Showing papers in "TESOL Quarterly in 1995"

Social Identity, Investment, and Language Learning*

Abstract: The author argues that second language acquisition (SLA) theorists have struggled to conceptualize the relationship between the language learner and the social world because they have not developed a comprehensive theory of social identity which integrates the language learner and the language learning context. She also maintains that SLA theorists have not adequately addressed how relations of power affect interaction between language learners and target language speakers. Using data collected in Canada from January to December 1991 from diaries, questionnaires, individual and group interviews, and home visits, the author illustrates how and under what conditions the immigrant women in her study created, responded to, and sometimes resisted opportunities to speak English. Drawing on her data analysis as well as her reading in social theory, the author argues that current conceptions of the individual in SLA theory need to be reconceptualized, and she draws on the poststructuralist conception of social identity as multiple, a site of struggle, and subject to change to explain the findings from her study. Further, she argues for a conception of investment rather than motivation to capture the complex relationship of language learners to the target language and their sometimes ambivalent desire to speak it. The notion of investment conceives of the language learner, not as a historical and unidimensional, but as having a complex social history and multiple desires. The article includes a discussion of the implications of the study for classroom teaching and current theories of communicative competence.

A Closer Look at Learning Strategies, L2 Proficiency, and Gender

Abstract: This study builds on previous research using the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL). Most previous SILL research has made comparisons across the entire survey or in terms of strategy categories and has stressed proficiency level at the expense of other variables. The present largescale (N = 374) study of language learning strategy use by students at three different course levels at the University of Puerto Rico relates strategy use to gender as well as to L2 proficiency level and includes analysis of variation in the use of individual strategies on the SILL. Like previous researchers, we found greater use of learning strategies among more successful learners and higher levels of strategy use by women than by men. Our analysis, however, revealed more complex patterns of use than have appeared in previous studies. With both proficiency level and gender, only some items showed significant variation, and significant variation by proficiency level did not invariably mean more frequent strategy use by more successful students. The strategies reported as used more often by the more successful students emphasized active, naturalistic practice and were used in combination with a variety of what we term bedrock strategies, which were used frequently or moderately frequently by learners at all levels. The study's generalizability and its implications for teachers and researchers are discussed.

On the Teachability of Communication Strategies

Abstract: Because a significant proportion of real-life L2 communication is problematic, L2 learners might benefit from instruction on how to cope with performance problems. Such instruction could include the specific teaching of' communication strategies, which involve various verbal and nonverbal means of dealing with difficulties and breakdowns that occur in everyday communication. Opinions on the teachability of such strategies, however, vary widely, and several researchers have questioned the validity of strategy training. This article first describes what communication strategies are and provides an overview of the teachability issue, discussing the arguments for and against strategy instruction, and suggests three possible reasons for the existing controversy. After this the results of a study aimed at obtaining empirical data on the educational potential of strategy training are presented. The findings point to the possibility of developing the quality and quantity of learners' use of at least some communication strategies through focused instruction.

Student Reactions to Teacher Response in Multiple‐Draft Composition Classrooms*

Abstract: Research in L1 and L2 student writing has suggested that teacher response to student compositions is most effective when it is given on preliminary rather than final drafts of student essays (Freedman, 1987; Krashen, 1984). One area of research in L1 and L2 composition is the assessment of student reactions to the feedback they receive from their teachers (Cohen & Cavalcanti, 1990; Hedgcock & Lefkowitz, 1994; Leki, 1991; McCurdy, 1992). However, most previous studies of ESL student response to their teachers' written comments on their essays have been undertaken in single-draft, rather than multiple-draft, contexts. In this study, 155 students in two levels of a university ESL composition program responded to a survey very similar to the ones utilized by Cohen (1987) and McCurdy (1992) in single-draft settings. The results of the survey indicated that students pay more attention to teacher feedback provided on preliminary drafts (vs. final drafts) of their essays; that they utilize a variety of strategies to respond to their teachers' comments; that they appreciate receiving comments of encouragement; and that, overall, they find their teachers' feedback useful in helping them to improve their writing. Responses also showed that students had a variety of problems in understanding their teachers' comments, suggesting that teachers should be more intentional in explaining their responding behaviors to their students.

Qualitative Theory and Methods in Applied Linguistics Research

Abstract: This article reviews basic issues of theory and method in qualitative research approaches to applied linguistics research. As pointed out by Lazaraton (this issue), a great deal of debate, misunderstanding, and confusion currently surrounds the use of qualitative research methods in the applied linguistics field. Much of this controversy appears to center around three interrelated issues: research traditions, definitions of research, and qualitative research theory and methods. In this article I examine these issues with a view toward dispelling some of the confusion and illuminating the ways in which qualitative research can contribute to our understanding of language acquisition and use.

