourself. For exam ple, I could happilv sing “T h e Eensv Weensv Spider'' (also known as “T he Itsv Bitsy Spider”) or “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” almost every day for an entire school t ear. Those songs speak to m e of persistence an d ho p e an d of looking u p to see beautv. But I quickly tire of “O ld M acDonald H ad a Farm ” an d have seldom taught this song to ESL learners. Your feelings ab o u t a song will c a n y over to the children, so it is im p o rta n t to consider vour own likes a n d dis­ likes. After all, there are manv songs available. You could also choose to set some new and appropriate words to a familiar tune. You might choose songs because they fit with your ESL or interdisciplinary thematic focus. For instance, if vour class is stitching water, t on may want to teach them songs featuring rivers, oceans, or the rain. Rivers i "Shenandoah")

C hants b uild c h ild re n 's proficiencv in English in manv wavs. Thev build vocabularv. Learners he a r pronunciation m odeled and then they practice the same sounds repeatedlv. Often the rhythm, intonation, and stress patterns of the chant exaggerate a tvpical pattern in English. Learners h e a r and produce the same gram m ar structures again and again. In addition, thee are exposed to culture. For instance, in "You Did it Again,” cited earlier, learners pick up the u n d e ­ sirability' of breaking, tearing, or losing objects. They learn to apologize as well: "I'm sorrv. I'm sorry.” A five- or ten-minute session of chanting or singing for an ESL class with varied levels can be fun and effective. T he beginners mav mostly lis­ ten. They will get the gist of the chant if you intro­ duce the vocabularv and context clearly. Providing visuals and objects, and having other students role-plav the chant will all help. The beginners will probably enjoy the rhvthm of the language, and enjoy being part of a larger group. Intermediate a n d advanced children can participate fully if thev desire. Many will take part in the chanting and singing, thus memorizing the text. Students that choose only to listen can still benefit.

O h. S henandoah. I long to he a r vou Awav. vou rolling river Oh. S henandoah. I long to he a r vou Awav. I'm b o u n d awav. 'Gross the wide Missouri. (Boni 1947) Oceans ( "Sk\e Boat Song”) Speed, bonnv boat like a bird on the wing, Onward, the sailors civ. Carry the lad who's bo rn to be king, Over the sea to Skve. (Boni 1947) Rain ( "It's Raining. It's Pouring'') It's raining, it's pouring T he old m an is snoring, Went to bed with a cold in his head And he c ouldn't get up in the m orning. (source unknown) In the U nited States, a good source of folk songs is the Wee Sing series edited bv Beall and Xipp. Each title includes a book a n d cassette tape. Some o f the titles are Wee Sing Children's Songs and Fingerplays (1979), Wee Sing Sing-alongs

(1990), Шг Sing Silly Songs (1982), Wee Sing Fun ‘n ’ Folk (1989), and Wee Sing and Play: Musical Games and Rhymes for Children (1981). A British source is Jingle Bells (Byrne a n d W augh 1982), which includes a book of songs for children and an accom panving cassette. Sometimes the language o f a song or poem seems archaic or unusual (“the lad,” “I ’m b o u n d away.”) Some teachers do not teach songs witli lines such as "Meat n o r drink n o r m oney have I n o n e ,” a n d some teachers trv to m odernize the language, substituting "food” for “m e a t,” for instance. O th e r teachers (and I am one) go ahead and teach songs with archaic language. In singing an u n altered folk song, children can pick up language, vocabulary, an d culture in combination. Students usually sense that the archaic vocabulary is not appropriate in their own speech. For example, voting children learn the nursery rhvme "Jack and Jill." but I have never h e a rd a child complain that som eone has broken his or h e r "crown." Children realize that the language of songs and nurserv rhvmes is not the language o f evervdav life. It is a n o th e r regis­ ter a n d not for use with family or classmates. Choose songs with bodv m ovem ent and h a n d motions. Mans' children are kinesthetic learners: They learn best th ro u g h lessons that involve m ovem ent. Just as Asher proposes with his Total Physical Response A pproach (1969). they- seem to learn language quicklv and thor­ oughly w hen the brain an d the bods svork together. You can find songs, particularly for soung children, that base m ovem ents set to them (Beall a n d Xipp 1979), or sou can make up the m ovem ents sourself. O n e way of teaching a poem , chant, or song is to start with the context and vocabulary, and gradually move the students from listening to r e p e a tin g to i n d e p e n d e n t rec ita tio n or singing. This m e th o d is similar to traditional m eth o d s for in tr o d u c in g a u d io lin g u a l dia­ logues. H ere is a suggested sequence of steps: 1. Familiarize the children svith the vocabulary a n d co n te n t by using pictures and objects. For instance, in teaching "The F arm er in the Dell,” sou could start svith a picture of a farm , s o u r osvn drawings, o r dolls a n d

stuffed animals representing the characters in the song. You m ight also ask children to svear hats or masks that correspond to the characters. Your goal here is for the children to understand the socabularv while you use the visuals. 2. Recite the poem or chant. Sing or play a tape of the song. You mas point to a poster or oserheacl transparencs as you sing. The children listen. 3. Recite (sing, plav) about o n e line at a time, an d hase the class repeat after you. 4. Recite the whole text svith the class. 5. If the text has tsvo parts, you now take one part, an d the class takes the other. 6. Dis ide the class in tsvo groups an d have the children pe rfo rm both parts on their own. 7. Practice the chants (poems, songs) for about fise m inutes a dav. 8. Make costumes an d props. 9. Hase the class present the chants, poems, or songs to o th er children. In sum m ars. EST teachers w ho have svorked svith adults n e e d to keep in m in d that mans' children enjoy playing with language an d svelcome the repeated a n d rhythmic language of songs an d chants. Teachers n e e d to choose texts svith care a n d be p re p a re d to work with them repeatedly ewer a long period of time.

Dramatic Activities Children can be engaged in a lesson th ro u g h dram a m ore easily than th ro u g h explanations or instructions. Som e shv c h ild re n will speak th rough a p u p p e t but are reluctant to speak on their osvn. Dramatic actisities can be beneficial for children svhether tiles' has'e a big or small part in the production. Even if a child has a n o n ­ speaking role, he or she mav listen intently while silently playing the part of a tree or a river. All in all, children are m ore willing to take p a rt in dram a actisities than are adults. Commercially published skits an d plays are available in magazines for children. W ithin the U n ited States, a children's magazine called Plays an d others such as Cricket a n d Ladybug are good sources.

Role plavs can grow out of a story read or told in class. Alter the children are familiar with the story, assign them parts. C hildren m ight act out the story itself, or react in character to a sit­ uation that you describe for them. G raham 's Jazz Chant Fairy 1'alrs (Graham 1988) are dramatic retellings of favorite fairy tales bv a chorus and individual parts. Then are suitable both for a mixed-level or a h o m o g e ­ neous class. Mane' are appropriate for younger children (e.g., "Little Red Riding Hood") and two (“Rumpelstiltskin,” "The Fisherman and His Wife”) have them es that appeal to children up to eleven or twelve years old. Before introducing the jazz chant fairv tale, the teacher needs to tell or read the traditional version so that everyone in the class is familiar with the tale. C hildren enjov the rhvthmic language, the repetition, a n d the call an d response structure of the dialogue. Many adults enjov the jokes and productions. Graham has e m b ro id ere d the fairv tales with h e r sense of rhvtlnn. For instance, in “Goldilocks an d the T h re e Bears." this chant details preparations for breakfast before the bears go for a walk: Papa Bear: Mama Bear: Babv Bear: Chorus:

I'll make the porridge. I'll p o u r the milk. I'll set the table. I'll set the table. And thev did (clap clap). A nd thev did (clap clap). Babv set the table. M ama p o u re d the milk. Papa m ade the porridge. And thev all sat down.

Narrator:

W ho set the table?

Chorus: Narratin': Chorus:

Babv set the table. W ho p o u re d the milk? M ama p o u re d the milk, [continues] (Graham 1988. p. 4i

Rehearsals of jazz chant fain tale' could take place over several weeks or month.', mj that the children can easily perforin with notes or without. T h e class should make costum e', props, an d perhaps a backdrop for the final pn Auction.

Reader's theater takes m uch less time and preparation. In reader's theater, children read aloud a store- (usually from a children's book) that has been rewritten in plav form. You can write vour own reader's theater script by basing it on a children's book that is interesting to your students a n d at a suitable level for them. Your script can be almost the same as the book, except that eon will have several narrators (for example, narrators 1 . 2 . and 3) to spread out the parts and give each child enough to read. A m ore difficult task is to use a store such as a Greek nrvth, a folk­ tale familiar to vour students, or an event that h a p p e n e d in the c h ild ren ’s neighborhood. T h e n eon will need to write out the store at the chil­ dren's level, making sure to divide the narration a m o n g several children. You m ight want to read the original story first with the class a n d then, if necessary, to read the script aloud to them. To include the whole class, groups of children can be assigned to each part. As a culm ination, children can make cos­ tumes and p e rform the reader's theater for a n o th e r class. You can purchase reader's theater scripts from Reader's T h e a tre Script Service (PO Box 178333. San Diego. GA 92177). Scripts are also available on some of the websites listed at the e n d of this chapter. Ghilclren can also make up their own skits orallv or in writing. Some teachers assign groups to m ake up skits at the e n d of a unit. For instance, after the class has studied recycling, groups are asked to dramatize ( 1 ) an a rg u m e n t between people who want to recycle a n d those who don't, or (2 ) a ne ig h b o r­ h o o d that learns about recycling.

Storytelling Stories are a powerf ul m eans o f language teach­ ing. A skillful teacher can use stories to develop “m ore efficient listening, m ore fluent speaking and the ability to read and write easily an d com­ petently" (Garvie 1990, p. 161). Ghilclren usual!' enjov hearing the same store mans' times. The teacher cam easily vary the presentation. Fo: instance, sou can tell the story using a picture book, or a flannel board and movable character' You can tell or read the store while children

move puppets or dolls, or as they wear masks and act out the store. You can tell the story while chil­ dren draw it. You can tell a version of a familiar store such as "Bille Goats G ru ff’ by a different a u th o r and illustrator. Children may listen to a tape-recorded store to g e th e r o r inclieidualle. using earphones. Mane follow-up activities are possible. When thee have he a rd a store' several times, children can retell it. act it out, or write a script for the store. As described be D onna Brinton (personal com m unication) and others, store activities can also be games. For example, the teacher chooses a brief store, such as a fable be' Aesop, and rewrites it so that there is one sentence for each student to memorize. After the teacher checks each student's abilitv to recite his or h e r sen­ tence, the students must first decide how to line up in order, and then recite the entire store. In an o th er activitv. three students leave the room, and the teacher tells a short anecdote or store to the rem aining students. When m em bers of the class are able to tell the store themselves. student X (who eras in the hall) comes back to the class­ room, and the o th er students tell him or her the story. Next, student Y rejoins the class a n d stu­ dent X tells the store’, and so on. Afterwards, the class can discuss how the store changed in the retelling. Wright (1995) provides activities to use before, during, and after a store as well as stories and lesson plans for children of different ages. Ur a n d Wright (1992) describe brief activities that include stories, such as a chain store : O ne student begins a store and others take turns adding sentences, w hether orallv or in writing.

Gesture and Movement C hildren n e e d to move a r o u n d m ore than adults do. As m en tio n e d above, e c u can com ­ bine gesture and m ovem ent evith songs, poems, or chants, with dram a, a n d with stories. You cam ask children to answer a question th ro u g h move­ ment: for instance, to sav yev bv raising one h a n d and no by looking at the floor. With voting chil­ dren, some teachers break up the lesson even five or ten m inutes for a m inute or two of phvsical exercise or dancing.

Total Physical Response (TPR) T he best known F.SL a pproach involving move­ m en t is Total Phvsical Response (Asher 1969). In TPR. the teacher gives com m ands, models them, an d gradually weans the student from watching the teacher's model. Soon students are able to carrv out a variety of com m ands. Thev u n d e r­ stand most of what is said, a n d in the process acquire receptive language, especially vocabu­ lary and grammar. A lesson m ight start like this: Teacher:

Stand up. (pauses, then stands up) Touch vour shoulder, (pauses, then touches shoulder) Sit down, (pauses, then sits down) Stand up. (continues modeling)

I.ater. some students und e rsta n d an d follow the teacher's c o m m a n d s : Teacher:

Touch vour head.

Erika. Jose. M ahmoud: (Touch heads) Most o ther students: (follow others an d touch heads) Teacher:

Good! Great job, Erika and Jose a n d M ahmoud!

TPR fits within comprehension-based approaches such as the Natural Approach (Krashen and Terrell 1983). G ram m ar is not overtlv taught, the locus is on com prehension, and the input is sup­ posed to be comprehensible. While books of TPR com m ands are avail­ able. manv teachers write their own com m ands, perhaps relating them to the topic of study. For instance, if children art' studying the water cycle, com m ands such as Touch/Poirl to/Pirh up the Cloud/Paver/Raindrop can be carried out using pictures or word cards. With a series of com ­ mands. teachers can ask students to e a rn out a simple process such as making a terrarium in which water will evaporate and condense: lake the glass terrarium. Put mater in the pool. Sprax water on the sides Put plastie wrap on lop. Pul the terrarium hу the window.

Total Physical Response (TPR) Storytelling TPR storytelling (Rav an d Seelv 1998; Seely and Romijn 1998) is a m e th o d o f second o r foreign language teaching that includes actions, p a n ­ tom im e, an d o th er techniques. Much is taught th ro u g h stories. T he instructor begins by teach­ ing the words of a store th ro u g h associated ges­ tures. Each word has its own gesture, perhaps a sign in Am erican Sign Language (the language of the de a f in the U nited States) or perhaps a gesture that the teacher invents. Students then practice the vocabulary in pairs: O n e speaks and the o th e r makes the gesture. After the vocabu­ lary has b e e n covered, the teacher tells a m ini­ story to the students, trving to incorporate the students' nam es and characteristics. .After about a m o n th o f instruction, a teacher m ight tell a mini-story, such as the one below, m uch of which students would u n d e rs ta n d because o f the previ­ ous stories, gestures, and pantomimes: Tamm}' has a cat in the chair. T he cat runs away. Tammy looks everywhere for the cat. She comes back and sits down. Oh! T he cat is asleep in the chair.

grammatical errors. How are vou to respond? In EFL situations, where time is short an d class is perhaps the onlv place where the child speaks English, manv teachers are careful ab o u t noting errors, a n d plan lessons a n d h o m ew o rk in response. Some of the strategies an d materials that Celce-Murcia an d Hilles (1988) present for g ram m ar lessons could be used with children. U r ’s g ra m m a r practice activities (1988) are a rranged bv grammatical category (adjectives, negative sentences) a n d manv can be used as is or adapted. In the U nited States, where manv teachers favor the Natural Approach, errors are often seen as indicators of the child’s knowledge, but n o t as invitations to correct. Teachers of younger children (ages 5—10) often ignore errors. These teachers respond to the child's ideas, perhaps rephrasing the incorrect language in correct form. All in all, w hen teachers notice errors in grammar, vocabulary, an d pronunciation, they can choose from a range of strategies: ignore the error, m ake a m ental note, rephrase the sen­ tence. rephrase a n d expand, or present a lesson to a gro u p or the whole class later on.

(Seelv a n d Romijn 1998. p. 42) Later on, students are able to tell the storv th em ­ selves, while others act it out. In the next step, the teacher tells a m ain storv which students later retell a n d revise. Last, students create their own stories an d tell them. Tests focus on vocab­ ulary. In the second or third vear, g ram m ar is tau g h t by telling the stories from a n o th e r point o f view, thus requiring the lea rn er to change tenses, pro n o u n s, and so on.

Teaching Grammar Younger children are less likely to focus on the vocabulary or pro n u n cia tio n errors of others, or to correct them . As children grow older, their metalinguistic awareness (ability to analyze lan­ guage) grows, an d thev do te n d to notice errors m uch the same as adults do. As you work with children who are devel­ oping their oral language, you will notice many

SUMMARY A N D FU TU R E D IR E C T IO N S I have focused here on activities that are usually associated with ESL or EFL children's instruc­ tion: songs, poems, chants, dram a, stories, ges­ ture. m ovem ent. TPR. a n d TPR storytelling. At the same time, manv activities associated with co n te n t classes can also give children oral lan­ guage practice. Some examples are class discus­ sions. pairwork. cooperative group work, oral reports, interviews an d lectures. The main point of this chapter is that chil­ dren's ESL instruction needs to parallel their developmental levels. Since plav is a child's suc­ cessful work, the programs allow for m am kinds of plan with talk built in. Since children learn from each other and crave interaction with peers, group activities are provided. Since children often enjov language plav, am ple time is given

for rhvmes, chants, and jokes. Since children are restless a n d n e e d to learn th ro u g h m ovem ent, gestures a n d m ovem ent are inco rp o rate d into songs and games. In addition, TPR along with TPR storvtelling are used. C hildren also move a ro u n d as they work on experim ents an d art projects, a n d as thev h andle objects that relate to their topic of study. Stories, told with various kinds of visuals and sometimes supplem ented with dram atic activities, provide children with a context for the language thev are learning. These are examples for just some of the princi­ ples given at the beginning of this chapter. In addition, ESL materials published for children often reflect sensitivity to different learning stvles (Peck 1995). Since the 1960s. oral language has been emphasized m ore than written language in chil­ d re n 's ESL. In the U n ited States, children would often take part in listening and speaking activities in ESL classes, but would get most of their reading a n d writing instruction in English in a m ainstream class. Currently, in the schools of test-driven states such as California, reading seems to be the skill most taught and tested. G overnm ent agen­ cies test children's reading a n d publicize scores. Publishers m a rk e t "teacher-proof" m aterials such as Success for All and Open Court, asserting their usefulness with all children, including English-language learners. It is likely that pub­ lishers will decide that m ore work on oral lan­ guage needs to go along with reading and writing activities. At the same time, materials such as Into English! mav start to incorporate m ore written language. In all, the pen d u lu m mav swing back to oral language a n d then to an u n d e rsta n d in g of how all four skills can be taught so that thev nourish each other. O f curre n t ESL m ethods, TPR storytelling seems ripe for further developm ent a n d dissem­ ination. W hen additional materials are p ro ­ duced and m arketed — teachers’ guides, student books, tra in in g videos — m o re tea c h e rs can learn to use this a pproach on their own, as well as t h ro u g h the existing tra in in g program s. Research mav fu rth e r d o c u m e n t the success of an a pproach that relies on gesture, movement.

h u m o r an d stories. Perhaps o th e r techniques will em erge in which students learn stories, act them out. retell, and v a n them. Teachers who move from ESL instruction for adults to ESL for children mav find that their focus on the structure of English changes to a focus on the interests and characteristics of chil­ dren. Teachers' knowledge of English grammar, of the children's native languages, of lesson plan­ ning. and of the contrasts between their own cul­ ture and the children's native cultures will stand them in good stead. Thev also mav need to spend time observing some children, w hether language learners or not. to become sensitive to ch ild ren ’s classroom behavior and preferences. In a way, their task is to adapt tasks that children already enjov (such as guessing games or ju m p rope rhvmes) to the language classroom. They also can take advantage of some excellent published materials, as well as books and materials written for child native speakers of English. So. if vou are starting a new position as a teacher of ESL or EFT to children, vou bring at least th re e resources: your know ledge of English, vour experience with language teaching techniques, and vour intuitions about children. As vou learn m ore about children, you will see them m ore cleavlv as language students. You will note their learning stvles, their n e e d for work in listening and speaking, and their openness to language plav: in the process, vour work as a lan­ guage teacher of children can be increasingly successful a n d enjoyable.

D IS C U S S IO N Q U E S T IO N S 1. T hink of an incident when the oral language of a child surprised vou. Write down, as far as vou can rem em ber, what the child said. Was there language plav? How can you describe the unusual qualities of the c h ild ’s language? 2. Are there other wavs that vou can think of in which children's oral language (both listening and speaking) differs from adults’ language? 3. Games, such as jum p rope rhvmes a n d guess­ ing games, can be used with children who are learning a language. In one game, children

line up according to the m onth and year in which they were born. T hen each is invited to tell about his or her birthday. The teacher accepts correct responses and understandable ones: “I was born on March 23” is accepted as well as “Me, September." What oral language games did vent enjoy as a child? Which ones could you use or adapt with child EST learners? 4. Consider an oral language game such as “Simon Savs” or “Mr. Wolf." How would you adapt it to a class, for instance, with beginners and intermediate learners? 5. W hat three stories would y o u most like to learn to tell to a class of ESL children? The stories could come from children's literature or be your own experiences. What visuals would you use?

S U G G E S T E D A C T IV IT IE S 1. Talk with some children between six and ten years old. Ask them to teach y o u their favorite b oard games. Examples m ight be "Clue." “Candvland,” “M onopolvjr." (United States), o r “P a rch e e si” a n d “Snakes, C hutes an d L adders” (worldwide). Tape record the play­ ers’ language during one of these games. Write a paragraph or two explaining what ESL level (s) m ight plav this game a n d why. 2. Choose a storv, a poem , or song that tells a story. O btain or m ake three sets o f objects which you could use in presenting the storv Types of objects or visuals could include p u p ­ pets, masks, dolls, pictures, posters, over­ h e a d transparencies, props, craft activities, art activities, an d so on. Tell the story to vour classmates, using each set of objects in turn. 3. Observe an intermediate- or advanced-level ESL class for children. Take special note of the grammatical errors in writing and in speaking. List them. Write a brief report listing the most frequent errors. Suggest two communicative activities that would be worthwhile to use in addressing the most com m on error. 4. Write a brief p a p e r (one or two pages) about an adult's m em ory o f studying a second or foreign language as a child. You may inter­ view som eone else or write about your own

5.

memories. What feelings are rem em bered? How do you think learning occurred? In addi­ tion, how m ight a person's past experience influence his or her approach as a teacher? Choose a storv to teach to a group of chil­ dren. Draw a picture or make a collage, using pictures from magazines and newspapers, that will help children to learn the story.

FU R T H ER R EA D IN G Each book can be adapted to an EFL/ESL context. Claire, E. 1998. ESL Teacher’s Activities Kit. EnglewoodCliffs. XJ: Prentice Hall. Experienced or inexperienced teachers can draw from this variety of games and activities. Directions and materials are clearly spelled out. Some unusual categories are Total Physical Response activities and activities in which stu­ dents build social contacts. Law. B.. and M. Eckes. 2001. The More-Than-JustSurviving Handbook: ESL for Even Classroom 'Teacher. 2d ed. Winnipeg, Canada: Peguis Publishers. This comprehensive guide covers all four skills and is useful for teachers who have two or three ESL students, or a whole class. The book is prac­ tical, concise, and filled with examples. The authors discuss how child ESL learners feel and how their language proficiency grows. Their dis­ cussion of assessment is practical and realistic. Phillips. S. 1993. Young Learners. Oxford: Oxford L'niversitv Press. Phillips provides children's EFL activities in sev­ eral categories: listening, speaking, reading, writing, vocabulary and grammar, games, songs and chants, creative activities, and videos. The last chapter. "Putting It All Together,” deals with the content and planning of lessons as well as with classroom management. Scott. W. A., and L. H. Ytreberg. 1990. Teaching English to Children. London: Longman. A concise, practical and easv-to-read book about children's EFL. The authors also provide a help­ ful discussion of how voting children differ from older people as language learners. Ur. P. 1998. Grammar Practice Activities: A Practical Guide for 'Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Communicative activities are provided to remedv grammatical errors in areas such as adjectives, interrogatives, and tag questions. Thirtv-four areas are given, and Ur provides several activities for each one. While written with the needs of secondare and adult students in mind, mam of the activities can be adapted to children.

TPRS (Total Phvsical Response Stomelling) http: / /www. tprstorytelling.com/story.htm

This page is sponsored bv Education World and shares a site with pages on foreign language resources. http: / / www.education-world.com/ foreign lang/classroom/esl.shtml

Aarmi Shepard's Reader's Theater site. http:

W E B S IT E S Young Learners: Web Resources (Young Learners Special Interest Group. International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language) (LATEFI.) This organization is based in the United King­ dom. The site contains more than 150 links to sites in several countries relating to ESI- and EFL for voting learners. This is the most detailed and complete site that I have seen relating to children's ESI.. http: / / www.countryschool.com ylresources.htm

www.aaronshcp.com rt indcx.html

An index of websites dealing with reader's theater, drama, stomelling. etc. http:

falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/drama.htm

E-mail Discussion Group TESI.K-12 (Teachers of English as a second language to children) is an e-mail discussion group (newsgroup) for teachers of children ages 5-18 (kindergarten through 12th grade). To subscribe send a message to LIST SER V ta C U N Y V M .C G N Y .E D U

Or on BIT NET to LIST SER V ta CU N YV M with а message consisting of one line: Subscribe TESLK-12 vour name

Language Skills Reading Teaching reading skills to non-native speakers of English involves unique problems and challenges at all conceivable levels of instruction. ESLTEFL teachers working with young children will be greatly assisted by Ediger's chapter, which provides background and review of issues and standards while also recommending many helpful teaching activities and techniques.The chapter by Weinstein is addressed to teachers of adult ESL learners; such teachers must start by understanding the special contexts in which adult literacy is taught. Weinstein synthesizes current curricula and pedagogical approaches, including a number of promising practices. In the final chapter of this section, Grabe and Stoller cover theory and practice as they apply to reading for academic purposes. After a discussion of curriculum-related issues, they recommend specific practices for facilitating effective academic reading.

R eading II C :

II С

UNIT

UNIT

Teaching Children Literacy Skills in a Second Language A N N E

EDIGER

“Teaching Children Literacy Skills in a Second Language" describes the background factors and issues influencing children's literacy development in a second language, Ediger brings together unique needs of child L2 learners, contributions of various instructional methods and recent ESL and English Language Arts literacy standards. She recommends a wide range of specialized approaches and techniques for teaching ESL/EFL reading and writing.

IN T R O D U C T IO N In recent rears, there has been increased focus on the teaching of reading an d o th er literacy skills to c h ild ren (Pre-K-6 ). both in N orth .America an d abroad. Part of this mav relate to the recognition that reading is probable the most im p o rta n t skill for second language (L2 ) learners in academ ic contexts (Grabe 1991). and part of it mas come from tin increase in the num bers of children worldwide who are learning English as a second or foreign language (here­ after ESI. or EFL). It m ar also be a result of the recent im plem entation of standards in m uch of public education in North America, a movement built upon the belief that basic literacy instruction should be a fundam ental c o m ponent of public education. In the last few years, m any states and provinces in the U nited States and Canada have established literacy standards and im plem ented large-scale standardized testing of literacy skills. .Another possible factor contributing to an increased focus on literacy instruction to chil­ d ren in EFL contexts mav be the growing n u m ­ bers of countries that are moving toward m aking English language instruction m andatory from a younger age. For example, in Korea an d Taiwan, English is now a required subject, beginning in the third grade. Given the portability o f books and o th e r reading materials (as well as the increasing availability of reading material over the Internet), reading is gradually being recognized

as a valuable source of language input, particu­ larly for students in learning environm ents (as in some EFL contexts) in which fluent speakers of English are generally not available to provide o th e r kinds of language input. Notions of literacy are exp a n d in g as well. Although many different definitions of literacy can be fo u n d in the literature on the subject, and reading still seems to be prim ary to most of them (see U rq u h a rt a n d Weir 1998 for a dis­ cussion of this), the teaching of writing and oral skills is increasingly being integrated with rea d ­ ing instruction for both native English speakers (NFS) a n d English language learners (ELLs). Manx of the new standards, both for EI.Ls and NFS children, also integrate expectations for the development of all four language skills— reading, writing, listening, and speaking (see examples of standards provided later in this chapter). In fact, increasingly, the large-scale standardized tests ask students to bring together all of these skills, requiring students to dem onstrate com petence in synthesizing in fo r m a tio n fro m m u ltip le sources, or b ringing in form ation they have he a rd or read into written responses (see Board of Education of the Gits of New York 1997 for examples). This chapter, then, takes a similar approach: It investigates the developm ent o f L2 reading, addressing writing and oral skills to the extent that thev are also involved in literacy developm ent.

R EA D IN G A S A C O M P LE X , IN T E R A C T IV E P R O CESS Various theories exist to explain what is involved w hen we read, an d m u ch of what we know about reading an d literacy comes from research on first language (LI) learners. However, c u rre n t research generally views reading as an interac­ tive, sociocognitive process (B ernhardt 1991), involving a text, a reader, an d a sorted context "with­ in which the activity of reading takes place. In reading, “an individual constructs m e a n in g th ro u g h a transaction with written text that has been created bv symbols that represent lan­ guage. T h e transaction involves the reader's act­ ing on o r i n te r p r e tin g the text, a n d the interpretation is influenced bv the reader's past experiences, language background, a n d cultural framework, as well as the reader's purpose for reading" (H udelson 1994, p. 130). However, our expectation an d intent when we read is to make m eaning, to c o m p re h e n d what we read (Grabe 1991; Rigg 1986). W ithin the com plex process of reading, six general c o m p o n e n t skills an d knowledge areas have been identified (Grabe 1991. p. 379): 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Autom atic recognition skills — a virtually unconscious ability, ideally requiring little m ental processing to recognize text, espe­ cially for word identification Vocabulary and structural know ledge— a sound u n d e rsta n d in g of language structure an d a large recognition vocabulary Formal discourse structure knowledge — an un d e rsta n d in g of how texts are organized and how information is put together into various genres of text (e.g.. a report, a letter, a narrative) Content/w orlcl background knowledge — prior knowledge of text-related inform a­ tion an d a shared u n d e rsta n d in g of the cultural inform ation involved in text Synthesis an d evaluation skills strategies — the ability to read and compare information from multiple sources, to think critically about what one reads, and to decide what information is relevant or useful for one's purpose

6.

Metacognitive knowledge and skills m oni­ to rin g — an awareness of o n e ’s m ental processes and the ability to reflect on what one is doing and the strategies on e is employing while reading

W h e n flu e n t rea d e rs read, they b rin g to g eth e r all of these c o m ponents into a com plex process. Exactly how thev do this is som ething that is still the subject of great discussion an d research; however, we know that all of these sys­ tems play a part in the process. Fluent readers recognize a n d get m eaning from words they see in print, an d use their knowledge of the struc­ ture of the language to begin form ing a m ental notion of the topic. Thev use the semantic an d syntactic inform ation from the text together with what thev know from personal experience a n d knowledge of the topic to form hypotheses or predictions about what thev are reading and what thev are about to read. As they continue reading, thev trv to confirm or reject these pre­ dictions. asking. Does this make sense? Does what I'm seeing on the page fit the ideas in my head? If thev are able to confirm their predictions, they read on. If not. thev mat- reread the text, paying closer attention to the print, and reformulating their predictions. .And thus the process of sam­ pling text, making hypotheses, a n d confirming them continues. W hen some part of the process breaks down, and begins not to make sense, the reader often must re-examine the process being used, and must call upon strategies to trv to repair the process and facilitate com prehension again. Some of the strategies mav involve compensating for a lack of content or language knowledge by making m ore use of the print or of o n e ’s back­ ground knowledge: others mav involve changing one's wav of leading: slowing down, rereading part of the text, or looking for key words. T hese are things flu e n t rea d e rs do. Similarly, for ELLs to read fluently, they m ust develop the ability to bring all of these elem ents together simultaneously a n d rapidly. However, sometimes there arc gaps in their knowledge of the language o r culture. Thus, it is the task o f an effective reading program to provide inform a­ tion and practice in all of the systems which con­ tribute to m aking the process work.

B EC O M IN G LITER A TE IN A S E C O N D L A N G U A G E There are many similarities in the process of learning to read for ELL a n d NES children, and as will be seen later in this chapter, similar approaches are often used in classes o f both native an d non-native readers; however, there are also some im p o rtan t differences (H udelson 1994; Aebersold a n d Lield 1997). Thus, while some researchers argue that 1.2 learners should not be segregated from L.1 learners (Laltis and Hudelson 1994: Van den Branden 2000), teach­ ers of ESL students need to be specially p re ­ pared an d may need to adjust their instructional strategies in certain wavs in o rd e r to teach 1.2 lit­ eracy skills effectively.

Oral Language Skills and Academic Literacy Skills First of all, NFS an d ELL children often differ in terms of the language background thev bring to the task o f acquiring literacy. Children learning to read in their LI generalh are already faith fluent in speaking and u n d e rstanding the target language when thev begin school, and can build on the oral language thee already have. Often, words that they are learning to read are already present in their oral language vocabularies. ELLs, on the o th er hand, do not necessarily have oral ability in the L2 vet and generalh can­ not fall back on an oral knowledge of what thee are learning to read o r write. Thus, the language or vocabulary thee e n c o u n te r in reading is often completely new to them. At the same time, research shows that ELLs' informal oral lan­ guage skills usually develop m ore quickly than their academic language and reading writing abilities (Collier 1989). While teachers can build on this growing oral language ability thev need to keep in m ind that some aspects of it are still developing. Furthermore, when initially assessing students' com petence in reading and writing, particularly with children who are a little older, teachers must be careful not to assume that oral language proficiency is necessarily an indicator of reading and writing abilities. In o th e r words, it is

im portant to assess b o th oral an d "written lan­ guage abilities in d ep endently in o rd e r to obtain a true u n d e rsta n d in g of a child's overall lan­ guage proficiency level. Research suggests, however, th at even though ELLs are at a beginning level in their L2 developm ent, thev ma\ not n e e d to wait until thev are orallv fluent to begin learning to read and write. First of all. children living in Englishspeaking environm ents have been shown to be able to acquire a substantial am ount of English from dealing with the English thev are exposed to in their dailv lives; thev are often able to begin reading what thev see in the environment around them. For example, children have been able to identify the meanings of words on packaged prod­ ucts. signs, and in comic books thev h ate seen (Hudelson 1984). Also, children have shown that thev are able to develop L2 knowledge from writ­ ten language input, in addition to oral input (Eller and Mangubhai 1983), suggesting that [t]he relationships am o n g listening, speaking, reading and writing during developm ent, then, are com plex rela­ tionships of m utual support. Practice in anv one process contributes to the overall reservoir of L2 knowledge, which is then available for o th er acts of listening, speaking, reading, or writ­ ing. For this reason, it is im p o rta n t to provide a b u n d a n t exposure to func­ tional. m eaningful uses of both oral and written language for all learners ( P e re g o v a n d Bovle 1997. p. 102).

The Role of the First Language in Literacy Development Just as XES children bring valuable oral lan­ guage knowledge to learning to read and write, the LI and literacy b a c kground that ELLs may bring with them is a valuable asset to their L2 an d literacy learning. Even if teachers cannot speak the 1.1 (s) of their students, their accept­ ance of the child's LI and support of its use can greatly benefit students learning the L2 (Lucas an d Katz 1994; Fallis and H u delson 1994).

F urtherm ore, although the research presents mixed findings on the transferability of specific LI reading skills to L2 l eading (Bernhardt 1991), there is clear evidence of a strong relationship between children's prior native language literacy and their developm ent of English literacy (Lucas an d Katz 1994: Cum m ins 1991). If children already understand the symbolic role of charac­ ters or letters or are familiar with some of the functions of print in society, this awareness can help them move to the next stages in their 1iteracy developm ent.

Varied Experiences, Background Knowledge, and Cultures o f E S L Students In ESL learning contexts, teachers must be cau­ tious about m aking a m assumptions about the cultural or language backgrounds of F.LLs. In a single ESL class, students mat have widely dif­ fe r e n t LI b a c k g ro u n d s, e d u c atio n a l back­ grounds, language proficiency levels, cultures, or prior experiences with literacy. This has several implications for teachers of ESL literacy. First of all, this mav mean that ELLs bring differing world and background knowledge, as well as different degrees of topic familiarity, to the task of reading and writing, something that is likely to iniluence their c o m p re h en sio n of what tliev read (Steffensen andjoag-dev 1984). This variability of background in the classroom also suggests several things. First, teachers need to incorporate “responsive teaching" (Faltisand Huclelson 1994). bv being prepared to employ a variety of teaching approaches and techniques with ELLs. It also sug­ gests the importance of learning as much as pos­ sible about the students' cultural backgrounds and experiences. Furthermore, it means using var­ ious m ethods to activate the students' schemata. i.e., their knowledge of and beliefs about events, situations, and actions, based upon their experi­ ences (Rumelhart 1980). through such activities as prereading discussions, pictures, diagrams, drawings, videos, or role-playing. Finally, it also suggests choosing (or haying the children choose) reading material on topics that are familiar, which

they can identify with because they relate to their own cultures, backgrounds a n d present lives, or which are of high general interest (Faltis a n d Huclelson 1994; Dav and Bamford 1998). (See Opitz 1998 for a list of m ulticultural c h ild r e n ’s b o o k s.)

First Language Literacy ESL learners often com e with very different prior experiences with literacy in their native cultures, an d tliev mav have experienced differ­ ent values and functions ascribed to literacy. O r they may even have had y e n little exposure to literacy in the LI and may be learning to read and write for the first time in their L2, English. Some mav have had their formal schooling inte rru p ted bv yvar or the econom ic or political situation in their country, with the result that they first e n c o u n te r learning to read and yvrite as somewhat older students. Children yvho arrive at a voting age mav have an easier time fitting into a neyv environm ent than older children. T here are several reasons for this. First, yvith younger ESL children, their NFS peers are also developing literacy skills for the first time, and they have less far to go to "catch up" to their peers' level of academic language an d literacy developm ent in English (Hamavan 1994). Also, classes for younger children are usually oriented toward facilitating the natural em ergence of lit­ eracy. whereas classes for older XES children tend to assume that some literacy background already exists and treat the learning of language m ore abstractly and m ore th rough the p rinted text th a n orally (Lucas an d Katz 1994). However, older first-time literacy learners may bring greater cognitive developm ent, m ore reallife experience, or even m ore maturity to the task of learning to read and write. For older beginning ELLs. then, it is im portant to provide reading materials that appeal to their age level and interests, even if they are at beginning levels of reading and writing ability. For this, it will be helpful to find reading materials at lower levels of difficulty, but which are not overly- childish in their content. (See Huclelson 1993 for lists of lowlevel. high interest materials that are appropriate

for these students.) Teachers n e e d to be careful, though, not to assume that children with lowliteracy backgrounds will com e with the same understandings about literacy or p rin t as thev do. Children learning to read a n d write for the first time (including some beginning NES read­ ers) may n e e d assistance with developing an un d e rsta n d in g of notions such as the following: So m e A ssu m p tio n s We M ake about Print

■ ■ * ■ ■ ■

Pictures go with text. We read from left to right, from to back, top to bottom. Words are written separated from each other. Quotation marks m ean that someone is speaking. Punctuation marks separate notions or ideas from each other. Written language has different rules and cont entions from oral language.

A phonics approach generallv emphasizes teaching children to match individual letters of the alphabet with their specific English p r o n u n ­ ciations, with the idea that if children can "sound out" or "decode" new words, they will be able to re a d inclependentlv. In a p h o n ics approach, children are explicitlv taught soundsymbol patterns, and often the conscious learn­ ing of rules. T he belief underiving this approach is that if children first learn individual sounds, thev will be able to put them together into com ­ binations. and then into words. .Although phonics approaches varv. most teach the following basic concepts in approxim ated this order: C onsonants (C)

s * •

IS T H E R E A N O P TIM A L W AY TO T E A C H R EA D IN G A N D W R IT IN G ? Over the vears. num erous approaches to teaching beginning reading have appeared. Wear er (1994) divides these approaches into two larger cate­ gories: part-centered (also called code-emphasis or bottom-up) approaches, which view reading instruc­ tion as moving from learning the "parts" and building u p to the "whole": an d .sociobsycholinguistic (also called meaning-emphasis or top-down) ap p ro a c h e s, which em phasize the overall construction of m eaning from connected or whole texts, and draw on the rea d e r’s and writer’s schem ata and personal experiences. Several of the more com m on approaches in each group are reviewed here. Part-C en tered

(Code-Emphasis)

Methods Part-centered a p p ro a c h e s include phonics aporoaches, so-called linguistic approaches, a sight word approach, and a basal reader approach.

к «

for which there is a single sound b. d. f. j. к, 1. nr. n, p. r. s, t, v, / for which there is m ore than one sound c. g. h. w, v which occur in two-letter combinations, or "blends" with /: bl. cl. fl, gl, pi, si with n br. cr, dr, fr. gr. pr, tr with v: sc. sk. sm, sn. sp. st. sw which occur in three-letter blends scr. spr. sir. squ which com bine to form a new sound, or digraph ch. sh. th. wh. gh. -nk. -ng

Vow els (V)

long vowels

short vowels /-controlled vowels digraph d ip h th o n g

CY

be

CYe

ate, like, rote

(A AC \ < or

cat;

paid, boat it, hot

Yr or CAT

art. car, her

\A ’

saw, book; boil, out

Phonics, then, generallv involves teaching students the sound-letter relationships used in reading and writing. A related tvpe of knowledge, phonemic awareness, invokes a student's u n d e r­ standing that speech is m ade tip of individual sounds, including such things as the ability to tell

if two words begin or en d with the same sound, and the ability to focus on the form of speech apart from focusing on its m eaning or content (Strickland 1998). Although there is some dis­ agreem ent over which of these two kinds of awareness children really need, phonemic aware­ ness is also considered im portant for literacy developm ent and frequently taught with phonics. A linguistic approach utilizes a scientific knowledge of language a n d exposes children to certain carefully selected words containing teg­ ular spelling patterns so that they can infer the letter-sound relationships in those words. For example, similar looking word groups such as take-bake-lake-cake or went-cent-tent-bent an d com ­ m on rhvme or word-ending patterns such as -ate. -ell, or -ight are used to teach the sound patterns. O n e linguistic approach uses a special alphabet (the i.t.a., or “initial teaching alphabet") con­ tain in g 44 u n iq u e letters to re p r e s e n t the approxim ately 44 individual p h o n e m e s of the English language. It was believed that if children could be taught using a m ore regular soundsymbol system (with exactly one svmbol for each sound), they could learn to read m ore easily Books were prin te d using the i.t.a.. a n d mam ' children learned to read using this system. A sight word or look-sas m eth o d teaches chil­ d ren to recognize whole words, comm only using flash cards or o th er techniques to help children quickly identify such c om m on words as op, and, an d the. It is based u p o n the notion that if chil­ d ren can recognize about 100 of the most fre­ quently occurring words, they will be able to read about half o f the words thev e n c o u n te r in most texts. Teachers who use this m e th o d often do so because thev believe that knowing the most fre q u e n t words will help students learn to read m ore efficiently. T he sight word approach is often included with phonics approaches, with many p ro p o n en ts emphasizing rapid recogni­ tion or “decoding"; however, notions of co m p re ­ hension are generally not addressed, possibly because it is assumed that once children can rec­ ognize words, com prehension takes care of itself. A basal reader approach is based upon the notion that children should be taught to read through careful control and sequencing of the language a nd the sounds that they are exposed to.

As a result, basal readers are carefully graded, sequenced to present sounds, vocabulary, and individual skills at increasing levels of difficulty, and also to provide carefully controlled practice, recycling, a n d testing of the language an d skills. In many cases, the reading texts are specifically written to have exactly the right com bination of vocabulary structures, a n d skill practice de te r­ m in e d necessary for optimal learning at each level of ability Present-dav basal readers g e n e r­ ally com e in com plete series which seek to pro­ vide a total reading a pproach from beginning to adv a n ce d levels. Thev are often "eclectic,” including phonics, regularly p a tte rn e d words, an d basic sight words, a n d view reading as the masters of individual reading skills.

Socio-Psycholinguistic

(Meaning-Emphasis)

Approaches T he socio-psschohnguistic m ethods included here are the Language Experience Approach (LEA), a literature-based approach, an d the Whole Language approach. T he Language Experience Approach (LEA) builds upon the notion that if children are given material to read that thev are already familiar with, it will help them learn to read. This m eth o d is based on two related ideas; that learn­ ing should move from the familiar to the unknown, and that readers whose world knowl­ edge or schemata are similar to that underlying the text thev are reading will be more able to make sense of the text. In fact, this approach goes one step further, proposing that if the actual lan­ guage and content of the stories is familiar to readers, thev should be able to learn to read it even m ore easily The LEA accomplishes this bv having students generate their own stories; tran­ scripts of these stories then becom e their read­ ing material. Typically a class would follow a series of steps like this: 1. The student or class dictates a "story" usually based upon an experience thev have had. that the teacher writes down on a large sheet of paper. The teacher tries to maintain the exact wording and expressions that the children

have dictated (if it contains errors, the chil­ dren can correct them later as their profi­ ciency increases). 2. T he teacher then either reads the store to the class (if the children are beginning read­ ers), or has the class read back the store thee h a te com posed, proeiding any help thee n e e d along the xvax to figure out indieidual words. This "reading" may be re p e a te d seeeral times, be different people o r the whole class, until the children are familiar with what thee hat e written. Eventually, the children should be able to read the store themselves. 3. D e p e n d in g on their level of ability and needs, the class will then engage in various e x te n d e d activities based u p o n the original store, in c lu d in g focusing on indieidual words, letters (e.g.. those at the beginnings o f words or rhem ing endings), or meanings of various noteworthy parts. The children mat also select some of the words to write on cards to practice later individually. In each case, the material comes out of. and is dis­ cussed within, the b ro a d e r context of the original store. Additional exercises mat also be constructed from the original reading, such as cutting the store up into sentence strips, or even into individual words, and having the children put them back in order. 4. Ultimately, the children are expected to move from the stories thee have dictated toward being able to read those written be others. (See Dixon an d Xessel 1983 for m ore about the LEA). The LEA can be used with ее re beginning readers and writers because thee onlv need to dic­ tate the stories oralle. and even this can be done collaboratieele. bringing together the combined abilities of the entire class. Because it involves sto­ ries that are first dictated, the LEA allows children to see a direct link between oral and written lan­ guage. In essence, it involves "writing to read." Because the children hat e "composed" the stories themselves, there is a close match between their knowledge or experience and the texts thee read. A litem Iи re-based approach is one that uses children's literature with the intention of focusing

on m eaning, interest, and enjoym ent, while addressing indieidual children's needs in teach­ ing them to read. In this approach, children often select their own books (generally, regularly published books) an d read them on their own or with others. If the children are b e g inning or nonreaders, the teacher or a metre proficient p e e r mae read the book to them . Alternately, if the reading is done individually, the teacher may follow up be holding an indieidual conference with the child, asking the child questions about what he or she und e rsto o d from the store or how he or she felt about the store. Children may also be asked to read portions of their stories aloud, and the teacher mae take notes on the tepes of miseries thee make as thee read (as one m eth o d of diagnosing areas to address in the future). Some p ro p o n e n ts o f this ap p ro a c h maintain that individual skills should not be taught — the\ will em erge as the child reads. In am case, the overall focus is on the child's u n d e rsta n d in g of the store. Latter, the same books mae be used as springboards for writing, dram a, or discussion activities, such as writing alternate endings to the store, role-plaeing parts of it. or describing one of the characters in m ore detail. Sometimes m ore than one book on the same them e or genre or multiple books be the same a u th o r (an "author study") may be read and com pared. Use of this approach generally requires that students have access to a collection of books on a range of topics a n d at varying lexels of difficultx (either in the classroom or in a libraiw). Teachers xvho use a literature-based approach can greatle facilitate their stu dents’ success and skill dexelopm ent bx helping them find books which best fit their interests an d are either at or just slightly abox e their reading level. T he idea is that if children find that thex can be successful at reading, an d their interest is held bx the books thee hax e selected, thex will want to continue reading. The Whole Language approach is a philoso­ phy of learning. Proponents o fW h o le Language believe that thex are not just teaching reading; rather, thex are guiding and assisting learners to develop as in d e p e n d e n t readers, writers, and learners. Thex- beliexe that language s e n e s per­ sonal. social, and academ ic aspects of c h ild re n ’s

lives, an d that children becom e literate as they grapple with the m eaning an d uses of print in their environm ents. T h ro u g h such activities as storvbook reading (being read to or reading the same stories multiple times) an d writing their own texts, children become aware of storvbook structure, a n d can identify (and use) the specific language tvpicallv used to tell stories. In fact, researchers have found that children go through a variety of developm ental stages as thev create th eir own written texts: ( 1 ) scribbling, and ascribing m eaning to it (as if it were writing): (2 ) seeing print an d drawing as the same: (3) using letters of the alphabet, often in continuous strings, without realizing that letters have a rela­ tionship to sounds; (4) using one or two letters (usually consonants), each representing a whole word (but still not segm ented into words); (5) using letters to represent one or two of the sounds in a word, including vowels, and often applying a strategy of using names of letters instead of the sounds the letters make: (6 ) usingtransitional spelling, in which some words use conventional spellings a n d some do not: and finally, (7) using conventional spelling (Hudelson 1994; G underson 1991). LEA activi­ ties a n d literature, though described as separate approaches above, are often used along with o th er activities and content within the Whole Language approach. Whole Language incorpo­ rates all of the language skills, based on the belief that as stories are read to children, as children recount what they have heard (and he a r others do so), and as thev e xperim ent with putting their ideas in writing, thev wrestle with sound-letter correspondences and with the structure of writ­ ten material. T h ro u g h these activities, children figure out how written language works a nd how it relates to oral language; through these attempts at written language, in fact, they also learn how reading works. In W hole Language, the use of “au th e n tic ” texts from various genres is vital. This comes from the belief that only th rough e n c o u n ­ tering a n d attem pting to deal with ''real" texts an d functions of literacy can children learn effec­ tive strategies and techniques for understanding an d using them themselves. (See Heald-Tavlor 1991 for m ore about Whole Language for ELLs.)

The Phonics/Whole Language Debate N u m erous studies have a ttem pted to d eterm in e the relative effectiveness of manv of these m e th ­ ods. U nfortunately, results have often b e e n inconclusive or even contradictory. How does each approach work for ELLs? Phonics approaches presuppose that learners already know the sounds of the language, and that once a word is sounded out, thev onlv need to match it up with a word they know. But ELLs don't vet know mane of the words, even if thev can sound a word out. thev will still probably not understand what it means. Even m ore difficult, if thev can't hear the difference between two sounds, for example. / 1/ in hit and i in heal, thev niav have a hard time learning the letters that represent or distinguish these sounds. Phonics approaches have also been criticized because thev don't address issues of com prehen­ sion. Rigg (1986) found that the children in her studv who were most concerned about pronounc­ ing words "right" showed less comprehension of what thee had read. Another reason a pure p h o n ­ ics approach mac cause difficulty for ELLs is that mans of the most comm on -words in English con­ tain sounds and patterns which do not follow basic sound-svmbol correspondences that the children niav have been taught, e.g.. come, or through. A sight word approach to reading, like pho­ nics, gives little focus to getting m eaning from a text. As eve can see from Grade's (1991) six com­ ponents of leading that were identified earlier, vocabulary recognition is but one small piece o: what it takes to be able to read. Also, common words encountered in a sight word approach, e.g.. have. of. or do d o n 't provide learners muck, assistance, either with recognizing or with sound­ ing out less frequently encountered words. Criticisms of an id. a. approach include the finding that children who learned with thiapproach had difficulty making the transition tr conventional spelling (Bond and Dvkstra 1997), awell as the lack of sufficient material written in thi' alphabet (Gunderson 1991). Basal leadershcwe pri­ marily been criticized because in the process o: sequencing all the language, vocabulary, and skillso carefully, m am end up with boring and artificial readings; thev contain stilted sentences, pieces o: stories, and literature p resented out of context

F u rth e rm o re , thev take a “one-size-fits-all" approach to the teaching of reading. As for indi­ vidual skiUs-lxised teaching approaches, Strickland (1998) reports that teachers have found that their students have difficultv transferring skills learned in isolation to real reading and writing activities. Some of the findings concerning these initial teaching approaches are promising, however. In the 1960s. the large-scale Cooperative Research Program in First-Grade R eading Instruction, comprising 27 studies comparing manv of the m ethods and materials described above, was con­ ducted. Among the conclusions Bond and Dvkstra (1997) t eached from their review of these studies were: 1.

2. 3.

4.

5. 6.

Regardless of what re a d in g instruction a pproach is used, svstematic emphasis and teaching of word studv skills is necessarv. Eclectic program s p ro duced better results than did o rth o d o x approaches. Not all reading programs work equallv well in all situations. Within particular programs, factors such as teacher and learning situation characteristics rather than m ethod mar- be m ore important to students' ultimate success in reading. Children are able to learn to read bv various methods and materials. With each approach, some students were successful, but others experienced difficultv. \ o single approach was so clcarlv better than the others that it should be used exclusivelv. A writing co m p o n e n t is likelv to be an effec­ tive addition to a reading program . "The relative success of the Xonbasal pro­ grams com pared to the basal programs indicates that reading instruction can be improved. It is likelv that improvements would result from adopting certain elements from each of the approaches used in this studv" (p. 416).

In recent times, the debate over m ethods has con c en tra te d mostly on the choice between the n e e d for phonics instruction a n d / o r p h o n e ­ mic awareness on one side and Whole Language on the other. Part of the difficultv in this debate lies in the fact that p ro p o n en ts of each side cite different kinds of research to support their

m ethod: Phonics supporters cite experimental studies assessing perform ance on standardized tests: W hole L anguage supporters cite basic research on how children learn to read and write, as well as classroom-based studies looking at long­ term effects (Weaver 1994). Strickland (1998) concludes that "the debates about phonics and phonem ic awareness have less to do with their value than with the am ount and type of instruc­ tion thev require" and suggests that even in this controversv. there are points of agreement. She explains. Educators on both sides of the phonics debate agree that, ultimatelv, reading and writing for m eaning is param ount. Both sides are keenlv aware of the im portance of good literature in the lives of children and the n e e d for responsive adults who support chil­ d re n 's na tu ra l inclinations toward making sense of print. Needless to say, both sides recognize the im portance of the alphabetic code in learning to read and write (p. 8 ). Increasinglv. the evidence seems to support addressing such a complex process as literacy with less simplistic solutions. Hamavan (1994) argues that because ESL students represent a very diverse g ro u p of learners, thev require a range of approaches. Faltis and Hudelson (1994) sat- that teachers need to be flexible, taking their cues from students and adapting their pedagogies to meet students' needs. O ther reading researchers (e.g.. Weaver 1994: Strickland 1998) are increas­ ingly advocating a more "balanced a pproach” or "whole-to-part-to-whole" a pproach— one that is engaging and rich with meaning, but focuses sys­ tematically on specific textual features so that chil­ d ren can draw their own conclusions about language and applv them to their reading and writing. Strickland provides the following instruc­ tional guidelines for such an approach: 1.

Skills and m eaning should alwavs be kept together. Children need instruction focusing on the alphabetic code to be taught together with that which stresses com prehending, thoughtful responses to literature, and the creation of m eaning in writing.

3.

4.

5.

Instead of rigid, systematically predeterm ined instruction that is identical for all learners, such acti\ities as word recognition skills and phonics, as well as invented spelling, can be systematically integrated into programs that take learner variability into account. Intensity instruction on individual skills or strategies should only be provided to those children who dem onstrate clear need for them. Regular doc u m e n tatio n and assessment of students' learning are still the best war to dete rm in e how skills should be addressed and to what degree. Language arts instruction must be integrated with a school's or district's standards and the specific curricular objectiyes of the target grade lcyel, as well as of the grades below and aboye it.

STA N D A R D S A N D S E C O N D L A N G U A G E L IT E R A C Y D E V E LO P M E N T In recent years, as a m easure designed to ensure accountability for learning and to set up uni­ formly high expectations for all learners, many states, proyinces. school districts, and profes­ sional organizations have established standards for their students to attain. In setting up these standards, m uch has been accom plished simply th ro u g h the yen difficult process of bringing together stakeholders in the educational system to sit down and come to some agreem ent about what reasonable expectations m ight be. For m anv teachers, finally seeing a list of standards in writing has greatly helped to clarify the objectiyes toward which they should guide their students. At the same lime, while the establishment of these standards represents a ye n yaluable first step in improying the overall quality of educa­ tion for many students, they hare also d e m o n ­ strated that they are not the end point in the process of proyicling an equitable a n d uniform quality of education for everyone. First of all. manv of the standards dealing with the various

c o n te n t areas covered in public edu c atio n , including language arts, social studies, m ath, an d science, have been developed with the assum ption that students are able to u n d e rsta n d a n d use English well e n ough to engage yvith their respective content. In fact, while some of th e m recognize that th e ir stu d e n ts have extremely diverse cultural, ethnic, an d linguistic backgrounds, m am do not address the kev role of language in the acquisition of content. T he large-scale standardized tests that are often based on these standards a n d that d o c u m e n t their achievem ent (or lack of it), m ake it diffi­ cult to obtain a true picture of the academic achievement of many FLLs because the tests do not take into account the interaction between c ontent knowledge and language proficiency. In o th er words, if ELLs are not able to read, u n d e r ­ stand. yvrite. or respond to tire test questions and content, the test results will very likely not pres­ ent an accurate picture of their true abilities. An incorrect answer on a test, for example, cannot distinguish yvhether the student did not know that concept, or yvhether he or she simply did not hav e the necessary language ability or test-taking strategies to answer correctly. As such, the cur­ rent plethora of standards that now exist, while providing useful goals to aim for, may also lead to the unfair assessment or treatm ent of ELLs. Second, although there tire поуу finally some standards to teach to. the task of designing cur­ riculum and instruc tion to meet them is still a complex task. This is partly because, depending on where one is. there are поуу multiple standards that one may be expected to meet simultaneously. For example, teachers of ELLs in New York City schools who wish to apply the Pre-K-12 ESL stan­ dards developed bv the professional organiza­ tion. Teachers o f English to Speakers of O th e r Languages (TESOL), поуу must synthesize three different sets of standards because they must also teach to the standards of Xcw York state and those of Neyv York City as well (see Charts 1 and 2 (pp. 164—165) for the TESOL Standards an d the English Language Arts Standards used in Neyv York City schools). O ne o ther issue relevant to the im plem enta­ tion of literacy standards for ELLs is the fact that many of the standards, because of their likely

application to a wide variety of types a n d levels of students, do not specify in detail the level of com petency n e e d ed for “m ee tin g ” the standard. This means that teachers who attem pt to teach to them must still apply a great deal o f judgm ent in identifying exactly to what degree o f sophisti­ cation or accuracy a child must, for example. “ [ d e m o n s tr a te a basic u n d e rsta n d in g o f rules of the English language in written a n d oral work" (see Chart 2. English Language Arts Standards Used in \ e w York City Schools, Standard E4a on p. 165). This is not to sat' that having the stan­ dards is not worthwhile: simply knowing the range of types of competence a child should be able to demonstrate is immensely useful. However, this raises serious questions about the degree to which assessments of the achievement of the standards are reliable (see Stotskv 1997 for a critical evalua­ tion of 28 current standards documents). Nevertheless, given the variety of standards relevant to the teaching of literacy skills to EI.L.s which are now available, a look at a few of these may be helpful here. O ne docum ent which specif­ ically addresses the needs of ETI.s is the TESOL Standards for Pre-K-12 Students (TESOL 1997). These standards recognize the special needs of ETI.s. providing a continuum of descriptors for docum enting the developm ent of all of the skills for students at beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels lor each grade range (Pre-K-3. 4 - 8 , and 9-12), as well as for those with limited formal schooling. T he TESOL Standards are designed to p ro tid e educators with directions and strategies to assist ESL learners to attain the language thev need for learning content. In o th er words, thev are in te n d e d to be used as a “bridge" to o th e r general education standards (See Chart 1 [p. 164] and TESOL 1997 for m ore information about the c ontent a n d im p lem e n ta ­ tion of these standards). A n u m b e r of states and districts also h a te established their own special standards for ELLs (see California D e partm ent of Education 1999 for an exam ple of this). T he use of special standards for ETI.s varies: Some states and school districts use TESOL’s stan­ dards, some have designed their own, building u p o n those fro m TESOL, a n d som e have designed their own apart from TESOI.'s (see Short 2000 for m ore inform ation on wars in

which standards have been a d o p te d bv various states an d school districts). It is also helpful for ESL teachers to be famil­ iar with the standards designed for NES learners, given the fact that m am districts and states, at least for the time being, have opted to hold ELLs to the same English Language Arts standards expected of NES. .Although many of these standards do not take into account the unique developmental needs of ELLs, ESL teachers nevertheless can b e n ­ efit from knowing the kinds of expectations their ELLs will eventually be required to meet. O ne exam ple is the New Standards Perform ance Standards— English Language Arts (Elementary), presently being implem ented in New York City school districts (Board of Education of the City of New York 1997).

S T R A TE G IE S T O FA CILITA TE S E C O N D LA N G U A G E L IT E R A C Y D EV E LO P M E N T A N D H ELP S T U D E N T S A C H IE V E STA N D A R D S T he following strategies can help ELLs develop their literacy abilities as well as provide practice in some of the areas required bv literacy standards.

Expose Students to the Many Uses o f Print around Them *

■ ■

■ ■ ■

Label items in the room. Hat e students (with or without help) make the labels themselves, in multiple languages, each in a different color. Foe us attention on the print around the class­ room, school, or neighborhood. Manage aspects of classroom business in writing. Include attendance lists, classroom chores, or charts showing the n u m b er of books read. Establish a regular place to post announcements or messages. Record class discussions on chart paper; keep these posted as long as a theme is being studied. Create areas in the room for specific literacy pur­ poses. A reading, listening, or writing corner.

CHART I T E S O L ’s P re-K -12 E S O L Standards Goals for E S O L Learners Goal I : To Use English to Communicate in Social Settings Standards for Goal I Students will: 1. use English to participate in social interaction 2. interact in, through, and with spoken and written English for personal expression and enjoyment 3. use learning strategies to extend their communicative competence

Goal 2: To Use English to Achieve Academically in All Content Areas Standards for Goal 2 Students will: 1. use English to interact in the classroom 2. use English to obtain, process, construct, and provide subject matter information in spoken and written form 3. use appropriate learning strategies to construct and apply academic knowledge

Goal 3: To Use English in Socially and Culturally Appropriate Ways Standards for Goal 3 Students will: 1. use the appropriate language variety, register, and genre according to audience, purpose, and setting 2. use nonverbal communication appropriate to audience, purpose, and setting 3. use appropriate learning strategies to extend their sociolinguistic and sociocultural competence (So u rce:

T ESO L 1997, pp. 9-10)

Display different genres of reading and writing material or books. C h ild re n ’s books, newspa­ pers, magazines, dow nloaded messages or

printed-out inform ation from the Internet, and students' own writing— display every­ one's work, not just the “best” papers.

CHART 2 English Language Arts Standards Used in New York City Schools New Standards Performance Standards— English Language Arts (Elementary) E I . Reading EI a Read at least twenty-five books of the quality and complexity illustrated in the sample reading list, Elb

Read and comprehend at least four books on the same subject, or by the same author, or in the same genre.

E lc

Read and comprehend informational materials.

EI d Read aloud fluently.

E2. W riting E2a Produce a report of information. E2b Produce a response to literature. E2c Produce a narrative account (fictional or autobiographical). E2d Produce a narrative procedure.

E3. Speaking, Listening, and Viewing E3a Participate in one-to-one conferences with the teacher. E3b Participate in group meetings. E3c Prepare and deliver an individual presentation. E3d Make informed judgments about TV, radio, and film.

E4. Conventions, Grammar, and Usage of the English Language E4a Demonstrate a basic understanding of rules of the English language in written and oral work. E4b Analyze and subsequently revise work to improve its clarity and effectiveness.

E5. Literature E5a Respond to non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and drama using interpretive and critical processes, E5b Produce work in at least one literary genre that follows the conventions of the genre. J:_ rc e :

B o ard of Education in the C it y o f N e w York 1997, p. 23)

Use c ontent study as the context tor literacy developm ent; have students investigate topics of interest related to the co n te n t or them e being studied, writing up their findings or presenting them orallv to the class. Extensive reading can also be very effective for increasing reading skills of children in EFL contexts (Mee and Moi 1999). In te rn e t research an d projects are excel­ lent sources of extensive reading material.

whole class discussion with facilitation bv the teacher or with a peer of a different level of lan­ guage proficiency thev were able to c o m p re h en d what they read better than if the text had been simplified for th e m to rea d on th eir own. Encourage cooperative groups of mixed-level stu­ dents to work together to read or write various texts. Also, har e students first explain orally what thev will later be asked to write. Or, after working together in groups on a task, have students from each group report back to the class what their group discovered or accomplished. T h e n have them put the same information into written form.

