Date post: | 16-Apr-2015 |
Category: |
Documents |
Upload: | kenny-liong |
View: | 167 times |
Download: | 8 times |
Foreword
This CD comprises a compilation of forty papers by presenters of MICELT 2012 Conference, held in Ipoh, Malaysia, on 8 – 10 October 2012.
The theme of MICELT 2012 is "Aligning ELT classroom practice with real world needs".This theme is timely because of the importance of making classroom activity relevant to the demands of the modern world. English language teaching and learning has many challenges to overcome and a conference such as MICELT is a humble attempt to share experiences and expertise in order to face and overcome such challenges.
The papers published in this CD can be categorised into seven main themes, namely: a)English Language Teaching, b)utilisation of technology in language teaching, c)Curriculum, Programmes and Projects in TESL, d)motivation and affective variables in learning English, e)Applied Linguistics, f)assessment and measurement in English Language Learning, and g)others.
Although the papers published in this CD are not truly representative of all the issues discussed at the MICELT 2012 Conference (as many more presenters have not submitted their papers for this publication), we, the editors, believe and hope that the articles presented in this compilation can still contribute to the realm of knowledge in our discipline i.e. Applied Linguistics and English Language Teaching.
Thank you.
th th
http:www.micelt2012.upm.edu.my8-10 OCTOBER 2012ISBN NO: 978-967-960-326-2
The Malaysia International Conference on English Language Teaching
MICELT 2012
MIC
ELT
2012
“ALIGNING ELT CLASSROOM PRACTICE WITH REAL WORLD NEEDS”
PROCEEDINGS
Organised by:
Department of Languages & Humanities Education,Faculty of Educational Studies, UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA43400, UPM, SERDANG, SELANGOR DARUL EHSAN.TEL: 03-89467278 FAX: 0389450455
VENUE: KINTA RIVERFRONT HOTELS & SUITES, IPOH, PERAK.
The Malaysia International Conference on English Language Teaching
MICELT 2012M
ICEL
T 20
12
“ALIGNING ELT CLASSROOM PRACTICE WITH REAL WORLD NEEDS”
PROCEEDINGS
Edited by:
Habsah Hussin
Charanjit Kaur a/p Swaran Singh
4 October 2012
Department of Languange & Humanities EducationFaculty of Educational Studies, UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA
43400, UPM, SERDANG, SELANGOR DARUL EHSAN.TEL: 03-89467278 FAX: 0389450455
Proceedings of the 9th Malaysia International Conference on English Language Teaching MICELT 2012 was published on 4 October 2012. th
Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia,
TEL: 03-89467278 FAX: 03-89450455
All rights reserved. No part of this proceedings may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the permission of the copyright holder.
Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia Data Pengkatalogan-dalam Penerbitan
Habsah Hussin
Charanjit Kaur a/p Swaran Singh
CONTENTS
NO TITLE PAGE
1 Writing Like The Ning Nang Nong
Hawanum Hussein & Evelyn Yeap
1 – 5
2 Iranian Perspective on Source Using and Source Citing in Academic
Writing
Hossein Saadabadi M, Arshad Abdul Samad & Roselan Baki
6 – 9
3 Collaborative Writing Assessment as a Supplemental Tool to Enhance
EFL Teachers’ Critical Thinking: Insights into Think aloud Protocols
Reza Ghafar Samar & Masoume Ahmadi
10 – 13
4 Error Correction In 2nd
Language Writing
Yvonne Gruberska
14 – 18
5 Wikinomics Of Collaborative Writing
Tan Bee Hoon
19 – 22
6 Interactional Metadiscourse in Research Article: A Marker of
Academic Discipline
Mohsen Khedri, Seyed Jamal Ebrahimi & Chan Swee Heng
23 – 26
7 Needs Analysis Of Ipg Students For A Web-Based Argumentative
Writing Resource: A Case Study In Ipgm Kampus Perempuan Melayu
Melaka
Jai Shree Bipinchandra, Parilah Mohd. Shah
and Sharifah Nor Puteh
27 – 31
8 Attitudes, Knowledge, and Skills of ESL Teachers Towards
Cooperative Learning Strategies in Writing Classroom
Siti Rahimah Ahmad
32 – 36
9 Effect of Model Essays on the Improvement of IELTS Candidate
Writing Ability
Mohamadreza Jafary, *Nooreen Nordin,Arshad.Bin.Samad, Roselan Baki
37 – 45
10 The Effect Of Direct Versus Indirect Cultural Texts On Iranian Efl
Learners’ Reading Ability
Zahra Sadat Roozafzai
46 – 53
11 The use of metacognitive reading strategies in academic reading among
ASASI TESL students.
