Diary

Session 1 :

Preparation :

Unfortunately , I was absent and missed the first session of the teaching class . When I attended the class for the second session, everything seemed odd and new to me . I was totally confused by the projects I was supposed to do . One of the projects I had no idea about , was writing an e-journal every week . The way the class was held , attracted me the most . There was constant interaction between the students and the teacher and the students had a chance to express their own ideas about a particular topic , it was something that I’ve never experienced before , and just read it in the books . However , after the class I thought and came to the conclusion that despite of all difficulties , if I try harder , it is me who benefits at last. All of these seemingly strange things help me feel more responsible for my learning, learn quicker and remember the materials better .

Assistance and Application :

Some of the discussed topics were familiar . The one which attracted me was widdowson’s skeptical view toward the concept of authenticity . According to widdowson , authenticity should be considered at all levels including the context , the material , the person’s own experience , and the tasks . But the only thing we can provide is the authentic material . We should not confuse ends and means .authenticity is a mean , not an end . As he said , achieving authentic communication is somehow impossible . the other outstanding idea of Widdowson is that language teaching is a principled problem-solving activity : a kind of operational research which works out solutions to its own local problems . He meant that teachers should look at the problems of their classes , and solve them by using the principles of language , teaching and their own principles . a solution designed to match one problem is not applicable to other problems in other contexts , and the teachers should not apply a concept without testing it . The last idea of Widdowson that we discussed about , was teaching as a pragmatic activity in which two interdependent processes are involved : appraisal and application . Appraisal is a conceptual evaluation based on the understanding of the ideas proposed , and it is directed at establishing a set of valid principles .Application is an empirical evaluation based on teaching experience and has to do with the devising of effective techniques specific to particular circumstances . Following Widdowson , teachers are researchers and should understand the theories before applying it .

We also talked about assimilation and accommodation which are the two complementary processes of adaptation described by Piagett, through which awareness of the outside world is internalized. Assimilation means fitting practice into theory .In assimilation, what is perceived in the outside world is incorporated into the internal world, without changing the structure of that internal world . Widdowson rejected the idea of assimilation and recognized it as a source of problem . He believes that what we need is accommodation. In accommodation, the internal world has to accommodate itself to the evidence with which it is confronted and thus adapt to it, which can be a more difficult process . When you try to put in information which does not fit the pre-existent fields and categories , you have to develop new ones to accommodate the new information . Although most of the time we are assimilating familiar material in the world around us, nevertheless, our minds are also having to adjust to accommodate it.

One of the important points that I learned from this session was the exact notion of the eclectic approach. Previously , I had this misbelief that the eclectic approach could cover the deficiencies of other methods , because by using this approach , the teachers can choose techniques and activities from a range of language teaching approaches and methodologies to suit their teaching purposes . The main criticism of the eclecticism is that it does not offer any guidance on what basis and by what principles aspects of different methods can be selected and combined . According to Widdowson , if eclecticism is the random and expedient use of whatever techniques comes most readily to hand , then it has no merit.

One of the other materials which was emphasized by the teacher , was the concept of the negotiated curriculum . I had no idea about it , but the teacher made it clear for me . After the class I searched the web to find more information about it . Now I am going to share it with my classmates. Research has confirmed that students need purpose, relevance and empowerment, including negotiating learning that is useful now as well as in the future . Those students who are given meaningful choices tend to develop a more positive outlook and the ability to initiate and follow through. The negotiated curriculum has much to offer because student questions are the organizers and basis for planning rather than the artificiality of subjects. The transfer of skills and understandings is from task to task, situation to situation, and is shared between teacher and student instead of between fragmented areas and subjects. As the learning is personally meaningful there is also higher student engagement. The focus on the negotiated curriculum is one that turns the conversation away from questions such as 'Did I fail or pass?' to 'Was I able to find out the answer to that question using that learning activity?' and 'Is there a better way to do it?' or 'How could I improve on that next time?' This assumes that students are refining their understanding of how they are best learning and that they will learn from learning. I think this is a process that promotes higher-order thinking. Negotiating the curriculum also facilitates the development of positive partnerships between students and teachers. They have equal voices in the classroom and both are recognized. The learning becomes a more transparent process for students because they are the engineers of their own learning, albeit with teachers as expert partners.


