Post #13: Assessment

            Chapter 23 and 24 in Brown discuss the topic of assessment. We have talked about a lot of the topics in these two chapters this semester in 346. Both chapters explain the differences between norm-referenced and criterion-referenced tests. These are two different ways of scoring tests. With criterion-referenced tests, scores are assigned based on the content of the student’s work, if it contains all the required criteria. With this type it is possible that all students in the same class can receive A’s. Norm-referenced tests are scored by comparing the quality of the student’s work to their classmates’. With this type of scoring, not all the students in the class are able to get an A. One of my teachers here at ISU assigned grades on our papers based on the norm-referenced format. This way isn’t used too often in my opinion. It’s probably more common in the college than in a K-12 setting. I’m not a fan of the norm-referenced scoring approach since I don’t think it’s fair to students since they’re always being compared to their peers. It’s also very subjective scoring since it’s the teacher’s opinion as to who they think did the best and worst on the test or assignment.

            Authenticity is described as being a principle of language assessment. This isn’t something we talked a lot about in 346 but I do think it’s important. With language assessment, test items should be contextualized and natural, assessing real-world tasks. I think this is important but I also think that it may also be necessary to give structured tasks to assess students as well since some language skills and concepts may be difficult to determine whether students know them or not when they’re within a context.

            Chapter 24 talks about alternative assessment, another topic we recently covered in 346. Portfolios are an example of alternative assessment. I think portfolios are especially great for ESL classes since teachers are able to see the progress of the students’ L2. They’re also great for the students to see how far they’ve come in the learning of the L2. Performance-based assessment which is discussed in chapter 23 is another example of alternative assessment. I think performance-based assessment is especially important in language classrooms since it’s necessary to see students produce the language. Overall I like the idea of alternative assessment even though the grading is also very subjective. Students who don’t do well on formal tests may also prefer this method. I think it’s a good idea to use both formal and alternative assessment in the classroom.     

Post #12: Curriculum Design and Lesson Planning

      This week’s readings are about curriculum design and lesson planning. Brown chapter 9 talks about how a curriculum is created and describes principles of an effective curriculum. When it comes to curriculum, all schools and districts are different. As a pre-service Spanish or ESL teacher, to what extent I’ll be able to make my own curriculum choices will depend on the school that I teach at. Depending on the school I may have a strict curriculum I need to stick to or I could have the ability to create part of my own curriculum. No matter what I think it’s important to realize that all schools are different. At the Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ICTFL) conference that I went to in October I listened to a presentation on surviving your first year of teaching given by a second year Spanish teacher. She teaches at a small school in southern Illinois that has a lot of students from low SES backgrounds. She, along with the two other teachers in the small foreign language department, was able to design the curriculum herself. This is very rare, not all teachers are able to design their own curriculum and instead have to follow one that is already in place. Pre-service teachers need to be aware of the curriculum differences amongst schools. I think that either way, whether there’s a set curriculum that you have to follow or that you get to create your own, would be difficult. I feel like this idea is something that should be covered more in teacher education classes.

      Branching off of curriculum design is lesson planning with is discussed in Brown chapter 10. In the chapter, the guidelines for planning a lesson and the format for a written lesson are laid out. I think that it’s unrealistic to write a complete lesson plan for every lesson. When you’re first starting out writing lessons it may be a good idea, but I think that having just a rough outline of the order of things for each class period is sufficient enough. Writing full lesson plans for all lessons would be very time consuming. When I student teach, lesson planning is one of the parts I’m most worried about because it’s going to take a while to plan all those lessons since I have very few materials to start from. Everyone plans in their own way so I think that teachers should find the system that works best for them for planning lessons. Going along with lesson planning is Brown chapter 11 which is about the techniques and materials that go into a lesson plan. In this chapter is a section about textbooks. This is a topic we’ve talked a lot about in my foreign language teaching methods class. I think that textbooks, especially if they’re outdated, should be used as a guide for teaching. You can follow the order the concepts and vocabulary are presented and use some activities it includes but there should also be some supplement activities from other sources or ones that you created yourself. You can also evaluate the activities in the textbook and alter them to best suit the lesson needs. After a curriculum is designed and lessons are planned out, it’s very important for teachers to monitor their own teaching acts in order to make changes to best suit the students’ learning needs, which it the concept discussed on Kumar chapter 13.  Monitoring your own teacher acts emphasizes the importance of self-observing, self-analyzing, and self-evaluating. This is necessary in order to grow and develop as a teacher and to also benefit your students the most.              

Research Progress for Final Paper

            For my final paper I’m going to discuss native-speaking language teachers (NSTs) versus non-native speaking language teachers (NNSTs).MY two research questions are: What do both types of teachers bring to the table (the benefits of NSTs and NNSTs)? What do students say about NSTs and NNSTs and who do they prefer? I integrated your feedback by trying to look for sources for the rationale part of my topic (ownership of language, identity). I also looked up articles by two of the names of authors you gave me who have done research on this topic (Peter Medgyes and Lucie Moussu). I looked for the article that you suggested by Medgyes called “Native or Non-Native: Who’s Worth More?,” but there’s no full text on the Milner library databases. Is there another way I can find that article? I also found a couple books by him about non-native speakers (When the Teacher is a Non-Native Speaker and The Non-Native Speaker) but I haven’t got them from the library yet. From what I’ve seen, there’s so much research and articles on this topic. So since this is a paper we’re going to have a literature review section, the rationale, and what else?

Post # 11: Raising Cultural Awareness

            Brown chapter 26 begins by questioning the reader: What drives you in your professional life? What purpose propels you through teaching each week? Somehow, teachers are “guided by a sense of mission, of purpose, and of dedication to a profession in which they believe they can make a difference” (Brown 512). Even though I’m not an actual teacher yet, I’ve obviously been asked why I want to be a teacher. The main reason I say when I answer this questions is because I love the content area that I’m going to teach (Spanish). I love it so much that I want to teach it to others. I’ve had many situations during college that have helped confirm my wanting to be a Spanish teacher. Most of these situations involve tutoring. Every time I tutor students I know that I am meant to be a teacher. This is what drives me in my “professional” life. One of the ways that I want to make a difference when I teach is to show my students the importance of learning a second language. I think that this is important to incorporate into lessons, even if it is very briefly, since many students don’t see a point in learning a language.  