Nor Atifah Mohamad
& Nazarul Azali Razali
54 – 58
12 The Role Of Cultural Nativization In Comprehension Of Anecdotes In
EFL Reading Contexts
Razieh Assi
59 – 64
13 The Influence Of Content Schemata On Second Language Reading
Amizura Hanadi Mohd. Radzi & Noor Hashima Bt. Abdul Aziz
65 – 69
14 The Effectiveness and the Efficiency of the Phonics Approach in
Improving Primary School Children’ Reading Ability
Yusnamariah Md Yusop
70 - 73
15 Tertiary students’ perceptions of the impact of Reader Theatre
activities in an ESL classroom
M.Indrani, P.Dhayapari, Intan Safinas Mohd Ariff Albakri, Noria Ismail
74 – 76
16 Poker Card Game: A Chatting Booster To Assist Esl Students In
Group Discussion
Razanawati Nordin
77 – 80
17 It’s Just English In The Classroom
Kalairani Nadasan & Jeswant Kaur
81 – 83
18 Motivation For Students And Teachers In The Esl Classroom
Sumitra Ravindran Naidu & Deeya S. Menon
84 – 90
19 Teaching English Trough Drama
Mohd Ezwan Hussein bin Husni
91 – 92
20 Poetry Alive
Moomala binti Othman
93 – 97
21 Learning Together or Alone: On the Effect of Using 2 Types of Cloze
Tasks on Gaining Knowledge of Grammatical Features in EFL
Classrooms
Naser Sabourian Zadeh & Masoume Ahmadi
98 – 101
22 A Study of the Use of the “Learning Element” to Teach English in
Selected Malaysian Primary Schools
Sachithanantham Tachina Moorthi & Ambigapathy Pandian
102- 105
23 What Else Can We Do With A Poem Besides ‘Torture A Confession
Out Of It?’