Session 2 :

Preparation :

For the second session , we were supposed to discuss about learning and its processes . As you already know , the ability to learn is one of the most outstanding human characteristics. It is acquiring new knowledge , behaviors , skills , values , preferences or understanding , and may involve synthesizing different types of information . I read some of the recommended chapters and what I found interesting , was the ideas of Eliss about learning . He makes a distinction between classroom and naturalistic learning and examines them from sociolinguistic , psycholinguistic and educational viewpoints . sociolinguistically , he distinguishes these two types of learning with reference to location , participants , topics and purposes . Psycholinguistically , the distinction is between formal and informal language learning . Formal learning is an attempt to know about the language by studying rules of grammar , while informal learning takes place through taking part in communicative activities . We can not equate classroom and formal learning on the one hand , and informal and naturalistic learning on the other. And finally , educationalists often distinguish the idea of formal training and apprenticeship . Formal training typically occurs in classroom and apprenticeship which involves learning by doing takes place in naturalistic setting . However , learning environment provided by apprenticeship is possible in the classroom , and formal training can occur in a naturalistic setting too .

Assistance :

The definition of learning was the first topic we discussed about . We tried to study it from 3 different schools of thought : behaviorism , cognitivism , and constructivism .

Behaviorism focuses only on the objectively observable aspects of learning. Behaviorists believe that humans learn in about the same way. They stress the importance of having a particular form of behavior reinforced by someone, other than the student, to shape or control what is learned . They think positive reinforcement and rewards accelerate learning.

Unlike behaviorism, the cognitive theory focuses on what is going on inside the student's mind. Learning is not just a change in behavior; it is a change in the way a student thinks, understands, or feels. As they say , our brain has internal structures which select and process incoming material, store and retrieve it, use it to produce behavior, and receive and process feedback on the results.
On the other hand , constructivists view learning as a process in which the learner actively constructs or builds new ideas or concepts. They believe that by reflecting on our experiences, we construct our own understanding of the world we live in. Each of us generates our own “rules” and “mental models,” which we use to make sense of our experiences. Learning, therefore, is simply the process of adjusting our mental models to accommodate new experiences.

We also talked about Krashen’s views about learning and acquisition . He makes a distinction between these two terms . According to Krashen there are two independent systems of second language performance: 'the acquired system' and 'the learned system'. The 'acquired system' or 'acquisition' is the product of a subconscious process very similar to the process children undergo when they acquire their first language. It requires meaningful interaction in the target language - natural communication - in which speakers are concentrated not in the form of their utterances, but in the communicative act. The 'learned system' or 'learning' is the product of formal instruction and it comprises a conscious process which results in conscious knowledge 'about' the language, for example knowledge of grammar rules. According to Krashen , 'learning' is less important than 'acquisition'.

In this regard , Krashen suggests some hypothesizes . In his Monitor hypothesis , he states that the acquisition system is the utterance initiator, while the learning system performs the role of the 'monitor' or the 'editor'. He distinguishes those learners that use the 'monitor' all the time (over-users); those learners who have not learned or who prefer not to use their conscious knowledge (under-users); and those learners that use the 'monitor' appropriately (optimal users).

Another hypothesis suggested by Krashen is the Natural order hypothesis according to which the acquisition of grammatical structures follows a 'natural order' which is predictable .

In Input hypothesis , Krashen attempts to explain how the learner acquires a second language. So, the Input hypothesis is only concerned with 'acquisition', not 'learning'. According to this hypothesis, the learner improves and progresses along the 'natural order' when he/she receives second language 'input' that is one step beyond his/her current stage of linguistic competence. Since not all of the learners can be at the same level of linguistic competence at the same time, Krashen suggests that natural communicative input is the key to designing a syllabus, ensuring in this way that each learner will receive some 'i + 1' input that is appropriate for his/her current stage of linguistic competence.

Finally, the Affective Filter hypothesis, embodies Krashen's view that a number of 'affective variables' play a facilitative role in second language acquisition. These variables include: motivation, self-confidence and anxiety. Krashen claims that learners with high motivation, self-confidence, a good self-image, and a low level of anxiety are better equipped for success in second language acquisition.

Krashen’s views about learning and acquisition are related to the two types of different knowledges each of us possess , and those are declarative ( explicit ) and procedural (implicit ) knowledge .There is a fundamental difference between them . Declarative knowledge refers to factual knowledge and information that a person knows. Procedural knowledge, on the other hand, is knowing how to perform certain activities and it is the knowledge exercised in the performance of some task. All knowledge starts out as declarative information and procedural knowledge is acquired through inferences from already existing knowledge. So as Krashen states , acquisition is a subconscious process in which we move from procedural to declarative knowledge .