Coping Strategies of ESL Students in Writing Tasks Across the Curriculum

Abstract: Writing research has given us few accounts of the writing experience of ESL students outside the English or writing classroom. This article reports a qualitative research study of 5 ESL visa students in their first semester of study at a U.S. university. The goal of the research was to examine the academic literacy experiences of these students in light of the strategies they brought with them to their first academic experience in the U.S. and the strategies they developed in response to the writing demands they encountered in their regular courses across the curriculum. The results of this study give us an in-depth and detailed picture of this group of ESL students at the initial stages of acquiring discipline-specific discourse strategies not in the English classroom but while fully engaged in the struggle to survive the demands of disciplinary courses. In the tradition of qualitative research, this report is at the same time fully embedded in a narrative of these students' experiences, giving us a picture not only of students learning to write but also of human beings negotiating the exhilarating and sometimes puzzling demands of U.S. academic life.

Closing the Gap Between Learning and Instruction

Abstract: In this paper, I explore the mismatch between the pedagogical intentions and plans of the educational institution, curriculum, teacher, and textbook, and the outcomes as realized through the skills and knowledge that learners take away from instructional encounters. Although there will never be a one-to-one relationship between teaching and learning, there are ways in which teachers and learners and teaching and learning can be brought closer together. In this article, I look at ways of closing the gap in relation to experiential content, learning process, and language content. The theme holding these three disparate domains together is that of learner centredness, and it is this concept which I take as my point of departure.

On the Notion of Culture in L2 Lectures

Abstract: This article reports on one aspect of the findings of a 3-year ethnographic study into academic lectures conducted at a university in Hong Kong, where native speakers of English lecture to ethnic Chinese ESL students. Based on ethnographic data, the article develops a framework for the analysis of L2 lectures. The framework has four dimensions: ethnic culture, local culture, academic culture, and disciplinary culture. Each of the dimensions is illustrated by means of data from the ethnographic research. The article suggests that application of the model, because of its potential for developing cultural synergy, is likely to be of interest for those involved in the lecture preparation of lecturers and students in an L2, both in Hong Kong and elsewhere.

Becoming First Graders in an L2: An Ethnographic Study of L2 Socialization

Abstract: This ethnographic report “thickly describes” (Geertz, 1973) the participation of ESL children in the daily classroom events of a mainstream first-grade classroom. Data for this paper come from a yearlong study of one classroom in an international school on a college campus in the U.S. Using a language socialization and micropolitical orientation, the report describes how, through socially significant interfactional routines, the children and other members of the classroom jointly constructed the ESL children's identities, social relations, and ideologies as well as their communicative competence in that setting. The sociocultural ecology of the community, school, and classroom shaped the kinds of microinteractions that occurred and thus the nature of their language learning over the course of the year.

Interpretation Tasks for Grammar Teaching

Abstract: Grammar teaching has traditionally consisted of giving learners opportunities to produce specific grammatical structures. Such an approach may prove ineffective because it does not take account of how learners acquire grammatical structures (e.g., Krashen, 1982). This article examines an alternative approach to grammar teaching— one based on interpreting input. This approach emphasizes helping learners to notice grammatical features in the input, comprehend their meanings, and compare the forms present in the input with those occurring in learner output. The rationale for the approach is discussed as are the principles for designing interpretation tasks for grammar teaching.

The Role of Lexical Aspect in the Acquisition of Tense and Aspect

Abstract: This article presents the results of a study investigating the acquisition of the simple past tense, identifies areas of difficulty, and presents an acquisitionally based approach to instruction for the problematic areas. The study, a cross-sectional investigation of 182 adult learners of English as a second language at six levels of proficiency, showed that the acquisition of the past tense in English is not a unitary phenomenon, but that it proceeds in stages. These stages are determined by the meaning of verbs as they relate to the expression of action and time, what we will term lexical aspect. These findings show that the acquisition of tense by classroom language learners follows the same sequences of development (with instruction) that have been observed in the acquisition of adult learners and in children without instruction. In early stages, learners often do not use the past tense where it is preferred by native speakers, indicating an undergeneralization of the meaning of the past in the learner grammar. We present an approach to instruction aimed at increasing the use of the past to balance contextualized examples through the use of authentic text and focused noticing exercises to encourage the learners toward a more targetlike association of form and meaning.