Hawanum Hussein & Chong Seng Tong
106 – 109
24 Teaching English Through Literature (C.L.I.P.S- Children’s Literature
In Primary School) To Develop Communication And Writing Skills : A
Scaffolding Technique
Sarala A/P Subramanyam
110 – 114
25 Vocabulary learning strategies and vocabulary knowledge: match and/or
conflict
Ali Almagtoof Aljdee
115 – 118
26 Consciousness-raising tasks for teaching grammar in Language
Learning
Ali Nezami & Mohammad Reza Vatanparasrt
119 - 122
27 The Use of Cognitive Apprenticeship in the Teaching of Past Tense
Forms among ESL Learners
Gan Shiau Hui & Dr. Ng Lee Luan
123 – 127
28 Learning Together or Alone: On the Effect of Using 2 Types of Cloze
Tasks on Gaining Knowledge of Grammatical Features in EFL
Classrooms
Naser Sabourian Zadeh & Masoume Ahmadi
128 – 133
29 The status of theme in research article abstracts: A cross-disciplinary
study
Seyed Foad Ebrahimi, Tan Bee Hoon & Chan Swee Heng
134 – 139
30 Issues in implementing Portfolio as an Assessment Tool in Two
Malaysian Secondary Schools
Charanjit Kaur a/p Swaran Singh & Arshad Abdul Samad
140 – 143
31 The Interfaces Between Media And Technology In Esl Classroom
Saabdev Kumar Sabapathy and Agelyia Murugan
144 – 146
32 Analysing the Reported Speech in Papua New Guinea’s Newspapers:
Implications for Teaching English for Journalism
Johnson Agwu Kalu
147 – 151
33 A Generalized English For Academic Purposes (Eap) Needs Profile Of
Undergraduate Students
Soo Ruey Shing
152 – 156
34 Speak Right: Practical Teaching Of Suprasegmental Features Of
Pronunciation For Accent Reduction In Esl
Nate Conrad
157 – 162
35 Excellent Students' Voice: English Public Speaking Activities are Fun!
Evelyn Yeap Ewe Lin1, Hawanum Hussein2, Mohd Anwar Muslimen3 and
Mohd Ariff Ahmad Tarmizi
163 – 168
36 Iranian EFL learners’ listening performance and listening test item
formats
Majid Nematpour
169 – 179
37 Baptism of Fire into the Teaching Profession: Tips from the Practicum
Habsah Hussin
180 – 184
38 The Making Of Debaters
Moomala binti Othman
185 – 192
39 Malaysian postgraduate teachers use of Facebook in the ESL
classroom: Friend of foe?
Nooreen Noordin & Sharmila Ganapathy
193 - 197
40 Pragmatic strategies and linguistic structures in making ‘suggestions’:
Towards comprehensive taxonomies
Hossein Abolfathi asl & Ain Nadzimah Abdullah
198 – 206
MICELT 2012
1
WRITING LIKE THE NING NANG NONG
Hawanum Hussein
&
Evelyn Yeap
Universiti Tenaga Nasional
Malaysia
The typical writing classroom in many schools in Malaysia has not changed much since CLT
(communicative language teaching) became the prevalent approach in TESL since the late
1970s. The communicative approach places great emphasis on meaning and less on learning
grammatical structures. Year after year, hordes of SPM leavers enter tertiary institutions with
functional informal English which is severely limited in lexis and syntax. Many teachers at
institutions of higher learning face challenges trying to improve the standard of English. Some
English teachers are even chided by their supervisors for wanting students to use correct English
in their classes and are told to be more accepting of mangled English so long as meaning can be
understood. In essence, it does not matter if ‘the cows go bong,’ as everyone knows cows
actually go ‘moo.’ Thus, academically pressured but linguistically disadvantaged, many
university students struggle with their written assignments and sometimes resort to plagiarizing
text from various sources as they are unable to produce a decent paraphrase of the texts. Written
reports often contain numerous major errors more serious than ‘Can I borrow you?’ as
humorously depicted on TV. The students’ inability to adequately master good language can
negatively affect academic achievement and later employment. This paper describes a quasi
experimental research that uses a new writing approach combining task based activities adopted
from communicative language teaching (CLT) and collaborative problem solving adapted from
problem based learning (PBL) called the problem solving approach (PSA). Results from an
earlier yet unpublished study by the writer show that this approach significantly improved
writing achievement of Middle Eastern EFL students enrolled in a fourteen week intensive
English course at a private university in Malaysia. It is the writers’ contention that the PSA could
also be a viable approach to improve writing skills among Malaysian students.
Literature review.
The approaches for teaching writing in an ESL/EFL class have undergone many changes.
Writing teachers began adopting the process approach in the 1970s. In this approach, the
attention is on the writer as a learner and creator of text. There is less focus on accuracy and
grammatical forms and more on process, making meaning, inventions and multiple drafts. A
decade later, a more academic oriented approach to writing was adopted by writing teachers to
prepare students for writing at tertiary level. The writing course is perceived as one that will
prepare the student for other academic writing assignments they will encounter in their courses
(Shih, 1986).
MICELT 2012
2
A more recent trend in writing sees a swing back towards a more balanced approach between
accuracy (form) and fluency (meaning). A number of researchers have highlighted the
significant differences between learning to write in L1 and L2. This new information casts
doubts on the efficacy of past writing approaches and methods that were primarily based on L1
learners (Frodesen, 2001; Hinkel, 2003; Silva, 1993). Hinkel (2003) discovered that advanced
L2 writers could only write simple texts with severely limited lexical and syntactic repertoire
even after years of ESL and composition training. Writing experts warn that too much emphasis
on meaning and too little on accuracy can be detrimental to students in their vocational,
academic and professional careers as they will be judged on their language control and writing
ability (Celce-Murcia, 2001; Christie, 1998; Martin, 1992).