At the end of the class , the teacher raised this question “ do we need to build new theories and methods or we can use previous ones ? “ . Actually , there are three approaches available to answer this question :

•All we need , is to use previous methods and theories .
•We can imitate exactly what acquirers did in their first language learning and follow it in second language learning .
•We should consider student’s needs and everything that is involved in the classroom . we can make a hypothesis ethnographically and test it.

Application :

Among the points that we discussed in class , what attracted me was the fact that teachers are actually researchers . They should know that all students are different, and training programs should be sensitive to the differences . They must consider all aspects of the teaching process , think about available theories , make hypothesizes, test them , and decide to choose a theory or method that suits their teaching purposes .


Session 3 :

Preparation :

As I said before , I had no idea about writing diaries . But now after passing three weeks , I understand its impact on our learning process . One of the advantages of writing diaries is that we can reflect upon our experience in the class , refresh our memories , view the class from our classmates' perspectives and know about the discussed points and materials that we might have missed . This way , we can store the materials in our minds and retrieve them better .

Anyway the topic of this session was language . Fortunately this time I could cover the whole recommended reading tasks . The ideas of Widdowson were somehow ambiguous to me . I think he expresses his ideas in a complex way and it takes longer for us to understand them completely . I personally like his views about grammar . He thinks grammar is central to the working of language and it is a liberating force which frees us from a dependency on context . What is crucial for us to know is how grammar functions with words and contexts to determine meaning .

Assistance :

During the class time we discussed about the ideas of Widdowson . Widdowson believes , in natural first language acquisition , the child learns about the world through language and learns language through an engagement with the world . As a matter of fact , her systemic and schematic knowledge develop concurrently . However , this cannot be true in case of second language acquisition because adullts have been socialized into the schematic knowledge of their first language . So , when they confront uses of the foreign language they are learning , they use their systemic knowledge with reference to their first language and sometimes errors occur . That’s why we should not use first language in teaching grammar . We can establish context for our students , so that their systemic and schematic knowledge develop together .

As Widdowson states , there are two kinds of insight to language teaching which we expect linguistics to provide . One comes from theory and has to do with ideas about the nature of language , and the other comes from description which provides information about the properties of particular languages .

The usual belief is that what teachers need is description and they need not be bothered with the theoretical ideas upon which they are based . However , Widdowson believes that an understanding of theory is of primary importance because language is a phenomenon and teachers should focus on it from psycolinguistic and sociolinguistic perspectives . a teacher who does not know about theories , cannot connect descriptions to them . Teachers have an inventory , a list of descriptions from which they can selectively choose one according to the needs of learners and their own beliefs .

There are two types of description which take different perspectives on language :
The type description which considers language as abstract knowledge ,and the token description which considers it as an actual behavior .

The other point that was emphasized , was the fact that grammar and lexis are interrelated and act upon each other . Actually there is no absolute distinction between the two , only a convenient distribution of semantic responsibility .

We also talked about C-R , that is a method proposed by Eliss for teaching forms . In C-R , students understand and internalize grammar and use it when they are ready . We found out that by grammar students can function differently in real life and teachers should know grammar is a set of rules that has its own function . It can change meaning by :

• Changing word order ,
• Morphological choices ,
• Topicalization ,
• Marking tense and aspect through alternation .

Application :

What I learned from this session , was the fact that teachers should know about theories and type and token of description . For teaching grammar , it is better for them to start with lexical items and show how they can be grammatically modified .They should also engage learners in active and creative learning by using problem solving tasks and activities .


Session 4 :

Preparation :

This session , we were supposed to read about factors that affect language learning . As you know each learner views the learning situation from a differently . Language learning styles and strategies appear to be among the most important variables influencing performance in a second language. The most successful learners tend to use learning strategies that are appropriate to the material, to the task, and to their own goals, needs, and stage of learning .

The other factors which can have impact on language learning , are affective factors . Affective factors are actually emotional factors that can have a negative or positive effect. A learner's attitude to English, to the teacher, to other learners in the group and to herself are all affective factors and influence how well she learns.

Assistance :

First of all we discussed about the points that were proposed by Keith Johnson in his book . He believes that methods don’t satisfy learners and we should shift our attention from a method to a syllabus .In designing a syllabus , a teacher’s primary concern is with the specification of linguistic and subject-matter objectives . Syllabuses are of two kinds :

• Synthetic syllabus in which language is considered as linear and students are expected to learn one item at a time ,

• And analytic syllabus in which language is considered as a whole and language elements cannot be separated , like task-based syllabuses .