            Branching off of the importance of teaching the significance of learning an L2 is the topic covered in Kumar chapter 11: Ensuring social relevance. In order to make L2 learning relevant in the eyes of the students, it’s important for them to recognize that the “broader social, political, historical, and economic conditions that affect the lives of learners and teachers also affect classroom aims and activities” (Kumar 239). Through what goes on in the classroom, students need to see how the L2 ties in with social, political, historical, economic, etc. conditions. When teaching English, it’s important to acknowledge the status of English as a global language in order to help students understand the importance of learning. Discussing this idea can help justify their learning of the language. This chapter also discusses the question of how to determine the “standard” variety of a language? This is a topic that is very interesting and puzzling to me. It makes me wonder how schools chose what variety of English to teach their students since there are so many. Also, should ESL and EFL teachers introduce students to other varieties of English even if that’s not the variety they focus on?  There are so many unanswered questions on this topic since it’s so difficult to determine a “standard” variety of a language.  

            Kumar chapter 12 talks about raising cultural consciousness since it’s important for L2 learners to be conscious of the L2 culture. Robinson’s theory of second culture acquisition makes sense to me. Her theory is that second culture acquisition is the “integration of home and target culture” (Kumar 270). She calls this the Color Purple. I agree with this theory since when you learn about a new culture you also learn more about your native culture thus creating a second culture that includes parts of both. In order for someone to develop critical cultural consciousness they have to recognize that there isn’t one culture that embodies the best and worst of human experiences. To help develop cultural consciousness in students it’s important to treat them as cultural informants as well, not just the teacher. Teachers can do this by identifying the cultural knowledge their students bring to the classroom. I think this can helps motivate and involve learners more since they’re discussing their knowledge.   

Post # 10: Integrating the Four Skills

Brown chapter 17 and Kumar chapter 10 discuss the integration of the four language skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening). The Kumar chapter goes into the history of this topic, saying that the language skills were always isolated from one another and were taught in a specific order: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. These skills were only taught in this order and could not be switched around. Students were not allowed to attempt to speak before they were able to listen, or write before they were able to read. We know now that this isn’t true and that all skills can be taught or focused on in any order that makes sense. Today, we are supposed to integrate all four skills into a lesson and not just focus on one at a time. Even though the integration of all four language skills is now seen as common sense, there are still courses, especially in colleges and universities, which separate the skills into different classes. Here at ISU for Spanish they do this. There’s a composition class devoted to just writing in the TL and there’s a conversation class devoted to just speaking in the TL. Brown chapter 17 talks about how some people have the idea that “integration of the four skills diminishes the importance of the rules of listening, speaking, reading, and writing that are unique to each separate skill” (Brown 285). I don’t agree with this idea. I think that integrating all four skills highlights the importance of each skill even more than if they were taught separate from each other.

Brown looks at the different models of skill integration. I like theme-based instruction, probably because that’s how I learned Spanish and how most Spanish textbooks and classes are still laid out. In Spanish textbooks each chapter is centered on a theme starting with the vocabulary. The grammar concepts covered in that chapter incorporate that themed vocabulary. For example, the chapter that introduced students to food vocabulary usually included the grammar concept of teaching them how to say “I like,” “you like,” etc. Creating themed vocabulary lists is a good way to teach the words and make them more meaningful. I think theme-based instruction would be a good model of skill integration to use when teaching EFL as well.

Kumar chapter 9 talks about contextualizing linguistic input. He explains each of the different contexts. The first is linguistic context which is the linguistic environment that contains formal aspects of the language like pronouns, articles, verbs, etc. Extralinguistic context includes things like stress and intonation, which can even be difficult for advanced L2 learners. The third is situational context which is where “words and utterances can have different meanings of functions in different contexts” (Kumar 210). Lastly is extrasituational context which I think is one of the most important. This context includes the idea of what is or isn’t appropriate, which is where the culture of the TL comes into play. This is one of the reasons why the TL culture is so important to teach language students so that they know how to act if they ever travel to the country that speaks that language. It’s important to present the language to the students within a context. Teaching the aspects of a language within a context makes the information more meaningful to the students, therefore making it easier for them to retain. Learning what type of language to use and in what situation is a huge part of mastering an L2.      

Post #9: Teaching Grammar and Fostering Language Awareness

Brown chapter 22 talked about form-focused instruction. The teaching of grammar is such a debatable part of language teaching. The chapter questions whether grammar should even be taught or not.  When I was learning Spanish, grammar was the main focus of the class since that’s what the textbook mostly talked about. Even today most of the language classrooms I observe in continue putting grammar in the L2 as the first priority. In my opinion, grammar needs to be one of the most important and mostly focused on parts of an L2 classroom. Brown says that too much grammar focus at the beginning “runs the risk of blocking their acquisition of fluency skills” (Brown 422). I think that it’s necessary for beginning levels to put the main focus on grammar. In order for a learner to become fluent in the L2 they need to know grammar. This idea goes back to our discussion the other week about fluency versus accuracy. This chapter also talks about the deductive versus inductive approaches to grammar teaching. This is a topic we talk a lot about in our class foreign language teaching methods. I tend to favor the deductive approach mostly because I like the structure of it and that’s how I was taught grammar. I like having all of the grammar rules and steps laid out for me from the beginning of the lesson. Even though I like this approach better, I still think it’s important to use both deductive and inductive approaches to teaching grammar. The inductive approach incorporates whole and authentic texts which I think it very important to include.