Thus, based on this current trend towards a more balanced teaching emphasis, the writing
syllabus must focus on both accuracy and meaning. The collaborative problem solving approach
(PSA) was designed to meet these pedagogical needs. In the PSA, task based activities were
used to provide language scaffolding to the EFL learners. The PSA also incorporated group
problem-solving adapted from problem-based learning (PBL). Ill-structured problems were used
as they are problems with no ready solutions and therefore make the problem solving task more
cognitively challenging for the EFL learners. This is an important aspect of the PSA as
educational psychologists such as Salomon (1993) and Sfard (1998) believe that when learners
are taught to solve problems in groups, they are trained to think intelligently by drawing upon
their own skills, knowledge and their supportive environment resulting in more intelligent
thinking. Besides intelligent thought, the collaborative problem solving approach would help the
learners learn the course material and improve their writing skills (Ng, 2008). Collaborative
learning through group problem solving also provides a positive affective learning environment
(Fitz-Gibbon & Reay, 1982; Littlejohn, 1983; Long & Porter, 1985). A positive affective
learning environment makes the writing class less daunting and less stressful for the EFL
learners.
Method.
Sample
The sample for this research was two classes of International students enrolled at Universiti
Tenaga Nasional’s Intensive English programme. Both classes were of comparable intermediate
proficiency and consist primarily of a mix of male, Middle Eastern undergraduate and
postgraduate students. One class was randomly assigned as the treatment group (n=31) and the
other as the control group (n=29).
Treatment
Before treatment began, a pre test was given to both the groups to collect baseline data and to
assess homogeneity. The experiment lasted for four weeks and the treatment group received the
combined task based and collaborative problem-solving approach. Each fortnight, the treatment
group used materials that incorporate task-based activities for language acquisition and were
given an ill-structured problem to solve. Students were then put into small groups of four and
given an ill-structured problem to solve. Groups then presented their solutions to the class and
MICELT 2012
3
received feedback from both their classmates and the teacher. After the feedback session,
students planned and wrote their essays individually based on group ideas. The first essays
allowed the teacher to select common mistakes which were highlighted and discussed in class.
These essays were returned to the students and the students rewrote their essays, self –correcting
errors pointed out but not corrected by the teacher. The second final essay on how students can
help solve security problems on campus was used as the post test.
The control group received the traditional process approach to writing of generating ideas,
planning, drafting, revising and writing the final draft. The control group used the same handouts
on opinion essays but did not receive any additional vocabulary, grammar input or collaborative
problem solving activity.
Data
Data was obtained from pre and post writing tests from both control and treatment groups. The
pre and post tests are similar in complexity and form and are based on the IELTS academic
writing task 2. They were scored using the IELTS scheme for Academic writing task 2.
ANCOVA was used to compare the scores from both groups.
Results and discussion
The objective of this research was to examine if a collaborative learning environment provided
by the PSA would be effective in helping EFL learners write better academic essays. To
examine the effects of the PSA on writing achievement, a one-way between group analysis of
covariance or ANCOVA was used on the writing post test scores.
Table 2 shows the results of ANCOVA on writing achievement.
After adjusting for pre-treatment scores, results indicate a significant difference in mean scores
between the treatment group and the control group, F (1, 57) = 7.9, p=.006, partial eta squared =
.12.
Table 2: Tests of Between-Subjects Effects using ANCOVA for writing
Dependent Variable: post
Source Type III
Sum
of Squares
df
MS F
Sig.