Provide Authentic Purposes for Reading and Writing

Focus Students’ Attention on Reading and Writing Strategies

Use stu d e n ts ’ natural urge to com m unicate w hen they n e e d inform ation for authentic p u r­ poses; set up g enuine com m unication contexts involving e-mail messages, dialogue journals, or research projects, or develop class-to-class infor­ m ation exchanges th ro u g h the In te rn e t (see Ediger a n d Pavlik 2000 for m ore on this).

First, call attention to anv strategies students are alreadv using, e.g., ( 1 ) thinking about what thev alreadv know about a topic; (2) asking, Arc there anv o th er words I know which are similar to this word in some wav?; (3) looking backward and forward from a word or phrase thev d o n ’t u n d e r ­ stand (using the context) to see if that can give them m ore inform ation for c o m p re h en d in g what thev are reading; (4) m onitoring whether thev understand what thev are reading and, if not, changing how thev are reading. Then, mode! some of these strategies for students bv thinking aloud the thoughts going through vour m ind avou use them.

Provide Opportunities for Children to Read More Extensively on a Subject

Provide Scaffolding for Learning Scaffolding involves the setting up of “tem porary supports, provided bv capable people, that p e r­ mit learners to participate in the com plex process before thcv at e able to do so unassisted” (Peregov an d Bovle 1997, p. 81). As students becom e able to do m ore com plex language tasks, supports can be decreased or removed. Use predictable books; have children write their own stories using the same structure as one they have read in a book; provide sentences that stu­ dents then com plete or elaborate on (e.g.. "I think (character from book) is (adjective). T he parts of the book that make me think this a r e _____ .")

Use Oral Skills to Support Reading and Writing Development Van den Branden (2000) found that when chil­ d ren were allowed to “negotiate the meaning" of an original text thev were reading, either through

SUMMARY This has been just a brief introduction to teach­ ing literaev skills to ELTs. It has described three elements involved in reading: the text, the reader and the context that the reading activity takeplace in. It has also presented the various com­ p o n e n t knowledge areas which readers use, anc which children learning to read in their L2 ah need to master, as well as c om m on characteritics of L2 readers a n d writers. In addition t u n d e rs ta n d in g the reading process and com­ m o n characteristics of their students, teacher-

n e e d to be familiar with various approaches to teaching reading so that thev can m ake wise choices about how to teach. It is ultimately the te a c h e r’s challenge to p u t to g ether this inform a­ tion a n d what has b e e n lea rn ed from research on literacy developm ent with a knowledge of lit­ eracy standards and effective teaching strategies in ways that will allow the teacher to address the various needs of individual ESL students.

Whv ? Look at the two examples of standards in this chapter. What kinds of special instruc­ tion or adaptations might a teacher use to help ELLs achieve these standards?

S U G G E S T E D A C T IV IT IE S 1.

D IS C U S S IO N Q U E S T IO N S 1. As p art of your assessment process for vour second grade class, vou have asked one child if she can read you a book she has chosen. W hen vou sit down with her, she reads it verv carefully a n d deliberately; vou notice that she is able to read almost all of the words accurately. However, when vou later ask her what the store was about, she has trouble explaining it to vou. How would vou account for this? How would vou describe her overall reading ability? What are some other reading activities vou might ask h e r to do in order to assess her ability m ore thoroughly? 2. If children who are taught to read using the Language Experience A pproach are able to dictate the c ontent of the storv. have the teacher write it down for them, and assist them with reading it back, are thev really reading and writing? Whv? What is the real value of this m ethod? W hat o th er learning concepts from this c hapter does the LEA illustrate or m ake use of? If vou were to use the LEA to write a n d then read som ething in a language vou d o n 't know verv well, what do you think vou would learn? 3. If teachers do activities to elicit students' back­ ground knowledge before thev read a text, isn’t the teacher merely helping them handle the particular text thev are working on? Will this help students be able to read or handle the next text thev encounter any m ore easily? W hat else could a teacher do to help students better handle future reading tasks? 4. Do vou think having literacy standards can help teachers improve instruction in literacy?

O ne wav to familiarize children with different tvpes of print is to show them that literacy sen es a variety of functions in society (adapted from Hallidav 197o). including: ■

* * ■ ■ ■ * * ■

Providing wavs people learn ab o u t the world and share these experiences with others Accomplishing various tasks of living Establishing an d m aintaining communic-ation with others Expressing differences an d similarities a m o n g people Reflecting and acting u p o n personal and social problem s C hanging conditions in p e o p le ’s lives Enjoving the beautv of language Recognizing different people's cultural heritage U n d e rs ta n d in g what it m eans to be hum an

For each function, identify an activity or reading/ writing task which vour students might be able to perform to learn more about that literacy function. For example, in order to teach students that liter­ acy "provides ways people learn about the world and share these experiences with others, ” vou could have them read and discuss a news story, or have them write a report about a Field trip thev took recently. Can vou think of some others? 2.

For one or m ore of the following, select a book or storv that vou think would be partic­ ularly suitable for it, and which would allow vou to develop a teaching lesson to illustrate that particular concept to vour students. T h e n design the actual lesson. Explain whv vou think vour chosen b o o k /sto rv is suitable, a n d whv vou designed the lesson in the m a n ­ n e r that vou did.

a.

Scaffolding

b.

Eliciting students' world knowledge

c.

Identifying qualities that characterize a particular genre of text (Some possible genres: a letter, an invitation, a report, a description of a process, a film review, etc.)

d. Identifying the way a text is organized A storv (narrative) A piece of non-fiction 3. Ask two beginning-level ESL/EFL children to write a story ab o u t an e x p e rie n c e they recently had together. If thev have difficulty writing, have th em draw a picture to illus­ trate their experience, then have them dic­ tate the story to yon while you help them write it, using the Language Experience Approach. W hen they/you are finished, either ask them to read the story or read it for them, d e p e n d ­ ing on their abilitv. W hat did vou learn from this activity? 4. Read aloud a story to some children learning ESL, stopping at several points along the wav to ask them to predict what will happen next. Do their predictions give you anv eridence about w hether they have understood the storv so far? T hen read further and ask them to tell you when thev hear something in the story that confirms or disconfirms one of their pre­ dictions. T hen discuss with them how well they were able to predict what would happen. Were the children able to make reasonable predic­ tions? Were they able to identify’ information later in the reading which dealt with their pre­ diction? W hy or why not?

Provides tremendously practical information about elementary ESI. curriculum development and literacy teaching, lists of books, and an actual sample curriculum. Crotchett, K. 1997. .4 'teacher's Project Guide to the Internet. Portsmouth. XH: Heinemann. Prorides manv useful ideas for developing literacy projects using the Internet. Fulwiler, T.. ed. 1987. The Journal Booh. Portsmouth, XH: Heinemann. Explains wavs to incorporate journals into literacy development. O'Malley J. M., and E. Valdez Pierce. 1996. Authentic Assessment for English Language Learners. Reading. МЛ: Addison-Weslev. Describes classroom-based assessment of all skill areas: provides numerous samples of authentic assessment rubrics and methods of document­ ing literate development.

W E B S IT E S On-line Reading and Whiting Opportunities

Intercultural E-Mail Classroom Connections www.stolaf.edu/network/iecc/

E-Pals (electronic penpals) wvcvv.epals.com

Global SchoolXefs Internet Projects Registry Listing of collaborative Internet projects. Leant about ongoing projects or post vour own idea' and invite collaboration. http: / / www.gsn.org/pr/index.html Children’s Literature

The Children's Literature Web Guide http:

www.acs.ucalgary.ca ~dkbrown/

Internet Public Library

FU R T H ER R EA D IN G Day, R., and }. Bamford. 1998. Extensive Rending in the Second Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Discusses die value of extensive reading and pro­ vides many ideas on incorporating such activities into literacy instruction. Hudelson, S., ed. 1993. Teacher Resource (,uirh for ESL. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

http: //wwvv.ipl.org/

Multicultural Book Review Homepage www.isomedia.com/homes/jmele/homepage, html Teacher Resources

Teaching with technology h ttp ://ilt.colum bia.edu/kl2/livetext/

International Reading Association http:/ /www.ira.org

Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators A wonderful Internet site for teachers, with manv project ideas and ways to use them in the classroom.

Website providing a downloadable (.pdf) version of the 1999 California ELD (ESL) and Language .Arts standards. www.cde.ca.gov/statetests/eld/eld.html

h ttp :// discoveryschool.com/schrockguide / Language Arts/Literacy Standards

Information about ESL literacy and teaching: links to other related websites. www.cal.org

I.istserv for communicating with others about ESL standards. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to the above address. In the subject of the message, ripe ''subscribe": lease the remainder blank. eslstds-requestla caltalk.cal.org

ENDNO TE 1 thank Evelvn Hatch and Barbara Hawkins for the ideas used here which originally appeared in their chapters in earlier editions of this book.

Developing Adult Literacies1 GAIL

W E IN S T E IN

In "Developing Adult Literac es," W einstein invres ’‘e?.ders no examine the role of language and

literacies in learners' lives, examines critical contexts Am ESL Itemc-/ instruction, and provides a synthesis of orientations to cummuium and teaching. See concludes with fve "promising practices" that challenge both new anc ex p eo e rcec eeacners to --efect individual's and collectively on their potentially life-transforming woi'k.

IN T R O D U C T IO N Profiles in Diversity and Strength Socorro Tinajerowas born in Mexico and is raising h e r c h ild ren in the "borderlands" betw een Mexico and the U nited States. Described as tin energetic an d efficient woman, she works long hours in the family restaurant u n d e r difficult conditions. H e r fatalism is quickly revealed: "A cada quien lo que toca" [Everyone has their lot in life]. Researcher Valdes tells us that this is a fairlv c o m m o n belief a m o n g those in S ocorro’s com m unity— that life simply deals different luck to different people. Socorro rem em bers with some nostalgia h e r davs in Juarez, where neighbors were able to watch out for each other. Given h e r h a rd work and determ ination, one thing to which Socorro will not resign herself is that h e r children are being held back in school and are getting into trouble. She did not have an opportunity to go to school in Mexico. She wants to develop the language and literacy she needs to be able to intervene m ore successfully with their teachers (Valdes 1996, p. 91). Pao Joua Lo was a retired soldier an d was considered a war hero in his own community. Like 70,000 o th e r H m o n g refugees who reset­ tled in the U nited States in the 1970s, he lied the hills of Laos in the throes of the wars of Southeast Asia. In his Philadelphia hom e. Pao Jo u a was often s u rro u n d e d bv his many g ran d ­

children and guests, and until his d eath in 1998, was considered both an elder an d a leader bv many H m o n g th ro u g h o u t the U nited States. Pao Jo u a ha d atte n d ed classes at the local com m unity college but d ro p p e d out after only one semester. His English literacy skills, while minimal, allowed him to scan the newspapers for articles about Southeast Asia, which he then passed along to m ore literate m en in the com ­ munity. Besides keeping cu rre n t on events in his hom eland. Pao J o u a was also interested in devel­ oping literacy skills to be able to record tradi­ tional H m o n g courtship songs so that first his sons and later his grandsons could find desirable brides (Weinstein 1997). Michel a Stone works as an accountant at a comm unity center serving immigrants from her native Byelorussia, as well as from the Ukraine a n d Lithuania. Many who frequent the center are university professors, businesspeople, doc­ tors. or scientists who hope to be able to resume their professional lives when they have acquired the language nee d ed in their new hom e. Michela teaches Russian on the side, both for some extra m oney and also for the chance to interact with Americans. She likes soap operas an d reads People magazine. Bv reading up on movie stars, Michela figures she can start conversations with A m erican friends an d practice h e r English. Although she has little time to study between her two jobs an d caring for her aging father, she hop e s to p r e p a r e for A m erican citizenship (Nesbit 1997).

Adults like these have different histories, cir­ cumstances. and purposes for wanting to develop and improve language and literaev skills. To understand the possibilities for language and lit­ eraev instruction, it is necessarv to know some­ thing about learners, their resources, their needs, and their goals for learning English.

What is English as a Second Language (ESL) Literacy? f h e learners described above bring different needs and resources to their desire to learn Knglish language a n d literaev. Soccoro. who teas born in .Mexico, tom es from a societv with a rich litcrarv tradition, but she herself has had little access to the formal education or native language literaev that others in her countrv mat enjov. Learners in this situation have been described in the literature as iioulilerate. Pao Joua Lo. on the o th e r hand, comes from a farm ing societv where subsistence living posed verv little need for print. In fact, the H m o n g language did not have a writ­ ten form until just a few decades ago. when mis­ sionaries created a writing svsteni to teach the Bible. Learners in this situation are often called preliterate, because then come from a society that does not have a tradition with prim. Michela illu­ minates vet an o th er dimension of a complex lin­ guistic picture, since she has higlilv developed literaev skills in her native language, but has not h a d prior experience with the Roman alphabet. She has m am strategies for learning in formal set­ tings, and is comfortable with the format and dis­ course of formal teaching situations. As she adds English to her repertoire. Michela will become biliterate, or proficient with prim in two languages. Until fairlv recentlv, little attention teas given to the role of native language literaev in lea rn er acquisition of English. Research on sec­ o n d language learners either assumed native language literact or did n o t investigate native language literaev as a factor in learner needs and strategies. In the 1970s. w hen a huge inllux of Southeast Asian refugees found their wan to our classrooms, teachers knew that this go mo wets different. Rural Vietnamese, Khmer. Lam. and H m o n g learners who were not literate in. their

native languages were not m anaging as well as their literate counterparts in the language class­ room. Techniques that had been used in the past were no longer effective. In the 1980s, with the passage o f the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA). a second wave of u n d o c u m e n te d learners flocked to our classrooms to qualifv for "amnestv." These students had limited literacy in their native languages and could not access infor­ mation the wav we provided it, without first acquiring literaev ESL classroom teachers were a m o n g the first to raise to national conscious­ ness the unique characteristics of this g roup of learners. Those of us who worked closelv with these two groups of newcomers were struck bv their resourcefulness. We learned that the Southeast Asian refugees had escaped through jungles, run th rough minefields, e n d u re d starvation, and crossed lit ers on ru b b er tires at night with their children. In short, thev were extraordinary sur­ vivors. Me saw that most u n d o c u m e n te d amnestv applicants had been living on the margins, m an­ aging to take care of their families while staving invisible from authorities who could deport them. Me began to see the kinship a nd social net­ works that people relied on for solving problem ' and for helping one a n o th e r navigate a new set­ ting. While eve became aware of these enorm ous resources, it was also clear that som ething critical was lacking— literaev skills that would provide these adults with access to the English language, and through English, to o th er information and education.

Many Learners, Many Literacies While teachers of ESL were grappling with liter­ aev issues face-to-face in their dailv work, mam changes were gating on in the field of adult liter­ aev (also called Adult Basic Education, or ABE as well. Am ong these were attempts to movt bevond the problem atic notion of ''grade level in o rd e r to define a n d m easure literacy in waw that were m ore informative and accurate fo: adults. T he most com prehensive a ttem p t ir recent historv to survev the literacy levels o: adults in the United States was the Xationai

Adult Literacy Survey (NALS). This instrument was designed to measure three areas of knowledge or skill: ■ ■

■

prose literacy (u n d ersta n d in g texts such as news stories, poems, etc.), document literary (locating and using infor­ mation found in docum ents like job appli­ cations, transportation schedules, etc.), and ejuantitative literary (applying arithm etic operations using n um bers fo u n d in printed materials like o rd e r forms, etc. (Kirsch et al. 1993, p. 3).

T he problem for English language educators was that this assessment tool could only measure English literacy— the results do not distinguish between the Cam bodian peasant farm er who had never held a pencil and the Russian engi­ n e e r with a Ph.D. who had not ret added the Roman to the Cyrillic alphabet in h e r repertoire of symbol systems. T he portraits of Socorro. Pao Joua. and Michela are the result of e thnographic studies in which the researcher seeks to m ake explicit how an individual or group makes sense of the w orld— in this case, with a focus on functions and uses of language and literacy in learners' lives. Ethnographic research can illuminate many forms of diversity am ong learners regarding their language and literacy resources. Mans Asian for­ eign students in the United States, for example, are highly literate in their native language and have facility with written academic English, but have trouble com m unicating orally. In contrast, many Latino learners with fluent spoken English struggle with writing, particularly in academic genres. A new set of issues has begun to emerge with a growing population of immigrants who came to the U nited States as older children. Many of these voting m en and wom en do not speak “targetlike" (standard) English, ret are n e ith e r literate n o r are thev any longer orally proficient in the language of their parents. We do not yet have labels to neatlv nam e what we see. Learners v a n - along dimensions of profi­ ciency in English versus a n o th e r language, spo­ ken versus written proficiency, an d academic versus social language, a m o n g o th e r dimensions of literacy

While there is not vet a universally accepted definition of literacy, there is a growing consensus that to be literate entails different things in dif­ ferent situations. .All of us, including those of us who consider ourselves to be fairly literate, e n c o u n te r situations in which we m ust master a new literacy genre, such as learning HTM L for Web design, writing for a particular journal for the first time, or reading a p a p e r from a differ­ ent discipline. While there is no a g re e m e n t on one definition of literacy, there is growing recog­ nition that there are many literacies, a n d in the case of im m igrant learners, there are potentially biliteracies with many dimensions.

C O N T E X T S FO R L IT E R A C Y IN S T R U C T IO N Literacy for What? In 1991 the United States Congress created a set of educational goals for the nation, including Goal 6 for Literacy and Lifelong Learning: “By the year 2000. even adult American will be literate and will possess the knowledge and skills necessary to com­ pete in a global economy and exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship." To explore what this would entail, members of the Equipped for the Future Initiative asked adult learners what thee hoped to gain from formal learning opportu­ nities. From the responses of more than fifteen h undred adults, four themes or purposes for lan­ guage and literacy learning emerged: ■

■

■

■

Access: to inform ation [as well as jobs and resources] so adults can orient themselves in the world: Voice: to be able to express ideas a n d o p in ­ ions with the confidence thev will be he a rd a n d taken into account; Independent Action: to be able to solve p ro b ­ lems a n d m ake decisions on o n e ’s own, act­ ing independently, without having to rely on others; Bridge to the Future: learning how to learn so adults can keep up with the tvorlfi as it changes (Stein 1997, p. 7).

A National Literacy Sum m it followed by m eet­ ings th ro u g h o u t the U nited States resulted in the following Call to Action: Bv 2010, a system of high quality adult literacy, language and lifelong learn­ ing services will help aclidts in every com m unity make m easurable gains toward achieving their goals as family members, workers, citizens and lifelong learners (National Literacy Summit 2000, p. 1 ). This section briefly provides models for instruc­ tion that currently speak to those roles and raises issues specific to each context that must be con­ sidered if this vision is to be achieved.

Basic Adult ESL/Literacy and Lifelong Learning Adults have pursu e d their desire to improve language an d literacy skills for personal, profes­ sional, or academ ic reasons th rough a wide range o f venues such as adult schools, co m m u ­ nity colleges, communitv-based organizations, libraries, workplaces, or in their own hom es th ro u g h one-on-one volunteer program s. Nearly 50 pe rc e n t of the learners enrolled in federally fu n d e d adult education program s are English language learners, a n d most adult education program s (70%) offer some ESL instruction (TESOL 2000). Trends in imm igration, attitudes toward immigrants, a n d educational a n d labor policies all have an impact on ESL/literacy instruction, no m atter the context in which it occurs. In the 1990s, for example, the U.S. Congress began a series of efforts to cut, com bine, an d streamline federal program s. O n e result was a bill that com ­ bined literacy efforts with workforce training. Literacy initiatives for the first time were linked directly to adult employment, j o b training, and retraining. This bill has been followed bv several legislative initiatives that place a he aw emphasis on jo b preparation. T he cluster of initiatives pop­ ularly known as welfare reform, for example, places enorm ous pressure on families t get off welfare a n d find jobs. T he result' are telt not only in workplace program s, but abo m General

ESL, family literacy and o th er program s that are pushed to incorporate em ploym ent preparation into their curriculum and provide evidence of job outcom es to m aintain their funding.

Family or Intergenerational Literacy T he terms family literacy and intergenerational lit­ eracy have been used to describe how literacy is \a lu e d and used in the lives of children and adults. These terms h a te also been used to describe e d u c atio n a l pro g ra m s de sig n e d to strengthen literacy resources bv involving at least two generations for a variety of stated goals (Weinstein 1998). In the U nited States, the term family literacy has gained recognition through the growth o f private initiatives such as the Barbara Bush Family Literacy Foundation and Tovota Families for Learning, as well as federal program s such as H ead Start and Even Start.

Family Literacy Program Goals and Models Many initiatives state that their goal is to support parents in prom oting children's school achieve­ m ent. with an emphasis on parental involvement with schools. Promising programs resist a model that is unilinear— that is, they recognize that it is not onlv that parents must understand and sup­ port schools, but also that school personnel have an obligation to understand and better respond to patents and families. With greater reciprocal connection as a goal, while parents learn about schools, teachers learn a b out families, anc. schools respond to the realities of the com m uni­ ties they serve (McCaleb 1994). A second goal often found in family literacy program s is to foster a love of reading amonc both adults and children, or m ore specifically, tc help adults transmit a love of reading to thei: children. In the case of immigrants, experience shows that parents are rarclv in a position tc know m ore English than their children, o r thin to read comfortably to them in their newlv devel­ oping language. Innovative program s may use a variety of wavs to encourage reading and foster love of literature while minimizing the stresse' on adults. T h e re is evidence, for example, tha:

older children learn as m uch by reading aloud to their parents as bv listening to their parents read. This allows adults to support their children's development without losing face. In other pro­ grams, Latino adults practice reading Spanish children's literature in order to read to their chil­ dren, thus fostering native language literacy along with pride in the heritage language. A third goal put forth for some programs is to provide literacy to support adults in addressing family concerns. These programs attend to the role of hom e language and culture, and include activities to enable adults to develop a critical understanding of schooling to "evaluate and rehearse appropriate responses and develop net­ works for individual or g ro u p advocacy" (Auerbach 1992. p. 35). Learners are supported in reflecting collectively on parenting, developing a voice in the education of their children, and in advocating for their families (Nash et al. 1992). Finally, some programs aim specifically to rec o n n e c t the generations in positive wavs. Children of immigrant families who have more exposure to English are often placed in a position of translating and solving other problems for par­ ents, reversing traditional roles and creating addi­ tional stresses for all involved (Weinstein 1998). W hen the goal of imergenerational work is to restore channels for transmission of culture and values, children and adults can be resources for one another. In one family literacy class, for example, participants create a family Web page: adults proside stories of their past which children illustrate a n d input into the c o m p u te r (Hovanesian 1999). Projects like these draw on the resources of children (for English and com­ puter facility), while tapping the memories and knowledge of adults.

Issues and Agendas in Family Literacy While the goal of mans family program s is to improve c h ild re n ’s school achievements, th ere is clearly m ore to famih' life th an school success. T he work o f Valdes, cited at the beginning of this chapter, is o ne of mans ethnographic studies that illustrate tensions when the culture of schooling violates the norm s of family s’alues. O th e r studies

illustrate the ways in which teachers a n d o th er school personnel can inadvertently u n d e rm in e parental authority— by valuing certain kinds of knosvledge. svhile discounting the knosvledge of the hom e culture. Second, a majority of family literacy p ro ­ grams are designed in a was- that seems to foster participation primarily of children an d their mothers, to the exclusion of fathers or o th e r sig­ nificant caretakers who mat be equally critical in children's lives. Elders continue to be an u n d e r­ tapped resource with a wealth o f knowledge that can help to a n c h o r children in their own culture an d history at a time of en o rm o u s change and poten tia l disc o n n e c tio n . Such g r o u n d in g is especially critical at a time w hen children long for connection an d belonging so that they do not n e e d to seek it in o th er forms such as gang m em bership. Finally, famih literacy programs often grow from sources in earls childhood education. If pro­ grams grew directly from the needs of adults and their own priorities as parents, how would thev be different? When adults are asked about the family issues that concern them most, thev rarelv m en ­ tion their toddlers— the targeted participants of most federally funded family literacy programs. Rather, uprooted adults tend to be most con­ cerned about their older children who face the perils of adolescence, such as drugs, gangs, and other dangers associated with coming of age in m odern times. As fu n ding and support c ontinue to grow for famih literacy programs, there will be many challenges a h e a d to e n s u re that p ro g ra m s strengthen families, h o n o r the authorin' of par­ ents. recogni/e and celebrate the wisdom o f eld­ ers. an d address the needs that adults themselves see in the challenging work thev have to raise a famih' in a complex world.

PRE-EM PLO YM EN T A N D W O R K P L A C E L IT E R A C Y In the 1970s. the influx of guest workers in west E uropean countries caused British educators to reevaluate the efficacy of grammar-based and audiolingtial m e th o d s an d tu rn th eir focus

instead to the linguistic tasks required on the job. At the same time, the U nited States was cop­ ing with an influx of almost 1100.000 refugees who n e e d e d language and literacy for work m ore urgently than they n e e d e d bookish accu­ racy in pro d u cin g carefully sequenced gram m ar structures. This laid the groundwork for a growing shift toward employment-related ESI., which mat be woven into a general ESL course or offered in pre-workplace classes on the job. by a union, or bv a consortium of several partners. Programs gen­ erally entail a needs analysis of participants, an analysis of tasks entailed in a giv en job or setting, a plan for instruction, and an evaluation proce­ dure (see chapter bv Johns and Price-Machado in this volume).

Goals of Pre-employment and Workplace Programs It has been suggested that there are goals for learners that cut across settings. Bv synthesizing literature from across the manufacturing, techni­ cal, service, and agricultural domains. Grognet (1997) proposed a set of competencies that are useful in ant workplace setting. Below are exam­ ples of language functions associated with each of three goals. To get a job: ■ ■ ■

read want ads and com plete application forms give personal information answer an d ask questions (etc.)

To survive on a job: ■ ■ ■

follow oral and written directions u n d e rs ta n d a n d use safety language ask for clarification (etc.)

To thrive on a job (and h a te job mobility): ■ ■ ■

participate in group discussions give as well as follow directions state a position (etc.)

O th e r goals identified grow from research on skills required for the workplace. In 1992. the Secretary of Labor's Commission on Achieving

Necessary Skills (SCANS) issued a report based on the collaborative work of business and educa­ tion leaders. The Commission identified five competencies and three foundation skills needed for success in the workplace, which have been ada p te d to adult workplace curriculum in many settings. This framework is one that is supported and e x p anded upon bv the E quipped for the Future initiative, which identifies skills n eed ed bv adults in their roles as workers, as well as those underlying areas of knowledge and skill that cut across roles a n d contexts (Stein 1997).

Issues and Agendas in Literacy for Workers: Workplace or Workforce Education? In the two decades when workplace instruction was developing, the techniques used for needs assessment primarily involved surveys and inter­ views with employers, managers, and supervi­ sors. Inform ation from workers generally was gathered from the most successful employees to break down the functional and linguistic com ­ ponents of a given task or job in o rd e r to teach it m ore effectively to new workers. This implicit goal is to make employees m ore productive and efficient in meeting the needs of their employers (McGroartv and Scott 1993). However, the agendas of workers may be different from that of their employers. Many workers want to improve their language and lit­ eracy skills to get out of low-paving or dead-end jobs, to get better jobs within an organization, or to better support their roles in family life. In addition, workers may n e e d skills to cope with dow nsizing, layoffs, an d o th er jolt dislocations in o r d e r to find new em p lo y m en t (Macias in press). T he recognition o f the needs of learners themselves has fostered a distinction between workplace education, to improve productivity in a given job, an d workforce education, which is more oriented toward education of the whole person in his or her roles as a parent, community member, and even as a union member. This approach assumes that the workplace may be a good venue lor addressing literacy needs, but that curriculum should be driven bv the needs of the learner,

w hether for a particular job, for upward mobility, or for o th er personal goals as a lea rn er and as a h u m a n being. Clearly, those programs that prove most suc­ cessful will be the ones that take into account the agendas of all constituencies a n d that create opportunities for those agendas to be negotiated. Employers need to see the value of program s to be willing to fund and support worker participa­ tion in them: workers need to feel that their own needs will be met if the\ are to participate and benefit from language and literacy instruction.

organizations. The classes m ar constitute distinct "citizenship” classes or thev may be woven into the general ESL curriculum. Citizenship classes are sometimes taught bilinguallv, especially in community-based organizations. Classes focusing on naturalization test prepa­ ration. according to Nixon and Keenan (1997), are most effective when thee use a variety of materials, when thev provide as much context for learners as possible, and when thee use authentic materials and Usual aids, especially for low-literacv learners. Classes m a t include traditional EST activities geared to naturalization test preparation, such as:

Civic ESL/Literacy Education Civic education lor newcomers is almost as old as immigration. Earlv in the twentieth e e ntun. for example, "settlement houses" were created to assist immigrants in assimilating to life in the United States and to prepare them for citizenship. What does it m ean for am adult to be a "good cit­ izen"? What skills, knowledge, or values should a person demonstrate to be accepted as a nets citi­ zen? These are questions that have been around as long as there have been neighbors and as long as there h ate been newcomers. While it has long been required that new cit­ izens be able to speak some English, it is a recent development that literacy was added to the list of requirements. In 1930. a reading and writing com­ ponent teas added to screening procedures for prospective nets citizens. Today, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) administers an examination that evaluates the applicant's knowl­ edge of U.S. history and government bv quizzing applicants from a list of 100 questions, as well as testing basic knowledge of spoken and written English (Becker 2000).

Goals of Civic ESL/Literacy Education O n e goal of citizenship classes is simply to assist learners in prep a rin g to take the naturalization exam. Public monies, as well as private support from sources such as the Soros F oundation's Em m a Lazarus Fund, have m ade it possible to provide assistance to immigrants through educa­ tion program s and com m unity or social service

Question Division — learners arrange the 100 INS questions according to them e Inform ation gap activities — learners match questions with answers Flash cards — learners create their own flash cards with questions on one side, answers on other to facilitate hom e studv. etc. (Nixon and Keenan 1997. p. 2). A second goal related to civic and citizen­ ship education is to encourage learners who have been naturalized to exercise their newlv earned franchise with the vote. Л no Citizens Vote, for example, is a voter education kit developed "to increase the skills and self-confidence of participants regarding voting a n d o th e r local decision-making processes" (Northern California ( .ra in m a k e rs 1998). T h e kit. available in English. Chinese. Vietnamese, or Spanish from ywvw.ncg.org. contains interactive exercises including, a m o n g others

t

a mock election to illustrate the importance of each individual's vote: voting basics: eligibility requirem ents, regis­ tration. and voting procedures: how and where to find inform ation about political parties, issues, a n d candidates.

Л third goal focuses more broadly on many forms of civic participation. In Civic Participation and Communis Action Sourcebook (Nash 1999), for example, a group consisting primarily of teachers share activities that move learners into action bevond voting. With this expanded notion of civic engagement, the sourcebook presents a range of tools that are aimed at helping readers

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exam ine their beliefs about community, citizenship, democracy, etc; identify and analyze issues that concern them; and build skills an d strategies to take inform ed action (Nash 1999. p. ix).

These materials provide accounts bv teach­ ers o f projects they have done, such as a group of formerly homeless women studying the history of welfare policy a nd th e n teaching others about the issue, or an ESL class that rallies to help a family that has been b u r n e d out of their hom e. T h e teacher-authors discuss the challenges of trying to incorporate com m unity action into the culture of adult education.

Issues in Civic E S L Literacy Education There are some poignant ironies that em erge in the conflict between preparing learners to be active, engaged citizens in their communities and the stresses of preparing learners for the INS nat­ uralization test. This conflict is exemplified in SHINE, Students Helping in the Naturalization of Elders, a project I codirect in San Francisco. T h ro u g h SHINE, we train a n d place volunteer university student “coaches” in citizenship classes to support older learners who are preparing for naturalization, as well as in o ther ESL literacy classes (Weinstein et al. in press). We aim to incorporate learner-centered them atic units into o u r coaching curriculum th ro u g h the “First A m e n d m e n t Project." for which we collect narratives from learners and teachers ab o u t their personal experiences with freedom of expression. O u r personal stories of standing up (or not) to parents, bosses, and o th e r authority figures, participating in d e m o n ­ strations, a n d suffering censorship cut to the core of civic engagem ent. We find enthusiasm for this initiative from participants across the ESL literacy an d academ ic spectrum. o\rqM for participants in citizenship classes, whose overrid­ ing c oncern is to cram, as quickie and efficiently as possible, for the naturalization test. Given the high stakes, this comes as no surprise.

This schism illuminates the irons' that the citizenship exam, as it is currently conceived and administered, does little to prom ote engagem ent for learners in the life of their communities. It continues to be a challenge for c o n c ern e d ESI, teachers to p rep a re learners for a test that has grave consequences for their lives, while also e n c o u ra g in g th e m to develop a voice and becom e inform ed and active m em bers of their communities.

O R IE N T A T IO N S TO C U R R IC U LU M A N D IN S T R U C T IO N T here are a wide variety of approaches to ESL instruction, each with underlying assumptions about teaching and learning, as well as associated techniques and procedures. While it is problem ­ atic when a program pursues one approach with such rigidity that it precludes responding to lea rn er styles or changing learner needs, Wrigles a n d Guth (2000) caution that there is equal cause for c oncern when program s becom e so “eclectic" that tliev have no philosophical coher­ ence or unifying vision. This section briefly examines two general orientations to ESL literacy instruction, as well as a variety of approaches a n d activities consistent with those orientations. A set of questions to investigate "what works" is provided, along with a set of dichotomies (or continua) for observing characteristics of E S L T iteracv classrooms. Finally, the section concludes with a discussion ol assessing learner success, an d some of the chal­ lenges that face the field in terms of accountal> ility in the decade ahead.

Mastery or Transmission o f Knowledge Most program s aim to help students learn facts, concepts, a n d skills (procedural knowledge through guided a n d sequenced practice. In adult ESL, a “M asteiy’-based orientation is exemplified bv focus on linguistic structures, language skills, specific content, a n d / o r competencies.

T h e teaching of language structures is as old as language teaching itself. From earlv tech­ niques such as g ram m ar translation to c o n te m ­ porary textbooks organized bv verb tense and language form, mastery of language structures appears in most curricula to a greater or lesser extent. A glance at the table o f contents of am ESL textbook will reveal the degree of prom i­ nence that language structures h a te in the organization of material that is taught. Language skills are also featured in most cur­ ricula, with varying degrees of attention to the tour skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Focus on listening and speaking activi­ ties, a c c o rd in g to the “W hat Works" study Pelavin R esearch C e n te r an d A m erican Institutes for Research 1999). constitute an ESL Acquisition Model, and mav include vocabulary, oronunciation. language functions, and strate­ gies to engage in oral com m unication with native speakers. In contrast, an ESL Lileraes Model. according to this study, is constituted bv reading and writing skills development. This mas email providing ESI. literacy learners with op p o rtu n i­ ties to engage with print, skills and strategies for fluency in reading, and the goal of automaticitv in decoding. Fluency skills include practicing let­ ters o f the alphabet, letter and word recognition, recognizing sound svmbol relationships, and blending sounds. Activities frequently associated with developing these skills include supported or choral reading and using "environmental" print (signs that su rro u n d us in daily life). Content-based approaches to F.ST literacy instruction are those in which the language and literacy curriculum is woven a round specific sub­ ject matter. While this approach was initially developed to prepare refugee children for school subjects, there are many applications to adult con­ texts. Workplace literacy programs have long incorporated the specific vocabulary and lan­ guage functions needed for a given job or profes­ sion into their curricula. Family literacy programs often provide language for teaching childhood development or an orientation to the structure of schools in the United States. Citizenship classes may provide English language vocabulary and skills in the context of the citizenship exam, such as the H7/-construction needed to understand the

"]00 questions.” Even the alphabet mav be taught and practiced through kev words in U.S. history (e.g.. "/us for Flag”). (For m ore on content-based approaches, see Snow’s chapter in this volume.) Competency-based education (CBE) em e rg ed in the late 1970s in a shift awav from grammarbased curriculum w hen nevvlv arriving refugees n e e d e d English for im m ediate application in their new lives. A com petency is an instructional objective described in task-based terms such as "Students will be able to . . . e n d in g with a verb phrase describing a dem onstrable skill such as "find information in a bus schedule.” During the p eriod of intense refugee resettlem ent, this approach was aimed at helping learners use pub­ lic transportation, shop, interact with a doctor, etc. The goal was not only to teach learners about lan­ guage and grammar, but also to enable them to use language to accomplish a nonlinguistic end (Crandall and Pevton 1999). Competencies for earlv literacy might include items such as “can rec­ ognize letters of the alphabet" or “can write tipper and lower case English letters."

Meaning-Making or Constructivism A constructivist orientation to teaching and learning is one in which it is assumed that knowl­ edge is not only transm itted to learners from teachers or books, but also that both m eaning and knowledge can be created collectively by learners or bv learners an d teachers. A variety of approaches, m ethods, and techniques mav1 be associated with this orientation. This section m entions a few. including participatory and whole language approaches. Learners' Lives as Curriculum (LLC). an d project-based learning. These approaches have significant overlap, dif­ fering primarily in emphasis. A participators, or "Ereirian ” approach, to adult literacy education revolves a ro u n d the tenet that education and knowledge have value insofar as thev help people recognize and liberate them ­ selves from the social conditions that oppress them. Paolo Freire was a Brazilian educator who helped initiate, develop, and im plem ent national literacy campaigns in a n u m b e r of developing countries. In his classic Pedagogy oj the Oppressed,

Freire (1972) outlines an approach to teaching lit­ eracy in which researchers studv the conditions in a community and identify generative words to describe situations familiar to learners, and then literacy teachers develop materials using these gen­ erative words to help learners decode the syllables as well as deconstruct their social conditions. Most ESL educators who relv on a Freirian ap p ro a c h do not have the luxury of reiving on social scientists to study learners' communities, n o r do they focus on the analysis of syllables as the only wav to attack the m echanics of lan­ guage. However, those who ascribe to the pri­ m ary tenets of participatory education (see A uerbach 1992), tend to agree on ■ ■ ■

Use of generative words and them es draw n from learners' experiences T h e notion o f teachers as facilitators rather titan transmitters of knowledge Use of “problem-posing," a technique in which learners look at pictures or objects to discuss their situation and explore solutions to problems encoded in those situations, (see Auerbach 1992).

T he whole language approach, a movement bo rn in U.S. elementary classrooms, grows from a perspectiye on language learning and teaching in which language is seen as social, and is learned in interaction with other speakers, readers, and writ­ ers. In whole-language o rie n te d classrooms, learners work together to read and write for and with each o ther and evaluate products together. While phonics or o ther bottom-up m ethods that break down language are not precluded, they are used in service of larger communicative events. As my colleague Carole Eclelskv once explained to me, ‘You teach the sound 'IT not because it is ‘H tveek,’ but rather, because som eone wants to write instructions for how to take care o f the hamster.” The Language Experience Approach, or LEA, a technique related to the whole language tradition, enables adult ESL literacy learners to engage with print from the outset by drawing on stories that they dictate to a teacher or m ore able classmate, either in the native language or in English. These stories becom e the basis for a lan­ guage or literacy lesson (see Ediger's chapter in this volum e).

An extension of the principles behind these techniques is found in a m odel called Learners’ Lives as Curriculum (Weinstein 1999), in which learner texts (e.g.. language experience, dicta­ tion, poem, storv, folktale, or interview) are used as catalysts for discussing them es of interest or concern to learners. A thematic unit, according to this model, provides learners with personal sto­ ries of others like themselves, along with an opportunity to respond to those stories, generate their own narratives, and prepare for a collective project while learning specific language skills and structures. In a predesigned thematic unit on neighborhoods, for example, Tekola Beyene com pares his new ho m e in Virginia, where "houses are verv far apart" and “people are afraid of me because I am a Black m a n ” with his neigh­ b o rh o o d in Ethiopia, ■where “mv sons played in neighbors' houses every day. . . . if vou n e e d ed help, som eone was alwavs there!" This narrative is used to invite discussion about the learners’ own neighbors and neighborhoods, with a focus on the them e of giving and getting help. The unit leads toward a project in which learners compile a local c o m m u n in ’ resource directory, incite a guest speaker from a sendee that is of interest to the group, and then create a classroom trading post to swap skills and sendees within their classroom community. According to LLC, thematic units include four main components: ■ ■ ■

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Narratives with a contextualized focus on themes and "hot topics" of interest to learners Language skills, structures, and competencies O pportunities to d o c u m e n t cu rre n t lan­ guage use an d m o n ito r progress towards learner-selected goals O pportunities to build a classroom com ­ munity in which learners get acquainted, solve problem s together, and engage in authentic projects (Weinstein 1999)

C ertain projects f u r t h e r illustrate the potential w hen learners are invited to collec­ tively construct knowledge th rough telling sto­ ries for real readers or listeners outside the class­ room. Mien hill tribe women work in groups to describe photos of village life in Laos. With help from a bilingual aide, they create a book that will be given to their children born in the United

States. Newly arrived immigrants at the cite college develop a handbook for new(er)c.omers on how t survive the first semester in the United States, complete with a campus resource guide and tips for handling homesickness (Weinstein 1999). Students at El Barrio Popular investigate neigh­ borhood problems that thev themselves hav e iden­ tified, and compile their research for collective advocacv (Rivera 1999). In an Internet project that draws many "hits." English language learners from across the countrv contribute to a Web page lor folk remedies, thus pooling their knowledge to the benefit of all. (Gaer. http: www.otan.dni.us webfann/emailproject re m .h tm ). These activities illustrate project-based learn­ ing, in which learners investigate a question, solve a problem , plan an event, or develop a product (Moss an d Van Duxer 1998). Learners not onlv receive knowledge from a teacher or book, but also, thev collectiv elv share and create knowledge. A m ong the potential benefits are effective advocacv. support for problem-solving, and intergenerational transmission of culture. In addition, materials created bv learners are often m ore powerful and compelling tor future learners than anvthing the most dedic ated m ate­ rials writer can dream up.

What Works? Continua for Observation and Inquiry English as a Second Language program s are the fastest growing c o m p o n e n t in federallv funded adult education efforts. Notwithstanding a gen­ eral sense of "prom ising practices" (Wriglev 1993), there is a dearth of empirical research about what works for whom and nuclei' what cir­ cumstances. T he National (llearinghou.se for ESL Titeracv Education (1998) proposed an agenda for adult ESL literacv. including research on the efficacv of different approaches in differ­ ent circumstances. T he "What Works” stuclv, m en tio n e d earlier, svstematicallv explores one set o f contrasts within a Masters orientation, that is, the efficacv of focusing on oral com m unica­ tion versus reading writing skills in ESL literacv instruction. O th e r variables which the stuclv seeks to investigate pose useful questions for

observation of ESL/liieracv classes an d food for thought for ESL literacv teachers both within and across orientations. What is the relative emphasis on reading, writing, listening, and speaking? How m uch emphasis is given to linguistic versus nonlinguistic outcomes? What is the extent of focus on structure versus m eaning-m aking (i.e.. on activities associated with masterv versus constructivist o rie n ta tio n s )? What is the extent of "language practice" versus authentic com m unication? f o r how m uch time in the class do learners actuallv use language and literacv? Is curriculum p re d e te rm in e d or does it reflect evolving learner interests? To what extent do learners know the objec­ tives of the lesson and have an opportunitv for input? Teachers (and teacher trainees) do not have the luxurv of waiting for federal studies to come in with answers. With observation and reflective practice, these questions can guide our own inquirv. as we observe "what works" for different learners in different situations.

Setting Goals, Monitoring Progress In am language or literacv program , there are several sets of "stakeholders." each of which want to know certain things about how things are going. Learners want to know how well thev are doing vis-a-vis o ther students and if thev are mov­ ing toward their own learning goals. Teachers want to know which m ethods work (and which ones don't) with various learners. Program staff need inform ation in o rd e r to place learners in appropriate levels or classes, decide course offer­ ings. plan the curriculum , and generallv find out if thev are m e e tin g th eir p ro g ra m goals. Funders as well its taxpavers are interested in the retu rn on investment of literacv dollars and mav be interested in com paring learner achievement across programs. Policvmakers want to know which practices are successful e n o u g h to repli­ cate as guidelines for allocating future funds.

Stakeholders from the learner's c o m m u n ity family, a n d / o r workplace mat also want to know if the time spent bv the learner is paving off. and if so, in what wav (Van Duzer a n d Berdan 2000). Assessing success has been verv problematic in the fields of both ESL and adult literacy, partly because of the different inform ation needs of the different stakeholders, a n d partly because of an absence of a coherent, com parable system. Such a system would require ag re e m e n t on the nature of language a n d literacy, the goals of instruction, an d a resulting a greem ent on a com parable way to m easure progress toward those goals. N one of these agreem ents is yet in place, which creates e n orm ous challenges to programs lor d ocum enting progress in a way that is specific to the needs of stakeholders within their program s while providing information for funders that is comparable with other programs. The Equipped for the Future Initiative (EFF) has worked to build consensus a ro u n d these areas in o ld e r to create a perform ance-based system which aligns student, program , and policymaker goals within one framework. With a growing emphasis on accountability, this is going to be a kev area for the future of the field in the decade to come. In general, there are two broad categories of assessment — general a n d program -based. General assessments are those that allow com pari­ son across programs. Standardized tests such as CASAS or BEST- are com m only used, a n d have several advantages an d limitations. Some advan­ tages of standardized general assessments are that they ■ * ■ ■

Have construct validity and scoring reliability Are cost effective and relatively east’ to adm inister Are a c c e p te d bv fu n d e rs for p ro g ra m accountability Allow for comparisons of learner progress within an d across program s

Some disadvantages are that they ■ ■

D on't reflect what has been taught, or cap­ ture what has been learned D on't capture changes in language use and literacy practices beyond the classroom

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D o n ’t discriminate well at the lower e n d of literacy achievement May be inappropriately used for "gatekeep­ ing” purposes, especially in the workplace (Wriglev and G uth 2000, p. 135)

Program-based assessments, on th e o th e r hand, reflect the a pproach of the program and the co n te n t of the curriculum . They may be based on comm ercial materials used in the p ro ­ gram (e.g.. “Heinle 8c Heinle's Collaborations Assessment Package); or they mav be developed bv teachers th ro u g h checklists o f skills an d com ­ petencies, surveys, teacher observation forms, as well as th ro u g h learner writing, reading, and speaking logs. Some advantages of well designed program -based assessments are that thev * » is

«

Reflect a program 's underlying philosophy of instruction Are learner centered, reflecting strength' a n d goals of individual learners Are done "with” not "to” learners, who par­ ticipate in setting goals, discussing interest' and reflecting on their accomplishments Involve a variety o f tools, giving a m ore com­ plete picture of each learner a n d his or he: needs and progress (Van Duzer and Berdar. 2 0 0 0 . p. 2 2 1 ) .

Unfortunately, without guidelines a n d rigo:ous procedures, until a system is agreed upon alternative assessments do not vet produce rehable hard data and are difficult to compare aero" programs. This is a serious drawback for funders who are extremely im portant stakeholders.

PRO M ISING D IR E C T IO N S IN A D U L T ESL L IT E R A C Y IN S T R U C T IO N Anyone who goes into adult ESL literacy instrtution for the m oney o r prestige is tragically m;guidecl. Those who are adventurous, curiom able to tolerate ambiguity, anxious to m ake a d e ­ ference. a n d willing to learn about the won: from others' eves, however, are in for an extr. ordinarily rich experience. For those who wis:

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to take on the adventure, there are several prom ising directions for effective practice that can su p p o rt if not transform all involved.

1. Take an Inquiring Stance Practitioners who learn about learners are in the best position to help th em address their evolving needs. If teachers do not have the luxurv of m eeting with learners on their h o m e tu rf (bv doing eth n o g ra p h ic research, visiting learners at hom e, a tte n d in g com m unitv events, etc.), there are many tools for bringing inquire into the classroom. Learners can talk about their prac­ tices, concerns, a n d needs (and successes!) using a variety of tools associated with anv of the orientations an d approaches outlined in this chapter. By identifying needs as learners th em ­ selves define them , practitioners can work to address those needs, either th ro u g h the curricu­ lum or, if necessarv, between the cracks when institutional constraints m ake it impossible to do so directly. Those who m ake it a practice to learn about learners bv observing a n d listening may be in for some inspiring surprises.

2. Balance Skills and Structures with Meaning-Making and Knowledge Creation Those who were trained in structural linguistics or in competency-based approaches tend to be good at teaching language structures a n d func­ tions b u t less practiced at starting conversations with students about things that they care about deeply. O n the o th er hand, experienced partici­ patory educators an d com m unity advocates tend to know how to engage learners in exploring “h o t” issues, but may be less skilled in presenting the mechanics of language a n d literacy in a sys­ tematic way. To gain proficiency with language a n d literacy, it is necessary to have both the build­ ing blocks as well as the opportunity to use them for a d e e p e r purpose. T he linguists would do well to learn how to invite heart-felt conversation a n d collective problem-solving; the advocates a n d organizers n e e d tools to help learners mas­ ter the m echanics of language an d literacy as an

integral p a rt o f th e ir project-based work. Practitioners can also learn from an d collaborate with peers who have com plem entary strengths in skill-building an d m eaning-m aking— b o th essen­ tial parts of the language a n d literacy learning enterprise.

3. Develop “ Vision-Making” Muscles As we learn new techniques, follow new trends, or react to changing pressures, it is easy to forget what m oved us to becom e teachers. We may set­ tle into a m o d e of only reacting to outside m a n ­ dates, losing track of the m an d a te th at comes from ou r own vision. W hat is o u r purpose? W hat are ^ve ho p in g to m ake h a p p e n for learners who e n te r o u r classrooms w hen they com e in and after they’ve left? Articulating a n d p u rsuing a vision is, in my view, work that m ust be d o n e on several levels. This happens in the daily fabric of lesson p lanning (What is the p urpose o f this les­ son?); in providing in p u t to the program s we work for (How should ou r curricula change?); in advocating for policies that s u p p o rt effective learning a n d effective teaching (What are the conditions that we a n d ou r learners n e e d to p u r ­ sue this vision?); as well as in how we assess the degree to which we are moving toward o u r vision. With too few full-time jobs a n d difficult working conditions, it can be challenging to re m e m b e r an d pursue such a vision an d to be proactive rath e r than reactive to the day’s cir­ cumstances. I believe that, as educators, we all n e e d m ore practice a n d su p p o rt in flexing ou r “vision-making” muscles.

4. Demand Mutual Accountability With a growing emphasis on “accountability,” it will becom e increasingly im p o rta n t for practi­ tioners to have their own vision o f what they are trying to accomplish th ro u g h their literacy work a n d to seek wavs of assessing the degree to which they are succeeding. Merrifield (1998) talks ab o u t a svstem of “mutually accountable” rela­ tionships in which evert’ “player” would be both accountable to o th e r players a n d held account­ able by th em . Learners would hold teachers

accountable for m eeting their learning needs, but teachers would hold learners accountable for a ttending an d doing their work, while also holding p rogram directors an d funders account­ able for providing them with a dequate resources such as materials, space, or training. While Merrifield's vision is far from the cur­ rent reality, it is crucial for practitioners to know an d articulate what thev are trving to achieve, and to advocate for conditions thev need to achieve it. Just as learners should not be asked to “wait” for m ea n in g fu l c o m m u n ic a tio n until “after” learning the m echanics of language, prac­ titioners m ust n o t wait for ideal conditions before engaging in vision-making work. Articu­ lating ou r goals, inviting learners to articulate theirs, finding ways to m easure how we are mov­ ing toward them , an d fighting for conditions to m ake the process possible must be part of our ongoing practice in ou r classrooms, in conversa­ tions with ou r colleagues, and in wider arenas.

5. Create Communities of Learners and Communities o f Teachers In many of the orientations described in this chapter, attention is given to creating c om m uni­ ties o f learners who support one an o th er in learn­ ing language an d literacv while reflecting collectively (and sometimes taking resulting action) on their lives. Learner stories and experi­ ences are the raw materials that can begin the con­ versation for planning such actions. Teachers who engage this wav with the adults in their classes rep o rt enorm ous satisfaction when learners make individual or collective strides. Learners who have felt marginalized find strength a n d support in the safetv of a n u r tu r in g classroom community. Technolog}' provides new opportunities for learn­ ers to build com m unities both within the class­ ro o m as well as beyond its boundaries. The examples are n u m ero u s an d continue to grow as lea rn ers collaborate to com pile a n d create knowledge. Teachers are also learners. Thev must con­ stantly respond to new circumstances as the stu­ d e n t population, legislative m andates, program constraints, a n d o th er conditions change. Like

language a n d literacv learners, teachers must often m anage despite difficult conditions. And like anv learners, teachers also n e e d time to tell stories of their teaching and to com pare and analvze their experiences, both within program s an d across them. Instruction will be strongest where teachers are su p p o rte d in taking time to discuss program goals, reflect collectively on their practice, frame questions, explore them systematically, an d take action based on what they’ve learned. Such shar­ ing mat take manv forms, w hether it is through sharing lesson plans, pe e r observation, “studs circles" about teaching issues, or collaboration on projects. In addition, national electronic lists such as those listed in the resource section belov. create opportunities for teachers to reflect collectivelv with a wider circle of colleagues without the constraints of in-person m eeting time o r the boundaries of geographic space. Communitieof teacher-learners, w hether in person or on-line can provide support in one o f the most challeng­ ing but rewarding endeavors imaginable— that o: fostering and witnessing transformations that are associated with nurturing the developm ent o: adult literacies.

D IS C U S S IO N Q U E S T IO N S 1. Who are some of the ESL literacv learners ir. vour communitv? What language and literac resources do thev bring, and what resourcedo thev need or want? What are their goalfor language and literacv learning? 2. W hat kinds of program s are available in you,: c o m m u n itv for ESL literacv le a rn e r'Brainstorm a list of programs. You may wis: to investigate such program s m ore fully as . term project. 3. What do vou think the qualifications shoulc be for teaching ESL literacv? W hat should br the salarv and benefits? Find out about qual­ ifications required an d working conditionin program s in vour c o m m u n in ’. Were th e n anv surprises? 4. What are some of the debates that are cu:rentlv on electronic literacv lists? Find a debatT

or discussion and then summarize the kev points from the c urrent list or from the archives. What is vour opinion about this issue?

FU R T H ER R EA D IN G Auerbach. E. 1992. Making Meaning. Making Change:

S U G G E S T E D A C T IV IT IE S 1. Learn m ore about a bilingual family or com ­ m u n in ’ in vour neighborhood. Investigate language use in a varietv ol'wavs— through interviews, observation, a n d / o r attendance at c o m m u n in ’ events. Write up a family or co m m u n in ' profile, including patterns of who uses what language to whom and when. 2. A rrange to observe one or m ore classes in an adult school or ESL literacy instruction in a family, workplace, or c o m m u n in ’ literacy context. Begin with a brief description of the setting, the students, a n d the course content. Note in nonjuclgmental log form at exactly what the teacher does and what the students do for the duration of the class. Write up the log. along with a discussion of the questions on page 181. or o th er questions sou develop with s o u r class. Interview the teacher when feasible. Find out as m uch as possible about the program and the funding and how thev shape instruction. 3. Find examples of teachers and or program s which ■ Have learner input at the classroom level (deciding topics, projects, etc.) ■ Have lea rn er input at the program level (deciding curriculum , approaches, etc.) ■ Offer instruction in students' native lan­ guage literacy ■ Engage in project-based work ■ Proside opportunities for com m unity building am o n g students an d teachers What creates the conditions that enable these programs to engage in promising practices? 4. Im agine that the Paradise F oundation has g ran te d sou unlim ited funds to design a pro­ gram for the target group o f s o u r choice. Identify a group of ESL literacy learners in your community. Provide a description of their n eeds and resources. Describe the ideal program sou would create to m ee t their needs, while tapping their resources.

Partiei/jatory Curriculum Development for Adult LSI. Literary McHenry IF: Delta Ssstems. Inc. and

Center for Applied Linguistics. Crandall. }.. and J. Pevton. eds. 1993. Approaches to Adult ESI. Literacy Inst) action. McHenry 1L: Delta Ssstems. Inc. and Center for Applied Linguistics. Weinstein. G.. ed. 1999. Learners' Lives as Curriculum: Six Journeys to Immigrant Literacy. McHenry II.: Della Systems. Inc. and Center for Applied Linguistics. Wrigles. H. S.. and G. Guth. 2900. BringingI.itmux to Life. Res. ed. San Mateo. CA: Aguirre International.

W E B S IT E S The

National Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education (NCI.L) provides information on adult ESL literacy education to teachers and tutors, program directors, researchers, and polics’inakers interested in the education of refugees, immigrants, and other U.S. residents whose liable language is not English. This site has scores of ERIC Digests. О N As. annotated bibliogra­ phies. and other concise resources for ESI./literacs' educators which can he downloaded for free. http: /www.cal.org/ncle.

The National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) is the host of the Literacy Information and Communication Ss’stem (LINGS), an information retrieval and communication netsvork for the literacy commu­ nity also presiding access to all published and unpublished literacy related materials and major literal's related databases. LINCS hosts several lists and collections, including • the XIEI.-ESL list, which focuses on topics such as instructional practices, program design, research, and policy. http: wvcvv.nifl.gov lines/discussions/ nifl-esl about nifl-esl.html

• the LLXCS Adult ESL Special Collerliou. which provides practitioners with curricular materials and resources, news in the held, and a forum for issues. http:

literacsiiet.org/esl/

• UXCS FIFE Special Collection, which features resources related to Equipped for the Future (EFF). XIFL.'s standards-basecl svstem reform initiative. http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/collections/ e ff/ eff.html

NIFF also archives messages of the National Literacy Advocacv (NLA) list. The focus of this inde­ pendent list, moderated bv David ). Rosen, is national and slate level adult literacy public policy information and advocacy, especially concerning legislation and funding. h ttp : / / w w w . n i f l . g o v / l i n c s / d i s c u s s i o ns nifl-nla/nla.html

The National Center for the Studv of Adult Teaming and Literacy (XCSALL). according to their yvebsite. aims "to help the held of adult basic education define a comprehensive research agenda; to pursue basic and applied research under that agenda: to build partnerships between researchers and practitioners; and to disseminate research and best practices to prac­

titioners. scholars, and policy makers." It con­ tains an on-line version of Focus on Basics, yvhich has many useful articles for practitioners. http: / /gsew eb.harvard.edu/-ncsall

Both the U.S. National Literacy Act of 1991 and the U.S. Adult Education Act of 1991, along with related policy resources, are available online at w w w .nifl.gov/linc/collectio n s/p o licv / resource.html

ENDNO TES 1 I am grateful to Man .Ann Florez, Joy Pevton. Brigitte Marshall. .Amanda Enoch, and Andv Nash for their helpful comments, and to David Rosen for pointing me to several useful resources. Anv yvrongheaded assertions or conceptual errors are strictly mv (jyvn. - CASAS is the acronvm for the Comprehensive Adul: Student Assessment Svstem. BEST is the acronym for the Basic English Skills Test.

Reading for Academic Purposes: Guidelines for the ESL/EFL Teacher W I L L I A M

G R A B E

•

c I E D R W K A

G rabe ana SccLe-fo chapter focuses on reac w

re cx

L.

S T O L L E R

2~d ow cace as the> appb to academic

concextsAne a m o r s c o n e central concepts u" ie r;. "g acacem c readrg ard thee* implications for nstructionA^e'. th e " hgnign: issues concern ng "e ce.e oomem o*’ reading curricula inducing the ana-ys's of re e cs a:fo choosing apoi'opriate texts 5~d materials.T-e-. describe soecfic pwctices that

Dui'd co n erert ?wd e m c c .e "eacmg c o r c o a ,

IN T R O D U C T IO N

Purposes for Reading

\ l a n \ have argued in the past 13 sears that read­ ing is the most im portant academic language skill for second language students. Supporting these claims are several student and facultv sur­ veys at post-secondars- institutions that highlight the im portance of reading lor academic p u r­ poses. In academic settings, reading is assumed to be the central m eans for learning ness infor­ m ation and gaining access to alternative expla­ na tio n s a n d in te rp re ta tio n s . R e ading also provides the foundation for svnthesis and criti­ cal evaluation skills. In addition, reading is the p rim arv m eans for i n d e p e n d e n t learning, w hether the goal is perform ing better on aca­ demic tasks, learning m ore about subject matter, or improving language abilities. In this chapter, eve describe how readingabilities cum be developed and how teachers can guide student learning. The c hapter opens with brief com m ents on the purposes for reading, a definition of reading, and implications for effec­ tive Knglish for Academic Purposes (EAP) read­ ing in stru ctio n . We th en h ig h lig h t m ajor differences in first language (1 .1 ) an d second language (1 .2 ) reading an d consider curricular goals and instructional practices that support reading. The c hapter concludes with ou r views of future trends in L2 reading practices.

W hen we read, we read for a variety o f purposes. We sometimes read to get the main idea but not m uch m ore (e.g.. skimming a newspaper story), an d sometimes we read to locate specific infor­ m ation (e.g.. scanning for a nam e, date, or term ). Commonly we read texts to learn infor­ mation (i.e.. reading to learn), and sometimes we are expected to synthesize inform ation from multiple texts, or from a longer c hapter or book, in o rd e r to take a critical position with respect to that inform ation (i.e.. reading to inte­ grate and evaluate in fo rm a tio n ). Perhaps most often, we read for general co m p re h en sio n (i.e., reading to u n d e rstand main ideas and relevant supporting inform ation). We also read for pleas­ ure. with the intention of being en te rta in ed or informed, but not tested. In academic settings, almost evert m ajor purpose for reading comes into plat. Thus, an EAP reading curriculum must account for how students learn to read for multiple purposes, including at least the reading 1.

to search for information

2.

for general com prehension

3.

to learn new information

4.

to svnthesi/c and evaluate inform ation

Although these purposes might give the impres­ sion that there are very different tuns to read a text, these differing purposes actually d e p e n d on a stable set of processes and skills that underlies all reading, though in differing combinations of relative im portance. Thus, we can still talk about reading in the singular and define it as such, as long as we recognize that processes an d skills com bine in differing wavs d e p e n d in g on the re a d e r’s purpose (Grabe 1999a).

A Definition o f Reading T h e abilitv to r e a d — taking general c o m p r e h e n ­ sion as the exam ple — requires that the reader draw inform ation from a text a n d com bine it with information and expectations that the reader alreadv has. This interaction of information is a com m on wav to explain reading comprehension, though it does not reveal much about the specifics of reading. Recentlv, research on T1 reading has highlighted the n e e d for readers to develop essential reading processes and abilities such as rapid w7o rd recognition, vocabulary develop­ m ent, text-structure awareness, an d strategic re a d in g (as o p p o se d to le a rn in g individual strategies). Yet, all researchers recognize that the actual ability to c o m p re h e n d texts comes about th ro u g h reading, an d doing a great deal o f it, as the core o f reading instruction. A good wav to understand reading is to con­ sider wThat is required for fluent reading (see Grabe 1999b). Fluent readers, especially good Tl readers, typicallv do all of the following: 1. Read rapidly for c o m p rehension 2. Recognize words rapidly a n d automatically (without seem ing to pay any attention to them) 3. Draw on a verv large vocabulary store 4. Integrate text inform ation with their own knowledge 5. Recognize the purpose(s) for reading 6. C o m p re h e n d the text as necessarv 7. Shift purpose to read strategically 8. Use strategies to m o n ito r c o m p rehension 9. Recognize an d repair m iscom prehension 10. Read criticallv a n d evaluate inform ation

Using these characteristics of a fluent rea d e r to create an e x p a n d e d definition of reading reveals the multiple skills a n d strategies that L2 learners n e e d in o rd e r to becom e fluent readers.

General Implications from Research for Reading Instruction Based on these criteria for fluent reading and findings from reading research in Tl and T2 con­ texts. we see ten kev implications for К А Р reading instruction. Basicallv. EAP teachers can addres' the academic reading needs of their students bv doing the following: 1. 2.

3. 4.

5.

6.

7.

8. 9. 10.