 

Chapter 7 in Kumar discusses the importance of fostering language awareness. I found this chapter to be very interesting and entertaining. At the beginning, someone describes English as being a “zany logic-defying tongue” (Kumar 159). Another person goes on to say, “English is a language in which one drives on a parkway and parks on a driveway, plays at a recital and recites at a play” (Kumar 159). Many native speakers of English may not realize how odd things like that are since we are so used to saying them, whereas non-native speakers are more aware since they are trying to learn the language. Examples like this cited quote can help foster general language awareness among learners. The chapter also talks about how it’s necessary for teachers to have language awareness. Teachers who are native speakers of the language they teach “may know the underlying system of their language intuitively, but they may lack explicit knowledge needed to give a proper explanation” (Kumar 162). Since I’m not a native Spanish speaker, I have the explicit knowledge needed to teach the language. Since learning Spanish I have learned a lot more about the English language but I still don’t know if I have the explicit knowledge needed to fully explain grammar points. All parts of the language come naturally to me so sometimes I can’t explain why something should be said a certain way. An example of this is last week when we were critiquing the two students’ paragraphs they had written. Someone said that the student needs to put a “the” at the beginning of the sentence but couldn’t explain why it needs to be there since with it, it just sounds correct to us.    

 

Chapter 8 in Kumar is about heuristics, which refers to the process of self-discovery on the part of the learner” (Kumar 176). Heuristics is also a teaching method that allows students to learn by discovering things for themselves. I think that fostering language awareness in learners can help promote heuristics since by making students aware of the language, they become more interested in learning and therefore are more motivated to discover other aspects on their own.

Post #8: Teaching Reading and Writing

Chapters 20 and 21 in Brown talk about the teaching of reading and writing. Last week we discussed the previous chapters on the teaching of speaking and listening. It’s important to remember that each of these language skills is developed best in association with the others. One of the skills of reading comprehension that is discussed in the chapter is to identify the purpose in reading. Students want to know why they’ve been asked to read something. This also goes along with making sure the reading passage is something that interests the students. If the text isn’t something that interests the students and they don’t understand the purpose for reading it, they won’t put forth the effort needed to make sure they understand it. I think that a good topic for reading passages is the culture of the language the students are studying, but it’s important that the cultural information in the readings still interest the students. From personal experience and from what I’ve observed, students like to hear more about the daily life of the people in the countries they are studying, not about historical facts and stories.

            The use of graphic organizers is a great reading strategy since they help students to organize the information presented in the text. Graphic organizers or other helpful strategies should be used as both pre and post reading strategies. The chapter talks about the SQ3R sequence to aid students with reading comprehension (survey, question, read, recite, review). Reading passages are very beneficial with L2 instruction since they help students work on their reading comprehension skills in the language and can also introduce or highlight different grammar concepts. It’s also very important to use as many authentic texts in the language as possible since they are more contextual, therefore more meaningful.

            Chapter 21 talks about the teaching of writing. Many teaching strategies involve the combination of reading and writing. After reading a text students can write a reaction to it or answer short comprehension questions. The book states how with reading and writing there is a heavier demand on vocabulary than with speaking. From my experiences of being in an L2 classroom, when students have to write in the L2 they always want to know how to say different words. I remember one of my high school Spanish teachers would tell her students to go look in a dictionary when they wanted to know how to say a word. Even though this approach may sound a little harsh, I tend to agree with her. L2 teachers would constantly be telling students how to say things when in reality students have the resources necessary to find out how to say anything in the L2. I also think it’s important that students learn how to talk around what they want to say, describing the word or concept in another way. This is a great skill to have especially when the learner is communicating with native speakers of the language who don’t speak that student’s native language. That student can’t just ask the person they’re talking with how to say the word that they want to use since they don’t speak the student’s L1. The student must then resort to talking around the word. A difficult aspect to teaching writing in the L2 is deciding what written errors to correct in student work. This is a topic we also discussed in 343. This is a difficult question that has no correct answer. No matter what approach teachers take, I think it’s important to stay consistent with all students but to also make changes to grading accordingly.

Post # 7: Teaching Speaking and Listening

            Brown chapter 18 is about teaching listening and chapter 19 is about teaching speaking. These two aspects of language are closely intertwined. It is known to all students who have gone through the process of learning a second language that there seems to be more emphasis put on listening than speaking. This is one of the reasons why some learners are better at understanding the language than actually speaking it. When speaking is focused on in the classroom, it’s usually a short, structured partner conversation that is unnatural and consists of a few sentence exchanges. A section of chapter 18 talks about eight characteristics that need to be taken into consideration when teaching listening. One of these characteristics is colloquial language. This explains how language students are typically exposed to the standard “textbook” English, and for this reason, students sometimes have difficulties understanding colloquialisms. Vocabulary overall seems to be an issue, since for all languages, different words can be used in different countries but still have the same meaning. In a way this goes back to our discussion about which standard of English do you teach. The vocabulary of a language is included in one of those standards. Or do you teach more than one word for the same meaning? A point that this chapter stresses is that when assessing listening skills it’s important to pinpoint exactly what you want to assess. Many of the listening sections on tests that I’ve taken don’t clearly identify the overall concept that is being assessed. Most are just a conversation involving vocabulary and some grammar.

            Brown chapter 19 talks about how to teach speaking. One of the issues with teaching speaking that’s identified in the chapter is the distinction between accuracy and fluency. In last week’s readings we kind of discussed this topic. Both factors are obviously important but I think that accuracy in the TL comes first, and then fluency comes later. But, when you gain some fluency you may lose some accuracy when speaking. But the mistakes being made are more due to the situation that the speaker is in when they are talking, they’re nervous, for example. I don’t ever remember any of my Spanish classes focusing a lot of fluency, the majority of it was being able to accurately produce the grammar concepts in sentences.

            Kumar chapter 5 discusses ways to facilitate negotiated interaction. He summarizes the chapter by saying how both the teacher and students have responsibility since willingness and active cooperation are needed. Without both, it would be impossible to create the environment needed to promote negotiated interaction. Participants must have “flexibility and freedom to contribute to talk.” It’s important for students to want to learn or else no meaningful interaction will be accomplished.