After that , the distinction between aptitude and intelligence was taken into account . According to Carrol ( 1973:5) , ‘ aptitude is the rate at which persons at secondary school, university and adult level [will] successfully master a foreign language ‘ . Notice that this definition accepts that everyone can acquire ; it is just that some people do it faster than the others . In fact , there is a certain ability in people which is called knack . If one’s aptitude is high , she can imitate sounds better , remember things longer , retain certain words easily and distinguish rules . On the other hand , a person with high IQ can be perfect in acquiring some areas of language and benefit from certain types of instruction . Genesee found a correlation between intelligence and what he calls ‘academic language skills’ – that is reading and writing .

Daniel Goleman believes EQ ( emotional quotient ) overrides intelligence . The EQ concept argues that IQ, or conventional intelligence, is too narrow; that there are wider areas of Emotional Intelligence that dictate and enable how successful we are. We've all met people who are academically brilliant and yet are socially and inter-personally inept. And we know that despite possessing a high IQ rating, success does not automatically follow. Goleman identified the five 'domains' of EQ as Knowing and managing your emotions, Motivating yourself , Recognizing and understanding other people's emotions, and Managing relationships, i.e., managing the emotions of others.

We also discussed about Williams & Burden’s ideas . As they pointed out , there are some problems with the notion of individual differences :

• We don’t have appropriate equipments for evaluating individual differences . The reliability and validity of such equipments are called into question .

• There are no criteria for the selection of these traits .

• We don’t have sound theoretical basis and the previous researches didn’t differentiate one individual from the other . They just categorize people into certain groups . This way , the uniqueness of each individual is somehow missing .

Based on the above mentioned weaknesses , we need an approach which focuses on the unique contribution that each individual brings to the learning situation and on how teachers can assist learners in learning most effectively . Such an approach should have the following characteristics :

• We have to start from a theory of learning ,

• Such a theory enable us to focus upon the uniqueness of individuals as well as helping us to see what they have in common ,

• It should also be a theory of how people change rather than how they stay the same ,

• It should give rise to implications for actions and interventions ,

• It should enable us to support individuals in taking personal control of their own learning,

• In doing so, it must be connected to individual's view of themselves as learners.

In keeping with the perspective taken by Williams & Burden , considering the viewpoint of the constructivist approach can be beneficiary . This approach is primarily concerned with how individuals perceive themselves within a world , particularly within a learning situation . There are three areas that are related to the ways in which individuals perceive themselves . One is self-concept which relates to the views people have of themselves . Another is locus of control , which is related to how far individuals see themselves as being in control of their own learning . A third is the attribution theory , which is concerned with identifying the different factors to which individuals attribute their successes and failures in learning .

The specific aspects of self-concept are self-image , self-esteem, and self-efficiency . There are three theories associated with people’s self-concept :

• The Social comparison theory which suggests that part of our self-concept is developed by comparing ourselves with the others and getting information about ourselves from them . This is sometimes referred to as ‘ looking-glass self ‘ .

• The Locus of control theory which refers to a person’s beliefs about control over life events . In this theory there are two types of people : ‘ internalisers ‘ who feel personally responsible for everything that happens to them and ‘ externalisers ‘ who feel that events in their lives are determined by forces beyond their control. Most people fall somewhere between these two extremes .

• The Attribution theory which is concerned with how people attribute the outcome of events or the behavior of others to internal ( personal ) and external ( environmental ) factors . Attributions tend to be situation-specific rather than global . People develop different attributions to protect their self esteem.

One of the most important applications of the attribution theory has been “reattribution training” which consists of changing people’s attributions so that rather than viewing failure as due to uncontrollable factors , they begin to see it as controllable and unstable. In other words ,they learn to have control over their learning.

Application :

If we want to be good teachers , we need to become more aware of the fact that each learner has a unique perspective on the world and her place within it . This requires more than a knowledge of differences between learners on ability traits . We must enable our learners to take control of their learning , to see what happens to them within their control and view their successes and failures as controllable . We should bear in mind that someday our students will no longer be in our classroom, so we must prepare them to be independent .By empowering learners in this way we can help them to become autonomous .


