Writing a persuasive essay: Writing a persuasive essay is much like preparing for a debate.

You need to study your persuasive essay topic from various perspectives, establish your main argument and gather supporting evidence. You also need to know how to write a persuasive essay, namely how to organize parts of thepersuasive essay in the way that will work best.

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Scholarship Essay Contests: 10 Sure-fire Ways to Win in Essay Challenge College Essay Writing Master the Art of Persuasion for your Essays Argument Essay Topics from WritingBest The Solution of Successful Essay Subject Solution Revealed Try the following instructions on how to write a persuasive essay. They are indispensable in writing a well-planned and thoroughly consideredpersuasive essay.

1.Start with an Impressive Lead-In

The introduction of your persuasive essay is the first words you utter to render the readers to be welldisposed to you. Moreover, it is by the introduction that the reader decides whether to go on reading you essay or leave it in peace. Thus, the introduction of your essay should be attention grabbing and impressive enough to induce the reader to read further on.

Writing a persuasive essay, you need to pay particular attention to the first sentence you are going to write down, namely a lead-in. It is the most important part of the whole persuasive essay, out of which you come out either a winner or a loser.

To write a strong and impressive lead-in, try the following strategies: 7.start with an unusual detail; 8.put a strong statement; 9.quote a famous person; 10.introduce a short and up-to-the-point anecdote;

11.open the essay with a statistic or fact; 12.start with an emphatic rhetorical question;

Before deciding on one of the strategies, try all of them. You will be surprised to find out how different strategies can enrich and smarten up the introduction to your persuasive essay.

After you have put the opening sentence, be sure to introduce a sentence that will show that you see both pros and cons of the subject matter under consideration. Then write a thesis or focus

statement, which has to reveal your own point of view. A well-formulated thesis statement is the key to success, as it is the central part of your essay, around which all other parts are organized.

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Remember that a good introduction should be brief, concise and end with a closing sentence that will be transitional to the next paragrath.

2.Support Your Thesis in the Body

The body of your persuasive essay is the main part of your writing where you present supporting evidence and elaborate on the reasons you stated previously. The body should be a proof that you have researched and examined your persuasive

essay topic and that your arguments are reasonable and reliable.

In order to prove your thesis statement and dispel the opposing arguments, you need to: 1) state the facts of the case; 2) prove your thesis with arguments; and 3) disprove your opponent's arguments in three consecutive steps.

Statement of facts is a non-argumentative presentation of details, summaries and narration concerning the problem discussion. In this part of

the body you should present supporting evidence without stating your own point of view and trying to persuade the readers in it.

First, you should remind the readers of some events, provide vivid illustrations that will show the significance of the topic. Statement of facts should be clear, brief, and vivid. If you obscure the facts, you are defeating the purpose. Thus, delete irrelevant information and information which contributes little to the reader's understanding.

After you've introduced some facts, you can get down to proving your thesis with arguments. This should be the longest section and the central part of your persuasive essay. With the readers rendered attentive by the introduction and informed by the statement of fact, you must show why your position concerning the facts should be accepted and believed.

Now comes the time to deny the truth on which the opposing argument is built. Be patient in thinking

over the refutation. It is the most difficult stage that needs time, concentration and absorption.

The proven way to hook readers' attention is to leave your strongest argument for last so that to leave them with your best thought.

3.Write a Memorable Conclusion.

Your conclusion should be a "mirror image" of your introduction. It means that you should refresh the reader's memory and remind him of the thesis

statement you put in the introduction. It is not a mere waste of time or words, but the best way to convince the reader to take your side.

As well as in writing the introduction, you can try several ways to write a memorable conclusion for your persuasive essay.

Except for restating the introduction, you can summarize the main points to enable the readers to recall the main points of your position.

A nice way to conclude the persuasive essay is to write a personal comment or call for action. It could be: 1) your prediction; 2) a question that will let the readers make their own predictions; 3) your recommendations to solve a problem; 4) a quotation. It's up to you to decide!

The last line of your persuasive essay, that is the "tag line," needs special attention, for it is the second most important line after the lead-in. Thus, it is important that it: 4.renders the readers to be well disposed to you;

5.magnifies your points; 6.puts the readers in the proper mood.

Once you have put the full stop after the "tag line", your work is over. But make sure that the words you have put in your persuasive essay will be "working" long after your readers stop reading it.

http://udini.proquest.com/ (Only topic outlines are available for theses)

Content representations in teaching English as a foreign language

Dissertation Author: Sultan Turkan

This study was an exploration of what English language content was represented in a classroom in which English was taught as a foreign language (EFL). The purpose of this study was to explore the way EFL teachers represent English language content/constructs in a classroom setting. The motivation behind this exploration is to contribute to the understandings of EFL teachers' practices in classroom settings. Doyle's task framework was employed, specifically with the intention to map what content representations emerged out of the teachers' classroom practices. All in all, the teachers' classroom content representations were found to be entrenched with the idea of high-stakes test preparation for university admissions in Turkey. xxxxx Teaching English in Untracked Classrooms

Research in the Teaching of English, August 1, 2005 Journal Article Authors: Suzanne Mills Crawford, Sarah Warshauer Freedman and Verda Delp

This teacher-researcher/university-researcher collaboration focuses on teaching and learning in untracked English classes, but has implications for all classrooms where students have different needs. We primarily examine the teacher-researcher's (Delp's) eighth-grade untracked English class but also include data from a group of beginning teachers learning to teach in similar settings. In the end, we challenge previous findings about teaching and learning in untracked English classes and raise issues about the theories that guide such work as well as the relationship between theory and practice. In the context of strong student growth across achievement levels and ethnic groups, we found that the activity system in Delp's classroom differed markedly from what is usually recommended for teaching heterogeneous groups. Instead of teacherorganized small groups (as in cooperative learning or complex instruction), Delp relied on whole-group, multimodal activities and one-on-one teacherstudent interactions during group activities. We hypothesize that the activity system is not critical in deciding how best to teach in untracked classrooms. More important is a set of underlying principles,

rooted in Vygotskian and Bakhtinian theory, which support the activity system. The principles include (a) building a long-term curriculum that promotes the recycling of structures and ideas, with room for everdeepening levels of complexity; (b) considering learners to be in control of their learning and building structures that support them in challenging themselves; (c) building a learning community that respects and makes productive use of diverse contributions from varied learners; (d) providing opportunities for diverse ways of learning; (e) providing support to individuals as needed; (f) challenging all students; (g) keeping learners actively involved. This analysis of Delp's teaching and her students' learning further shows how Vygotsky's "zone of proximal development" functions within a whole-class context, where students are involved at their different levels and where the teacher plays an active role in tailoring instruction to these levels, both through the whole-class activity system and through the ongoing one-on-one interactions. Finally, the analysis explores how notions of development across long stretches of time can help teachers see and understand growth for an

academically and socioculturally diverse group of adolescent students, growth that includes intellectual as well as ethical and emotional components.

Research on ability-group tracking has revealed many problems with this common practice-from negative effects on student achievement and selfesteem to exacerbating educational inequity for lower socio-economic classes and traditionally underserved ethnic groups. Given these problems, we need to learn how to successfully meet the needs of highly diverse groups of students in untracked classes. This three-year research project focused on what is involved for teachers in creating curricula in untracked classrooms. It shows how teachers hold students to high academic standards across a range of achievement levels, and has implications for all classrooms where students have varied talents and needs, independent of tracking designations.

The project emerged from a collaboration between Sarah Freedman, a university faculty member, and

Verda DeIp, a 30-year veteran teacher and a teacher researcher in the Berkeley schools. We established this collaboration to bring together our experiences and areas of expertise to contribute to knowledge and advance theory related to the construct of academic ability and adolescent learning. We further hoped that our collaboration would help us contribute to practitioners' understandings of how to take advantage of diversity in the schools. The project included two phases: an in-depth study of one of Delp's untracked eighthgrade English classes, and a study of beginning teachers learning to teach in heterogeneous settings.

What's Wrong with Tracking?

Those who have examined the effects of tracking have found that the practice depresses the academic achievement of students placed in the lower tracks and does not provide special benefit to those in the higher tracks, with the gaps in achievement between the tracks widening across

the school years (e.g., Kulik & Kulik, 1982; Oakes, 1985; Oakes & Guiton, 1995; Slavin, 1990). A study of differences in the curriculum available to students in high- and low-tracked classes shows that students in the higher tracks are exposed to "more complex and more difficult thinking and problem-solving tasks," while those in the lower tracks are exposed to "less demanding topics and skills" (Oakes, Gamoran, & Page, 1992, p. 583). Those in higher tracks also engage in more discussion and show greater growth (Applebee, Langer, Nystrand, & Gamoran, 2003; Gamoran & Berends, 1987; Gamoran, Nystrand, Berends, & Lepore, 1995; Nystrand, 1997). Although tracking may or may not be the cause, students in the lowest tracks have "the most negative views of themselves . . . academically and generally and the lowest expectations for their educational futures" (Oakes, 1985, p. 143). Further, students of color and students from homes with low socioeconomic status populate the lower tracks in disproportionate numbers (e.g., Brown, Carter, & Harris, 1978; England, Meier, & Fraga, 1988; Hilliard, 1988; Lucas, 1999; Natriello, 1994; Oakes, 1985; 1995; Oakes, et al., 1992).

Oakes (1985) raises the pressing question: "If tracking is as bad as the evidence seems to indicate, why do we continue it?" (p. 15). She argues that tracking, which began in the late 1880s so that the schools could provide vocational training as well as preparation for college entry, has been the ordinary way to do business in U.S. schools for so long that it is difficult for educators and members of the public to imagine other possibilities. Many school-reform efforts have attempted to untrack or to create programs that would lead to untracking (e.g., Cohen, 1994; Comer, 1988; Levin, 1987; Mehan, Villanueva, Hubbard, & Lintz, 1996; Sizer, 1984; 1992; Slavin, Kaweit, & Madden, 1989; Weinstein, 2002; Weinstein, Soule, Collins, Cone, Melhorn, & Simontacchi, 1991). The untracking related to these efforts, however, has not been accepted on a large scale. Oakes and Guiton (1995) found that advocates of tracking hold firm to beliefs that students' abilities, motivation, and aspirations are fixed attributes and that teachers can best meet students' needs when those with similar attributes are grouped together so that curricula can be

designed to accommodate, not alter, their attributes. It may also be the case that teachers argue for tracking because they do not have adequate strategies for teaching students in heterogeneous classrooms. Even today, few teacher-education programs do an adequate job of preparing new teachers to meet the diverse needs of their students in any grouping practices that they may encounter.