An Ethnography of Communication in Immersion Classrooms in Hungary

Abstract: This study investigates the interface of recent macro- and microlevel changes in Hungary by examining transformations in educational discourse in the context of history lessons at secondary schools with English immersion (dual-language, or DL) programs. The macrolevel changes are linked to sociopolitical transformations in the late 1980s and the rejection of Soviet-oriented policies and the discourse of authoritarianism. Parallel microlevel changes have also surfaced in the innovative English-medium sections of some experimental DL schools. These changes have come about with the breakdown of a traditional, very demanding genre of oral assessment known as the feleles (recitation) and its replacement by short student lectures and other, more open-ended discussion activities. This ethnographic study explores the discursive constitution of English-medium classrooms and the socialization of students attending one progressive Eastern European secondary school into the use of a foreign language to discuss historical material. The research provides a contextualized analysis of classroom discourse practices by examining some of the sociocultural, linguistic, and academic knowledge structures that are integral to and instilled within one curricular area and school system in the wake of political and educational reform.

Cultures of Writing: An Ethnographic Comparison of L1 and L2 University Writing/Language Programs

Abstract: Nonnative-speaking (NNS) undergraduates at U.S. universities frequently proceed from ESL or English for academic purposes writing classes directly into freshman composition. Although this sequence of events may be an effective means of getting students into the academic writing mainstream, there have been some suggestions to the contrary. Taking an ethnographic approach, this study describes the contrasting cultural norms of academic writing and academic writing instruction at a large U.S. university. It then compares these differing viewpoints in order to identify difficulties that NNSs might experience in proceeding from the former program to the latter.

Mainstream Classroom Teachers and ESL Students.

Abstract: The TESOL Quarterly invites readers to submit short reports and updates on their work. These summaries may address any areas of interest to Quarterly readers. Authors' addresses are printed with these reports to enable interested readers to contact the authors for more details.

The Teacher Change Cycle

Abstract: This article posits a teacher change cycle based on an investigation of eight Hong Kong secondary teachers' adoption of innovative practice over a 6-month period in which they received training and ongoing support to carry out three units of process writing lessons in one of their English classes. The evidence for the proposed model of teacher change comes from teachers' diary records describing and reacting to the instructional units, reports of observations, transcripts of monthly meetings, and information from questionnaire responses written before and after the tryout period. The model proposes that teachers typically move through a change cycle in responding to an innovation in which their focus shifts over time from its procedural aspect, to its interpersonal aspect, and finally to its conceptual aspect. Through this process, they achieve a higher level of expertise, psychological comfort, and understanding of the innovation, thereby personalizing it to bring it into their own practice. The investigation helps to shed some light on not only the adoption of innovations but also teacher change and development.

Qualitative Research in Applied Linguistics: A Progress Report

Abstract: This article describes the status of qualitative research in applied linguistics and ESOL. It identifies trends by reporting on an informal survey of published journal articles, highlighting relevant published qualitative studies and research methods texts, and relating the views of research methodologists working within and outside the qualitative tradition. Several of the unresolved, persistent issues raised are progress toward a definition of qualitative research, the role of quantification in qualitative research, and the generalizability of qualitative research.

Effects of Previewing and Providing Background Knowledge on Taiwanese College Students' Comprehension of American Short Stories

Abstract: This study investigated the effects of previewing and providing background knowledge for American short stories on Taiwanese college students' comprehension of the stories and attitudes toward the treatments. Approximately 240 college freshmen were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups and read two short stories. Before reading each story, one group listened to a 200-word preview, a second group listened to a 200-word presentation of background knowledge, and a third group listened to both the preview and, the background knowledge presentation. The fourth group read each story without any prereading assistance. Results on short-answer and multiple-choice posttests showed strong positive effects of the previewing and combined treatments and weaker positive effects of the background knowledge treatment. Students' responses to a semantic differential and an open-ended attitude question showed that they generally responded positively to all experimental treatments. Implications of the findings for reading instruction in L2 classrooms are discussed.

Rating Nonnative Writing: The Trouble with Holistic Scoring.

Abstract: The TESOL Quarterly publishes brief commentaries on aspects of qualitative and quantitative research. For this issue, we asked two researchers to discuss methodological challenges in the rating of compositions.