Partial
Eta
Squared
Corrected
Model 15.303
a 2 7.65 27.37 .000 .49
Intercept 3.205 1 3.20 11.46 .001 .17
pre 14.605 1 14.60 52.26 .000 .47
group 2.232 1 2.23 7.98 .006 .12
Error 15.930 57 .27
Total 3199.500 60
Corrected Total 31.233 59
a. R Squared = .490 (Adjusted R Squared = .472)
MICELT 2012
4
Implication of the PSA study for Malaysian writing classes
Many English teachers would agree that teaching International students from Middle Eastern
countries in the Intensive English programme can be an extremely challenging task. ‘Sharing’ of
answers even during tests and assessments can be prevalent. What the research with the PSA
show is that most of these EFL students can improve themselves if they are put into a non
threatening, non competitive and collaborative learning environment. Collaborative learning
through problem solving allows peer correction and peer learning to occur informally within the
group discussions, away from the teacher’s pedagogical glare. As difficult as they can be, these
EFL learners were able to pick up vocabulary and grammar items to improve their writing
significantly.
If this could happen for the EFL learners, it would appear logical that it will work for Malaysian
students as well. A few caveats must be in place for the PSA to work in the typical tertiary
Malaysian classroom. One, each group must have an EFL learner who can be elected the leader
to ensure all discussions are done in English. Two, all essays and written assignments must be
done individually to ensure that learning occurs and no ‘passengers’ are present. Three, the
teacher must impress on the students that poor or good grades are entirely their choice, not the
teacher’s. Four, administrators must support an evaluation criteria that only awards high marks
for writing which is both accurate in form (grammar) and meaning.
Conclusion
This paper describes a combined approach of task based language activities and collaborative
problem-solving which has been proven effective in helping EFL learners write academic essays.
In addition, it would appear that grammar and vocabulary input combined with collaborative
learning through solving of ill-structured problems can enhance language acquisition. The
findings of this research provide empirical data that explicit teaching of grammar and vocabulary
can be effective in improving written language quality when coupled with meaningful,
cognitively challenging problem solving activities that support as well as strengthen the language
input. Further research using a larger sample of Malaysian students or with a longer time period
would provide interesting insights and information on how the collaborative problem solving
approach can be used effectively for classroom instruction and to improve the standard of
English among Malaysian students.
References
Bacha, N.N. (2002) .Developing learners’ academic writing skills in higher education:
A study for educational reform. Language & Education, 16(3), 161-177.
Celce-Murcia, M. (2001). Teaching English as a second or foreign language (3rd
edition). Heinle & Heinle Publishers.
Christie, F.(1998). Learning the literacies of primary and secondary schooling. In F.
Christie 8c R. Misson (Eds.), Literacy and schooling: New directions . London:
Routledge.
Fitz-Gibbon, C.I., and D.G. Reay. (1982). Peer-tutoring: brightening up FL teaching in
an urban comprehensive school. British Journal of LanguageTeaching, 20(1), 39-44.
Frodesen, J. (2001). Grammar in writing. In M. Celce-Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as
a second or foreign language ( pp. 233-248). Boston: Heinle & Heinle.
Hinkel, E. (2003). Simplicity without elegance: Features of sentences in L2 and LI
MICELT 2012
5
academic texts. TESOL Quarterly, 37, 275-301.
Khalil, A. (2000). Syntactic devices for marking information structure in English and
Arabic. International Journal of Arabic-English Studies, 1(1), 133–56.
Kharma, N. and Hajjaj, A. (1997). Errors in English among Arabic speakers. Beirut:
Librairie Du Liban.
Littlejohn, A. P. (1983). Increasing learner involvement in course management.
TESOL Quarterly, 17, 595-608.
Long, M. & Porter, P. (1985). Group work, interlanguage, and second language
acquisition. TESOL Quarterly, 19, 207-228.
Martin, T. (1992). English text: System and structure. Philadelphia: Benjamins.
Ng, P.C.L. (2008). Promoting problem based learning through collaborative writing. The
English Teacher, 37, 49 – 60.
Rababah.G.( 2003).Communication Problems facing Arab learners of English: A
personal perspective. TEFL Web Journal 2(1), 15-30.