            In enjoyed the article by Cary since the majority of it was a story. I liked hearing about the information through a story instead of just reading it in the normal research style format. Dolores has her first grade students, who in all speak a total of eight different languages, take turns being language teachers. The students teach small phrases and words to their classmates, such as “hello,” “thank you,” “please,” etc. These phrases and words are used informally throughout the week, whenever students want to use them, but some stick with the students even after that. This is a great idea for incorporating students’ native languages in the classroom. It shows students that their native language and culture are accepted in the classroom and also gives students the chance to learn words in new languages. It definitely would work well with younger grades but most likely not with older grades. I feel like younger students would be more willing to share their native language and culture with others than older students would be.

Post # 5: Maximizing Language Learning

            Kumar Chapter three discusses the opportunities for maximizing learning. The author states this as the first duty as a language teacher. Even though the amount of learning that takes place depends on the students, it is the teacher’s job to “create the conditions necessary for learning to take place” (Kumar 44). The learner needs to use the conditions provided by the teacher in order to maximize their learning. This chapter explains how teachers can create learning opportunities inside and outside of the classroom. One of the suggestions for creating learning opportunities inside the classroom is teacher questioning. Teachers should ask types of questions that “trigger meaningful interaction” (Kumar 49). I do something similar to this when I’m tutoring students in Spanish. When explaining something, you need to ask questions that help guide the students towards the correct answer. The chapter has examples of conversations where the teacher asks questions that get all students involved in the conversation. For example, episode 3.1 shows a conversation about the meaning of the word euthanasia. Instead of the teacher explaining to the one student what it means, she asks the other students. With the other students participating in the conversation and the teacher guiding the discussion when necessary, the students reach a definition of what euthanasia is. Overall I like this learning strategy but I think it would work better in smaller classes since students are more willing to participate when there are less people and all students are able to get involved since there aren’t a lot of them. A way to create learning opportunities outside of the classroom is to connect with the local community. I think this is a great idea for L2 learners, especially if the TL naturally exists in that community. It would give students a chance to use the L2 they’ve been learning in the classroom while serving the community at the same time. This strategy isn’t used as much as it should be in my opinion, probably because it would take a lot of work to organize it.

            Brown chapter four looks at twelve overall principles of L2 learning which form the core of an approach to language teaching. Some of the cognitive principles listed, intrinsic motivation and strategic investment, we talked a lot about in 344 since they are important determinants for SLA and a learner’s ability to master a second language depends on them. Language learners must be motivated and invested in learning the language. Chapter 16 branches off of chapter four, talking more about principle 5: strategic investment. The chapter looks at strategic investment’s implication for teaching methodology. This part of language teaching is known as standards-based instruction (SBI). SBI is about “how your language classroom techniques can encourage, build, and sustain effective language-learning strategies in your students” (Brown 258). SBI has its roots in the study of “good” language learners. Successful learners were first identified and then observed and questioned in order to determine the factors that contribute to their success. The chapter discusses how it’s important for students to become independent learners beyond the classroom. In order to do this they must identify their strengths, weaknesses, and preferences. I feel that it is important for learners to know how they learn but that it can be difficult for them to figure their styles out by answering questions like the ones in figure 16.2: the learning styles checklist. Whenever I had to rate how statements like these apply to me or describe me, I never really put much effort into it. If students enjoy learning the L2 they will easily be able to recognize what things work best for them and maximize their learning.     

Post #4: CLT and TBLT

            Two of the articles this week discuss CLT and the third talks about TBLT. In Bax’s article he explains how the dominance of CLT has been useful, but argues that it has neglected “the context in which language teaching takes place” (Bax 278). With CLT being such a dominant method, there’s the common assumption that the only way to properly learn a language is by the use of CLT. Bax believes that the use of CLT needs to be toned down and that something new needs to be put in its place. His suggested approach is called the Context Approach. Some characteristics of this approach include: considering the whole context and the idea that methodology is only one factor in language learning. Whereas on the other hand, with CLT, it’s believed that without the method it is impossible to learn a language and it is considered the only methodology that matters. I agree with Bax. I think that communication is definitely necessary in order for SLA to occur, but I also think that communication can be included into lessons without the use of the CLT method. I never realized that the CLT method doesn’t take into consideration the context in which learning takes place.

            Hu’s article also discussed the method if CLT but is different than the one Bax wrote since it’s specific to the use of CLT for language teaching in China. Hu explains how they are trying to adopt the use of CLT in Chinese classrooms but that is hasn’t made the expected impact that it would since it conflicts with the Chinese culture of learning. This is a problem since the aspects of the culture that conflict with CLT are “deep rooted in the Chinese culture of learning” (Hu 94). CLT and the Chinese culture have different assumptions about the “respective roles and responsibilities of teachers and students…encourage different learning strategies...and reward different qualities in learning” (Hu 102). There are obviously many sociocultural differences between the two. The author feels that educational policy makers and teachers must make pedagogical choices after taking into account the sociocultural differences which could interfere with what they decide. I agree that sociocultural differences should be taken into account when creating and determining the use of pedagogical methods. I always thought that CLT and the other methods we discussed in class are only used in the US. Are they used in other countries as well? After reading the two articles, it seems that CLT is a highly criticized and controversial language teaching method.

            Skehan’s article talks about TBLT. The reading from last week stated how some people consider CLT to be a framework of TBLT. Skehan never really goes into detail on describing TBLT, but we briefly discussed TBLT last week, comparing it to CLT. TBLT involves the use of two tasks: the target task and the pedagogical task. The pedagogical task, which takes place in the classroom, is used only to prepare students for the target task, which is done outside of the classroom. I like how the ultimate goal of TBLT seems to be getting students to use the TL outside of the classroom. This seems like a great goal for all language teachers to have for their students. In Bax’s article, he talks about the problems with CLT and proposes the use of the Context Approach instead. I wonder whether he created that approach before or after TBLT was thought of. Does TBLT take into consideration the context of language learning, unlike CLT? Would Bax approve of TBLT as a replacement method for CLT?