Cohen (1997) and Lucas (1999) warn that as long as teachers favor tracking, even if classes are detracked, they will find ways to re-track the students inside the classroom. Cohen explains that "Social systems in heterogeneous classrooms have the potential to recreate a new status order that reflects, at least in part, the old status order of tracking and ability grouping" (p. 7). Lucas concurs: "If detracking advocates are successful, what will stop teachers from re-tracking inside their classrooms once students are no longer divided by course assignments?" (p. 146). He concludes that retracking is "likely if teachers are not convinced that

detracking is both logistically manageable and pedagogically sound" (p. 146).

Research on How to Teach Untracked English Classes

The literature on teaching untracked classes provides little guidance for teachers, especially for secondary English teachers. For the most part, the research is general and crosses curricular areas, although it does form a necessary foundation for particular curricular areas. Work by Weinstein and her colleagues (Weinstein, et al., 1991; Weinstein, 2002) shows what is involved in getting teachers to raise their expectations for the achievement of traditionally low-achieving students. In Weinstein's project, teachers met with university researchers weekly to discuss the literature on expectancy theory, then developed techniques to help them raise their expectations. As part of this process, Weinstein and her colleagues suggest that once teachers change their views of their students, they begin to offer more substantive educational

opportunities, in particular providing students previously labeled "low track" with an academically demanding curriculum. They found that students in "high expectations" classrooms developed more positive attitudes toward school and achieved more than students in classrooms taught by teachers with low expectations. The main curricular strategy for the English teachers in Weinstein's project involved using in the new de-tracked classes the same materials and activities as for the honors track and devising ways to support all students to benefit from those materials.

Cohen (1994) and Cohen and Lotan (1997) conducted extensive research on the sociology of the heterogeneous classroom and argue for what they call "complex instruction." Cohen (1997) suggests that curricular strategies of using highlevel materials for all students are insufficient. As part of complex instruction, she calls for a "multiple-ability curricula" (p. 11), which she describes as including "curriculum materials that reflect a wider range of human intellectual activity" and which "make it

possible for different students to be seen as competent in different classroom activities" (p. 10). Besides changes in curricular materials, Cohen calls for changes in "task structure and evaluation practices." She documented achievement gains by implementing cooperative learning groups where mixed-ability groups work together on tasks and receive group rather than individual grades (see also Cohen, Scarloss, & Arellano, 1999; Slavin, 1983,1990). Cohen (1994) concludes that "creating equity in the heterogeneous classroom requires a change in curriculum materials, a change in instructional strategies, and a direct attempt to change differential expectations for competence that lead to status differences" (p. 12). Weinstein also argues for all of these changes.

Subtle contrasts in Weinstein's and Cohen's approaches uncover one of the many tensions teachers face in enacting high expectations for all students: how to offer high-level materials and at the same time engage all students in productive learning activities. Further, while Cohen and Lotan offer

sample tasks across different disciplines and age groups that illustrate what they mean by "complex instruction," neither Weinstein nor Cohen and Lotan had a goal of providing specific guidance for developing an English curriculum.

Rubin (2003) complicates Cohen and Lotan's findings for English and social studies teachers. In her study of students in de-tracked English and social studies classes that use Cohen's cooperative groups and complex instruction, Rubin found that higher-achieving students often undermined cooperative learning groups that were set up to accommodate students at a range of achievement levels. The higher achievers asserted their superiority and systematically silenced the others. She concludes that the success of de-tracking "depends on diverse students' harmonious social interactions ... and thus may call for a more conscious form of adult intervention in students' social worlds" (p. 568). She further argues for "targeted attention to the needs of individual students... explicitly training teachers in de-tracked

classrooms to meet these and other challenges and creating new structures to support students in reaching raised expectation[s]" (p. 568).

The literature on teaching English in untracked classrooms either presents unresolved challenges (Cohen & Lotan, 1997; Rubin, 2003), is not research-based (e.g., King-Shaver & Hunter, 2003; White, 1976), reports on small-scale studies by teachers who provide information about their practice (e.g., Cone, 1993,1994), is focused on nonU.S. settings (e.g., Freedman, 1994; White, 1976), comes as a relatively minor part of a piece looking at the larger social context, including public policy issues (e.g., Mehan, Villanueva, Hubbard, & Lintz, 1996; Oakes, Wells, & University of California Los Angeles, 1996), or is discussed in a methods text as something for English teachers to consider (e.g., Smagorinsky, 2002). This literature usually does not explicitly examine student learning or provide a great deal of information about how to teach. The present project attempts to fill some gaps. It is a researchbased study that looks at what is involved in

teaching and learning English in untracked classrooms.

This study takes up where Rubin's left off. Rubin identified problems with even the most progressive methods; she studied what was wrong rather than what worked. Thus, she could only offer a few concluding speculations on how to right the wrongs she observed. This study of DeIp and the beginning teachers focuses first on examining a case that generally works, based on observational data as well as student performance on a standardized writing assessment. We focus on Delp's classroom but set Delp's work within the context of student performance on inclass, externally scored writing from the classes of DeIp and a subset of the beginning teachers. We use these performance data as one, relatively standardized assessment of change in writing. After establishing some evidence of student growth with the performance data, we examine teaching and learning in Delp's classroom and then look closely at teaching and learning from

the point of view of two of Delp's students. We ask the following intertwined set of research questions:

* In Delp's untracked classroom, what theories and curricular strategies does she use to provide her varied students with opportunities to learn to analyze and write about literature?

* How does she think about and respond to the needs of different students at a range of levels, and how do varied students participate in her classroom?

Theory and Practice

In the process of answering our research questions, besides contributing to the literature on tracking, we hoped to use our university-schools collaboration to come to new understandings about the relationships between theory and practice, and what is involved both in appropriating and building practice-sensitive theories. In his review of the uses of Vygotskian

theory, Smagorinsky (1995) found that scholars appropriate theories in their own ways and that sometimes they interpret the same theory in contradictory ways, which fit their own biases. Cazden (1996) makes a similar point. No doubt our scholarly and practice-based appropriations of theory are influenced by our biases.

In this project, our goal has been to be transparent about our use of theory and in this way to directly address theory-practice connections. This study and Delp's teaching were grounded in Vygotskian and Bakhtinian theories. We were especially interested in how Vygotsky's and Bakhtin's ideas about learning through the coming together of students' and teachers' historical, socio-cultural, and intellectual worlds were related to creating an intellectually diverse classroom community that would support students' literacy development. We hoped our focus on intellectual and socio-cultural diversity would allow us to learn something new about how to theorize what is involved when many

different voices come together to contribute to learning.

In thinking about her teaching, Delp found special resonance with Bakhtin's (1981, 1986) theories of the many voices that contribute to how individuals develop as meaning makers. She wrote about her belief that if students have varied opportunities to come up against the ideas of others who think differently from the ways they think and who have different knowledge bases, students will learn to "bring forth" for themselves "newly constructed ways to mean" (Delp, 2004, p. 203). She was interested particularly in creating opportunities for a diverse group of students, as they struggled to make their own meanings, to listen to and incorporate the voices of others. For her students, these voices were mainly the voices of the other students in the classroom, the voices of significant others outside the classroom, and her teacher voice.

Putting her work with students in a larger context, Delp further believed that her students'

understandings would develop gradually, across their lifetimes. Delp (2004) quoted Bakhtin concerning the gradual accumulation of meaning, which he likens to a chain with an infinite number of links, each adding to the next:

[T]here can be neither a first nor a last meaning; [anything that can be understood] always exists among other meanings as a link in the chain of meaning, which in its totality is the only thing that can be real. In historical life this chain continues infinitely, and therefore each individual link in it is renewed again and again, as though it were being reborn (Bakhtin, 1986, p. 146; quoted in Delp, 2004, p. 210).

Vygotsky, too, considers how development occurs, using a metaphor that contrasts with Bakhtin's chain metaphor but also contains some similarities. Vygotsky (1978) suggests that development proceeds across time "in a spiral, passing through the same point at each new revolution while advancing to a higher level" (p. 56). Vygotsky (1986)

explains that word meanings evolve during childhood; that is, their meanings grow and change. One does not simply learn an idea, but one builds meaning, connecting new knowledge to what has come before. Words, along with signs, symbols, and metaphors, serve as mediators for learning. Britton (1987), commenting on the implications of Vygotsky's writings for educators, notes that "it cannot be assumed that when a child uses a word he means by it what we as adult speakers would mean" (p. 23). Rather, over time, with continued opportunities to explore ideas in increasing depth, children develop their understandings. For Vygotsky, internalizing these ever-deepening ideas through social interactions with others, much like Bakhtin's chain of social interactions, is the essence of learning. The spiral, though, emphasizes the ways ideas are strengthened and change for each individual while the chain focuses on a linking of a diversity of voices.

Important to our work, too, is the fact that Vygotsky sees meaning development to be dependent on

understandings at once emotional and intellectual. Vygotsky (1987) provides evidence that "intellectual experiences [are] associated with . . . intense emotion" (p. 335), that like intellect, emotion develops across time" (p. 334) and "becomes more varied with every step mankind takes on the path of historical development" (p. 335). Vygotsky further suggests that there is a "dependency... between the development of the emotions and the development of other aspects of mental life" (p. 332). DiPardo and Schnack (2004, p. 18) point out that Vygotsky writes about "creating 'an intimate connection between the emotional...