H elping students build a large recognition vocabulary Providing explicit language instruction to help students build a reasonable foundation, in the T2 Addressing the range of skills n e e d e d for successful com prehension In troducing students to discourse-organiz­ ing principles th ro u g h the use of graphic representations and o th er practices H elping students becom e strategic reader' bv focusing on metacognitive awarenes' and strategv learning Giving students mane opportunities to rear, so that thcv develop reading fluency and automaticitv Making extensive reading and broad expo­ sure to T2 texts a routine practice, in and out of class M otivating students to read Integrating reading an d writing instruction Developing effective content-based instruc­ tion for authentic integrated-skills tasks

Bevoncl these ten implications is the overarching principle that students becom e better reader' onlv bv doing a lot of reading. There are no short­ cuts. .All researchers agree on this principle.

L 2 Readers and Sociocultural Factors in Learning to Read O u r definition of reading and the implication' for in stru ctio n th a t e m e rgоe fro m curre n t research reveal the complexity of reading and

corresponding instruction. A m ore complete picture of EAP reading requires that we exam ­ ine the differences betw een L I a n d L2 readers and the ways in which these differences influ­ ence instruction. L2 readers generally have weaker linguistic skills and a m ore limited vocab­ ulary than do LI readers. They do n o t have an intuitive foundation in the structures o f the L2. and they lack the cultural knowledge that is sometimes assumed in texts. L2 students nrav also have some difficulties recognizing the wavs in which texts are organized a n d inform ation is presented, leading to possible com p re h en sio n problems. At the same time. L2 students, work­ ing with (at least) two languages, are able to relv on their LI knowledge an d LI reading abilities when such abilities are useful (as opposed to instances when LI knowledge could interfere). O lder academically oriented L2 students typic­ ally (but n o t alwavs) have been successful in learning to read in their LI and know that thev can be successful with academic texts and tasks. L2 students also have certain resources for read­ ing that are potentially strong supports: bilingual dictionaries, word glosses, m ental translation skills, a n d the ability to recognize cognates ' dep e n d in g on the LI and L2). L2 students often come to class with a range of motivations to read that mav be different from many LI students' motivations. Another potential L1/L2 difference stems from students' social and cultural backgrounds. L2 students generally come from a variety of family, social, and cultural backgrounds. Some families read verv little, have few7 reading materials available, and do not encourage in d ependent reading. Some social set­ tings do not encourage reading. Lor example, prior schooling mav not have emphasized read­ ing, o ther community institutions mav not have encouraged reading, and libraries mav have been 'carce or inaccessible. Some cultures an d social groups place m ore emphasis on spoken com m u­ nication for learning, and reading plavs a m ore limited role there. In some cases, educational and religious experiences mar- center m ore on the un q u e stio n e d truth o f powerful texts, lead­ ing to the m em orization of kev text inform ation rather than the evaluation of com peting infor­ mational resources. Because such issues have

the potential to cause problem s for students, teachers n e e d to inform themselves ab o u t these issues and adjust their teaching accordingly to reach as many students as possible. In addition to the varying linguistic and soci­ ocultural factors that distinguish L2 readers from LI readers, differences between ESL and EEL set­ tings are worth mentioning. Prototvpicallv, one thinks of ESL instruction as occurring in an LI English-speaking country, tvpicallv with immi­ grant students in secondary schools and foreign students in post-secondarv settings. In contrast, EFL students mav be sitting in an English class in China. Morocco, or Belgium, learning to read English as part of a four-skills curriculum , with three to six hours of English instruction per week. In ESL and EFL settings such as these, croals for language instruction varv, levels of English proficiency differ, an d expected reading outcom es are likelv to be different. T h e differences in tr o d u c e d h e re plav m ajor roles in establishing goals for reading instruction a n d specifying the levels of reading ability that constitute successful learning in a given curriculum . Each instructional setting defines somewhat different goals for reading achievement, purposes for reading, an d uses of text resources. These are issues that all teachers must be sensitive to a n d that should guide the developm ent of EAP reading curricula.

Goals for an Effective Reading Curriculum In this section, we consider curricular issues that should be relevant across a wide range of EAP settings. We recognize, however, that we cannot anticipate every L2 reading context, and that recom m endations must be adapted to teachers’ individual situations. Nonetheless, we feel that there are at least six im portant goals that should be considered in planning anv e x te n d e d EAP reading curriculum: 1. C onduct needs analyses to in te rp re t institu­ tional goals an d expectations for learning 2. Plan (or fine-tune) reading curricula in rela­ tion to specific goals, topics, texts, an d tasks

3.

Select appropriate text materials and sup­ porting resources 4. Diversify students' reading experiences 5. Work with texts bv m eans of a pre-, during-, and postreading framework 6. Recognize the com plex na tu re of reading th ro u g h m eaningful instruction These goals, discussed in m ore detail in the rem a in d e r of the chapter, offer a m anageable structure for planning effective EAP reading instruction in almost anv setting, t h e n where curricular guidelines are p red e term in e d , explo­ ration of these goals can significantly impact stu­ d e n t learning outcomes.

Conducting Needs Analyses Reading instruction, m uch like anv instruction, needs to take into account institutional expec­ tations in addition to students' goals, language abilities, an d Id and L2 reading experiences, ft is especially im portant to exam ine students' motivations a n d attitudes toward reading in gen­ eral, 1.2 reading m ore specifically, an d the par­ ticular goals of the curriculum (e.g.. topics to be covered, material to be read, m eans for assess­ m ent). In some settings, a certain a m o u n t of inform ation can be collected bv interviewing students’ previous teachers an d bv becom ing acquainted with institutional guidelines, assess­ m e n t expectations, a n d re a d in g resources (including textbooks). Teachers also have a responsibility to gather information about students' goals, prior reading experiences, and attitudes toward 1,2 reading from o th e r sources, most comm only the stu­ dents themselves. O n e quick way to collect use­ ful inform ation is to co n d u c t a short survey and have brief follow-up interviews with students. Questions can focus on how m uch reading stu­ dents have done, what students like to read, what thes have read, an d when thev read their last book and for what reason(s). O th e r ques­ tions can be directed at de te rm in in g how stu­ dents feel about reading an d how successful they perceive themselves to be as readers. Even a simple set of questions gives teachers access to useful inform ation that can be used to plan (or fine-tune) a reading curriculum.

Planning (or Fine-Tuning) Reading Curricula After conducting a needs analysis, the goals of the curriculum can be spelled out (or interpreted) it. m ore detail. Because there are mans possible goals for a reading curriculum, curricular priori­ ties need to be determ ined based on institutional goals, n u m b e r of hours of instruction per week available resources, and students' abilities, needs and interests. (See Johns and Price-Machado c hapter in this volume.) Regardless of the n um ­ ber of student contact hours, all reading curric­ ula should focus on com prehension of key text' but thee m ight also emphasize extensive react­ ing. the developm ent of strategic reading. .. large increase in students' recognition vocabu­ laries. greater fluency in reading, svstematn analyses of difficult material, an d the study < : discourse-organization features. .After goals am priorities are determ ined, texts a n d topics car. be selected and tasks designed, with an evtowarcl creating a m eaningful, motivating, an: challenging curriculum.

Selecting Appropriate Text Materials and Supporting Resources A reading curriculum is heavilv d e p e n d e n t o: the reading materials used: T he choice of pr marv texts and textbooks, supporting resource' an d classroom library materials have a m a j t . impact on students' motivations to read an. their e n g a g em e n t with texts. Text material should c o m plem ent students' intellectual levelan d be at appropriate levels of difficulty; po ten ­ tial sources of difficulty for L2 readers incluciassum ed b a c k g ro u n d know ledge, culltuv. assumptions, d e m a n d in g topics, grammatica complexitv. length of texts, new conceptua knowledge, organization, unusual formatting an d vocabulary. T h e text materials selected fee EAP settings should be interesting a n d coher­ ently linked (e.g., by topics, tasks, and overa. themes) to simulate the dem ands of academi: courses. Text materials a nd lessons should buif in a degree of complexity th ro u g h the introduc­ tion of new. though related, inform ation and

differing perspectives so that students feel some challenge and base the opportunity to develop smne expertise an d pride in what thev are learn­ ing. Ideallv. free-reading materials should be easily accessible, plentiful, attractive, an d avail­ able for learner use bevond class time (Dav and Bamford 1998).

Diversifying Students’ Reading Experiences Effective reading instruction should not be limited to activities done in the classroom. .Vn ideal read­ ing curriculum comprises reading in class, in a lab (see Stoller 1994a). in a library, and at hom e, in addition to reading for different purposes. As noted earlier, reading can develop successfully only if'students read a large am ount of material. A major task of a reading curriculum, then, is to guide students in doing as much reading as pos­ sible in the am ount of time available. Silent read­ ing should be part of even reading lesson: extended silent reading should be a major com ­ p o n e n t of reading labs and libran visits, and stu­ dents must be encouraged to read at home.

Working with Texts by Means of a Pre-, During-, and Postreading Framework If the heart of learning to read is the act of read­ ing itself, then the heart of reading instruction is the set of tasks that students engage in to achieve learning goals. Countless instructional tasks are used in reading classes (Dav 1994): some are m ore effective than others. Teachers" choices should be guided bv instructional goals, student readiness, text resources, and implications from research and theory. O ne m ajor implication from theory is a general framework based on pre-, during-, and postreading instruction (see Stoller 1994b. for practical applications). Premiding instnu lion can serve live im portant purposes. It helps students access background information that can facilitate subsequent read­ ing, provides specific information n e e d e d for successful c om prehension, stimulates student

interest, sets up student expectations, and models strategies that students can later use on their own. Some com m only used p re re a d in g activities include the following: 1.

2.

3.

4. 5.

Previewing the text (bv examining distin­ guishing features of the text such as the title, subheadings, illustrations and captions, and sections) to determ ine (or at least hypothe­ size) the general topic of the reading, rele­ vant vocabulary, and possible challenges Skimming the text or portions of the text (e.g.. the first and last paragraphs) to decide what the main ideas of the text are Answering questions about inform ation in the text or form ulating questions for which students want answers Exploring kev vocabulary Reflecting on or reviewing inform ation from previously read texts in light of the topic of the new text

I)un ng-icnding instruction guides students th ro u g h the text, often focusing on u n d e rs ta n d ­ ing difficult concepts, m aking sense of complex sentences, c o n s id e rin g rela tio n sh ip s a m o n g ideas or characters in the text, a n d l eading pu r­ posefully and strategically. Some com m only used dttring-reading activities include the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

O utlining or summ arizing kev ideas in a dif­ ficult section Exam ining emotions and attitudes of kev characters D eterm ining sources of difficulty an d seek­ ing clarification Looking for answers to questions posed du rin g prereading activities Writing down predictions of what will come next

Poslrcuding instruction tvpicallv extends ideas and information from the text while also ensur­ ing that the major ideas and supporting informa­ tion are well understood. Postreading activities often require students to use text information in other tasks (e.g.. reading to write). Some com ­ monly used postreading activities are 1.

C om pleting a graphic organizer (e.g., table, chart, grid) based on text inform ation

3. 4. 5.

Expanding or changing a semantic m ap created earlier Listening to a lecture and com paring infor­ m ation from the text an d the lecture Ranking the importance of information in the text based on a set of sentences provided Answering questions that dem onstrate com ­ prehension of the text, require the applica­ tion of text material, d e m a n d a critical stance on text information, or oblige stu­ dents to connect text information to per­ sonal experiences and opinions

T h e pre-, during-, a n d postreading fram e­ work described here is easily ada p te d to differ­ ent classroom contexts. All three c o m ponents of the framework m a t be integrated into a single lesson (with a short reading passage on a famil­ iar topic) or thev ntav run across n u m erous les­ sons. T h e activities in tro d u c ed in the upcom ing sections of this c hapter can also be integrated into the pre-, during-, and postinstructional framework.

Addressing the Complex Nature o f Reading through Meaningful Instruction R eading is a complex skill— as d e m onstrated bv o u r definition of reading, the abilities of fluent readers, a n d the mans purposes for which we read. Meaningful LAP reading instruction can account for this complexity bv addressing the following: vocabulary d e v e lo p m e n t, careful read in g of texts, awareness of text structure and discourse org an iz atio n , the ttse o f graph ic organizers to support com prehension, strategic reading, fluency developm ent, extensive rea d ­ ing, student motivation, a n d integrated-skills tasks. Because it is virtually impossible to develop each and even area with equal intensity, reading teachers need to decide which areas to focus m ore attention on, while n o t losing sight of the prim ary m eans for rea d in g developm ent: Students n e e d to read extensively. Vocabulary D evelopm ent T here is overwhelm­ ing evidence that vocabulary know ledge is closelv related to reading abilities Schoonert,

Hulstijn. and Bossers 1998). Students need t< recognize a hu ge n um ber of words automatical!' if thev are to be fluent readers. Some part o: rapid word recognition skills comes from reading extensively and learning new words while read­ ing. However, reading bv itself does not provide full support for vocabulary developm ent. I: addition to reading extensively, students bene: from being exposed to new words throng:, explicit instruction, learning how to learn word' on their own. familiarizing themselves with the), own word-learning processes, and becom iru word collectors (see (.rates 2000: Stahl 1999 (See also D eC arrico’s c hapter in this volume.) With so m am worth for students to learn. . teacher needs to decide how mans and wliic: words to focus on. Inexperienced teachers me have difficulties selecting kev words for institu ­ tion. Rev words themselves should be the mo-' im portant words for a text, the most useful f organizing and working with o ther vocabulary and the most likelv to be helpful to studen:bevond the text being read. Often textbookhighlight specific words for instruction; howeve: there m ar be o ther words that need attention. useful approach for teachers is to preview' tlw text to be assigned and identify words likelv to bunlam iliar to their students. Words should bplaced in one of three categories: 1. 2.

3.

+ + : Words that are critical for compre­ h e n d in g the text and useful in other setting+ - : (Voids that are necessary for com pre­ h e n d in g the text, hut not particularly use­ ful in o th er contexts - - : Words that are not necessary f e c o m p re h e n d in g the text, n o r particular'.' useful in o th er contexts

Words that fall into the + + and + - cate­ gories should he considered for direct instruc­ tion. Vet. when texts are difficult for students. . teacher m ight identify 40 to 50 words in these two categories. I he problem here is that trying to teach a large n u m b e r of words directly at am one time is not an effective teaching strategy. Ir. am given lesson, it is m ore efficient to locus or. four to five kev words, because that n u m b e r o: words is likeh to be learned and re m e m b e re d i:

used multiple times a n d in multiple wavs. Mam of the o th er useful an d im portant words in a text can be built into exercises a n d activities (e.g\. sem antic maps, tables, word families) an d explored as p a n of discussions about the text and what the text means. Icleallv, kev words can be used to build tip sets of related words. For example, the word comj)uter can bring up words such as monitor, electricity, software, printers, calculators, robots, e-mail. Internet, pro g ra m ­ ming. writing, and graphics. A semantic m ap­ ping activity mat place all of these words on a blackboard just bv association with the keyword. In this wav. students gain exposure to o ther words without treating each one as a ke\ word. Manv words that are difficult for students mav be u n c o m m o n , specialized, u n im p o rta n t for the text, or a nam e or place word. These can be addressed simple b\ providing glosses, good svnonvms. or practice in guessing word m ea n ­ ings from context. More generally', teachers and students need to keep words active in the class­ room environm ent through explicit instruction (see Figure 1 ) and the intentional recycling of words, an d bv putting words on walls (see Evraucl et al. 2000) and in notebooks, and incor­ porating them into larger learning projects. Analysis of word parts Associations Cognate awareness Definitions Dictionary activities

Students can also be taught how to learn words on their own, using, for example, a dic­ tionary. yvorcl-part information, and context clues. Students can be encouraged to take responsibility for their oyvn yvord learning by collecting words from texts (perhaps on index cards), recycling vocabulary from past texts, discussing words that they like, experim enting with yvords that have m ore than one meaning, and bringing neyv words to class to share with classmates. Careful Reading o f Texts In academic settings, the careful reading of texts is a c o m m o n task, one that requires readers to dem onstrate a good un d e rsta n d in g of details in the text, to learn inform ation from it. an d to use that inform ation for o th e r tasks. In FAP classrooms, careful read­ ing activities typically center on questions that ask students to recognize main ideas an d analyze supporting information, argum ents, or details that explain the main ideas. Activities that require careful reading often focus on unravel­ ing inform ation in long an d com plex sentences, de te rm in in g e m b e d d e d definitions, exploring inferences that connect sets of inform ation, dis­ tinguishing m ore im p o rta n t ideas from less im portant ones, exam ining the discourse struc­ ture of parts of the text, a n d using text inform a­ tion for o th er activities (e.g.. filling in a table, writing a summary, com paring inform ation from one text yvith an o th er). Many of the postreading activities listed earlier can be used to p rom ote careful reading; others include the folloyving: 1.

Discussion of word meanings Flashcards

2.

Games Illustrations, drawings, realia

3.

Matching meanings and collocations Mnemonic techniques Parts of speech tables Semantic mapping and semantic grids Synonyms and antonyms W ord family exercises Figure I. Sampling o f Explicit V o cab u lary Teaching Techniques

4.

Filling in parts left blank in an e x tended summary D eterm ining the attitude of the yvriter, the in te n d e d audience, an d the goal(s) of the writer and identify ing clues in the text Lasting examples that ap p e ar in the text, adding o th er p e rtin en t examples to the list, an d explaining one's reasons for doing so M atching inform ation or evaluating possi­ ble true false statements

In carrying out careful reading activities, there are some im portant guidelines to keep in mind. If a text is too difficult for students, additional support should be provided by, for example, putting students into groups to work out

answers together. A second option is to provide Mime of the an steers (and review strategies for how other questions can be answered), thereby m aking the re m a in d e r of the task easier. Students, when reporting answers or working on tasks, should occasionallv be asked to explain how thev arrived at their answers and point out where the\' found kev information in the text. These confirming activities, though often quite timeconsuming, help students sharpen their strategies for careful reading, give teachers insights into how texts are understood, and provide op p o rtu ­ nities for discussions about strategic reading. Awareness o f Text Structure and Discourse Organization Students in academic settings are often expected to learn new information from difficult texts. It is im portant that L2 students do not becom e confused bv the larger organization of the texts (e.g.. comparison-contrast, problemsolution, narrative sequences, and classification) and features of different genres (e.g.. newspaper stories, letters to the editor, "how-to" proce­ dures). A consistent effort to guide students to see the wavs that texts are structured will help th e m build s tro n g e r c o m p r e h e n s io n skills. Activities that fonts spedficallv on the wavs in which discourse is organized and on specific aspects of text structure (e.g.. transition phrases, words that signal patterns of text organization, pronoun references, headings, and subheadings) are often part of exercises that emphasize careful reading. Some of these activities use graphic organizers (discussed in the next section of this chapter), but there are mane o ther tuns to explore discourse organization and text structure: 1. 2.

3.

4.

5.

IdentilYing the sentences that ccmvev the main ideas of the text Exam ining headings and subheadings in a text and then deciding what each section is about Adding inform ation to a partiallv com plet­ ed outline until all kev supporting ideas are included U nderlining transition phrases and. when thev signal m ajor sections of the text, describing what the next section covers Explaining what a set of p ro n o u n s refers to in prior text

6. 7. 8.

9.

Examining an inaccurate outline an d adjust­ ing it so that it is correct Reorganizing a scrambled paragraph and discussing textual clues used for decisions Creating headings for a set o f paragraphs in the text, giving a label to each, an d dis­ cussing die function of each paragraph. Identilving clues that indicate m ajor pat­ terns of organization (e.g.. cause-effect, comparison-contrast, analvsis)

These text-analvsis activities, as rep re sen ­ tative samples of a larger set, help students u n d erstand that texts have larger patterns of organization bevond the sentence. Students benefit from being aware of these patterns w hen thev read for academic purposes. U se o f Graphic Organizers to Support Compre­ hension and Discourse Organization Awareness An effective was to e a rn out reading instruction that focuses on careful reading c o m prehension and discourse organization is th rough the use of graphic organizers (i.e.. visual representations of text inform ation). T he main goal of graphic rep­ resentations is to assist students in c o m p r e h e n d ­ ing difficult texts. B\ using graphic organizers, students are able to see the kev inform ation in a text, the organization of text inform ation, the tuns that information is structured, a n d rela­ tionships am ong ideas presented in a text or a portion of a text. Graphic organizers are some­ times generic: at other times, thev are tied to spe­ cific patterns of text organization. For example, outlines and semantic maps can be used across a large n u m b e r of texts regardless of the wav they are organized. As graphic representations, simple lines are versatile too. allowing students, for example, to chart events chronologicalh or rank characters' opinions on a continuum (Mach and Stoller 1997). Grids (or matrices) lend th e m ­ selves nicelv to com parison and contrast texts. Texts with causes and effects can be represented in two-column grids, but thev can also be char­ acterized bv a series of unidirectional or bidirec­ tional arrows, indicating causes and effects. A classification text (e.g., about different types of whales) m ight be sketched out with m ajor cate­ gories to one side an d descriptors across the top, with details in c o rresponding cells.

Graphic organizers com e in many shapes and sizes (e.g.. Grabe 1997; Parks an d Black 1990. 1992: and websites listed at the e n d ok this chapter). But not all graphics work with all texts. Thus, the te a c h e r n e e d s to rea d over the assigned text carefully and d e term ine what types of graphic representations will assist students and what kinds of graphics-related activities will e nhance learning and com prehension. There are manv options for teaching with graphic rep­ resentations. including: 1.

2.

3.

Using a circle with arrows flowing in a cir­ cular direction to show an iterative process described in a text Using a Venn diagram to highlight differ­ ences an d similarities between characters, places, events, or issues in a text Using a flowchart to trace events or steps in a process highlighted in a text

Activities such as these tire effective means to help students improve their reading comprehension. Strategic Reading A m ajor goal for academic reading instruction is the developm ent of strate­ gic readers (rather than the disconnected teach­ ing o f read in g strategies). Strategic leaders u n d erstand the goals of a reading activity, have a range of well-practiced reading strategies at their disposal, apply them in efficient combinations, m onitor com prehension appropriately, recog­ nize m iscom prehension, and repair c o m p r e h e n ­ sion problem s effectively. Strategic readers make use of a wide repertoire of strategies in com bi­ nation ra th e r than in isolated applications. Commonly used strategies include ■

Previewing a text

■ ■

Predicting what will come later in a text Summarizing

■ *

Learning new wot els th ro u g h the analysis of word stems a n d affixes Using context to m aintain com prehension

**

Recognizing text organization

• ■ я

G e nerating a p p ropriate questions about the text Clarifying text m eaning Repairing m iscom prehension

T h e d e v e lo p m en t of strategic readers requires a com m itm ent to teaching strategies. The introduction of strategies, their practice, and their uses should be part of even lesson. Indeed, it is not difficult to talk about strategies m class if everv session requires reading, focuses on text com prehension, and includes discussions about the text and how it is understood (see Ja n ze n and Stoller 1998). Ultimately, the goal is to develop (a) fairlv autom atic routines that work to resolve m ore general reading c o m p re ­ hension difficulties and (b ) a m ore elaborate set of problem-solving strategies that can be used when routine strategies do not work well. O ne instructional approach that is particu­ larly effective is known as Transactional Strategies Instruction (TSI) (Presslev 1998). TSI is tvpicallv characterized bv the following tenets: 1. 2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Strategy instruction requires a long-term com m itm ent from teachers. Teachers explain and model effective com ­ prehension strategies. Tvpicallv onlv a few are emphasized at am time. The teacher coaches students to use strategies as needed. Minilessons are О mven about when it is appropriate to tise certain strategies. Teachers and students m odel uses of strate­ gies for one another, explaining aloud what strategies thev are using. T he usefulness of strategies is emphasized continually and students are re m in d ed fre­ quently about the benefits of strategy tise. Issues of when an d where to use strategies are discussed regularly. Strategy instruction is included in discus­ sions about text com prehension, focusing on not onlv what the text might mean but also how students come to understand infor­ mation in the text.

A similar approach, known as (hiestioniug the Author, centers on the internalization of com pre­ hension strategies through discussion focused on texts and their meanings (see Beck et al. 1997). T he goal of making every student a strategic reader is central to academic reading instruction. All reading instruction should be tied to reading strategies, their development, and their use in

effective combinations. For any approach to strategy developm ent, students n e e d to be intro­ duced to only a few strategies at a time. Each strategy should be discussed, explained, and m odeled. From that point on, the strategies should be rein troduced on a continual basis th ro u g h teacher rem inders, discussions, wall charts, student modeling, and student explana­ tions. Certain strategies, such as summarizing, stiggesl multiple activities. It is c om m on practice to ask students to summarize a short text verballv. In instructional contexts where reading and writ­ ing are combined, summarizing takes on a larger role, integrating the two skills and leading to m ore d e m anding types of writing tasks. Aside from discussions centered on text com prehension and strategv awareness, an o th e r a p p ro a c h to b uilding strategic c o m p e ten c e involves “elaborative interrogation.” This instruc­ tional approach involves the addition of “whv” questions to class discussions, after students have answered com prehension questions. The “why” questions oblige students to explain their answers and specifv where the text protides appropriate support. Fluency D evelopm ent O n e o f the m ost neg­ lected aspects of L2 reading instruction is the developm ent of reading fluency, even though research stronglv argues that fluency is one of the central foundations for efficient reading. Fluency involves rapid and automatic word recognition, the ability to recognize basic grammatical infor­ mation, an d the rapid combination of word meanings an d structural information to create larger m eaning units. There are a n u m b e r of rea­ sons whv fluencv instruction is not prom oted in L2 settings: 1.

2.

Reading fluency depends on knowing a fairlv large n u m b e r of words so that a rea d ­ ing task itself is n o t too difficult. Manv L2 students do not recognize a large n u m b er of words quickly or easily, so thev are verv slow at initial efforts in fluency training. However, the best way to develop these skills h through methodical training in reading fluencv. Teachers sometimes feel that iluer.cv n am ­ ing is too m echanical a n d not relevant to reading com p re h en sio n instruction. O ther

3.

4.

teachers question the benefits of fluencv training because it requires a long-term co m m itm en t a n d students’ reading gain' are not immediatelv obvious. However, the developm ent of rapid a n d autom atic recog­ nition of words is an essential com ponent o f skilled reading com prehension. Fluencv training often involves readm e aloud an d manv teachers believe that the' should never prom ote reading aloud iit class. However, fluencv training is one of the areas in which oral reading is a helpful sup­ port for reading development. Teachers are topically given few guideline' for building reading fluencv into reading curricula. T here are, however, a n u m b e r o: wavs to pro m o te fluency without requiring a significant investment in resources.

Fluencv activities— classified here as activi­ ties that develop overall fluencv, rate, and wort, rec o g n itio n — can be in c o r p o r a te d into ait reading program regularly. Extensive reading (discussed m ore fullv in the next section) heh: students in all three areas. Activities that speci: cally target overall fluency include rere a d im practice a n d re re a d in g for o th e r purpose Activities that p ro m o te reading rate induct tim ed readings and paced readings. Activitiethat develop rapid recognition skills incluch word-recognition exercises, flashcard practice te a c h e r reacl-aloucls (with stu d e n ts re a d im along silently), an d rereading practice. Student benefit from hearing about the advantages such activities a n d the n e e d to work on the: consistentlv to see long-range improvementT h e use of progress charts assists students :: visualizing their gradual im provem ent. O n e pan ticular advantage o f most fluency activities is tht they take on a gamelike qualitv as students wo: • against themselves rather than com pete wit. o th e r students. (See Anderson 1999; Samue.Schermer, an d Reinking 1992.) Rereading practice involves reading alou an d should be done with texts that students cat read without great difficultv or that have alreac been read and used for c om prehension activitieTypicallv— though there are manv variations— Uvo students work together. The first studeti

reads aloud from the beginning of a text while the second student keeps time an d helps with anv difficulties. After o n e m inute, the first stu­ d e n t stops a n d marks the place in the text where he or she stopped. T h e students may make a few very quick com m ents on the difficulties e n c o u n ­ tered. T h e n thee switch roles. T h e second stu­ de n t reads from the beginning of the same text for one m inute while the first student keeps time a n d helps with anv difficulties. After one minute, the second student stops and marks the stopping point in the text. Thev switch roles again. At this point, the first student starts reading from the beginning of the text again for one m inute with the goal of moving bevoncl his or h e r first stop­ ping point. T h e second student again keeps time an d helps if needed. The process is repeated for the second student. The students then note how many additional words thev read the second time through the text and note their gains on a chart. R ereading texts for new purposes provides a n o th e r option for general fluencv. .After read­ ing a text for com p re h en sio n purposes, a text m at- be rere a d to decide what the author's p u r ­ pose is, to fill in a chart, or to com pare the infor­ m ation with a n o th e r source of inf orm ation (e.g.. a new text, a text read earlier in the course, or. for that matter, a video or lecture). In all forms of rereading, the goal is to give students enough time to actuallv read the text again, rather than simple skim the text to com plete the follow-up exercise. Wh en students reread a text that thev are alreadv familiar with, thev often read m ore fluently, with h igher rates of com prehension, thereby getting the feel for m ore fluent reading. They also extend their reading experiences bv reading for different purposes. Reading rates can be directly improved through two c o m m o n techniques: tim ed rea d ­ ings an d paced readings. In timed readings, stu­ dents time themselves while reading a passage (typically not very difficult and of a reasonable length) from start to finish. Tim ed readings are usually followed bv a set o f fairlv simple c o m p re ­ hension questions that can be answered and scored quickly. T h e results of timed readings are e n tered o n a progress chart so that gradual gains in reading rate and com prehension are notice­ able to students. Tim ed readings, w hen used as

part of a rate developm ent program , n e e d to be a consistent activity th ro u g h o u t the semester or r ear, usually once or twice a week. In this way, the cumulative practice leads to rate improvements as well as overall reading fluencv (sec Frv 2000). Paced readings work on the same principle but oblige students to read at a specified pace (e.g.. 120 words p e r m inute) rath e r than at their own pace. Tvpicallv. paced readings are shorter than tim ed readings, ab o u t 400 words in length (though shorter passages can also be used for tim ed readings). Passages are o f a consistent length, with marks of some sort (e.g., a check car dot) in the m argin to indicate e v e n 1 100-word segment. Thus, a 400-word text would have three marks, the first indicating the first 100 words, the second indicating the second 100 words, an d so forth. In a paced reading, students are directed to read at a pace specified (and m aintained) by the teacher. Fear example, at 100 wpnt, students would h e a r a signaling noise (e.g., a light tap can the desk bv the teacher) at regular intervals, in this case even- 60 seconds, indicating that they should either be at the first m ark or move down to the first mark and continue reading front that point. W hen the signal is repeated again, at the next in crem en t of time, students move to the second m ark if thev have n o t vet reached it. Again, simple com p re h en sio n questions ap p e ar after the text is completed. After answers are corrected, students enter results on a graph. Because paced readings are com pleted m ore quicklv than timed readings, two or three are usu­ ally done in a row. sometimes with carving paces (e.g.. the first at 150 wpnr. the second at 1 1 0 wpm, and the third at 120 wpm). f \ 1 ten students are familiar with the process, it is carried cant quickly and three paced readings can be finished in less than 20 minutes. (See Spargo 1989, 1998; Stoller 1994a.) A n o th e r wav to develop reading fluencv is th ro u g h practice in word recognition u n d e r lime pressure. W ord-recognition exercises gen­ erally involve a set of about 20 key words or phrases down the left-hand side of a page, each one followed bv a row of four or five words — one of which is identical to the key word, whereas the others are similar in shape or are m orphological

variations o f the keyword (see Figure 2). Students are asked to work as quickie as possible to mark the exact match for each kcv word. Upon com ­ pletion, students check their work and record the n u m b e r correct and the time spent on a chart. Tvpicallv, a word-recognition lesson includes three consecutive 20-word exercises and will take no m ore than 7-10 minutes total after students understand what is expected o f them. (See Stoller 1993 for suggestions on creating recognition exercises and using them in ( lass. ) Two o ther activities for improving the speed of word recognition involve (a) the use of flashcards for sets of keywords that appear in readings for the week and (b) teacher read-alouds. Flashcard practice mat' seem t e n traditional, but recent research has shown that it works for fluency pu r­ poses (Nicholson and Tan 1999). Teacher and students make up 20 cards per text, and for 7-10 minute intervals, the teacher works with the class, or pait's of students work together, to read words aloud that are Hashed t e n quicklv. usually within one second. This flashcard practice should be done once or twice per text, or two to three times per week if time permits. Words that cause ongo­ ing difficulty should be recorded in a notebook to be studied and used at later times in student pairs. Extensive Reading Extensive reading, the prac­ tice of reading large amounts of text for extended periods of time, should be a central c o m ponent of am' course with the goal of building academic reading abilities. T he sustained silent reading of level-appropriate texts is the single best overall activity that students can engage in to improve their reading abilities, though it is not sufficient by itself for an effective reading program . The point is simple. O n e does not becom e a good reader unless one reads a lot (see Anderson 1996; Ellev 1991). Extensive reading, however, is

npicallv not prom oted in 1.2 reading courses. Teachers sometimes do not feel that thev are teaching when students are reading silently in class: the\ think that extensive reading is some­ thing that should onh be do n e tit hom e. Sometimes there are limited re-sources for good class or school libraries. In some cases, schools have resources but thev do not include books that interest students or thev do not allow students to check out books to be read at home. There are cases in which teachers do not believe that reading large am ounts of level-appropriate text is an appropriate goal for academic-reading develop­ ment. Finally, some teachers would like to invoke their students in extensive reading but do not know how to incorporate it into their lessons. There tire several wavs to engage students in extensive reading, both in and out of class. We recogni/e that not everv teacher has access to all possible resources for extensive reading, no r do thev have unlimited time in their reading course' to prom ote as m uch extensive reading as should occur. Below we list ideal conditions for extensive reading, though we expect that am teacher car. pursue onh a subset of them. 1.

2.

Provide time for e x tended silent reading in everv class session, even if it onh' involve' reading from the textbook Create opportunities for all tvpes of reading

3.

Find out what students like to read and win

4.

Make in teresting, attractive, a n d levelappropriate reading materials available Build a well-stocked, diverse class librar. with clear indications of topic an d level o: difficulty for each text Allow students to take books and magazine' hom e to read, and hold students account­ able for at-home reading in some simple vuv

5.

6.

Key word 1. direct

directs

donate

direct

detect

desire

2. trial 3. through

cruel

serial

trail

trial

frail

through

though

thorough

borough

thought

F ig u re

1.

S a m p le W o r d - R e c c g " :

E x e rc is e F o r m a t

7.

8. 9. 10.

11.

12. 13. 14.

Create incentives for students to read at hom e Have students share and re c o m m e n d read­ ing materials to classmates Keep records of the am ounts of extensive reading com pleted bv students Seek out class sets of texts (or at least group sets) that evervone can read a n d discuss Make use of g raded readers, provided that thev interest students, are attractive, create sufficient challenge, a n d offer a good am o u n t of extensive reading practice Read interesting materials aloud to stu­ dents on a consistent basis Visit the school librarv regularlv an d set aside time for browsing an d reading C reate a reading lab and designate time for lab activities

There are a n u m b er of specific instructional practices to consider when engaging students in extensive reading. In-class extensive reading is most often carried out bv giving students 10-15 minutes of silent reading time. During this time, students mav read a class reader: read a book or magazine of their choice while the teacher circu­ lates to answer questions and offer assistance (free-reading): or engage in sustained silent reading (SSR). In SSR. the teacher does not cir­ culate; rather he or she reads silentlv th roughout the entire SSR period, serving as a role model of an engaged reader. (The teacher should not grade papers or plan future lessons during this time.) Students need to see that teachers reallv do read and that thev enjov it. After an u n in te r­ rupted SSR period, the teacher an d students should take a m inute or two to share ideas or make recom m endations about their reading. Students may be asked to keep a simple log of what an d how manv pages thev read so that a record of reading is built up over time. In SSR periods, there should be no evaluation, no instruction, and no interruptions. Extensive reading, m uch like any new rou­ tine, is e nhanced when the teacher discusses the goals with students and helps students find inter­ esting a n d readable materials. T h e tea c h e r should recognize that extended free-reading time or SSR mav generate resistance from certain stu­ dents. Over a n u m b e r of sessions, with support

from the teacher, students will becom e engaged and even look forward to extensive reading. Teachers also n e e d to u n d e rsta n d that extensive reading is n o t an occasional end-of-the-week, or end-of-the-dav “reward." It is fu n d am e n ta l to the developm ent o f fluent reading abilities. If p u r­ sued as an instructional goal, it must be do n e consistentlv or students will not believe the teacher's rationale. Extensive reading at school should be cou­ pled with extensive reading at hom e, with as m uch reading as students can be persu a d e d to do. At a m inim um , the books an d magazines read at h o m e should be discussed in class, with re c o m m e n d a tio n s m a d e to o t h e r students. T h e re should also be an ongoing log of what is read, how long the student read, a n d how manv pages were covered; this log should be checked regularlv bv the teacher. (See Dav and Bamlord 1998 for advice on prom oting extensive reading.) Student Motivation Motivation is a n o th e r kev to successful reading, one that is tvpicallv ignored in discussions of reading instruction. T h e m is. Iron ev er, a significant bodv of research that argues that motivation has an im portant impact on reading developm ent. Motivation is a com plex concept with manv associated notions (e.g.. interest, involvement, self-concept, sclfefficacv). We discuss motivation here (following Guthrie et al. 1999) as an individual trait, related to a person's goals an d beliefs, that is observed though task persistence and positive feelings toward an activitv. The kev idea for teachers is that motivation makes a real difference in stu­ dents' reading development, and teachers need to consider how to motivate students to engage as activelv as possible with class texts and in extensive reading. T h e re are a n u m b e r of wavs to develop pos­ itive motivation to read. First a n d foremost, teachers should discuss the im portance of read­ ing and the reasons for different activities used in class. Second, teachers need to talk about what interests them as read ers a n d why. Students are often surprised to learn about what a n d whv their teachers like to read. Likewise, teachers should invite students to share interests with classmates. Third, all class activities should be related to course goals to which students have

b e e n introduced. Fourth, all reading tasks (short and m ore extended) should have lead-ins (i.e., prereading activities) that develop initial interest. Fifth, teachers need to build their students' knowledge base so that students can manage complex ideas and develop a level of expertise on some topics. Sixth, teachers need to select texts an d adapt activities with students' reading abili­ ties an d the inherent difficulties of the reading passages in mind. Seventh, teachers should nu r­ ture “a com m unin' of learners" am ong students, thcrebv ensuring that students learn to relv on each o ther cl’fectivelv while working through complex tasks and associated reading materials. Finally, teachers need to look for wavs to help students e n c o u n te r "flow" in their reading. Flow is a concept (developed bv the psvchologist Csikszentmihalvi [1990]) that describes optimal experiences. People e n c o u n te r flow when thev are engaged fullv in activities in which their growing skills m atch well with task challenges. Commonlv, the tasks have w ell-defined goals, the m ea n s for d e te r m in in g success are d e a t h understood, a n d the achievement of success is not east but is possible. People h a tin g How expe­ riences typicallv lose track of time, do not get distracted, and lose ant sense of personal p ro b ­ lems. Csikszentmihalvi has consistently fo und (across many studies and h u n d red s of inter­ views) that a prim arv wav to e n c o u n te r flow is bv becom ing engaged in reading. Thus, flow expe­ riences lead students to seek out reading as an optim al experience, resulting in intrinsic m oti­ vation to read regularlv.

reading, writing, an d academic skills. T he m ost obvious a n d generic options — such as summary writing, rep o rt writing, and o u tlin in g — should not be downplavecl as too traditional. T h e re is clear evidence that summary writing an d outlin­ ing. w hen taught well, improve both reading an d writing abilities (Grabe 2001). A n u m b e r of o th er writing activities can be developed from read in g resources:

Integrated-Skills Instruction In academic set­ tings, a c o m m o n expectation of reading is that it is used to e a rn out fu rth e r language- and content-learning tasks, most topically in c o n n e c ­ tion with writing activities, th o u g h listening and speaking activities m a t also be linked to reading. A lth o u g h integrated-skills activities take on greater significance as students move to higher language proficiencv levels, a goal for EAP cur­ ricula should be the use of reading as a resource for integrated-skills tasks. Taking reading and writing as a primary example, there are manv wavs in wTiich these skills can be integrated and serve the developm ent of

6.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

7.

Students keep journals in which reactions to readings are rec orded a n d elaborated upon. Teachers collect journals periodically and add comm ents. Students keep double-entrv notebooks in which thev summarize text ideas o f particu­ lar significance on one side of the page. In later rereadings, students (and the teacher) write additional com m ents on the opposite side of the page. Students write a simple response to some prom pt (e.g.. a minilecture, an object, a short video clip, a quick skim of the text to be read) to prepare themselves for the upcom ing reading. Students create graphic organizers to iden­ tify main ideas from the text, restructure inform ation, or com pare content from cari­ ous texts. Students then write an explanation or critique of the reading(s) based on the graphic organizer. Students connect new texts to previously read texts through speed writes, graphic organ­ izers, or discussions. Students d e term ine the author's point of view in a text and then adopt a different point of view (not necessarily opposing). Thee develop the alternative point of view th rough an outline an d consultation with o th e r resources, an d then write a critique of the text a n d the author's viewpoint. Students make a list of ideas from the text, prioritize the list bv level of im portance, get into groups a n d prioritize a group list, an d th en develop a visual representation of their response (in the form of, for example, a dia­ gram. outline, o r figure) to be shared with classmates.

T here are additional reasons for centering EAP reading instruction within an integratedskills framework. Aside from the authenticitv of integrated-skills activities for advanced students, integrated activities op en up valuable o p p o r tu ­ nities for extensive reading (during which stu­ dents search for ad d itio n a l in fo rm a tio n i. F urtherm ore, integrated-skills activities engage students in complex tasks that co m p le m e n t their academic goals and require strategic responses. Finally, students inevitable learn a considerable am o u n t of connected, coherent, and stimulating content knowledge from complex integrated tasks. T he resulting masters of a topic and sense of expertise often motivate them to learn even more. T he most logical extension, then, from a reading course with integrated-skills activities is a reading course centered on a content- and language-learning foundation. In this wav. aca­ demic reading instruction leads naturallv into various tvpes of content-based instruction.

C O N C L U S IO N This chapter has outlined com ponents of effec­ tive academic reading instruction. W hen looking across the range of com ponents ivocabularv. fluenev, strategies, graphic representations, exten­ sive reading, etc.), a natural response might be to say that all of these ideas cannot possible lit into a reading course that is coherent and focused. Yet. over the past 20 vears. we have become firmlv con­ vinced that all of these com ponents can be draw n together coherentlv and effectivelv in an appropriatelv developed content-based instruction approach. (There is. wc must add. nothing magi­ cal about content-based instruction: it needs to be g rounded in the criteria discussed above, just like anv other program or course in reading.) In a content-based approach to reading, one can assume that reading multiple sources of inform ation will be the norm and that there will be many opportunities for m eaningful extensive reading. Yocabularv instruction should grow in complexitv an d there will be ongoing o p p o rtu ­ nities to rec e d e vocabularv as students explore sets of related c ontent material. Similarly, there will be m am occasions to reread texts for new tasks, for new inform ation, for comparisons, and

for confirm ing inform ation. F urtherm ore, stu­ dents will have the chance to extend complex learning, e a rn out purposeful integrated-skills tasks, build expertise on a topic, an d becom e m ore motivated. T he m ore com plex language and c ontent learning that occurs in contentbased classrooms will also open tip opportunities to discuss com prehension and focus on the strategies that students use to build c o m p r e h e n ­ sion abilities. In brief, we see content-based instruction as providing the best foundation for academ ic reading instruction if it is p lan n e d and carried out well (Stoller and Grabe 1997). It is likelv that the developm ent of new wavs to engage students through content-based instruc­ tion will be a major locus of advanced reading instruction for the com ing decade. (See Snow’s c hapter in this volume.) Before closing this chapter, we would like to address briellv three other future directions for reading instruction. First, we see technology as growing in importance, and related issues as cen­ tering on how to use technology to support read­ ing development. At the moment, the options for computer-based reading instruction are not verv advanced: in most cases, thev involve little more than putting reading passages on the screen with a few tricks and gadgets. We expect that in the next live to eight vears. this situation will change, and com puter tec hnologies and instructional software will create new options for reading instruction. Second, we have not addressed reading assessment in anv wav. but it is an issue that can­ not be ignored. Although assessment m ight not be considered a direct c o m p o n e n t of instruc­ tion. it certainly should be. Teachers n e e d to know how to assess students' progress in addi­ tion to assessing the effectiveness of various practices in a reading course. W hat works and what does not work should not rest only with a teacher's subjective judgm ent but should be de te rm in e d th ro u g h both formal a n d informal assessment procedures. (Good sources on rea d ­ ing assessment include Alderson 2000; Hamavan 1995. See also C ohen's c hapter in this volume.) T hird, in addition to assessing student progress, teachers need to evaluate course and teaching effectiveness. T he most effective wav to do this is th ro u g h teacher-initiated inquiry

(i.e., a ction re s e a rc h ). T h r o u g h systematic reflection a n d data collection, teachers can investigate aspects o f their own reading class­ room s to improve future instruction. They can investigate aspects of reading (e.g., rate, recog­ nition, vocabulary, skimming) in relation to dif­ ferent instructional techniques or learning activities (e.g., the use of graphic organizers, strat­ egy training, rereading) to determ ine their effec­ tiveness, or classroom materials to ascertain their appropriateness, or a range of other issues. Action research provides teachers with a nonthreatening means for exploring what works best in their own teaching contexts (Grabe and Stoller in press). W h e th e r or not reading teachers design content-based courses, engage in action re ­ search, or use technology in reading classes in the future, we can be fairly certain that EAP instruction will continue to be im portant for F 2 students. F2 teachers, w hether thev teach in ESL or EFL settings, owe it to their students to make the most of the time they have allotted for read­ ing instruction. If teachers are obliged to use m an d a ted materials, as most teachers are, thev should evaluate them carefullv, keeping in m ind the complexities of fluent reading an d effective reading instruction. T he goal should be to aug­ m e n t and improve m an d a ted materials so that students have the fullest reading developm ent experience possible. For teachers who are in a position to create academic reading curricula a n d select materials on their own, this chapter provides m any of the “ingredients" needed. It is tip to the teachers to put them together to m eet students’ reading needs. Regardless of setting, teachers must r e m e m b e r that students most often rise or fall to the level of expectation of their teachers. Thus, teachers should set high expecta­ tions for their students and assist them in achiev­ ing those expectations by m eans of purposeful and principled reading instruction.

D IS C U S S IO N Q U E S T IO N S 1.

Flow has your conception of reading changed since reading this chapter? Identify three ideas or concepts from the chapter that vou think are im portant and rank order them. Provide a rationale for vour decisions.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Consider the characteristics of a fluent FI reader (page 188) as the ultimate goal for an F2 reading curriculum. What instructional prac­ tices would vou incorporate into an F 2 reading class to move vour students toward that goal? What activities would vou assign to address each characteiistic or cluster of characteristics? Reflect on vour own experiences in reading for academ ic purposes. Which purposes for reading have b e e n most im p o rta n t for you? W hat have vou do n e to c o m p re h e n d texts that have been challenging for vou? What can vou applv from vo u r experiences to your teaching? Consider the constraints that vou m ight face if vou were teaching reading for academic purposes in an instructional setting of your choice. W hat would vou do to maximize the effectiveness of vour reading instruction? In this chapter, Grabe an d Stoller assert that there is a difference between facilitating the developm ent of strategic readers an d teach­ ing r e a d in g strategies. How w ould you explain the distinction thev are making? W hat is the relationship between contentbased instruction (CBI) a n d reading devel­ o p m e n t in F2 settings? How can CBI contribute to reading development?

S U G G E S T E D A C T IV IT IE S 1.

Create a graphic organizer that depicts your current view of reading for academic purpose^ 2. Select a short text (e.g., from a magazine newspaper, textbook) that m ight be of inter­ est to a class of F2 students. a. Analyze the text from the perspective o: these F2 students. W hat aspects of the text m ight prove difficult to them? b. Identify 10-15 words in the text that m ight be unfam iliar to these students Place each word into one of the follow­ ing categories: + +, н— , — . How woulc vou introduce words falling into the + category? c. Design three postreading tasks that will oblige students to engage in careful read­ ing. Each task should focus on a different

aspect of careful reading (e.g., recogniz­ ing main ideas: analyzing support infor­ mation. arguments, or details that explain the main ideas: inferencing; unraveling information in complex sentences: deter­ m ining author's attitudes: applying infor­ mation). Be prepared to explain the aim of each task that von design. 3. Select three L2 reading textbooks. Examine them carefully to determ ine their effective­ ness. Do thev include motivating readings? To what extent are the following aspects of reading covered: strategy development, fluency training, opportunities for rereading, graphic organizers, vocabulary building activities, different purposes for reading, exercises on discourse organization and text structure, integrated-skills activities, pre-. during-, and postreading activities, etc.?

Dav. R. R.. ed. 1993. New Vbns in Leaching Reading. Alexandria, YA: TESOL.' Oast R. R.. and J. Bamford. 1998. Extensive Reading in the Second Language Classroom. Xew York: Cambridge University Press. S ilb erstein .

.8. 1994.

lea c h in g

Techniques and Resources in

Reading. X ew York: O x fo rd U niversity

Press. 1998. Reading in a Second Language: fhocess. Product and Practice.

Urquhart. A. H.. and C. Weir. Xew

York: Longman.

W E B S IT E S R eposim ix to r in f o rm a tio n o n ex ten siv e re a d in g :

http:

www.kyoto-su.ac.jp /inform ation/er /

I n v e n t o r y o f g r a p h i c o r g a n i z e r s , w ith m u l t i p l e links:

http:

FU R TH ER R EA D IN G A e b e r s o l d . J. A., a n d M. L. F ield. 1997. I m a m R e a d e r to R ea d in g

’t e a c h e r :

Language

hum s

C lassroom s.

and

Strategics

N e w W)rk:

ja r Seconal

www.graphic.org goindex.html

http: w ww .sdcoe.kl2.ca.us/SCO RE/actbank/ torganiz.htm http: www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students learning lrigrorg.htm http:

www.macropress.com / lgrorg.htm

C am bridge

L’n i v e r s m Press. .A nderson , X. 1999. E x p l o r i n g S e c o n d L a n g u a g e R e a d i n g : I s s u e s a n d S t r a t e g i e s . B o s to n . MA: I le i n le X l i e i n l e .

T e a c h e r g u id e lin e s for d e s ig n in g g ra p h ic o rganizers:

http: "www.wm .edu/TTAC/articles/learning/ graphic.htm

W riting

II D

I I D:

UNIT

UNIT

Language Skills Writing T he ability to express one's ideas in writing in a second or foreign language and to do so with reasonable coherence and accuracy is a major achievement; many native speakers of English never truly master this skill. Olshtain’s chapter shows how the teacher o f even beginninglevel ESITEFL students can provide practice in writing that reinforces the language the students have learned while teaching the mechanics of writing (e.g., the Roman alphabet, penmanship, spelling, punctuation, formats)

right from

the

start. Knoll's

chapter gives the

reader a

comprehensive overview of current theory and practice in teaching writing to non-native speakers of English, with special focus on developing courses for teaching writing to these learners. Finally, Frodesens chapter explores the problematic area of grammar (i.e„ accuracy) in writing, which plagues so many non-native speakers even after they have m ore o r less mastered the m ore global features of written English such as organization and coherence,

Functional Tasks for Mastering the Mechanics of Writing and Going Just Beyond ELITE

О L S H ТА :N

Olshtain's chapter feats "".г vvvt-ng sk Is *cr сл -е.е ESl EFL !ea a social process. “W hen we talk science we arc h elp in g to create, or re-create, a com m unity o: people who share certain beliefs a n d value' (1993. p. x). H e also argues th at language is m ajor factor in establishing a n d m ain tain in g the com m unitv o f scientists— language is “n o t jus: vocabularv an d gram m ar: Language is a system o f resources for m aking m ean in g s” (p. ix). H e iperhaps clearest w hen he states: "Talking Science” does not simply m ean talking about science. It m eans doing science through the m edium of lan­ guage. "Talking science" m eans observ­ ing, describing, com paring, classifying, analvzing, discussing, hypothesizing, theorizing, questioning, challenging, arguing, designing experim ents, follow­ ing procedures, ju d g in g , evaluating, deciding, co n clu d in g , g en eralizin g ,

re p o rtin g , w riting, lec tu rin g , an d teaching in a n d th ro u g h the language of science (p. x i). Finally, Lem ke argues that the role of the sci­ ence teacher is clear if we view science teaching as a social process. Teachers are ’'bridge people" in that thev already belong to the com m unity of people that speak the language of science; their charge is to bring their students, who do not yet understand this language, into the com m unin'. It is through their teachers that students trill be able :o e n te r the discourse com m unity o f scientists. Lem ke's argum ents about science are also true for o th er disciplines. T hat is, there is a com ­ m unin’ of people who speak the languages of m athematics, of social science, of literature. These are the proficient adults in the com m unities of the various disciplines. Vitally im portant to recognize is that this language is socially situated within these comm unities; not to be identified with spe­ cific yocabularv or gram m atical constructions. To do so is to simplify- its power and to miss it "as a system of resources for m aking m eaning" (p. ixt. In fact, the language of each o f these disci­ plines has m uch in com m on when one com pares them purely at the level of vocabulary and gram ­ matical constructions. Short (1994) reports on her group's research of classroom discourse used in m iddle school social studies classes. T he researchers analyzed their data in hopes of identi­ fying the academ ic language com petencies T2 stu­ dents would need in ord er to be successful. They defined the academ ic language of social studies to include semantic and syntactic features, "such as vocabulary items, sentence structure, transition m arkers, and cohesive ties" and "language func­ tions and tasks that are part of social studies class routines" (p. 593). Contrary to what they expected, thev found that the academic language used in “A m erican history classes was com m ensurate with m uch of the academic language in other hum anities courses, and in fact, similar to the non­ technical language used in math and science class­ rooms. . . ." (p. 395). As Lemke asserts: T he c o n te n t of every scientific and technical subject can be expressed in language (and in specialized offshoots of language, such as m athem atics). In

fact, the same scientific ideas can be expressed in m any d ifferen t wavs, because the semantics of a language always alloyvs us to use gram m ar and vocabulary- in different yvavs it) express the same m eaning. T he w ording o f a scientific argum ent may change from one book to the next, one teacher to the next, even one dav to the next in the same classroom. But the sem antic pattern, the pattern of relationships of m eanings, always stays the same: That pattern is the scientific content of what we say or write (1993, p. x). If this is the case, then yvhat is a teach er to do in term s of guiding classroom discourse in the c o n te n t areas? How does this socialized learning work? T h ere are many points Vygotsky (1978) makes. T he first has to do with how chil­ d ren learn to use language to accom plish goals. He gives an exam ple o f an infant learn in g to point as a m eaningful gesture (Vygotsky 1978, p. 36). Initially, the p o in tin g gesture is just an unsuc cessful attem p t by the child to grasp som e­ thing out of reach. T he child does n o t realize that he or she has anv pow er over the environ­ m ent o th er than what he or she can do physically to alter it. As his or h er hands stretch out temards the object, the m other comes to the c h ild ’s assis­ tance a n d gives him or h e r the object. At this point, "the situation changes fundam entally,” in that the child's unsuccessful attem p t to retrieve the object has b ro u g h t ab o u t a reaction, not from the object, but from a n o th e r person; at this p o in t, the ch ild 's g rasp in g actio n becom es pointing, a gesture for others, even th o u g h the child mav not yet know it. Eventually', the child will link this action with the situation as a whole, and he or she will u n d e rsta n d the m ovem ent as p o in tin g . "At this ju n c tu re , th e re occurs a change in that m ovem ent's function: from an object-oriented m ovem ent it becom es a move­ m ent aim ed at a n o th e r person, a m eans of estab­ lishing relations . . . . Its m eaning a n d functions are created at first bv an objective situation a n d th en bv people who su rro u n d the child" (p. 36). T h e re are several im p o rtan t points that Vygotskv m akes here. T he first is that “an o p e ra ­ tion that initially represents an external activity

is reco n stru cted a n d begins to occur internally.” This is to sav, via the ex perience that the child has in learn in g the po in tin g gesture, th ere is a transform ation of "grasping" into "p o in tin g ,” a n d th at m eans a transform ation into a “sign­ using” activity. T he child has lea rn ed the m edi­ atin g pow er o f th e g estu re. S econd, “an in terp erso n al process is transform ed into an in trap erso n al o n e ” (p. 57). This is to sav th a t the reco n stru ctio n process begins as an actual rela­ tion betw een the child and a n o th e r person. T he child was n o t b o rn with the po in tin g gesture, an d did n o t u n d e rsta n d it w hen he or she first used it, com ing to u n d e rsta n d it bv Iris or h er m o th er's (or others people's) rep e a te d reactions to it. Thus, Vvgotskv savs that "even’ function in the c h ild ’s cultural life appears twice: first on the social level an d th en on the individual level: first between peo p le (interpsvchological) and then inside o f the child (intrapsvchological)" (p. 57). Finally, Vvgotskv sees in the developm ent of the p o in tin g gesture th at "the transform ation of an in terp erso n al process into an in trapersonal one is the result o f a long series o f developm ental events” (p. 57). Since the internalization process is accom plished on the basis of external signs, a n d the signs them selves also u n d e rg o change, the transform ation from in terp erso n al to in tra ­ personal is gradual. Vygotsky’s ideas about how language devel­ op m en t is situated in a social context are verv pow­ erful, and verv helpful in term s of our discussion of co n ten t area education in elem entary school. His work provides us with a verv credible scenario for how experiences external to the learn er becom e internalized. We need to have a way of understanding how what we d o n 't originally know or understand becom es a part of ou r working knowledge, of how what is external to us gets inter­ nalized. A ccording to Vvgotskv, this developm ent is a m ediated social process, always situated within a specific context. W ithin any given context, there are a n u m b er of unexam ined experiences pres­ e n t to the learner. Som e o f these experiences will be m ore fam iliar th an others, a n d som e may be so unfam iliar th at they may go u n n o ticed . L et us re tu rn to the class tasting experience p rese n ted as the o p e n in g activity to the “lea rn ­ ing to do” group. E xternal to the learners are the

various sam ple dishes that they will all taste. Som e o f the students mav only be able to ju d g e the dishes as good or bad tasting, while others may be able to ju d g e them as sally o r spicy. At the very m o m e n t that the discussion b egins— i.e., w hen language am ong the social actors about the experience begins— students are confronted with new possibilities for learning about taste. Perhaps the teacher m entions that one of the samples tastes "m ore garlicky" than the others. O n e stu­ d e n t mav have no idea of what that m eans, while a n o th e r mav agree completely. T he one who has no idea m ight ask to taste the dishes again, trying to figure out what "m ore garlicky” m eans. The teacher mav bring the student a piece of fresh garlic to smell, then ask him or h e r to com pare that with the sample dish, and next to com pare that sample with the others that seem to have less garlic. W ithin this com m unity o f learners, a com ­ m unity of tasters is gradually being built. It mat take several instances in several different settings before the child who had no idea of “m ore gar­ licky" comes to a full realization of what that means. T he students have the opportunity' to internalize new inform ation based on highly con­ textualized interaction surrounding a com m on experience. It is via this kind of interaction that knowledge verv gradually gets built. If we th ink about the hypothesized taste dis­ cussion p resen ted above we can see th a t the teach er had a verv special role of being able to scaffold new in fo rm a tio n fo r th e stu d en ts. W ood. B runer, and Ross define scaffolding as "the m eans wherebv an adult or 'e x p e rt' helps som ebody who is less adult o r less expert" (1976. p. 89). Integral to the n o tion of scaffolding is the idea that learners are in the position o f solving a p roblem that is initially beyond th eir level of com petence. At the same tim e, the person who is helping them can do so precisely becattse he o r she knows b o th the c o n te n t and how one arrives at the u n d e rsta n d in g of such content. T he teacher in the above exam ple knows about taste and has p resented the students with an open-ended problem th at is initially bevond their level of com petence to solve independently; they are not vet capable of describing on their own the nuances of taste that they need to describe in order to solve the problem . T hrough the m edium

of language in the classroom setting, the teacher interacts with the students, introducing new ideas about taste. This is the teacher's m ost im portant classroom work: to provide for the social interac­ tion within the com m unity of learners such that the learners may move from what they know to what thev d o n 't vet know, from their own experi­ ences to new understandings o f the disciplines represented bv the content they are studying.

Summary o f Layer 1 As indicated earlier, know ing o n e ’s students, th en using that know ledge to offer th em experi­ ences of which thev hat e partial u n d erstan d in g , and th en c o n fro n tin g them with a problem that calls on them to re-exam ine those experiences to learn new inform ation satisfies the first three re q u ire m e n ts for tea c h in g discipline-specific c o n te n t to elem entary school children. Each of these req u irem en ts does its p art to situate the learn in g context such that all m em bers o f the com m unity can have access to the learning opportunity. T he next m ajor req u irem e n t for teachers is to scaffold fu rth e r lea rn in g o p p o rtu ­ nities bv gu id in g classroom in teractio n sur­ ro u n d in g the sh a re d ex p erien ces an d th eir o p en-ended problem s. This involves going from “talking the discipline" (to parap h rase L.emke 1993), to doing the discipline. It is this s e n highly situated talking ab o u t co m m o n ex p erien ces within the environm ent that will lead students, very gradually, to the com m unity of proficient adult m em bers of the discipline.

LAYER 2—T E A C H IN G ELEM ENTARY S C H O O L C H IL D R E N C O N T E N T IN T H E IR S E C O N D L A N G U A G E Now that we have p resen ted and discussed tvhat we see as the dem ands placed on the elem entary school teach er for p resen tin g effective contentarea ed u cation in general, we speak to the issues su rro u n d in g content-area ed u catio n for L2 ele­ m entary school students. T he first p o in t to rec­ ognize is th at the instruction we refer to in this

sectio n is “s h e lte re d ,” also re fe rre d to as "Specially D esigned A cadem ic Instruction in E nglish” (SDAIE). (See Snow’s c h a p te r in this volum e for a discussion o f sh eltered instruction techniques.) This m eans that the first goal of instruction is to teach the content, n o t to see the co n ten t as a vehicle for the acquisition of the sec­ ond language. As it turns out, this is extrem ely im portant to keep in m ind, as it influences the entire discussion. T he teach er will absolutely n eed to su p p o rt the T2 needs o f the ch ild ren as he or she provides content-area instruction, and as the instruction progresses, the ch ild ren will definitely progress in th eir acquisition of the L2. However, the driving force b e h in d the instruc­ tion is to provide high quality co n ten t-area instruction in the sense we have b een describing it thus far. We will first consider the relation betw een XXS ch ildren's L2 proficiency an d th eir ability to learn effectively in the various c o n te n t areas that are included in the elem entary school cur­ riculum . A com m on idea is th a t it is im possible to teach children in c o n te n t areas u n til they first speak English. O n the o th e r h a n d , a n o th e r often expressed a n d ra th e r w idespread idea is that ch ild ren can “pick u p ” languages “n a tu ­ rally," often m ore easily and quickly th an adults can. Bevond these ideas is th e fact th at L2 chil­ d re n are e n ro lled in the K -5 classroom , a n d th a t we c an n o t wait the 3 o r 7 years, o r how ever m any years it will take for them to learn English to a sufficient degree to begin the serious study of discipline-specific content. W hat, th en , do w?e do about this issue? This second layer of o u r discussion will be divided into three parts. T he first p art will con­ sider some of the theory that has helped shape what m anv believe about the nature o f contentarea education for L2 speakers. It will present a b rief sum m ary o f the ideas that com e from a lan­ guage distinction proposed bv C um m ins (1976, 1979. 1981). Basic Interpersonal C om m unication Skills (BICS) and Cognitive A cadem ic Language Proficiency (CALP). T he second p a rt suggests that we ab an d o n the BICS/C A I.P distinction, a n d presents a rationale for d o in g so. A dopting this suggestion from p art two, the th ird p art discusses th e im p licatio n s fo r c o n te n t-a re a

instru ctio n in the elem entary grades for L2 chil­ d ren . An effort will be m ade th ro u g h o u t to link all this to o u r discussion of laver one above.