Post #3: Postmethod Pedagogy

            This week, the chapters in Brown and Kumar both discuss Postmethod Pedagogy. Brown chapter three describes how the postmethod era came about since people wanted a way to unify the approach to language teaching and because they wanted to put to rest the limited concept of method which was used in the previous century. This chapter also goes into detail about Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT). Some of the main goals of CLT include: a focus on all components (grammatical, discourse, functional, sociolinguistic, strategic), focus on comprehension and production of the TL, and a focus on real-world contexts. TBLT is said to be within the framework of CLT, although some researchers do not agree with this idea. TBLT involves the use of tasks at the core of language learning. These tasks contribute to communicative goals and “point learners beyond the forms of language alone to real-world contexts” (Brown 52). Kumar’s article also discussed CLT and TBLT. The article says that CLT was created as a response to the failing of the audiolingual method, which focused “exclusively and excessively on the manipulation of the linguistic structures of the target language” (Kumar 2006, 3). The audiolingual method didn’t seem to promote the acquisition of communicative ability in the TL. CLT was created in hopes of “moving classroom teaching away from a largely structural orientation...to a largely communicative orientation” (Kumar 2006, 3). I agree with the idea that TBLT is within the framework of CLT. CLT is very important in language teaching. It is important for language learners to be able to produce the TL and not just know the grammar rules of the language. In order for the learners to be able to properly produce the TL, teachers need to make sure they include a lot of communicative activities during class time.  

            Kumar chapter two discusses the meaning of the word method. In order to classify methods, Kumar splits them up into three different groups: language-centered methods, learner-centered methods, and learning-centered methods. He also explains how many researchers are dissatisfied with the notion of methods. This idea goes back to our second week of readings which included Prabhu’s article about how there is no best language teaching method. It makes sense how many researchers dislike the idea of methods since this theory creates so many unanswered questions. Because of these criticisms, the Postmethod Condition emerged. Postmethod pedagogy involves a “three dimensional system consisting of pedagogic parameters of particularity, practicality, and possibility” (Kumar  2003, 34). The boundaries between these three parameters are blurred since the characteristics of each overlap one another. It seems like many SLA theories include parameters or parts that overlap one another or are all interconnected. The overlapping of the parameters makes sense but I think that it’s one of the reasons why there is so much debate and unanswered questions in the field.  

Post #2: Teacher Role

            Kumar chapter one was about the role of the teacher and the difference between theory and practice. According to the chapter, there are three different roles that teachers can play in the classroom. The first role is the view of teachers as passive technicians. The primary focus of teaching with this role is content knowledge. Also with this view, teachers and teaching methods are not seen as important. For this reason, there is more concentration on the education part than the teacher part. The second role is teachers as reflective practitioners where teachers are seen as “problem solvers possessing the ability to look back critically and imaginatively” (10). With this view of teachers, there is an emphasis on creativity, artistry, and context sensitivity. The final role of teachers is teachers as transformative intellectuals. In this role, teachers “strive not only for educational advancement but also for personal transformation” (14). Teachers help students function in society. In my opinion, none of these seem adequate enough to define a teacher’s role. I think that a teacher’s role should be a combination of all of the three, along with other components as well. The first role, teachers as passive technicians, bothers me since it follows the idea that teachers and their teaching methods are not important. Teachers are an extremely important component of the classroom. On the other hand, though, I do believe that there is a happy medium as far as how much the teacher should be the one leading the classroom. Sometimes, in specific contexts, it is necessary for students to take the reins and lead the learning. I agree with the second role, which states that teachers are problem solvers, but I don’t believe that this is a main component of their role. Yes, if a problem arises or students don’t understand a concept, it is the teacher’s job to solve those problems. I also agree that teachers have a hand in helping their students function in society. A teacher’s role encompasses so many different characteristics and duties which is why their job should not be labeled as including only specific components like the three discussed in the chapter.

            A question that was brought up towards the beginning of the chapter stuck out to me, asking whether or not teaching actually causes learning to occur (6). This is something that I feel like many people, including myself; just assume to be true since it makes sense. The text goes on to explain how teaching doesn’t always have to lead to learning since “learning can take place in the absence of teaching” (6). I never really thought about this idea until it was brought up in the chapter. I guess students can technically learn without a teacher or facilitator but I think that the learning of material is definitely easier when you have a teacher or someone who can be considered an “expert” on the concepts you are learning. Even though teaching doesn’t always have to lead to learning, Kumar explains how the entire “edifice of education is constructed on the foundation that teaching can contribute to accelerated and accomplished learning” (7).

Post #1: Language-Teaching Methods

 The first chapter by Brown looks closely at an English language lesson about movies and entertainment. The goal of the lesson is for the students to be able to talk about their likes and dislikes using the new vocabulary. All parts of the lesson are broken down by steps, explaining exactly what was done and said by the teacher and the activities the students did. The next section analyzed the lesson. Something that stuck out to me is when Brown states, “for every tiny moment of the classroom hour, certain choices were made” (Brown 8). I believe this quote to be important because one of the many jobs that teachers have is making choices. Teachers make choices about everything that is done during the class period. Many of these choices are made spontaneously. Teachers have a lot of pressure put on them since they are in charge of deciding the choices that will and will not benefit their students’ ability to learn the material.

 

            Brown chapter two is all about language-teaching methodology. There are many different definitions for the word method. Page 16 uses a visual map to organize and break down the word.  The remainder of the chapter discusses the different methods of language-teaching that have evolved over the years. Some of the methods stuck out to me, seeming a little strange. One of which is the grammar translation method. I wasn’t too fond of this method since the classes are taught in the L1 and not the TL. The explanation of the method goes on to explain how there is very little use of the TL and hardly any attention is given to pronunciation. This method definitely does not support the communicative part of learning an L2. Two other methods that interested me since they’re quite different are suggestopedia and the silent way. Suggestopedia suggests that the “human brain can process great quantities of material if given the right conditions for learning” (Brown 27). Examples of these conditions include the state of relaxation and the use of baroque music. The other method, named the silent way because the teachers stays silent for most of the lesson, involves the use of objects that are different shapes and colors. The objects are used to represent parts of speech and syntax, such as verb tense. Both suggestopedia and the silent way have received a lot of criticism since the “teacher is too distant to encourage a communicative atmosphere” (Brown 29). I agree with this criticism. When learning an L2 it is extremely important for the teacher to communicate with the students and encourage communication as much as possible. Unlike the previous two methods, total physical response seems like a great method for language-teaching. In my opinion I think it would be a great method to use for vocabulary activities and maybe some grammar concepts. Getting the students up and moving around the classroom is a great idea since it increases their motivation and participation in learning the material.