Previewing 9% of this document Full document contains 65 pages Publisher: National Council of Teachers of English Subject terms: Education, Languages & Literatures Abstract: This teacher-researcher/universityresearcher collaboration focuses on teaching and learning in untracked English classes, but has implications for all classrooms where students have

different needs. We primarily examine the teacherresearchers (Delp's) eighth-grade untracked English class but also include data from a group of beginning teachers learning to teach in similar settings. In the end, we challenge previous findings about teaching and learning in untracked English classes and raise issues about the theories that guide such work as well as the relationship between theory and practice. In the context of strong student growth across achievement levels and ethnic groups, we found that the activity system in Delps classroom differed markedly from what is usually recommended for teaching heterogeneous groups. Instead of teacher-organized small groups (as in cooperative learning or complex instruction), Delp relied on whole-group, multimodal activities and oneon-one teacher-student interactions during group activities. We hypothesize that the activity system is not critical in deciding how best to teach in untracked classrooms. More important is a set of underlying principles, rooted in Vygotskian and Bakhtinian theory, which support the activity system. The principles include (a) building a long-term curriculum that promotes the recycling of structures

and ideas, with room for ever-deepening levels of complexity; (b) considering learners to be in control of their learning and building structures that support them in challenging themselves; (c) building a learning community that respects and makes productive use of diverse contributions from varied learners; (d) providing opportunities for diverse ways of learning; (e) providing support to individuals as needed; (f) challenging all students; (g) keeping learners actively involved. This analysis of Delps teaching and her students' learning further shows how Vygotskys "zone of proximal development" functions within a whole-class context, where students are involved at their different levels and where the teacher plays an active role in tailoring instruction to these levels, both through the wholeclass activity system and through the ongoing oneon-one interactions. Finally, the analysis explores how notions of development across long stretches of time can help teachers see and understand growth for an academically and socioculturally diverse group of adolescent students, growth that includes intellectual as well as ethical and emotional components.

xxxxxxxx Communicative language teaching in an EAP program: A study of international students' English language acquisition

Dissertation Author: Anouchka Plumb The development and implementation of effective second language teaching approaches for English as second language learners continues to receive increased attention in education research. This qualitative case study examined the role of communicative language teaching (CLT) in acquiring English as a second language and aims to provide an outlook on English second language learners' views on perceived communicative teaching approaches; self-reported language improvement in reading, writing, speaking and listening; and forms of feedback preference. The findings of the study point to communicative language teaching approaches that are perceived to be valuable in developing English second language acquisition and confirm the

significance of implementing CLT in English in second language training programs to facilitate learners to develop communicative competence. Full document contains 150 pages Abstract: The development and implementation of effective second language teaching approaches for English as second language learners continues to receive increased attention in education research. This qualitative case study examined the role of communicative language teaching (CLT) in acquiring English as a second language and aims to provide an outlook on English second language learners' views on perceived communicative teaching approaches; self-reported language improvement in reading, writing, speaking and listening; and forms of feedback preference. The findings of the study point to communicative language teaching approaches that are perceived to be valuable in developing English second language acquisition and confirm the significance of implementing CLT in English in second language training programs to facilitate learners to develop communicative competence. xxxxxx

English language & third generation programming language pedagogical practice analysis

Dissertation Author: Vincent Falbo In an effort to provide better computer programming instruction to more students at an introductory level, pedagogical methods could be improved using a paradigm of instruction based on the same strategies used to teach students spoken languages. Although many different methodologies of instruction have been explored in the past, this document identifies relationships between spoken languages and computer languages that encourage the exploration of the best practices of teaching English Language Arts so that they could be applied to computer programming instruction. Full document contains 99 pages Abstract: In an effort to provide better computer programming instruction to more students at an introductory level, pedagogical methods could be improved using a paradigm of instruction based on

the same strategies used to teach students spoken languages. Although many different methodologies of instruction have been explored in the past, this document identifies relationships between spoken languages and computer languages that encourage the exploration of the best practices of teaching English Language Arts so that they could be applied to computer programming instruction. xxxxx Non-native English-speaking English language teachers: History and research

Language Teaching, July 1, 2008 Journal Article Authors: Lucie Moussu and Enric Llurda 1.

Non-native speakers in applied linguistics: revisiting the native/non-native debate

1.1

Introduction

Linguistic theory has traditionally considered native speakers (NSs) as the only reliable source of linguistic data (Chomsky 1965). It is therefore not surprising to find only a limited number of works focusing on non-native speakers (NNSs) prior to the 1990s. The first attempt to put '(non-)nativism' onto the centre stage of linguistic inquiry by challenging current undisputed assumptions on the matter was Paikeday's (1985) The native speaker is dead, in which it is argued that the native speaker 'exists only as a figment of linguist's imagination' (Paikeday 1985: 12). Paikeday suggested using the term 'proficient user' of a language to refer to all speakers who can successfully use it. A few years later, Rampton (1990) similarly proposed the term 'expert speaker' to include all successful users of a language.

Davies (1991, 2003) further delved into 'native speaker' identity, and thus formulated the key question of whether a second language (L2) learner can become a native speaker of the target language. His conclusion was that L2 learners can become native speakers of the target language, and master the intuition, grammar, spontaneity, creativity, pragmatic control, and interpreting quality of 'born' native speakers.

Following a different approach, Piller (2002) noted that one-third of her interviewed L2 users claimed they could pass as native speakers in some contexts. In a similar vein, Inbar-Lourie (2005) found that 50% of the non-native teachers participating in her study felt that other non-native speakers perceived them as native speakers. In other words, Inbar-Lourie's data show that many self-ascribed non-native speakers can actually pass for native speakers in certain situations. Similarly, some selfascribed NSs in Moussu's (2006) study were taken for NNSs by their students. More recently, Park (2007) analyzed how NNS identities are co-

constructed through interaction, and Faez (2007) confirmed that linguistic identities are complex, dynamic, relational, dialogic, and highly contextdependent.

It is necessary, then, to recognize the importance of a speaker's acceptance by a community as one of its members, as it is what will ultimately be determining the social recognition of the NS/NNS identity. This social recognition is often based on judgements of the speakers' accent. People typically display a fairly high ability at spotting accentedness in speech (Munro & Derwing 1994; Fledge, Munro & Mackay 1995; Munro & Derwing 1995). If the speaker's accent is different from the listener's, and this listener cannot recognize it as any other 'established' accent, the speaker will be placed within the non-native speaker category. Thus, even though a dichotomy vision of the NS-NNS discussion does not appear to be linguistically acceptable, it happens to be nonetheless socially present, and therefore, potentially meaningful as an area of research in applied linguistics.

The arguments for the inappropriateness of labelling a certain group of speakers as 'native speakers' notwithstanding, thousands of language teaching jobs, specifying that only NSs will be considered, are advertised in many different countries and educational institutions and contexts, addressing a hypothetical preference by L2 learners for NS rather than NNS teachers, 1 and many NNS teachers are not even considered for ELT jobs (Clark & Paran 2007), in spite of recent studies (Benke & Medgyes 2005; Lasagabaster & Sierra 2005; Pacek 2005; Moussu 2006) showing that many students can appreciate the value of NNSs and do in fact prefer them to NSs in certain contexts and for certain classroom tasks.

The above situation of discrimination against NNS teachers has led an increasing number of people to raise their voices against it. Language discrimination, as is pervasively argued by LippiGreen (1997), is rarely considered a true discriminatory practice, and judges are inclined to

believe that accented speakers may objectively not be suitable for certain jobs in which language plays a key role. With regard to the language teaching profession, however, the myth of the native speaker as the ideal teacher has been deconstructed through showing the lack of substantial evidence behind such a concept. Phillipson (1992) argued that since most NNSs had learned their second language as adults, they were better equipped to teach the L2 to other adults than those who had learned it as their L1 when they were children. Kramsch (1997) further questioned the idealization of NSs and attributed it to the great importance given during the sixties to oral communicative competence in foreign language teaching. In her opinion, non-native teachers should forsake the useless pursuance of nativeness, and concentrate on finding their own voices as nonnatives, in order to contribute with their own language learning experiences and their multicultural backgrounds:

Whereas students can become competent in a new language, they can never become native speakers

of it. Why should they disregard their unique multilingual perspective on the foreign language and on its literature and culture to emulate the idealized monolingual speaker? (Kramsch 1997: 359f.)

1.2

Dichotomy vs. continuum approaches to native and non-native identities

A significant body of the literature on non-native speakers has been devoted to showing the inappropriateness of using a dichotomy approach by which NSs and NNSs are viewed as two opposing and clearly separated constituencies.

Three arguments have been used to attack the legitimacy of this dichotomy: First, every language user is in fact a native speaker of a given language (Nayar 1994), and therefore speakers cannot be divided according to whether they have a given

quality (i.e., native speakers) or they do not have it (i.e., non-native speakers), based on whether English is their first language or not. In fact, what this criticism shows is the unfairness of Anglocentrism, through which English is taken as the only language in the world that deserves attention, and speakers are accordingly classified regarding their relationship with that language: either they belong to the exclusive group of L1 speakers, or they do not. Nayar quite rightly attributes the prevalence of such a dichotomy to linguistic imperialism:

My own view is that in the context of the glossography of English in today's world, the nativenon-native paradigm and its implicational exclusivity of ownership is not only linguistically unsound and pedagogically irrelevant but also politically pernicious, as at best it is linguistic elitism and at worst it is an instrument of linguistic imperialism. (Nayar 1994: 5)

The second argument also centres the discussion on English, and focuses on research on World

Englishes and indigenized varieties of English around the world (Higgins 2003). Here, the central point is that English has become an indigenized language in many of the countries that Kachru categorized as the Outer Circle (Kachru 1976, 1981), and therefore speakers of English in such countries cannot be dismissed as non-native speakers of English just because they do not speak a centre variety of the language, in the same way as Australian speakers of English are not considered non-native just because their English is neither British nor American. As Mufwene (1998: 112) points out, 'it is misguided to split new varieties of English around the world into those said to be 'native', such as British and American Englishes; and those identified as 'non-native', such as Indian and African Englishes'. Higgins, following Norton (1997) suggests that the concept of 'ownership' can provide an alternative to the NS-NNS dichotomy, as speakers have 'varying degrees of ownership because social factors, such as class, race, and access to education, act as gate keeping devices' (2003: 641).

Finally, the NS/NNS dichotomy has been criticized for its lack of contextualization, on the grounds that it disregards the interdependence between language teaching and the local context where it takes place. Thus, Rampton (1990), J. Liu (1999a), and BruttGriffler & Samimy (2001) provided evidence from case studies of individuals who could not easily be categorized as either native speakers or non-native speakers, as they themselves had problems in stating whether they belonged to one group or another. What these authors claimed was the existence of a continuum that accounted for all possible cases between the two extreme options, each corresponding to the two idealized notions of what traditionally was considered a native speaker and a non-native speaker. According to this view, individuals may stand on any given point along this continuum.