A Brief Summary of Second Language Theory That Has Helped Shape Our Beliefs About Content-Area Education C um m ins’s work on bilingual and second lan­ guage acquisition (SLA) has had an enorm ous influence upon L2 instructional practices in the elem entary school setting. Manv program adm in­ istrators, m aterials developers, and teachers have relied upon his distinctions to organize, describe, and im plem ent their program s. In this section. I would like to revisit the work o f Cum m ins in which he delineates the BICS/CALP distinction (1976. 1979, 1981), since practitioners seem to relv upon it almost universally, and since it relates directly to the issue of core content instructional practices for L2 elem entary school children. C um m ins outlines his ideas about BasicIn terp erso n al C om m unication Skills (BICS) and C ognitive A cadem ic L anguage Proficiency (CALP) in several articles. In general, "this work has profoundly in fluenced m ethodology for all teachers of L im ited English proficient students by distinguishing betw een language used lotsocial a n d academ ic p urposes" (Sasser and W inningham 1991, p. 33). In sum m arizing the distinction betw een BICS an d CALP. C ham ot an d O ’Mallev note th at BICS is characterized by social com m unication skills which are context em b e d d e d an d cognitively u n d e m a n d in g (1994, p p . 7, 24, a n d 40). BICS has o ften b e e n described as “the language students use am ong them selves on the school plat-ground”; i.e., the language o f BICS takes place in situations which offer m an\ contextual clues and can becom e easily routinized since the interaction typically su rro u n d s evervdav transactions. (Sasser and W inningham 1991, p. 33). This social language “typically deals with fairly u n co m p licated topics th a t are fam iliar to the speaker” (C ham ot and O ’Malley 1994; p. 40). Proficiency in BICS,

which can usually be attain ed "in ab o u t two years” (ibid., p. 7). can "fool" the u n in itiated into th in k in g that learners hat e a h ig h er level o f lan­ guage proficiency than they actually do, simply because they ap p e ar to be very fluent. BICS. however, is not considered as critical to success in the classroom as is CALP, the context-reduced an d cognitively d e m a n d in g language of the con­ ten t classroom . CALP requires a "different type o f language skills" (ibid., pp. 7 an d 40). i.e., those n e e d e d for successful participation in c o n ten t classrooms. A ccording to this theory, c o n te n t classroom p resen t instruction using language that is “con­ text red u ced " a n d "cognitively dem anding." "The cognitive dem ands for which academ ic lan­ guage is used, and the fact that academ ic language is frequently not supported by the rich array or nonverbal an d contextual clues that ch aracter­ izes face-to-face in te ra c tio n , m ake academic language m ore difficult to learn" (ibid., p. 7 r Academic language “mav be less interactive and mac provide lim ited context clues to assist com ­ p rehension" (ibid., p. 40). CALP is believed to develop m uch m ore slowlv than BICS, and takeabout 5-7 vears to acquire. D uring the time w hen students' com petence lies largely- in the area of BICS, thev mac not have the cognitive academ ic language proficiency to p e rfo rm well in school (C um m ins 1981). Both BICS and CALP are constructs that align closely with th e th re sh o ld hvpothesi(C um m ins 1976: T oukom aa a n d SkutnabbKangas 1976) yvhich: assumes that those aspects of bilingual­ ism that m ight positively influence cog­ nitive growth are unlikely to com e into effect until children have attained a certain m inim um or threshold level of proficiency in the second language. Similarly, if bilingual children attain only- a very low Imel of proficiency in one or both of their languages, th eir interaction yvith the env iro n m en t th ro u g h these languages b o th in term s o f in p u t and o u tp u t is likely to be im poverished (C um m ins 1981, p. 38; em phasis ad d ed ).

T he hypothesis goes on to state th at th ere are two thresholds, a lower one a n d a h ig h er one. "The a tta in m e n t o f a lower level of bilingual p ro ­ ficiency would be sufficient to avoid any negative effects; b ut the a tta in m e n t o f a second, h ig h er level o f bilingual proficiency m ight be necessary to lead to accelerated cognitive grow th” (ibid., pp. 38-39). Im p o rta n t for this discussion is the idea th at cognitive academ ic language a n d basic social language are separated o u t from their respective settings bv m eans o f the levels o f cog­ nitive d e m a n d a n d c o n te x tu a liz a tio n thev involve. Cognitive d e m a n d can be m ade onlv when a certain level of linguistic proficiency has been attained; if m ade earlier, th ere can be n eg ­ ative effects. These assertions assum e a d e p e n d ­ ency m odel betw een language acquisition and cognition, with a th resh o ld level o f language proficiency being a prerequisite for cognitive developm ent. A causal relationship seem s to be im plied betw een context and the a tta in m e n t of the th re sh o ld level o f language proficiency, since cognitive d e m a n d is m inim al (can it be nonexistent?) d u rin g this p erio d of initial acqui­ sition, and is th erefo re generally unavailable for the acquisition process. O nce the th resh o ld p ro ­ ficiency has been reached, however, context takes an increasingly sm aller role a n d cognitive forces begin to take an increasingly larger role. T he distinction Cum m ins makes between BICS and CALP seems to preclude serious content instruction for beginning or lower-level L2 profi­ cient children. If T2 students receive core content instruction (i.e.. in areas that are less apt to be contextualized and m ore apt to be cognitively dem anding) too early before thee base had a chance to reach a threshold level of T2 proficiency are we not pushing them exactly into the situation in which “negative cognitive effects" mat' accrue, or where developm ent in both their IT a n d T2 will be “impoverished"? M ore specifically if we accept the dichotom y between BICS and CALP, then the kind o f cognitively dem anding social interaction and language required to construct m eaning with­ in the first laver of content areas are simply not available to L2 learners before they reach the th resh o ld o f m inim al language proficiency. Practically speaking, in elem entary schools this

has m ea n t an attem p t to co n tro l c o n te n t a n d linguistic form s for students n o t m ee tin g a th resh o ld level of L2 proficiency.6 O n the o th er hand, there have been studies whose results call into question the BICS/CALP distinction, as well as the threshold hypothesis. Flashner (1987) “w ent on a search” for decontextualized language in a fourth grade class, exam in­ ing the daily oral a n d written classroom language use o f teachers, LI students, and L2 students in all subject areas over a period of two m onths. She found that the BICS/CALP distinction did n o t obtain in h e r classroom data. Rather, she discov­ ered a full array of language in the classroom, its uses governed by the context in which it occurred. Flashner concludes, “I suggest that there is no such thing as decontextualized language. T here are, rather, varieties o f language that have m ore of one feature than an o th er yvhen purpose, audi­ ence, m ode, and planning are altered” (p. 165). Hawkins (1988) reports a study in which she looked at scaffolded classroom interaction as it relates to SLA. H er data, collected daily over a twom onth period, yvas also from a fourth grade class­ room where the children were both NS and NNS. W hen she exam ined the data for instances of scaf­ folded interaction, she found that it occurred most often yvhen the classroom discourse was both interactively and cognitively dem anding. This indicates the very opposite o f w hat Cum m ins (1981) a n d T oukom aa a n d Skutnabb-K angas (1976) argue in the threshold hypothesis. T hat is, rath er than cognitively dem anding m aterial being a possible detrim ent to cognitive and linguistic developm ent, yvhen com bined yvith high interac­ tive dem and it is actually supportive o f both, in term s o f the learner receiving scaffolding. As we have seen earlier, scaffolding is a m ost im portant yvav for the learner to move from a position of n o t knoyving to one of knoyving.

An Alternative to the B IC S /C A L P Distinction W hat yvould h a p p e n if we were to consider the BICS/'CALP distinction as rep re sen tin g a false dichotom y? Instead o f viewing BICS as relatively' free o f cognitive d e m a n d , wc could recognize

that it “appears" to be relatively free of cognitive dem and precisely because the context is so well defined. It is the claritv of the context which allows the “seemingly rapid" acquisition to proceed, but this does not m ean that the work a learner does in becom ing proficient is cognitively undem anding. Hawkins describes h er efforts to u n derstand “play­ g ro u n d language," language normally tho u g h t to be a prototypic exam ple o f BICS: I have been am azed continually at the cognitively dem anding level of interac­ tion that occurs as students, both LI a n d L2 , explain an d describe subtle nuances o f the games they plav: thev justify; thev prove, debate and persнаde oth­ ers when conflict about procedures, “unfair” behavior or results arise, and compare, classify and evaluate aach others' actions in relation to the rules of the games, etc. W hen this becom es most apparent to the teacher is w hen stu­ dents bring a com plaint or problem to her. If the teacher decides to truly deal with the issues involved, it can becom e a cognitive nightm are in trying to sort out actual events as students inform the teacher about what has h appened . . . . Most times it is because the students have such a com plex understanding of the details of the game that have been “constructed” over time, and of how these details fit into the whole picture, that a teacher's rudim entary u n d e r­ standings of the gam es— e.g., soccer or kickball— are simpiv not enough to understand the issues involved. The teacher needs instruction, and the stu­ dents becom e the teachers (1996, p. 43). T he te a c h e r’s difficulty in u n d e rsta n d in g the ch ild ren is not because the language is d eco n ­ textualized, since in fact, it is firmly ro o te d in the social context o f the gam es the children play. Rather, it is because the tea c h e r does n o t com ­ pletely u n d e rsta n d the context of the c h ild re n ’s language th at m akes its in te rp re ta tio n so diffi­ cult. It is cognitively d e m a n d in g for the teacher to try to u n d e rsta n d the stu d en ts' language, even th o u g h one w ould classify it as BICS.

T urning to the o th er half o f the coin, what would ab an d o n in g the BICS/CALP distinction m ean about the wav we Hew CALP? L em ke’s claim is m ost helpful in this regard: “Talking sci­ ence does not simpiv m ean talking about science. It m eans doing science th rough the m edium ol language” (1993. p. ix). This statem ent clearlv implies that science is situated social knowledge, whose m eaning is clearlv com m unicated among those who tire proficient m em bers of the science community. As such, the problem for Lem ke is n ot that science instruction is too cognitively dem anding: rather, it is that students do not ve: belong to the com m unity of scientists, and, there­ fore. do not vet u n derstand what thev are talking about. For Lemke, it is the teachers’ role to “leant to see science teaching as a social process, and to bring students, at least partially, into this com m u­ nity of people who talk science" (p. x). An u n d erstanding of co n ten t areas as rep re­ senting highly situated social knowledge turns the idea of CALP on end. Instead of being decontexlualized language, the language of disciplinespecific content is so verv contextualized that u m a\ ap p ear decontextualizcd to the outsider, ti­ the novice, in m uch the sam e wav th at play­ g ro u n d “BICS" m a\ a p p e ar cognitively u n d e ­ m an d in g to the person who fully u n d e rsta n d ' the context. Instead of thinking o f academ ic content instruction as ('C ontextualized, if teach­ ers thought of it as highly contextualised, thev would realize that what they need to bring to their stu­ dents in term s of content education is the context enjoyed by insiders. A nd instead of thinking o: social language as being cognitively u n d e m a n d ­ ing and generally outside the realm o f academic content instruction, they yvould realize that it takes a great deal of cognitive effort to m aster the various contexts in yyhich the disciplines operate, to becom e socialised to the disciplines. Short's finding that the academ ic language used in ''A m erican history classes was com m en­ surate yvith m uch o f the academ ic language ir. o th e r hum anities courses, a n d in fact, sim ilar to the nontechnical language used in m ath and sci­ ence classrooms . . . ” (1994, p. 595), suggests tha: the decontextualized language of CALP is far m ore elusive than would be expected. T hat is, it yve vieyv academ ic language as decontextualized.

then we should be able to isolate linguistic m ark­ ers particular to a given co n ten t area ahead of time, and then use these features first to predict difficult}', and ultim ately to im prove o u r deliverv of instruction. Yet. th at view mav n o t be the case. If we take the perspective th at there is no such thing as decontextualized language associated with the c o n ten t areas, it dim inishes the surprise that the predicted linguistic differences were not found. Perhaps it teas because the linguistic fea­ tures were taken out of the context of the co n ten t area that thev did n o t prove to be significant. T hat is, bv separating o u t vocabulary7 an d o th er structures that we think would m ark the decon­ textualized n a tu re o f a discipline, we have rem oved them from their social situation, at which p oint thev lose m eaning. O nce again, we are left with the question of how content knowl­ edge gets constructed b\ learners. If we do n ot >eparate out two entities— BIOS and CAI.P— will it affect the way we teach core co n ten t to elem en­ tary school students?

Content-Area Instruction in the Elementary Grades for L 2 Children Fortunatelv, the ideas p rese n ted about a b a n d o n ­ ing the BICS/CALP distinction are c o n g ru en t with o u r earlier view o f c o n te n t ed u cation as a -ituated process whose eventual goal is the m em ­ bership of students in the com m unin' o f adults ■jroficient in the discipline. If we wish to prov ide iuality ed u cation for o u r L2 elem entarv school 'in d en ts, we n e e d to do at least what is asked of elem entary school teachers for th eir LI stu­ dents. T hat is, we n e e d to com e from a position of know ing the fundam entals of the disciplines we teach. A dditionally we n e e d to realize w hat it m eans to "talk a discipline" in the sense th a t Lemke (1993) describes it; i.e., we n e e d to real­ ize that o u r role as teachers is to guide o u r stu­ dents in the social co n stru ctio n o f c o n te n t know ledge such that the norm s o f the discipline eventually becom e available to them . In doing so, we need to be able to use language to scaffold new know ledge structures for o u r students as we interact with them . We n e e d to be able to build

on th eir language to help m ove th em beyond w here th eir thoughts currently take them . We n e e d to know o u r students well, and be able to provide them with experiences they can readily e n te r into, th ro u g h which we can provoke new learnings. W hen o u r students do n o t seem to u n d e rsta n d w hat we are doing, we n e e d to ask several questions: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Can they relate to the experience I have provided? Do they have the words to describe w hat it is th at they are experiencing? Do they u n d e rsta n d the o p en -en d ed p ro b ­ lem th a t I have p rese n ted to them ? Are thev developm entallv ready for the c o n ­ cepts I am trving to teach them ? Do they have e n o u g h situational su p p o rt to u n d e rsta n d the classroom discourse?

W hat is special for elem entarv school teach­ ers w hen thev teach L2 children in the c o n ten t areas? T he above questions seem appropriate for both LI and L2 students. Because o u r L2 students com e from cultures d ifferent from the “m ain­ stream " culture, we n e e d to be particularly sen­ sitive in term s o f the experiences we provide th em at the start o f o u r lessons o r units. Since it is pivotal for learners to be able to relate to the ex perience in o rd e r to proceed, the teach er m ust carefullv consider w h eth er so m eth in g he o r she has chosen is too specific to m ainstream culture. If learners have trouble w hen we ask them to describe the experience we give them , we n e e d to th in k about whv this m ight be. Is it because the e x p erien ce is too d iffe re n t for them ? Is it because thev d o n 't have the words to describe the experience? Is it because th ere is too m uch (or too little) info rm atio n in the set­ ting, so thev cannot use the context provided to help them out? For exam ple, if the teacher wants a child to distinguish betw een two attributes, the setting needs to provide at least one clear exam ple o f each of the two attributes (less than this would be too little inform ation) such that the child does n o t confuse them with several o th er possibilities (too m uch inform ation). If a stu d e n t has trouble with any o n e o f these areas, it m ost often m eans backing up a n d ch anging som ething in the lesson. R etu rn in g to

the culinary arts lesson, u p o n tasting the differ­ ent dishes in the initial experience, a stu d en t mav stum ble in ri ving to describe what he or she tastes because he or she does not know how to sav salty in English. W hat will the teach er do? It m eans backing up an d providing an experience of, for exam ple, salty, sour, sweet, a n d b itter so th a t students will be able to attach that language to th eir next experience. In th e case o f L2 stu d e n ts, preciselv because they are "fu rth er awav" from the context o f the co n ten t, one o f the biggest differences will be th at teachers will n eed to take m ore tim e to cover the sam e a m o u n t o f m aterial. T he back­ ing up that a tea c h e r does w hen th ere are p ro b ­ lem s alwavs takes tim e, and for the 1.2 students th ere may be m ore instances o f backing up because the children mav n ot have the language a n d /o r cultural references to move as quicklv. T h e m ost im p o rta n t a ttrib u te s th at a tea c h e r can have are those o f being able to listen a n d reflect u p o n what the students tell him or her. In the case of elem entarv school, students are n o t alwavs able to tell the teacher directlv w hat is going on in th eir m inds, and this is m uch m ore true o f T2 students. Teachers m ust learn to listen a n d observe in new wavs, b ringing evervth in g thev know ab o u t pedagogv. developm ent, a n d language (LI and L2) to bear on the situa­ tion. W ith o u t having this vital in fo rm atio n , teaching a n d learn in g becom e trivialized: i.e., the teach er sets up his or h e r lesson plans, and covering the m aterial becom es the p a ra m o u n t goal, m aking evervthing else subservient to it. In such a scenario, if students d o n 't u n d e rsta n d the m aterial, in som e wav or o th e r it reverts back to them ; i.e., it becom es their fault. In conclusion, we seek a great deal o f com ­ p eten ce from o u r elem entarv school teachers, in several arenas. Thev n e e d to know the fu n d a ­ m entals o f th eir subject m atter; thev n eed to know pedagogv'; thev n eed to know the interplay betw een language a n d c o n te n t education; they n e e d to know the cultures a n d experiences o f th eir students; a n d thev n e e d to know how to talk a n d listen to children. Teachers can never know too m uch to teach, an d in the case of ele­ m entarv' school teachers w orking with second language learners this is especiallv true.

D IS C U S S IO N Q U E S T IO N S 1. A charge often given to K-5 teachers is that they m ust provide c o n ten t education to L2 learners that does not “w ater dow n” the stan­ d a rd curriculum . Is this an unreasonable charge? Are LI an d L2 students necessarib going to receive different coverage o f the curriculum ? "Will both groups cover the same am o u n t of curriculum ? In what wav s can the p resen tatio n of the curriculum be consid­ ered equallv rigorous, of equal depth? 2. Suppose von are going to teach a social stud­ ies unit to a group o f fifth graders who are all L2 students. You want to in tro d u ce the con­ cept o f the connections betw een culture, geographv. an d history as thev relate to Native A m ericans. How will von begin vour plans? Do the plans change for a m ixed g ro u p o f LI an d L2 students? Win ? Why not? 3. You have a m ixed group o f LI and L2 stu­ dents in vour second grade class. You have been teaching the algorithm for subtraction requiring regrouping (often referred to a* "borrowing" in the USA) for two to three weeks. T he majoritv of vour students are not able to dem onstrate that thev control the algorithm with am degree of regularity. How will vou troubleshoot what is going on in the class? Will there be problem s that exist for the L2 learners that do not exist for the LI learn­ ers? If so, what are thev ? W hat m ight be prob­ lems that both groups of students are having? 4. How can vou inco rp o rate fourth grade L2 children into a lesson that calls for them to explain in writing som ething thev cannot clearlv see? For exam ple, how can thev inves­ tigate and th en write an explanation of the force of gravitv ? W hat is a context that can be provided that will help with instruction and the ultim ate explanation? 5. C hildren often find it h ard to believe th at the earth is spinning. They mav sav that the world is spinning, because thev have been told that it is, but thev do not really u n d e rsta n d what that m eans. A tvpical and verv good question that often arises in th ird grade classrooms is. "Whv a re n ’t we blown off the world if it h spinning so fast?” O th e r th an the obvious.

why is this a good question? W hat can it tell the teacher ab o u t his o r h e r students? Do y o u th ink this question could com e from a L2 stu d en t who is learning the subject m atter in his o r h er second language?

S U G G E S T E D A C T IV IT IE S 1.

Spend an h o u r or two observing children at play during recess, focusing especially on their language. Observe them playing a game or sport with which y o u arc very fam iliar (e.g., soccer, kickball, jum p rope, etc.). Have thev developed their own set of context-specific rules to au g m en t those that traditionallv accom pany the gam e/'sport? How long does it take you to understand them? If the children use higher ord er thinking skills, describe them. 2. “W hen a new m aterial is m ade bv com bining two o r m ore m aterials, it has pro p erties that are different from the original m aterials. For th at reason, a lot of different m aterials can be m ade from a small n u m b e r o f basic kinds o f m aterials” {Benchmarks for science literacy: Project 206, p. 76).Given the above b e n c h ­ m ark on the structure of m atter for the end o f fifth grade, design an o p e n -en d ed ques­ tio n / problem that will in tro d u c e a unit to a fifth grade class, one which will req u ire that students learn the inform ation in cluded in the b en ch m ark in o rd e r to arrive at a solu­ tion. T he class for w hom y o u are designing the q u e stio n /p ro b le m has equal n um bers of L I and L2 students. 3. U sing the q u e stio n /p ro b le m you designed in n u m b e r 2 above, plan how you will m ake sure that all o f vour students u n d e rsta n d it clearly, keeping in m ind th at if students do n o t have a th o ro u g h u n d e rsta n d in g o f the p ro b le m /q u e s tio n , thev will be left out of th e ensuing activities. 4. O ne wav to help teachers ensure that thev move the class at the pace of the students rath e r than at their pace (or the book's pace) is to stop and think about how the children will receive and respond to the inform ation

an d tasks with which you present them . Using vour plans from num bers 2 and 3 above, write three short dialogues for each of the follow­ ing groups: a) high-achieving LI and L2 stu­ dents, b) m edium -achieving L I a n d L2 students, and c) low-achieving LI an d L2 stu­ dents. In o rd er for these dialogues to be successful, they m ust scaffold info rm atio n for the students, and n ot merely tell them inform ation or p ro n o u n ce their solutions as correct or incorrect.

FU R T H ER R EA D IN G Yvgotskv. L. 1978.

M i n d in Society: T h e D evelo p m en t o f

Processes. Cambridge: Harvard Universitv Press. This book presents manv of Yvgotskv's basic ideas in a verv interesting and readable wav. It is especially im portant for understanding Yvgotskv's notions about the mediating nature of language, wherebv knowledge begins first /«/■«personally and then nt/rr/pcrsonallv. He also presents and discusses at length his idea of the "/one of proximal development,” which is supportive of later ideas about scaffolded interaction. Cummins, J. 1979. Cognitive academic language pro­ ficiency. linguistic interdependence, the opti­ mum age question and some other matters. W o r k in g p a p e rs on b ilin g u a lis m 19: 121-129. -------- 1981. The role of primarv language develop­ ment in promoting success for language minority students. In S c h o o lin g a n d L a n g u a g e M in o r it y Stu d en ts: Л Theoretical Fram ew o rk (pp. 3-49). Office of Bilingual Bicultural Education, California State Department of Education. Sacramento. Los Angeles: Evaluation. Dissemination and Assessment Center, California State University. Both of these seminal works are important to read in order to understand the theory behind manv current educational practices in both bilingual and second language settings. The theory presented also forms the backdrop for more recent attempts to define and develop L2 curriculum sensitive to CALP requirements. Lemke. J. L. 1993. T a lk in g Science: L a n g u a g e , le a r n in g , a n d Values. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. H ig h e r

P s y c h o lo g ic a l

Although this book focuses on high school (rather than K-5) science classroom discourse as the context for studying the language of science, it is quite helpful in several wavs. It provides a framework for examining classroom language as it connects to the language of experts in a given content area. It also provides useful ways of looking at teacher language as a bridge between the students and the language of those who are experts in a content area. Finally, it helps define what it means to talk the language of science, with definite applications for other content areas. Ma, L. 1999. Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathe­ matics: Teachers' Understanding of Fundamental Mathematics in China and the United States. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. The author asked four questions surrounding four seemingly simple arithmetic problems of a group of Chinese school teachers and a group of American school teachers. The book pres­ ents the outcomes of her interviews with both groups of teachers, and results in a dramatic picture of the need for teachers to have a pro­ found understanding of fundamental mathe­ matics if they are going to be effective teachers. Although the book's focus is mathematics, it is verv helpful towards establishing definitions of “profound understanding," and "fundamental." Becker, J. P., and S. Shimada, eds. 1997. The Openended Approach: .4 A'ew Proposal for Teaching Mathematics. Reston, YA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. This book presents verv helpful wavs of approaching open-ended problems for mathe­ matics, as well as several verv clear examples. Much of what is contained in the book is very applicable to other content areas. Schwandt, T. 1994. Constructivist, interpretivist approaches to human inquire. In N. K. Denzin and Y S. Lincoln, eds., Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. This is a rather dense but verv informative view of constructivism, both as a theory of knowl­ edge, and as a research method. It summarizes the history of constructivism, and presents some of its current iterations.

ENDNO TES 1 Although space does not permit a discussion of the developmental needs of elementary school stu­ dents, it is a yen- important element. There are many developmental understandings about chil­ dren that teachers need to keep in mind when they engage their students in core content instruction. 2 We are using Becker and Shimada's (1997) defini­ tion of open-ended problems as those "problems that are formulated to have multiple correct answers" (p. 1 ). 3 See Carroll (1997) for the longitudinal compari­ son of student achievement on standardized tests for students taught via a “reform” mathematics curriculum as compared to those taught within a “traditional" framework. He also assesses the prob­ lem solving abilities of the two groups in wavs not specifically assessed in the standardized test for­ mat. In general. Carroll found that the students in the ''reform” group matched or outperformed the students in the ''traditional" group on the stan­ dardized tests after spending minimally two vears in the program. He also discovered that the stu­ dents in the "reform" group far outperformed the students in the "traditional" group on the separate problem solving assessment. Finallv. an anecdote comes from Sallv Grogg (1994 personal communication), an experienced and extremely competent third grade teacher. Ms. Grogg had spent a good two to three months on an experientiallv driven social studies unit on three Native American tribes. At the end of the unit, she gave the students the unit test from the textbook. .Although the students did all right on the test. Ms. Grogg was disappointed because she had thought they would do better. The next day, she told the students to simple write whatever they knew about Native Americans. The children wrote on and on, their knowledge seemingly inex­ haustible. The unit test had not been able to cap­ ture the true, deep understanding the children had acquired. From the official assessment point of view, the children were "adequate” in meeting the content standards for that unit, whereas in fact thev were superior in their understanding. ^ Sawada (1997, pp. 24—33) provides information on classifying, constructing, judging the appropriate­ ness of, and developing teaching based on prob­ lems in mathematics. He also includes criteria for judging students’ solutions to problems.

3 See Parker (1993, pp. 4—11) for a comparison of learning "about” mathematics with learning to "do” mathematics. b However, because of the large numbers of L2 chil­ dren enrolled in our schools coupled with the inabil­ ity of many school districts to offer bilingual education, teachers have found themselves in the position of presenting content to L2 children.

whether those children have achieved a set threshold proficiency in the L2 or not. Sheppard and his col­ leagues as reported in Snow found that “in sharp contrast to the widespread belief that students need intermediate proficiency to benefit from contentbased instruction, 79 percent of the programs sur­ veyed reported no English proficiencv requirement for participation” (Snowr 1998, pp. 244—245).

Teaching Adults1 SHARON

HILLES

• АМОКЁ

SUTTON

In "Teaching Adults,” Hilles and Sutton define adult education and briefly review its history.They give an overview of adults as second language learners and consider one program in depth to construct an adult-school teacher student, and program profile, They conclude with practical suggestions for working with this population and a review of recent research directions.

IN T R O D U C T IO N In the U nited States and Canada, the term adult education com m only refers to public education for adults that does not fall within the m ainstream c re d it/d e g re e objective program s offered by uni­ versities or colleges. This tvpe of ed u cation is fu n d ed prim arily bv state, local, a n d (som e­ tim es) federal (national) governm ents, a n d is delivered by ad u lt schools, com m unity colleges, a n d som etim es university extension divisions or o th e r units. A dult education has several purposes. First, it allows students who, for whatever reasons, were unable to com plete their elem entary o r sec­ o n d a ry e d u c a tio n s to g et th e ir diplom as. Second, it provides a resource for those who desire to pursue vocational train in g o r co n tinue th eir ed u cation after g rad u atin g from secondarv school o r university, b u t do n o t o p t to do this in the setting o f a college or grad u ate school. T h ird , som e adult program s allow c o n c u rre n t en ro llm en t, i.e., allow students e n ro lled in sec­ o n d ary schools to take ad u lt classes after school o r on w eekends, which can c o u n t towards grad­ uatio n o r simply provide extra in struction an d practice in specific subjects. Finally, in recen t years, the m ajor b u rd e n o f ad u lt ed u cation has b e e n teach in g English as a Second Language (ESL) to an ever-increasing im m ig ran t p o p u la­ tion in N o rth Am erica. For this reason, adult ed u catio n has, to a great degree, b ecom e syn­ onym ous with ESL. In this c h a p te r we shall con­ cern ourselves prim arily with teach in g adults in this setting.

A dult an d continuing education have had a long tradition in the U nited States, even though diev have waxed a n d w aned in popularity an d sta­ tus over the years. (For an excellent review o f the literature, see C otton 1968; M clntire 1988.) It has been suggested that perhaps the earliest exam ple of adult education in the U nited States was B enjam in F ra n k lin ’s J u n ta gro u p s in 1727 (Knowles and Klevins 1975, p. 12; M clntire 1988, p. 20), which provided weekly discussions of intel­ lectual subjects for adults. Josiah H o lb ro o k ’s Lvceum M ovement, begun in 1826, m ade the lec­ ture popular as a form at for dissem inating infor­ m ation, and attracted lectures by such lum inaries as Em erson and L incoln.2A ccording to P. Jo h n so n (1999), the m ovem ent targeted “young, unm ar­ ried m e n — bank clerks, salesmen, bookkeepers, and so fo rth — who then m ade up an astonishingly high proportion o f the population o f the new towns” and aim ed “to keep them off the streets and o u t o f the saloons, an d to p ro m o te sim ultane­ ously th eir com m ercial careers a n d th eir m oral w elfare” (p. 407). T he m ovem ent rapidly spread th ro u g h o u t the u n io n an d “by the e n d of the 1830s alm ost every considerable town h ad o n e ” (p. 407). Various o th er program s grew u p follow­ ing the Civil War, including an ab u n d an ce o f cor­ respondence courses, which were very p opular an d widelv accepted by the public. A ccording to Knowles and Klevins (1975), the m ain thrust of early adult education was rem edial. This began to change in 1919 w hen adult education was recog­ nized as “a p e rm a n e n t national necessity, an in se p a ra b le a sp ec t o f c itiz e n sh ip ” (p. 13).

Between W orld War I a n d W orld W ar II, adult ed u cation passed th ro u g h stages, from highly idealistic no tio n s characterizing it as “a m eans of brin g in g ab o u t social reform , reco n stru ctio n a n d progress" to the m ore conservative stance th a t “the country could be b e tte r served if the ideals were m odified to th at which could be ju d g ed realistic” (p. 13). A fter W orld W7ar II, governm ent a n d p h ilan th ro p ic groups began to participate in adult a n d co n tin u in g education, a n d in 1965 the B ureau o f A dult a n d Vocational E ducation was form ed as a p art o f the ET.S. Office o f Education. A ccording to M clntire (1988, p. 48), adult ed u catio n currentlv serves a diverse p o p u lation, including the following: 1.

2.

3.

4.

Students who did n o t have an o p p ortunitv to atten d school d u rin g the traditional ele­ m entary a n d /o r secondarv range. S tudents who d ro p p e d o u t of school. Im m igrants who are learning English as a second language, acquiring basic skills in English, preparing for citizenship, or obtain­ ing a high school diplom a in English. S tu d e n ts a c q u irin g v o cational tra in in g skills.

M oreover, adult learners participate in a variety o f program s. For exam ple, the breakdow n of stu­ dents en ro lled in B elm ont C om m unity A dult School, the largest adult school in C alifornia in term s of absolute p o p u latio n , is as follows:3 1. 2.

3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

8. 9.

E lem entarv basic skills 1,756 Secondarv basic skills 1,993 ESL 14,608 H a n d ic a p p e d /E x c e p tio n a l Adults 178 Vocational E ducation 361 P aren tin g 227 P rogram for O ld er Adults 590 C itizenship 977 H ealth E ducation 361

Non-native speakers o f English are p rese n t in all o f the above categories, th o u g h classes in ESL are often a steppingstone to o th e r adult classes. In the U n ited States, ESL classes are typ­ ically offered by e ith e r visa program s o r resident program s. T he fo rm er are restricted m ainly to foreign students who are in the U n ited States on

stu d e n t visas. Students p articipating in these program s m ust be p rese n t in a classroom a spec­ ified n u m b e r o f hours p e r week a n d m ust be m aking reasonable progress toward a degree objective in o rd e r to retain th eir visas. They are allowed up to two vears to m aster English before b eg in n in g th eir h ig h er education. M ost visa stu­ dents plan to retu rn to th eir respective countries after finishing th eir h ig h er ed u cation in the U n ited States. In C alifornia, visa program s are offered by colleges, universities, an d n u m ero u s private language schools. O n the o th e r h an d , the ESL program s we find in adult schools do n o t— indeed, mav n o t— enroll foreign students who h old stu d e n t visas; in fact, m any of the stu­ dents in resident program s are n o t in the U nited States on any tvpe o f visa at all. This category includes a n u m b e r o f b o th “eco n o m ic” a n d /o r political refugees, a n d th eir presence in ad u lt school classroom s is invariable a reflection (and often a precursor) of global events.

A D U L T LEA RN ERS W h e th e r thev are ESL students o r native speak­ ers, in the U n ited States o r in a n o th e r country, adults differ from “typical” o r “tra d itio n al” K-12 students in that thev brin g a great deal o f life ex perience a n d cognitive m aturity to th e class­ room . In m anv cases, thev have b o rn e a n d reared children, ea rn e d a living, seen life a n d d eath, and, all too often, survived extrem e polit­ ical a n d econom ic hardship. A dult students have a m aturin' a n d an u n d e rsta n d in g of priorities that m any younger students do not. A ccording to Knowles (1976), “a prim e characteristic of adultness is the n eed a n d capacity to be self­ directing" (p. 181). In o th e r words, adults will, to som e extent, “direct” th e ir own lea rn in g agen­ das. If the learn in g en v iro n m en t does n o t to som e degree m atch cultural expectations a n d perceived needs, the self-direction may take the form o f challenging the tea c h e r o r syllabus in class, of filtering o u t w hat they perceive as nonessential, o f simply leaving the class a n d seeking some o th er way o f learning, or of aban­ doning the enterprise altogether. This difference betw een adult and child learners is so crucial that

Knowles a n d Klevins (1975) m aintain th a t the term pedagogy should n o t apply to adults becatise th e w ord “taken literally from its roots m eans the leading o f ch ild ren , the im plication th e re o f being th at the le a rn e r is guided w ithin a ra th e r rigid system. A basic pro b lem with pedagogy is th at m ost teachers have know n onlv how to teach adults as if they were c h ild re n ” (p. 14). Knowles and Klevins argue that “a m ore explicit an d realistic term which may be applied to adult education is andragogy. From its root, it denotes the leading of m an; or the art or science o f help­ ing adults learn” (p. 14). T hough their proposed term has never really caught on in the literature, their point is well taken. W ithout question there are num erous differences betw een adults and children; m uch too frequently, however, an inex­ perienced adult ESL teacher mav interact with his or h er students as if they were children, perhaps because o f their lim ited English proficiency The results are often a disastrous paternalistic attitude, one svmptom of which can be babv talk. At the very least, this presents an unnatural, not to m en­ tion insulting, m odel o f spoken English when addressed to adults. In addition to being m ature and self-directed, adult learners are often, of necessity, m ore focused. M clntire (1988) points out that “because time is such a valuable commodity , participating in edu­ cational program s is often a personal sacrifice. Typically, adults can devote onlv lim ited time to th eir educational endeavors, which often trans­ lates into th eir being d edicated students who take learn in g seriously” (p. 47). A ccording to M c ln tire ’s survey, approxim ately three-quarters o f ad u lt ESL students work at a jo b 40 hours or m o re p e r w eek — a d e d ic a te d a n d focused group, indeed. Adult learners are also psychologically vul­ nerable, perhaps in a wav that children are not, precisely because they are adults and have already form ed a strong sense of who thev are. Thev have a great deal invested in their identities as profi­ cient speakers of their first language. In h e r ethno­ graphic study of adults learning Welsh as a second language, Trosset (1986) found that these learners often experienced anom ie, which L am bert et al. defined as “the feelings of social uncertainty or dissatisfaction which characterize n ot only the j

socially unattached person b u t also, it appears, the bilingual o r even the serious stu d e n t o f a second language an d c u ltu re ” (1963, pp. 38-39 cited in Trosset, p. 183). In h e r study Trosset also fo u n d th at “the process o f learn in g a new language tem porarily takes awav p e o p le ’s ability to talk, a n d the resu ltan t sense o f inadequacy leads th em to experience sh am e” (p.184). She points o ut th at Stengel h ad already observed som e 40 years earlier th at “speech is an accom plishm ent o f the ego . . . A cquiring a new language in adult life is an anachronism an d m any p eo p le c a n n o t easily tolerate the infantile situ atio n ” (Stengel 1930, p. 475-476, cited in Trosset, p.184). Trosset fu rth e r notes that m any o f the adult learners she observed e x p erien ced n o t only a sense o f inadequacy, b u t also fear of failure as well as fear of success, all o f which seem ed to be intim ately associated with feelings o f sham e. In co n n ectio n with Trosset’s observations, it is p a r­ ticularly in te restin g to n o te th a t S ch u m an n (1997) rep o rts that “th ere is research th at shows th at sham e experiences g en erate cortisol in the boclv, which interferes with c o g n itio n ” (p.1551. A n o th er characteristic th at seem s to set apart adults learners is the en o rm o u s variability that they display in th eir goals and reasons for tackling a second language. O n e class with w hich we are fam iliar com prised alm ost entirely K orean g ran d p a re n ts who d id n ’t particularly want to speak English, b u t w anted very m uch to u n d e rs ta n d th e ir g ra n d c h ild re n . We have know n o th e r learners who w anted som e sort of com m unicative system but w ere n o t particularly co n cern ed with gram m atical accuracy. Still others felt that language w ithout gram m atical correct­ ness wTas no language at all. A nother group of adult EFL students we m et were interested in studying English because at the tim e studying English was a fashionable hobby, b u t they were n o t at all in terested in speaking, reading, writ­ ing, o r u n d e rsta n d in g English. Blev-Vroman (1988) points out that “som e develop ju st the sub p art of foreign language co m p eten ce neces­ sary to wait on tables o r to lecture in philosophy; others mav becom e skilled at cocktail party story telling. Some have good p ronunciation but prim ­ itive gram m ar. Some lay great im portance on vocabulary size. Som e work at passing for a native

speaker; others seem p roud of their foreignness ( T h e Charles Boyer p h en o m e n o n ')" (p. 21). Adults have num erous reasons for studying a sec­ ond or foreign language (L2), and this variety of reasons presents its own challenges to the teacher. Variability also characterizes the outcom e o f adult foreign language learn in g endeavors, th o u g h native-like proficiency in the L2 is p ro b ­ ably unlikely.4 As Blev-Yroman (1988) points out, “ [a]m o n g adults, th ere is substantial varia­ tion in degree of success, even when age, expo ­ sure, instruction, a n d so forth are held constant. A dults n o t only generally do n o t succeed, thev also fail to different deg rees” (p. 20). This som e­ w hat bleak prognosis is not m ean t to discourage the adult ESL/EFL teacher or to be construed as suggesting that adult school teachers ought not aim for target-like proficiency in their students; rather, it is m eant to tem per expectations so that they are realistic and so that teachers do not dem an d from their students as a whole the u n rea­ sonable goal of native-like proficiency. We hasten to add that in discussions such as this we feel it is im portant to rem em ber that social science statis­ tics can predict the behavior o f a group, but cer­ tainly n ot the behavior of anv one particular individual w ithin that group. E ven- stu d e n t deserves our best efforts and each new class we teach may very well be the one that houses an individual who will learn English to near native speaker proficiency. Finally, adult learners are most often volun­ tary learners. Lhilike their vounger counterparts, who are required bv law or bv their parents to be in school until a particular age, adult learners are in school because thev want to be, a desire which is alm ost alwavs inconvenient and often inter­ ru p te d by family and job responsibilities a n d com ­ m itm ents. As a result, adult learners ten d to have little patience with classes which they perceive are n o t furth erin g their own educational agendas.

A T Y P IC A L A D U L T S C H O O L S E T T IN G P art of the challenge o f teaching ad u lt school ESL is the diversity. Iwataki (1981) describes the typical ad u lt ESL classroom as follows:

Picture a classroom o f som e 30 or m ore students, ranging in age from 18-80. T he learners com e from h e t­ ero g en eo u s language a n d experiential b a c k g ro u n d s . . . this is a voluntary, not a captive audience, fo u n d in churches, recreation centers, vacant elem entary o r secondary school bungalow s, or classrooms unoccupied at night (p. 24). A dult school classes h aven't changed m uch since Iw ataki’s original description. H eterogeneous classes p o p u lated bv n o n tra d itio n al students in nontraditional venues are certainly characteristic of the adult school classroom, a n d p art of itunique challenge. This notw ithstanding, we car. speak of at least a statistically typical ad u lt ESL stu d e n t a n d classroom in each n e ig h b o rh o o d Let us co n sid er B elm ont C om m unity Aduk School once again as a case in point. T he typical B elm ont stu d en t is a single, m ale Hispanic, betw een the ages of 21 an d 29, who is em ployee full tim e a n d has betw een a sixth-grade a n d a secondary school education. At one tim e, this student w ould have been en ro lled in a large class (often over 50 students) because large classes were once characteristic o f m any adult schools. Toclav, however, given the current budget, he is studying English in a class of betw een 30 and 35 students. O u r ty pical ESL student feels th at his teachers are ''excellent." an d that th ere is ade­ quate o p p ortunity for him to get individual help from them . Even th o u g h classes are currently o f a m ore m anageable size th an thev have traditionally been, m any seasoned teachers a n d adm inistra­ tors fear th at class size will increase dram atically if bud g et cuts are im plem ented. In the Los Angeles Lrinfied School District, an adult school class m ust be closed w hen it ceases to be costeffective, regardless o f w h eth er it starts o u t with 30 students o r 55. A ttrition is a natu ral p h e n o m ­ e n o n in adult school; th erefo re, m aintaining class n um bers is im p o rtan t. O rganized a n d p re ­ p a re d teachers have little trouble. Less experi­ en ced teachers, however, som etim es find this particularly challenging. It has been o u r experi­ ence that new ESL teachers often begin their adult school assignm ent with the reasonable

expectation that students com e to school to learn: soon thev notice, however, that students enjoy the social aspect o f adnlt education as well. For m am students, adnlt school is not only a place to learn, bnt also a place to get together with friends, catch up on the latest gossip, establish new relation­ ships, and even form an d n u rtu re rom ances. Unfortunately, new teachers som etim es find the social aspect of school m ore salient than the edu­ cational, and thev mistakenly assum e that stu­ dents are m ore highly m otivated by social than bv educational goals. As a result, som e teachers do not take their adult education teaching responsi­ bilities seriously, but rath er trv to provide an en tertain in g social atm osphere in o rd er to m ain­ tain class num bers. Perhaps a word o f caution based on years of experience m ight help in m ain­ taining class size: We h a te found that students atten d night school as long as thev perceive that thev are learning. Students expect teachers to be professional, knowledgeable, and prepared. No m atter how entertaining or charm ing the teacher ntav be, and no m atter how m uch students mav like a teacher, thev can always have m ore fun at hom e. W hen the teacher is seen as incom petent or u n p rep ared , and when perceived learning ceases, so does attendance. A dult school is also im p o rta n t in a n o th e r sense. In his book on "Am erica's u n d e rp re ­ p ared, " Rose (1989) recounts how his adult ESL students w anted to talk to th eir ch ild ren 's teach­ ers, “but felt funnv about seeing the teach er for th eir English was so bad an d . . . well . . . who were thev to presum e to talk to the teach er about what she does?" (p. 130). T he teaching supervisor p o in te d out to Rose and his col­ leagues that th eir ESL classes w ere b ringing p ar­ ents "com fortably into the schools, breaking dow n som e of the in tim idating barriers th at tra ­ ditionally keep them away, distant from the places w here th eir kids were learn in g how? to read an d write" a n d that " th e re ’s m ore to look for h e re than ju st an increase in vocabulary” (p. 131). All too often we forget that m any o f o u r students are parents, or will be parents in the n e a r future. Perhaps school was inaccessible to them in their native lands, but it will be a central and not necessarily an altogether pleasant experience for their children. It is vital for all con cern ed that

im m igrant parents be b ro u g h t “com fortably into the schools” an d adult ESE classes can help accom plish this im p o rtan t social goal. Students in a particular com m unity adult school will usually reflect the (changing) ethnicity of the neighborhood. As im m igrant populations tend to concentrate in particular areas and adult schools draw from the surrounding community, it is not unusual to see different groups reflected in different schools. B elm ont C om m unity A dult School is no exception. Its m ain cam pus student body (90 percent Hispanic, 4 percent Am erican Indian or Alaska native, 3 percen t Asian or Pacific Islander, 3 percent Black, not of Hispanic origin) is a m icrocosm of the surrounding neighborhood. At the branch locations, these num bers go up or down slightly, reflecting the im m ediate com m u­ nity. B elm ont has an active stu d en t bod}' of approximately 8.300 at anv one given time, with an enrollm ent of about 27,500 over the course o f an academ ic year: about 70 percent o f its students are enrolled in ESE classes.

AD U LT SC H O O LTE A C H E R S Because B elm ont C om m unity A dult School is so large, it offers 167 day a n d n ig h t classes in a variety of locations, including the m ain cam pus, th re e m ajor branches, retire m e n t hom es, rec re ­ ation centers, churches an d synagogues, conva­ lescent hospitals, com m unity centers, centers for the h an d icap p ed , businesses, a n d missions an d hom eless centers. T hese classes are staffed bv 109 teachers, 78 p e rc e n t o f w hom are p a rt tim ers, w orking 10 hours o r less each week. In fact, the m ajority o f adult teachers in the Los Angeles U nified School District fall into the parttim e category. This m akes th em ineligible for benefits th ro u g h th eir ad u lt school assignm ent. T h e ty pical adult ESL tea c h e r is fem ale an d has a b achelor's degree. H e r ad u lt school assign­ m en t is 6-12 hours p e r week. A lthough she teaches ESL at night, she usually has day em ploy­ m en t outside o f the ad u lt ESL ed ucational field. She participates in district-sponsored workshops and in-service train in g a n d belongs to at least one professional organization, th o u g h n o t nec­ essarily one related to ESL teaching. A ccording

to H u rst (1985), ESL teachers in general have g o o d ra p p o rt with th e ir stu d en ts, a n d are rem arkably a ttu n e d to w hat thev perceive to be th eir stu d en ts' needs an d aspirations. Thev do not, however, tvpicallv read professional jour­ nals or rec e n t publications on second language acquisition, ESL pedagogy, or m ethodology or have specialized train in g (such as a m aster’s d eg ree o r a certificate in teaching ESL). Iwataki (1981) warns that “those who teach ESL to adults n e e d to be m ade o f sturdy stock. They n e e d special qualities o f un d erstan d in g , cu ltu ral sensitivity, adaptability, stam ina and resourcefulness to help them cope with the real­ ities of the ad u lt ESL classroom . F u rth erm o re, they n e e d to possess full co m m an d an d knowl­ edge of the subject a re a — the English language" (p. 24). Due to the c u rre n t cred en tialin g p ro ce­ dures in C alifornia, Iw ataki’s last p o in t (full co m m an d an d know ledge o f the English lan­ guage) is p ro b ab ly th e typical a d u lt ESL te a c h e r’s weakest area. T he state requires simple a b a c c a la u re a te w ith 20 se m e ste r units in E nglish fo r th e A dult D esig n ated Subjects C red en tial in ESL. Individual districts are th en allowed to set up th eir own specific standards for ESL teaching. Virtually anv teach er with a K-12 credential, regardless o f area, is “credentiallv" qualified to teach ESL. T he Los Angeles L'nified School District requires onlv a m inim um o f 8 sem ester units in English an d 12 units in anv for­ eign language, linguistics, o r speech to obtain a tem porary credential to teach ESL. No form al tra in in g in teaching ESL is required, which mav be why m ost adult ESL teachers do n o t have this type o f p rep aratio n . This profile, of course, is changing as m ore a n d m ore universities p ro ­ duce ESL teaching professionals who e n te r the ranks o f ad u lt education. H u rst’s com m ent regarding the unusual sensitivity of ESL teachers should com e as no surprise. A cco rd in g to Bley-Vroman (1988), “ [sjince the early seventies, beginning with the work o f G a rd n er and L am bert (1972), num erous em pirical studies have shown significant correla­ tions betw een affective factors an d [language] p ro ficien cy ” (p. 24). C o m m o n w isdom has always b e e n th at affective factors are m ore im p o rta n t in adult second language learning

th an in anv o th e r tvpe o f learning. However. S chum ann (1997) in his stnclv o f the n e u ro b io l­ ogy o f affect5 in sustained d e e p learning, con­ clu d ed th at affect a n d cognition are inseparable a n d th at positive affective assessm ent is essential in o rd e r for learning to take place. Such an assessm ent causes biochem icals to be released in th e b rain th at facilitate cognition. Negative assessm ent has ju st the opposite effect; it blocks learning. In o th e r words, positive assessm ent of the stim uli associated with anv sustained deep le a rn in g (in c lu d in g le a rn in g a seco n d lan ­ guage) is vital. O n the o th e r h an d , the kinds of factors that will be appraised as positive are highly individual, th o u g h th ere mav be shared tendencies am ong m em bers of the same cultural group. Schum ann's suggestion, that m em bers of a particular cultural group mav tend to appraise a classroom in sim ilar wavs (which mav be dif­ ferent from the appraisal tendencies o f individu­ als from a n o th e r culture) seems to resonate with ou r experience in the classroom. In general, we have found that some students are m ore com ­ fortable with p e e r interaction an d a noise level which m ight not be acceptable to o th er ESL learners. We have also fo u n d that for some learners it appears th at p e e r in teractio n is the p re fe rre d m eth o d o f co n stru ctin g m eaning, while for o thers the p refe rre d m eth o d is taking m eaning directly from a p rin te d source. Some students p refer verbal input. This variety in stim ­ ulus appraisal suggests to us that accom m odat­ ing as m anv indiv idual an d cultural preferences as possible is a logical way to offer the greatest n u m b e r o f students the best chance at a positive affective appraisal of the stim uli. This accom m o­ dation could be realized th ro u g h the teach er providing bim odal input, both w ritten an d spo­ ken. or allowing students som e latitude to nego­ tiate m ea n in g am o n g them selves, especially w hen a cultural o r individual preference for doing so is clear. Certainly learning strategies and preferences (see O xford's c h ap ter in this volum e) should be taken into account w henever possible. However, w?e hasten to add that stimulus appraisal is exceedingly com plex and that it is impossible for any teacher to conduct a classroom in such a wav that every student will appraise it positively every time. Even twins have sufficiently

different life experiences to appraise stimuli dif­ ferently. Because cognition and affect are so inter­ twined, S chum ann has concluded that that we are all on individual affective/cognitive trajectories as second language learners. This could account for the great variabilitv in second language learning so well do cu m en ted in the literature. A logical pedagogical conclusion of S c h u m a n n ’s work resonates with what m am professionals in the field have argued for decades: We n eed to t a n our approach in ord er to m eet the needs of as manv students as possible. In anv case, warmth, compassion, empathy, and kindness seem to be constant personal qualities in good ESL teachers, along with a keen ability to observe and respond.

U N D ER E ST IM A TIN G ESL S T U D E N T S Because we often asstime that em otional and intellectual satisfactions are incom patible (and the em o tio n al satisfaction in teach in g adult school is legendary am ong ESL professionals), and p erhaps because our students frequentlv have a lim ited form al education, we often tend to u n d erestim ate the ESL students who populate our adult school classrooms. It is widelv assum ed that adult school students have little interest in or ap titu d e for "m ore academ ic" approaches to ESL, a n d should be tau g h t "the wav children learn "— by speaking, with little em phasis at first on read in g an d writing. Instruction in gram m ar should be avoided in favor o f m ore practical "survival E nglish"— learn in g how to ride a bus or fill out a jo b application. To o u r know ledge th ere is no evidence su p p o rtin g the assertion either that adult school students do n o t have the interest o r abilitv to m aster ESL th ro u g h a m ore sophisticated ap p ro ach or that adults learn a second language the wav th at c h ild ren do. Moreover, students routinelv com plain ab o u t teachers who do n o t have an easily identifiable direction in th eir p rogram or syllabus. O u r expe­ rience has been that it is essential for adult stu­ dents to feel that thev are m aking progress; often this progress translates into m oving from one gram m atical concept to an o th e r that logicallv

seem s to follow. M oreover, m any students expect form al gram m ar in struction to be a part of lan­ guage learning, regardless o f w h e th e r o r n o t thet' have a particu lar ap titu d e for gram m ar study, a n d thev suspect in co m p eten ce of any tea c h e r who c an n o t provide at least m inim al gram m atical explanations. Most students who enroll in an adult school already possess a vast storehouse of knowledge. They frequently arrive in this countiv with an extensive netw ork o f family and friends who have come before them . The}’ are quickly tutored in how to take a bus, use the laundrom at, m ake a call from a pay phone, and but1 a m oney order. A ccording to M clntire (1988), m ost adult school students h a te jobs; moreover, they get those jobs th rough friends, or through sheer luck, rather than through reading newspaper ads or using other m ore conventional job-seeking avenues. Most of them are "surviting," and doing it quite well. O ne colleague p o in te d o u t the irony o f teaching "survival” English onlv (and the key w ord h e re is onh). W hen she m ade a factual mis­ take in h e r lesson on taking the bus in Los Angeles, several of h e r students prom ptly cor­ rected her. At that point she realized th a t she had been teaching som ething about which she h a d no practical, first-hand know ledge. She h ad never b een on a bus in Los Angeles. O n the o th e r h and, m ost of h e r students h ad n o t onlv com e to school bv bus th a t night, they also knew, from experience, how to use the bus to get to work, to the park, to the house o f a friend, or to a specialty shop in the San F e rn an d o Valley. T he students accepted the superfluous lesson with grace. As teachers we w ould all do well to accept a lesson from them with equal grace: d o n ’t und erestim ate adult school students. T he point h ere is not that survival English has no place in the ESL classroom , for o f course it does; it is p art o f the adult ESL te a c h e r’s responsibility to Leach skills that will help students "access the system .” These kinds of skills are essential. T hat which has no place in the ESI, classroom is th e p a te r­ nalistic assum ption th at students are capable of n o th in g else. We have fo u n d th a t basic science, m ath, a n d social science concepts m ake excel­ lent vehicles for gram m ar, conversation, p ro ­ nu n ciatio n . reading, an d writing lessons. We can

reaso n ab ly p re d ic t th a t m ost s tu d e n ts will appraise “learn in g m o re ” m ore positively than “learn in g less.” For som e excellent suggestions on how to p u t c o n te n t back in the ESL class­ room , see Snow’s c h a p te r in this volum e a n d Snow a n d B rinton (1997). Follow ing F reire (1970a, 1970b), in spirit if not in letter, a n d E yring’s a n d W einstein’s chapters in this volum e, m any ESL professionals have fo u n d th a t th eir students them selves an d th eir concerns provide valid, relevant, and perhaps even essential con­ te n t for lessons. For exam ple, the tem porary statew ide sta te -fu n d e d C om m u n ity Based English T raining P rogram (СВЕТ) teaches p ar­ ents at B elm ont the skills an d c o n te n t necessary to help th eir ch ild ren with hom ew ork. We think this m ight be a w onderful base for a series of ESL lessons if o u r students have school-aged children. T he Secretary o f Labor's Com m ission o n Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) 1991, a re p o rt on skills and com petencies req u ired in the w orkplace by all workers, from top m anage­ m e n t down, is also an excellent source of ele­ m ents a ro u n d which to organize lessons; it can also serve as a vehicle for m anv parts of a class­ room lesson (see G rognet 1997 an d sources cited th ere in ). SCANS objectives have becom e so p o p ­ ular th at m any ESL texts are notv in co rp o ratin g the SCANS skills an d com petencies into their scope a n d sequence. T he SCANS d o cu m en t is probably a n o th e r one o f those essential refer­ ences for the adult ESL teacher in that its skills a n d com petencies can (and perhaps should) be in co rp o rated into virtuallv anv lesson. As for the second assum ption m en tio n e d above reg ard in g the n a tu re o f ad u lt second lan­ guage learning, th ere is no em pirical evidence th at adults learn a second language the way chil­ d re n learn a first. In d eed , th ere is com pelling anecdotal, logical, a n d em pirical evidence th at this is n o t the case.1’ Virtually all research on child first language learn in g tells us th a t overt in struction an d e rro r co rrectio n is o f no value in learn in g a first language, but is beneficial to b o th adults an d children in learn in g a second language (Long 1983), which is good news for those o f us who have chosen teaching ESL as our profession.

A D U L T S C H O O L PROGRAM S V ER SU S T R A D IT IO N A L PROGRAM S Because o f the nature of adult learners outlined earlier, adult schools have traditionallv been m ore responsive to students' needs than o th er educa­ tional program s have been, and the courses thev offer reflect the changing concerns and needs of the com m unity (M clntire 1988). Adult classes usually m eet at night, and often on Saturdays. E x trao rd in ary m easures mav also be taken. D uring the 1986-87 academ ic year, over 30,000 students were tu rn e d away from ESL classes in the Los Angeles area because th ere were no funds for teachers, classroom s, etc. However. “ [i]n response to a request from the B oard of E ducation to provide ESL instruction to persons who could not be accom m odated in overcrowded classrooms." the Los Angeles U nified School District's adult education division pro d u ced an 80-lesson ESL series for television (Figueroa et al. 1988). In the 1988-89 academ ic vear, in o rd er to m eet the req u irem en ts o f am nesty students, a n u m b e r o f classes in the Los Angeles LTnified School District were co n d u c te d literallv aro u n d the clock at Ev ans C om m unity Adult School. The last class of the clav m et from 9:00 p.m . to m idnight. T he first class was from m idnight to 2:00 a .m ., and so on th ro u g h o u t the dav and night. Both sce­ narios are u n u su al, b ut thev illustrate how responsive adult schools can be to u rg en t and u n a n tic ip a ted stu d en t needs. A nother wav in which adult schools differ from traditional schools in reflecting com m unity needs is open enrollm ent, a pro ced u re that has grown out of the reality o f the constant change and flux characteristic o f im m igrant com m unities in the Southwest. O p en enrollm ent or entry7 allows students to enroll in and then leave a class at anv time d u ring the term , up to the last week of class. This is necessary because there are always new arrivals and sudden departures in any im m i­ grant community. Jo b schedules also change, m ak­ ing it necessary for students to switch from night to dav classes, or vice versa. T he attrition rate is high, vet it is interesting to note that students surveyed by M clntire identified changing job

or family responsibilities rather than educational dissatisfaction as the reason for their having left school (M clntire, personal com m unication). As a result of these and o th e r factors, the com position of anv one ESI. class constantly changes. T he challenge, o f course, is to m aintain class stan­ dards and retain students while accom m odatingо a constant stream o f new students, som e of whom have never b e e n in school before. In response to op en enro llm en t, som e schools have a m ultilevel "h o lding” class w hich accepts all newcom ers, tests them , an d teaches basic skills until an o p e n in g is available at the ap p ro p riate level. Most F.SL teachers find constant newcom ers part of the adult school challenge; regular and consistent review, in greater d e p th than m ight be expected in a class w ithout open enrollm ent, is one solution. C ontrary to what one m ight expect, such review is alwavs welcom ed bv the veteran stu­ dents and goes a long wav toward orienting new ones. Some teachers also assign stu d e n t “hosts” or “b u d d ies” to help the new com ers find their way a ro u n d the school and to explain classroom p ro c e d u re s, school rules, a n d schedules. Surprisingly en o u g h , according to m am adult ESL teachers, open e n ro llm en t is m ore o f a problem in principle than in fact, and once accepted bv the tea c h e r as a variable which he or she has to factor into classroom operations, it is of little consequence. This notw ithstanding. Kit Bell, C o o rd in a to r o f th e A dult ESL a n d C itizenship p ro g ra m s for th e Los A ngeles U nified School District, has com m ented. "O pen e n ro llm en t is notv being challenged in som e dis­ tricts th ro u g h o u t the state. It is not m an d ated bv the state an d ex p erim ental 'm an ag ed enroll­ m e n t’ program s are ex p eriencing great success" (personal com m unication, 7 /2 4 /0 0 ).

Multilevel Classes Multilevel classes are also a challenge in ad u lt ESL, especially at b ran ch locations. A branch is a site which is responsible to an d adm inistered by a central school, but which typically has only one or two classes, th o u g h of course it can have m any m ore. B ranches are often located in m akeshift schoolroom s in churches, com m unity centers,

libraries, or som etim es even in hospitals o r busi­ nesses th ro u g h o u t th e com m unity, to m ake classes accessible a n d convenient, particularly for those who m ight live som e distance from the m ain school o r wrh o m ight find it difficult or even im possible to a tte n d classes at the m ain school for anv n u m b e r o f reasons. T h ere are fre­ quently n o t e n o u g h students at a b ran c h loca­ tion to su p p o rt an en tire class at any one level. T h erefo re, a tea c h e r may have a single class in which th ere are very advanced students as well as som e beginners who are u n ab le to write th eir own nam es. In m an) ways, b ran ch locations are m uch like the old one-room schoolhouse, which was once typical of the rural U n ited States. T h e task of teaching such a diverse g ro u p to speak English m ight seem im possible, b u t the teachers we have talked to, all e x p erien ced in teaching m ultilevel classes, say' they w ould never give up th eir assignm ents for m ore traditional ones. Thev all agree th at tim ing a n d p lan n in g are the m ost im p o rtan t factors in h a n d lin g a m ultilevel class. T he first step is to divide students into m ore or less hom o g en eo u s groups. Two o r th ree groups are usual. T he second task is to structure activities so that the teach er can sp en d equal tim e with each group. For exam ple, if the class can be divided into th ree g ro u p s— beginning, in te rm e d ia te , a n d advanced — th e classroom m an ag em en t plan m ight look so m ething like the one in Figure 1 on the nex t page. N otice th at the o p e n in g activity has the whole class together. T he activity m ight include learn in g vocabulary items, p ro n u n cia tio n prac­ tice, o r learn in g a p o p u lar song o r a folk song. These are all activities in which students with a wide range o f proficiencies can participate on a m ore o r less equal footing. An o p e n in g activity that is an old standby of ESL teachers is bringing in a shoe box co n taining several item s from a ro u n d the house. Som etim es the tea c h e r brings item s from a p a rticu la r ro o m , such as th e kitchen (e.g.. a knife, fork, can opener, spatula, saucer, saucepan, an d w ooden sp o o n ). T he tea c h e r carries the box a ro u n d the room and various students are allowed to rem ove an item w ithout looking, w hich m akes the activity fun a n d holds the in terest o f the students. O nce all

B e g in n e r s

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Figure I. Classroom Management Plan for a Multilevel Class

of the item s are distributed, each stu d e n t hold­ ing an item is asked to stand an d tell the class w hat he or she has. If the stu d e n t c an 't answer, the tea c h e r elicits h elp from the entire class. If n o one in th e class knot vs, the teach er provides the lexical item . A fter the p ro p e r term has been elicited, it is w ritten on the board, a n d the teacher m odels the pro n u n ciatio n several times. H e or she then allows students to repeat bv asking for the nam e o f the item being held bv their class­ m ate. As the list of items progresses and becom es longer, the teacher reviews them frequentlv and random ly, asking the student holding the item to stand up as the item is called. T he task becom es m ore and m ore lively as the teacher calls off items m ore quickly and students stand up and sit down, often at the en couragem ent of their classmates. For variety7, a student may volunteer to com e to the front o f the room and p ro n o u n ce and iden­ tify each of the objects. It is suggested that items be reviewed frequently, and after items from the house are exhausted, including cleaning supplies, teachers may substitute items from business, chil­ d re n ’s small toy animals, or anything else relevant to the students. After the opening acti\ity, students divide into groups according to level. It is essential that students know exactly what to do at this point. They n e e d to know w here in the room to go and exactly what activity to begin with. Early training is the key to success at this p o in t because teachers have found that tim e spent directing students to their p ro p er groups d u ring the first few days of class is tim e well invested an d results in sm ooth transitions later. A schedule o f class activities for

each g roup should be posted in each group area. A dhere stringentlv to the schedule for the first few weeks, and it will becom e autom atic for the students. It is not unusual for a tea c h e r to take a kitchen tim er to class an d set it for each activity. Som e have watches with alarm clocks, an d som e brin g in bedside alarm clocks. O nce the ro u tin e has b een established, students move from one station to the next with surprising effi­ ciency an d veteran students can help new stu­ dents get used to the routine. A ccustom ing students to transitioning betw een activities is crucial if this m odel is to work, but it can be verv challenging. D ep en d in g on th eir cultural sense o f tim e, som e students mav find p u n c tu a tin g th eir experiences in this wav to be bizarre and deeplv arb itrary Pedagogically the idea b e h in d such a tim etable is that all students spend opening and closing time with the teacher, and one-third or one-half of the rem aining time (depending on the n u m b er of groups) in teacher-clirected acthities. Each teacher-directed lesson leads to individual desk work, which can then move naturallv into com m unicative group work. Advanced students mav be able to work from written instructions, but m ost students wall n e e d verbal instructions supplied d u rin g the teacher-clirected lesson, which can be reinforced by the posted schedule. Som etim es advanced students can also help beginning students, u n d e r teacher supervision. Teachers agree that multilevel classrooms are challenging b u t definitely m anageable, as long as the students are properly grouped and sufficient time is devoted to learning the class routine.