Salomon, G. (1993). No distribution without individual’s cognition: A dynamic
interactional view. In G. Salomon (Ed.), Distributed Cognitions: Psychological and
educational considerations (pp.111-138). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University
press.
Sfard, A. (1998). On two metaphors for learning and the dangers of choosing only one.
Educational Researcher, 27(2), 4-13.
Shih, M. (1986) . Content-based approaches to teaching academic writing. TESOL
Quarterly, 20, 617-648.
Silva, T. (1993). Toward an understanding of the distinct nature of L2 writing: The ESL
research and its implications. TESOL Quarterly, 27, 657-677.
Zafar Syed. (2003). The sociocultural context of English language teaching in
the Gulf. TESOL Quarterly, 37, 337-341.
MICELT 2012
6
Iranian Perspective on Source Using and Source Citing in
Academic Writing
Hossein Saadabadi M. (University Putra Malaysia)
Arshad Abdul Samad (University Putra Malaysia)
Roselan Baki (University Putra Malaysia)
A phenomenon like plagiarism has so far been studied and interpreted through the eyes of
lecturers, supervisors and other education officials. This top-down method of treating plagiarism
has neither been enough nor effective so far due to the contingent nature of plagiarism. The
results of these studies have just been many regulations and laws of deterrence and punishment
with no impact on the issue. This paper is an attempt to discover the patterns of the academic
writing culture among Iranian graduate students who write their graduate thesis in English as a
second language.
A survey of students’ comments and a review of the literature related to plagiarism show
that the root of most textual borrowing in thesis writing among Non-native speakers of English
(NNSE) students is to improve the writing quality (Howard 1992; Leary 2010). These students
borrow from other resources to facilitate the writing process or improve their writing skill as well
as the quality of their product, but quite unintentionally, they convey a disapproving image of
themselves as plagiarizers. In other words, for NNSE students plagiarism is a technique to
improve a failure to write well rather than refusal to engage legitimately in the writing process at
all (Deckert 1993; Rinnert and Kobayashi 2005; Shi 2006; Pecorari 2010). However, some cases
of plagiarism resulted from ambiguity in definitions. Despite years of debate about plagiarism
and fair use, there is still no clear-cut definition for the concept (Sharkey 1992), and this has
resulted in a plurality in understanding and using the rules.
Iranian students had had no training in academic writing in general and more
specifically in academic writing in English before they enter graduate programs. Influenced by
their past learning environments, these students identify what is considered in Malaysia
plagiarism, a positive technique that helps them improve many writing problems. One very
common example of this claim among students is what Pecorari (2002), following Howard
(1995), labels patchwriting. That is to say, this group has either a mistaken or a different
perception of plagiarism.
This study is based on a premise that plagiarism among Iranian graduate students who study at
English medium universities abroad is not intentional, to obtain illegal benefit or to cheat their
supervisors; rather, plagiarism has its roots in students’ cultural and educational background.
Unlike Chinese who seem to have a plagiarism tradition different from that of the west
academia (Bloch 2008), Iranian graduate students follow the western model in their academic
writing while writing in their first language (Jalilifar 2012).
MICELT 2012
7
This study investigates, through multiple discussions, how Iranian graduate students
understand academic plagiarism policy, as well as how they write from other sources and how
they cite the sources they use. To obtain these goals, the following questions will be addressed
qualitatively:
How do students conceptualize writing from other sources?
How do students conceptualize textual borrowing and plagiarism?
Plagiarism is a contextually contingent concept. Different academic cultures around the world
especially as different as Asian countries in the east and Europe and North America in the west
show different attitude and understanding of borrowing from others’ sources. It also differs from
discipline to discipline (Hyland 1999; Bloch 2012). Plagiarism covers a range of inferences from
western rules of ownership and authorship to memory work and textual borrowing in the
academia of the east (Chandrasoma, Thompson et al. 2004). In an attempt to deal with some
complexities of the concepts of text, ownership and plagiarism, Pennycook (1996) argues that
“the way ownership and creativity are understood within European and U.S. contexts needs to be
seen as a very particular cultural and historical development”. He reviews the history of
authorship and challenges of this notion in the west from Plato to the present era to ask how we
consider the notion of textual borrowing or plagiarism when that ‘meanings are in a sense in
circulation”, and “when language is constantly cycled and recycled” (Pennycook 1996).