Yet, despite all previous objections to the existence of a NS-NNS dichotomy, some authors have acknowledged the practical convenience of maintaining the distinction between NSs and NNSs,

and in fact, all work based on the study of NNS teachers is implicitly accepting the separation between NSs and NNSs. rva & Medgyes (2000: 356) provide an example of this pragmatic position: 'the term native speaker as opposed to non-native speaker is as widely used in the professional jargon of both teachers and researchers today as ever'. This undoubtedly constitutes a paradox for many researchers who, while working towards the spread of the idea that nativeness is a fairly irrelevant feature in language teaching, at the same time need to accept the division between NS and NNS in order to start constructing their supporting argumentation. Additionally, many speakers consider themselves to be either native or non-native speakers of a given language, and these self-allocations within or outside a linguistic community are frequently used as a way of positioning themselves as members or as aliens in a particular social community.

1.3

English (non-)nativeness in a World Englishes framework

As has been discussed above, although the NSNNS distinction can be a useful one, it must be stressed that there is still no theoretical evidence for the need to distinguish between these two categories. Indeed, there are several cases of people who, due to the environment where they acquired a particular language, can hardly be classified as either NSs or NNSs of that language, as is the case of bilingual speakers.

One good example of the theoretical incongruity of the term 'native speaker' is the situation that may eventually develop if children in countries where English is a non-native variety learn and use English as their first language (e.g., India, Nigeria). In such a case, we would have a NS of a 'non-native variety'. Similarly, it may be quite difficult to refer to all nonnative speakers as though they belonged to a fairly homogeneous group, given the many and very diverse geographical, cultural and linguistic

backgrounds they may bring with their non-native status. If we follow Modiano's (1999) argument regarding English as an international language, we may even claim that many NNSs of English are more communicatively efficient speakers of English in international contexts than a great deal of NSs, especially those who speak fairly local or substandard varieties of the language, and whose language is hardly intelligible for speakers of other varieties of English. In other words, many so-called NSs can be far less intelligible in global settings than well-educated proficient speakers of a second language.

In sum, it has been shown in the above section that the two categories, 'NS' and 'NNS', are constructs that have evolved from some roughly intuitive generalization of perceived differences among people with a diversity of expertise and experience as language users. These two categories fail to reflect the real conditions and level of command of a language by a given speaker, and are sometimes misleading in suggesting that one group of speakers

has a superior capacity to communicate efficiently and intelligibly than the other. Given the arguments against the existence of such a categorization, as well as the well-attested differences among language users, it would be wise to deal with them with extreme caution.

2.

Research on non-native speakers English Teachers: issues and prospects

2.1

Teacher education in ESL and EFL settings

2.1.1

Students in TESOL programs

It has become recurrent in the last few years to point out the ever-growing number of non-native speakers and learners of English in the world (e.g., Govardhan, Nayar & Sheorey 1999; Graddol 1999, 2006; Crystal 2002, 2003). Braine (1999), J. Liu (1999a), Prodromou (2003), and Graddol (2006) explain that as a result of these escalating demands in English instruction, the majority of trained ESL/EFL teachers in the world must be NNS teachers. Canagarajah (2005) adds that 80% of the English teachers in the world are NNSs. These teachers are used to provide English instruction exclusively in EFL contexts, but now are found occupying teaching positions in English-speaking countries as well.

While many NNSs are trained and remain in their own countries, the number of those who go to English-speaking countries to attend TESOL MA programs is increasing. England & Roberts (1989) surveyed foreign students and program administrators in TESOL MA programs in the United

States. They found that about 40% of all TESOL students were NNSs of English, a number corroborated by D. Liu (1999).

In more recent years, Llurda's (2005b) study of 32 TESOL graduate programs in North America noted that 36% of the teacher trainees in those programs were NNSs of English. Of these NNSs, 78% had travelled to the US to attend the TESOL program and were likely to return to their countries after graduation. Polio's (1994) survey of 43 NNSs MA TESOL students also showed that 90% of them planned to return to their countries to teach English after obtaining their degrees.

In contrast, there are no similar studies conducted in the EFL context: Medgyes (1999) estimates that the majority of students in EFL TESOL programs are non-native speakers of English.

2.1.2

The content of TESOL training programs

One point of consideration is whether NNSs receive adequate teacher preparation, specifically addressing their needs. England & Roberts' (1989) study showed that none of the 123 Master's programs they surveyed offered additional or different training for NNSs, mostly because of lack of research in this field as well as limited financial resources of the schools or departments. Curiously, program administrators recognized linguistic and cultural differences between NSs and NNSs yet did not see a need for special adjustments to accommodate NNSs' needs.

Flynn & Gulikers (2001) explain that in order to better prepare teachers to teach in Intensive English Programs (IEPs), MA TESOL programs should offer courses in both applied linguistics and curriculum design, require all student teachers to do a practicum, and give them the opportunity to observe

and teach in different contexts (primary and secondary schools, community colleges, IEPs, etc.). However, a survey of 194 TESOL programs in North America by Govardhan et al. (1999) shows that several of the courses taught in these programs relate only vaguely to English teaching and in particular to teaching English in EFL contexts. Similarly, Polio & Wilson-Duffy (1998) note that few courses in MA TESOL programs address the issues and challenges facing NNSs student teachers planning to go back to their countries to teach English. In the same vein, several scholars (e.g., Braine 1999; D. Liu 1999; Oka 2004; Canagarajah 2005; Holliday 2005) suggest that the theoretical and pedagogical courses taught in North American TESOL programs do not always correspond to what is needed in EFL contexts.

Kamhi-Stein (1999) argues for the inclusion of specific issues related to non-native speakers in language teacher education programs as a way of empowering non-native English speakers of TESOL. Cullen (1994) emphasizes the fact that both NSs

and NNSs could benefit from being taught a course in grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, and culture. Such courses would help future teachers in the areas of vocabulary building, pronunciation, culture, and general fluency (Lee 2004; Lin, Wang, Akamatsu & Riazi 2005). They would also teach the value of collaboration of native and non-native English-speaking teachers, show how to take advantage of their respective strengths and weaknesses (de Oliveira & Richardson 2001, 2004; Matsuda & Matsuda 2004; Gebhard & Nagamine 2005), and sensitize native speakers of English to issues such as culture shock, language learning difficulties, and other intercultural and sociolinguistic issues (Perdreau 1994; Reid 1997; Brady & Gulikers 2004; Pasternak & Bailey 2004).

Llurda (2005b) shows that although practicum supervisors agreed that their NNS student teachers had higher language awareness than NSs, most of them also said that they would recommend NNS to teach primarily low-level classes. Similarly, most practicum supervisors thought their NNSs would feel

more comfortable teaching in their own countries rather than in the US. In contrast, many practicum supervisors acknowledged that their program was highly competitive and only accepted the 'cream of the crop', that some of their NNS students were very bright, and that NNSs brought diversity to the program.

Recognizing the assets NNSs bring to TESOL programs, Kamhi-Stein (2004), corroborating Brinton's (2004) findings and suggestions, emphasizes the idea that TESOL programs tailored to the needs of the NNSs of English would increase the future teachers' motivation and therefore their self-esteem. Such programs would allow NNSs to develop an understanding of their own assets, values, and beliefs, and 'promote an improvement of the teacher-trainees competencies' (Kamhi-Stein 2004: 148). As Brinton explains, '[t]eacher educators have the responsibility to assist [NNS student teachers] in gaining a sense of self as teacher, in creating an atmos...

Previewing 15% of this document Full document contains 34 pages Publisher: Cambridge University Press Subject terms: Education, Languages & Literatures Abstract: Although the majority of English language teachers worldwide are non-native English speakers, no research was conducted on these teachers until recently. After the pioneering work of Robert Phillipson in 1992 and Peter Medgyes in 1994, nearly a decade had to elapse for more research to emerge on the issues relating to nonnative English teachers. The publication in 1999 of George Braine's book Nonnative educators in English language teaching appears to have encouraged a number of graduate students and scholars to research this issue, with topics ranging from teachers' perceptions of their own identity to students' views and aspects of teacher education. This article compiles, classifies, and examines research conducted in the last two decades on this topic, placing a special emphasis on World Englishes concerns, methods of investigation, and

areas in need of further attention. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT] xxxx Managing innovation in English language education

Language Teaching, October 1, 2009 Journal Article Author: Alan Waters (ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)

1.

Introduction

1.1

Rationale

'Innovation' - the attempt to bring about beneficial change (West & Farr 1990: 9) - has become a defining characteristic of English language education (ELE) over the last twenty years or so, as a glance at compendiums of activity such as Carter & Nunan (2001) testifies. At the same time, from the second half of the 1980s, a literature has emerged within ELE which has attempted to ally this multiplying rate of change to an understanding of innovation theory and practice. As will be seen, much of it has been motivated (i) by evidence that innovation in ELE, despite its recent exponential increase, has often been less successful than intended, and (ii) as a corollary, by the development of the view that greater effectiveness might be achieved by a more informed understanding of the large body of work on innovation which exists outside ELE, and how it might be brought to bear on the design and implementation of innovations within ELE. It is the purpose of this review to attempt to describe and critically evaluate this literature. This will be done by first of all clarifying the nature of the main concepts under focus, indicating the scope of the review, and outlining its structure.

1.2

Definitions, scope and structure

The terms 'innovation' and 'change' can be used as equivalents, both referring, somewhat indeterminately, to ideas such as 'difference' or 'novelty'. The ELE innovation literature, however, sometimes reflecting some of the competing definitions and conceptual distinctions made in the wider literature, contains a number of different views on the extent to which each of the two terms can and should be distinguished (see e.g. White 1988: 114; De Lano, Riley & Crookes 1994: 488-489; Markee 1997: 47; Kennedy 1999a: iv). 1 More recently, though, Lamie (2005: 7), while principally concerned with 'innovation', uses the term 'change' in the book's title; in Murray (2008a) the terms are used synonymously; and in Wedell (2009: 1) they are seen as equivalents. In what follows, therefore,

the two terms will also be used interchangeably, unless specified otherwise.