Testing M anaging a m ultilevel class req u ires a valid a n d reliable p lac e m e n t in stru m e n t (see C o h en 's c h a p te r in this volum e). F requently textbooks have placem en t exam s in the te a c h e r’s guide th at reflect the scope an d sequence o f th e text. It is also very likely th at the school will have some sort o f placem en t in strum ent. In schools in which m ultilevel g ro u p in g is n o t dictated bv necessity, it is probably m ost efficacious to place students with others o f like proficiency. At B elm ont, for exam ple, all e n te rin g stu­ dents take a p lacem ent test. In the u p p e r levels, thev are tracked according to th eir language strengths a n d deficiencies. They are offered classes in gram m ar, reading, listening, speaking, w riting, a n d co m p u te r-b a se d in stru ctio n . S tudents take two classes per night. Those who are weak in gram m ar but strong in reading m ight take two gram m ar classes, or a reading class at one level and a gram m ar class at a lower level. Over the course of several years, this system changed the structure of the school's FSL pro ­ gram from a pyram id configuration, with the majority of students at the lower levels, to a colum nar configuration. In o th er words, the attri­ tion rate decreased as m ore an d m ore students m oved on to the u p p e r levels and fewer students d ro p p ed out. T he school also developed exit tests for each level so that students with like pro ­ ficiency ten d ed to rem ain grouped. It is often felt (erroneously, we think) that actual testing is so stressful that it will cause students to ab andon classes. T he B elm ont ex perience seem s to ind i­ cate otherw ise. O bservation suggests th a t stu­ dents expect a n d respect form al testing a n d are challenged ra th e r th an overw helm ed by the process. In fact, it is not unusual for a tten d an ce to be particularly high on nights d u rin g which testing is scheduled, or for som e students to insist on rem ain in g in a level, regardless of test results, until thev m eet th eir own criteria for passing the course. T h e fact th at students a p p re ­ ciate h o n est a n d valid testing should com e as no surprise a n d is very m uch in keeping with the adult learn er profile o u tlined earlier. O f course, it is certainly q u estionable, on the face of it, w hether a paper-and-pencil test is a valid m easure

o f language at all. Surely a com m unicative test (Wesche 1987) w ould be closer to the ideal. U n fo rtu n ately , s h e e r n u m b e rs d isco u rag e a direct, com m unicative test in m ost schools. (See Stovnoff 1996 for a helpful review of th ree good testing books.) Currently, all California adult schools have m oved over to com petencv-based program s, which in theory should require com petencybased exams. M clntire (1988, p. 15) defines com petencv-based education as “[cju rricu lu m based on pred eterm in ed com petencies identified as necessary' for adults to function successfully. Students m ust dem onstrate mastery' of these com ­ petencies successfully to com plete a class or a pro ­ g ram .” T he idea, th en , is that a stu d en t m ight be req u ired to be able to enroll his o r h e r child in school, write a letter o f excuse to the teacher, rep o rt the child's h ealth an d im m unization his­ tory, a n d sim ilar details in o rd e r to pass a unit. A ccording to M clntire, “An underlying p h ilo ­ sophical ten e t of com petency based ed u catio n is the belief that a student m ust achieve skills rath e r than 'earn credits.’ Thus adults mat' a tten d a class for a short or for an extended p eriod of tim e in o rd er to satisfactorily dem onstrate the attainm ent of com petencies . . . Success is m easured in the m asterv of specific com petencies rath e r than through hours o f attendance, com m only referred to as ‘seat tim e’” (p. 37). T he state of California has specified the proficiencies and outcom es for each level of ESL (frequently called the model standards) in the English-as-a-Second Language Model Standards for Adult Education Programs (1992). This do cu m en t (or the appropriate equivalent) is vital for teachers who are teaching in a school with m andated m odel standards. Programs, assessment, place­ m ent. funding, and accreditation in such a system will all most likelv be tied to the relevant docu­ m ent and to dem onstrable com pliance with it. At first blush it mav seem that this takes away from the autonom y and creativity o f the individual teacher; based on our experience, however, we argue that teachers can still be autonom ous and creative, an d that m odel standards simply help to focus w here the teacher’s autonom y and creativ­ ity can be exercised. T he m odel standards assure continuity for the students as yvell as provide

continuity ancl d irection for new teachers. For e x p e rie n c e d teach ers, th e m o d el sta n d a rd s m ake “levels of proficiency" com petencies and outcom es sufficiently explicit that teachers can m ore accurately select from or e x p an d th eir rep e rto ire o f pedagogical m aterials and strate­ gies. At the same tim e, the language in the doc­ u m e n t is sufficiently generic to allow teachers to exercise as m uch o r as little in d e p e n d e n c e and creativity as they are com fortable with, while assuring d irection an d benchm arks of progress for the student. In C alifornia, the m odel stan­ dards are based on the in p u t o f literally th o u ­ sands o f practicing teachers and adm inistrators. As a result, the outcom es and com petencies are realistic a n d g ro u n d e d in practice. Thus far. they have b een well received and ap p ear to benefit both students and teachers.

The Value o f Adult Education T he w orkplace is vitally im portant for o u r stu­ dents, an d often the adult EST class has to take a back seat to our students' w orking overtim e or train in g for a new jo b . As Iwataki (1981) points out, ad u lt ESL students have as their fram e of reference “n ot the school but their families, jobs, th eir outside responsibilities" (p. 24). Adult ESL teachers n e e d to be aware o f the im p o r­ tance o f family an d econom ic factors in the lives o f th eir students. For m any adult students, eco­ nom ic upw ard m obility will be achieved, if not bv them , bv fu tu re generations. If thee learn e n o u g h English to survive, th eir children a n d g ran d c h ild re n will m ost likely be able to take advantage of the upw ard m obility that education can bring. Even th o u g h not all of o u r students will becom e rich as a result of th eir adult ESL classes, th ere are by-products o f education which m ost o f o u r students routinely do experience that n e e d to be considered. In addition to brin g ­ ing students “com fortably into the classroom ," adult schools, in m am cases, are the first positive co ntact im m igrants have with A m erican social institutions. Increased self-esteem, cultural aware­ ness, tolerance, and a positive affective stance toward Am erican schools and teachers are im por­ tant e p ip h en o m en a of adult ESL classes, and

th eir significance can n o t be overstated. Both the im m igrant com m unity a n d the com m unity at large benefit greatly from such effects, even if the students do not im m ediately achieve great wealth an d native-like m astery o f English.

Future Trends W ithout question, state-m andated standards and accountability (evidence th rough student per­ form ance that com petencies and outcom es have been dem onstrated) seem to be the direction in which adult education as a field is headed. Many states require them , and it seems likelv that o ther states will follow. T here are also o th er factors in the field of second language acquisition that we think will hav e an im pact on adult education. R ecent so ciocultural sociohis tori c a l/la n ­ guage socialization studies have dem o n strated that the d em ands and consequences of o u r pro ­ fession are considerable m ore com plex th an we m ight previously have tho u g h t. A n u m b e r of research ers' have argued quite com pellinglv for a shift in second language research. They have fo u n d ev idence that learning ancl teaching a sec­ o n d language is considerably m ore com plex, lay­ ered. and p ro fo u n d than we had ever im agined, ancl that o u r c u rre n t pedagogy does not begin to reflect or take into account "the com plex social and cultural worlds into which a second lan­ guage lea rn er m ust enter" (Rvmes 1997. p. 143). Onlv a sea change in ou r research paradigm will illum inate these worlds and ultim ately lead to m ore effective classrooms. Virtually all o f the researchers w orking from this perspective place language learning within the m o re c o m p re h en siv e d o m ain of socialization, th e lifelong process through which individuals are initiated into cultural m eaning ancl learn to per­ form the skills, tasks, roles and identi­ ties ex p ected bv w hatever society or societies thev may live in . . . T he lan g u ag e socialization perspective im plies th a t lan g u ag e is le a rn e d th ro u g h social in te ra c tio n . It also im plies that language is a prim ary

vehicle of socialization: W hen we learn a second language, we are learning m ore than a structure for com m unica­ tion; we are also learning (for example) social and cultural norm s, procedures for interpretation, and forms o f reason­ ing (Watson-Gegeo 1988, p. 582). Prelim inary findings from this tvpe o f research suggest that using o n e ’s first language can be an act of resistance, as opposed to an unwillingness to cooperate with the teacher o r to practice English, an d that what appears to be an o p p o rtu ­ nity for language practice can actually discourage second language use (Rymes 1996). Rymes and Pash (2000) fo u n d th at students can be so involved in “looking like they’re lea rn in g ” th at it can in te rfe re with learning. In a n o th e r stttdv of high school students in Los Angeles, Rvmes (1996) found that collaboration am ong students is vital for second language learning, though such collaboration mav be beset bv difficulty- in “inte­ grating students’ own perspectives an d experi­ ences with what collaboration is and how it works" (p. 409). Hall (1995) found that learn in g a lan­ guage is inseparable from issues of (shifting) pow er an d that specific social forces ra th e r than “language proficiency'” constrain the tvpe and am o u n t o f linguistic participation afforded a sec­ o n d language learner. In fact, the social aspects o f learn in g a second language mav be m ore basic th an the intellectual ones. Finally, learning a se co n d lan g u a g e ch an g es o n e ’s identity (Trosset 1986). Add to this S chum ann's sugges­ tion (1997) th at cognition an d affect are in prac­ tice inseparable an d th at everyone is on an individual affective/cognitive trajectory in lan­ guage learning. Clearly these are n o t trivial m at­ ters and very likelv this research d irection yvill affect the form a n d c o n te n t o f the adult class­ room in the twentv-first centurv.

ESL class because the ex p erien ce is so exciting a n d intense. T h e b o n d betw een ESL stu d e n t and tea c h e r is n o th in g sh o rt o f rem arkable, a n d the satisfaction teachers ex p erien ce is truly p ro ­ found. It has b e e n said th a t in the U n ited States, the last bastion o f g en u in e respect fo r teachers and, in d eed , for ed u catio n in general is the adult ESL classroom . Perhaps Dale M clntire8 said it best: A dult ESL is yvhat you th o u g h t e d u ­ cation yvas going to be yvhen you first decid ed to becom e a teacher.

D IS C U S S IO N Q U E S T IO N S 1. W hat are som e characteristics o f ad u lt lea rn ­ ers which set th em a p a rt from younger lan­ guage learners o r from university students? In yvhat wav(s) do you th ink those differ­ ences should or do affect your a p p ro ach to adult school students? 2. Investigate the adult education program in the area in which you in ten d to teach. How is it different from and how is it similar to the program described in this chapter? You m ight want to consider the m ajor points covered, such as the history o f the program , its fu n d ­ ing. the target population, classes available, placem ent, etc. 3. T he state o f C alifornia currently m andates that schools that receive public funds p ro ­ vide quantitative and qualitatiy-e evidence that students are m aking progress. This m an ­ date is tied to fu n d in g (am ong o th e r th in g s ), so it is taken very seriously. 1 lowever. we occasionally find learners yvho simply fail to m ake progress or who insist on rep eatin g a class with a single teach er over an d over again. W hat kind of tension m ig h t this situa­ tion create? How m ight th a t tension be resolved o r at least lived with?

C O N C L U S IO N A dult ESL teachers are routinely effusive when describing their adult ESL experience, as are the students. Teachers yvho come to work “exhausted” speak about renew ed energy and of taking several hottrs to “wind down" after teaching an adult

S U G G E S T E D A C T IV IT IE S 1. If von hav e access to the internet, go to the yvebsite fo r the N ational C learin g h o u se for ESL Literacy E d u catio n (h ttp :// www.cal.org.ncle) a n d look at the ten areas in

w hich th e re are concise overviews of research a n d best practices. Select th ree th at you find particularly helpful an d share them with your group. 2. Find o u t if the state, province, o r country in which you plan to teach has m an d ated stan­ dards. If so, get a copy of the do cu m en t and read it carefully. (You m ight begin online with th e S tate /P ro v in c ia l/N atio n a l D ep artm en t o f Education.) Based on the docum ent, plan a lesson to teach the following to adult ESL students: a. use o f p rese n t tense b. p ro n u n cia tio n o f final /d/ in English c. w riting an absence excuse to a ch ild ’s teach er d. w riting a note of explanation to a su p er­ visor o r cow orker 3. Part o f a gram m ar lesson m ight include ask­ ing students to practice using a structure in a com m unicative context. This would occur after the presentation a n d the focused prac­ tice phases o f the lesson. Im agine that you are teaching the p resent perfect to an interm e­ diate adult ESL class and are now readv to begin the com m unicative phase o f the lesson. If you have access to the In te rn et, search u n d e r SCANS Report o r go to one o f the fol­ lowing w'ebsites: h ttp ://w w w .coe.tany.edu/~epsy/cded/ jennyl.htm or h ttp ://www.academ icinnovations.com / report.html. W ork o u t several com m unicative exercises th a t w ould in co rp o rate SCANS into your gram m ar lesson. 4. Plan in detail a two-and-a-half h o u r lesson for a m ultilevel ESL class. D ecide the profi­ ciency o f each level. W hat will your o p e n in g exercise (s) be? Why will this exercise be a good one for students at d ifferent levels? How will you tim e the rest o f the lesson? How wall you move students from one activity to another? How7 wrill vou assure that when the teacher is with one group, he o r she will n o t be n e e d ed by another?

FU R T H ER R EA D IN G For understanding and teaching English grammar Celce-Murcia, M., and D. Larsen-Freeman. 1999. The Grammar Book: An F.SL/EFI. Teacher’s Course,

2d ed. Boston. MA: Heinle & Heinle Publishers. Celce-Murcia, M., and S. Hilles. (1988). Techniques and Resources in Teaching Grammar. New York: Oxford Universitv Press. For understanding adult education and relevant pedagogy Ilvin, D., and T. Tragardh, eds. 1978. Classroom Practices in Adult FSL. Washington, DC: TESOL. Rose, M. 1989. Lives on the Boundary. New York: Free Press. Other useful resources Brown, H. Douglas. 1994. Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy.

Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. U.S. Department of Labor. 1991. The Secretary's Com­ mission on Achieving Necessary Skills. Washington, DC: Department of Labor. Your state, provincial, or national standards document.

ЧЩ Г

W E B S IT E S

NCLE ERIC Digests and Q&A. http://www.cal.org/ncle/DIGESTS/ Both the U.S. National Literacy Act of 1991 and the U.S. Adult Education Act of 1991, along with related policv resources, are available on-line at: www.nifl.gov/lincs/ collections/policy/ resource.html

EN DN O TES 1 We are indebted to Dale Mclntire, Marianne CelceMurcia, and to the late Sadae Iwataki for their very helpful comments, suggestions, and discussions regarding earlier versions of this chapter. We would also like to thank Marianne Celce-Murcia and Kit

Bell for their invaluable input. The responsibility for any errors, omissions, or problems in interpre­ tation is ours, of course. 2 For the complete text of Lincoln’s eloquent 1838 address to the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, see Current 1967, pp. 11-21. 3 All the statistical data regarding Belmont Community Adult School are taken from the 1995 Application for Accreditation and current school demographics. Although many of our illustrations will be drawn from this one particular adult school, our observations will be informed by pro­ grams in other schools, as well as conversations and consultations with colleagues, teachers, administrators, and students throughout the United States and in other countries.

4 Work by Bley-Vroman 1988; Celce-Murcia and Hilles 1988; Higgs and Clifford 1982; Mclndre 1988; Selinker 1972 and sources cited therein discuss this issue. 0 Affect is a term from psychology, which the American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition (1991) defines as “a feeling or emotion as distinguished from cognition, thought, or action” (p. 84). 6 Studies by Bley-Vroman 1988; Hilles 1991; Johnson and Newport 1989; Krashen, Scarcella, and Long 1982; Long 1990; Richards 1985; Schumann 1997 (among others) address this issue. For a different perspective, see Bialystok and Hakuta 1994. ' For example, see Hall 1995; Markee 1994; Rymes 1997; Trosset 1986; and Watson-Gegeo 1988. 8 Dale McIntyre, personal communication.

UNIT V

UNIT

W e end with a section on the needs of ESL/EFL teachers. W hat do teachers need to know to perform their jobs effectively and professionally? W hat are the skills and competencies all too frequently left undiscussed? Jensen's chapter shows how lesson plans can be structured and prepared in the context of an entire course. Byrd's chapter then discusses textbooks: how to evaluate them for initial selection and how to analyze them to ensure effective implementation. Medgyes raises issues important for those ESLVEFL teachers who are non-native speakers of English. Since these teachers now constitute the majority of English language teachers worldwide, all ESUEFL teachers— native and non-native— should be informed of and sensitive to the issues. Hinkel’s chapter treats culture, a related matter; since all ESL7EFL learners have a non-English-speaking cultural background, their teachers must be aware of the cultural differences between their learners and native speakers of English. Hinkel gives suggestions on how to foster cross-cultural communication. Next, Brinton shows teachers the genuine usefulness of instructional media along with demonstrating how both technical and non-technical resources can be used in lessons to enhance teaching. Sokolik then gives an introduction to the use of computers, the most technical of media, in language teaching, stressing that sound pedagogy will be the most important factor in deciding the usefulness and success of this technology. Bailey defines and distinguishes action research, teacher research, and classroom research, showing their potential usefulness to language teachers. Then Murphy’s chapter on reflective teaching, presents several options teachers can explore for their long-term professional growth. Cohen’s language assessment chapter covers many issues (test types, test items, test administration, reliability, validity); every language teacher should have a general understanding of this area for every teacher is involved in assessment. Finally, Crandall reminds ESITEFL teachers of all the resources they can exploit to keep up to date,The field is growing rapidly, and a major part of any teacher's responsibility is to keep abreast of new developments.

V : Skills for Teachers

Skills fo r Teachers

Planning Lessons LINDA JENSEN

Jensen’s "Lesson Planning" chapter serves as a guide for novice teachers who need to create formalized lesson plans.The chapter covers why, when, and how teachers plan lessons, as well as basic lesson plan principles and a lesson plan template. A sample lesson plan is provided in the context of a weekly overview, module overview, and course overview.

IN T R O D U C T IO N : D E F IN IT IO N O F A LESSO N PLA N All good teachers have som e type of plan when they walk into their classrooms. It can be as simple as a m ental checklist o r as com plex as a detailed two-page typed lesson plan that follows a pre­ scribed form at. Usually, lesson plans are w ritten ju st for the te a c h e r’s own eyes a n d ten d to be ra th e r inform al. But th ere may be tim es when the plan has to be w ritten as a class assignm ent o r given to an observer or supervisor, an d th e re ­ fore will be a m ore form al a n d detailed docu­ m ent. This c h a p te r will serve as a guide for creating these m o re form alized lesson plans. A lesson plan is an extrem ely useful tool th a t serves as a co m b in atio n guide, resource, and historical d o c u m e n t reflecting o u r teaching philosophy, stu d e n t p o p u latio n , textbooks, and m ost im portantly, o u r goals for o u r students. It can be described with m any m etap h o rs such as road m ap, b lu ep rin t, or gam e plan (see U r 1996); b u t regardless o f the analog)', a lesson plan is essential fo r novice teachers a n d conven­ ient for ex p erien ced teachers.

o u r students. As previously m en tio n ed , a lesson plan is also a reco rd o f w hat we did in class; this record serves as a valuable resource when plan­ n in g assessm ent m easures such as quizzes, m idterm s, and final exams. A record of previously taught lessons is also useful when we teach the same course again, so that we have an account of what we did the term or year before to avoid rein­ venting the wheel. W hen we have to miss class, a lesson plan is a necessity for the substitute teacher, who is expected to step in a n d teach w hat had been p lan n e d for the day. In addition, just as teachers expect th eir students to com e to class p re p a re d to learn, students com e to class expecting th eir teachers to be p re p a re d to teach. A lesson plan is p art o f th at p reparation. Yet in spite of the im p o rtan ce o f p lanning, a lesson plan is m utable, n o t w ritten in stone; it is n o t m ean t to keep a teach er from ch anging the duration o f an activity or forgoing an activity altogether if the situation warrants. A good lesson plan guides b u t does n o t dictate w hat a n d how we teach. It benefits m any stakeholders; teachers, adm inistrators, observers, substitutes, a n d o f course, students.

Why We Plan

When and How We Plan

D eciding w hat to teach, in w hat order, an d for how m uch tim e are the basic co m p o n en ts of planning. T he lesson plan serves as a m ap or checklist th at guides us in know ing w hat we w ant to do next; these sequences o f activities rem in d us of th e goals a n d objectives of o u r lessons for

To be perfectly honest, a certain a m o u n t o f les­ son p lan n in g takes place the n ig h t before a class is taught. This p lanning, taking place ju s t hours before e n te rin g the classroom , sh o u ld be the fine or m icro tu n in g o f the lesson, n o t the big pictu re or m acro p lan n in g th a t is based o n a

program m atic philosophy or syllabus design. A good lesson plan is the result of b o th m acro p lan n in g an d m icro planning. O n the m acro level, a lesson plan is a reflection of a philosophy o f lea rn in g an d teaching which is reflected in the m ethodology, the syllabus, the texts, a n d the o th e r course m aterials and finally results in a specific lesson. In brief, an actual lesson plan is th e e n d p o in t of m any o th e r stages of p lan n in g th a t culm inate in a daily lesson. Before a teach er steps into the second lan­ guage classroom , he or she should have devel­ o p e d his or h e r own u n d e rsta n d in g of second language lea rn in g a n d teaching. This back­ g ro u n d in clu d es know ledge o f th eo ries of second language acquisition and lea rn er charac­ teristics (see O xford's ch ap ter in this text) as well as fam iliarity with both historical and cu rren t trends in second language pedagogy (see chap­ ters by Celce-M urcia a n d Savignon in this text). This background know ledge will create a p er­ sonal philosophy th at is realized w henever the teach er is p rep arin g lessons, teaching classes, or grading assignm ents or tests. A good teacher c a n n o t help b u t b ring his or h e r own sense of good learning a n d teaching into the classroom. Ideally, this philosophy will be consistent with the teaching m ethodology em ployed bv the institu­ tion since the m ethodology will then help im ple­ m e n t the syllabus an d influence the choice of textbooks for m ost program s. O nce the syllabus an d texts have been decided, p lan n in g for the year or term takes place. For m am teachers, especially newly h ired ones, these decisions have already been m ade a n d the m acro p lan n in g has been taken care o f by colleagues o r supervisors. In som e cases, how­ ever, the new tea c h e r mav be responsible for the m acro p lan n in g as well as the m icro planning. C onsulting o r p lan n in g with fellow teachers ab o u t syllabus design a n d textbook selection can be very helpful in this type o f situation (see chapters bv N u n a n a n d Bvrd in this text). In rare cases, n o th in g mav be in place so it may be entirely up to the in stru cto r to design the course syllabus, choose the teach in g m aterials, and plan the daily lessons. G enerally the opposite is tru e for the novice teacher, however, who will

have verv little input at first in term s o f m acro a n d even m icro planning. (See A ppendices B. C, and D for exam ples o f m acro planning: a course overview, a m odule overview, an d a weekly overview.)

What a Lesson Plan Looks Like A lthough th ere are a variety of form ats to use w hen creating a lesson plan, m ost tem plates share certain characteristics. W hen creating a lesson, a teach er m ust consider the background o f the students, the objectives o f the lesson, the skills to be taught, the activities, the m aterials an d texts, the tim e constraints, and the connec­ tions to previous an d fu tu re lessons. Like most activities, a lesson plan has stages: a beginning, a m iddle, an d an end. As m en tio n e d previously, the am o u n t o f detail actually w ritten down will varv with individual preferences a n d experi­ ence. Som e instructors like to keep n o te b o o k ' of lessons plans for each class; others may use note cards or loose sheets of p a p e r th at can be shuffled a ro u n d . Manv instructors now use com ­ puters to write up lesson plans; the advantage' of this are th at the lessons are neatly typed, easv to save, an d can readilv be copied an d m odified as n eed ed . K eeping at least one p a p e r copy filed awav in case o f a technological breakdow n is also a good idea. Most plans begin with a b rief description ot the class and students; for exam ple, the nam e ot the course and the level, and the background o f the students are useful to note. It is also im por­ tant to add the date as well as the week and day ot the course. Given the trend of adhering to com ­ petency requirem ents and published standards, a lesson plan mav also need to include the com pe­ tencies an d standards that the lesson addresses. Som e teachers list the gram m atical stru c tu re ' a n d kev vocabulary term s th at will be introducer, as well. Teachers also find it wise to note w hat h a' been cov e re d d u rin g the previous class o r what students already n e e d to know for the particular lesson, especially if it will begin with a review o: prev ious m aterial. T he day’s goals an d objective' should be in clu d ed as should a list of texts.

m aterials, and eq u ip m en t such as audiovisual aids. Som e instructors find it helpful to list the day’s m aterials a n d audiovisual aids in a box at the top o f the page to s e n e as a re m in d e r of what they n e e d to b rin g to class. If m ore elabo­ rate m aterial p rep a ra tio n is necessarv before class, teachers may also list the steps necessarv to p rep a re these m aterials. N oting any hom ew ork or assignm ents to be re tu rn e d or collected that dav is also useful inform ation to have at the b eg in n in g o f the lesson plan. The m iddle com ponent o f a lesson plan is the lesson's content; this includes procedures or activities along with transition notes, as well as time m anagem ent and class m anagem ent notes such as the students' scaling arrangem ents for dif­ ferent activities. Novice teachers should also trv to anticipate what mav go wrong or prove to be prob­ lematic so that contingency’ plans are prepared in advance and written into the lesson plan. Lessons usuallv begin with warm-up and or review activities. Teachers n eed to decide how they will co n n ect the dav's lesson to the prec ious class m eetin g and how thev want to interest and m otivate th eir students for the dav's activities. O nce tvarm ed up. the class is then reach for the p resen tatio n an d practice stages of the lesson. These stages hat e been referred to with a varietv of labels such as into, through, beyond (B rinton. Goodw in, a n d Ranks 1994); engage, study, activate (H arm er 1998); lead-in. elicitation, explanation, accurate reproduction, an d immediate creativity (H arm er 1991); and verbalization, automatization. and autonomy (Ur 1996). All o f these labels describe stages in which first, the language form or c o n te n t is in tro d u ced and presented; second, com p reh en sio n is checked before a form of guided practice is im plem ented; and third, some type o f less structured, com m unicative activity takes place so that students can practice what thev have ju st learned in a less controlled, m ore natural situation. T he com m unicative stage also provides an opportunitv for students to integrate the new knowledge p resen ted in the lesson with previous knowledge. Finallv. teachers and stu­ dents should evaluate how well the new m aterial has been learn ed in o rd er to d eterm in e the shape of future lessons.

Som e teachers find it useful to write b rie f com m ents on a lesson plan th at help with the transition from one activity to another, so that the lesson flows well an d the various activities have a sense o f co n n ectio n . For exam ple, w hen transitioning from a listening activitv to a rea d ­ ing activity a teach er can discuss how certain listening strategies can be a d ap ted as reading strategies. C reating sm ooth transitions and links can be challenging for novice teachers, so plan­ ning these moves a n d n o tin g them in a lesson plan is worthwhile a n d valuable for b oth instruc­ tors and students. Tim e m an ag em en t can also be challenging for b eg in n in g teachers a n d even e x p erien ced teachers c an n o t alwavs accurately pred ict how long a certain activitv will take o r w hen a discus­ sion will becom e so engaging that it sh o u ld be allow ed to c o n tin u e lo n g e r th a n p la n n e d . N onetheless, it is im p o rtan t to n o te the n u m b e r o f m inutes allotted for each activitv in the m ar­ gin o f the lesson plan; this also m eans th at the teach er should wear a watch or be able to see a clock in the classroom in o rd e r to be aware of the tim e. More often than not, an activitv is u n d erestim ated in term s o f length, so teachers should decide ahead o f tim e what part o f a les­ son could be skipped or sh o rte n e d or saved for the next class. This does not m ean that teachers should not overplan. T h e re are tim es when an activitv will take less tim e th an an ticipated or suddenly seem s too easv or difficult, so the teach er will decide to sacrifice it; good teachers e rr on the side o f o verplanning a n d /o r have som e useful five to ten m inute supplem entary’ activ ities av ailable in th eir rep e rto ire of teaching tricks. It can be a verv frightening experience for the novice teacher to look up at the clock and see that she has ten m inutes left until the en d o f class and no idea o f what to do. Initiallv, it is use­ ful for inexperienced teachers to plan th eir les­ sons so that each m inute of class is accounted for before thev step into the classroom. Seating arran g em en ts for various activities should also be n o ted in the lesson plan. Pre­ p lan n in g pair and g roup work seating arran g e­ m ents is m ore efficient than standing in fro n t o f the ( lass and m oving students a ro u n d random lv.

T h e re are tim es w hen ran d o m pairs o r small groups mav m ake sense b u t th ere are m any o th e r tim es w hen a rationale is n e e d e d in decid­ ing who works with w hom . O ften we w ant groups to contain a m ixture o f talkative and q u iet students; we probable want to mix lan­ guage groups o r separate best friends who talk only to each other. P la n n in g these seating arran g em en ts b e fo re h a n d helps the class ru n sm oothly and sat es tim e. Most teachers also find it useful to give instructions for g roup or pair work to the class as a whole before breaking the class up; once students start m oving a ro u n d , they may becom e so active that getting their a tte n tio n can take up valuable class time. Teachers also n eed to anticipate w here a lesson may break down. Especiallv w hen trving o u t a new activitv o r teaching a gram m ar point fo r the first tim e, not ice teachers n e e d to think ab o u t w hat mav go wrong. W hat part of the les­ son may be difficult for the students? W hat kinds o f questions can the instructor expect? Will there be problem s with student-student interactions? This type o f fo re th o u g h t is especiallv im portant for lessons th at relv on technology or eq uipm ent th a t may fail o r not be available as planned. A nticipating problem s and thinking o f solutions b e fo re h a n d m akes both novice and experienced teachers feel m ore com fortable an d confident w hen thev walk into the classroom. T he final section o f a lesson plan should in clu d e com m ents that e n d the lesson such as a review o r sum m ary o f the lesson and th at indi­ cate hom ew ork or o th e r assignm ents. A lthough hom ew ork mav be n o ted at the e n d o f a lesson plan, it is probable not a good idea to wait until the e n d of class to assign it to the students. Find a place on the b o ard w here hom ew ork can be consistently p o sted so students always know w here to check for it. Post it th ere at the begin­ n in g o f class or d u rin g the break so th at every­ one has a chance to write it down before those final hectic m inutes of class w hen students are packing up th eir belongings a n d ru n n in g o u t the door. Some teachers like to leave a space on their lesson plans to com m ent on what needs to be covered d u rin g the next class session based on

w hat w ent on d u rin g the dav's lesson. Perhaps an activity h ad to be placed on hold or a teaching point needs to be co te red again. Som e teachers also like to note students' unansw ered questions in o rd e r to research th eir responses before the n ex t class m eeting. It is also a good idea to include space for lesson evaluation bv the teach er af ter the class is over. T he evaluation co m p o n e n t o f lesson plan­ n ing provides an o p p o rtu n ity for h o n est reflec­ tion ab o u t what activities w orked o r did n o t work an d whv, as well as how the lesson could be im proved or m odified the next tim e aro u n d . Teachers also find it useful to add com m ents co n cern in g stu d en t reactions to the lesson. It is these evaluative com m ents that can m ake a les­ son plan a trulv useful resource for fu tu re course and lesson planning. (See A ppendices A an d E for a lesson plan tem plate and a sam ple lesson plan.)

Basic Principles of Lesson Planning As with anv skill, lesson plan n in g becom es easier over time. As teachers gain experience in the classroom, thev learn certain principles about planning. W hen seasoned teachers are asked to list som e basic principles o f lesson p lan n in g that novice teachers should be aware of, the ones that are frequently m en tio n e d are actually basic principles of good teaching: co h eren ce, variety, and flexibility. These principles have proven use­ ful for all teachers, not just the second foreign language teacher. 1. A good lesson has a sense of c o h eren ce and flow. This m eans th at the lesson hangs to g eth e r and is not ju st a sequence o f dis­ crete activities. O n a m acro level, links or threads should c o n n e ct the various lessons over the davs a n d weeks o f a course. O n a m icro level, students n e e d to u n d erstan d the rationale for each activitv; also, thev learn best w hen th ere are transitions from one activity to the next. 2. A good lesson exhibits variety. This variety needs to be p rese n t at both the m acro and m icro levels. W hile for m ost students, a

certain degree o f predictability in term s of the teacher, the texts, classmates, and cer­ tain adm inistrative procedures is com fort­ ing; however, to avoid boredom and fatigue, lesson plans should n o t follow the same pat­ tern day after dav. O n a m acro level, there should be variety in term s of topics (con­ tent), language, and skills over the length of the course. O n a m icro level, each dailv les­ son should have a certain am o u n t of variety in term s of the pace of the class, such as time spent on various activities, d ep en d in g on the difficulty or ease of the m aterial being covered. T he percentages of teacher-fronted time and student-centered activities should van from lesson to lesson; there are davs w hen we want our students to participate and be active, but there are o th er davs when we want them a bit calm er in o rd er to be receptive to new m aterial or practice a lis­ tening or reading strategy. Some teachertrainers have referred to this as the abilitv to “stir” or “settle" our students dep en d in g on the need. Each lesson should also have some variety in term s of classroom organization such as whole-class, small-group, pair, and individual activities. T he m ood of different lessons will van' as well; m ood shifts can reflect the teacher's disposition on a certain dav, the chem istrv o f the mix of students, the weather, c u rre n t events, or som ething unexplainable. 3. A good lesson is flexible. Lesson plans are not m ean t to be tools that bind teachers to som e p re o rd a in e d plan. G ood teachers th in k on th eir feet a n d know w hen it is tim e to change an activitv, regardless o f w hat the lesson plan savs. An in terestin g stu d e n t question can take the class in an unantici­ p a te d direction that creates one o f those w onderful “teach in g m o m en ts,” n o t to be missed. A brilliant idea can com e as the tea c h e r is w riting on the board; som etim es p u rsu in g these ideas is well w orth a risk o f failure. Even failure can be a valuable lesson for b o th the novice a n d ex p erien ced teacher.

C O N C L U S IO N Knowing how to go ab o u t p lan n in g a s e c o n d / foreign language lesson is the result o f m any o th e r stages of p rep aratio n . T he teach er m ust be fam iliar with the principles o f second lan­ guage learn in g a n d teaching, as well as the needs of the institution an d the stu d e n t p o p u la­ tion. H e o r she m ust first see th e big pictu re of the course a n d be aware o f the goals a n d objec­ tives for th e en tire term before p lan n in g weekly a n d daily lessons. If the big pictu re is kept in m ind, the individual lessons will c o n n ect to form a learn in g ex perience th a t benefits b o th the tea c h e r an d the students.

D IS C U S S IO N Q U E S T IO N S 1. How will vour knowledge o f second language acquisition theories inform vour decisions in lesson planning? Give som e co n crete examples. 2. List what vou consider to be the characteristics of good students and good teachers. How will this affect vour lesson planning? 3. How m uch detail do you feel is necessary in w riting your own lessons plans? W ould this change if a supervisor w anted copies of your lesson plans? 4. As a novice teacher, w hat aspects of lesson p lan n in g are the m ost daunting? How will vou go about g etting assistance in p lan n in g vour lessons? 5. How m uch autonom y are you com fortable with in terms o f lesson planning? W ould you prefer a teaching situation in which lesson plans are given to you and you are expected to closelv follow them , or would you prefer being h an d ed a textbook and told to write your own daily lesson plans? W hat are the advantages and disadvantages of each situation?

S U G G E S T E D A C T IV IT IE S 1. O bserve several E SE /EFL classes a n d ask each in stru cto r for a copv o f the day's lesson plan. How closelv did the in stru cto r follow the plan? How is the plan sim ilar o r different from the actual lesson? 2. Interview one or two experienced teachers about their own lesson planning strategies. Ask if you can look at some of their lesson plans. Ask if over the years thev have changed the way thev plan lessons. 3. Exam ine an ESL /EFL text that von may have the o p p o rtu n ity to teach in the future. C reate th re e sam ple lesson plans with a vari­ ety o f skill or language foci. How w ould you avoid m arch in g th ro u g h the text page bv page? How w ould vou in co rp o rate supple­ m entary m aterial? 4. C reate a lesson plan for an ESL 7EFL class in a c o m p u te r lab (see c h a p te r bv Sokolik. this volum e). W hat lesson plan considera­ tions n e e d to be m ade for teaching in this situation? 5. List a variety of opening and closing activities. C om pare vour list with the lists of others in your class. How do these activities reflect individual teachers' personalities?

FU R T H ER R EA D IN G Harmer, f. 1998. H o w to Teach E n g lis h . (Chapter 12: How to plan lessons). Harlow, UK: Longman. Excellent discussion of lesson planning for the inexperienced or not ice teacher. Includes a “Task File" with a sample lesson plan on teach­ ing the comparative degree to a low-level class as well as useful activities. Harmer. J. 1991. T he P ra c tic e o f E n g lis h L a n g u a g e T e ach in g (New Edition). (Chapter 12: Planning). Harlow. UK: Longman. A more detailed chapter on lesson planning than H o w to Teach E n g lis h with a focats on the teacher’s background knowledge. Also includes a "speci­ men plan" for an intermediate aclnlt class. Nunan. D. 1999. Se c o n d L a n g u a g e 'T each in g a n d L e a r n in g . Boston. MA: Heinle 8c Heinle Publishers. A verv humanistic and personal account of second language learning and teaching. Enjovable to read, especially for not ice teachers. Ur. P. 1996. A C o arse in L a n g u a g e T e ach in g : P ra c tic e a n d Theory. (Module In: Lesson Planning). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. A reflective approach to lesson planning that is especially useful for experienced teachers. Woodward. T.. and S. Linclstromberg. 1995. P l a n n i n g from Lesso n

to L esso n : .4

1Ya\ o f M a k i n g Lesson

Harlow, UK: Longman. Lots of lesson planning ideas based on the metaphor of using threads to create continuity. P l a n n i n g E a sie r.

A P P E N D IX А Lesson Plan Template for a 50-minute Class Background Information:

To do before class:

course/level description of students (if necessary) aims/objectives skills focus/grammar/vocabulary

Bring to class:

texts/materials previous class work work to be collected or returned

Tim e Frame

Procedures:

Notes:

(in minutes)

3-

5

warm-up

transitions

4-

5

review

seating plans

10

introduction

potential trouble spots

10

presentation activities

15-20

communicative activities

3-5

questions/homework extra activities (if necessary)

Comments/Evaluation:

contingencies

Course Overview (10 Weeks) E S L 3 3 C / U C L A Service Courses LISTENING:

SPEAKING:

lectures:

group work

History 160 and Anthropology 9

discussions/presentations

READING:

WRITING:

A ca d e m ic Publishing Services Farew ell to M a n z a n a r

in-class essays

(APS)

(FM)

out-of-class essays

weekly paced and timed readings

3-5 pp. research paper

Insights 1

weekly journals St. M a r t in ’s H a n d b o o k

WEEK

READING

(SM)

SPEAKING

LISTENING

diag. essay

diag. intros

diag. diet.

brief def.

group work

hist. lect. 1

WRITING

Module 1— The Immigrant in America (History 160)

1

diag. essay previewing skimming/ scanning

2

FM

1-5

notetaking

relative clause paraphrasing

3

4

FM

extended def.

group work

hist. lect. 2

6-1 1

notetaking/

eye mov. 1

summary

FM

IN-CLASS W R IT IN G

12-15

comp./cont.

group work hist. lect. 3

cause/effect

notetaking/

essay exams

summary

SM ch.6/46

5

FM

IN-CLASS W R IT IN G

16-22

articles

group work

Module 11-Kinship and Marriage (Anthropology 9)

6

APS

library tour

group work

verb tenses

conferencing

anthro. lect. 1 notetaking/ summary

7

APS

argumentation

group work

8

S/V1 39—40

passive voice

group work

summary anthro. lect. 3

research

9

anthro. lect. 2 notetaking/

SM ch.5

S/V1 41-42

draft 1-paper

peer response

S/V1 44

IN-CLASS ESSAY

debate

draft 2-paper

peer response

final exam

Final Reading

final draft due

conferencing

notes/summary

10

I.

Topic = HISTORY 160-The Immigrant in America

II.

Rhetorical Modes:

Definitions Comparison and Contrast Cause and Effect

III.

Multiskill Components A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

Listening:Videotaped Lecture— Prof. John Laslett 1.

Notetaking

2.

Outlining

3.

Mapping

4.

Summaries

Speaking 1.

Group work

2.

Presentations

Reading: Core Readings 1.

Previewing/Skimming

2.

Scanning for Details

3.

Vocabulary Development

4.

Comprehension Questions

5.

Rate Development

Writing/Structure 1.

Paraphrasing

2.

Summaries

3.

Brief and Extended Definitions

4.

Relative Clauses

5.

Comparison and Contrast Essay Questions

6.

Cause and Effect Essay Questions

Assignments 1.

Journals

2.

Video Notetaking: Outlining/Summaries

3.

Reading: Outlining/Summaries

4.

Skimming and Scanning Exercises

5.

Reading Comprehension Exercises

6.

Brief and Extended Definition/ln-class Writing

7.

In-class Essay

8.

Conferencing/Rewrite

W eekly O v erv iew (W eek 3) ESL 3 3 C /U C L A S erv ice C o u rse s R EA D IN G Insights I:

Assimilation and Amalgamation

Farew ell to M a n z a n a r

(ch. 3-11)

W R IT IN G using relative clauses in definitions brief and extended definitions Journal #3— //p. 124,Task 23

S T U D Y S K IL L S summary paraphrasing predicting exam content

LIS T E N IN G video seg. 2 “ Variables of Assimilation” video seg. 3 “ The Melting Pot Model”

S P E A K IN G group work class discussions

LESSON SEQUENCING H our O ne:

H o u r Tw o:

Insights

p. I 16— video seg. 2 “ Variables of Assimilation"

Insights

pp. I 17-120 (brief definitions/relative clauses)

FM

3-8, A P S p. 54 (discussion questions)

hw: APS pp. 28-30, 34—37(extended definitions) /. pp. 120-124 / F M

H o u r T h re e :

ch. 9-1 I (by Fri)

paraphrasing APS pp. 28-30 / SM pp. 596-600, 6 17-618 extended definitions in APS pp. 34—37, S/VI p. 136

H o u r F o u r:

summary / I. 123-124 I.

pp. 120-123— video seg. 3 “ The Melting Pot Model”

(Amalgamation) group work: begin extended definition— amalgamation hw: finish extended definitions/journal #3 (I. p. 124/task 23)

H o u r Five:

go over hw: extended definitions brainstorm terms for definitions for in-class writing FM

9-1 I

hw — F M ch. 12-15/prepare for in-class writing

B ackg ro u n d In fo rm atio n :

To do before class:

ESL 33C (advanced multi-skills)/

print in-class writing

content-based course studying models

prompts

of assimilation U C L A undergrads/mostly Asian

O b je ctiv e s: to be prepared for in-class writing

B rin g to class:

next class

Insights I

S k ills focus: writing extended definitions/

FM

predicting content of a midterm

SM

T e x ts/m a te ria ls:

APS

Insights I , St. M a r t in ’s H an d b o o k ,

Farew ell to M a n z a n a r

P revio u s class w o rk : group work writing an extended definition of amalgamation

W o r k to be co lle cte d and re tu rn e d : return Journal #2/collect Journal #3

T im e F ra m e

P ro ce d u re s:

N o te s:

Warm-up: greetings/questions about weekend

whole class

(in minutes) 5

plans/check roll

10

Share extended definitions of amalgamation

5 small groups at tables

finished for hw/pick one to put on ovrhd. proj.

15

10

Group presentations of amalgamation

give feedback on

definitions on a transparency in front of class

relative clauses

Remind class of in-class writing (extended

list on board

definitions) on Monday / Brainstorm possible terms to define 10

Class discussion of F M ch. 9-1 I (discussion questions in A P S , p. 53) hw: F M : ch. 12-15 for next Friday/review for in-class writing

C o m m e n ts/E v a lu a tio n :

Good idea to focus feedback on relative cla uses only with their extended definitions of amalgamation; otherwise the activity takes too much time. Students did a great job of predicting the terms that they will be asked to define.

large circle

Textbooks: Evaluation for Selection and Analysis for Implementation PATRICIA

BYRD

In "Textbooks: Evaluation for Selection and Analysis for Implementation," Byrd argues that the decisions made in selecting textbooks are different from the decisions made for implementing textbooks. A fter showing how the processes differ and the confusion that results from using the same approach for both, she provides guiaelines for selecting as well as implementing textbooks.

IN T R O D U C T IO N

EV A LU A TIO N FO R S E L E C T IO N

In addition to our students and ourselves, an o th er constant in the lives o f most teachers is ou r textbook. Few teachers en ter class without a text­ book— (then a required textbook— that protides c o n te n t and teaching learn in g activities that shape m uch of what happens in that classroom. For teachers, use of a textbook involves first the selection of a book and then the steps taken to im plem ent the book in class. W hile having rational a n d effective selec­ tion pro ced u res is surelv im p o rtan t for educa­ tional svstems, program s, schools, teachers, and students, the selection process is one th at is not open to m am E SL /EFL teachers w orking in set­ tings w here tex tb o o k s have b e e n selected th ro u g h an adm inistrative process— at the m in­ isterial level or bv the school b o a rd or bv the p ro ­ gram d ire c to r o r bv a com m ittee of teachers that selects texts for the whole program , o r bv the teach er who taught the course the previous sem ester b ut who is teach in g som ething else this term . As a result, although inform ation ab o u t evaluation for selection is im p o rta n t for teachers to u n d e rsta n d , m ost teachers have different e n co u n ters with textbooks as thev m ake deci­ sions about how to im p lem en t and su p p lem en t m aterials for the m ost effective classes possible for th eir students an d for themselves. To reflect on the two different ways in which textbooks are scrutinized bv teachers, I will separate “evalua­ tion for selection" from "analysis for im p lem en ­ tatio n ” in the following discussion.

Evaluation and selection o f textbooks is a com ­ plex process that is carried out in many different wavs. In a few settings, teachers decide on the books that thev want to use in th eir classes. For exam ple, in university settings in the U nited States a n d elsewhere, ESI. teachers can often m ake individual decisions ab o u t the textbooks that thev will use. W ith inform ation from p u b ­ lishers and colleagues, thev select a text or texts, have tire books o rd e re d th ro u g h the cam pus bookstore, and th en use them in th eir classes. In m anv o th e r settings, such text selections are m ade bv adm inistrators o r bv com m ittees of teachers. A n o th er scenario, centralized decision­ m aking bv the governm ent, can be seen in Egypt, w here decisions about the English lan­ guage curriculum and the textbooks used to teach it are m ade bv the M inistry o f E ducation in Cairo. In this system, a unified series of text­ books is created for use th ro u g h o u t the country, ra th e r than selecting textbooks from a generic collection c reated by com m ercial publishing com panies. A m uch sm aller centralized approach is seen in boards o f education in various U.S. states that have svstems th rough which textbooks are analyzed and lists of reco m m en d ed books developed. Because of the decentralized nature o f U.S. education, no national req u irem en ts exist, a n d individual schools often have consider­ able flexibility in im plem enting state curricular requirem ents. Textbooks and supplem ental m ate­ rials are. however, frequently selected th ro u g h a

system th at involves input from supervisors and colleagues, a n d does n o t em phasize the individ­ ual teach er m aking a personal decision. Even in schools that are not p art o f centralized m iniste­ rial o r b oard systems, textbook selection is often the work o f a faculty com m ittee or of a program adm inistrator. An intensive English p rogram m ight have a textbook com m ittee to evaluate textbooks an d to m ake selections as a way of en suring som e unitv across m ultiple sections of die sam e course. Overall, few E SL /EFL teachers use textbooks th at thev have them selves selected th ro u g h a process that has focused simpiv on th eir interests a n d the needs of the students in th eir individual section of a course. However, teachers can som etim es influence the decision-m aking process an d thus n e e d to be aware o f how it works in th eir own situation. T h a t is, teachers have to he aware not ju st of th e ir lives inside th eir classroom s, but thev m ust also be know ledgeable ab o u t the larger system in which thev work and about possible wavs that the system m ight allots' for tea c h e r participation in its adm inistrative processes. Influencing the selection process in these situations is not just a m atte r o f pedagogical know ledge but also of political skill.

S y stem atic E v alu atio n Systems for evaluation of textbooks (and o th e r instructional m aterials) generally provide check­ lists built a ro u n d n u m ero u s aspects o f teaching a n d stu d en t-teach er interactions (B ader 2000; D aoud an d Celce-M urcia 1979; Gom es de Matos 2000; Skierso 1991). In reviewing such lists, I am re m in d e d o f the tim e m am years ago w hen a col­ league an d I sat down to m ake a list o f things for o u r students to check as thev revised th eir com ­ positions. O u r first list h ad over 100 item s on it. Clearly, it w asn’t going to be very useful for m any students. We quickly revised it to a m ore reason­ able n u m b e r th at we a n d o u r students could h andle. But we also realized that o u r checklist was useful only for a particu lar kind of writing; it w orked reasonably well for the personal essays bein g w ritten for o u r course b u t w ould not have w orked nearly so well if the students had been

writing lab reports or reviews o f books for history courses. Similarly, m aking a com prehensive yet reasonable checklist for evaluation of textbooks is an en o rm o u s challenge that requires different lists for different types of courses in different set­ tings. Published checklists like those referenced above are offered as m odels that p resen t im p o r­ tan t categories th at should be considered in the selection process. Like o th e r suggestions from colleagues, these m odels n eed to be considered carefully an d a d ap ted to lit the p articular situa­ tion in which thev will be ttsed. In the body of this chapter. I will provide a general rationale for the considerations that seem fu n d am en tal to such a selection-guicling checklist, d e la tin g until the "Suggested Activities" creation of detailed checklists designed to fit the situations o f the teachers using this book. T he issues that m ust be addressed in a textbook evaluation system are the fit betw een the m aterials and ( 1 ) the curriculum . (2 ) the students, and (3) the teachers.

T h e F it B etw ee n C u rric u lu m a n d T ex ts Generally, the first area in cluded in textbook analysis is the fit betw een the m aterials a n d the curriculum . For large educational systems, pub­ lishers create m aterials based on published cur­ riculum statem ents. For exam ple, in Egypt, the Ministry o f E ducation arranges for publication of its own textbooks. Because the books are cre­ ated for use onlv in Egy pt, the M inistry can be sure that the m aterials are ap p ro p riate and earn out its particu lar curricular goals. In the U nitec States, som e public school systems publish their curriculum guidelines and invite publishers te subm it m aterials that fit those guidelines. For states with large ESI. populations, such as Texan Florida, New York, a n d C alifornia, p u b lish er' com pete fiercely to provide m aterials that m eet the stated curricular guidelines. For these e d u ­ cational systems with th eir considerable p u r­ chasing pow er a n d various m ethods for control of co n ten t, the fit betw een the textbook and the curriculum is assum ed to be a reasonable and achievable goal.

For sm aller program s and individual teach­ ers, the fit betw een curriculum and textbooks can be h a rd e r to achieve for two reasons. First, all too m am program s do not hare clearlv articulated curriculum statem ents; teachers have groups of students who want to learn English but the p ro ­ gram lacks a general statem ent o f purposes and m ethods. Second, when there is a curriculum statem ent for a sm aller program or an individual class, it mav har e features that are unique to that particular program ; however, the program is not large enough for publishers to provide textbooks based on its individual curriculum statem ent. In the first situation, the textbook must be selected based on features o th er than curricu lu m — and therefore the text itself becom es the curriculum . In the second situation, textbooks are unlikely to be found that are com pletelv con g ru en t with the pedagogical goals of the program , and the p u r­ pose of the selection process m ust be to find books that have as good a fit as possible— with the expectation that the textbooks will n eed to be adapted and supplem ented with additional m ate­ rials to support the curriculum .

T h e F it B etw een S tu d e n ts a n d T ex ts Textbooks are for students. To m eet their needs, the textbook must have not just the English lan­ guage o r com m unication skill content dem an d ed by the curriculum , but it m ust also fit the needs of students as learners of English. Textbooks are m ade up o f three m ajor elem ents: content (and explanations), exam ples, and exercises or tasks. In support of these three elem ents, textbooks also employ a varietv of graphical elem ents, including print size and stele and white space as well as illus­ trations. In the evaluation-for-selection process, the person or group m aking the selection needs to knots' enough about the students to be able to answer questions such as the following. 1. Content/Explanations: Is the content likelv to be o f interest or use to the students? Is there anv chance that the content could be offen­ sive or inappropriate for its in te n d e d audi­ ence? Do the explanations work for these learn ers— do dies help learners und erstan d what thev n eed in o rd er to learn?

2. Examples: Are the exam ples ap p ro p riate to the Uses and interests of the students? Do the exam ples fit closely with the concepts they are supposed to be explaining? 3. Exercises Tasks: Do the exercises or tasks p rot ide e n o u g h varietv to m eet the needs of different kinds of learners in the class(es)? Will the\ be o f in terest to these students? 4. Presentation/Form at: Does the book look rig h t for these students? Are the illustrations a n d o th e r graphical an d design elem ents a p p ro p riate for th eir age a n d educational level? Is th e p rin te d text easy to read an d a p p ro p riate for th eir read in g level? Is the m ix betw een p rin t and white space balanced so th at readability is e n h a n c e d an d a p p ro ­ priate? Does the book have an index, a p p e n ­ dices, or o th e r sections th a t are usable by students? Is the book well c o n stru c te d — will it last a term of h a rd use by students?

T h e F it B etw ee n T e a c h e rs a n d T ex ts Textbooks are also for teachers. As with students, teachers seek three things from textbooks: conten t/ex p lan atio n s. exam ples, and exercises or tasks. T he evaluation-for-selection process needs to find out if the textbook can be used effectively bv the teachers to whom it will be assigned. T he basic questions will alwavs be Can our teachers han­ dle this material? and Will our teachers find that the textbook meets their needs and preferences for teaching materials ? Questions such as the following should be included in the analysis o f the fit between a poten­ tial textbook and the teachers who will use it. 1.

Content/Explanations: In all settings, evalua­ tors need to consider if the textbook prorides content that teachers will find useful to carry' out the goals of the course and the p ro g ram — is this a teacher-friendlv textbook? In some settings, it is im portant to ask if teachers will have adequate English to be able to u n d e r­ stand the content an d to be able to explain it to their students. A question of special im por­ tance in English for Specific Purposes texts but of im portance in all textbook analysis is, is there a reasonable fit between the content

a n d th e know ledge-base o f the teacher? O th e r questions include. Is there an instruc­ to r’s m anual that helps the teacher belter u n derstand the c o n ten t and wavs o f using the content with the students? Does the textbook supply or require ancillaries such as audiotapes or workbooks? If so. is the content of these ancillaries appropriate to and usable by the teachers in this program ? 2. Examples: Are the exam ples usable for the te a c h e r— can thee be e x p a n d ed on o r recast to be useful in the lessons? 3. Exercises/Tasks: Does the text provide enough things for the teacher to give his or her students to do for the period of time to be covered by the course? Are the exercises or tasks doable in this setting? Do thev pro\ide for a variety of learning styles? Is there an instructor’s m anual and does it make sugges­ tions for im plem entation of tlte exercises? Does it prot ide an answer kev for anv exer­ cises that have discrete answers, such as gram m ar drills o r vocabulary activities? 4. P resen tatio n /F o rm at: Does the illustrative m aterial provide the tea c h e r with teaching opportunities? Is there a close co n n ectio n betw een the c o n te n t and the illustrations?

A N A LYSIS FO R IM PLEM ENTATIO N A lthough th e evaluation-for-selection systems are created to m ake the selection process as rational as possible, o u r en c o u n te rs with text­ books in the selection process always involve a series o f value judgm ents: this is good or this is bad or this fits well or this d o e sn ’t fit at all. Evaluation is about m aking a ju d g m e n t call — ves or no, in or out, buv it o r d o n ’t buy it, thum bs up o r thum bs down. Because the types o f analysis an d decision-m aking w hen using a textbook in the classroom are radically different from those in the selection process, the experi­ ences o f classroom teachers with the textbook involve an evaluation th at uses different criteria. In the evaluation-for-selection process, the basic question is Does this book have the features that we

want it to have so that we ran adopt it ?After adoption, the basic question changes to, How do I as a teacher working with particular students in a particular class in a particular program make this book work to ensure effective and interesting lessons? To avoid confusion over the tvpe o f ’’evalu­ a tio n ” req u ired at this stage in the life o f a text­ book in a course o r program , I would like talk ab o u t textbook analysis in the implementation process. T he categories that a tea c h e r can use are the sam e as in the selection process: the textbook provides content, explanations, exam ples, and exercises or tasks. T he text m ight also provide illustrative or graphic m aterials that can be used for teaching purposes. A dditionally the publisher of the textbook m ight provide an instructor's m anual that should help in the im plem entation of the materials. While the categories are the same, the purpose is m uch different and often m uch m ore urgent, since teachers can find them ­ selves analyzing a textbook only hours before going into a class to teach a lesson that will be built aro u n d the m aterials in the text.

G e ttin g a n O v erv iew o f th e R e so u rc e s in th e T e x tb o o k Prior to im p lem en tin g a textbook, a teache: needs to read the whole b o o k — from start to fin­ ish. including anv appendices. In w orking wit:', in ex p e rie n c e d teachers, I've found th at one : th eir mistakes in w orking with a textbook is m .' seeing it as a whole and not finding o u t abou: the text in detail before the first dav o f class. 1 have repeatedly h ad the ex perience o f having : new teacher tell m e near the e n d o f a term th.v he or she has just discovered som e useful featui v of the tex tb o o k — som ething that was in a law section o f the book o r in an appendix. A ban.; rule o f textbook im plem entation: You can or.: im p lem en t m aterials if vou know thev are there T eaching usually involves an o v e rla p p ir. cvcle of presen tatio n , practice, a n d evaluatio: Presentation can involve in tro d u c tio n o f n c m aterials or info rm atio n o r a re-introduction t : a review session; it can be d irect o r indirect; it whatever the teach er does to get students startc on a unit o f study. Practice can be anv type

activity, from a drill to w riting an essay, from the least com m unicative form o f rep etitio n to an u n scripted discussion; it is w hatever th e teacher sets up to help the students learn to do whatever it is they are studying in th at unit. Evaluation is whatever the tea c h e r does to fin d o u t w hat the students have learned. This teach in g cycle is b o u n d e d by the academ ic calen d ar o f the school system in which the class is taught; a class is always lim ited in tim e to the n u m b e r o f hours a week it will be taught a n d to any ad d itio n al tim e that m ight be ad d ed for hom ew ork, if h o m e ­ work is a p p ro p riate in the setting.

the book? Are the instructions for th e activi­ ties clear e n o u g h for m e to know exactly w hat the students a n d I are supposed to do? This initial read in g of the textbook should give the tea c h e r an overview o f the features o f the book an d o f the ways th at the textbook organizes its com bination o f c o n te n t and activities. After gaining that overview, the teacher needs to ana­ lyze the text in m ore detail while m aking plans for using the m aterials over the tim e allowed for th e course.

A nalysis o f th e C o n te n t o f th e T e x tb o o k In itial R e a d in g o f a T e x tb o o k Before u n d e rta k in g a d etailed analvsis of the textbook to be used in a course, a teach er can benefit from doing a general overview reading of the book. A reasonable series o f questions that a tea c h e r should ask d u rin g an initial read­ ing shou ld include the following. 1. Presentation/Form at: W hat kinds of units does the book have? How is each organized? W hat kinds o f illustrations o r o th e r graphic elem ents are used? How m any o f these graphic elem ents are there? How are they co n n e cte d to the rest of the m aterials in the unit? W hat additional features does the book have beyond the basic units— appendices, index, glossary? Are th ere any ancillary m ate­ rials such as w orkbooks or audiotapes? 2. C ontent/Inform ation: W h a t does each u n it give me to present? W hat is each u n it about? 3. Practice: W hat does each u n it give m e to use with my students for practice? W here are the exercises o r tasks placed a n d how do they relate to the p resen tatio n o f content? W hat connections are m ade betw een the activities provided in the various units? 4. Evaluation: W hat does each u n it give m e to use for evaluation of student learning? W hen will assessm ent occur d u ring the term ? How long will each activity take? 5. Support for the teacher: Is th ere an instruc­ to r ’s m anual? Is th ere an in tro d u c tio n for the in stru cto r th at has inform ation on using

Language textbooks differ considerably from those in o th e r disciplinary areas. A biology text­ book, for exam ple, is d o m in a te d by p resentation o f in form ation a b o u t biology— theory, exam ­ ples, and definitions o f term inology. T he p u r­ pose of the book is for students to learn a certain segm ent of the body o f know ledge th at m akes op the disciplinary area o f “biology.” Discussions of problem s with public school textbooks for o th er disciplines often concentrate on two related areas: ( 1 ) inaccurate or incom plete c o n ten t (see for exam ple, Suidan et al. 1995) a n d (2) p o o r readability for the stu d e n t aud ien ce because c o n te n t experts do n o t necessarily u n d e rsta n d how to p rese n t com plex c o n te n t for new, young learners (see for exam ple, Britton, W oodward, a n d Binkely 1993). T hese problem s should be o f c o n c e rn to E S L /E F L p ro g ram s th a t use a u th en tic m aterials as the basis fo r ESL/EFL study, especially those th at use content-area text­ books as reso u rces fo r E S L /E F L m aterials. Kearsev a n d T urner (1999) used genre analysis techniques to evaluate textbook m aterials written in Great Britain for secondary science courses; they reveal a text th at is m ade up o f very simple exam ples written for the audience (although probably not accessible to newcom ers to th at soci­ ety), interspersed with h ard nuggets o f scientific writing to provide the co n ten t th at is the real focus o f the curriculum . In contrast, E SL /E FL textbooks te n d to be m ade up o f two strands o f content: ( 1 ) the lin­ guistic c o n te n t (gram m ar, vocabulary, skill area)

and (2) the them atic content (“school," "gender issues," “Native Americans." and the topical con­ tent nsed to present and practice the linguistic co n tent). T he teacher can expect the topics in content-based m aterials to be em phasized and clearly risible. In most o th er m aterials, however, the teacher will n eed to look past the linguistic c o n te n t to find out what them es have been included in the textbook. Ik for exam ple, the teacher notices in his or h er initial analvsis that a gram m ar textbook includes num erous exam ples and passages based on biographies of famous people, then he or she can plan to supplem ent the text with o th er m aterials and activities (visits to local m useum s, readings about people fam ous in the cultures of the students, and so on). The analvsis-for-im plem cntation angle on c o n te n t involves both the linguistic and the them atic con­ ten t of the textbook, as shown in Table 1.

Analysis of Exercises/Tasks in the Textbook for Implementation in Classes W hile p lan n in g the wavs in which the textbook will be used for the whole academ ic term , a tea c h e r needs to be m aking co n crete if tentativ e

decisions about how different activities will be used d u rin g the academ ic term , asking ques­ tions such as those in Table 2.