            The article by Prabhu argues that there is no best language-teaching method to use. One of the statements that is made is that different methods are best for different teaching context, but later the author goes on the say that this idea still raises too many questions since we would then be looking for the best method for each teaching context. According to Prabhu, it all comes down to the idea of the teacher’s sense of plausibility. A teacher’s sense of plausibility is “how learning takes place and how teaching causes or supports it” (Prabhu 172). The author concludes that the best method varies from one teacher to another but only when the teacher is operating with “his or her own sense of plausibility at any given time” (Prabhu 175). I like the author’s idea of plausibility and also agree with the argument that there isn’t one best method. A teacher should use whatever teaching method they believe helps their students benefit the most.  

Post #14

            The last chapter in the book by McKay acts as an overall summary of the entire book. It discusses how L2 classrooms are affected by many of the topics that have been discussed in the earlier chapters (multilingualism, linguistic variation, standards, etc.). One of the first ideas that are discussed is that English is usually used for very specific purposes: “to access and contribute to the vast amount of information available in English, to assess the economic, political, and social benefits that come with English language proficiency” (181).  In my opinion, this stated purpose does not seem very specific to me, but instead seems to include a wide variety of things. Since English is seen as an international language, an international way of communication for business purposes, etc., there is no clear or specific use of the language but rather, many beneficial reasons and uses. What I have learned about the most and been the most surprised about during the course of this class, is the idea of just how huge the use of English is. Before reading these two books and all of the other separate articles, I never knew just how much the use of English has been steadily growing and how it continues to grow. The documentary that we watched last week in class said that in the future years to come, it is expected that there will be more non-native English speakers than there are native English speakers. This statement surprised me and made me think how difficult it is to imagine this idea actually occurring. I wonder how much it would affect all of us native English Speakers.

            The final chapter also, overall, discusses other topics that were introduced in previous chapters such as the idea of World Englishes, and how these types of English need to be seen as their own language. It is also important that English pedagogy “encourages the awareness of the variation that exists in English today” (183). One topic that was interesting to me was the questioning of the roles that culture should play in the teaching of English. This is something else that I never thought of before, which is funny since I have always thought about the importance of teaching students about the Spanish culture, but never about teaching our culture (Western culture). One problem that I see is that the “English culture” includes many different parts and variations, just like the language itself. The Spanish culture varies as well; depending on the country and dialect you are talking about, but there are many more variations of English that there are Spanish and are therefore more variations of the culture. I do still think that it is incredibly important for students who are learning English to learn about the culture as well. Knowing how to speak the language and all of the grammar rules will only get you so far. Since English is the language most commonly used for business purposes, it is important that non-native English speakers also learn the social part of the English culture, knowing what is appropriate and what isn’t since each culture differs. Suzuki wrote an entire book that argued how the English language and Western culture should be separate, but I obviously disagree. But, on the other hand, I think that it is important for people who are learning English as a second language to not put the English language itself, or the Western culture up on a pedestal. A common theme that I have noticed in many of the articles and chapters we have read over the semester is that people seem to think that learning English will give them many benefits, and it will, but only to a certain extent. It is important that non-native English speakers see the learning of English as a choice and not as something that they have to do, even if it may seem that way.

Post #13

            The article by Kubota discusses the idea of globalization and the effects it has on language teaching in Japan. The author states how the idea of globalization “implies increased local diversity influenced by human contact across cultural boundaries,” and also the idea of “cultural homogenization.” The term ‘Americanization,’ a term I never knew existed until reading this article, is defined as the “diffusion of American values, consumer goods, and lifestyles.” The American franchise stores and fast food restaurants in Japan are examples of globalization and Americanization. The idea of Americanization/globalization also demonstrates people’s desire to identify themselves with Americans. I’m not sure if I agree with what this statement is saying. I don’t think that people have a choice as to what different American chains are started in their country, nor do I believe that they secretly want to be American. The article includes a quote from the CEO of the McDonald’s in Japan that I thought to be very interesting: “'If we eat McDonald's hamburgers and potatoes for a thousand years, we will become taller, our ·skin will become white, and our hair blonde.” I know that this quote isn’t actually saying that the Japanese believe that eating McDonald’s will make them physically look American, but is the only reason they eat the fast food because they want to seem more American? I find that to be sad. Another part of globalization is increased nationalism. The article gives the example of how there are more Japanese flags displayed in public places. So to me, it seems that there is a fear that the Japanese will begin to become too wrapped in all of the parts of the American culture that are being placed in their country. The author goes on to discuss the discourse of kokusaika, which “aims to understand people and cultures in their international communities.” This discourse includes many different ideas, some of which are: the preoccupation with western nations (the US in particular) and emphasize teaching and learning a foreign language (English). I thought it was interesting that the premises of the discourse of kokusaika determine the North American and British varieties of English as being the standard/model. There were many other points that were discussed in this article that I found to be interesting. Another is the ‘native speaker myth,’ which is the “idealization of a native speaker as someone who has perfect, innate knowledge and culture and thus is the best teacher of English.” As we have discussed earlier in class, this idea is very limiting as to who will be allowed to teach. Furthermore is the idea that learning English “enables understanding of the world and cultural diversity” since it is considered the international language. I have seen this point of view come up in other readings that we have read during the semester and I find this view to be very problematic and incorrect. Just because someone is able to speak and communicate in English doesn’t necessarily mean that they are capable of understanding diversity.

            The article by Matsuda discusses a completely different idea, how world Englishes affect the teaching of writing. Some of the topics in the article reminded me of that short documentary we watched in class called Writing Across Boarders. When grading writing assignments written by non-native English speakers, it is difficult to know what to correct, what not to correct, and what to deduct points for. I think that an overall rule to live by when grading papers is to make sure that you are able to understand and comprehend what the person is trying to say. And that even if there are mistakes, the mistakes don’t interrupt being able to understand what is being said.