While academics in the east, especially in China, borrow texts to construct personal
academic identity (Abasi, Akbari et al. 2006) through relying heavily on memory work and
textual borrowing (Chandrasoma, Thompson et al. 2004; Bloch 2012), or copying,
memorization and reproduction (Howard 1995), western academia emphasize rules of
ownership and authorship (Chandrasoma, Thompson et al. 2004), and encourage using multiple
sources of information (Lillis and Turner 2001) in academic writing.
What remained unanswered in the debate, due to lack of empirical research, was that how
Iranian scholars and students with a blend of cultural heritage of the east and academic heritage
of the west form and treat the concepts textual borrowing, plagiarism and writing from sources.
This is what this paper particularly aimed at.
The required sample for this research was purposefully selected from among Iranian graduate
students of science and engineering at Universiti Putra Malaysia. Since the target population was
not centrally located, the network or chain sampling method (Ary, Jacobs et al. 2010) was
employed for selecting samples. Each participant was interviewed twice and each interview that
lasted 30 minutes was recorded. All interviews were transcribed to ensure accuracy, and the
themes were generated and categorized.
The study revealed different weaknesses in the participants’ academic skills. The most
important of these weaknesses was lack of knowledge in writing from sources which paves the
ground for threatening the integrity of the whole work.
MICELT 2012
8
All participants believed that referring to other sources for every detail disturbs the
reading and comprehension process, and turns away the writer’s focus from the subject. They
believe that only introducing the sources used in the study in a reference list is sufficient both to
acknowledge the authors and provide the learners with a list of related resources for further
reading; therefore, the participants thought that any resource that could help the readers should
be cited in the reference list although not used in the study.
These findings, although need further investigation and support, should ring the bell for
Malaysian academia. As there are many Iranian students in Malaysian universities, to ensure the
quality, courses should be planned to teach Iranian students and improve their academic skills
before they are involved in doing their academic research.
References
Abasi, A. R., N. Akbari, et al. (2006). "Discourse appropriation, construction of identities, and
the complex issue of plagiarism: ESL students writing in graduate school." Journal of
Second Language Writing 15(2): 102-117.
Ary, D., L. C. Jacobs, et al. (2010). Introduction to research in education. Belmont, CA,
Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Bloch, J. (2008). Plagiarism in an intercultural rhetoric context. Contrastive rhetoric : reaching to
intercultural rhetoric. U. Connor, E. Nagelhout and W. V. Rozycki. Amsterdam;
Philadelphia, John Benjamins Pub.: 258-274.
Bloch, J. (2012). Plagiarism, intellectual property and the teaching of L2 writing. Bristol, UK;
Buffalo, Multilingual Matters.
Chandrasoma, R., C. Thompson, et al. (2004). "Beyond Plagiarism: Transgressive and
Nontransgressive Intertextuality." Journal of Language, Identity & Education 3(3): 171-
193.
Deckert, G. D. (1993). "Perspectives on plagiarism from ESL students in Hong Kong." Journal
of Second Language Writing 2(2): 131-148.
Howard, R. M. (1992). "A Plagiarism Pentimento." Journal of Teaching Writing 11(2): 233-245.
Howard, R. M. (1995). "Plagiarisms, authorships, and the academic death penalty." College
English 57(7): 788-806.
Hyland, K. (1999). "Academic attribution: citation and the construction of disciplinary
knowledge." Applied linguistics 20(3): 341-367.
Jalilifar, A. (2012). "Academic attribution: citation analysis in master's theses and research
articles in applied linguistics." International Journal of Applied Linguistics 22(1): 23-41.
Leary, C. (2010). "Composing the Anthology: An Exercise in Patchwriting." Writing Spaces:
Readings on Writing: 225.