The Relationship Between L1 and L2 Literacy: Some Complicating Factors

Abstract: This paper explores ways in which the wholesale transfer of assumptions from LI literacy can sometimes complicate the process of acquiring L2 literacy. Using the methods of narrative inquiry, I describe my attempts to reach a deeper understanding of L2 literacy via an autobiographical study of Chinese literacy acquisition. The article describes the ways in which my prior English language literacy experiences affected my progress in the L2 and outlines the very complex set of unconscious assumptions about literacy which were held by my Chinese tutor and myself. Some of the key areas in which my tutor and I held different assumptions about literacy included: the qualities of self which literacy skills display; the value of analytic approaches to learning literacy versus holistic ones; the relationship between form and content; and the signs of a good learner. The article also touches on the emotional impact of this experience and suggests that teachers need to reach a fuller understanding of their unconscious assumptions about literacy if they are to help L2 literacy learners.

The Use of Modal Verbs as a Reflection of Cultural Values

Abstract: Much research has focused on nonnative speaker (NNS) use of modal verbs of obligation and necessity, indicating that NNSs may have difficulty with these modals and use them in different contexts from those of native speakers (NSs). Research also indicates that appropriate modal verb usage relies on presuppositions commonly known and accepted in a language community. This article proposes that NNS usage of modal verbs reflects the pragmatic frameworks and norms specific to the learner's L 1 environment, which may be different from those expected in L2 conceptual structures. To determine whether NNS and NS usage of modals varies in relation to each other in the contexts of different topics, 455 essays written by speakers of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, and Vietnamese were compared to 280 essays on similar topics written by NSs of American English. The results of this study indicate that the usage of the root modals must, have to, should, ought to, and need to in NS and NNS writing appears to be culture and context dependent.

The Theory of Methodology in Qualitative Research

Abstract: The TESOL Quarterly invites commentary on current trends or practices in the TESOL profession. It also welcomes responses or rebuttals to articles or reviews published in the Quarterly. Unfortunately, we are not able to publish responses to previous Forum exchanges.

Looking Behind the Curtain: What Do L2 Composition Ratings Really Mean?

Abstract: Barritt, L., Stock, P. L., & Clark, F. (1986) Researching practice: Evaluating assessment essays. College Composition and Communication, 37, 315-327. Black, L., Daiker, D. A., Sommers,J., & Stygall, G. (1994). New directions in portfolio assessment. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook Heinemann. Cumming, A., & Riazi, A. (1994, October). Learning variables and achievement in ESL written composition. Paper presented at the Second Language Research Forum, McGill and Concordia Universities, Montreal, Canada. Hamp-Lyons, L. (1991). Scoring procedures for ESL contexts. In L. Hamp-Lyons (Ed.), Assessing second language writing in academic contexts (pp. 241-276). Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Jacobs, H.L., Zinkgraf, S.A., Wormuth, D.R., Hartfiel, V.F., & Hughey,J.B. (1981). Testing ESL composition: A practical approach. Rowley, MA: Newbury House. Lloyd-Jones, R. (1977). Primary trait scoring. In C. R. Cooper & L. Odell, (Eds.), Evaluating writing: Describing, measuring, judging (pp. 33-68). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. MELAB Technical Manual. (1994). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan,Testing and Certification Division, English Language Institute.

Bilingualism in a multilingual society : psycho-social and pedagogical implications

Abstract: The TESOL Quarterly welcomes evaluative reviews of publications relevant to TESOL professionals. In addition to textbooks and reference materials, these include computer and video software, testing instruments, and other forms of nonprint materials.

Gender and Ethnicity as Factors in the Development of Verbal Skills in Bilingual Mexican American Women.

Abstract: This study describes and analyzes differences in student output across ethnicity and gender in a mixed monolingual English and bilingual Spanish/English class in order to understand how L2 oral language skills are developed in a mixed classroom. Primary participants in the study included approximately 30 basic writing students ranging in age from 18 to 60. Fifty-five percent of the students were bilingual Mexican American, and the remainder were monolingual Anglo Americans. Participant observation, informal interviews, and audio-tape classroom and tutorial interaction provide the data for this classroom ethnography. Data were analyzed to discover patterns of student output in various interfactional contexts and to discover how the structure and content of interaction influenced these patterns. The analysis revealed that bilingual Mexican American students spoke significantly less in whole class interaction than monolingual Anglo American students. Moreover, an analysis by gender revealed that Mexican American men contributed four times the amount expected, whereas Mexican American women spoke half as much as expected. In other interfactional contexts, however, the bilingual women were quite verbal. The social status of Mexican American women as “double minorities” and negative attitudes toward Spanish/English bilingual help explain why the Mexican American women alone responded to whole class interaction with silence.

Privileged ESL University Students.