Post # 12

            Chapter five in the textbook by McKay discusses the linguistic diversity in the use of present-day English and the development of world Englishes. McKay also argues that language contact leads to linguistic variation, and that this variation can be related to issues of power. Macroacquisition, a term defined by Brutt-Griffler, is the process of language acquisition by speech communities in their own local context (124). This is one of the reasons why the use of English is growing so much, creating more varieties and hybrids of English. The textbook describes all the different varieties of Nigerian English, which all contain different characteristics. I never knew how many varieties of one type of English there were! The author then describes the different features of variation such as the variation in the different parts of grammar (nouns, verbs, etc.) and differences in the pronunciation of words. I enjoyed reading all of the differences in the features of the variations of English. I liked the examples that the textbook gave as well. But many of the examples, I don’t think I would understand what was trying to be said if someone were to speak to me using those variations. An example that stuck out to me was under the heading of the differences in discourse style. Apparently, in West African English, the expression “wonderful” can “express the speaker’s amazement, whether the event is good or bad” (135). The example that is given is: “He died yesterday morning,” and the other person’s reaction is: “Wonderful!” It’s so strange for me to think that this type of variation in the English language has occurred since we as native English speakers only use this expression as a reaction to good things. I would be so confused if someone were to respond with “wonderful” after I had just told them something bad.

            The other main idea that is discussed in this chapter is the idea of a standard language, which is defined as the variety of a certain language that is considered the norm. This variety of the standard language is used for many purposes since it is seen as the ideal. It is used for education, to measure other varieties compared to this norm, and there are also language standards for the standard language. These language standards are language rules of that standard that are taught in schools. Since the idea of having a Standard English is so controversial, what I found most interesting about this section was the idea that the term Standard English refers to grammar and vocabulary but not pronunciation. When I first think of a standard form of English, I always first think of pronunciation, but until now I never knew that pronunciation was not part of that standard variety, even though I believe it should be since pronunciation is a large part of knowing how to speak a language. In the article by Lippie-Green, the author argues how “standard language need not be understood as any specific language, but as an idea in the mind rather than a reality - a set of abstract norms to which· actual usage may conform to a greater or lesser extent" (41). What I understand from what she is saying is that there will never be a standard variety of English and that it is an idea.

Post # 11

            Chapter four in the book by McKay was overall about how determining an official language can have consequences for language learning and teaching. There is a section about the English-only movement that I found very interesting. The movement included the idea that the only time languages other than English could be used was “as a transitional method of making students who use a language other than English proficient in English.” It also says that bilingual ballots were not going to be allowed and that there could not be bilingual education programs that were dedicated to maintaining the native language. This bill obviously was never carried through with and actually died in its first stages, but I didn’t even know that something like this was ever created. I find it funny though because even though that bill didn’t pass, there are currently so many things that are in two languages, like signs, menus, etc. I also enjoyed the quote by Donahue, “a common language benefits a country and its people. In our country this common bond is more important than in most because Americans continue to be diverse in origin, ethnicity, religion, and native culture.” I find this quote to be true. I find it sad that the United States doesn’t have an official language, but I don’t think that if an official language is established, that there should be no other languages allowed. I think that is a very unrealistic idea. Even though the US is a mixture of so many different cultures and religions just like the quote says, I think that an official language should at least be determined. I remember a few years ago when I first found out that English isn’t the official language of the United States, I was so confused, and I didn’t understand why it wasn’t considered the official language. I didn’t realize how much more complicated it is to determine an official language. I don’t think that determining an official language for our country would have an obvious positive impact, but I think it would be a much more indirect influence, but still very beneficial. Another controversial topic that the chapter discusses is the idea of bilingual education. I never knew how many people disagreed with it. The book states that the controversial part of bilingual education is the “role of the minority language.” It then goes on to say how some people view the goal of bilingualism to be monolingualism.” This is also a very sad idea in my opinion. I wonder if one of the reasons that I view bilingual education as a good thing is because I speak another language. I think that some people who only speak English may not fully understand the concept of bilingual education, and may see it as a bad thing that students are learning English while maintaining their native language. If this is true, this view needs to be changed. The article by Farr and Song talks about how most people think that when someone is bilingual, it means that they have “two linguistic systems,” seeing them as “double monolinguals with ideally equal competence in each language.” But a lot of times the two languages are mixed, and they tend to code-switch between the two languages.  

Post #10

            Chapter two in the textbook by McKay describes the contexts in which English is being learned. It also goes into detail about Kachru’s model of English use contexts. A common reason why some people start to take formal English classes is because of the “belief that English provides access to global communication and knowledge.” But there are also other people who are required to take English, so they do not have a choice. The two ELI students I talked to in class who were from Japan said that they never had a choice as to whether or not they wanted to learn English. I asked them how they felt about that and they didn’t really know how to answer, probably because they had never thought about it since they never had a choice. In my opinion, this chapter explains Kachru’s concentric circles of English speakers much better than the other articles. It is a lot easier to understand. Countries in the inner circle are where English is the primary language of the country, like the United States or Australia. The outer circle is where English is the second language in multilingual countries, such as Singapore. Lastly, is the expanding circle, where English is widely studied as a foreign language, like in China and Germany. I still think that it is kind of difficult to see the distinction between the outer circle and the expanding circle. In many expanding circle countries, students have no motivation to learn English. There are even acronyms to describe this idea: TENAR (Teaching English for No Apparent Reason) and TENOP (Teaching English for NO Obvious Purpose). I can understand how students can lack the motivation to want to learn English, but by the sound of some of the acronyms they define, maybe even the teachers who are teaching English don’t understand why the students are learning it and don’t give students the answer as to the purpose. I don’t understand how students could have absolutely no motivation to learn English, because it’s so widely spoken. The chapter goes on to discuss how the “lines separating these circles have become more permeable” because of the growing migration and the increased use of English. With these circles it is also difficult to factor in English bilinguals who function as natives. A little later in the chapter is says that in South Korea and Japan, the importance of English is highlighted, talking about how it is part of the global community, but the English textbooks there show Korean customs and cultural values as “being more desirable than American traditions.” This surprised me because it’s almost like they’re afraid that the students who are learning English will begin to believe that the American way is better.   