Seeking Help in Implementation o f the Textbook Teachers have both form al a n d inform al source' of inform ation an d su p p o rt as thev analvze text­ books for im p lem entation. Form al reso u rce' in clu d e th e in s tr u c to r ’s m an u a l as we к as o th e r w ritten m aterials av ailable in the school or program . These o th e r m aterials can include a curriculum statem ent, course svllabi used ir. previous term s, an d copies o f h an d o u ts used lx previous teachers. Additionallv, m am school' prov ide teachers with form al help th ro u g h struc­ tu re d in te rac tio n s with sen io r teachers and supervisors. Inform al su p p o rt is generallv available i: teachers seek it. W hen teaching a course for the first tim e or for the first tim e with a particula: textbook, teachers can som etim es get help with im p lem en tatio n o f m aterials in a course by talk­ ing with colleagues who are teaching the same course or who have taught it before.

Table I. Analysis of Content for Implementation in Teaching Linguistic Content

W h a t language is b eing ta u g h t? In w h a t c h u n k s and w h a t s e q u e n c e ? W h a t a d ju s tm e n ts m u s t be m a d e t o fit t h e p ro g ra m 's c u rr ic u lu m ? A r e t h e r e an y a d ju s tm e n ts th a t I w o u ld like t o m a k e in c o n t e n t an d se q u e n c in g to b e t t e r fit m y c o u r s e an d m y s tu d e n ts ?

Them atic Content

W h a t to p ic s a r e u sed in e a c h

u nit? W h a t to p ic s r e c u r th r o u g h o u t th e w h o le b o o k ?

W h a t c o n n e c tio n s can I m a k e b e tw e e n th e s e to p ic s an d th e b a c k g ro u n d s / in te re s ts o f m y s tu d e n ts ? H o w can I m ak e e n ric h e d u se o f th e s e th e m e s ?

Table 2. Analysis of Teaching Activities for Implementation in Teaching W h i c h o f th e a c tiv itie s

The

p ro v id e d in th is t e x t ­

needs

b o o k w ill 1 d o in class?

te a c h e r of

is

lo o k in g

d iffe re n t

fo r

a v a r ie t y

le a rn e rs

and

to

o f a c tiv itie s a c h ie v e

th e

th a t

can

be

p ed a g o g ica l

u sed

go a ls

to

of

m e e t th e

th e

c o u rs e .

In itial d e c is io n s can be m a d e a b o u t using in d ivid u a l, pair, o r sm all-g ro u p c o n fig u ra tio n s fo r

th e

a c tiv itie s . E x p e r ie n c e d

h ig h - e n e rg y

ta sk , re q u irin g

a

te a c h e r s lo t

of

a lso

m o v in g

lo o k

fo r

ch an ge-o f-p ace

a ro u n d , b a la n c e d

by

a c t iv itie s — a

s o m e th in g

m o re

c o n te m p la tiv e . W h i c h a c tiv itie s in th e

T h is

t e x t b o o k w ill 1 assign

has

as h o m e w o r k ?

p r a c t ic e and f o r a c tiv itie s th a t m ay h ave s tu d e n ts engaging in “ o u ts id e o f c la s s” u se o f

d e c is io n in

th is

needs

to

be

p a r t ic u la r

m ade

cla ss.

on

th e

G e n e r a lly ,

basis

te a c h e rs

of

th e u se

p u rp o s e h o m e w o rk

th a t

h o m e w o rk

fo r

fo llo w - u p

English. S o m e t e a c h e r s u se h o m e w o r k t o p re p a re s tu d e n ts f o r n e w w o r k , n o t ju s t to r e v ie w an d p ra c t ic e things a lre a d y p re s e n te d . W h i c h a c tiv itie s in th e

If n o

t e x t b o o k w ill 1 h o ld

m ig h t be r e s e r v e d t o use f o r testing .

te s ts

are

p ro v id e d

by

th e

te x t

(o r th e

in s t r u c t o r ’s m a n u a l), s o m e

a c tiv itie s

b a c k t o u se f o r te stin g ? W h i c h a c tiv itie s in th e

S o m e a c tiv itie s m ig h t b e r e s e r v e d f o r re v ie w , o r a v a ria tio n o n an a c tiv ity m ig h t be

t e x t b o o k can b e used

u sed f o r r e v ie w la te r in th e te r m .

f o r r e v ie w la te r in th e t e r m ? W h i c h a c tiv itie s in th e

The

initial

t e x t b o o k re q u ir e lo n g e r

th a t

w o u ld

re a d in g

p e rio d s o f tim e to

b y th e te a ch e r.

be

of

th e

te x tb o o k

is

useful

fo r

s tu d e n ts

to

e s p e c ia lly do

but

im p o r t a n t th a t

r e q u ir e

fo r

id e n tify in g

lo n g - te rm

ta s k s

p lan n in g

a c c o m p lis h — sp e cia l p ro je c ts ? W h i c h a c tiv itie s in th e

In m o s t setting s, sp e c ific e q u ip m e n t re q u ire s e x tr a e f f o r t an d p lan n in g a h ea d .

t e x t b o o k m ig h t re q u ire sp e cia l e q u ip m e n t th a t has t o b e o r d e r e d a h e a d o f tim e ? W h e r e a re c o n n e c t io n s

B y re a d in g th e w h o le b o o k p r io r t o th e b e g in n in g o f th e t e r m , th e t e a c h e r can b e c o m e

b e in g m a d e b e tw e e n

a w a r e o f to p ic s a n d th e m e s th a t r e c u r in th e b o o k . C o n n e c t io n s can b e m a d e th a t

v a rio u s u n its o f th e

give m o r e c o h e r e n c e t o th e class.

b o o k , c o n n e c t io n s th a t m ig h t r e q u ire r e v ie w ? W h i c h a c tiv itie s

B e c a u s e th e fit b e tw e e n a n y t e x t b o o k a n d th e c u rric u lu m o f a p ro g ra m w ill s e ld o m be

in th e t e x t b o o k d o

p e rfe c t, s o m e

1 n o t w a n t t o d o a t all?

A d d itio n a lly , s o m e c o n t e n t an d a c tiv itie s m ig h t n o t fit a p a r tic u la r g r o u p o f s tu d e n ts.

p a r ts

o f th e t e x t

m ig h t n o t

b e a p p r o p r ia te f o r

a p a r t ic u la r c o u rs e .

E q u a lly im p o r ta n t, th e r e a re things th a t m ay n o t fit o u r p e rs o n a litie s as t e a c h e r s an d th a t w e m ay n o t be c o m f o r t a b le doing. ( F o r e x a m p le , a lth o u g h 1 h ave c o lle a g u e s w h o m ak e w o n d e r f u l u se o f m u sic in t h e ir classes, 1 d o n o t sing in class and w o u ld n e v e r a t te m p t an a c tiv ity th a t re q u ire d it.)

C O N C L U S IO N These are the fu n d am en tal questions asked by teachers: W hat am I going to do in class (to achieve the goals of the program and o f the stu­ dents)? W hat are my students going to do in class (to achieve the goals o f the program as well as th e ir personal goals)? W hat are thev going to do for hom ew ork (and how does that connect to what we do in class))? In the evaluation-forselection process, those with the responsibilitv for choosing textbooks need to consider not just the fit between the curriculum and the textbook but also the practical issues of usabilitv bv teachers and by students. O nce a textbook has been selected, teachers need to analvze the resources in the text­ book to create a plan for dailv lessons and for the whole course that helps them both im ple­ m en t and supplem ent what is alreadv given in the m ost efficient and effective wav (see Jensen's ch ap ter on lesson planning in this volum e). In discussions written bv some teacher e d u ­ cators, a com m on dem and is that teachers be free agents— creating their own m aterials for their own students. Such discussions are built on a vision of the teacher as an individual, in his or her own classroom, m aking unique decisions for that unique group of students. In this vision, the commerciallv published textbook is a restraint forced u p o n teachers that limits their creativitv (Ur 1996. N unan 1988b). At the o th er extrem e, and proba­ bly the source of some o f the negative em otions that teacher educators express about textbooks, is the adm inistrative desire for a "teacher-proof tex t” th at can be tau g h t bv even the m ost u n tra in ed aitd unqualified of individuals; this magic textbook guarantees that the whole system or school has com plete uniform ity in the delivery of administrativelv selected content. O f course, realitv for m ost teachers lies som ew here betw een these two extrem es. We are generally p art of a larger svstem th at does have legitim ate concerns about being sure th at all students receive instruction th a t leads to a m ore o r less uniform result. At the same tim e, each of us is different in o u r b ack g ro u n d know ledge and perso n alities— as are o u r students. Having a textbook with ap p ro p riate c o n ten t an d a variety o f possible teaching activities can serve both

needs, giving som e uniform in' to the inform a­ tion and activities in class while expecting that different teachers will adapt, im plem ent, and su p p lem en t the m aterials based on the needs of a particu lar class in a particular academ ic term .

D IS C U S S IO N Q U E S T IO N S 1. How are textbooks selected in the K-12 school .svstem w here vou live? Discuss with a p a rtn e r in vour class. 2. If vou are teaching in an intensive English program or some o th er tvpe of college or universitv ESI. program , how are textbooks selected for that program ? How was the text­ book chosen that vou are using now ? How d< teachers have in p u t into the selection process? Discuss vour answers with classm ate' 3. P ublishers at TF.SOl. conventions have noticed what is som etim es referred to as the "30-second evaluation." In those 30 seconds. teacher picks up a textbook. Hips through, and then puts it down to pick up another book for a brief studv. Som etim es the short anahsis leads to a purchase or to a request for an inspection copv. Discuss what inform ation can be gained in conference exhibits. What kinds of things do vou look for when vou have onlv a m inute or so to look at books before going on to the next conference event: Discuss vour categories with classmates. 4. The appendices to this chapter provide tw< different checklists for evaluation of textbooks Discuss the categories used in the two check­ lists and the approaches to textbook evalua­ tion that appear to lie behind each svstem. 5. Reviews of textbooks in professional journal' can be valuable sources of inform ation in the evaluation-for-selection process. Textboo.-, reviews can be found in publications such a« the TESOL journal, the TESOL Quarterly, and in the newsletters or journals of regional affil­ iates of TESOL. Such reviews generallv pro ­ vide brief sum m aries of the content anc organization o f a text along with some evalua­ tion of any of a variety of textbook feature' Because they present a colleague's considered opinion and u n d erstanding of the features o: the textbook, thev can provide the person o:

group evaluating textbooks with additional inform ation. From recent editions of one or m ore professional publications, select reviews of three textbooks that m ight be used for a course that you are now teaching or that von m ight teach. W hat criteria do the reviewers use as the basis for their evaluations of the text­ books? W hat additioiral inform ation would you have wanted the reviewers to include? Discuss the reviews with vour classmates.

S U G G E S T E D A C T IV IT IE S 1. Interview a teacher who works in the Ix-12 system w here vou live to find out (a) how teachers har e input into the selection process for the textbooks thev use. (b) am flexibilitv that teachers have in selecting books (per­ haps choosing from a list of required books), and (c) any flexibilitv that teachers lan e in supplem enting the text with additional m ate­ rials. In class, com pare the inform ation that vou obtain from several different teachers. 2. Based on a course that vou have taught recemlv, that vou are now teaching, or that you m ight teach in the future, moclifv the evaluation checklist in A ppendix В to make it focus as closelv as possible on that particular course. Discuss the changes that vou have m ade with vour classmates. 3. Based on reviews in recent issues of profes­ sional publications, select a textbook that seems potentiallv appropriate for a course that vou are teaching or m ight teach in the future. Using as the ev aluation tool one of the checklists in the appendices to this chapter or a version that vou modify to lit the particular course, evaluate the textbook. T hen, com pare your evaluation with that of the published review. R eport to vour class on any insights that vou gained from the review and anv areas of disagreem ent betw een vou r evaluation and that of the rev iewer. 4. Select a textbook that is used in a program w here vou are now teaching, have recently taught, o r m ight teach in the future. (Select a textbook that vou have not used before.) A pproach the textbook as if vou were going

to be using it to teach a class— an d the class begins soon! Read the textbook to gain an overview of its c o n ten t an d organization. C onsider the (a) p rese n tatio n /fo rm a t, (b) co n te n t/in fo rm atio n , (c) practice activities, (d) evaluation activities/instrum ents, and (e) support provided for the teacher. Prepare a short rep o rt to share the inform ation that vou have about the general purpose and design of the textbook. Include ideas about the general p attern that you would use to im plem ent the text in an academ ic term . 5. With a partner, select one unit of the textbook that v'ott analyzed in Activity 4 above. Using Table 2 on page 421. analyze the activities in that unit. C om pare vour analysis of how vou would use the activities to vour partner's analysis. Discuss similarities and differences in vour plans for using the activities. 6. After com pleting Activities 1 a n d .5. decide on content or activities that vou would like to arid to com plem ent or su p p lem en t the text­ book. W hat is missing from the book that is req u ired bv vour curriculum or by vour students? O r bv vour teaching stvle?

FU R T H ER R EA D IN G B r i t t o n . B. lx.. S. G u lg o z . a n d S. G lv n n . " I m p a c t o f g o o d a n d p o o r w r it in g o n l e a r n e r s : R e s e a r c h a n d th e o r y ." In В. K. B r it o n . A. W o o d w a r d , a n d M. B in klev . e d s. L e m u n i g [ m i n T e x t b o o k s : T h e o r y a n d P r a c t i c e (p p . 1—16). H ill s d a l e , X): L a w r e n c e L rlb au m . T h i s u s e f u l d i s c u s s i o n s h o w s w hv s i m p l i f i e d l e a d i n g s can m a k e c o m p r e h e n s i o n o f c o n t e n t m o r e d if fic u l t f o r l e a r n e r s . T h e a u t h o r s also d e m o n s tra te a m e th o d for e n h a n c in g th e re a d ­ ability o f e x p e r t w r i t i n g by a d d i n g c o n n e c t i o n s a n d m a k in g re la tio n sh ip s b e tw e e n ideas m o r e ex p lic it. C h a m b e r s . F. 1497. " S e e k i n g c o n s e n s u s in c o u r s e b o o k e v alu a tio n ." E L T j o u r n a l 5 1 (1 ): 2 9 -3 5 . T h e a u t h o r d is c u s s e s t h e a p p l i c a t i o n o f s t r a t e ­ gies f r o m b u s i n e s s l o r g r o u p d e c i s i o n m a k i n g in th e te x tb o o k e v a lu a tio n a n d selectio n process. H e m a k e s a s t r o n g ca se f o r t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f involv e m e n t o f all t e a c h e r s in a c o n s e n s u s - b a s e d m o d e l fo r s h a r e d d ecisio n m ak in g .

C ib o ro w s k i, }. 1995. " U s i n g t e x t b o o k s w ith s t u d e n t s w h o c a n n o t r e a d t h e m . " R em e d ia l o r Special E d u c a tio n 1 6 (2 ) : 9 0 - l 02. T h e o v e r t a u d i e n c e f o r th is a r t i c l e is t e a c h e r s w o r k i n g w ith p u b l i c s c h o o l s t u d e n t s in t h e U n i t e d S ta te s w h o b a t e h a d t r o u b l e l e a r n i n g to r e a d — a n d th e r e fo re tro u b le le a r n in g fro m th e t e x t b o o k s u s e d i n t h e i r classes. H o w e v e r, t h e a u t h o r ' s t h o u g h t f u l an alv sis o f t h e wavs in w h i c h s t u d e n t s a r e r e q u i r e d to u s e t e x t b o o k s in l e a r n ­ i n g n e w c o n t e n t a n d skills c a n s t i m u l a t e t h i n k ­ i n g a b o u t wavs in w h i c h E S I. EFU s t u d e n t s a r e e x p e c t e d to l e a r n f r o m t h e i r E S I. F.FL t e x t ­ b o o k s . T h i s a r t ic l e a n d o t h e r s o n s t u d e n t l e a r n ­ in g fro m te x tb o o k s su g g est th a t E S L 'E F I. t e a c h e r s s h o u l d t h i n k a b o u t w h a t it is t h a t s t u ­ d e n t s a r c e x p e c t e d to d o w ith t h e i r t e x t b o o k s in t h e i r E S I./'K F L classes a n d w h a t s t u d e n t s a r e s u p p o s e d to l e a r n f r o m s t i t c h i n g t h e t e x t b o o k s . N e l s o n , G. w ith f. B u rn s . 2000. " M a n a g i n g i n f o r m a t i o n f o r w r it in g u n iv e rsity e x a m s in A m e r i c a n b is to r t ." In M a r c ia Pallv. c d . S u s ta in e d C o n ten t T e a c h in g in A ca d e m ic E S L /E F L (p p . 1.52-157). B o s to n . 5LV: H o u g h t o n Mifflin. W h a t c o n t e n t to u s e in te x t b o o k s is a p a r t i c u l a r c h a l l e n g e in KSL E F L m a t e r i a ls . W e c a n t t e a c h “p u r e g r a m m a r " o r " w ritin g in t h e a b stra c t." T h e s t r u g g le to d e f i n e t h e m o s t a p p r o p r i a t e c o n t e n t h a s l e d to b o t h t h e c o n t e n t - b a s e d a n d t h e taskb a s e d a p p r o a c h e s . T h is c h a p t e r — a l o n g w ith t h e re s t o f t h e b o o k — a r g u e s f o r t h e u se o f t h e s a m e c o n t e n t a c ro s s a n e n t i r e ESI. c o u r s e r a t h e r t h a n f o llo w in g t h e t r a d i t i o n o f h a t i n g m a n s d i f f e r e n t to p ic s u s e d in a sin g le u n i t o f a t e x t b o o k o r h a v ­ i n g e a c h u n i t w ith a sin g le to p ic . It also d e m o n ­ stra te s h o w s u s t a i n e d c o n t e n t c a n b e u s e d to t e a c h a c a d e m i c w ritin g. T o m l i n s o n , B.. e d . 1998. M a te r ia ls D e w d o p m e n l in L a n g u a g e le a c h in g . C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e U n iv e r s ity Press. T h i s c o l l e c t i o n i n c l u d e s c h a p t e r s o n (1) d a t a c o l l e c t i o n a n d m a t e r i a l s d e v e l o p m e n t , (2) t h e

p r o c e s s o f m a t e r i a l s w r it in g . (3) t h e p r o c e s s of m a t e r i a l s e v a l u a t i o n , a n d (4) id e a s f o r m a t e r i a l ' d e v e l o p m e n t . In a c h a p t e r ti t l e d " W h a t D o T e a c h e r s R e a ll v M a m f r o m C o u r s c b o o k s . - " H. M a s u h a r a d iscu sses th e im p o r t a n c e fo r m a t e r i a l s d e v e l o p m e n t o f n e e d s an aly sis th a t p r o v i d e s i n f o r m a t i o n n o t ju s t a b o u t t h e neecU o f l e a r n e r s b u t a ls o a b o u t t h e n e e d s a n d p r e f e r ­ e n c e s o f te a c h e r s . U r. P. 199b. A C ourse in L a n g u a g e le a c h in g : P ractice a m Theory. C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e U n iv e rs ity P r e s ' T h i s m e t h o d s b o o k i n c l u d e s a t e x t b o o k e v a lu a ­ ti o n c h e c k l is t (see p a g e 186) a l o n g w ith h e lp f u l i n s t r u c t i o n s f o r v a t s to analv/.e t h e c r i t e r i a t l n r will b e u s e d in a p a r t i c u l a r e v a l u a t i o n p ro c e s s T h e s e c t i o n o n "U s in g a C o u r s e b o o k " e x e m p l i ­ fies a c o m m o n p r o b l e m in m e t h o d s b o o k s . T h e e n t i r e fo c u s o f this s e c t io n is o n p r o b a b l e limita n d fa ilin g s o f a t e x t b o o k a n d wavs to o v e r c o m e t h e m w ith s u p p l e m e n t a r y m a t e r i a ls . T h a t is, n> d i s t i n c t i o n o r t r a n s i t i o n is m a d e f r o m evaluatin'., f o r s e l e c ti o n to analvsis f o r i m p l e m e n t a t i o n .

Bvrcl. P. 200 0. Is su es in t e x t b o o k s e l e c t i o n a n d use R e s o u r c e s f r o m a v a rie ty of d is c i p l i n a r y areas. D e v e l o p e d as p a r t o f t h e p r o c e s s o f w r i t i n g th > c h a p t e r , th is list i n c l u d e s r e s o u r c e s t h a t shew t h e c o m m o n c o n c e r n s a b o u t t e x t b o o k s a c ro s s v a rie ty o f d i s c ip l in e s . T h e list will b e u p d a t e d or. a r e g u l a r basis. S u g g e s t i o n s f o r a d d i t i o n s to th e list c a n b e e - m a i l e d to t h e a u t h o r s t h r o u g h a li n k p r o v i d e d o n t h e site.

http: www.gsu.edu/~eslhpb m aterial/ textbooks.htm

Sample Checklist for Textbook Evaluation

ch ild o r a d u lt le a rn e rs ; m a le a n d / o r fe m a le s tu d e n ts )? Is th e o r d e r in g o f m a te ria ls d o n e by to p ic s o r th e m e s th a t a re a rra n g e d in a logical fa sh io n ? 3.

Is th e c o n t e n t g ra d e d a c c o rd in g t o th e n e e d s o f th e s tu d e n ts o r th e

re q u ire m e n ts

o f th e e x is tin g sylla b u s (if t h e r e is o n e )? 4.

Is th e m a te ria l a c c u r a t e an d up -to -d ate?

b. V o c a b u la r y and s t ru c tu re s 1.

D o e s th e v o c a b u la r y lo a d (i.e., th e n u m b e r o f n e w w o r d s in t ro d u c e d e v e r y le s so n ) s e e m t o b e re a s o n a b le f o r th e s tu d e n ts o f t h a t level?

2.

A r e th e v o c a b u la r y ite m s c o n tr o lle d to e n s u re s y s te m a tic g ra d a tio n fro m sim p le t o c o m p le x ite m s?

3.

Is th e n e w v o c a b u la r y re p e a te d in s u b s e q u e n t le s so n s f o r r e in fo rc e m e n t?

4.

D o e s th e s e n t e n c e len g th s e e m re a s o n a b le f o r th e s tu d e n ts o f th a t level?

5.

Is th e n u m b e r o f g ra m m a tic a l p o in ts as w e ll as th e ir s e q u e n c e a p p ro p ria te ?

6.

D o t h e s t r u c tu r e s g ra d u a lly in c re a s e in c o m p le x it y t o su it th e g r o w in g rea d in g a b ility o f th e s tu d e n ts ?

7.

D o e s th e w r i t e r u se c u r r e n t e v e r y d a y language, and s e n t e n c e s t r u c tu r e s th a t f o llo w n o rm a l w o r d o r d e r ?

8.

D o th e s e n te n c e s and p a ra g ra p h s f o llo w o n e a n o t h e r in a logical s e q u e n c e ?

9.

A r e lin gu istic ite m s in t ro d u c e d in m ean in g fu l situ a tio n s to fa c ilita te u n d e rs ta n d in g and e n s u re a s sim ila tio n and c o n s o lid a tio n ?

c.

E x e rc is e s 1.

D o th e e x e rc is e s d e v e lo p c o m p r e h e n s io n and te s t k n o w le d g e o f m ain id eas, d etails, and s e q u e n c e o f id eas?

2.

D o th e e x e rc is e s in v o lv e v o c a b u la r y and s t r u c tu r e s w h ic h build up th e le a rn e r's r e p e r t o ir e ?

3.

D o th e e x e rc is e s p ro v id e p ra c t ic e in d iffe re n t ty p e s o f w r it t e n w o r k (s e n te n c e c o m p le tio n , sp ellin g and d ic ta tio n , g u id e d c o m p o s it io n )?

4.

D o e s th e b o o k p ro v id e a p a tte rn o f re v ie w w ith in lessons and cu m u latively te s t n e w m aterial?

5.

D o th e e x e rc is e s p r o m o t e m e an in g fu l c o m m u n ic a tio n by re fe rrin g to re a listic a c tiv itie s an d s itu a tio n s ?

d.

Illu s tra tio n s 1.

D o illu s tra tio n s c r e a t e a fa v o ra b le a t m o s p h e r e f o r p ra c t ic e in re a d in g and sp ellin g

2.

A r e th e illu s tra tio n s clear, sim p le , and fre e o f u n n e c e s s a r y d e ta ils th a t m ay c o n fu s e

by d e p ic tin g re a lism and a c tio n ?

th e le a rn e r? 3.

A r e th e illu s tra tio n s p rin te d c lo s e e n o u g h t o th e t e x t an d d ir e c tly re la te d t o th e c o n t e n t t o h e lp th e le a r n e r u n d e rs ta n d th e p rin te d te x t?

Totally lacking

D o e s th e su b je c t m a t t e r c o v e r a v a r ie t y o f to p ic s a p p ro p ria te t o th e in te re s ts o f th e le a rn e rs f o r w h o m th e t e x t b o o k is in te n d e d (u rb a n o r ru ra l e n v iro n m e n t;

2.

W eak

1.

3

2

1

0

i

a. S u b je c t m a t t e r

Adequate

T h e C h e cklist The Textbook

Good

Excellent

Source: D a o u c l . A .-M .. a n d C e l c e - M u r c i a , M . 1 9 / 9 . S e l e c t i n g a n d e v a l u a t i n g a t e x t b o o k . I n M . C e l c e - M u r c i a a n d I.. M c I n t o s h , e d s . T e a c h in g E n g lish as a S e co n d or Foreign L a n g u a g e ( p p . 3 0 2 - 3 0 7 ) . N e w Y o r k : N c w b u r v H o u s e .

4

e.

P h y s ic a l m ake-up 1.

Is th e c o v e r o f th e b o o k d u ra b le e n o u g h t o w ith s ta n d w e a r ?

2.

Is th e t e x t a t t r a c t iv e (i.e., c o v e r, page a p p e a ra n c e , b in d in g )?

3.

D o e s th e size o f th e b o o k s e e m c o n v e n ie n t f o r t h e s tu d e n ts t o h a n d le ?

4.

Is th e t y p e size a p p r o p r ia te f o r th e in te n d e d le a rn e rs ?

The Teacher’s Manual a.

G e n e r a l fe a tu re s 1.

D o e s t h e m an u al h e lp th e t e a c h e r u n d e rs ta n d th e ra tio n a le o f th e T e x t b o o k (o b je c tiv e s , m e th o d o lo g y )?

2.

D o e s th e m an u al g u id e th e t e a c h e r to an y s e t syllab u s f o r th a t level?

3.

D o e s th e in d e x o f th e m an u al g u id e th e t e a c h e r t o th e v o c a b u la ry , s tru c tu re s ,

4.

A r e c o r r e c t o r su g g ested a n s w e r s p ro v id e d f o r all o f th e e x e rc is e s in th e t e x t b o o k ?

5.

Is th e ra tio n a le f o r th e g iven s e q u e n c e o f g r a m m a r p o in ts c le a r ly s ta te d ?

and to p ic s fo u n d in th e T e x tb o o k ?

b. T y p e and a m o u n t o f s u p p le m e n ta r y e x e rc is e s f o r ea ch language skill 1.

D o e s th e M a n u a l p ro v id e m a te ria l f o r tra in in g th e s tu d e n ts in listen in g and u n d e rs ta n d in g th e sp o k e n language?

2. 3.

D o e s th e M a n u a l p ro v id e m a te ria l f o r tra in in g th e s tu d e n ts in o ra l e x p re s s io n ? D o e s th e M a n u a l suggests a d e q u a te and v a rie d o ra l e x e rc is e s f o r re in fo rc in g p o in ts o f g r a m m a r p re s e n te d in th e te x t b o o k ?

4.

D o e s th e M a n u a l p r o v id e d rills and e x e rc is e s th a t e n a b le th e t e a c h e r to h elp th e s tu d e n ts build up t h e ir v o c a b u la r y ?

5.

D o e s th e M a n u a l p r o v id e q u e s tio n s to h elp th e t e a c h e r te s t th e s t u d e n ts ’ rea d in g c o m p r e h e n s io n ?

6. c.

D o e s th e M a n u a l p r o v id e a d e q u a te g ra d e d m a te ria l fo r a d d itio n a l w r itin g p ra c tic e ?

M e th o d o lo g ic a l/ p e d a g o g ic a l g u id a n c e 1. 2.

D o e s th e M a n u a l h elp th e t e a c h e r w it h ea ch n e w ty p e o f lesso n in tro d u c e d ? D o e s th e M a n u a l p ro v id e su g g e stio n s t o h e lp th e t e a c h e r r e v ie w o ld le sso n s an d in t r o d u c e n e w le sso n s?

3.

D o e s th e M a n u a l p ro v id e p ra c tic a l su g g e stio n s f o r te a c h in g p ro n u n c ia tio n and in to n a tio n ?

4.

D o e s th e m an u al p r o v id e su g g estio n s t o h elp th e t e a c h e r in t r o d u c e n e w rea d in g passages?

5.

D o e s th e M a n u a l p ro v id e g u id a n c e t o th e t e a c h e r f o r in tro d u c in g v a rio u s ty p e s o f w r it t e n w o r k ?

6.

D o e s th e M a n u a l p r o v id e g u id a n c e t o th e t e a c h e r f o r e v a lu a tin g w r it t e n w o r k and

7.

D o e s th e M a n u a l a d v is e th e t e a c h e r o n th e u se o f a u d io visu a l aids?

id e n tify in g th e s t u d e n ts ’ m o s t s e r io u s m ista k e s?

d. L in g u istic b a c k g ro u n d in fo rm a tio n 1.

D o e s th e M a n u a l p ro v id e c o n tr a s tiv e in fo rm a tio n f o r th e t e a c h e r o n likely p ro n u n c ia tio n p ro b le m s ?

2.

A r e En glish v o c a b u la r y ite m s an d English s t r u c tu r e s w e ll e x p la in e d ?

3.

A r e lists o f c o g n a te w o r d s ( t r u e an d false c o g n a te s ) p ro v id e d f o r th e te a c h e r ?

4.

D o e s t h e M a n u a l p r o v id e in fo rm a tio n o n g r a m m a r t o h elp th e t e a c h e r ex p la in g ra m m a tic a l p a tte rn s p re s e n te d in th e le sso n s and a n tic ip a te lik ely p ro b le m s (i.e., d a ta fr o m c o n t r a s t iv e an alysis an d e r r o r an a lysis)?

Textbook Evaluation Checklist Source:

P a tr ic i a B m x I a n d M a r i a n n e C e lc e - M n r c i a

E v a lu a tio n o f t h e fit

Yes

Perh ap s

Probably not

Absolutely not

(a g o o d fit)

(an a d e q u a te

(a p o o r fit)

(w r o n g f o r

fit)

c u rric u lu m , stu d e n ts , a n d / o r te a ch e rs)

Fit between the textbook and the curriculum * fits c u rric u lu m / g o a ls * has a p p r o p r ia te lin gu istic c o n t e n t * has a p p r o p r ia te th e m a t ic c o n t e n t * fits th e p e d a g o g ica l an d S L A p h ilo s o p h y o f th e p ro g ra m / c o u rs e

Fit between the textbook and the students * e x p la n a tio n s u n d e rs ta n d a b le an d u sa b le f o r s tu d e n ts * e x a m p le s u n d e rs ta n d a b le and u sa b le f o r s tu d e n ts * a c tiv itie s a p p r o p r ia te f o r s tu d e n ts * th e m a t ic c o n t e n t u n d e rs ta n d a b le and c u ltu r a lly a p p r o p r ia te f o r s tu d e n ts

Fit between the textbook and the teachers * fits th e language skills o f o u r te a c h e r s * fits th e k n o w le d g e - b a s e o f o u r t e a c h e r s * p ro v id e s e x p la n a tio n s t h a t can b e u sed b y o u r te a c h e r s * p ro v id e s e x a m p le s th a t can b e u sed and e x p a n d e d b y o u r te a c h e r s * fits th e n e e d s an d p re fe re n c e s o f o u r te a c h e r s * p ro v id e s in - b o o k o r in s tr u c to r 's m an u al s u p p o rt fo r te a ch e rs

Overall evaluation of the fit of the book for this course in this program S h o u ld th e t e x t b e s e le c te d /

When the Teacher Is a Non-native Speaker P ЁТЕ R

M E D G Y E S

In "W h e n the Teacher Is a Non-native Speaker" Medgyes examines the differences in teaching behavior between native and non-native teachers of English, and then specifies the causes o f those differences. The aim of the discussion is to raise the awareness o f both groups of teachers to their respective strengths and weaknesses, and thus help them becom e better teachers,

IN T R O D U C T IO N It is com m onplace to state today that English is the unrivaled lingua franca of the world, and th at it is rolling ah ead like a juggernaut. In ou r age of globalization, Fishm an's rem ark th at "the sun never sets on the English language" (1982. p. 18) rings tru e r than ever, an d although there is no g u a ra n te e o f e te rn a l hegem onv, the chances are that English will reign suprem e for several m ore decades. T he fact that the n u m b er o f second a n d foreign language speakers of English far exceeds the n u m b er of first language speakers o f English (G raddol 1997 ) im plies that the English language is no longer the privilege o f native speakers; the suggestion that S tandard British English and A m erican English should be su p e rse d e d bv E nglish as an In te rn a tio n a l Language can be heard with increasing frequence. Nevertheless, people who speak English as their native language continue to have a distinct advan­ tage o \e r those for w hom it is a foreign tongue. Put differently, non-native speakers of English find it hard to com pete with native speakers on equal term s, and this linguistic handicap applies to non-native teachers of English as well. Native speakers an d non-native speakers used to be considered two different an d clearly distinguishable categories. In rec e n t years, how­ ever, this view has com e u n d e r heavy attack, as a grow ing n u m b e r o f researchers have discovered the am biguities with which this dichotom v is loaded. New term s, alleged to b e tte r reflect the com plex n a tu re o f linguistic heritage and profi­

ciency, have been recom m ended to project new concepts and identities. .Although there are per­ suasive argum ents against the native/non-native dichotom v, m ost o f them legitim ate on any g round— linguistic, educational, ideological, or pragm atic— none of the alternative phrases have come into com m on use. T he controversv over native versus n o n ­ native distinction has also b een b ro u g h t to bear on language pedagogy a n d ELT m ethodology. T h e "native English-speaking tea c h e r” (NEST) a n d its opposite, the “non-native English-speak­ ing teacher" (non-N EST), have b een d e e m e d politicallv incorrect phrases, a n d those who still use them can expect to be accused o f em ploying d isc rim in a to rv lan g u ag e. N ev erth eless, th e su p e ro rd in a te term s "native speaker” an d “n o n ­ native speaker” seem to persist in the language use of researchers a n d teachers alike. T h e rea­ son for the perseverance of these term s may be that m ost teachers, as well as th eir students, do com e from e ith e r E nglish-speaking o r nonEnglish-speaking countries; m ost o f th em are e ith e r native o r non-native speakers o f English. But even a bilingual o r polyglot whose identity may be equivocal seem s to display d o m in a n t fea­ tures of belonging. T h erefo re, it is suggested that the dichotom y, for all its shortcom ings, should not be rejected, overlooked, o r blu rred , but ra th e r subjected to close scrutiny. This chapter attem pts to do ju st that: it strives to exam ine differences in teaching behavior between NESTs and non-NESTs, and then specify the causes of those differences. By draw ing on

b oth em pirical evidence and on experience, it argues that m ost of the archetypal deviations betw een the two groups of teachers are ultimately attributable to their divergent language back­ grounds. This is not the same as suggesting that a high d eg ree o f E nglish-language proficiency alone is a g u arantee for successful teaching. In d ee d , despite th e ir linguistic im p ed im en t, non-NESTs have an equal chance o f becom ing successful teachers, and it is the advantages that they have over NESTs with which this c h ap ter is chiefly concerned. A lthough pride o f place is g ran te d to the te a c h e r’s language proficiency th ro u g h o u t the discussion, th ere is no denving the im portance o f o th e r attributes, most notablv teaching qualifications, professional skills, and experience. (The role these attributes plav in the te a c h in g /le a rn in g process is exam ined in detail in o th e r chapters o f this volume.)

W H O IS T H E N A TIV E SPEAKER? The Linguistic Perspective W ho is a native speaker? A native speaker of English is traditionally defined as som eone who speaks English as his or h e r native language, also called m o th e r tongue, first language, o r L.l. T he n e x t question th a t springs to m ind is: W hat qual­ ifies som eone as a native speaker? A m ong the criteria for “native sp eak erh o o d ,” the m ost oftcited and, at first glance, m ost straightforw ard o n e is birth (Davies 1991). T hat is to sav, a native speaker of English is an individual who was b o rn in an English-speaking countrv. T h e trouble with this is th at b irth does n ot always d eterm in e lan­ guage identity. W hat ab o u t C hristine, for exam ­ ple, who was b o rn in the U nited States, b u t m oved to A ustria at the age o f one, after she h ad b een a d o p te d bv A ustrian parents? Since she never learn ed to speak English, it w ould be odd to define h e r as a native speaker o f English. O r take Kevin, b o rn in the U nited States, who w ent to live in Togo with his family w hen he was four, an d subsequently a tte n d e d a F rench school. Is he a native speaker o f English or F re n c h — or b o th, o r neither? If not b irth, is it c h ild h o o d th a t u n d e rp in s native speakerhood? But what is the

range o f childhood? W here does it begin and w here does it end? T he situation becom es fu rth e r com plicated if we consider offspring from m ixed m arriages. T h e re is eight-vear-old Pablo, fo r exam ple, whose fath e r is C olom bian a n d whose m o th e r is Finnish. Provided b o th parents speak to him in th eir respective native language, Pablo becom es bilingual. However, if the familv lives perm anentlv in Australia, the bov becom es a trilingual speaker. Does this include the possibility that Pablo is a native speaker o f English? A nother problem has to do with the fuzzi­ ness of geographical entities. W hich countries qualifv as English-speaking countries? T he U nited States, the U nited Kingdom, Australia, and a few m ore. But how about such countries as India. Nigeria, o r Singapore, w here English, though widelv spoken, is not the native language for the majority of the population and its use is lim ited to particular spheres of life? O n the o th e r hand, these countries also differ from countries like Poland. Peru, or Japan, where very few children en co u n ter English at anv great lengths before thev have form al school instruction. Recognizing the difficulty of setting up a division line betw een English- and non-Englishspeaking countries, Kachrtt (1985) arranged countries into three concentric circles. T he Innc Circle includes nations where English is the pri­ mary language. T he countries in the Outer Circle have been historically affected bv the spread ot English, often as colonies; in these m ultilingual settings English is the second language, generalb the m ajor intranational m eans of com m unication. T he Expanding Circle involves nations which haw accepted English as the most im portant in tern a­ tional language of com m unication and teach it as a foreign language. However, in K achru’s visual representation the differences are not watertight and countries in each circle exhibit a great deal ot variation and internal mobility.

The Educational Perspective T he native speaker m odel is not only the con­ cern o f linguists and sociolinguists, but is an issue which has fueled debate am o n g language

educators as well. T he controversy becam e partic­ ularly acrim onious in the 1980s and early 1990s. T here were a n u m b er o f researchers who claim ed that there is no such creature as the native or non-native speaker, an opinion well ren d e re d bv the title of a seminal book, The Native Speaker Is Dead! (Paikedav 1985). Ferguson form ulated this radical approach as follows: “T he whole mystique o f the native speaker and the m o th er tongue should probably be quietly d ro p p ed from the lin­ guist’s set o f professional myths about language" (1982, p.vii). C onsidered to be useless, the n a tiv e /n o n native dichotom y was to be rep laced bv new concepts an d new term s, in clu d in g more or less accomplished an d proficient users o f English, expert versus novice speakers, and bilingual speakers to include both natives fluent in a n o th e r language and non-natives fluent in English. In similar fashion, Kachru (1992) spoke o f Tnglish-using speech fellowships to stress “we-ness” instead of the rigid “us and them " division. In spite of the cogent argum ents against the native/non-native separation, the polem ic seems to have abated these dais, and the w eathered term s “native speakers" and “non-native speakers" are as widely used in the professional jargon todav as ever. But why is this distinction so im pervious to change? T here are at least two possible answers. T he m ore down-to-earth answer is that the m ajor­ ity of people are not borderline: thev clearly belong to eith er the group of native speakers or to that of the non-native speakers of English. T he m ore paradoxical answer is that the native non-native ep ith et is useful, to quote Hallidav, “precisely because it isn't too closelv defined" (cited in Paikedav 1985. p. 64). In a similar vein, Davies rem arked that "the native speaker is a fine myth: we need it as a m odel, a goal, alm ost an inspiration. But it is useless as a m easure; it will not help us define o u r goals" (1996, p. 157). Speaking o f goals, what are the goals of lan­ guage learning? For m ost learners, the ultim ate aim is an effective use of the target language. People seldom aspire to m ore th an w hat they find professionally an d personally necessary. It is a case of quid pro quo. R em em ber that the a tta in m e n t o f native proficiency in English not

only dem ands strenuous efforts, b u t it may also lead to a loss of native identity in o n e ’s T 1— a price m any w ould find far too g reat to pay. N evertheless, can any le a rn e r h o p e to achieve full m astery o f a second language, with all its linguistic subtleties and cultural allusions? Most researchers agree that this is an im possible task for the overw helm ing m ajority after puberty, but exceptions do exist. This induces fu rth e r questions: W hat are the criteria for native profi­ ciency? W hat is the cut-off p o in t betw een native proficiency and various levels o f non-native p ro ­ ficiency? R esearchers are ra th e r skeptical ab o u t the feasibility o f designing adequate m easuring instrum ents to separate the two groups. This being the case, Davies (1991) points out, m em ­ bership to one o r the o th e r category is n o t so m uch a priv ilege o f birth, education, o r language proficiency as a m atter o f self-ascription, hr o th er words, anyone who claims to be a native speaker is o n e — with the proviso, Kramsch observes, that thev are in fact accepted “bv the group that created the distinction betw een native a n d n o n ­ native speakers" (1997, p. 363). However, ju st as non-native outsiders tvpicallv do not w ant to tu rn into natives, native insiders are n o t always eager to adm it non-natives. In short, mobility betw een the two groups is possible but rare.

The Ownership o f English G ranted that the m ajority of non-native speakers do not m etam orphose into natives, can thev still claim ow nership o f English? O r does English rem ain the property7 of natives by virtue of their better language proficiency and stronger cultural affiliation? In this regard, W iddowson forcefully sums up the view o f m any o th er ELT professionals. H e argues that English is an international language, which implies that “it is n o t a possession which [native speakers] lease out to others, while still retaining the freehold. O th e r people actually own it" (1994. p. 385). In a similar way, N orton con­ tends that English “belongs to all the people who speak it, w hether native and non-native, w hether ESL o r EFL, w hether standard o r n o n sta n d a rd ”

(1997, р. 427). T he validity of these statem ents can be proven m ost spectacularly bv the exam ple o f such em in en t tw entieth-century novelists as C onrad, Nabokov, o r Sovinka, all o f them being non-native speakers of English, writing in English. Far m ore generally, however, it is claim ed that any non-native speaker who engages in genuine com ­ m unication can use the second language cre­ ative!}', m olding it until it becom es an adequate tool o f self-expression. In short, the ideal o f the m ultilingual, m ulticultural speaker to replace th at o f the m onolingual, m onocultural speaker is gaining g ro u n d in the professional literature (Kramsch 1997). This brings us to the subject o f English as an In tern atio n al Language (EIL). W hile E li. as a linguistic c o n stru c t is a c c e p te d bv m ost researchers, it is m ore controversial w h eth er EIL is a special kind of S tandard English with norm s distinct from those of o th e r stan d ard Englishes, o r any kind o f S tandard English used in in te rn a ­ tional settings. It has also been observed that, short of a p ro p e r description of its gram m ar. EIL is no m ore th an an idealization, an am algam of beliefs a n d assum ptions about rules and norm s to which people a d h e re with varying degrees of success (Medgyes 1999a). Paradoxically, it is teachers a n d learners from m onolingual EFL settings who typically are doubtful th at deviation from stan d ard norm s is acceptable (Jenkins 1998), while the staunchest advocates of EIL as a self-contained entity are m ost com m only fo u n d am o n g applied linguists and teachers who speak English as th eir native language.

Hiring Policies Let us now turn to the teaching profession within the fram ew ork o f the native/non-native dichot­ omy. W hile non-native speakers of English are generally co n tented with their non-native status, non-native teachers o f English often feel disad­ vantaged a n d discrim inated against. T h e ir com ­ p la in t is m ainlv leveled at u n e q u a l job o p portunities: teaching applications from even highly qualified and experien ced non-XESTs often get tu rn e d down in favor o f XESTs with no such credentials. For exam ple, here is a letter o f

rejection sent to a non-XEST applicant by the principal o f a language school in London: “I am afraid we have to insist that all ou r teachers are native speakers o f English. O u r students do not travel halfwav ro u n d the world only to be taught by a non-native speaker (however good that per­ so n ’s English mav b e )” (Illes 1991, p. 87). Language schools which advertise th em ­ selves as em ploying onlv native English speaker* often do so with the excuse that XESTs are better for public relations a n d im prove business. A n o th er explanation is th eir clients’ alleged needs. With reference to newlv arrived im m i­ grants in the U nited States, an Am erican teacher argued that "a teacher's lack o f native instinct* ab o u t A m erican English usage an d cultural expectations could be detrim ental to [the im m i­ grants'] chances in job interviews" (Safadi 1992 In spite of these argum ents, hiring prac­ tices in the two ELT strongholds, the U nitec States and the Udiked K ingdom , are in a state re transition. W hile in the past, m ajor organiza­ tions involved in ELT often shut th eir eyes to di*crim in atio n against non-XESTs, albeit never officially end o rsin g it, todav the sam e institu­ tions are in the habit of m aking clear a n d pr< gressive police statem ents. Incidentally, the mo*' im p o rtan t resolution was the one passed by tin Executive B oard of TESOL in 1991, which no: onlv expressed its disapproval of d iscrim in ato r hiring policies, but also d ecided to take steps t abolish all form s o f restriction based on tin. applicant's native language. It m ust be adm itted, though, that discrim i­ nation in hiring policies is not a priority issue i:. m ost parts of the world, m ainlv because the p er­ centage of non-XESTs in search o f a teaching j o ’ in E nglish-speaking c o u n tries is negligible Perhaps to a lesser extent todav than in the pas: non-XESTs tvpicallv work in EFL and XESTs ir. ESL environm ents. W hile brain drain does n o seriously affect the language teaching profession o th e r form s o f discrim ination are far m ore acute

The Center and the Periphery T he C e n te r/P e rip h e ry dichotom y was im porter, into ELT bv Phillipson (1992). To the Center b e lo n g pow erful W estern c o u n tries w here

English is the native language, w hereas the P e rip h e ry is c o n stitu te d o f u n d e rd e v e lo p e d countries w here English is a second or foreign language. ELT today is a huge enterprise and. as Phillipson argues, organizations as well as indi­ viduals from the C enter have high stakes in m ain­ tain in g its o p e ra tio n . R esearch projects, aid program s, an d tra in in g courses are ru n bv a n d /o r in the Center, quite often u n d e r the aus­ pices o f pow erful governm ent agencies such as the U nited States Inform ation Service a n d the British Council. S tandard ELT m ethodologies are often based on the needs and background o f the NEST who teaches in an ESL rath e r th an an EFL e n v iro n m en t (H ollidav 1994). R ecom m endations subm itted bv native speaker experts are often taken at face value and acted u p o n by local authorities. In ordinary classrooms in the Periphery. Phillipson states, XESTs are invariable granted jobs with a salary far exceeding that paid to local teachers. In certain co untries an d historical circum stances, even backpackers with no teach­ ing qualifications o r teaching experience are ex ten d ed a warm welcome. T he ELT business is backed by a book trade which s e n e s the interests o f the C enter and dissem inates its prevailing ide­ ologies an d m ethodologies. C om m unicative lan­ guage teaching often is im posed on Periphery classrooms while tried and tested m ethods are c o n d e m n e d , despite th eir popularity am ong teachers and learners (Liu 1999). Most textbooks im p o rted from the C e n te r not only destroy national ELT publishing, but also are ill-suited for local needs, projecting a “to-whom-it-mayconcern" aura. As a consequence, P eriphery experts b ecom e m ore and m ore d e p e n d e n t on th e C enter-based ELT estab lish m en t (Canagarajah 1999), and the attainm ent o f sus­ tainability rem ains but wishful thinking as a rule. T he needs an d attributes o f local teachers had b een all but ig n o re d until th e 1990s, w hen an interest in the non-XEST gained m om entum . This recognition was long overdue considering that, there are far m ore non-NESTs in the "world than XESTs, and that their num bers are rapidlv growing. In addition to num erous articles and a collection o f essays written on the subject (Braine 1999), a full-length book is wholly devoted to

an analysis of the distinguishing features of nonXF.STs (Meclgves 1994). Most o f the ideas p re­ sented below har e b een borrow ed from this book.

N E STS A N D N O N -N E S T S : PRO SAND CONS As m e n tio n e d above, native sp e ak e rh o o d is an intricate concept, which includes birth, e d u ­ cation, the en v iro n m en t in which the individual is exposed to English, the sequence in which languages are learned, levels of proficiency, selfconfidence, cultural affiliation, self-identification, and political allegiance. T here are two wavs out of this m a/e. O ne is to shortcut it bv ab andoning the neatlv d efin ed categories o f native versus non-native, offering instead the im age of a line, along which non-natives move towards the native end. T he o th er route leads through the retention of the native/non-native construct for all its a p p a re n t weaknesses. From a theoretical stance, the first o ption appears m ore prom ising. From a practical point of view, however, the second one is m ore straightforw ard, if onlv because the larger part of the world's teaching pool falls into two fairlv clear-cut categories: XESTs an d non-NESTs. H ence the decision to choose the second route for the purposes of this chapter. Most commonly, a non-NEST may be defined as a teacher: ■ * ■ *

for w hom English is a second or foreign language; who works in an EFL environm ent; whose students are m onolingual groups of learners; who speaks the same native language as his or h e r students.

This definition only partially applies to a m uch sm aller group, th at o f non-native teachers who work in ESL environm ents, often with stu­ d en ts from h e te ro g e n e o u s linguistic back­ grounds. Bv extension, the NEST may be defined as the opposite of the non-NEST, m ost character­ istically as a teacher who speaks English as a native language.

T he basic assum ption, th en , is that NESTs an d non-NESTs are two different species, and teachers b elo n g to eith e r this or that category. Given this, fo u r assum ptions follow (Medgyes 1994): 1. NESTs an d non-XESTs differ in term s of th eir language proficiency 2. They differ in term s of their teaching behavior 3. T h e discrepance- in language proficiencv accounts for m ost o f the differences fo u n d in th eir teaching behavior 4.

Thev can be equallv good teachers on th eir own term s

In o rd e r to validate his assu m p tio n s. Medgyes carried out a snrvev which included 325 teachers from 11 countries; 86 p e rc e n t of the participants were non-natives an d 14 p e r­ cen t natives. A lthough the sam ple was fairly large, the a u th o r suggested caution in in te rp re t­ ing the results, largely because the project teas b ased on q u e stio n n a ire -e lic ite d self-reports, which reflect a teacher's stated behavior rath e r th an his o r h e r actual behavior; th ere mav be a wide gap betw een the two. In any case, the results re p o rte d h e re have been obtain ed from this snrvev; for detailed statistical analvses, see Reves a n d Medgyes 1994.

The Linguistic Handicap N ot surprisingly, the prim ary advantage attrib ­ u ted to NESTs lies in th eir su p erio r English-lan­ guage com petence. T h eir superiority was fo u n d particularlv spectacular in th eir ability to use the language spontaneouslv an d in the m ost diverse com m unicative situations. Non-NESTs, on the whole, are well at rare o f th eir linguistic deficien­ cies an d of the all-pervasive n a tu re o f their handicap. In no area o f English-language profi­ ciencv can thev em ulate NESTs: snrvev partici­ pants viewed them selves as p o o re r listeners, speakers, readers, and writers. True enough, long stays in English-speaking countries, hard work, an d dedication m ight help narrow the gap, b u t verv few non-NESTs are ever able to catch up with their native colleagues. A lien asked

to identify' the m ajor source of difficulty, m ost non-NEST participants m en tio n ed vocabulary, to g eth er with idiom atic a n d appropriate use of English. This was followed bv problem s in speak­ ing an d fluenev. pronunciation, and listening. G ram m ar featured to a far lesser extent and so did writing skills, whereas reading skills and cul­ tural knowledge were not even m entioned. Manv non-NESTs participating in the survev c o m m en ted ab o u t th eir inferioritv com plex caused bv the defects in th eir English-language proficiencv and about som e kind of cognitive dissonance due to the double role thev played a> b o th teachers and learners of the sam e subject. All these problem s to g eth e r constitute the dark side of being a non-NEST. In view o f these results, the first assum ption, nam elv that NESTan d non-NESTs differ in term s of th eir language proficiencv. mav be reg ard ed as confirm ed.

Differences in Teaching Behavior W hen asked w h eth er thev perceived any differ­ ences in teaching behavior betw een NESTs anc non-NESTs. 82 p e rc e n t o f the participants gar г a positive answer. F u rth erm o re, thev stressec that the discrepance in language p ro fic ie n tacco u n ted for m ost of the differences found ir. th eir teaching behavior. Thus b o th the second and th ird assum ptions above seem to have beer, b o rn e out bv the survev findings. T he collator: results are supplied u n d e r com prehensive h e a d ­ ings in Table 1. In explaining the differences, m anv partic­ ipants p o in te d out that non-XESTs are usualk p reo ccu p ied with accuracv, the form al featu re' o f English, the nuts and bolts o f gram m ar, the p rin te d word, and form al registers. Many lacfluenev. h are a lim ited insight into the intrica­ cies o f m eaning, are often in d o u b t ab o u t a p p ro ­ priate language use, have p o o r listening anc speaking skills, a n d are n o t fam iliar with collo­ quial English. It is only logical to assum e that non-NESTs place an em phasis on those aspect' of the language that thev have a b e tte r grasp ot If thev have a restricted know ledge o f context thev ten d to teach unfam iliar language elem en t'

Table I. Perceived Differences in Teaching Behavior Between N ESTs and N on-N ESTs N ESTs

N on-N ESTs own use o f English

speak better English use real language use English more confidently

speak poorer English use “ bookish” language use English less confidently general attitude

adopt a more flexible approach are more innovative are less empathetic attend to perceived needs have far-fetched expectations are more casual are less committed

adopt a more guided approach are more cautious are more empathetic attend to real needs have realistic expectations are stricter are more committed

attitude to teaching the language

are less insightful focus on: fluency meaning language in use oral skills colloquial registers teach items in context prefer free activities favor group work/pair work use a variety of materials tolerate errors set fewer tests use no/less LI resort to no/less translation assign less homework

are more insightful focus on: accuracy form grammar rules printed word formal registers teach items in isolation prefer controlled activities favor frontal work use a single textbook correct/punish for errors set more tests use more LI resort to more translation assign more homework attitude to teaching culture

supply more cultural information

in a context-poor environm ent o r in isolation. Preoccupied with their own language difficulties, they are reluctant to loosen their grip over the class. As group work and pair work often create unpredictable situations full of linguistic traps, non-NESTs favor m ore secure form s of classwork, such as lock-step activities. Similar reasons were claimed to account for the non-NESTs preference

supply less cultural information

for standard coursebooks, which by their very nature provide security. For the same reason, nonNESTs are inclined to adopt a m ore controlled and cautious pedagogic approach. Incidentally, these results tie in nicely with m ore recent data reported by Samimv and Brutt-Griffler (1999). (Further divergences displayed in Table 1 are dealt with in the following sections.)

Before providing argum ents to prove the fo u rth assum ption, let us turn to a discussion of certain advantages a ttrib u ted to non-XESTs over NESTs.

The Bright Side o f Being a N on-NEST O n e item in th e q u estio n n aire in q u ired w h eth er th e participants th o u g h t the NEST o r the nonNEST was a b e tte r teacher. W hile an ap p ro x i­ m ately equal n u m b e r o f votes w ent for e ith e r o p tio n (27 p e rc e n t for NESTs an d 29 p e rc e n t for non-NESTs), 44 p e rc e n t in serted "both." an alternative which h ad n o t even b een supplied in the q uestionnaire. T he p ro p o rtio n of partici­ pants who chose non-NESTs as th eir favorites is high, especially given th eir linguistic inferioritv. It follows from this th at non-NESTs should be in possession o f certain u n iq u e features that NESTs lack. B ut w hat are they? W hat gives non-NESTs th eir com petitive edge? W hat assets enable them to m ake up for th eir linguistic handicap? Partly inspired by the teachers participating in th e survey, Medgves advanced a second set o f assum ptions. Namely, c o m p ared to NESTs, non-NESTs can: 1 . provide a b e tte r le a rn e r m odel: 2. teach lan g u a g e -le a rn in g strateg ies m ore effectively; 3. supply m ore in form ation a b o u t the English language; 4. b e tte r an ticipate a n d prev en t language difficulties; 5. be m ore sensitive to th eir students; 6 . b enefit from th eir abilitv to use the stu d e n ts’ m o th e r tongue. Below, we elaborate on these six assumptions.

I. Non-NESTs Provide a Better Learner Model Any language teacher can set two kinds of models before the students: a language m odel and a lea rn er m odel. M edgyes’s basic claim is that, while NESTs m ake b e tte r language m odels, nonNESTs can provide b e tte r learner m odels. In term s

of a language m odel, non-NESTs are relativelv h in d ere d , since thev are learners o f English just like th eir students, albeit at a h ig h er level. A lthough a m ore proficient non-XEST is likelv to provide a b e tte r language m odel th an a less proficient one, non-NESTs c a n n o t rival NESTs. In com pensation, as it were, onlv non-NESTs can be set as p ro p e r le a rn e r m odels, since thev learned English after thev acq u ired th eir native language, unlike NESTs who acquired English as th eir native language — two com pletelv different processes (K rashen 1981). A n o th er area o f investigation concerns a com parison of learning success an d teaching efficacv. In this regard, two questions may be asked. T h e first one is, Do von have to be a suc­ cessful lea rn er in o rd e r to becom e a successful teacher? M edgves’s answer is a tentative yes. arguing that a successful teach er by definition ia successful lea rn er o f English: p o o r language learners clo n ot m ake good language teachers. This is not to deny that th ere are unsuccessful learners equipped with outstanding teaching qual­ ities which help them offset their language defi­ ciencies. However, such teachers are few and far between, and hence onlv those non-NESTs should be set as m odels who are successful learners them ­ selves— anvthing less is a comprom ise. T he second question is, Does every success­ ful lea rn er becom e a successful teacher? The answer to this question is a definite no. If a per­ fect com m and were a sufficient prerequisite for successful teaching, Medgves contends, NESTs w ould bv definition be b e tte r teach ers— which thev are not! W ith respect to non-NESTs, too. h is com m on experience th at successful learnertu rn out to be lousv teachers. This may be explained bv several factors, m ost evidently hi in ad e q u a te professional training. It ap p ealth en . that success in learning English is a n e c e sarv but not a sufficient condition for success ir. teaching it.

2. Non-NESTs Teach Language-learning Strategies More Effectively It is a truism th a t som e people pick up languagem ore quickly an d effectively than others. Succe-d ep en d s on several things, such as background.

m otivation, age, intelligence, ap titude, level of education, and quality o f instruction, as well as know ledge o f o th e r foreign languages. An addi­ tional factor with a bearing on success is the use of language learning strategies. W hat are thev? L an g u ag e le a rn in g strategies, a c c o rd in g to W enden a n d Rubin (1987), are specific actions em ployed to facilitate the lea rn in g an d recall of o n e o r several c o m p o n e n ts o f proficiencv. Facilitation implies not only m aking the process easier, but also m aking it “faster, m ore enjovablc. m ore self-directed, m ore effective, and m ore transferrable to new situations" (Oxford 1990. p. 8). All le a rn e rs em ploy lan g u ag e le a rn in g strategies. Success with learning largely depends u p o n the ability to select the m ost app ro p riate strategy for dealing with a specific learning task. G ood learners are capable of gleaning a rep e r­ toire o f strategies which suits their personalitv as well as th eir particular learning environm ent. However, the m ajority of language learn ers grope in the dark unless thev are fortunate en o u g h to receive tailor-m ade su p p o rt from know ledgeable teachers. .Although researchers have long been intrigued bv the question of the teachability of strategies, hardlv anv tangible results have been p ro d u ce d thus far. .After having interview ed seven extrem ely successful language learners, Stevick concludes that there is no com ­ m on p a tte rn em erging: everyone seems to learn in his o r h e r own wav. W hat works for som e learn­ ers utterly fails for others: “H ardlv a clear m odel for an aspiring language student who wants to profit from th eir exam ple!” (1989, p. 138). As successful learn ers o f English, nonNESTs are supposed to be conscious strategy users, able to tell which strategies have w orked for them an d which have not. T hus they stand a better chance o f sensitizing th eir students to the em ploym ent o f strategies th an th e ir native­ speaking colleagues do. T h e ir ability consists in im parting th eir own learn in g experiences as well as providing assistance for students to discover o th er strategies that should work specifically for them . To be fair, NESTs have also p u rsu e d strate­ gies in their contact with foreign languages. However short-lived o r distant th eir learn in g experience m ar have been, they may harness it :n th eir job as teachers of English.

3. Non-NESTs Supply More Information About the English Language Any language teacher's expertise consists o f three com ponents: (a) language proficiencv, (b) lan­ guage awareness, and (c) pedagogic skills. W hile language proficiency implies skills in the target language, language awareness involves explicit knowledge about the language, which does n o t necessarily assume near-native language profi­ ciencv. In his o r h e r role as an instructor, the teacher obviously exhibits varying degrees o f p ed ­ agogic skills as well. R etu rn in g to a com parison o f teach in g behavior betw een NESTs a n d non-NESTs shown in Table 1, non-NESTs were fo u n d to be m ore insightful th an NESTs. This follows from the dif­ ferences in the process o f m astering th e English language. T h e ir acquisition being largely u n c o n ­ scious, NESTs were perceived as largely unaw are o f the internal m echanism s d irecting language use and, th erefo re, less able to give th eir stu­ d en ts relevant inform ation ab o u t the target lan­ guage. O n the o th e r h an d , non-NESTs have am assed a w ealth o f know ledge a b o u t th e English language d u rin g th eir own learning process. T h eir a n te n n a e can in te rc e p t as a possi­ ble source of problem s even the m in u test item which NESTs mav take no notice of. P ut differentlv, w hereas NESTs have b e tte r in tu itio n s ab o u t what is right an d w rong in language use, non-NESTs have d e e p e r insights into w hat is easy an d difficult in the learn in g process. Naturally, NESTs are also capable o f refin­ ing th eir language awareness. They can im prove, provided that they avail them selves o f the o p p o r­ tunities offered by te a c h e r education, foreign language learning, and, above all, experience. Those NESTs who have spent an ex ten d ed period o f time in a host country and have taken pains to learn the students’ m o th er tongue should be incom parably m ore know ledgeable than those who have not.

4. Non-NESTs Better Anticipate and Prevent Language Difficulties Having ju m p ed off the sam e sp rin g b o ard as th eir students, non-NESTs are intrinsically m ore p e rc e p tiv e a b o u t lan g u a g e difficulties th a n

NESTs. F or th em to discover tro u b le spots requires little tim e an d energy; messages can be exchanged m erely bv w inking an eve. Most nonNESTs have developed a "sixth sense." and those who have b e e n on the job long eno u g h are able to predict, with a fair degree of accuracy, w hat is likelv to go w rong before the stu d en t opens his or h e r m outh. In possession o f this anticipatory device, non-XESTs stand a good chance of p re ­ venting linguistic problem s which m aterialize in the form o f deviant usage or, for want oi a better word, errors. ,\s Table l shows, NESTs and non-XESTs behave differently with regard to erro r correction. Since native speakers generally view language as a m eans of achieving some com m unicative goal, they tend not to make a fuss about errors unless they h in d er com m unication. In contrast. nonXESTs are notorious for penalizing errors, gram ­ matical errors in particular, probably because thev regard English prim arily as a school subject to be m astered and onlv secondarily as a m edium o f genuine com m unication. A nother reason for their heavy-handed attitude mat lie in their defi­ cient knowledge of English. In anv case, teacher education should perhaps place m ore em phasis on strategies for e rro r /invention than on tech­ niques of erro r norm lion. As far as NESTs are concerned, those expa­ triates who stav put in one country m anage to gath er far m ore experience about their students' specific language problem s than those who drift from place to place, sear after sear. Since lan­ guage is a m ajor carrier of. and in fact is insepa­ rable from , a people's culture, familiarity svith the local language can bring NESTs closer to their students' cultural toots and shed light on the students' inability to c o m p re h en d a specific language elem ent. Speaking of culture, fable 1 indicates that NESTs an d non-XESTs also differ in term s of th eir attitude toward teaching culture, bv viitue o f com ing from an English-speaking country, NESTs are able to proside m ote inform ation about th eir native culture. Howeser. the m ore the English language spreads an d diversifies in the world, the less it rem ains the privilege of NESTs, which harks back to the issue f English as an In te rn atio n a l L anguage a d d r e s s e d earlier.