In terms of scope, it has not been possible, because of the practicalities involved, to include literature written in languages other than English. Space limitations have also meant that, despite the obvious desirability of doing so, it has not been possible to include literature on innovation management concerned with the teaching of languages other than English. The items which have been focused on are therefore those written in English and concerned with the application and development of an innovation theory perspective in relation to ELE. Of its nature, this literature is related predominantly to English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts outside Europe 2 and the English as a second language (ESL) context in North America. In addition, for the same reason, many of the items with UK authorship, especially those from the 1980s and 1990s, are development aid project-based, and there is relatively little coverage of 'local' educational change initiatives. Space constraints have also

meant that reference to the wider literature on educational innovation has had to be confined to the parts of it which are shared with the ELE literature.

The structure of the review reflects the wellestablished overall conceptualisation of the educational innovation management process found in Fullan (2001b: 50-53). In this model (see Figure 1), 'three broad phases of the change process' are identified, as follows:

Phase I - variously labelled initiation, mobilization, or adoption - consists of the process that leads up to and includes a decision to adopt or proceed with a change. Phase II - implementation or initial use (usually the first two or three years of use) - involves the first experiences of attempting to put an idea or reform into practice. Phase III - called continuation, incorporation, routinization or institutionalization refers to whether the change gets built in as an ongoing part of the system or disappears. (Fullan 2001b: 50)

Thus, the review begins by focusing on the ELE literature relating to innovation initiation, identified as consisting principally of parts concerned with conceptualising (i) rationales for innovation, (ii) innovation characteristics, and (iii) innovation contexts. This is followed by a section on the main features of the ELE literature regarding innovation implementation. It starts by considering the ways in which innovation implementation approaches have been conceptualised, i.e., models for attempting to bring about change; it then focuses on how various types of innovation participants have been distinguished; next, it moves to the parts of the literature concerned with conceptualisations of psychological processes in innovation implementation, i.e., the ways in which innovations are typically experienced and perceived by those responsible for implementing them, particularly teachers; this is followed by a focus on what has been said regarding evaluation in innovation projects, consisting, first of all, of a review of approaches to determining overall innovation impact, and, secondly, a consideration of ways in

which the monitoring of innovation development has been attempted. This is followed by the third main section, in which the literature relating to Phase III in Fullan's model - institutionalization, a concept often referred to in ELE innovation work as concerned with innovation 'sustainability' - is reviewed. Finally, the review closes with a further section, in which the overall picture evinced by the earlier parts is delineated, and the implications for further research and theorising in ELE innovation management considered.

Figure 1

A simplified overview of the change process (Fullan 2001b: 51).

Before proceeding, however, it is important to also take heed of Fullan's warning that Figure 1

presents only the general image of a much more detailed and snarled process. First, there are numerous factors operating at each phase. Second, as the two-way arrows imply, it is not a linear process but rather one in which events at one phase can feed back to alter decisions made at previous stages, which then proceed to work their way through in a continuous interactive way. (Fullan 2001b: 50)

In what follows, therefore, it needs to be borne in mind that dividing the review into main sections corresponding to those in the outer circle in Figure 1 oversimplifies a much more complex and interactive reality. In other words, as with so many of the concepts and their application this review is concerned with, the whole needs to be seen as very much more than the sum of the parts. Nevertheless, such an arrangement has the advantage of providing a framework which can be seen as mirroring the overall sequence of events underlying the (ELE) innovation management process itself, thus providing a means of connecting the strands of

the ELE literature on the topic into a reasonably coherent 'story-line', and so, despite its limitations, has been regarded as an appropriate organising principle.

2.

Innovation initiation

Wall (1996), drawing on Fullan & Stiegelbauer (1991: 50), summarises the concerns which the ELE innovation initiation stage can involve as follows:

A number of questions need to be asked during this phase, relating to the origin and quality of the innovation, who has access to information, whether there is advocacy from central administration, whether there is teacher advocacy, the role of external change agents, the existence and nature of funding, and whether the orientation of the intended

users of the innovation is 'problem-solving' or 'bureaucratic'. (Wall 1996: 339)

The ELE literature on the topic can be seen as focusing on two of these areas of concern, i.e., (i) the reasons why ELE innovations tend to be advocated, and (ii) characteristics affecting the quality of ELE innovations. It also encompasses a third aspect, namely the ways in which contextual variables in ELE innovation activity can be conceptualised.

2.1

Innovation rationales

Kennedy (1988: 336), drawing on the work of Kelly (1980), points out that a primary motivation for successful innovation is dissatisfaction with the status quo. Kennedy (ibid) also observes, however, that the degree of dissatisfaction is rarely spread

evenly among the various parties involved, and its causes may likewise vary, a situation calling for negotiation and compromise in terms of any ensuing innovation. In addition, as Cooper (1989: 34-35) argues, it is important to distinguish between what may appear to be an immediate and obvious source of dissatisfaction with the status quo, and the presence of less overt and tangible but potentially more important overall drivers of change - ones, for example, of a political, economic or scientific nature.

A second major dimension in conceptualising rationales for innovation in ELE is to do with impetus for change. Thus, Henrichsen (1989: 3) draws on the typology of social change presented in Rogers & Shoemaker (1971: 8) in order to analyse innovation in ELE in terms of whether (i) the potential source, and (ii) the recognition of the need for change are internal or external to the 'social system'. The resulting matrix gives rise to four main types of social change: immanent change (internal source and recognition of need), selective contact change (external source, internal recognition of need),

induced immanent change (internal source, external recognition of need) and directed contact change (external source and recognition of need).

Markee (1997: 48-49) argues that these four types of change form a cline in terms of the potential level of innovation adoption they are likely to result in, with the first being deepest, the next two forming an intermediary level, and the fourth typically being the shallowest. He also points out that, although 'immanent change' is the kind most often discussed in the wider literature, it rarely occurs in practice. 'Selective contact change' occurs when, for example, a textbook originally intended for use in one situation is adopted in another, different one. An example of 'induced immanent change' is documented in Kennedy (1987), where the author, in his role as an external consultant, facilitated insiders' efforts to innovate in their own, preferred directions. Henrichsen (1989) sees the US-sponsored English Language Exploratory Committee (ELEC) project which attempted to introduce audio-lingualism into the Japanese educational system during the 1950s

and the1960s - as an example of directed contact change, and argues that, because of its global nature, much other innovation work in ELE can be similarly characterised, while Markee (1997: 49) sees many ELE development aid projects as also falling into this category.

A further conceptualisation of factors affecting largescale change in ELE in particular, ones derived mainly from wider changes in educational thinking and practice, is found in Wedell (2009: 14-16):

1.

to enable the national educational system to better prepare its learners for a changing national and international reality

2.

to make the education system more clearly accountable for the funding it receives

3.

to increase equality of opportunity within society as a whole

4.

to use the announcement of educational changes for some kind of short-term political advantage

The last of the items in this list relates specifically to the role of 'extraneous' factors in motivating change in ELE. As Richards (1984: 13) points out, '[t]he rise and fall of methods depends upon a variety of factors extrinsic to a method itself and often reflects the influence of fads and fashions, of profit-seekers and promoters, as well as the forces of the

intellectual marketplace' (see also Fullan 2001b: 53). As instances of such factors, Richards mentions ( inter alia) the effect of an innovation appearing in textbook form, the marketing efforts of publishers, and promotion by organisations such as the British Council. Similarly, as argued by, for example, Pennycook (1994), Canagarajah (1999) and Holliday (2005), many ELE innovations can be seen as being advocated because of the global hegemonic influence of 'Anglophone cultural discourse', i.e., in order to advance the socio-political interests emanating from this quarter, rather than because of the benefits that they are claimed to provide. Waters (2007, 2009b), on the other hand, see the advocacy of a number of other recent innovations, such as the use of non-metropolitan models of English as a basis for syllabus design (Matsuda 2006), as resulting from a 'critical theory'-based counterhegemony originating within the ELE professional discourse itself. In all cases, in other words, it seems clear that factors other than purely educational ones also affect the genesis of many ELE innovations. It also appears likely that a number of additional factors are also involved, even though the ELE

innovation literature tends to have less to say about them, such as the effects of significant changes in organisational structures and personnel (Parsons & Fidler 2005; Alderson 2009) and the role of commercial pressures (see section 3.1 below).

Given the competing nature of rationales for innovation in ELE, it is appropriate to conclude this section with a further extract from the summary in Wall (1996) of what Fullan & Stiegelbauer (1991: 5056) regard as major issues to do with motivations for innovation initiation:

Fullan states that when an innovation fails, there is a tendency to blame the way it was implemented rather than criticize the idea itself. He insists that the source . . . of innovations should always be investigated before they are put forward for adoption. Would-be innovators should ask themselves questions like the following:

Where did the idea for change come from? From a teacher, or a group of teachers? From an academic? From a politician?

What was the motivation behind the idea? Was it to solve a problem which practitioners agreed needed solving? To test out a theory? Or to take advantage of opportune funding?

(Wall 1996: 339)

2.2

Innovation characteristics

A second main factor affecting the initiation of innovations in ELE evinced by the literature relates to the design features that innovations can have, and their effects (positive and negative) on potential for adoption. Several authors (e.g. White 1988: 140141; Henrichsen 1989: 82-86; Markee 1997: 59-61) mention the set of innovation characteristics described in Rogers (1983), which, on the basis of a study of a large number of different types of innovations, were identified as likely to enhance or reduce the possibility of adoption. In their most recent formulation, these characteristics are as follows:

Relative advantage: the degree to which an innovation is perceived as better than the idea it supersedes . . .

Compatibility: the degree to which an innovation is perceived as being consistent with the existing values, past experiences and needs of potential adopters . . .

Complexity: the degree to which an innovation is perceived as difficult to understand and use . . .

Trialability: the degree to which an innovation may be experimented with on a limited basis . . .

Observability: the degree to which the results of an innovation are visible to others.

(Rogers 2003: 15-16) All of these features are seen by Rogers to correlate positively with the potential for an innovation to be adopted, except for the 'complexity' factor. A further criterion identified by Rogers - one that is also regarded as correlating positively with potential for adoption - is that of 'reinvention', i.e., 'the degree to which an innovation is changed or modified by a user in the process of adoption or implementation' (Rogers 2003: 16; also 180-188). However, despite its obvious potential relevance to the innovation 'institutionalization'

phase in particular (see Watson Todd 2006, and section 4 below), this characteristic has not been discussed in the ELE literature to the same extent as the others.