Session 6 :

Preparation :

Teacher , learner , designing & implementing classroom lessons were what we were supposed to discuss this session . A lesson plan is a teacher's detailed description of the course of instruction for an individual lesson .I think planning the material is much more difficult than delivering the lessons. Teachers create lesson plans to communicate their instructional activities regarding specific subject-matter. Almost all lesson plans developed by teachers contain student learning objectives, instructional procedures, the required materials, and some written description of how the students will be evaluated. This is the time that teachers can show their creativity .

Assistance :

Like the previous session , this session began differently . Our teacher asked each of us to write an outline regarding what we were going to discuss. Here is the edited version of the outline :

• Lesson plan for interactive teaching and learning
• Factors affecting our decisions:

1. learner’s variables : age , proficiency level , cognitive factors , affective factors , personality factors , styles and strategies .
2. contextual variables : EFL , ESL , physical and socio-political contexts ( setting & scene )

• models of lesson planning
• implementing the plan
• evaluating our lesson plan

Lesson plan for interactive teaching and learning :

By ‘ interactive ‘ we mean that there should be a kind of collaboration between teachers & learners in lesson planning . If you really want to initiate interaction , your lessons should be focused on some interactive principles . Most of these principles form foundation stones for structuring a theory of interaction in the language classroom . These principles are :

1. Automaticity : it refers to automatic processing of a relatively unlimited number of language forms .Overanalyzing language , thinking too much about its form , and consciously lingering on rules of language tend to impede this graduation to automaticity.

2. Intrinsic motivation : A teacher can intrinsically motivate students by relating lessons to what they need immediately .

3. Strategic investment : The methods that a learner employs to internalize and to perform in the language are as important as teacher’s methods . Successful mastery of the second language will be due to a large extent to a learner’s own personal “investment “ of time , effort and attention to the second language .

4. Risk-taking : For encouraging learners to take risks , teachers can use puzzles , guessing games and in-between questions .

5. The language-culture connection : cultural aspects should be introduced to students . For instance , a teacher can teach culture indirectly by telling students about her learning experience in a foreign country .

6. Interlanguage : Second language learners tend to go through a systematic or quasi-systematic developmental process as they progress to full competence in the TL . Successful interlanguage development is partially a result of utilizing feedback from others . Teachers should bear in mind that at least some of a learner’s language may indeed be systematic .

7. Communicative competence : All of the elements of communicative competence ( grammatical , sociolinguistic , discourse , pragmatic , and strategic ) should be involved in human interaction .

Teachers can play many roles in the course of teaching depending on the purpose and context of an activity . As Brown states , teacher roles can be defined from totally directive to totally indirective . Teachers can be controller , director , manager , facilitator , and resource. The key to interactive teaching is to strive toward the upper , non-directive end of the continuum , gradually enabling your students to move from their roles of total dependence to relatively total independence .

The most important key to creating an interactive language classroom in the initiation of interaction by the teacher . One of the best ways to develop your role as an initiator and sustainer of interaction is to develop a repertoire of questioning strategies . These questions can be posed in the form of knowledge , comprehension , application , inference , analysis , synthesis , and evaluation questions .

There are some factors that should be taken into consideration by teachers during the lesson planning , among which student’s needs, lacks and wants are of primary importance .

Nunan made a distinction between “content” needs and “process” needs.

• Content needs refers to the selection and sequencing of topics, grammar ,notion, function ,and vocabulary –traditionally the domain of syllabus design .

• Process needs refers to the selection and sequencing of learning tasks and experiences – traditionally the domain of methodology .
Furthermore , learner’s age and proficiency level of are important variables that affect the process of lesson planning . While considering them , these factors should be taken care of respectively :

• Intellectual development
• Attention span
• Sensory input
• Authenticity of language
• Creativity

• Students' cognitive learning process
• The role of the teacher
• Teachers talk
• Authenticity of language
• Fluency and accuracy
• Students creativity
• Techniques
• Listening speaking goals
• Reading and writing goals
• Grammar

Models of lesson planning :

There are two models of lesson planning . The dominant model is the one proposed by Tyler which is called rational-linear . It consists of four steps :

• Specifying objectives
• Selecting learning activities
• Organizing learning activities
• Specifying methods of evaluation

The other model which was developed by Yinger is called an alternative model . It includes the following stages :
• Identifying a problem
• Coming up with a solution
• Implementing the plan
• Evaluating

During the class time , we also talked about the ideas of Widdowson regarding learner and teacher roles . As he pointed out , there are two really quiet different kinds of role in classroom . One has to do with the occupation and is identifying ( like pupil , student , master , mistress ) and the other kind has to do with activity and is incidental ( learner ) .