To be sure, the non-XEST teaching in a mot: • lingual class has far m ore background inform . ■ tion about his o r h er students than even u t­ m ost well-inform ed NEST can. Indirectly, tit know ledge is instrum ental in e n h a n cin g te a c h e r’s capacity to anticipate and prevt cross-cultural difficulties.

5. N on-N ESTsA re More Sensitive to Their Students As ['able 1 dem onstrates. non-XESTs are pov. tiallv m o te sensitive on several counts. First, c. can be m ore responsive to the students' :u needs. In contrast. NESTs. w orking e ith e r v.v linguisticallv h e te ro g e n e o u s g ro u p s in English-speaking country o r with m onoline groups overseas, probably have but a vague :: lure of th eir stu d e n ts’ needs and aspiratio: including th eir linguistic, cultural, and person backgrounds. Second, thanks to th o ro u g h familiarity v.u the teaching learn in g context. non-XESTs . in a position to set realistic aims for students. F exam ple, thev are m ore cognizant of the c straints of the national curriculum , the teach: . m aterials available, and the exam inations to taken. Thev are also better able to gauge u level of m otivation that students studying ir. particular tvpe of school at e supposed to ha\ Thircl. due to their d e e p e r understand:: _ of the prevalent circum stances, non-NESTs . usually stricter than th eir native-speaking c leagues. If thev are aware o f an im m in en t I. guage exam ination, for instance, them will ad. their teaching m ethods to the stringent ex. requirem ents; this mat involve having to a s e . m ore tests and m ore hom ew ork, l.iving in a k:: oi'symbiosis with the students. non-NESTs cam. a.(ford to be as casual as NESTs. It must be added, however, that a hi., degree of sensitivity is m erely a potential; jits; . ih e ie are non-NESTs who exhibit precious liu. em pathy, som e NESTs are am azingly u ik F. standing. It m ust be rep e a te d here that, in ac lion to teach er education, the best sensitive n a m in g for NESTs is to learn the language the host country.

6. Non-NESTs Benefit from Their Ability to Use the Students’ Mother Tongue As native speakers o f the local language, nonNESTs can obviously take advantage of this shared co m petence, provided they are allowed to harness it. To use or n o t to use the m o th e r tongue? This was one o f the thorniest problem s in lan­ guage teaching m ethodology th ro u g h o u t the tw entieth century as the p en d u lu m swung from one extrem e to the other. U ntil recently, the m o n o lin g u al prin cip le p red o m in a te d , mostly advocated by NESTs, if onlv because thev th em ­ selves felt disabled by th eir lack of com petence in the stu d en ts’ first language (L I). As a conse­ quence, non-NESTs were m ade to feel either defensive or guilty at th eir inability or unwilling­ ness to co n d u ct a class entirely in English. In the 1990s, however, the judicious use o f the learners' native language was once again legitim ized. A m ong the reasons for its com eback is the recog­ nition o f the LI as the m ost gen u in e vehicle of com m unication betw een non-NESTs a n d their students in the m onolingual classroom . A nother m ajor reason is that the native language proves to be a pow erful te a c h in g /le a rn in g tool in count­ less situations. Suffice it to sav, todav non-NESTs may switch into the L.l at their discretion, and so may NESTs— to the extent thev can.

W H O IS MORE V A LU A B LE, T H E N E S T O R T H E N O N -N E S T ? O ne item in the survey q u estio n n aire in q u ired about the ideal p ro p o rtio n of NESTs o r nonNESTs to be em ployed in schools. W hereas 52 p e rc e n t of the participants said th a t they would prefer an equal n u m b e r o f NESTs a n d nonNESTs, 17 p e rc e n t favored m ore NESTs a n d 31 percen t m ore non-NESTs. A fu rth e r breakdow n of th e d a ta reveals th a t b o th native a n d non-native p articipants w ould ra th e r have a majority of th eir own language g ro u p in the staff; as th ere were m ore non-NEST than NEST participants in the sam ple, the balance o f choice tilted towards non-NESTs.

Be th at as it may, the idea of a m ixed staff is wishful th inking for m ost schools in m ost parts of the world. S hort o f NESTs, schools use the few a ro u n d as efficiently as possible. O n g ro u n d s of th eir native proficiency in English, in m any places NESTs are assigned advanced level groups a n d conversation classes. Elsew here, in o rd e r to m ake th e ir co n trib u tio n accessible to everybody, thev are to m into as m any small bits as th ere are grotips in the school. Needless to say, NESTs are n o t always pleased with this task allo catio n — a re c u rre n t com plaint is th at they are reg a rd e d as rare anim als in a zoo (Arva a n d Medgyes 2000). T hese results correlate strongly with the results o f a n o th e r item in the q u estio n n aire ■which asked: W ho is the b e tte r teacher, the NEST or the non-NEST? As m en tio n e d previ­ ously, a sim ilar percen tag e favored e ith e r NESTs or non-NESTs, w hereas nearly h alf the resp o n ­ dents said th at the two groups h ad an equal chance o f success. W hen asked to justify th eir choice, participants typically re fe rre d to the dif­ ferences sum m arized in Table 1. T h e sam e attrib u te was often judged as a positive feature bv som e an d a negative feature by others. A part from a few extrem ists, survey partici­ pants expressed m o d erate views. They ag reed that since each g ro u p had its own strengths a n d weaknesses, thev would com p lem en t each o th e r well in am school. A p ro p o rtio n a te n u m b e r o f natives and non-natives w ould give the fu rth e r advantage o f offering a variety o f ideas and teaching m ethods. Som e resp o n d en ts refe rre d to the desirability- o f nativ e/n o n -n ativ e in terac­ tion an d cooperation; “T h ere is a lot we can learn from each o th e r!” one perso n rem arked. O rganized collaboration a n d its m ost in te n ­ sive form , team teaching, have b ecom e fairly well researched areas in recen t years (N unan 1992). Team teaching is a system w hereby a g ro u p o f teachers jo in tly u n d e rta k e a p rogram of work with a g roup o f students. In the co n tex t of N E ST /non-N E ST collaboration, the largest a n d best d o c u m e n ted team teach in g initiative has b een developed in Ja p an , called the Ja p a n E xchange a n d T eaching Program , also know n as the JE T p rogram (Tajino an d Tajino 2000). T he pro g ram 's prim ary aim is to rec ru it young native speakers from E nglish-speaking co u n tries to

teach u n d e r the guidance of, an d to g eth e r with, qualified Jap an ese teachers o f English. Let us reiterate: XESTs and non-XESTs teach differently in several respects. Xon-XESTs are (m ore o r less) h a n d ic a p p e d in term s of their co m m an d o f English. Paradoxically, this short­ com ing is th eir m ost valuable asset, as it helps them develop capacities that XESTs m ust strug­ gle to acquire. XESTs an d non-XESTs are p o ten ­ tially equally effective teachers, because in the final analysis th e ir respective strengths an d weaknesses balance each o th er out. Different does not imply better or worse! Thus the question. W ho's worth metre, the native o r the non-native? is pointless, conducive to draw ing wrong conclu­ sions from the differences discovered in teaching behavior, ft is suggested, therefore, that language teachers should be h ired solelv on the basis of their professional virtues, regardless of their lan­ guage background. T he data and the argum ents supplied thus far seem to be powerful enough to validate the fourth assum ption put forward on page 434, nam elv that XESTs and non-XESTs can be equally good teachers on their own terms.

C O N C L U S IO N : T H E ID E A L T E A C H E R In rec e n t literature, the co ncept of the ideal tea c h e r has gained som e notoriety, especially in relation to the native/non-native dichotom y. It appears that the glorv once attached to the XEST has faded, a n d an increasing n u m b e r of ELT experts assert th at the "ideal te a c h e r” is no lo n g er a category reserved for XESTs. It is becom ing a generally accepted view th at o u t­ standing teachers c an n o t be squeezed into any pigeonhole: all ou tstan d in g teachers are ideal in th eir own wavs, and as such are different from each other. T he co n cep t o f the ideal teacher resists clear-cut definitions, because th ere are too m any variables to consider. In o rd e r to get a b e tte r grasp o f the ideal teacher, however, let us suppose that all the vari­ ables are kept constant m om entarily, except for the language proficiency co m p o n en t. In rela­ tion to non-XESTs, the question arises: Does

som ebody with a b e tte r com m and o f English stand a b e tte r chance o f becom ing an idea) teacher? In o th er words: Is a m ore proficient speaker a m ore efficient teacher as well? Ah o th e r things being equal, the answer is yes: tin ideal non-XES'f is som eone who has achieved near-native proficiency in English. T he im por­ tance of this attribute is seldom questioned in the literature. Britten (198o) claims that ait excellent com m and o f English is a m ajor selec­ tion criterion and a good pred icto r o f a noitXEST's professional success. Lange (1990) ratelanguage proficiency as the most essential char­ acteristic o f a good lan g u ag e teacher, and M urdoch (1994) calls it the bedrock of the noirXEST's professional confidence. Liu’s (1999 stuclv conducted am ong non-native TESOL stu­ dents at a university in the U nited States confirm ' that English-language proficiency is generally rec­ ognized as a make-or-break req u irem en t in ESL environm ents as well. T herefore, it m ust be . valid claim that the most im portant profession,;, dutv that non-XESTs have to perform is to make linguistic im provem ents in their English. In contrast, the success o f XESTs hinges or. the extent to which thev can acquire the distin­ guishing features of non-XESTs. In view of thithe ideal X E ST is som eone who has achieved a fair degree of proficiency in the students' native lan­ guage. Cook (1999) must be right in saving that the m ulticom petent, m ultilingual teacher is qual­ itatively different and incom parably m ore capa­ ble than the m onolingual teacher. T he trouble is that "all o th e r things” arc never equal in the classroom , so the phrase “the m ore proficient, the m ore efficient" is only p ar­ tially valid. In this regard, Samimv (1997) m en ­ tions certain factors which are as im p o rta n t a' language proficiency, particularly relevant teach­ ing qualifications and extent of one's teachingex p e rien c e . S eid lh o fer reiterates this point: "There has often b een the d an g er of an auto­ matic extrapolation from competent speaker to com­ petent teacher based on linguistic grounds alone, w ithout taking into consideration the criteria ot cu ltu ral, social a n d p edagogic a p p ro p ria te " (1996, p. 69). Indeed, an issue waiting to be addressed is the com plex relationship between the d iffe re n t aspects o f teach ers' classroom

practice. T he study o f the non-NEST rem ains overall a largely u n e x p lo re d area in language education. In conclusion, within the fram ew ork of the native/non-native division, the ideal NEST and the ideal non-NEST arrive from different direc­ tions but eventually stand quite close to each other. Both groups of teachers serve equally use­ ful purposes in their own wavs. In an ideal school, therefore, there should be a good balance of NESTs and non-XESTs. who com plem ent each o th er in their strengths and weaknesses. Given a favorable mix, various forms of collaboration are possible, and learners can onlv gain from such cross-fertilization.

D IS C U S S IO N Q U E S T IO N S 1. W hat is your native language? Are there any “com plicating factors" concerning vour lin­ guistic and cultural identity? 2. Do you agree or disagree with the native s p e a k e r'n o n -n a tiv e sp e a k e r distin ctio n ? W hat are vour argum ents for or against? 3. a. If vou are a native speaker o f English, do you think that the English language is vour property, or are vou willing to share the “copyright" with non-native speakers? b. If vou are a non-native speaker, do vou believe vou have the right to "tinker" with the norm s an d rules o f English to the sam e ex ten t as native speakers have? 4. Take a close look at Table 1 in this chapter. W hich are the points vour own experience supports and which are the ones it challenges? 5. In addition to the six advantages assigned to non-XESTs, can vou th ink of anv m ore? In addition to th eir linguistic superiority, can vou list anv fu rth e r assets for NESTs?

S U G G E S T E D A C T IV IT IE S 1. In a replication study. Davies (1996) m easured differences between native and non-native speakers of English in term s of grammaticalitv judgm ents. Elis sample consisted of applied linguists with experience as English teachers. All the non-native participants (18 persons)

were highly proficient speakers of English; the native speakers (16 persons) were mostly speakers of British English. Davies included 12 sentences in his survey, an d the partici­ pants were required to rate the sentences on a 4-point scale as follows: 1 T h e s e n te n c e so u n d s p e rfe c t. You w ould use it w ithout hesitation. 2 T he sentence is less th an p e rfe c t— so m eth in g in it just d o e sn ’t feel com ­ fortable. Maybe lots of peo p le could say it, b u t you never feel quite com fortable with it. 3 W orse th an (2), b ut n o t com pletely im possible. Maybe som ebody m ight use the sentence, b u t certainly n o t vou. T he sentence is alm ost bevond h ope. 4 T he sentence is absolutely out. Impossible to un d erstan d , nobodv would say it. L’n-English. H ere are the 12 sentences to be rated on the scale: 1 U n d e r no circum stances w ould I accept that offer. 2 X obodv who 1 get along with is h ere who I want to talk to. 3 We d o n ’t believe the claim th at Jim son ever had anv monev. 4 T he fact he wasn’t in the store sh o u ld n ’t be forgotten. 5 W hat will the g ran d fa th e r clock stand betw een the bed and. 6 I u rg e th a t an y th in g h e to u c h be b u rn ed . 7 All the fu rth e r we got was to Sudbury 8 T h a t is a fre q u e n tly talk ed a b o u t proposal. 9 Xobodv is h ere who I get along with who I w ant to talk to. 10 T he d o c to r is sure th a t th ere will be no problem s. 11 T he idea h e w asn’t in the store is preposterous. 12 Such form ulas should be writable down. G rade these sentences on th e 4-point scale. R em em ber to give 1 p o in t fo r a p erfect sen­ tence an d 4 points for a totally u n acceptable sentence.

H ere are the results o f Davies's stuclv: Sentence Mean Natives (N= 16) Non-natives (N=18)

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

2.7 1.6 1.7 2.7 1.7 3.3 1.2 2.3 1.0 1.7 3.0

1.1 3.0

1.8 1.6 3.5 2.5 3.0

2.2

4. In groups, collect as m anv features o f the successful language te a c h e r as vou car. Suppose that the "ideal teacher" is som eone who has a m axim um score o f 25 p o in t' Individuallv. allocate as m anv points as to . wish for each feature w ithin the m axim um 25 points. T h en , in groups again, com pare vour scores a n d argue for to u r allocation. 5. Interview ten non-native speakers of Englix. to find out what traits thev value most in lan­ guage teachers. Do thev specify any feature which are metre characteristic of non-NESTthan NESTs?

2.5

1.0 1.5 3.3

FU R T H ER R EA D IN G N ote that the aggregate m ean for all 12 sen­ tences for natives an d non-natives is 1.99 and 2.23, respectively. This suggests that natives are m ore to le ran t o f uncertain tv with regard to gram m aticalitv. C om pute vour own score and com pare it with the m ean of natives and non-natives in Davies's sam ple. Are vou m ore or less to leran t than e ith e r group? 2. Give an h o n est answ er to this question: Suppose vou were the principal o f a com m er­ cial language school in to u r country. W ho would vou prefer to emplov? a. I w ould em plov onlv native speakers even if thev were not qualified teachers. b. I would prefer to emplov NESTs, but if needed I would choose a qualified non-NEST rather than a native without ELT qualifications. c. T he native m on-native issue would n o t be a selection criterion (provided the non-NEST was a highlv proficient speaker o f English).

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Ask th ree or four colleagues about their choices. If there are discrepancies betw een vour views, justifv to u r preference. Has any­ one h edged their bets bv saying “It d ep en d s”? Ask them to explain their am biguous stance. 3.

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Building Awareness and Practical Skills to Facilitate Cross-Cultural Communication ELI

H I N KEL

Hinkel's chapter points out the im portance of developing cultural com petence when teaching and learning a second language, noting that cultural assumptions affect practically all aspects o f language use, even though they may not be obvious to native speakers o r L2 learners. It offers examples of cultural impact on language use and provides guidelines for teaching culture.

IN T R O D U C T IO N In language teaching and research on language, the term culture includes m any different defini­ tions and considerations that deal with form s of speech acts, rhetorical structure o f texts, socio­ cultural behaviors, a n d wavs in which know ledge is transm itted an d obtained. C ulture may find its m anifestations in bodv language, gestures, con­ cepts of tim e, hospitalitv custom s, an d even expressions o f friendliness. W hile all these cer­ tainly reflect the cultural norm s accepted in a particular society, the influence of culture on language use and on the concepts o f how lan­ guage can be taught and learn ed is both broader and deeper. To a great extent, the culture into which one is socialized defines how an individual sees his o r h er place in societv. A lthough attaining linguistic proficiency is essential for learners to be considered com m u­ nicatively co m p eten t, particularly in the case of ESL learners, this is not sufficient. O n the whole, to becom e proficient an d effective com ­ m unicators, learners n eed to attain second lan­ guage (L2) sociocultural com petence. Knowing how to say thank you, for exam ple, does n o t au to ­ matically confer the know ledge o f w hen to say th an k vou, how often to say th an k you, a n d w h eth er any additional action is called for. Q uite reasonably, learners first apply the stan­ dards th at exist in the first language ( L I ) com ­ m unities w here they were socialized. People who

in teract with ESL students have com m ented th at some learners seem to express gratitude excessively for small considerations, even to the point of em barrassing the person thev are speak­ ing to. O th e r learners may seem dow nright ru d e because thev do not say thank you when expected to. If a receptionist at an office spends a lot of time trying to help som eone but fails to provide con­ crete help, it ntav not be obvious to an ESL stu­ d e n t th at a thank you is w arranted. A fter all, the receptionist did n o t provide any real assistance, a n d isn't it his or h e r jo b to help? How e\rer, if no thanks is given, the receptionist may n o t be likelv to even attem p t to help in th e future. N ot u n d e rsta n d in g sociocultural expectations could im pact non-native speakers' (NNSs’) ability to function in a L2 com m unity. Expressing thanks is ju st a small exam ple. Teachers of L2 w riting often e n c o u n te r stu d e n t essavs th at contain large excerpts o f text copied verbatim from books, In te rn e t sites, or o th e r published sources. However, in the eyes o f lea rn ­ ers from som e cultures, copying from a p u b ­ lished source does n o t necessarily re p re se n t an u n ethical act ( “published” means for the public to use, right?). In fact, learners from som e cultures mav \iew copying from a source as a m eans o f expressing respect fo r the a u th o r’s ideas a n d dis­ playing th e ir fam iliarity with th e m aterial. Horvever, the negative outcom e o f copying the text in th eir papers could be severe in an English-language college o r university w here

such copying constitutes plagiarism , which mav be p u n ish e d bv the stu d en t's dismissal from the institution. H em es (1996) em phasizes that the learning o f culture is an integral part of language learn ­ ing a n d ed u cation because it crucially influences the yalues of the com m unity, evervdav in terac­ tion, the norm s of speaking an d behaying. and the sociocultural expectations of an indiyidual's roles. He fu rth e r notes that those who do not follow the norm s of ap p ropriateness accepted in a com m unity are often placed in a position that exacerbates social disparities and inequality. Today, w hen the num bers of ESL EFL stu­ dents h are grown dram atically worldwide, it is becom ing increasingly clear that the learn in g of a second culture does not take care of itself. Thus, T2 learners cannot always m ake the best of th eir educational, professional, and yocational o p p o rtu n ities until titer becom e fam iliar with fu n d a m e n ta l E2 cultural concepts and co n ­ structs. Most im portantly, an ability to recognize a n d em ploy culturally ap p ro p riate war s of com ­ m u n icatin g in speech o r w riting allows learners to m ake choices with regard to linguistic, prag­ m atic, a n d o th e r behaviors. A lthough traditionally courses a n d texts for language teachers co n cen trate on teaching T2 linguistic skills, it mar be difficult to separate the teaching and learning of English from the culture o f its speakers. Eor exam ple, what represents polite war s of speaking and the appropriate war s o f writing an essay mar d e p e n d on culturally d e p e n d en t concepts that are closely b o u n d up with the linguistic skills n eed ed to speak o r write well in the L2.

T H E V ISIB LE A N D T H E IN V ISIB LE C U LT U R E In T2 teaching, the term culture has b e e n em ployed to refer to distinctly different dom ains o f people's lir es. It can be used to refer to the lit­ erature, the arts, the architecture, and the history o f a particular people. W hen asked about their native culture, m any T2 learners and ESL/EFT teachers alike would undertake to describe the

history or geography of their country because these represent a p opular u n d e rsta n d in g o f the term culture. In addition, som e definitions o f cul­ ture can include sti le of dress, cuisine, custom s, festivals. and o th e r traditions. These aspects can be considered the visible culture, as they are readily ap p a re n t to anyone and can be discussed and explained relatively easily. Vet a n o th e r far m ore com plex m eaning of culture refers to sociocultural norm s, worldyiews. beliefs, assum ptions, an d yalue systems that find th eir way into practically all facets of language tise. including the classroom , an d lan­ guage teaching and learning. T he term invisible culture ap p lies to so cio cu ltu ral beliefs a n d assum ptions that m ost people are not eyen aw are of and thus cannot exam ine intellectually. Scollon and Scollon ( 199.V state that the cu ltu r­ ally d e te rm in e d concepts of what is acceptable, a p p ro p riate, and expected in one's behayior is acquired d u rin g the process of socialization and, hence, becom es inseparable from an indiyidual’s identity. For exam ple, in the classroom, the roles of the student and the teacher are defined bv the sociocultural yalues of the larger com m unity and the society. If students belieye that the teacher is responsible for explaining the m aterial and that speaking up in class is considered rude, presum ptuous, and selfish, the fact that the teacher simply instructs students to participate in discussion mav do little to change learners' notions of what is appropriate and how they mav be view ed bv others if they actually speak in class. Most teachers, even those with m inim al class­ room ex perience o r exposure, know how diffi­ cult it can be to convince som e students to speak in front of th eir classmates, w hereas o th e r stu­ dents mav ap p e ar to have trouble allowing class­ m ates an o p p o rtu n ity to have th eir turn.

W hy S e c o n d C u ltu re L e a rn in g D o e s N o t T ake C are o f Its e lf T he complexity of teaching culture lies in the fact that, unlike speaking or writing, culture does not represent a separate dom ain of L2 instruction; instead, the learning of the T2 culture makes learn ers b e tte r com m unicators. In lan g u ag e

learning a n d teaching, the crucial sociocultural principles that d e te rm in e th e norm s of a p p ro ­ priate a n d polite behavior an d language use within the fram ew orks of the society represent the invisible culture. As Stewart (1972, p. 16) com m ents, “ [T ]he typical person has a strong sense of w hat the w orld is really like, so that it is with surprise th at he discovers th a t ‘realitv' is built up out o f certain assum ptions com m onlv shared am o n g m em bers o f the sam e culture. C ultural assum ptions mav be defin ed as abstract, organized, an d general concepts w hich pervade a person 's outlook an d behavior." To m em bers of a particular com m unity and culture, these assum ptions a p p e a r to be self-evident an d axiomatic. O n the o th er hand, thev are not alwavs shared bv m em bers of o th e r cultures whose values are similarly based on unquestioned and unquestionable fundam ental assum ptions and concepts. It is also im portant to note that wavs of using language (e.g., speaking, listening, reading, and writing) and sociocultural frameworks in dif­ fe re n t co m m u n ities mav conflict to varving extents (H inkel 1999). L earners’ awareness of sociocultural fram e­ works an d the concepts thev acquire as a p art of their socialization into beliefs, assum ptions, and behaviors rem ain p red o m in an tlv first-culture bound, even for advanced and proficient learners i Hinkel 1999). .As Bvram and M organ (1994. p. 43) point out, "(1] earners cannot simple shake off their own culture and step into an o th e r . . . their culture is a part of themselves and created them as social beings . . . ."

exam ple, if learners in te n d to e n te r Englishm edium colleges or universities, th eir n e e d for L2 cultural com petencies mav be d ifferent from learners simply e n ro lled in w eekend conversa­ tio n classes. In m any settings, however, instru c­ tion highlighting the influence o f culture on second language use can be m ade effective and productive w hen w orking on p articular T2 tasks or activities. Those learners who live, studv, o r work in English-speaking com m unities have a particularly acute need to becom e aware of how the use of English thev are exposed to reflects the sociocul­ tural norm s of the L2 community. For these indi­ viduals. a lack of language skill that prevents them from speaking an d writing according to the norm s accepted in the com m unity can be partic­ ularly costly and even dam aging in term s o f lost opportunities for better grades, jobs, professional and econom ic advancem ent, or even social rela­ tionships. In the case o f teenagers, university students, and educated adults, the pragm atic and sociocultural norm s of L2 use in speaking an d writing can and should be taught, an d these learners are m ost likely to benefit from both explicit an d im plicit in struction in th e L2 cul­ ture. In general term s, the purpose o f teaching culture together with other language skills is to increase learners' interactional as well as linguistic com petencies.

S E C O N D O R FO R E IG N L A N G U A G E : ID E N T IF Y IN G LEA R N ER S’ N EED S A N D G O A LS

Because the culture of any com m unity has m any facets an d m anifestations, it w ould be practically im possible to deal with all o f th em in the class­ room a n d p rep a re students for the m any situa­ tions th at thev may e n c o u n te r in the course of th eir fu n ctio n in g in E SL /EFL environm ents. However, m any im p o rta n t aspects o f teaching the second culture can be b ro u g h t forth an d addressed via classroom instruction, a n d som e o f these are discussed below. T he m ost im p o r­ tant long-term benefits of teach in g culture may be to provide learners with the awareness and

T here is little d o u b t that learners who live a n d /o r study in English-speaking com m unities have a m uch greater n eed for developing th eir cultural com petencies th an do those who study EFL as a p a rt o f th eir foreign language req u ire ­ m ents. T he learn ers' actual goals in attaining English proficiency mav serve as guides for d eterm in in g th eir needs in learn in g culture. For

T E A C H IN G C R O S S -C U L T U R A L A W A R EN ESS IN T H E L A N G U A G E CLA SSRO O M

the tools th at will allow them to achieve their academ ic, professional, social, a n d p ersonal goals an d becom e successful in th eir dailv func­ tionin g in L2 (or EFL) environm ents. R ecent studies, as well as teachers' experi­ ences, have shown th at XXS students in colleges a n d universities in the U nited States, C anada, an d o th e r English-speaking countries do not always follow the norm s of politeness an d a p p ro ­ priateness com m only accepted in th eir L2 com ­ m unities despite having lived in those countries for several years (Elinkel 1996, Elvmes 1996). Similarly, in th eir academ ic studies. L2 learners may experience difficulties because thee do not always u n d e rsta n d what is expected o f them and do n o t have access to the necessarv sociocultural concepts th at are ubiquitouslv m anifested in the academ v (Johns 1997). For exam ple, w hen thev are assigned to read m aterial at hom e, m am p ro ­ fessors expect that universitv students will actu­ ally “m aster" the c o n te n t a n d be p re p a re d to discuss an d applv it. XXS students are often seen as com ing to class u n p re p a re d because thev nun n o t alwavs u n d e rsta n d that a relativelv high degree o f fam iliaritv with the m aterial is im plicit w hen academ ic read in g is assigned. To com ­ p o u n d the problem , the learners mav have diffi­ culty u n d e rsta n d in g the text o r thev mav be unw illing to participate in class discussions. In anv o f these situations, the in stru cto r (and even th e native speaker [XS] classmates) mav form som ew hat negative im pressions o f the XXSs' academ ic skills an d prep aratio n .

C a u se s a n d O u tc o m e s o f S o c io c u ltu ra l V alues Because the sociocultural norm s for politeness, appropriateness, and propriety are acquired d u r­ ing socialization, learners, in their daily interac­ tions with XSs, are exposed only to the outcomes of linguistic and o th er o p es o f behaviors and not their causes. For exam ple, when their classmates are reluctant to share lecture o r textbook notes, m any learners simpiv conclude th at their XS classmates mat not like them and are unwilling to help them . However, the reluctance to share

notes m at stem from several sociocultural co n stru c ts th at are fu n d a m e n ta l in m any E nglish-speaking com m unities: th e value of intellectual propertv. self-reliance, and the right of an individual to refuse a request with which he or she is n o t com fortable. In addition, in m anv L ,S. colleges and universities, students believe that thev are expected to do their own work and are given credit based on their individ­ ual effort and achievem ent. However, in the situ­ ation above w here the lea rn er wants to borrow class notes, n eith er the ESE learn er n o r the XS classmate who has the notes mav even question whv the request was m ade and refused. In general terms, the "behacioral prescriptions," the term coined bv Stewart (1972). are assum ed to be known to most (if not all) sociallv com petent adults and. hence, are rarelv overtlv discussed: a need for such a discussion would imply one's lack of basic and essential social com petence.

T h e Im p o rta n c e o f N o ticin g In learning about the im pact of sociocultural norm s on language use. the first step is noticing that these norm s exist in all languages, including learners' Lis. To becom e p rep a re d for a practicallv infinite n u m b er of T2 interactions, learners n eed to becom e astute and consistent peoplewatchers. B uilding on their observations of their LI sociocultural norm s and behaviors, the next task in culture learning is to separate individual behaviors from those that are culturally deter­ m ined. For exam ple, repeated politeness routines, behaviors, and bodv language (e.g.. eve contact) probable signal that these speech acts a n d behav­ iors are so cioculturallv a c ce p tab le ( a n d / o r expected) in a particu lar com m unity. O nce learners note a p articular ro u tin e or behavior on several occasions from several different indi­ viduals. thev can investigate its sociocultural purposes a n d causes. An ability to identify the sociocultural purposes o f L2 linguistic behaviors in a com m unity allows learn ers to identify cul­ tural p attern s in situations, to u n d e rsta n d how thev are realized in o th e r situations, an d to anticipate th eir m anifestations in the future.

T he fu n d am en tal factors to consider in all interactions include: the g e n d e r o f the speaker o r the hearer, th eir respective ages, sim ilarities or disparities in their social statuses (e.g., even if a professor wears blue jeans to class, he o r she still has a higher status than a student d o es), the social distance betw een the speaker and the hearer (e.g.. class friends, acquaintances, or strangers), the purposes of the speech events, the time available for the interaction, and its phvsical setting loca­ tion. In their investigations, learners should pav careful attention to politeness routines, expres­ sions, and phrases that are em ploved bv speakers or hearers, and then identiiv the reasons for the use of these language devices. For exam ple, thev could observe how a student asks the teacher to take a look at his or h er paper (Could you look at my paper and see if I'm on the right track?). Were the participants in the interaction of the same age. gender, and social status? W hat politeness expresrions did the speaker use? Flow did the hearer respond? Whv did the hearer give this particular response? W hat politeness devices were used in the response and whv?

P ra c tic e , P ra c tic e , P ra c tic e The tasks associated with train in g learn ers to be careful an d sharp people-w atchers a n d observers of culturallv a p p ro p riate an d com m on in terac­ tional routines and expressions can serve as a basis for verv productive an d effective activities that are interesting and enjoyable fo r learners. For in term ed iate ESL learners, a tea c h e r could make a basic checklist o f linguistic a n d social fea­ tures o f speech events a n d in te ra c tio n s to encourage students to carry o u t th eir "field research" in cafeterias, restaurants, stores, an d libraries. In EFL settings, a sim ilar field stuclv could take place in the stu d e n ts’ L I, since the prim arv goal of this activitv a n d people-w atching is to m ake learners aware of the linguistic and social factors th at plav a crucial role in in terac­ tions in am language o r culture. In teaciting EFL, the next step w ould be to com pare the ooliteness an d conversational routines in the learn ers’ LI to those fo u n d in English-language m aterials (e.g., movie clips, reco rd ed audio and

video interviews, tap ed dialogues that accom pany m any student texts, o r perhaps even m aterials for standardized test p re p a ra tio n ). W hen w orking with h igh-interm ediate or advanced ESL learners, teachers can m ake simi­ lar checklists for e x p a n d ed an d m ore sophisti­ cated linguistic, social, a n d behavioral features o f interactions, such as the location w here the interaction takes place (an office, a hallwav, a street), the availabilitv o f tim e (a scheduled a p p o in tm e n t, a lunch hour, a break betw een classes), a n d /o r th e com plexity o f th e task entailed in the speech act. In ad d ition, students can be assigned to investigate various tvpes of speech acts such as m aking ap p o in tm en ts, seek­ ing clarifications, o r resp o n d in g to requests, an d even lo n g er conversational exchanges such as m aking small talk o r neg o tiatin g the tim e an d the place of m eetings. O n the o th e r hand, advanced EFL students can participate in role plat's, sh o rt skits, or mini-plavs, for which thev write scripts to c e n te r on linguistic features of p articular speech acts o r tvpes o f conversational exchanges in th eir L2. In addition to learning to note the linguistic an d situational variables in in teractio n , it is im portant that learners focus on the sociocultural features of speaking and behaving. In general, however, it would not be very com fortable or appropriate for interactants to becom e involved in discussing the reasons th at a p articu lar lin­ guistic structure is used or a specific interactional behavior is displayed. To retu rn to an earlier exam ple, if the request for notes is refused, this mav n o t be a good o p p o rtu n ity to ask why. However, at a later tim e, a n o th e r individual, such as a different classmate, a room m ate, or b e tte r vet, a teacher, can be asked to explain the sociocultural causes for a particu lar behavior. A lthough m anv native speakers of English may not be aware o f the reasons for th eir own behav­ iors, thev are usuallv aware of "behavioral p re ­ scriptions" in abstract term s. T h a t is, m ost native speakers w ould be able to tell the difference betw een rudeness a n d what is considered to be polite or even acceptable in a p articu lar situa­ tion and, if asked, som e may even be able to say whv som e expression, phrase, o r behavior would be perceived as m ore polite than another.

T E A C H IN G C U L T U R E A N D T H E W AYS O F S P E A K IN G M uch research carried out in pragm atics a n d sociolinguistics over the past th ree decades has focused on the sociocultural norm s of politeness a n d a p p ro p ria te n e s s in p e rfo rm in g various types o f speech acts, such as requests, apologies, com plim ents, an d com plaints. T he linguistic an d social features of such specific speech acts can be tau g h t in the classroom with a focus on re p e a te d a n d frequently routinized uses of lan­ guage, along with the differences according to th e social status of the speaker a n d the hearer, a n d o th e r situational factors. Similarly, a p p ro ­ priate body language a n d gestures can also b ecom e a p a rt of the explicit instruction in speaking a n d listening classes. However, m ost im portantly, the key to productive culture teach­ ing is to provide learners with the tools to enable them to becom e aware o f the sociolinguistic norm s reflected in the wavs o f speaking in the c o m m u n in ’. T hom as (1983) explains th at viola­ tions of cultural norm s of ap p ropriateness in in teractions betw een XSs an d XXSs often lead to sociopragm atic failure, uncom fortable break­ downs in com m unication, and the stereotyping o f XXSs. She points o u t that w hen m anv XXSs display in ap p ro p ria te language behaviors, thev are often n o t even aware that thev do. T he teach in g o f ways of speaking in the T2 has to include developing learn ers' h e ig h te n ed aware­ ness o f the sociocultural features o f in teractio n so as to provide them a p p ro p riate choices.

T h e P ra g m a tic F u n c tio n a n d a L in g u istic F o rm In the teaching of L2 speaking and pragm atics, two overarching goals lie at the focus of instruc­ tion. T he pragmatic function (i.e., the sociocultural p u rp o se/g o al) of speech acts, such as requests, apologies, com plim ents, and com plaints, can be found in practically even’ curriculum for teach­ ing speaking. T he linguistic form of speech acts an d conversational routines is one of the m ost easily accessible and ubiquitous areas o f teaching L2 speaking, e.g., Give me а рент vs. Could

уou/would, you give me a penny. T he pragm atic fu n c tio n o f these ex p ressio n s is th e sam e (request), but the speaker's choice o f form ma\ cause different responses from the hearer. For exam ple, in o rd e r to increase le a rn e rs’ linguistic rep e rto ire , the m ajority o f ESL/EFL textbooks for speaking devote a great deal o f a tten tio n to the form s of polite an d casual expressions, idiom s, a n d short dialogues, an d even their a p p ro p riate p ro n u n cia tio n an d in to n atio n . O ne reason for this is that transfer of in to n atio n front LI to L2 can h are verv subtle negative conse­ quences for interaction.

S o c io c u ltu ra l V ariables in In te ra c tio n W hat m akes a p articular expression or speech act situationallv a p p ro p riate is not so m uch titlinguistic form or the range o f the sp eak er’s lin­ guistic rep erto ire, but the sociocultural variedil which are rarely addressed in explicit instru:tion. Partly for this reason, it is not u n c o m n r : to h ear ESL. learners sav How is it going, Whcr up. or Later to peers, professors, and even u:t versitv deans. Such socioculturally inappropriate greetingand conversational closures, as well as otltr speech acts, are likelv to raise an eyebrow or tv b ut as has been m entioned, their im propriety It. little chance o f being overtlv discussed, and tint the learning value o f the experience may be Ь T he sociocultural variables that can m ake a pfectlv acceptable expression unacceptable in d e ­ ferent interactions or settings reflect the invisi” .aspects of LI or L2 culture that do not easily le t themselves to textbook exercises or listingexpressions. X onetheless, it is the sociocultu: features, such as gender, age, and the social st.tt o f the participants in the interaction that can e ate pragm atic failure (Thom as 1983). For exam ple, a lesson on conversar. o p eners is verv com m on and can be found m am ’ E SL /EFL textbooks. Usually, m ost les-v : (or textbook chapters) start with a few m ode Good morning/afternoon. How are you (today ~ evening)?, How is it/ everything going?. What's • How are you doing?, How do you like

weather/Isn't this weather wonderful/terrible?, How do you like this city?. Few o f these resources, how­ ever. distinguish betw een those u tterances that are a p p ro p riate in peer-level interactions and those that should be used in conversational exchanges with h earers who have a different sociocultural status. In such exam ples, fu rth e r­ m ore, the situational variables are rarely taken into account: while it is very ap p ro p riate to o p en a conversation with a brief m ention of the weather with an acquaintance in the cafeteria, it may not be a good o p en er when asking a bank teller to cash a check or a bus driver for route details. Similarlv, What’s up? and How’s it going? are used almost exclusively in short and casual encounters with friends, but are not the best options w hen talking in a business or professional context to a waiter, a store clerk, an office receptionist, o r a doctor.

V ariability o f P o lite n e ss O ne activity for developing learn ers' awareness of the variability of politeness a n d a p p ro p ria te ­ ness in interactions with different tvpes o f hearers and situations in which various conversational openers are used is to conduct field obsenations and experim ents. In an experim ent to determ ine the sociocultural and situational ap p ropriateness of a speech act, ESI. learners can ask th eir XS friends o r room m ates to evaluate the degree of politeness en tailed in each of the conversational openers an d explain the factors that m ake one expression "softer” o r m ore ap p ro p riate than another. For exam ple, which expression seems m ore polite: I want to make an appointment for 3 o’clock, I would like to make an appointment for 3 o ’clock, o r May/Could / make an appointment for 3 о ’clock ? W hat are the specific words a n d /o r c o n ­ structions that m ake one expression m ore polite than the other? Whv is the question form used in one o f these? Are there situations in which the least polite expression can be used? W ho are the people (the speaker and the hearer) in these situ­ ations, and do thev have an equal social position? T he results of such experim ents can be dis­ cussed in pairs or small groups so th at with the tea c h e r’s guidance students are able to identify' the linguistic, pragm atic, and situational features o f language that com e into plat1 in conversational

exchanges. In follow-up activities an d role plavs, students can p u t to use w hat they1 have lea rn ed as an outcom e of th eir observations and experi­ m ents. They can be assigned to visit local shops, libraries, university offices, o r o th e r places in the com m unity w here they can practice th eir speak­ ing skills in real-life situations.

A P ra g m a tic F o rc e a n d th e L in g u istic F o rm A n o th e r im p o rta n t characteristic o f real-life interactions is d e te rm in in g the pragmatic force (i.e., in te rac tio n a l/c o n v e rsa tio n a l pu rp o se) of expressions used in dailv interactions. For exam ­ ple, How are you (today/this morning)? o r How is it going? are not in te n d e d to be real questions or conversation openers. Rather, th eir pragm atic force is to be a greetin g to signal to h earers th at thev are recognized and acknow ledged. As an outcom e, these form ulaic expressions do n o t req u ire a response, bevond the form ulaic (Fine, Great, Good, OK). O n the o th e r h an d , these expressions contrast with How have you been? or How is everything/this term/your class going?. Because the linguistic form of How have you been (lately)? and form ulaic expressions, such as How are you ? is similar, m any learn ers in te rp re t th eir pragm atic force to be equivalent. T he field research o r experim ents carried o u t by pairs or small groups of students to investigate the vary­ ing pragm atic force of such expressions can be verv beneficial in m aking them aware o f the divergences betw een the form an d the conversa­ tional in te n t o f pragm atic routines in English. O th e r such investigations can include a great n u m b e r of form ulaic conversational expressions a n d exchanges, in which th e pragm atic force m at be difficult for learners to d e te rm in e since it is not always a p p a re n t from the linguistic form a n d content. Exam ples include Call me some time vs. Call me on Tuesday; L et’s get together/have lunch sometime vs. Let’s get together/have lunch on Friday; Call me if you have any questions vs. Call me any time; Do you have any questions? (it is noyv tim e to ask questions, if you have them ) vs. Fll be happy to answer all your questions during my office hours (please do not ask m e anv questions now b u t com e to my office at the designated tim e); Your

paper needs a little work (this expression does not m ean necessarily that the pap er needs only a little bit of work to be im proved) vs. Maybe sou need to spend more time on your homework (this does not m ean that spending m ore tim e without greater effort will result in better grades). Many conversational routines are closely tied to the sociocultural variables that affect the interactional effect o f an expression or routine, and these variables can be taught to learners at practically all levels of proficiencv, from begin­ ning to highlv advanced. For exam ple, when and to w hom to say thank you can be taught at the beginning level. In EFL settings, to raise learners' awareness of the im portant sociocultural dim en­ sions of conversations, students can be asked to gather similar inform ation in their native lan­ guage. In pairs or small group discussions, learn­ ers can determ ine what characteristics of language (e.g., the linguistic form , stress, o r tone) make one expression m ore polite than another. T hen learn­ ers can be taught to iclentifv parallel (but not nec­ essarily similar) L2 features that can m ake a difference in the appropriateness of L2 conversa­ tional expressions and routines.

C U L T U R E IN T H E T E A C H IN G O F W R IT IN G In English, what is a p p ro p riate and in ap p ro p ri­ ate in academ ic w ritten discourse is highly c o n ­ ventionalized (Swales 1990). In practically all U.S. an d C anadian ESL program s in colleges a n d universities, a great deal o f atten tio n , tim e, a n d resources are devoted to the teaching o f aca­ dem ic writing. L2 w riting instruction focuses on such fu n d am en tal features o f w ritten academ ic discourse as the organization (e.g, in tro d u ctio n , body, conclusion, a n d o th e r discourse m oves), the presence an d the p lacem en t of the thesis statem ent, the stru ctu re of the p arag rap h (e.g., the topic sen ten ce), the rhetorical su p p o rt for the thesis in clu d ed in everv p a rag rap h , a n d an avoidance of needless digressions, repetition, a n d redundance, am ong m any o th e r factors. T h e reason that these features of academ ic writ­ ing n e e d to be explicitlv a n d persistentlv taught to ESL /E FL students is th at thev re p re se n t

conventionalized (and prescribed) characteristic of academ ic genres that are not necessarilv fo u r : in written discourse in rhetorical traditions othe: than the Anglo-American one. For exam ple, edu­ cated L2 learners who were socialized in othe: rhetorical traditions are rarelv aware that a clew thesis statem ent should be placed close to tie beginning of one's essav. Similarlv, as m en tio n t: previouslv in term s of plagiarism versus copviru various sociocultural concepts and prescript!', behaviors plav an im portant role in determ ining what can or cannot be included in academ ic rincourse. T here are even sociocultural difference regarding what can or cannot be discussed in a:, academ ic essav

T h e S o c io c u ltu ra l C o n s tru c tio n o f W riting a n d L iteracy In w riting instruction, learners are typically p re­ sented with m odels a n d exam ples of p a ra g ra p h an d essavs to d em o n strate the discourse p ara­ digm s com m onlv accepted in Anglo-Americar. writing. However, as m am teachers know from experience, learn in g to write in accordance win the rhetorical form ats an d norm s expected in English-language academ ic discourse can be difficult a n d tedious process. T 1 socialization reg ard in g w ritten discourse paradigm s usual/ has so m uch influence on learn in g to write in the T 2 that often, even with explicit instruction learners are not able to recognize the rhetoric;-) features o f the L2 discourse, m uch less produce these features (H inkel 1994). As in m ost L . interactions a n d com m unications, in the course o f writing instruction, learners are faced with the outcom es, and not the causes, of the T2 sociocu,tural norm s and conventions, m aking it h ard er fo: them to understand and apply what they arc instructed to do. ( И 7/v should the thesis be placed /r the beginning of an essay if I know that it should 1-. in the conclusion ? Why does the teacher say that the example is not clear when I think that it is very clear?) Stewart (1972, p. 3) explains that whet; faced with cross-cultural c o n tra d ic tio n s and uncertainties, "people ten d to im pose th eir own perspectives in an effort to dispel the ambiguity" created bv the norm s o f ap p ro p riaten ess found

in a second culture and to “assume unconsciouslv that their own wavs are norm al, natural, and right.” A nother outcom e o f the need to resolve contradictions is that the wavs of the o th er culture are therefore seen as "abnorm al, unnatural, and wrong.” Stewart fu rth er notes that presum ptions of the superiority of o n e ’s own culture and its wavs of being and doing are characteristic o f “most peoples of the world.” Because literacv represents one of the most highly valued and prized dom ains of socialization in m any societies, it stands to rea­ son that mans L2 learners of writing mav reject discourse frameworks that are at odds with those specific to their own LI socialization to literacv and the value associated with the appropriateness of writing in a particular wav. W hen teaching paragraph and essav struc­ ture, most ESL/EFL teachers know that the topic sentence a n d the thesis statem ent are usually placed near the beginning of a piece of writing in the .Anglo-American tradition. T he reason that the m ain idea is stated at the outset is verv similar to the organization of spoken inform ation in various languages; the teacher can work with the sociocultural factors that affect discourse organi­ zation in speech and writing at the same time. F or exam ple, in English, speakers are expected to p resent their points in a m an n er that is m ore direct than is com m on am ong speakers of m any o th e r languages (Scollon a n d Scollon 1995). In contrast, it is considered alm ost requi­ site in Japanese and Chinese cultures to engage in social conversations to establish a relationship before m aking one's purpose known. That is, in these cultures the main point o f a conversation comes closer to the end of the discourse. Similarlv, in writing, in the Chinese and Japanese rhetorical tradition, the m ain point of the piece of writing does n o t com e until the end because the writer needs to lead the reader gentlv to the conclusion, which is expected to be clear and obvious by the time it is stated at the end (or sometim es, n o t even stated at all). If in speaking, vague and indi­ rect hints are considered to be m ore socially acceptable, then in writing, stating o n e ’s point directly an d earlv mav be viewed as presum ptuous and excessively forward. Similarly, in the AngloAm erican rhetorical tradition, it is im portant that the m ain idea o r the purp o se for w riting is stated

at the outset, a n d writers u n d ertake to support their thesis with additional inform ation, in tended to validate their m ain points.

Writing within Sociocultural Contexts o f Language Use T eaching com bined, parallel sociocultural fea­ tures w hen w orking with various L2 skills n o t only helps learners to u n d e rsta n d the influence of sociocultural factors on how language is used, b u t also establishes a context for explaining whv m em bers o f a particu lar culture do things in a particu lar wav. F u rth erm o re, learners can thus see a larger picture o f the culture in w hich the language is used. In the teaching o f L2 writing, teachers may draw on m any exam ples from speaking a n d establish parallels to help learners develop cul­ tural awareness in language use. O n e o f the th o rn iest problem s in the teach in g of w riting in English is th at learners often do n o t provide a sufficient am o u n t o f su p p o rt a n d detail in th eir w riting to m ake th eir points m eaningful an d convincing. In m anv cultures o th e r th an AngloA m erican, the right to speak is considered to be the prerogative o f those who have the authority to speak. Similarly, in writing, learners often believe th at detailed su p p o rt is excessive an d unnecessary because readers are n o t really co n ­ c e rn e d with “trivial” descriptions. They may also th ink that they have little o f value to sav an d th at providing too m uch detail im plies a lack of humility. To help learners take a d ifferent view of the necessary detailed su p p o rt exp ected in L2 writing, teachers may n e e d to provide explicit in struction on L2 re a d e r expectations, the value of explicit explanations in the A nglo-A m erican rhetorical tradition, a n d th eir uses in writing.

T H E T R IC K Y N A TU RE O F S E C O N D OR FO R E IG N L A N G U A G E R EA D IN G By an d large, two m ain types o f m aterials are em ployed in teaching reading; highly controlled an d often sim plified readings from E SL /EFL

textbooks, on the one hand; and authentic m ate­ rials that vary in their level of difficulty, on the other. Textbook m aterials are most often used to develop learners' reading tactics and strategies a n d to im prove their vocabulary base. In contrast, authentic texts can include a great variety of genres, such as introductory and advanced text­ books, scholarly articles, print m edia publications on hobbies, health, politics, and sports, how-to books, and literature for readers of all ages. A lthough most books on teaching reading distin­ guish betw een reading for pleasure and reading for inform ation, visual m edia (TV, videos, and the In te rn et), realistically speaking, have reduced the num bers of those who read for pleasure. As a result, a majority of readers, especially when thev are reading in their L2, read for inform ation.

Culture in Reading Textbooks Because ESL/EFL textbooks present a lim ited an d controlled range of ideas, vocabulary items, an d culturallv-dependent concepts, thev mav not be the best m eans of explaining how the second culture affects language use. However, even within the lim ited them atic a n d lexical scope of textbook readings, learn ers m at e n c o u n te r com prehension difficulties that have to do with culture, since cultural inferences often need to be m ade to und erstan d text (and context). For example: T reatm ents th at are unconventional, or out o f the ordinary, have gained so m uch prestige a n d a tte n tio n th at the U.S. g o v e rn m e n t has c re a te d an Office of A lternative M edicine . . . . M ant- people have lost faith in m odern m edicine because research ers have been unable to find cures for a variety of problem s, from cancer to the com ­ m on cold (Broukal 1994, pp. 58-59). In this textbook excerpt, learners often do n o t see the co n n ectio n betw een the im plied low prestige o f unconventional treatm ents an d the creation o f a governm ent office. In fact, som e o f them believe that the sentence is constructed backwards a n d that the a u th o r of the textbook

has obviously m ade a mistake — the first sentence in this excerpt should have stated that because th e U.S. g o v ern m en t c re a te d an Office of Alternative M edicine, unconventional treatm ents gained m uch prestige. In o th er words, the gov­ e rn m e n t approval surelv brings about the pres­ tige. R eading mav tu rn out to be problem atic if learners are often expected to relv on their own experience to provide textual inferences and con­ struct the context. In the second sentence in the above exam ple, a reference to "m odern” m edi­ cine and the disappointing results o f m edian research mav be so dram atically m isinterpreted that some learners m isunderstand the text com ­ pletely. Specifically, alternative m edicine is modern, because the interest in it has arisen onlv recentf and whv should the people be disappointed when, the governm ent is doing its best? This dem onstrates the com plexity o f the invisible culture that can con fo u n d learners even, in an interm ediate level textbook, specificaln designed for ESL/EFL reading instruction. As wr can see, a considerable am o u n t of background, teaching and explanation mav be necessary f< : learners to in terp ret the text appropriately an. to identify its m ain points. U n d erstan d in g thn text can be an even m ore d a u n tin g task when reading involves authentic m aterials.

The Cultural Load of Authentic Texts C ulture teaching in L2 reading goes far beyor. instruction in vocabulary, idiom s, and colloa tions. all o f which are essential for u n d erstan d ir.. the m eaning of the text. Context- an d culturespecific connotations and im plications o f worn and phrase m eanings also n e e d to be addressee. M ore urgently, however, sociocultural m eanineand values greatlv affect a learner's ability : c o m p re h en d text an d the context in which it em ployed. In a u th en tic texts, such as th o -т excerpted from advanced p rin t m edia (i.e., nev, m agazines a n d literatu re), culture-specific refer­ ences. allusions, m etaphors, a n d symbolism pl.v a p ro m in e n t role. However, instructing learnerto relv on th eir background know ledge a r.; experience is not always productive o r helpful.

In teaching ESL, it is relatively easy to obtain diverse tvpes of read in g m aterials an d to gradu ­ ally increase their cultural an d linguistic com ­ plexity. Most im portantly, however, the teaching of culture an d its im pact on text com prehension needs to be addressed at all levels of proficiency in o rd er to build lea rn ers’ awareness o f cultural im plications and references, w ithout which few texts can be understood. For advanced learners, m aterials on p o p u lar hobbies, science, and even introductory college textbooks can p rot ide a rel­ atively sm ooth transition to m ore com plex read ­ ings such as au th en tic literature. For E S F /E F F purposes, literature should be chosen carefully to allow learners an o p p o r­ tunity to c o m p re h e n d the text an d enjov it. However, the a m o u n t of work e x p e n d ed on prereading a n d p rep a rin g learners for reading lit­ eratu re mav be sufficiently great for teachers to weigh its benefits relative to the cost (C arrell and E isterhold 1988). In EEL environm ents, in add itio n to textbooks, m aterials from m am In te rn e t sites, English-language new spapers, or free b ro ch u res for tourism and travel can p ro ­ vide access to texts that contain fewer cultureb o u n d a n d advanced m etaphors and allusions because they are o rie n ted for readers in various geographic locations and o f varied language skills. Such m aterials allow the teach er to con­ centrate on the culture-specific references and sociocultural values invariably p rese n t in most texts, but they mav not be so n u m ero u s and com plex that learners are unable to co m p re­ h e n d the reading m aterial. For exam ple: Instead o f counting sheep, the next time vou hat e trouble sleeping, try put­ ting socks on vour feet. A researcher savs people with chronically cold feet m ight drift off faster if they warm their feet with socks or a hot water bottle . . . . She and h er colleagues d id n ’t directly test w hether socks or water bottles pro­ m ote sleep. But they did analyze data from 18 healthv voting m en who partic­ ipated in studies . . . . T he report appears in today's issue of the journal Xature (Seal tie Times, Septem ber 2. 1999. H ealth and Science Section, p. 3).

This passage provides a few cultural refer­ ences that the teacher can discuss and explain, such as counting sheep, a hot water bottle, testing data directly, and the fact that reports appear in journals (instead of, for example, are printed). W hile count­ ing sheep and a hot water bottle may be easy to explain, testing data directly refers to a cultural con­ cept associated with research and analysis that m any ESL/EFL learners find culturally bound. T hat is, events can be observed, but in academ ic reports and presentations thev are analyzed and tested to obtain pro o f and validation (Stewart 1972). This concept is also helpful in writing instruction when working with the thesis state­ m ent an d topic sentences a n d the need for detailed support and valid argum ents. The use of the present tense in a researcher says deals with the convention in English tense use whereby the present tense can refer to past tim e events that have present time relevance and are true regard­ less of when the actual event takes place. In general terms, readings selected for cul­ ture and L2 teaching com bined can be exam ined for discourse and text organization, cultural con­ cepts, vocabulary, gram m ar, an d the conventions o f writing in English. The readings can be selected relatively easily to be appropriate for various levels of reading proficiency and the range of attendant L2 skills. It is im portant, however, n o t to miss an opportunity to engage learners in a discussion of how culture impacts language use.

D E V E L O P IN G E F F E C T IV E N E S S IN T H E CLA SSRO O M Because most individuals are socialized into their first culture, thev are usually unaware of the influ­ ence of culture on language. To becom e effective, classroom teachers are often faced with the n eed to develop their professional knowledge o f the fundam ental sociocultural variables essential for L2 teaching. A great deal of literature was pub­ lished in the 1980s and 1990s on the im pact of cultural awareness and knowledge on learn ers’ overall language proficiency. In addition, it has becom e ap p aren t th at cultural concepts affect how learners learn a n d teachers teach. Teaching adult learners to be o r speak “like a native”

(Saville-Troike 1989, p. 26) is not likely to result in success because sociocultural norm s of lan­ guage use are acquired d u ring the LI socializa­ tion process. Thus, classroom teachers n eed to advance their own knowledge of how learn ers’ first cultures work a n d how it im pacts their ability to learn. For exam ple, why is it that some students rarely speak in class, why do some learners m em ­ orize whole chapters instead o f trying to “u n d e r­ stan d ” the m aterial, o r why do some people never ask questions even if thev need m ore explanation from the teacher?

Teacher, Teach Yourself To develop effectiveness and a sufficient knowl­ edge base about learners' cultures does not m ean that a teacher needs to becom e an expert ethnog­ ra p h e r on the fifteen different cultures re p re ­ sented in his o r h e r classroom . For instance, the tea c h e r does n ot n e e d to be co n c ern e d with roles and responsibilities o f children and parents, religious rituals, or wavs to celebrate holidays and life events such as weddings and funerals. The ESL/EFL teacher is primarily concerned with cul­ tural considerations that have a direct im pact on his or h er students’ ability to learn and do their best in a second language and in a second culture environm ent. If students from a particular culture (or several cultures) do not participate in a speak­ ing acthitv, it w ould be interesting to find out why this is so. O n the o th er hand, if m em bers of an o th er culture seem to dom inate m ost classroom interactions, it mav be necessary to learn why they behave in this wav, if the teacher is seeking to make the classroom a productive learning place for all students. T hus, teachers' first priority is to identify th eir own needs in culture learning, in addition to those o f th eir students. A n o th er considera­ tion is to investigate how tea c h e rs’ own sociocul­ turally d e te rm in e d beliefs, assum ptions, and expectations affect th eir views on stu d e n t lea rn ­ ing an d behaviors. For exam ple, if a stu d e n t does n o t w ant to speak up, the tea c h e r may resp ectfu lly allow th e s tu d e n t to m ain ta in silence for the d u ratio n o f the class or take a p p ro p riate steps to m ake it m ore com fortable for all .students to vo lu n teer opinions in paired

or small-group activities o r o th er settings that a: less threatening than speaking in front of thentire class. If the student m aintains polite silent s an d the teacher accom m odates the studen: • choice of behaviors, the student is unlikely to im­ prove his or her speaking proficiency and fluent'

Making Choices As with teaching m ost ESL/EFL skills, teacheroften n e e d to develop th eir own ap proach : teaching a second culture. O ne o f the centm . objectives in developing effectiveness in cultu: in struction is to address the causal knowlecu about culture (Buttjes a n d Bvram 1991) and t/т sociocultural reasoning that underlies practical/ all culturally d e te rm in e d behavior. Examiniim the causes th a t lead m em bers o f a particu lar cul­ ture to do som ething in a particu lar way help learners m ake choices in speaking, writing, an . behaving. For exam ple, in m any English-speak­ ing co m m u n ities, stu d e n ts are e x p e cte d n arrive to class on tim e. O n the o th e r h an d , sue/, an expectation mav not be com m on in certain, o th e r cultures. T he reason th at students need n be p u n ctu al is th at in English-speaking culturethe value of tim e is verv high, and it is consid­ ered to be a scarce and im p o rta n t com m odity sim ilar to monev, In fact, tim e is often referred to in wavs sim ilar to m onev (e.g., spend time, w a r­ time, to be short on time, time is money). T herefore when students arrive late, thev disrupt the class, tariff o th er people's time, and display a certain level of disrespect for the teacher and o th er students. Students m ake a choice w hether to com e on time or to take the liberty of com ing late. To help learn­ ers make appropriate choices (or to m ake them, aware that thev are indeed m aking choices wit/, consequences), teachers need to develop cultural knowledge and classroom effectiveness.

R ESEA R CH O N C U LT U R E A N D S P E C IF IC C U LT U R E S Two parallel types of research have been carried out to identify the role o f culture in society’ an d its influence on h u m an behavior. T he research on culture as it applies to social norm s, beliefs.

assum ptions, and value systems that affect many (if not most) hum an activities is carried out in the dom ains of ethnography, anthropology, sociology and intercultural com m unication. In these disci­ plines, culture is exam ined in term s that applv to most h u m an societies and organizations, and research on culture seeks to determ ine the simi­ larities and differences that exist in hum an con­ structions of reality. Applied linguistics (m ore specifically, sociolinguistics) is concerned with the inextricable connection betw een language and sociocultural norm s an d fram ew orks a n d seeks to identify pattern s that can lead to an u n d e r­ standing of how m em bers of p articular cultures use th eir language to refer to, describe, or func­ tion w ithin social organizations. For exam ple, politeness is considered to be a universal feature of language use in social organizations, but its pragm atic, linguistic, social, in te n tio n a l, a n d conceptual realizations van substantiallv am ong d iffe re n t lan g u ag es a n d / o r c u ltu re s (even speakers of the sam e language or different dialects may belong to different sub-cultures and thus have different concepts o f what it m eans to be polite a n d how politeness should be realized in speech a n d behavior). In a d d itio n , re se a rc h in e th n o g ra p h v . a n th ro p o lo g y a n d a p p lie d linguistics also includes studies o f specific cultures, such as Am erican, Chinese, Japanese, or M exican. These studies iclentifV and describe wavs o f doing, speak­ ing, and behaving in specific cultural com m uni­ ties, w ithout necessarilv attem pting to d eterm in e com m onalities and differences am ong various cul­ tures. Both research into culture in general and into specific cultures can be useful for L2 teachers who wish to allow learners to becom e m ore aware of the connection betw een the culture o f the com ­ m unin' and the language of its speakers.

C R E A T IN G M ATERIALS TO B U ILD C R O S S -C U L T U R A L A W A R EN ESS Because m anifestations of the influence of cul­ ture on language use are verv com m on, m aterials for teaching cultural concepts and implications

can be easy to create. T he following ideas for teach in g L2 sociocultural concepts and their outcom es are m erely suggestions. All these have b een used for years with m am different groups of ESL or EFT learners. Extensive culture-teaching projects and activities presented below certainlv do not need to be used as thev arc described, and teachers can choose to use onlv portions of them , which include isolatable steps. (1) In teaching ESE, one o f the m ost effec­ tive activities that can be used for investigating a second culture are interviews of XSs or ex p eri­ en ced L 2 learners because thev provide testim o­ nials and evidence th at com es from real p eo p le (instead o f a classroom o r textbooks). T he great­ est advantages of c o n d u ctin g interviews are that it allows learners to practice a variety o f L2 skills, and that several productive assignm ents can be derived from this activity. T he first step is for learners to develop ap pro­ priate and focused questions. These can provide a fruitful avenue for working on various form s of polite speech acts and the notions of appropriate­ ness (e.g.. what represents personal inform ation, what topics can be discussed, and how to ap­ proach them ), as well as linguistic forms of ques­ tions an d requests. Because interviews allow' learners access to the invisible aspects of L2 culture, the questions should focus on the causal inform a­ tion that deals with L2 cultural concepts and socio­ cultural norm s and behaviors that cannot be observed. Examples of questions can include: ■ «

* ■ ■ ■ ■

Whv do peo p le ask vou How are you a n d th en do n o t listen to the answer? Whv do teachers sac- that students have to com e on tim e if. w hen students com e late, the missed m aterial is th eir own loss? Whv do A m ericans smile so m uch? Whv is it okay to call professors bv th eir first names? Whv do strangers sav hello to m e on the street? Whv is it necessary to explain everything in so m uch detail in waiting? If mv essay explains everything (!), would readers think that I view them as a little slow ?

It is stronglv rec o m m e n d e d that the in stru cto r approve the questions before th e actual in te r­ viewing takes place.