Henrichsen (1989: 82-86) mentions a number of additional characteristics that ELE innovations may possess, such as Originality (the greater the originality, the lower the potential for compatibility), Explicitness (the more concrete the innovation, in terms of its underlying principles as well as its practical procedures, the higher the likelihood of adoption), and Status ('association with a higher social level' (p. 85) and the consequent potential for making the innovation appear more attractive). Kennedy (1988: 336-337) describes the three main criteria that Kelly (1980), on the basis of his research into the implementation of a major UK social sciences curriculum reform initiative, found teachers used in order to determine whether a proposed innovation was seen to match their working contexts sufficiently closely. The first such factor was 'feasibility' - the extent to which the innovation was

seen as capable of being put into practice. The second was 'acceptability' - the degree to which the innovation was regarded as compatible with teachers' educational beliefs and teaching approaches. The third was the amount of 'relevance' the innovation was perceived to have - i.e., whether it was felt by the teachers to meet the needs of their learners. The greater the perceived match between all three criteria, the greater the likelihood of the innovation being adopted (and vice versa).

Finally, via a meta-analysis of variables such as those above, Stoller (1994) provides a further conceptualisation of ELE innovation features affecting potential for success or failure. Her survey of innovations in US higher education Intensive English Programs (IEPs) showed that three main Factors pertaining to innovations had the greatest potential to affect their adoption. The more prominent the presence of two of these - the Dissatisfaction Factor and the Viability Factor - the stronger the likelihood of innovation adoption. The

third - the Balanced Divergence Factor (consisting of e.g. Explicitness, Complexity and Origi...

Previewing 15% of this document Full document contains 38 pages Publisher: Cambridge University Press Subject terms: Education, Languages & Literatures Abstract: Innovation in English language education (ELE) has become a major "growth area" in recent years. At the same time, an ELE innovation management literature has also developed, based on insights from innovation theory and their application, both from outside and within ELE, and concerned with attempting to critically evaluate and inform ELE innovation practice. Thus, using a wellestablished three-part framework for distinguishing the main stages involved in innovation project management, this review describes and discusses the main features of this body of work. After defining terms and clarifying its scope, it considers what is said about the innovation "initiation" phase, in terms of innovation causes, characteristics and contexts. It

then examines conceptualisations of the innovation "implementation" stage, by distinguishing main overall approaches, frameworks for identifying and configuring roles, underlying psychological processes, and the use of evaluation techniques. Lastly, the literature relating to innovation "institutionalisation" stage is analysed. The article concludes by identifying overall trends and areas for further development. In particular, it is argued that ELE innovation work needs to become more informed by many of the concepts and procedures which the ELE innovation management literature contains. xxxxxx Content-based language teaching: Convergent concerns across divergent contexts

Language Teaching Research, July 1, 2011 Journal Article Authors: Susan Ballinger and Roy Lyster LANGUAGE TEACHING RESEARCH

Language Teaching Research

15(3) 279288 The Author(s) 2011 Reprints and permission: sagepub. co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1362168811401150 ltr.sagepub.com

Content-based language teaching: Convergent concerns across divergent contexts

Roy Lyster and Susan Ballinger

McGill University, Canada

Abstract

This article serves as the introduction to this special issue of Language Teaching Research on contentbased language teaching (CBLT). The article first

provides an illustrative overview of the myriad contexts in which CBLT has been implemented and then homes in on the five studies comprising the special issue, each conducted in a distinct instructional setting: two-way SpanishEnglish immersion in the USA, English-medium nature and society lessons taught at a middle school in China, English-medium math and science classes in Malaysian high schools, English-medium history classes in high schools in Spain, and sheltered instruction classes for English language learners in US schools. In spite of such divergent contexts, the five studies converge to underscore the pivotal role played by teachers in CBLT and the concomitant need for professional development to support them in meeting some of the challenges specific to CBLT.

Keywords

content-based language teaching (CBLT), immersion, content and language integrated learning (CLIL), content-based instruction

I Introduction

This special issue of Language Teaching Research is devoted to content-based language teaching (CBLT). CBLT is an instructional approach in which non-linguistic curricular content such as geography or science is taught to students through the medium of a language that they are concurrently learning as an additional language. The additional languages promoted by CBLT run the gamut from second and foreign languages to

Corresponding author:

Roy Lyster, McGill University, 3700 McTavish Street, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 1Y2, Canada Email: roy.lyster@mcgill.ca

280 Language Teaching Research 15(3)

Figure 1 Range of CBLT settings Source: adapted from Met, 1998, p. 41

regional, heritage, and indigenous languages. In this introductory article, we first emphasize the wide range of contexts in which CBLT is used, and then zero in on the diverse contributions to this special issue and the pedagogical concerns that converge to connect them.

II Divergent contexts

Met (1998) described a range of CBLT settings along a continuum (see Figure 1) varying from content-driven programs, such as immersion, to language-driven programs, which include language classes either based on thematic units or with frequent use of content for language practice. Content-driven programs promote language and literacy development through subject-matter learning

and assess both content knowledge and language development in substantive ways. In contrast, language-driven programs focus on the development of target language proficiency but entail no high-stakes assessment of content knowledge. Towards the middle of the continuum are program models in which students study one or two subjects in the target language, usually in tandem with a foreign language or language arts class. An example of the latter would be the Englishmedium CBLT programs implemented in China (see Cheng et al., 2010; Hoare, 2010), which select subjects that are not part of the formal curriculum such as nature and society and science and life to be taught usually for two lessons per week. Another example is the adjunct format adopted at the postsecondary level in which students are integrated into a content course offered for native speakers but sheltered as a group in a separate credit language course related to the content course (Burger & Chrtien, 2001, p. 85). Also at the post-secondary level are Italian geography courses in the USA that aim to facilitate students transition to more advanced courses in Italian language and literature and for

which they receive credit in Italian but not in geography (Musumeci, 1996; Rodgers, 2006). Content-based EFL courses have also been introduced at post-secondary levels in Japan where a task-based approach to CBLT has shown considerable promise for teaching courses in comparative culture (Lingley, 2006) and for providing a refreshing antidote to teacher-led lecture formats observed in geography and sociology courses (Moriyoshi, 2010).

School-based language immersion programs aim for additive bilingualism by providing a significant portion (usually at least 50% during elementary school years) of students subject-matter instruction through the medium of an additional language. Such programs have been adopted in some countries to promote the learning of a second

Content-driven Language-driven

Content courses

+ language classes

Total immersion

Partial immersion

Content courses

Language classes with thematic units

Language classes with content used for language practice ...

Previewing 14% of this document Full document contains 10 pages Publisher: SAGE Publications Subject terms: Education, Languages & Literatures

Abstract: This article serves as the introduction to this special issue of Language Teaching Research on content-based language teaching (CBLT). The article first provides an illustrative overview of the myriad contexts in which CBLT has been implemented and then homes in on the five studies comprising the special issue, each conducted in a distinct instructional setting: two-way Spanish English immersion in the USA, English-medium nature and society lessons taught at a middle school in China, English-medium math and science classes in Malaysian high schools, English-medium history classes in high schools in Spain, and sheltered instruction classes for English language learners in US schools. In spite of such divergent contexts, the five studies converge to underscore the pivotal role played by teachers in CBLT and the concomitant need for professional development to support them in meeting some of the challenges specific to CBLT. xxxx

Comparing computer software programs: Determining the most efficient system for teaching English language learners

Dissertation Author: Jonni Goodine This evaluative study was designed to clearly investigate and compare computer software programs and determine which software program ( Full document contains 110 pages Abstract: This evaluative study was designed to clearly investigate and compare computer software programs and determine which software program . xxxxx Teaching concepts about print to English Language Learners and native speakers using interactive writing in a kindergarten classroom

Dissertation Author: Tammie L Sherry

This study examined the instructional approach of interactive writing with emergent kindergarten writers in a classroom where half of the students were identified as English language learners. The purpose of the study was to examine the teaching of concepts of print during interactive writing and the students use of those concepts in journal writing in order to contribute to the limited body of literature on English language learners literacy learning at a kindergarten level, as well as emergent writers who are considered Native speakers. Three questions guided the qualitative research and the methodology of the study, which made use of several methods of data collection. The guiding questions for the study examined the ways in which the teacher used interactive writing as a way to explicitly and strategically teach early writers important concepts about print. In addition, individual student journal writings were examined for ways that the students were, or were not, applying those concepts about print in their journal work and compared across the two groups. This study will further knowledge in the field of children's writing by presenting teachers and teacher educators with the potential implications for

interactive writing as an early writing instructional approach that can be used with students who are English language learners as well as Native speakers. Full document contains 103 pages Abstract: This study examined the instructional approach of interactive writing with emergent kindergarten writers in a classroom where half of the students were identified as English language learners. The purpose of the study was to examine the teaching of concepts of print during interactive writing and the students use of those concepts in journal writing in order to contribute to the limited body of literature on English language learners literacy learning at a kindergarten level, as well as emergent writers who are considered Native speakers. Three questions guided the qualitative research and the methodology of the study, which made use of several methods of data collection. The guiding questions for the study examined the ways in which the teacher used interactive writing as a way to explicitly and strategically teach early writers important concepts about print. In addition, individual

student journal writings were examined for ways that the students were, or were not, applying those concepts about print in their journal work and compared across the two groups. This study will further knowledge in the field of children's writing by presenting teachers and teacher educators with the potential implications for interactive writing as an early writing instructional approach that can be used with students who are English language learners as well as Native speakers. xxxxx Second Language Vocabulary Learning and Teaching: Still a Hot Topic

Journal of Adult Education, January 1, 2011 Journal Article Author: Clarena Larrotta Abstract

For many reasons second language vocabulary learning and teaching continues to be a topic of

interest for learners, instructors, and researchers. This article describes the implementation of personal glossaries in a community program offering English as second language classes to Latina/o Spanish speaking adults. Field notes, interviews, and student work served as data sources to document the results. Suggested steps for the implementation of personal glossaries, pedagogical implications for the teaching of second language vocabulary, and suggestions for future research are provided.

Introduction

For many reasons second language(L2)vocabulary learning and teaching continues to be a topic of interest for learners, instructors, and researchers (Bogaards & Laufer, 2004; Folse, 2004; Nation, 2001; Schmitt, 2000). Vocabulary acquisition is just as important as the acquisition of grammar; it is the heart of communication (Amiryousefi & Vahid, 2010; LU Mei-fang, 2008). As McVey (2007) explains, "Along with correct grammar, an extensive vocabulary will help ESL students communicate

effectively, both verbally and in writing" (p. 20). Some researchers believe that vocabulary knowledge may determine the quality of listening, speaking, reading and writing of an L2 learner (Mokhtar, Rawian, Yahaya, et al., 2010).