The classroom is compounded of two kinds of engagement :

• Interactional engagement which involves the identifying roles : The teacher as master in some sort of social interaction with pupils .The norms and expectations defining appropriate behavior is related to social attitude and educational ideology .

• Transactional in which incidental roles are brought into play . norms and expectations relate to pedagogic purposes .

In interactional engagement , teacher and learners are like partners . while in transactional engagement , teacher is the authority , learners depend on her as a source of information and their autonomy is limited . Two kinds of interaction exist in a classroom :

• Overt interaction which can be controlled and refers to the interaction between the teacher and the students .
• Covert interaction which cannot be controlled and refers to the interaction between students themselves .

Application :

Creating an effective lesson plan is the key to effective teaching and a critical factor in achieving positive student outcomes. All lesson plans begin with an objective so we should try to become proficient in writing effective learning objectives . Writing an effective lesson plan requires more than just listing the page number of the day’s homework assignment. we need to evaluate student strengths and weaknesses and use that information to strategically provide appropriate instruction. Students learn best when they are engaged in a lesson from beginning to end so it’s better to write a lesson plan with a strong introduction. This motivates the students to actively pay attention to and get involved in the lesson.


Session 7 :

Preparation :

In recent years , there have been some dramatic developments in language teaching . Insights from theory and research have led to some fundamental changes in our beliefs about the nature of language and learning, and this has led inevitably to a change in the ways in which we go about the business of language teaching . New approaches and methods proliferated throughout the twenties century .Some achieved wide levels of acceptance and popularity at different times but were then replaced by other methods because of their ineffectiveness or the emergence of newer or more appealing ideas and theories.

Assistance :

Nunan believes the developments in the history of language teaching are basically evolutionary rather than revolutionary in nature , as methodologists and curriculum developers seek to add value to tested practices rather than to subvert or reject them. This is a process which continues overtime. Considering Piaget’s terminologies , the concept of evolution better fits within his idea of accommodation according to which we incorporate new ways of doing things into existing practice .

Changes that occurred throughout the last years have affected our views about pedagogical practices in the following areas :

• Syllabus design : Syllabus design is concerned with the selection, sequencing and justification of the content of the curriculum. Traditional approaches to syllabus were concerned with selecting lists of linguistic features such as grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary. In the last twenty years or so a range of alternative syllabus models have been proposed . The mentioned models focus on learners’ real communicative needs in actual situations in the real world outside .

• Approaches to language teaching : Traditionally , the educational systems function under a transmission model .Learners are passive recipients of the knowledge transmitted by the teachers . However , in contemporary classrooms the teacher’s primary role is the provision of communicative opportunities for learners . In other words , they function under interpretation model of learning . Moreover , throughout the previous years , there has been a shift from high-structure to low-structure teaching . In the former , teachers are in control of the instructional process and learners have little power or control over the process of learning , while in the latter teachers provide learners with numerous options and a great deal of autonomy .

• Approach to language : Due to the shortcomings of grammar-translation and audiolingualism , new approaches to language have emerged . Nowadays ,the focus is on enabling learners to use grammar to express different communicative meanings . Furthermore , learners are encouraged to bring in their own generated data as well as samples of authentic language. This helps them cope with genuine communication outside the classroom .

• Approach to learning : In traditional classes , learners don’t acquire role efficiency . However, this is not the case in contemporary classes. Learners are constantly encouraged to become aware of their own styles and strategies and to seek for ways to successfully cope with the academic demands .

• Classroom organization : In contemporary SLT , the class is organized in a way that it promotes experiential learning . Learners work in small groups and pairs cooperatively .

• Assessment : In traditional learning environments , standardized tests are used to assess students’ progress . Learners don’t know exactly what they have learned and how much they have to learn . In contemporary language environments, learners are trained systematically to assess their own learning progress .

• Language outside of class : In contemporary approaches to language teaching , learners are given creative and imaginative learning projects outside of the language classroom where as in traditional approaches learners are rarely encouraged to make use of their language skills in the real world .

Application :

As Richards (1984) claims, language-teaching methods have a secret life. The secrecy of methods has to do with the fact that methods have a life beyond the classroom; the rise and fall of methods depends upon a large variety of factors extrinsic to the method itself. Therefore , the notion of good or bad method is misguided .Effective teaching does not absolutely contradict the traditional notion of method. In fact, it is not the method that works or fails to work. Moreover, an effective teacher may find some of the traditional methods, or some parts of methods, useful enough to be incorporated into his/her classroom practices.