            Chapter three talks about multilingual societies and diglossia. Diglossia is when “speakers have two or more languages in their repertoires” but don’t always use them all in the same situation. The languages have different roles that they play in society and are used in different domains such as family, religion, and education. Some researchers say that in situations involving more than one language it’s hard to “draw distinct lines around particular situations and domains and say that a particular language variety is only used there.” In the interview that I did for the cultural exploration paper, the woman that I interviewed grew up bilingual, speaking both Farsi and English all her life. While she and her family still lived in Iran, she said that she and her sister would always speak Farsi with her mom and English with her dad. But after they came to the United States, they began trying to only speak Farsi inside the house since they only really ever spoke English outside of the house. Dania said that now she mostly speaks English with her parents because that’s the language they’re use to speaking most often. Dania will sometimes speak Farsi with her friends too. So she doesn’t have specific situations in which she speaks one language and other situations where she speaks the other language.

Post #9

            Chapter one in the McKay textbook talks about how English has developed as a global language, and what this does to the status of the language and other languages as well. One of the goals of the chapter is to establish a relationship between globalization and the spread of English. There are many different perspectives of the spread of English. One is the homogeny position which “views the spread of English as leading to a homogenization of world culture” (3). The second position is the heterogeny perspective which “describes the features of World Englishes as a sign of pluricentricism that has been brought about by globalization” (3). To me, the first perspective, the homogeny perspective sounds insane! I can’t imagine a world that includes only one culture and one language. I never thought of this as being a possible consequence of the wide spread of English across the world. It’s a very hard concept to imagine, but I hope it never happens. But there are other people, such as Pennycook, who argue that it is neither of those positions but instead a mixture of many other factors. I really like the quote by Kachru that says, “Knowing English is like possessing the fabled Aladdin’s lamp, which permits one to open, as it were, the linguistic gates to international business, technology, science, and travel” (7). I like how the author is comparing the idea of how English can give people so many opportunities, to the story of Aladdin and his lamp. It’s hard for me to imagine how it would be to not be a native speaker of English. After talking about all these TESOL concepts in class, it really makes me wonder what I would be doing right now if I was never a native English speaker. Would I be learning English instead of Spanish? I’m curious how it would be to be on the other side of things. Would I be forced to learn English, or would I choose to learn it? How would I feel about the idea of English possibly becoming a global language? Then on the other hand, I think how happy I am to be to speak English since it is so important in the world. Crystal states that we can’t stop the spread of English, and that in the next 500 years everyone could be automatically exposed to English. Another interesting concept that the chapter discusses is how there is a belief in the power of English, especially among people who are younger. They have the notion that “English will help them get on in the world” (8). There are many incentives for learning English: economic, educational, mass media, and advertising incentives. The media is definitely something to think about. When I was in Spain, on TV there were so many American channels, like Disney channel, where the English words had just been dubbed over with Spanish. I also saw two movies in the theater when I was there. They were both American movies that had Spanish voice-overs. With the use of English growing so much, there is also the possibility of other languages dying. In my English 341 class last semester we read a book called When Languages Die, and it talked about all the reasons why languages die. One of the reasons was because people start to use the language that is better known and widely used instead of their native languages, and they then stop teaching their children. There are also other dangers that can occur with the spread of English. Two possibilities are the growing of monolingualism among English speakers, and an economic divide in English learning.

Post #8

The articles for this week discuss the idea of race and the term racialization. According to both the Kubota/Lin article and the Rich/Troudy article, racialization is defined as a “racial categorization” where people are divided into groups based on their biological features. The Rich/Troudy article briefly mentions how new types of racism are beginning to form, which is what was discussed in the reading from the Holliday textbook from last week, the “New Racism.” The authors state that this type of racism is much more difficult to “name and detect.”

            Overall, the article by Rich/Troudy was particularly interesting to me since it covered a topic that I never knew there was an actual word for: Islamophobia, defined as “an irrational fear of Muslims and what Islam represents.” I knew that this type of fear existed but not that it was actually considered a type of phobia. According to the article, this is not a new idea, which surprised me, but since 9/11 there has been much more of this type of phobia in the media. The discourse of Islamophobia after 9/11 “takes the form of religious prejudice and discrimination.” Last week in class we watched part of a documentary about how Arabs are portrayed in movies, which fits well with the concept of this article. After seeing part of the documentary, even though I hadn’t seen most of the movies that they talked about, I was surprised to see how many Hollywood movies portray Arabs as the “bad people.” The movie that shocked me the most was Disney’s Aladdin. I loved that movie as a kid and still enjoy watching it today, but I never realized how badly Arabs are portrayed in it until watching the clips that they showed in the documentary. The song at the beginning of the movie has horrible lyrics, but I never noticed what they actually meant when I was watching the movie as a child. All of the movies that portray Arabs this way aren’t helping with the prejudices that people have against them, the movies most likely only make those prejudices stronger. The picture that comes to my mind when I think of people discriminating against Arabs and seeing them as the Other, is the classic scene in an airport going through the metal detectors at security. 9/11 is to blame for this type of discrimination in the airport. I sometimes wonder what runs through some peoples’ minds if they see a man with a turban walking through the airport. I also wonder what the TSA officials at the airport think as well, and whether they are told to watch and search Arabs more closely, only because of their race, religion, and appearance, and because of the events of 9/11.

            The purpose of the study in the article is to find out that ways that Arab Muslim students see racialization as having an impact on their experiences of Othering in the TESOL community in the UK. Qualitative data was collected by conducting interviews with the students and giving them questionnaires to fill out. The findings of the study are intriguing. The idea of gender came up often, and how it is linked to “nationality, ethnicity, and religion.” One student talked about how he thinks the other students have a negative concept of male Arabs. He states, “They ask me why in Islam they marry four wives.” Another student in the study also mentioned that she was often asked about the treatment of women in Saudi Arabia. At the end of the article, the authors discuss how the students who participated in the study will most likely go through a hard time because of the Islamophobic discourses that “determine how they are positioned in wider society.”