Research has demonstrated the usefulness and relevance of L2 vocabulary strategies (Baicheng, 2009; Fan, 2003; Hernndez, Herter, & Hernndez, 2010; Larrotta, 1999; Lu Mei-fang, 2008; Montelongo, Hernndez, Herter, & Hernndez, 2010). However, there is a gap between the L2 vocabulary learning strategies that students use and the vocabulary strategies employed or recommended by instructors (Larrotta, 1999). At times, instructors overestimate how much vocabulary students really understand which can result in a communication breakdown between instructor and student (Folse, 2004). There is also a new trend of teaching students to be independent and responsible for their learning. Research on which methods of instruction increase independent learning of vocabulary words continues to be a

necessity (Gu, 2003; Lu MeiFang, 2008). This article describes the implementation of personal glossaries in a community program offering English as second language (ESL) classes to Spanish speaking adults.

Relevant Literature

Research on vocabulary learning and vocabulary learning strategies is vast. This section will highlight some relevant publications within the past decade, followed by a synthesis of their conclusions and recommendations.

Nisbet (2010) offers practical guidance for designing and implementing vocabulary instruction using a three-tiered vocabulary framework: most basic words, high-frequency words, and low-frequency words. Her article provides specific recommendations for selecting and teaching vocabulary in the adult ESL classroom as well as strategies for instruction.

Montelongo and colleagues (2010) present cognates as a tool to scaffold English language learning. They recommend the teaching of morphological generalizations and strategies to recognize cognates in order to accelerate language learning.

Baicheng (2009) discusses the use of example sentences as a means of direct (intentional) vocabulary learning in ESL and EFL (English as foreign language) contexts, proposing that this strategy promotes learners' vocabulary learning and retention. Baicheng states that "the effect is probably better when students write their own authentic example sentences than when the example sentences are randomly provided by their instructor" (p. 183).

Walters and Bozkurt (2009) investigate the effect of vocabulary notebooks on EFL students' vocabulary acquisition. They study students' and teachers' attitudes toward the use of vocabulary notebooks

and conclude that vocabulary notebooks are an effective learning tool when students have selfmotivation for language learning. They provide a detailed explanation on the implementation of vocabulary notebooks within a formal EFL program.

Lu Mei-Fang (2008) recommends that instructors (a) help students with word knowledge (e.g., word meaning, word use, word formation, word grammar); (b)select vocabulary to be learned; (c) facilitate students' incorporation of new words into language that is already known; (d)provide opportunities for student interaction with words; (e) incorporate tasks which require mental processing; (f)avoid teaching similar words at the same time; and (g)teach strategies for selflearning (e.g., guess in context, use glossaries for specific jargon, use bilingual and monolingual dictionaries).

McVey (2007) suggests instructors to: teach vocabulary in context; require the use monolingual English dictionaries; teach prefixes, suffixes, and roots; teach various forms of a new word; encourage

students to read; teach reading skills; encourage students to review new voc...

Previewing 13% of this document Full document contains 11 pages Subject term: Education Abstract: For many reasons second language vocabulary learning and teaching continues to be a topic of interest for learners, instructors, and researchers. This article describes the implementation of personal glossaries in a community program offering English as second language classes to Latina/o Spanish speaking adults. Field notes, interviews, and student work served as data sources to document the results. Suggested steps for the implementation of personal glossaries, pedagogical implications for the teaching of second language vocabulary, and suggestions for future research are provided. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT] xxxxxxx

An investigation into a communicative approach to English language teaching in governmental and nongovernmental primary schools in Bangladesh

Dissertation Author: Todd Haviland McKay In recent years, the government of Bangladesh has worked to implement a language policy to foster a communicative approach to English language teaching (ELT) beginning at the primary level in the Bangladeshi educational system. Since such a topdown decision was made, no studies have been conducted to substantiate the presence of a communicative approach in Bangladeshi English classrooms. The aims of this study are thus (1) to probe to what extent in-class English teaching and learning practices reflect a communicative approach to ELT; more specifically, this thesis motivates "indicators" used in the documentation of "present realities" in governmental and BRAC primary school English classrooms, (2) to assess the communicative ability of Bangladeshi students enrolled in these schools, and (3) to examine the

relationship between the aforementioned indicators and students' communicative ability. Results suggest that a communicative approach is not strongly reflected in ELT in governmental and BRAC English classes; that Bangladeshi ELLs enrolled in governmental institutions are better communicators than those enrolled in BRAC ones; and that there appears to be a positive relationship between the presence of communicative approach indicators and students' communicative ability. This study also highlights certain instances of intersection between Western research methods and Bangladeshi (i.e., non-Western) culture--or, more appropriately, problems arising during research due to an outsider epistemic location. Full document contains 86 pages Abstract: In recent years, the government of Bangladesh has worked to implement a language policy to foster a communicative approach to English language teaching (ELT) beginning at the primary level in the Bangladeshi educational system. Since such a top-down decision was made, no studies have been conducted to substantiate the presence

of a communicative approach in Bangladeshi English classrooms. The aims of this study are thus (1) to probe to what extent in-class English teaching and learning practices reflect a communicative approach to ELT; more specifically, this thesis motivates "indicators" used in the documentation of "present realities" in governmental and BRAC primary school English classrooms, (2) to assess the communicative ability of Bangladeshi students enrolled in these schools, and (3) to examine the relationship between the aforementioned indicators and students' communicative ability. Results suggest that a communicative approach is not strongly reflected in ELT in governmental and BRAC English classes; that Bangladeshi ELLs enrolled in governmental institutions are better communicators than those enrolled in BRAC ones; and that there appears to be a positive relationship between the presence of communicative approach indicators and students' communicative ability. This study also highlights certain instances of intersection between Western research methods and Bangladeshi (i.e., non-Western) culture--or, more appropriately,

problems arising during research due to an outsider epistemic location. xxxxxx (The end of thesis from Udini site) http://www.mikeswan.co.uk/elt-appliedlinguistics/chunks-in-the-classroom.htm (The following is collected from this mike swan. Theorist) CHUNKS IN THE CLASSROOM: LETS NOT GO OVERBOARD (The Teacher Trainer 20/3, 2006)

FORMULAIC LANGUAGE Formulaic language (chunks) has attracted increasing attention among researchers and teachers in recent years, as the growth of large electronic corpora has made it easier to tabulate the recurrent combinations that words enter into. Such combinations include, for instance:

fixed phrases (idiomatic or not) such as break even, this morning, out of work

collocations (the preferences that some words have for particular partners) such as blazing row (more natural than burning row) or slightly different (more natural than mildly different) situationally-bound preferred formulae such as Sorry to keep you waiting (more natural than Sorry I made you wait) frames such as If I were you, Id , Perhaps we could or I thought Id Researchers differ in their analysis and classification of formulaic language, and the storage and processing models they propose see Wray (2002) for a clear and comprehensive survey. It is, however, generally agreed that these chunks behave more like individual words than like separately constructed sequences. Unemployed and out of work, for instance, both consist of three morphemes. If the first is handled mentally as a unit for comprehension and production, rather than being analysed into or built up from its constituents every time it is processed, it seems reasonable to suppose that its multi-word synonym may be treated similarly,

even if we happen to write this with spaces between the three components.

Languages clearly contain very large numbers of such items: one often-quoted estimate suggests that English may have hundreds of thousands. If this seems implausible, think how many common fixed expressions are built around one meaning of the noun work: at work, work in progress, go to work, a days work, mans/womans work, take pride in ones work, part-time work, shift work, the world of work, nice work, carry out work, in the course of ones work, out of work, build on somebodys work, work permit, take work home, equal pay for equal work, the work of a moment, look for work, all my own work It seems possible, in fact, that languages may have preferred formulaic sequences for virtually every recurrent situation that their speakers commonly refer to.

Language of this kind is notoriously challenging for learners. A knowledge of grammar and vocabulary alone will not indicate that slightly different is

preferred to mildly different, or that Can I look round? is a more normal thing to say in a shop than May I see what you have? such things have to be learnt as extras. Paradoxically, therefore, what looks easiest may be hardest. To construct a novel utterance like Theres a dead rat on the top shelf behind Grannys football boots, a learner only needs to know the words and structures involved, but such knowledge will not help him or her to produce a common phrase like Can I look round? if the expression isnt known as a whole, it cant be invented. Since chunks constitute a large proportion of spoken and written text studies put forward figures ranging between 37.5% and 80% for different genres it seems sensible to give them a central role in our teaching, and we are often urged to do so. Four reasons are commonly advanced.

Chunks save processing time

The brain has vast storage capacity, and memorisation and recall are cheap in terms of mental resources. For a foreign learner, as for a

native speaker, it is obviously more efficient to retrieve If I were you as a unit than to go through the process of generating the sequence from scratch in accordance with the rules for unreal conditionals. Using chunks means that processing time and effort are freed up and made available for other tasks.

YOU CAN LEARN GRAMMAR FOR FREE Children learn their mother-tongue grammar by unconsciously observing and abstracting the regularities underlying the sequences they hear. Many of these sequences are recurrent and formulaic (Whos a good baby, then?; s time for your bath; If your father was here now; One more spoonful; All gone), and childrens internalisation of such elements plays a central role in acquisition. It seems logical that second language learners, too, should be able to take a similar route, abstracting the grammar of a language from exposure to an adequate stock of memorised formulae. Lewis (1993) suggests for instance that, instead of learning the will-future as a generalised structure, students might focus on its use in a series of archetypical

utterances, such as Ill give you a ring, Ill be in touch, Ill see what I can do, Ill be back in a minute.

YOU CAN PRODUCE GRAMMAR FOR FREE Formulaic frames bring their grammar with them. Take for example a sentence like I thought Id start by just giving you some typical examples of the sort of thing I want to focus on. This consists almost entirely of frames and fixed expressions:

I thought Id + infinitive start by ing give you + noun phrase typical example of + noun phrase the sort of thing + (that)-clause I want to + infinitive focus on. So, given a knowledge of the component frames and expressions, the sentence can be produced with

minimal computation hardly any reference to general grammatical rules is required.