Session 10-14 :

The last five sessions were devoted to students’ presentations. I was supposed to present chapter 13 and 14 of “The Voices from the Language Classroom”.

Chapter 13:

The voices one hears in this chapter come from language minority junior high school students whose NL is Spanish. The schools they attend are located in an area characterized by a mix of ethnic populations and languages. The problems of the urbane landscape are reflected in the schools. For teachers, these places are viewed as difficult places to teach and for students, the pressures of the home and the community spill over into the classroom. Test scores are low and student transience is high. These teachers and students are participants in a project aimed at improving instructional services for language minority students in five areas:

(a) Achieving English proficiency;
(b) Improving student role efficiency;
(c) Mastering math, science, and history;
(d) Developing the primary language to refine English literacy;
(e) Demonstrating study skills for academic study and for productivity in work and careers.

Within this context, a study was undertaken to examine the reflections of students attending the classes of project teachers. Through an oral interview conducted in both Spanish and English, the voices of students were recorded as they rated the new instructional techniques to which they had been exposed.

Theoretical underpinnings:

Work from three diverse sources informed the theoretical foundation and day-to-day workings of the teacher training project. The first cornerstone is in Benjamin’s the helping interview. Benjamin defines techniques that assist individuals to become aware of their own needs and address the ways an individual can best assist others in change processes. The second cornerstone, the action research planner sets out a procedure for professional problem solving which teachers can use as they make essential changes in their teaching. In action research, teachers are encouraged to work together in an informed systematic way to identify what to change, attempt a change, and evaluate the attempt. While the helping interview and the action research planner served as operational guides for the project, Tharp and Gillmore’s Rousing minds to life formed its theoretical rationale. According to them learners acquire knowledge and skills through the instructional conversation and in the presence of a teacher who has the role of assisting the learner by means of assisted performance. The means of helping learners is modeling, feed back, direct instruction, responsive questioning and cognitive reconstructing.

This study sought to answer the following questions:

• What instructional practices do language minority students view as effective?
• What is the role that they see themselves playing in the transmission of school values?
• How can the school environment help language minority students to socialize into the new school culture?
• In what ways can language minority students help their peers become successful in the new school system?

Oral interviews:

The oral interviews were designed to gauge student attitudes toward the new instructional techniques and to better understand student role efficiency. Sixty-six students took part in the oral interviews. Each student was interviewed individually outside of the class. All interviews were audio-taped for later analysis. The interview consisted of two different activities. The first was a card sort activity conducted in English in which students were asked to create a recipe for the ideal class by selecting among the two descriptors on each card:

• A class where I write journals in English or in Spanish.
A class where I don’t write journals.
• A class where the teacher uses cooperative learning.
A class where I work by myself.
• A class where I can speak English if I want to.
A class where only English in spoken.

Students then added two ingredients of their own, explaining why they added these items. In the final step, the students arranged all the cards in order, from the most to the least important ingredient for the ideal class.

The second part of the interview consisted of a problem-posing activity with the same students. In Spanish, students were asked how they might help a new student by explaining what he or she would need to do to be successful.

Findings of the card sort activity:

After the interviews were completed, preferences chosen in the card sort activity were analyzed using a chi-square analysis. While the students suggested varied ingredients, the findings of the card sort activity revealed that the ideal class is characterized by an atmosphere of involvement and consideration. For these students, the ideal class promotes experiential learning in the context of a disciplined environment. The findings also demonstrated that the students liked the instructional techniques they had been exposed to in the project and expressed high expectations for their teachers.

Findings of the problem-posing activity:

The students’ responses emphasized two topics that they would share with the new student they were advising .They were:

(1) The need for cooperation among students, students and teachers ,and students and parents;
(2) The need to understand the academic demands of the new environment.

The findings of the problem posing activity demonstrated that the language minority students interviewed are acquiring learner role efficiency: they are able to articulate strategies for success in school. The findings also indicate that students believe they can play an important role in helping new arrivals socialize into the school system.

Conclusion:

The oral interviews allowed researchers and teacher trainers to
engage in an instructional conversation with the students, in
which they revealed their insights into effective instruction and
their perceptions of strategies for successful academic behavior .