In addition, learners can work at eliciting the polite a n d a p p ro p riate requests for ap p o in t­ m e n ts / m eetings, "softening" devices, a p p ro p ri­ ate tele p h o n e or e-mail skills, neg o tiatin g the tim es an d places for m eeting, a n d seeking clari­ fication. T h e interviews can be co n d u c te d in pairs, but it is preferable n ot to include m ore th an two students in an interview ing team . Following the interview, the inform ation can be used for a presentation to o th er small groups of students or to an entire class. In a writing class, the outcom es can be tu rn e d into a short or long paper, d ep en d in g on the learners' level o f L2 pro­ ficiency. In any case, the presentations or written assignm ent should not turn into m ere descrip­ tions of responses or behaviors but should set out to d eterm in e their causes, W hen working on the presentation o r on writing assignm ents, the cul­ tural co n ten tio n s of L2 public speaking (e.g., eve contact, organization of content, and dem eanor) or L2 written discourse (e.g,, thesis statem ent, topic sentences, and their detailed support) can be addressed in conjunction with the work on the assignm ent content. In general, such a project can take a p p ro x im a te d two to th re e weeks, d ep en d in g on circumstances. (2) In EFL settings, learners can work on short questionnaires that similarlv have the goals of identifying the m anifestations o f culture in lan­ guage use and heightening learners' awareness of politeness norm s, sociocultural variables, prag­ m atic functions, and linguistic forms of speech acts (such as the types of "softening" devices an d th eir variability'). T he questionnaires can be adm inistered in the learners' LI to gather infor­ m ation that can be later used in L2 presentations or written assignm ents. T he tasks can be simpli­ fied for interm ediate level learners or be m ade m ore com plex for advanced L2 speakers. (3) In either ESL or EFL, hom e videos, movie clips, and videotaped excerpts from news­ casts and TV program s (sitcoms, juvenile shows for younger learners, or interviews) can provide a practically’ inexhaustible resource for exam ining the influence o f culture on language (e.g., routinized expressions, "softening” device-, questions, requests, etc.), interactional practices, body lan­ guage, turn-taking, and the length of a pause sig­ nalling the end of a turn. T he inform ation on

sociocultural and politeness norm s of the com ­ m unity obtained from such materials can be used in subsequent role plavs. skits, or short play s that learners can script and present, as well as formal presentations and written assignments. In this case, written assignments can include the aspects o f L2 speech acts and behaviors that learners found surprising, the descriptions of polite and routinized expressions that they noted, and cul­ turally determ ined conventions displayed in the video excerpts. These projects cam be worked on from one to two weeks, d ep ending on the am ount of the m aterial used in the video lesson.

C O N C L U S IO N It is im p o rta n t for b o th teachers and students to be aware o f the m anifestations an d outcom es of L2 sociocultural values, concepts, an d norm s on people's speech an d behavior. To this end, learn­ ers need to be taught to notice polite (and often routinized) expressions and behaviors com m on in the L2 com m unity because w ithout becom ing astute people-w atchers, they may find it difficult, if n o t im possible, to becom e interactionallv c o m p e ten t in the L2. Being aware of the socio­ cultural fram ew orks does not m ean that learners have to becom e "native-like." but an awareness o f the L2 cultural norm s can allow learners to m ake th eir own inform ed choices o f what to sav7 and how to say it. T he teacher's task is to provide learners with the tools they n eed to recognize that they are in d ee d m aking choices. .Although ESL EFL teachers devote a great deal of work. time, and attention to the teaching of F.2 linguistic skills, being linguistically com pe­ tent is not enough for many learners to attain their educational, professional, and social goals. Because language use reflects the culture o f its speakers, the teaching of L2 culture can be closely intertw ined with the teaching of most L2 linguistic skills. Teaching L2 culture together with speaking, listening (and noticing), reading, and writing m ore adequately rep resen ts the co n n ectio n s betw een language and culture than teaching L2 linguistic skills— o r cu ltu re— in isolation. Acknowledgments: Mv ap preciation to Bethany Plett an d Mar\ Geary, b o th of Seattle t'niversirv. for th eir helpful c o m m e n t- an d suggestions.

D IS C U S S IO N Q U E S T IO N S 1. T he article m entions th a t culture teaching does not rep resen t a separate dom ain o f L2 teaching. If this is so, w ould it be useful for learners to develop lessons to deal with folk dances, festivals, facts, an d foods (the 4-F ap p ro ach to teaching culture)? 2. T he distinction betw een the visible and the invisible culture is described as one of the m ost im p o rtan t aspects of teaching the influ­ ence o f culture on L2 use. W hat are the kev features of the invisible culture an d what im pact do thev have on L2 learning and use? 3. Whv does the teaching o f 1.2 culture seem to be m ore directly relevant to ESL ra th e r titan EFT learners? Whv is contrasting culturallv d e te rm in e d wavs of speaking a n d writing useful for teaching second culture to EFL learners? 4. In m am wavs, cultural references are closelv intertw ined with reading, discourse, and text. W hat is the role of linguistic proficiencv and cultural proficiencv in ESL EFL reading a n d /o r writing? W hat im portance can El literaev have in learning to read and write in ESL EFL? 5. Whv is it that m anv teacher-training pro­ gram s S l a v awav from p rep a rin g teachers to work with a second culture? If con were in charge of an ESL EFL program , would y o u choose to include teaching culture as a com ­ p o n e n t o f teacher-training? Why or whv not?

S U G G E S T E D A C T IV IT IE S 1.

C reate lists of com m on linguistic expressions or behaviors, each associated with two or th ree topes o f speech acts (agreeing, dis­ agreeing, inciting som eone to do som ething or visit, and, o r accepting o r declining invi­ tations) and arran g e them from the least polite to the most polite expressions. W hat are the characteristics o f the least polite or the m ost polite speech acts? W hat are the sociocultural variables that, would m ake each of them acceptable o r unacceptable in reallife interactions?

2. Various tvpes of writing genres require the uses of different conventions. G ather samples o f different texts and include, for exam ple, a personal letter, a popular m agazine article, an excerpt from an introductorv textbook, o r a formal essav/academ ic paper. Identify the fea­ tures of these texts that m ake them different in im portant wavs. What are the culturally prescribed conventions com m on in personal, expressive, or formal academ ic writing? W hat do these genres share? V iiat do the shared and d ifferent conventions sav ab o u t the culture of each discourse comnninitv? 3. O bserve a g roup of people who are sim ultaneouslv engaged in an aetivitv (e.g., standing in line, waiting for the teach er to arrive in class, or m aking small purchases in a d ru g ­ store). W hat verbal an d nonverbal behaviors do these individuals have in com m on? How do thev. for instance, m aintain eve contact or hold th eir hands? W hat do m ost of them say and what do only som e individuals sav? How can culturallv d e te rm in e d wavs of behaving and speaking in a com nninitv be identified and isolated from those th at are based on individual choices? 4. To find out what represents a p o p u lar u n d e r­ standing of culture in the com m unity, find five or six individuals in a sim ilar age g roup and with sim ilar social status who are native speakers of the same language a n d ask them to tell von ab o u t th eir culture. For exam ple, ask several A m erican o r Japanese students to tell vou about th eir culture. W hat do th eir responses include? How do these individuals identifv the visible and the invisible aspects of th eir culture?

FU R T H ER R EA D IN G M cv.

J.

191*3.

Pragmatics: An Introduction.

O xford:

Blackw ell. P r e s e n t s p r a g m a t i c s as t h e stu d y o f l a n g u a g e u se in real-life i n t e r a c t i o n a n d d e s c r i b e s t h e effects o f various la n g u a g e form s o n c o m m u n ic a tio n . F o c u s e s o n e v e ry d a y c o n v e r s a t i o n a n d t h e s o c i o ­ c u l t u r a l v a ria b le s t h a t d e t e r m i n e c h o ic e s o f l a n ­ g u a g e f e a t u r e s m a d e bv i n t e r a c t i n g p a r t ic i p a n ts .

S av ille-T ro ik e,

M.

198V).

The

E thnography

of

Communication. O x f o r d : B lackw ell. D e s c r i b e s h o w a n d w h y l a n g u a g e is u s e d in p a r ­ t i c u l a r wavs t h a t v a n in d i f f e r e n t c u l t u r e s . Illu s tra te s e s s e n tia l c o n c e p t s in so c io lin g u istic s a n d cites e x a m p l e s f r o m m a n v l a n g u a g e s to o u t ­ lin e fram ew orks o f c o m m u n ic a tio n a n d cultural com petence. S c o ll o n , R., a n d S. \V. S c o ll o n . 1995. Intercultural Communication. O x f o r d : B lackw ell. A p r a c t ic a l g u i d e t o t h e m a i n c o n c e p t s a n d p r o b ­ le m s o f i n t e r c u l t u r a l c o m m u n i c a t i o n . C e n t e r s o n p r i n c i p l e s o f i n t e r a c t iv e s o cio lin g u istics , t h e d i s c o u r s e o f m e m b e r s o f d i v e r g e n t c u lt u r e s , p r a g m a t i c s , a n d e t h n o g r a p h y . U n d e r s c o r e s th e i m p o r t a n c e o f l a n g u a g e u se in cro s s-c u ltu ra l d iscourse a n d cu ltu ral n o rm s o f in teractio n .

S in g e r , M. 1998. Perception and Identity in Inlerculturai Communication. R e v is e d e d i t i o n . Y a r m o u t h , ME: I n t e r c u l t u r a l Press. A nalyzes c u l t u r a l a n d g r o u p id e n t it ie s a n d th e c o m m u n i c a t i o n p ro c e s s to d e t e r m i n e h o w p e r ­ c e p t i o n s o f self a n d o t h e r s affect l a n g u a g e a n d b e h a v io r. D elves in t o t h e s ig n if i c a n c e o f c u ltu re b a se d p e r c e p tu a l id en tity a n d th e ro le o f id e n ­ tity in i n t e r c u l t u r a l c o m m u n i c a t i o n . S te w a rt. E.. a n d M. B e n n e t t . 1991. American Cultured Patterns: A Cross-cultural Perspective. R e v is e d e d i ­ ti o n . Y a r m o u t h . M E: I n t e r c u l t u r a l P ress. D isc u s se s f u n d a m e n t a l c o n c e p t s o f A m e r i c a : : c u l t u r e in t e r m s o f s i m i l a r o r d i f f e r e n t c h a r a c ­ teristics o f o t h e r c u l t u r e s . A lso fo c u s e s o n th e im p a c t o f c u ltu re on c o m m u n ic a tio n a n d im pli­ c a t i o n s f o r c r o s s - c u l tu r a l i n t e r a c t i o n s .

The Use of Media in Language Teaching1 D O N N A

M.

B R I N T O N

In "The Use of Media in Language Teaching," Brinton presents a rationale for and an overview of media materials and equipment traditionally used in the second/foreign language classroom.To better guide teachers in their use of media, she provides a five-part framework for structuring media-based language lessons, accompanied by a variety of sample lessons that illustrate this framework.

IN T R O D U C T IO N As a tool for language learn in g /teach in g , m edia have undoubtedly always facilitated the task of language learning for both instructed and noninstructed learners. Just as children learning a first or second language grasp the m eaning of words from the objects that surround them , non-native speakers (both inside and outside the classroom) make use of the here and notv or objects in the im m ediate environm ent (see H udelson 1984: Pica, Young, and Doughtv 1987: VVesche and Read}' 1985; Lvnch 1996) to process incom ing speech. In the second language classroom , the extent to which m edia are used has varied widelv, d ep ending on the m ethodology selected. In some m ethods, m edia have figured prom inently as a force th at drives th e cu rricu lu m . In the St. Cloud (or audiovisual) m ethod, which teas developed prim arily f or the teaching of French as a foreign language (Bowen, M adsen, and Hilfertv 1985; Stevick 1976), all language items were intro­ duced to learners via contextualized, audiovisual presentations (usually filmstrips or slide shows with an accom panying soundtrack. T he u nderly­ ing a p p ro a c h assum ed th a t language is an acoustic-visual whole that cannot be separated from its c o n stitu en t elem ents. Similarly, in the Silent Wav (G attegno 1972; L arsen-Freem an 1986; Stevick 1998), the sound-color charts and rods form a central visual c o m p o n e n t o f the m eth o d , allowing the tea c h e r to p resen t and

elicit language while at the same tim e providing the students with tools for the creative construc­ tion o f language. In o th e r m ethods, m edia are relegated m ore to the design or p ro ce d u re level.2 In C om m unicative L anguage tea c h in g (LarsenF re em a n 1986, L ittlew ood 1981; see also Savignon's c h a p te r in this volum e), for exam ple, m uch em phasis is placed on the n e e d for reallife objects o r texts (e.g., m aps, railroad tim e­ tables, application form s) to lend authenticity to th e com m u n icativ e situ a tio n , w hile in th e N atural A pproach (K rashen an d Terrell 1983), m agazine pictures are used as an elicitation device in the listening co m p reh en sio n an d early p ro d u ctio n stages, a n d charts, m aps, a n d props are used to m otivate a n d e n h a n ce com m unica­ tive in terch an g e in later stages o f acquisition. Finally, in experiential approaches to language learn in g (see E yring’s c h a p te r in this volum e), language teaching m edia are often taken o u t of the hands of the tea c h e r a n d placed in the h a n d s o f th e stu d e n ts, such th a t stu d e n ts involved in project work m ight be exp ected to p ro d u ce a scripted slide show or a voice-over video d o cum entary as th eir final class product. W hatever the approach, language teachers seem to agree th a t m edia can a n d do e n h a n ce language teaching, a n d thus in th e daily practice of language teaching we find the en tire range o f m e d ia — fro m n o n m e c h a n ic a l aids such as h o u seh o ld objects, flashcards, a n d m agazine pic­ tures all the wav up to sophisticated m echanical

aids such as video cam eras and com puters (see S okolik’s c h a p te r in this v o lu m e )— assisting teachers in th eir jobs, b ringing the outside world in to the classroom , and, in short, m aking the task o f language learn in g a m ore m eaningful a n d exciting one. K eeping this fact in m ind, let us exam ine the types o f instructional m edia used in the language classroom .

M EDIA: A D E F IN IT IO N Just as we often differentiate the teaching of “large C cu ltu re"— i.e., the great literature, art, a n d o th e r contributions of a societv— from that o f “small c c u ltu re ”— i.e., the custom s and habits o f a p eo p le— (Chastain 1988), it is germ ane here to differentiate betw een “large M m edia" and “small m m edia.” Certainly, as with culture, m edia m eans m any different things to different people. T he m ost im m ediate con n o tatio n of the term “m edia,” at least as related to language teaching, is th at of the “large Л/ m edia"— o f technological innovations in language teaching, o f m echanical paraphernalia, and of glossv, polished audiovisual aids— with all the m edia anxietv that these can conjure up in teachers. However, there is little evi­ d ence th at such glossv audiovisual aids are anv m ore effective than teacher-m ade, n o n m ec h a n ­ ical aids (e.g., p ap er plate h a n d puppets, bu tch er p a p e r verb charts, and the like) or props from daily life (e.g., cereal boxes, cam paign buttons, travel pam phlets, b u m p er stickers) that have b een ad ap ted for classroom teaching purposes. I w ould therefore like to suggest that all these aids, m echanical and nonm echanical, glossy a n d n o n ­ glossy, com m ercially available and teacher-m ade, should be p art o f o u r definition o f language teaching m edia.

A R A TIO N A LE F O R T H E USE O F M EDIA IN LA N G U A G E T E A C H IN G I often assum e th at the reasons whv we should use m edia w hen teaching second or foreign lan­ guages are self-evident to ex p erien ced classroom

teachers. All too frequentlv, however, I overhsnatches of conversation in classroom hallwavs at professional gatherings that disabuse m e of the notion. These com m ents, m ade bv colleagues regarding their inability or unwillingness to use audiovisual aids in their classrooms, fall roughlv into the following "categories": Statement 1: I'm all thum bs. I c a n ’t use m edia. Statement 2: Mv school district has no bu d g et fee media. Statement 3: I have no tim e to p re p a re meek, m aterials of mv own. Statement 4: T he syllabus I teach from is too tight/ structured to allow for m edia materials to f-. b rought into the classroom. Statement 5 : 1 teach advanced levels (alternatively . given skill area such as com position or re a : ingj and therefore d o n 't need to use media. Before p ro ce e d in g with a rationale i . using m edia in the language classroom , let afirst exam ine the underiving fallacies of faabove statem ents. The first two statem ents, I believe, can dealt with summarilv bv realizing that those wk have m ade such statem ents are subscribing to tiw aforem entioned "large ЗГ definition of med:: T hat is. these individuals are assuming that cla>'room m edia m aterials are bv definition i i m echanical (and therefore unavailable, unwield’ a n d /o r anxietv-provoking) and (2) commercial (and therefore costlv and inaccessible). In fact, aI hat e alreadv pointed out, classroom m edia need: be none of the above— they can be nonm echar.ical, unth reaten in g to both teachers and student.' teacher-produced rath er than com m ercial, easih available (especially in the case of the realia o: evervdav life), and reasonable priced (or often, even free). T he fallacies that underlie statem ents / th rough 5 are som ew hat m ore difficult to refute. O n the surface, statem ent 3 (the tim e factori. presents a som ew hat viable a rg u m en t against using m edia. Certainly, if one disregards the m ans’ attractive com m ercially available m edia m aterials th at teachers can select from (see A ppendix В for a partial list of these) and assumes th at statem ent 2 also holds true in a

given case, the p rep a ra tio n of teacher-m ade m edia m aterials does d em an d an investm ent of time and cnergv above an d bevond that o f n o r­ mal lesson planning. However, this statem ent overlooks the reality that any lesson p reparation is tim e-consum ing, a n d that m any m edia m aterials (such as the preparation of vocabulary flashcards or the selection of m agazine pictures to elicit and practice a given language point) do not require exhaustive am ounts of time. A dditionally and perhaps m ore im portantly the statem ent ignores the “payoff’ that can result from the hours spent p reparing or assem bling simple classroom m edia m aterials (e.g., a set of prespecified role assign­ m ents p rep ared on index cards to set up a roleplay situation, o r a collection of m enus from local restaurants for a lesson on food item s). In fact, this payoff, which is realized in term s of the teacher's continuouslv reced in g these same m ate­ rials with different student audiences (and even for different teaching purposes), is often far greater than the am o u n t o f tim e invested in m ore trad itio n al classroom lesson p la n n in g (see Jensen's ch ap ter in this volum e).3 Statem ent 4, 1 believe, is based on a com ­ monly held m isunderstanding of m edia as "extra­ neous” to norm al lesson activities. In o th er words, p ropon ents of this view fail to recognize that m edia can form a viable point o f departu re for achieving lesson objectives. In fact, rath e r than taking up additional class hours, the use of m edia designed with a particular student population and teaching objective in m ind can often help to economize the teaching task. This is achieved in the sense that the m edia appeal to students' senses and help them process inform ation (H artnett 1985), thus reinforcing the teaching p o in t and saving the teacher unnecessarv explanation. Finally those who hold the view expressed in statem ent 5 are neglecting the fact, gro u n d ed in the very definition o f language, that language skills are not isolated entities, and that as language teachers we need to build bridges betw een skills. We can do so by creating a unified context in which the teaching of various skills is effectively integrated around m edia. For exam ple, we can structure multiskill them atic units4 requiring stu­ dents to process inform ation from a varietv of

sources (e.g., a political cartoon, a \id e o docu­ mentary, and letters to the editor, all concerning the same controversial topic) followed by an inter\iew assignm ent in which students poll native speakers for th eir opinions on this topic and, as a culm inating activity, write a p a p e r sum m ariz­ ing the opposing points o f Hew on the topic. In short, m edia help us to m otivate students bv bringing a slice o f real life into the classroom an d bv presenting language in its m ore com plete com m unicative context. M edia can also provide a density of inform ation an d richness of cultural in p u t not otherwise possible in the classroom , thev can help students process inform ation and free the teacher from excessive explanation, an d they can provide contextualization an d a solid point o f d ep a rtu re for classroom activities. T he following statem ents sum m arize the rationale for using m edia in the language classroom: *

■

*

■

■

Given the role m edia play in the w orld o u t­ side the classroom , students expect to find m edia inside the classroom as well. M edia thus serve as an im p o rta n t m otivator in the language teaching process. Audiovisual m aterials provide students with co n ten t, m eaning, a n d guidance. They thus create a co n tex tu alized situation w ithin which language item s are p re se n te d an d practiced. M edia m aterials can len d authenticity to the classroom situation, rein fo rcin g for stu­ dents the direct relation betw een the lan­ guage classroom and the outside world. Since the learn in g stvles o f students differ (O xford 1990; Reicl' 1987; Skehan 1989; W enden a n d R ubin 1987; see also O x fo rd ’s c h a p te r in this volum e), m edia provide us with a way o f addressing the needs o f b o th visual a n d auditory learners. T he role th at in p u t plays in language learn­ ing is virtually uncontested (Krashen 1987). Be bringing m edia into the classroom, teach­ ers can expose their students to m ultiple input sources. Thus, while decreasing the risk of the students’ becom ing d e p e n d e n t on their tea c h e r’s dialect o r idiolect, they can also enrich th eir language learning experiences.

■

■

W ith referen ce to schem a theory (Schank a n d A belson 1977), which proposes that we a p p ro ach new inform ation bv scanning o u r m em ory b ank s fo r re la te d know ledge, m edia can help students call up existing schem ata an d th erefo re m axim ize th eir use o f p rio r back g ro u n d know ledge in the lan­ guage learn in g process. Finally, research suggests that m edia p ro ­ vide teachers with a m eans of p resenting m aterial in a tim e-efficient an d com pact m anner, and o f stim ulating students' senses, thereby helping them to process inform a­ tion m ore readily (Mollica 1979).

CLA SSR O O M MEDIA: A N O V ER V IEW At the height of the audiolingual era, if we had asked the average second or foreign language teacher to designate those m edia that tliev felt were appropriate for the teaching of languages, we would no doubt have rec e d e d a fairly large range of responses, with the blackboard and o th e r simple classroom aids along with the audiotape m edium (and the ubiquitous language labo­ ratory) d o m in a tin g the responses. Today, needless to say, that range of responses would be even larger, as the ever-expanding horizons of technolog}’ present us with exciting new advances such as com puter-assisted instruction, satellite transm ission, a n d interactive video. Despite these expanding horizons, we find today that rather than abandoning the m ore tradi­ tional, or small m, m edia and shifting allegiance to the newer, m ore technological innovations, lan­ guage teachers are simple incorporating new tech­ nolog}' into their repertoire of teaching aids, with m any using sophisticated video and com puter tech­ nologies (see Sokolik’s chapter in this volume) alongside the less sophisticated (but tried and true) m agnetboard or overhead projector. In attem pting to prtnide an overview of the range of m edia avail­ able to classroom teachers today, it is perhaps best to use the traditional classification of ''nontech­ nical” and “technical” media, as listed below.’1

Nontechnical Media This category presents obvious advantages in sc tings w here electricity is unreliable, technic, resources are scarce, or funding is lim ited. O thc advantages of the forms of m edia included in th:category are their low cost, their availability, the.: accessibility, and their user-friendliness. Iter..that belong in this category tvpicallv include: blackboards w hiteboards m agnetboards flannelboards. pegboards flashcards index can wall charts, posters. maps, scrolls board games m o u n te d pictures photos

cartoons, line drawings objects/'realia p a m p h le ts / b ro c h u re s / flyers/m enus eq u ip m en t operation m a n n a / puppets new spapers,/ m agazines

Technical Media A lthough these form s of m edia are costlier and less user-friendiv than the n o n tech n ical m edia thev e a rn with them a larger degree o f “psycho­ logical reality" in that thev can brin g the outside w orld in all its com plexities into the classroom In fact, since students in today's language classeten d to su rro u n d them selves with technolog}’ ir. th eir daily lives, the/ mav grow to expect it in the language classroom as well. Item s that belong ir. this category typically include: reco rd plaver au diotape plaver reco rd er CD plaver rec o rd e r radio television video plac’d ' rec o rd e r telep h o n e teletrain er overhead pro jecto r

film strip / film p rojector opaque projector slide p rojector co m p u ter language lab co m p u ter lab m ultim edia lab self-access cen ter

In considering this group, it is im portant to make a few fu rth er distinctions— namelv, w hether the m edia constitute software (consum able m edia

items) or hardw are (eq u ip m en t), w h eth er the m aterials tire com m ercially p ro d u ce d or teachertiroduced, a n d w h eth er they are au th en tic or not.b We m ust also consider w h ether they are being used alone o r to g eth e r with o th e r m edia tn a m ultim edia en vironm ent. Finally, we must ..Iso consider the purposes for which these m edia are being used— i.e.. to aid in presentation, to orovidc practice o r stim ulate com m unicative interaction, or to provide feedback (as in the case if aud io /v id eo tap in g student oral products for 'tibsequent discussion an d evaluation). To include a description of the possible uses if all the above form s of m edia is bevoncl the mope o f this chapter. However, to take but one sam ple, the blackboard, we can see how even this simple m edium can function effectively at the various stages of a lesson. In the presentation mage, for exam ple, the blackboard can be used :or verb paradigm s, tim e lines, or o th er graphic or visual cues to elucidate a teaching point, while matrices or grids written on the blackboard can serve as elicitation tools. In the practice stage, maps, stick figures, and o th er line drawings can runction as contextualizers for a given activity. Finally, in the com m unication stage, the black­ board can be used to storyboard student ideas in л group-produced narrative or to cluster and m ap student concepts as thev are being developed. Suffice it to sav, then, that each form of m edia presents unique advantages— be it the availability and immediacy o f feedback that the black/w hiteboard can supply the econom y of time that pre-prepared overhead transparencies or a Pow erpoint presentation can proride the teacher, or the richness o f au th en tic in p u t that film or the In te rn e t can offer. Ultimately, each m edium leases its own im print on the tea c h in g / learning process, and it is up to the teacher to decide which one to select in o rd e r to teach a given point.

G U ID E L IN E S FO R U SIN G M EDIA IN T H E CLA SSR O O M Given the range of classroom m edia (both h ard­ ware and software) discussed above, it is not sur­ prising that language teachers are overw helm ed

bv the choices available to them . As Penfield (1987, p. 1 ) rightfully notes, “too often [m edia] are neglected because teachers are n o t always certain how to ad ap t these rich a n d com plex learn in g m aterials to stu d e n ts’ needs a n d lan­ guage co m p eten cies.” Clearly, guidelines for use are in order. In fact, guidelines for the selection, adapta­ tion, dev elo p m en t, an d im p le m e n ta tio n o f m edia-based m aterials do n o t differ radically from the kinds o f guidelines we find m en tioned m ore universally regarding lesson planning and textbook evaluation (see, e.g., J e n se n ’s and Byrd’s chapters in this volum e). Thus, such issues as the appropriateness of the m aterials for the target audience, their technical a n d pedagogical quality, their teaching objective (s), and the pre-/postprocedures to be used all play as im p o rtan t a role in the selection and use of audiovisual m edia in the classroom as thev do in those o f conventional print media. Further, and this p o in t cannot be stressed enough, m edia-based m aterials should n ot be viewed simplv as extraneous to the lesson, or as contingency plans. Rather, they should be p lan n ed as carefully as the lesson itself and should form a central (if n ot the central) com po­ n en t of the lesson — one that is interwoven with the o th er lesson com ponents, such as the reading text, the writing assignm ent, or the speaking task.

A FRA M EW O RK FO R S T R U C T U R IN G M EDIA LESSO N S T he fram ework presented below7 is in ten d ed to put the application o f m edia to language teaching into a unified perspective and to assist teachers in better structuring m edia lessons. In constructing this framework, I ’ve divided up the typical “lesson” into five stages: ( 1 ) the information and motivation stage, w here the topic and relevant background inform ation are presented; (2 ) the input stage, w here the teacher ensures com prehension of the item or items presented; (3) the focus stage, w here the students practice the tasks an d are provided with guided opportunities to m anipulate items u ntil thev feel co m fo rtab le a n d c o n fid en t;

(4) the m ore com m unicatively oriented transfer singe, in which students are given opp o rtu n ities to offer personal com m ents or share experi­ ences relating to the given context: and (5) an optional feedback stage in which audio or video recordings of students are used to gttide the assessm ent of the stu d en ts' p erfo rm an ce (e.g., a stu d e n t speech, ;m interview, a class discussion, a role plav, a g ro u p problem solving activity).8 Figure 1 presents the fram ew ork.

In applying this framework, teachers need to be aware that the above points in the fram e­ work outline options available to teachers it: designing and im plem enting m edia lessons anc are n ot in tended to represent procedures that m ust be followed lockstep. Note also that media can plav a role at an у or all of the live stages of the lesson, and that a variety of m edia m ight be nsec, in the various stages to com plem ent each othe: an d to achieve the designated teaching objective

I. Inform ation and m otivation stage II. Input stage 1. Teacher presents/elicits vocabulary 2. Teacher presents/elicits structures 3. Teacher presents/elicits functions 4. Teacher presents/elicits concepts 5. Teacher presents/elicits content III. Focus stage 1. Teacher models language items/procedures/tasks 2. Students practice items/tasks in context

a. Drill b. Elicitation 3. Students manipulate language/content/tasks a. Notetaking b. Information transfer c. Pair work/small-group work IV. Transfer stage 1. Class discussion 2. Students interact, using context set by media materials as a point of departure a. Role play/sociodrama b. Problem solving activity c. Information gap activity d. Game 3. Task-based assignment 4. Follow-up writing assignment 5. Sharing of personal experience 6 . Field trip V. Feedback stage 1. Teacher tapes the activity. 2. Students listen to/view the tape. 3. Students perform a self-assessment of their performance. 4. Students provide peer feedback to others. 5. Teacher provides feedback to students. F ig u re I. A F r a m e w o r k f o r Stru ctu rin g M e d ia Lessons

SAM PLE M EDIA LESSO N S T he following sam ple lessons, selected to illustiate a range o f available m edia, dem onstrate how the fram ew ork in Figure 1 can be applied in m aking

decisions about m edia use for language teaching p urposes.-1 N ote that num bers in brackets indicate the relevant parts of the fram ew ork th at have been applied in designing each lesson.

Sam ple Lesson I: T h e “ Ugly L a m p ” (magazine picture) A u d ie n ce :

Teachin g O b je ctiv e :

M edia:

Beginning-level adult students enrolled in an intensive language/visa program; intermediate level EFL students.

To provide students with the language needed to express pleasure/ displeasure; request an exchange for an unwanted item. Mounted magazine picture of woman holding an ugly lamp (see Figure 2).

Skills:

Speaking, vocabulary, writing.

T im e :

2 class periods (I hour each) plus follow-up (15 minutes).

P ro c e d u re s: 1. Teacher introduces the concept of gift giving and receiving. If appropriate (e.g., holiday time), students may want to share information about what they are giving to friends or wish to receive [I]. 2. Teacher introduces the magazine picture of the ugly lamp (see Figure 2), elic­ iting explicit vocabulary (e.g., lampshade, bow, frown) [II.I.] and structures (present progressive, descriptive adjectives) [II.2.]. 3. The students and teacher examine the picture more closely, and the teacher asks questions which elicit more implicit vocabulary [II. I.] and structures [Н.2.]. For example:“ W h o do you think gave the woman this gift?” (sister-inlaw, elderly relative); “W h ere do you think Aunt Harriet m ight have bought the lamp?” (She might have bought it from a thrift shop/garage sale/etc.). 4. Teacher presents language functions relevant to giving and receiving gifts [11.3] and provides students with guided practice [lll.2.a.]. In pairs (gift giver and receiver), students practice the sequence of giving the gift, opening it, and expressing thanks [ Ш . З . С . ] . 5. For homework, as follow-up writing practice, students write a letter to the giver of the gift thanking him or her [IV.4.].

6 . On a subsequent day, the context is recycled, and the language necessary for returning unwanted items to a store and requesting cash/an exchange is presented [11.4.] and practiced [III.2.a.]. 7. Students are videotaped [V.I.] role-playing the situation [IV.2.a.]. They then watch the video footage [V.2.] and receive peer [V.4.] and teacher [V.5.] feedback.

8 . As a culminating activity, students bring in unwanted items they have received and share their reactions to receiving these gifts with their classmates [IV.5.].

Sam ple Lesson 2: C o m p u te r H ardw are/Softw are A d s (m ounted advertisem ents from m agazines and jo u rn a ls)10 A u d ie n c e :

Advanced ESL/EFL students enrolled in EAP courses at the university; students enrolled in university-bound programs (e.g., advanced students in intensive language institutes).

Teachin g O b je c tiv e :

To introduce, practice, and reinforce the task of writing formal definitions for academic purposes; secondary objectives include reading practice involving skimming and scanning, speaking in small groups, in-class writing, and follow-up writing error detection.

M edia:

Mounted advertisements of computer hardware and software products with accompa­ nying text from magazines and journals.

S k ills:

W riting, grammar (sentences of definition), reading, and speaking.

T im e :

90 minutes plus additional follow-up as desired.

P ro c e d u re s: 1. Students are led in a brief discussion of where we are apt to find academic definitions of items— e.g., in textbooks, product manuals, journals, and magazines [I.]. 2. Teacher reviews previously covered material— i.e., the structure of sentences of definition [И.2.].

3. Teacher distributes photocopies of a computer hardware or software advertise­ ment. Together, the class members identify the item being advertised and locate any information relevant to writing a concise sentence definition of the product [lll.2.b.]. [Note: This advertisement and the subsequent advertisements should be carefully selected so that there is no overt sentence definition of the product.The ad should, however, contain the necessary information for students to draw from in writing their definition.] 4. Together, students construct a complete sentence definition of the product. The teacher writes this definition on the blackboard [III.I.], stressing the previously studied formula for definitions, as in the following example: A(n) [ X ] is a(n) [Y] that [Z] [X ]

[Y]

[Z]

SP E C IFIC TERM

G E N E R A L C LASS

C H A R A C T E R IS T IC S

Software Bridge

is a software program

that converts documents from one word-process­ ing program to another without losing format­ ting specifications.

5. Students are next divided into small groups of three or four students, with each group receiving one advertisement for a computer software or hardware item. Using the pattern provided, each group of students works for roughly four or five minutes to construct a sentence definition of the product [Ш.З.С.]. A t the end of this time period, the groups pass their ads to another group, with each group receiving a new ad. This process continues until all groups have seen all ads and students in each group have had a chance to write appropriate sentences with def­ initions for each product.

6. W ith the help of the teacher, students now pool their answers.They decide for them­ selves the most useful information to include [IV. I .]; the teacher then writes the agreed-upon definition on the board under the headings indicated above. Errors in spelling, sentence structure, etc., can be dealt with at this stage by eliciting peer correction. 7. On a subsequent day, the teacher can recycle the material in a more game-like atmosphere [IV.2.d.], either by giving students names of fictional products and having them compete to write the “ best” definition of the product or by having students play a “ sort and unscramble” game in which they are given mixed-up items from categories X,Y, and Z on separate strips of paper and asked to put the items together to form sentence definitions.

S a m p le L e s s o n 3: O v e ^ t h e - c o u n t e r D r u g s 11

Audience:

Beginning- or intermediate-level adult/community education students.

Teaching To develop an awareness of the availability, use, and potential misuse of Objective: over-the-counter preparations; to increase reading for specific informa­ tion skills; to expand topic-related vocabulary.

Media: Packages/containers of over-the-counter drug preparations (e.g., headache remedies, cold medications); information grid (see Figure 3).

Skills: Reading, vocabulary, and speaking. Tim e: 2 class periods (I hour each). Procedures: 1. Teacher introduces concept of over-the-counter (O TC ) drugs; elicits from students information on the types of O TC products they typi­ cally use [I]. 2. Common complaints (e.g., headache, allergy, cold sores, constipation) are reviewed [И.1.]. 3. Teacher introduces information grid and demonstrates the procedure students are to follow via the example (Sudafed) [III. I .].Terms in the grid are explained [1.1.]. 4. Students are divided into small groups of four or five and O TC prod­ ucts are distributed to each group. 5. Students work in groups to transfer information into the grid [lll.3.b.]. 6 . Once all student groups have completed the task, they share their results with the class at large. 7. Students discuss previous experiences they have had with O TC drugs (side effects experienced, etc.) [IV.5.] 8 . As a follow-up, each student is assigned a symptom (e.g., warts, fever blisters, heartburn) and told to go to the drug store and find three products intended to remedy this condition. They are to compare these products using the grid format and report back on their find­ ings to the class on the following day [IV.3.].

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S a m p le L e s s o n 4: P o s tc a r d D e s c r ip t io n A c t iv it y (p h o to g r a p h ic p o s tc a rd s f r o m v a r io u s c o u n t r ie s ) 12

Audience: Recently arrived international students living in the ESL context (any level). Teaching To increase awareness of cultural stereotyping; to serve as a discussion stimulus for Objective: impressions formed of the United States, its people, and its culture. Media: Picture postcards depicting stereotypical images of countries (one for each pair of students); a barrier (e.g., a notebook, manila folder) to separate students. Skills:

Speaking, cultural awareness, writing.

Tim e:

I class period (I hour) plus follow-up (10-15 minutes).

Procedures: 1. Teacher introduces the activity by discussing postcards in general and the kinds of postcards that people send to their friends when they are on vacation [l.].A model postcard (e.g., one depicting a Dutch girl wearing wooden shoes with a windmill and tulips in the background) may be shown to promote discussion. 2.

Students are asked what kinds of postcards they have sent home since arriving in the United States, who they have sent these to, and what kinds of messages they have written on them [11.4].

3.

Teacher explains/models the paired activity: Students are to form pairs, with Student A receiving a postcard from a given country. They erect a barrier between them so Student В cannot see Student A ’s postcard. It is Student A s task to describe this postcard to Student B, without mentioning the name of the country [III. I .]. Student В then attempts to discover the identity of the country [IV.2.C.].

4.

Once all students have completed the task, students share their postcards and the cultural stereotype depicted with the rest of the class.

5.

Follow-up discussion ensues on the general topic of cultural stereotyping, with the teacher eliciting a definition of cultural stereotyping from the students [IV. I].

6 . Teacher elicits cultural stereotypes of Americans and organizes these on the blackboard under the headings “ Positive” and “ Negative” [Н.4.]. Students discuss the possible harm of cultural stereotyping and share some stereotypes held about their own cultures [IV.I.]. 7.

As a follow-up assignment, students are asked to bring in postcards from their country (alternately: postcards from the United States) and share further infor­ mation [IV.5.]. Depending on class level and focus, they may be asked as well to write a brief paragraph defining cultural stereotypes [IV.4].

8 . Teacher videotapes the student activity [ V I .] for subsequent playback. He or she has students view the tape [V.2.]; in groups, they discuss the performances and give each other feedback [V.4.].

S a m p le L e s s o n 5: R a d io P s y c h ia t r is t (p h o n e - in b r o a d c a s t ta p e d o ff- a ir)13

Audience: High-intermediate to advanced international students enrolled in an intensive lan­ guage institute or other visa program; advanced EFL students in the secondary or postsecondary context.

Teaching To expose students to authentic English; to help them gain insights into issues Objective: which concern Americans; to provide them with a forum for problem solving activities.

Media: Advice column (Dear Abby,Ann Landers) on topic of audiotape (mounted on index cards); pre-prepared audiotape of phone-in radio psychiatrist show (possibly slight­ ly edited).14

Skills: Reading, listening, speaking. Tim e: 2-3 class periods (I hour each). Procedures: 1. Teacher introduces the lesson by asking students how people who are experi­ encing personal problems can get advice [1.4]. W h at forums are available (e.g., advice columns, counselors, psychologists/psychiatrists)? Students are asked to name specific situations in which people might seek the advice of a psychiatrist. 2. The first half of the advice column is distributed to students, and topical vocab­ ulary is discussed [II. I.].

3. In groups, students discuss the problem [Ш.З.С.] and write their “ answer” to the person requesting advice [IV.4.].They then share this with the class and compare it with the actual answer written by the advice columnist [IV.I.]. 4.

In the subsequent class period, the teacher introduces the topic of radio talk shows and asks students what kinds of talk shows they are familiar with [1.4.].

5. After a brief introduction to the topic of the taped phone-in call, students listen to the first half of the call— i.e., the caller’s explanation of the problem. As necessary, difficult vocabulary is discussed [II. I .]. Depending on class level, the students may listen to this segment of the tape more than once and may also work on answering prepared questions in groups [Ш.З.с.].

6 . As in step 3 above, students are then asked to formulate their own answer to the predicament and to predict the answer that the expert will give [IV.2.b.]. 7. Students listen to the expert’s advice (again, more than once if necessary) and subsequently discuss whether they feel this advice will be of assistance to the caller.They compare their own advice with that of the expert [IV. I.].

8 . Optionally, on a third day, students can participate in a problem solving [IV.2.b.] or role-play [IV.2. I .] activity, with situations prepared by the teacher. For each role play, one student plays the role of the advice seeker, and one or more students can play the role of the advice giver.

S a m p le L e s s o n 6: “ P e o p le ’s C o u r t ” (o ff- a ir v id e o t a p e ) 15

Audience: High-intermediate or advanced young adult or adult ESL students. Teaching To increase listening comprehension in authentic situations and to introduce Objective: specialized vocabulary items; to provide a format for problem solving; to familiarize students with one aspect of the American judicial system.

Media: Videotape of “ People’s Court,” a broadcast of actual small claims court proceedings, recorded off-air.

Skills: Listening, speaking, vocabulary, culture. Tim e: 2 class periods (I hour each). Procedures: 1.

The lesson is introduced by the teacher, who gives a brief introduction to the U.S. judicial system [I.] and explains the role of small claims court within this system [II.5.].

2.

The program “ People’s Court” is explained, and relevant vocabulary (e.g., judge, plaintiff, defendant) is presented [II. I.]. Students are asked if they have ever watched this program; those who have share their impressions of it [IV.5.].

3.

Students view a selected case (broadcasts of “ People’s Court” typically consist of two cases) up to the point where the judge retires to make a decision. Class members consider the basic points of the case, judge the arguments of the plaintiff and defendant, and predict what the judge will decide [IV.2.b.].

4.

Students then view the remainder of the tape and compare their decisions with that of the judge. They may wish at this point to suggest how the litigants could have improved their arguments, or discuss the testimony of the witnesses [IV. I .].

5.

On a subsequent day, the teacher may present students with various situations which might be heard in small claims court (e.g., a dry cleaner who damaged someone’s expensive dress, or a florist who delivered the wrong flowers to a wedding) and prepare the students for a role-play situation in which students take various roles (witnesses, plaintiff, defendant, bailiff, judge). Students are given time to practice the role play prior to performing it [IV.2.a.].

6 . Students perform the role play, which is videotaped by the teacher [V. I .] and then placed in a viewing facility so that students can review their performances [V.3.] outside of class. 7.

A follow-up to the video role play can include an actual site visit [IV.6.] to a small claims court. (These visits should be scheduled in advance by the teacher; the courts are usually glad to accommodate.)

8 . Following the field visit, a debriefing session is held, and students share their impressions [IV. I .].

C O N C L U S IO N As outlined above, instructional m edia com e in an alm ost infinite variety o f form s an d can plav equally varied roles. T he following are factors that should be considered when incorporating instruc­ tional m edia into ou r language teaching goals: * ■

■

■ ■

Type o f sk ill/c o n c ep t to be p rese n ted Student preference: the age, interests, expe­ riences, and learning styles of the students concerned T eacher p referen ce: facility with e q u ip ­ m ent, fam iliarity/adroitness with the given m edium , teaching style Availability o f software an d hardw are Physical circum stances o f the classro o m / lab

However, as W right (1976, p. 65) notes, we should also keep in m ind that “language teaching is a collective title for a variety of activities u n d e r­ taken by different people in very different circum ­ stances. T here is consequently no single m edium ideal for language te a c h in g ’ as is so often claim ed.’’ Ultimately, availability a n d teach er creativity/adaptabilitv will play m ajor roles in determ ining to what extent m edia will be used and which m edia will be selected. In closing, I encourage you to think cre­ atively about ways to incorporate m edia into t our language teaching and I reiterate the following useful guidelines: Use m edia m aterials w hen variety is called for, w hen they help you to rein ­ force the points vou wish to m ake o r serve as c o n te x tu aliza tio n , w hen they e x p e d ite your teaching task and s e n e as a source of input, a n d /o r w hen they help vou to individualize instruction and appeal to the variety o f cognitive styles in your classroom. But above all, use m edia to involve students m ore integrally in the learning process and to facilitate language learning by m aking it a m ore authentic, m eaningful process.

D IS C U S S IO N Q U E S T IO N S 1.

Elsew here in this volum e, a n u m b e r o f lan­ guage teach in g m ethods a n d approaches (both traditional a n d innovative) have been discussed. At hom e, review these sections of

the text and com e p re p a re d to discuss the role that m edia play in these m ethods. In w hich m e th o d s/a p p ro a c h e s do you feel th at m edia play a central role (i.e., are p a rt o f the underlying philosophy)? In which m eth o d s/ approaches do m edia plav a m ore peripheral role? 2. E xam ine the rationale given in this c h a p te r fo r the use of m edia in language teaching. W hich reasons do vou feel are m ost con­ vincing? Can you th ink of any others? 3. Select th re e item s from the list o f technical m edia a n d th re e item s from those listed u n d e r non-technical m edia that you are likely to use in the language classroom. Draw up a list o f the advantages an d disadvantages o f each. Can you think o f specific teaching applications for these form s of m edia? 4. Is th ere a feasibility factor involved in the use o f audiovisual m edia? In o th e r words, are certain teachers or teaching situations lim ited to the types of m edia they can select? Wlrv or whv not?

S U G G E S T E D A C T IV IT IE S 1.

Collect packaged food item s th at you have a ro u n d vour h o u se h o ld a n d design a survival level grid activity similar to the one described in this article for over-the-counter m edication. Keep in m ind that the purpose o f the grid is to proride students with guidance in selecting food items and to train them in reading pack­ age labels for specific inform ation. 2. Select a picture or series o f pictures from a m agazine and apply the fram ew ork for design­ ing m edia lessons discussed in this chapter. Bring this m aterial to class and share with oth­ ers your ideas on howy'ou would use it. Be pre­ pared as well to discuss your selection criteria. 3. O bserve an ESU class. W hat was the objective of the lesson? W lrat aids did the tea c h e r use? T h in k o f additional aids th at w ould have im proved the lesson. 4. Drawing on the suggestions given in B yrd’s c h a p te r in this volum e, develop a list o f cri­ teria for selecting a n d evaluating m ed ia m aterials.

3 I stro n g ly su g g est th a t te a c h e rs sh a re su c h m a te ri­ a ls, i n s t i t u t e a m a t e r i a l s li b r a r y , a n d e v e n c o l l a b o ­

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Computers in Language Teaching MAGGIE

SOKOLIK

In "Com puters in Language Teaching," Sokolik examines the forms and functions of com puter technology in second language learning.These forms and functions, she contends, are separate from any particular state of technology. She concludes that good teaching methodology depends more on sound pedagogy than on access to any particular form of com puter technology,

IN T R O D U C T IO N The Shakers, a religious sect th at form ed in the 1700s, did n o t generallv believe in writing that was "scriptural." Thev felt the act o f writing m ade the m alleable less flexible, the fluid artifi­ cially static. In spite of this belief, the Shakers wrote tom es ab o u t th eir theology. This con trad ictio n is also true for writing about educational technology in the earlv twentyfirst century. A nyone writing for the print m edium about technology fully realizes that the technology’ will be outm oded bv the time that the book or article is published. Yet we keep writing tomes. For shat reason, this chapter will focus less on the artifacts o f technology’— hardw are and software, which will be different bv the time this book :s p u b lish e d — a n d m o re on th e te a c h in g approaches and techniques related to technology, which should still exist regardless of whatever the hardware and software of the day m ight be.

PRELIM INARY TO C L E A R V ISIO N OF T H E FU TU R E: H IS T O R IC A L O V ER V IEW With the developm ent o f new technologies, .here has b een an a tte n d a n t interest in applying these technologies in the educational arena, and m m aking predictions o f how they w ould affect the educational fu tu re o f o u r classroom s and undents. A lthough m ost p eo p le associate the

birth o f educational technology with the 1970s and 1980s, the history of educational co m p u tin g actually goes back to the 1940s. W riters such as Bush foresaw a fu tu re in which com m unication an d science w ould be e n h a n c e d with hyperlinked sy stem s o f inform ation: C onsider a future device for individual use, which is a sort of m echanized private file and library. It needs a nam e, and to coin one at random , “m em ex” will do. A m em ex is a device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and com m unications, a n d w hich is m echanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. It is an enlarged intim ate supplem ent to his m em ory (Bush 1945, p. 106). O f course, in the 1940s, the physical tech­ nology tied these ideas to m icrofilm , p h o n o ­ g rap h ic rec o rd in g s, a n d p u n c h card-style com puting m achines. In the 1950s a n d 1960s, the most powerful com puters occupied entire room s, not corners o f desktops or small brief­ cases. Howeyer, th e d e v e lo p m en t o f the m icrochip and m iniaturization of com ponents enabled educational technology to move fonvard rapidlv in the 1970s and 1980s. Many of the technological restrictions o f the 1940s have m elted awav, and financial barriers instead h am p er o u r visions o f educational tech­ nology. Just as short a time ago as 1988, the vision o f the technological future yvas the folloyving:

W hat will h a p p e n is that in the univer­ sity o f the vear 2000, students will be given a c o m p u te r on th eir first day. O ver the л-ears that thev spend at the university, a fixed cost will be assessed each term . This cost will pav for the com puter, tuition, access to a mvriad o f database services, a n d online text­ books (Young et al. 1988. p. 259). W hile the technology certainly exists to realize this vision, the financial su p p o rt and bu reau cratic structures do not. Som e institu­ tions have im p lem e n te d program s such as the above, b u t they are rare. In forecasting the technological future, it is im p o rta n t to consider what the capabilities of educational co m p u tin g are. and what can be d o n e in the language classroom that will rem ain cu rren t, even if the technology does not.

W H A T COM PUTERS C A N T DO T he im age of the fullv autom ated, teacherless classroom has d isappeared from the landscape, if it in d ee d ever was there. .Although com puters are useful adjuncts in second language learning, th ere are still m anv things thev cannot accom ­ plish. We look below at five m ajor areas into which com puters an d technology have not vet m ade significant inroads.

of the plav Cyra но de Bergerac, w ritten in French by E d m o n d R ostand (1897). T he first colum n is the original text, the second, a translation d o n e bv a h u m an translator, a n d the third, an exam ple o f m achine translation. It is d e a r that the m achine translation fails in several areas. First, it does not have a vocabulary database that allows for an understanding of a n in eteen th centurv idiom. But even m ore basic issues are at stake: the m isinterpretation of the preposition a as "with" ra th e r than "at" (“A R epresentation with the H otel of Burgundy") and an inability to appropriately detect plural forms ("Riders, middle-class man, lackev. pages”) or imperative word o rd er ("Exert we with the foil”). These mistranslations show that this software is not sensitive enough to contexts that distinguish im portant semantic, syntactic, or m orphological features. Students or instructors who seek translation assistance from com puters trill receive a text that mat- be som ew hat com prehensible: however, knowledge of the basics of the language being translated, the context in tririch words m ight be used, and an understanding of idiomatic as well as archaic usages are im portant for a fuller u n d e r­ standing. This last issue is particularly problem ­ atic. even ironic: for som eone needing translation assistance, idiom atic use is the elem ent of lan­ guage least likelv to be known bv the learner.

1. Machine Translation

2. Providing Appropriate Feedback to Learners

T he hope of pushing a b u tto n to translate from one language to a n o th e r has, for the m ost part, gone unrealized. .Although there are dozens, if n o t hundreds, of new tools for m achine trans­ lation, m ost fail at creating a text that a native speaker would consider idiom atic, or even gram ­ matical. -Although simple language with highfrequencv vocabulary and little idiom atic usage can be translated fairlv accurately, any deviations from that form ula still cause serious breakdowns in the com prehensibility of m achine-translated text. An exam ple o f a m achine translation, com ­ p lete d July 21, 2000, is p rese n ted on the next page. T he text is a small p o rtio n of the o p en in g

Instructors in language education know that feedback, in whatever form , is a critical p a rt of learn in g an d com m unication. In face-to-face interaction, the teacher's feedback adapts to anv n u m b er of factors, including but n o t lim ited to what the instructor feels the student can u n d e r­ stand. the instructor's knowledge of the stu d e n t’s affective state, what is appropriate for the class or subject m atter, and so on. M echanized systems do not have the capability to custom ize feedback with the same sensitivity that a h u m an instructor does. In fact, the best feedback systems give a sim ple explanation of the right or w rong answer, and таил- m erely em it a noise, eith er pleasant or

ORIGINAL1

HUMAN TRANSLATION INTO ENGLISH

MACHINE TRANSLATION INTO ENGLISH

Acte 1. Une Representation a I’Hotel de Bourgogne.

Act 1. A Representation at the Hotel de Bourgogne. Scene l.l. The public, arriving by degrees. Troopers, burghers, lackeys, pages, a pickpocket, the doorkeeper, etc., followed by the marquises; Cuigy, Brissaille, the buffet-girl, the violinists, etc. (A confusion of loud voices is heard outside the door. A trooper enters hastily.)

Act 1. A Representation with the Hotel of Burgundy. Scene /./. The public, which arrives little by little. Riders, middle-class man, lackey, pages, footpad, the gate keeper, etc., then marquis, Cuigy, Brissaille, the saddle jib crane, violins, etc. (One hears derriere the gate a tumult of voice, then a rider enters abruptly.)

THE D O O R K EEPER (following him): Hollo! You there! Your money!

The GATEKEEPER (the prosecutor): Hola! your fifteen grounds!

LE CAVALIER: J ’entre gratis!

THE T R O O PER 1 enter gratis.

THE RIDER: 1 enter gratis!

LE PORTIER: Pourquoi?

THE D O O RKEEPER: W hy?

THE GATEKEEPER: Why?

LE CAVALIER: Je suis chevau-leger de la maison du Roi!

TH E TRO O PER: W hy? 1am of the King’s Household Cavalry, 'faith!

TH E RIDER: 1 am chevau-light house of the King!

LE PORTIER (a un autre cavalier qui vient d’entrer): Vous?

THE D O O R K EEPER (to another trooper who enters): And you?

The GATEKEEPER (with another rider who has just entered): You?

D EU X IEM E CAVALIER: Je ne paye pas!

SE C O N D TRO O PER: 1 pay nothing.

SE C O N D RIDER: 1 do not pay!

LE PORTIER: Mais...

TH E D O O RKEEPER: How so?

THE GATEKEEPER: But.

D EU X IEM E CAVALIER: Je suis mousquetaire.

S E C O N D TRO O PER: 1 am a musketeer.

S E C O N D RIDER: 1 am a musketeer.

PREMIER CAVALIER (au deuxieme): On ne commence qu’ a deux heures. Le parterre est vide. Exerqons-nous au fleuret.

FIRST T R O O PER (to the second): The play will not begin till two. The pit is empty. Come, a bout with the foils to pass the time.

FIRST RIDER (with the second): One starts only at two hours. The floor is empty. Exert we with the foil.

Scene l.l.

Le public, qui arrive peu a peu. Cavaliers, bourgeois, laquais, pages, tire-laine, le portier, etc., puis les marquis, Cuigy, Brissaille, la distributrice, les violons, etc. (On entend derriere la porte un tumulte de voix, puis un cavalier entre brusquement.) LE PORTIER (le poursuivant): Hola! vos quinze sols!

unpleasant, indicating w hether the user has p ro ­ vided the correct answer. M ore com plete feed­ back mav be indirectly available in the form of links to o th er areas of a text or website to read or review. Figure 1 shows a com m on feedback m echa­ nism — the use of an X (usually red) to show an in co rrect answ er an d an arrow head o r sim ilar icon to show a correct answer. In this exam ple, th ere is no explanation o f e ith e r the rig h t or w rong answer. Figure 2 shows som ew hat m ore elaborate feedback. In this case, it restates the p ro m p t in different words, an d em phasizes the vocabulary item s th at are kev to u n d e rsta n d in g th e correct answer.

I’m not familiar_________ California. >■ with of X to Figure I. Sample Minimal Computer Feedback Adapted from an item from Dave Sperling’s ESL Cafe (http://www.eslcafe.com) Quizzes.The X shows the user's answer; the arrowhead shows the correct answer.

One of my best_________ already married with 4 kids! О О О О

A. В. C. D.

friend is friends are friends is friend are

“C” is correct—I have many friends, and one of them js married.)

Figure 2. Sample of More Complete Feedback Adapted from Jim Duber’s Grammar W eb Quiz #1 (http://www.sirius.com/~dub/CALL/grammar I .html)

A lthough the second exam ple has m ore com ­ plete feedback, it is clear th a t it c a n n o t provide a user with custom ized feedback addressing an issue th a t the exercise designer m ight n o t have anticipated. P erhaps the user u n d erstan d s the stru ctu re “one of X" perfectly well, b u t does not u n d e rsta n d the con cept o f “best frie n d .” For the feedback to be rich, th e designer of the item

w ould have to anticipate all possible questions, from the use of an idiom , to the history of a w ord, to the cultural context o f the item .

3. Voice R e c o g n itio n Voice recognition refers to the capability of a c o m p u te r o r software program to accept a n d in te rp re t spoken dictation, or to u n d e rsta n d and e a rn out voice com m ands. Voice recognition is used to dictate text into the co m p u ter or to give com m ands to the co m p u ter (such as o p e n in g program s an d m enus, saving files, and so on). T he Bell Labs began a project for voice recogni­ tion in the 1960s (G ilbert a n d Mallows 1984). A lthough m anv m o d ern hom e and office com ­ p u te r systems are eq u ip p ed with som e type of voice recognition software, these program s are still inefficient in accurately dividing up a n a tu ­ ral speech stream into discrete words. It should be n o ted, however, th at speech production p ro ­ gram s. that is. program s th at read text aloud, have b een successful for several years. These program s have been especially beneficial for sight-im paired co m p u ter users.

4. G ra m m a r C h e ck in g M odern w ord-processing software usually com es e q u ip p e d w ith g ram m ar-ch eck in g ro u tin e s. U nfortunately, as m ost users will attest, this soft­ ware falls short of the gram m atical editing th at is req u ired in a language classroom . T he software is not sensitive to context or conventions o f use, such as th e d iffe re n c e b etw een academ ic English w ritten for the hum anities versus th at w ritten for the sciences. C onsider the following sentence, w ritten bv a second language lea rn er in an English w riting class: "In Ty pical .American, the Cliangs becom e Americanized in order to succeed.” Since the c u rre n t gram m ar-checking routines are sensitive to passive constructions, M icrosoft W ord 97 m akes the following suggestion: Passive voice (consider revising) Unfortunately, two issues potentially' confuse the learner here. First, there has to be a full under­ standing of how to revise in ord er to elim inate

passive voice. This introduces the same sort of irony that лее find in m achine translation: the stu­ d e n t m ust already understand English gram m ar to m ake full use of the suggestions offered be the gram m ar-checking software. But m ore troubling in this case is the fact that this sentence is not easily rew ritten in an active voice. Thus, the suggestion to re\ise mav introduce additional diT ficultv for an EST/EFT student who mav trust the software m ore than she or he trusts h e r or his own ju d g m e n t about English grammar.

5. E ssay M ark in g A lthough there is software that allows instructors to insert their com m ents neatlv in students' wordprocessed text, there is no software that can “rea d ” a text an d write relevant com m ents on it. The Educational Testing Service (ETS) has developed software for the m arking o f ( .MAT (G raduate M an agem ent A dm ission Test) exam inations, called the e-rater. This software marks essavs based on the sam e six-point scale used bv h u m an graders. A uthors from ETS and H u n ter College, describing the software, explain the source of “misses” or disagreem ents with hum an raters: “[T ]he greatest source of e-rater misses mav be in the topical analvsis com ponents” (Burstein et al. 1998, p. 11). T hat is, although the software can be trained to look for structures that show certain rhetorical moves, it does not assess w hether the writer has in fact addressed the essav topic.

W H A T C O M P U T ER S

CAN

DO

A lthough the above are areas in which com puter tools are not proficient, there are manv arenas in which com puters equal, or surpass, hum an per­ form ance. As com puters can store a n d process enorm ous am ounts of inform ation, they excel in areas w here hum an m em orv mav be deficient, or where hum an patience mav be easily exhausted. We will look at five of these areas in this section.

1. D rills M uch of language learn in g is facilitated by re p e ­ tition, w h eth er it is the rep etitio n o f individual sounds, in to n a tio n p atterns, conversational gam ­

bits, o r o th e r types o f w ords a n d phrases. C om puters are useful in delivering drills for prac­ tice, w hether in gram m ar, vocabulary, p ro n u n cia­ tion, or listening, as they are tireless in their delivery1. U nlike h u m an interlocutors who may grow wear)7 o f repeating a word for a learner, a com puter will repeat a word a h u n d re d times if the user wishes. A ccording to M cCarthy (1994), the com ­ p u te r has som e specific advantages: organization o f m aterials, in clu d in g volum e of m aterial a n d ran d o m presen tatio n , scoring an d record-keep­ ing, graphics an d anim ation, in cluding allowing stu d en t control, audio-cuing, and rec o rd in g a n d storage o f stu d e n t responses. M cCarthy also sees the co m p u ter's “literal a p p ro a c h ” to checking answers an d its abilitv to focus le a rn e r atten tio n mi a specific area of the screen as advantages in gram m ar drilling in particular.

2. A d a p tiv e T estin g If we accept the prem ise th at the m ost effective language learn in g h ap p en s w hen the le a rn e r’s target is just slightly above his o r h e r c u rre n t level of u n d e rsta n d in g (som etim es called the I +1 theorv- [see K rashen 1982]), th en it becom es clear th at co m p u te r adaptive testing (CAT) can be verv useful in the language classroom . As test takers resp o n d to test item s in CAT, the test adapts itself to each user bv choosing su b sequent test item s based on the test taker's p erfo rm a n c e on p reced in g item s. For exam ple, if a lea rn er perform s well on a set o f beginninglevel items, the c o m p u te r p ro g ram will next p resen t a set of questions at the in term ed iate level. If the le a rn e r perform s poorly on the interm ediate-level questions, the c o m p u te r p res­ ents lower-level item s (e.g., high b e g in n er) in the next question set. T herefore, the CAT continuallv attem pts to ascertain the appropriate level for the lea rn er’s perform ance and ceases testing once perform ance at a particular level is dem on­ strated to be the best possible perform ance for that individual. In o th e r words, it can establish m ore quicklv than a stan d ard pencil-and-paper test what the le a rn e r’s proficiency is.

3. C o rp o ra a n d C o n c o rd a n c in g C om puters are expert at storing large am ounts of inform ation and categorizing or sorting it by u se r-d e te rm in e d categories. C o n c o rd a n c in g program s an d linguistic corpora are types of tools an d data that are increasingly being used in the language classroom . A concordance is a type of index that searches for occurrences o f a word o r com binations of words, parts of words, p u n c ­ tuation, affixes, phrases, or structures within a corpus, and can show the im m ediate context. T he o u tp u t from a concordance search can be used in the p rep aratio n of such teaching m ateri­ als, such as gram m ar and vocabulary activities. Teachers can gath er exam ples of language and usage for creating exercises.

A nother wav in which concordances can be used is to create lists o f collocations, or words that are com m only found together. Figure 4 lists the twenty m ost p opular words found to collocate with the word chocolate. Again, the practical appli­ cation can be seen for developing classroom activities. However, as tire collocations given by the program do not indicate word order, teacher direction is n eeded in o rd er to convert these lists into m eaningful activities or inform ation. For exam ple, in the figure below, the symbol ♦ has been placed to show w here the word chocolate would com e in the phrase. (In some instances, it can go before or alter the listed word.) l.

♦ milk ♦

11.

♦ coffee

2.

♦ cake

12.

plain ♦

3.

hot ♦

13.

♦ fudge

4.

white ♦

14.

5.

♦ cream

15.

♦ egg rich ♦

Coiitu fj/ 9Г fdi (, ■ 94

%

W o rd

6.

♦ bar

16.

box (of) ♦

0 . 4 6 1 1%

all

7.

dark ♦

17.

eat ♦

IIU71%

shakespeare

8.

♦ mousse

18.

♦ biscuits

'J.3280%

years

9.

♦ bars

19.

♦ ice

0,2/119% !1. 26 6 7%

o th e r

10.

melted ♦

20.

♦ cocoa

*hi tut

Ы

0 .2 4 2 4 %

tim e

50

0 .2 3 / / %

S tra tfo rd

44 4/

0 .2 3 2 9 %

out

0 .2 2 3 4 %

41