Abstract: The TESOL Quarterly invites commentary on current trends or practices in the TESOL profession. It also welcomes responses or rebuttals to articles or reviews published in the Quarterly. Unfortunately, we are not able to publish responses to previous Forum exchanges.

Asking “Good” Questions: Perspectives From: Qualitative Research on Practice, Knowledge, and Understanding in Teacher Education

Abstract: ing. Curriculum Inquiiy, 19, 379-403. Saville-Troike, M., & Kleifken, J. A. (1986). Scripts for school: Cross-cultural communication in elementary classrooms. Text, 6, 207-221. Strong, M. (1983). Social styles and the second language acquisition of Spanishspeaking kindergartners. TESOL Quarterly, 17, 241-258. Toukomaa, P., & Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (1979). The intensive teaching of the mother tongue to migrant children of pre-school age and children in the lower level of comprehensive school. Helsinki: The Finnish National Commission for UNESCO. Urzfa, C. (1986). A children's story. In P. Rigg & D. S. Enright (Eds.), Children and ESL: Integrating perspectives (pp. 93-112). Washington, DC: TESOL. Willett, G. (1987). Contrasting acculturation patterns of two non-English-speaking preschoolers. In H. Trueba (Ed.), Success or failure: Learning and the language minority student (pp. 69-84). Cambridge: Newbury House. Wong Fillmore, L. (1979). Individual differences in second language acquisition. In C. Fillmore, D. Kempler, & W. Wang (Eds.), Individual differences in language ability and language behavior (pp. 203-228). New York: Academic Press.

Testing Language and Teaching Skills of International Teaching Assistants: The Limits of Compensatory Strategies.

Abstract: This study examines the relative contributions of linguistic and strategic competence to the performance of international teaching assistants (ITAs) on a teaching task. Study 1 examines the relative contribution of language and teaching skills to overall test performance, whereas Study 2 examines the effect of a one-semester training class on the retest performance of ITAs who initially did not pass the test. The results indicate that the extent to which language abilities are critical to the teaching task varies with the proficiency of the learner. Compensatory teaching strategies, which enable more proficient students to overcome linguistic weaknesses, do not have a strong effect for less proficient learners.

The Interaction Between Task and Meaning Construction in EFL Reading Comprehension Tests

Abstract: This study investigates the interrelationship between meaning construction and testing tasks. The study's basic hypothesis is that a reader's mental model continues to develop throughout the testtaking process. Thus, testing tasks are information sources which affect the ongoing construction of the test taker's mental model. Within the framework of this study, the ability to comprehend a text is considered to be the ability to construct a mental model of the text. Current thinking in the field of language testing emphasizes the need for taking into account the processing involved in the testtaking situation and not solely the product. Thus, in order to study the test-taking process in greater depth and, specifically, to examine the interrelationship between testing tasks in different formats and the test taker's on-line meaning construction, an exploratory study was carried out. Think-aloud data were obtained as subjects responded to both multiple choice and open ended comprehension test questions written in both Hebrew and English on an EFL reading test. The subjects were 28 10th-grade high school students studying EFL. The analysis of the verbal protocols revealed that testing tasks function as an additional information source which interacts in one of four ways with the continuing development of the test taker's mental model: (a) integrating new information into an existing information structure; (b) constructing a new information structure; (c) confirming an existing information structure; and (d) newly integrating existing information structures. The results are discussed in relation to the validity of reading comprehension tests and implications for instruction and evaluation.

Comments on B. Kumaravadivelu's “The Postmethod Condition: (E)merging strategies for Second/Foreign Language Teaching”“Alternative to” or “Addition to” Method?

Abstract: are all subtitled in Japanese. Thirdly, I would like to react to the comment about my not having read any of the recent literature on the subject of learning strategies, specifically related to the use of Oxford's strategy inventory. Oxford attaches to her five-page response a reference list with 18 entries, 12 of which are unpublished master's theses or doctoral dissertations, papers read at conferences, published in a journal unavailable in Japan or marked "in press." It is simply not possible for overseas researchers to have access to such materials. I would happily participate in collaborative research. However, although the call for collaboration is useful, researchers in Asia often find a patronizing attitude toward their work and their ideas. I am glad Oxford and Green are working to overcome this by actively working toward collaborative research. To conclude, my position is that there are different kinds of research which produce different results which may be of interest. Research dealing with human beings is notoriously fuzzy and shows a great deal of variation. I welcome that and see such variation as the norm. It is only through supportive collaborative research as well as supportive feedback to others that we can ever hope to begin to fill in the gaps on our journey to better understanding of how human beings learn and communicate in the world.