A mastery of formulaic language is desirable/necessary if learners are to approach a native-speaker command of the language

Even students who have an advanced knowledge of English grammar and vocabulary may be far from native-speaker-like in their use of the language. What lets them down is likely to be their imperfect mastery of formulaic language, especially collocation and situationally-bound language. This seems, therefore, an obvious area for pedagogic intervention. formulaic sequences have been targeted in second language teaching because they seem to hold the key to native-like idiomaticity (Wray 2000).

HOW GOOD ARE THESE REASONS? Persuasive though these arguments are, they need to be looked at critically.

Storage may be cheap in terms of mental resources, but putting material into store is extremely timeconsuming. Learning quantities of formulaic sequences may exact a high price in exchange for the time eventually saved. The question of whether classroom learners are able to generalise from formulaic sequences without explicit instruction has scarcely been investigated. It seems likely that (as with first-language learning), a vast amount of exposure would be necessary for adult learners to derive all types of grammatical structure efficiently from lexis by the analysis of holistically-learned chunks; and this amount of exposure is not available in instructional situations. As Granger (1998) puts it It would be a foolhardy gamble to believe that it is enough to expose L2 learners to prefabs and the grammar will take care of itself.

Much of the language we produce is formulaic, certainly; but the rest has to be assembled in accordance with the grammatical patterns of the language, many of which are too abstract to be easily generated by making small adjustments to memorised expressions or frames. If these patterns are not known, communication beyond the phrasebook level is not possible as somebody memorably put it, language becomes all chunks but no pineapple. Grammar hasnt gone away because we have rediscovered lexis. Most importantly, the notion that foreign learners should aspire to a native-speaker command of phraseology, or anything similar, requires very careful examination. THE NATIVE-SPEAKER TARGET Discussion of the acquisition of formulaic language often assumes something approaching a nativespeaker target:

It appears that the ability to manipulate such clusters is a sign of true native speaker competence and is a

useful indicator of degrees of proficiency across the boundary between non-native and native competence. (Howarth 1998a).

It is impossible to perform at a level acceptable to native users, in writing or in speech, without controlling an appropriate range of multiword units. (Cowie 1992)

Such sweeping pronouncements are, however, of little value in the absence of clear quantified definitions (which we do not have) of such notions as a level acceptable to native users and an appropriate range of multiword units. No doubt certain lexical chunks need to be mastered for certain kinds of pragmatic competence; but we need to know which chunks, for what purposes. Certainly, a mastery of relevant formulaic and other language is necessary for effective professional or academic work, as ESP and EAP teachers are well aware.

Both undergraduates and postgraduates serve a kind of apprenticeship in their chosen discipline, gradually familiarising themselves not only with the knowledge and skills of their field, but also with the language of that field, so that they become capable of expressing their ideas in the form that is expected. As they do this, their use of formulaic sequences enables them, for example, to express technical ideas economically, to signal stages in their discourse and to display the necessary level of formality. The absence of such features may result in a students writing being judged as inadequate. (Jones and Haywood 2004)

Assimilating the necessary formulaic inventory of a particular professional group is not, however, the same thing as acquiring a generalised nativespeaker-like command of multi-word lexical expressions. The first is necessary and achievable, the second is neither, and to require such a command of non-native students is unrealistic and damaging. The size of the formulaic lexicon makes it totally impracticable to take native-speaker

phraseological competence, or anything approaching it, as a realistic target for secondlanguage learners. (Memorising 10 formulaic items a day, a learner would take nearly 30 years to achieve a native-speaker command of. say, 100,000 formulaic items.)

CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING AND STRATEGIES One response to the practical impossibility of teaching native-speaker-like formulaic competence is to recommend equipping learners with a conscious awareness of the learning task they face, as suggested by Howarth (1998b), or with strategies which will enable them to acquire the knowledge needed to use formulaic sequences accurately and appropriately in their own work (Jones and Haywood 2004).

It is of course helpful to advise students to pay attention to and memorise instances of formulaic language (to the extent that they do not already do so). However, since formulaic expressions have to

be learnt individually, like other kinds of lexis, it is not immediately clear how the enormous learning problem can be addressed, and native-speaker competence approached, by either consciousnessraising or the deployment of ill-defined strategies. Transferring the problem from the teacher to the learner in this way does little to solve it.

REALISM AND PRIORITISING Given these problems, our only realistic course, as more pedagogically oriented writers such as Willis (1990) or Lewis (1993) point out, is to accept our limitations and to prioritise. Most non-native speakers must therefore settle for the acquisition of a variety characterised by a relatively restricted inventory of high-priority formulaic sequences, a correspondingly high proportion of non-formulaic grammatically generated material, and an imperfect mastery of collocational and selectional restrictions. This may seem disappointing, but there is nothing we can do about it languages are difficult and cannot generally be learnt perfectly. Failure to recognise this may lead teachers to neglect

important aspects of language teaching, in order to devote excessive time to a hopeless attempt to teach a comprehensive command of formulaic language like someone trying to empty the sea with a teaspoon.

References

Cowie, A. 1992. Multiword Lexical Units and Communicative Language Teaching in Vocabulary and Applied Linguistics, Arnaud, P. and Bjoint, H. (eds.). London, MacMillan.

Granger S. 1998. Prefabricated Patterns in Advanced EFL Writing; Collocations and Formulae in Cowie. A. (ed.) Phraseology: Theory, Analysis and Applications. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Howarth, P. 1998a. Phraseology and Second Language Proficiency Applied Linguistics 19/1.

Howarth, P. 1998b. The Phraseology of Learners Academic Writing in Cowie. A. P. (ed.) Phraseology: Theory, Analysis and Applications. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Jones, M. and Haywood, S. 2004 Facilitating the Acquisition of Formulaic Sequences in Schmitt, N. (ed.) Formulaic Sequences. Amsterdam, John Benjamins.

Lewis, M. 1993. The Lexical Approach. Hove, Language Teaching Publications.

Willis, D. 1990. The Lexical Syllabus. London, Collins.

Wray, A. 2000. Formulaic Sequences in Second Language Teaching: Principles and Practice Applied Linguistics 21/4.

Wray, A, 2002. Formulaic Language and the Lexicon. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Copyright 2008 Michael SwanHome English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics Poetry Online Shop Contact Me

Website Development & Searc Engine Marketing by Vitalized UK | XHTML 1.0 Strict! | CSS xxxxxxxxx INVOLVING STUDENTS IN GRAMMAR WORK (Summary of conference talk)

Not too little, not too much

Students learn best if they are involved if they can participate in the choice of learning activities, express their attitudes to their lessons, and use their personal knowledge, feelings and imagination in

their work. As everybody knows, this is not easy to achieve. We have all seen classes and perhaps taught them where the students never escape from the two-dimensional cardboard world of the teaching materials. Whether because of the teachers fear of losing control, the general educational ethos, or simple lack of know-how, nothing personally interesting or involving ever happens. Twenty-five or thirty rich and varied internal worlds remain silent, while everybody does and says the same kind of thing.

Attempts to change things can go too far. Early approaches to learner autonomy sometimes came close to a point where students decided for themselves what to learn, chose how to learn it, selected and worked through appropriate materials, and tested themselves, with the teacher simply acting as a consultant. The results were generally disappointing. More recent attempts to avoid imposing pre-planned structural or lexical syllabuses have also sometimes delivered less than they promised. (Whatever the attractions of a task-

based syllabus, for example, it is not a very efficient way of ensuring that students learn all the highpriority grammar and vocabulary they need.)

How can we get maximum student involvement in grammar lessons without losing efficiency? It is worth looking at the different stages of grammar work separately, asking how we can bring in the learner at each point.

Preliminary work: learner training

Beginners may have little idea of how languages and language learning work. In the first lesson, talk these things through with them. Students own ideas about grammar, however naive, make an excellent starting point. If you listen carefully to what learners have to say, they will listen to you in return when you help them to see things more realistically.

The mother tongue

Sometimes we need to use the mother tongue in the classroom (for instance in grammar explanations), and sometimes we need not to (for instance, in most grammar practice). Listen to what students think about this. If necessary, encourage them to question their attitudes.

Syllabus choice

Beginners cant choose what points of grammar they are going to work on they dont know enough about the language. But even at this level it is worth explaining why the syllabus is as it is, rather than just getting the class to do the grammar because it is there in the book. At higher levels, it is quite reasonable to get students views on grammar priorities and (up to a point) to take these into account. If you pay attention to their reasons for wanting, say, to do less on tenses, more on articles, or no work on grammar at all, they are more likely to take your own priorities seriously.

Rule-learning

Grammar rules can be learnt explicitly, acquired implicitly through practice, or (with greater learner involvement) discovered by analysing examples. Not all rules are necessarily best learnt in the same way, and not all learners respond equally well to the same approach. Try to find time to discuss these issues in class.

Who explains the rule?

Once or twice, get your more advanced students to teach a point of grammar to lower-level learners under your supervision. Preparing to explain something to somebody is an excellent way to get it clear in your own mind.

Where do the examples come from?

Examples of grammatical structures can come from learners as well as from teaching materials. Once they have got hold of a structure, students can (under your guidance) produce their own examples for the others to learn from. These can be personal (expressing learners own ideas and experience) in ways that book-examples can never be.

What kind of practice?

Good teaching materials incorporate a wide range of practice activities, from basic mechanical exercises through pair- and group-work to more elaborate grammar-based tasks. Try discussing the different exercise types, explaining the rationale behind them and getting learners reactions.

Communicative work

Its at the practice stage that there is most opportunity for student involvement and creativity. Traditionally, however, most communicative work has tended to take place in the context of fluency practice. Remember that grammar practice, too, can give students the chance to exchange information, give their opinions, use their imaginations and be creative.

Who makes the exercises?

You dont always have to stick to the teaching materials. If you are working on, say, a gap-fill exercise, get students to try making up making up additional items for each other.

Tests

Help students to feel that they are testing themselves checking their own progress rather than just being tested. Let them talk about what is an

acceptable test result. Here, too, they can sometimes be involved creatively helping (under supervision) to create test items for each other.

Conclusion

There are no miracle solutions to language teaching problems. Whatever we do, languages remain difficult and time remains short. Getting students more personally involved in their grammar learning will not magically make them fluent bilinguals. But it will certainly help them to learn more English, more effectively, and more enjoyably. And that is a good deal better than nothing.

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