Chapter 14:

This chapter describes changes in the patterns of learning and teaching which took place subsequent to the introduction of a new curriculum. The chapter is written from the point of view of an ethnographic researcher whose responsibility is to monitor the new courses, report on their effectiveness, identify certain problems and posit appropriate solutions.

The program:

The program involved in the work discussed here is International
policy studies (IPS) .The goal of the program is to produce graduates who can do policy research in at least two languages .

In recent years , it become apparent that traditional foreign
language courses in literature , culture , thought , advanced
grammar and advanced conversation were neither appropriate nor
sufficient and interest developed in the notion of CBI .
the belief was that advanced level language learners could best proceed to higher levels of proficiency by addressing the language as a means of communicating ideas. A needs analysis was conducted among students and the results confirmed the students’ interest in CBI.

Research components :

In order to monitor the progress of the new courses and to establish a data base for subsequent assessment of their effectiveness, the following activities were undertaken:

• Ethnographic observation
• Student diaries
• Debriefing interviews
• Tapes and transcripts

These activities provided samples of classroom events and of participants’ feelings about and interpretations of those events.

The four cases:

To establish the pattern of the learning improvement process, four cases are briefly described:

• Jigsaw reading
• A process approach to writing
• Learner training
• The use of group word

The case of jigsaw writing:

Problem :

• The courses were set up under the traditional graduate school norm that all students read all materials .
• The reading load became, in some cases, a major challenge, and in others, overwhelming to most or all students .
• Students cited three broad problems about the required reading : the overall amount , the lexical challenge , and the discourse complexities .

Data sources:

Information detailing the reading load problem came from student diaries, classroom observations and student interviews.

Solution:

The most successful response was to use the technique of jigsaw reading.

‘ Jigsaw reading ‘ is a technique whereby the responsibility for covering reading material is distributed among the students , thus freeing students from the burden of having to read everything assigned.
Responses to difficulties were varied.

The case of a process approach to writing:

In this section students voice their concerns about writing papers in the foreign language and call for a more process-oriented approach.

Problem:

• College professors in the subject areas still tend to focus on the product, the final draft of students’ papers.
• Students experienced significant difficulties with the task, which caused a good deal of frustration and anxiety.
• Students complained that their grade was based on how, rather than what, they wrote.

Data sources:

Professor interviews, student diaries, classroom interactions, and student interviews.

Solution:

Professors agreed to treat the papers as early drafts, commenting on language problems and grade the final draft on the basis of content.

The case of learner training:

Part of effective curriculum renewal involves training students to be effective participants.

Problem:

• In the initial versions of CBI courses, students encounter difficulties be cause of lack of resources and strategies for studying complex subject matter in a second language.
• Students needed help with reading skills, interactive listening skills, organizing and expressing ideas in writing, and organizing their own learning, identifying and deploying successful language learning strategies, and seeking and dealing with appropriate feedback on their performance.

Data sources:

Student diaries, classroom observations, written comments in end-of-course evaluations, and student interviews.

Solution:

Often, raising the awareness of anticipated difficulties and suggesting a range of strategies and solutions could be achieved through the voices of previous students. Quotations from diaries and interviews were used directly to inform and advise.

The case of group work:

The issue of group work is more complex than the previous three. Instead of one difficulty, it involves a cluster of related problems concerning the processing of material. The solution to these problems was the introduction of group work. This in turn generated other problems some of which remain unsolved.

Problem:

• Lack of appropriate affective conditions in a large class for effective student participations. Anxiety, hesitation and restraint were common.
• Subject matter teachers needed to deal with the size of the class in term of participation opportunities.

Data sources:

Classroom observations, transcripts of class sessions, student and professor diaries, student and professor interviews, and end of course assessment.

Solution:

The solution to the problem was some form of cooperative team work.

Problems of group work:

Two problems with small group work are found in the research record:

• Success is directly correlated with the specificity of instructions given: one cannot simply tell students to get into their groups and discuss something. They need clear guidance.
• The second issue is the capability of students to undertake small group tasks. Some students fail to take the responsibility for the work of the group.

Solution:

These kinds of problems should be addressed in learner training sessions.

Conclusion:

Curriculum renewal should be a continuous process. In the absence
of a consulting ethnographer who clarifies the problems and
identifies appropriate solutions, teachers and learners can achieve
the same result by working together and find their own
ethnographic voice. Learner diaries, classroom observation,
interviews, videotapes of lessons, and questionnaires can be
beneficiary. By finding the most appropriate form and application
of these devices, teachers and learners together can effectively
explore problems and find solutions .