Lillis, T. and J. Turner (2001). "Student Writing in Higher Education: Contemporary confusion,
traditional concerns." Teaching in Higher Education 6(1): 57-68.
Pecorari, D. (2002). Original Reproductions: An investigation of the source use of postgraduate
second-language writers. unpublished PhD thesis, University of Birmingham.
Pecorari, D. (2010). Academic writing and plagiarism : a linguistic analysis. London,
Continuum.
Pennycook, A. (1996). "Borrowing Others' Words: Text, Ownership, Memory, and Plagiarism."
TESOL Quarterly 30(2): 201-230.
MICELT 2012
9
Rinnert, C. and H. Kobayashi (2005). "Borrowing words and ideas: Insights from Japanese L1
writers." Journal of Asian Pacific Communication 15(1): 15-29.
Sharkey, P. B. (1992). "What to Tell Your Students about Copyright." The Clearing House
65(4): 213-214.
Shi, L. (2006). "Cultural Backgrounds and Textual Appropriation." Language Awareness 15(4):
264-282.
MICELT 2012
10
Collaborative Writing Assessment as a Supplemental Tool to Enhance EFL Teachers’
Critical Thinking: Insights into Think aloud Protocols
Reza Ghafar Samar
Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
Masoume Ahmadi
Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran
As is well known, education is of paramount importance for development of society and
individual growth of people living in that society. The more developed and civilized one country
is, the more well-educated people there are and vice versa. Although societies are developing at a
surprising speed, the content and manner of our teaching, somehow, are not. There is still a long
way to be taken to achieve our educational ideals. A great deal of attention in learning and
pedagogy should be given to the sociohistorical and political forces residing in both the
meanings of the linguistic resources and the social identities of language users, as Hall (1997)
has argued. Regarding the manner of teaching, Quian (2007) explained that teachers’ role as
transmitters of knowledge has been taken for granted and has proclaimed them as absolute
authorities in the classrooms and students are not supposed to challenge such authorities and
foster opinions and thoughts. Teachers as both victims and practitioners of this long term
educational practice find it burdensome to face novel ideas and viewpoints of students and even
themselves. Regarding the undeniable role of teachers in classrooms, it goes without saying that,
teachers should be considered as one of the key factors in determining the success of education
and more specifically language teaching. Accordingly, it is not surprising if a broad range of
language research endeavors has addressed the characteristic features of successful language
teachers. Regarding teaching as an interactive process between society and classroom,
considerable debate has taken place over enhancing teachers and learners’ critical thinking
abilities in EFL/ESL context in recent years. Unfortunately, in this attempt, the teaching
community has not been successful in evolving indigenous critical tools without which
empowerment remains only a far–reaching dream.
Ennis (1992) has mentioned that his concept of critical thinking encompasses seeking a
clear statement of the thesis or question, seeking reasons, trying to be well-informed, taking into
account the total situation, keeping in mind the original and/or basic concern, being open-
minded, and so on. Numerous findings (Canagarajah, 2005; Mirhosseini & Ghahremani Ghajar,
2005) in the field of education have led a number of professional organizations to stand for
highlighting the significance of critical thinking in classroom and to urge teachers to assist their
learners in developing higher level thinking skills. Many techniques such as journal keeping,
writing, reading comprehension have been introduced thanks to their effect on enhancing critical
thinking abilities in EFL classrooms. Learners’ Collaborative learning has been put as a
subcategory of these techniques too. Gokhale (1995) advocated the role of collaborative learning
in enhancing pupils’ critical thinking. The result of the study carried out by Quitadamo, Brahler,
and Crouch (2009) revealed that peer–led team learning has a small but positive impact on
critical thinking gains in some science courses which consequently result in improving grade
performance and retention. At yet, there is little empirical evidence on its effectiveness for
teachers. This study examined the effectiveness of individual assessment versus collaborative
MICELT 2012
11
assessment in enhancing teachers’ critical thinking skills. The research Literature reveals that a
positive and social climate is of paramount importance in developing and sustaining
collaborative assessment. Regarding writing assessment, collaborative assessment recedes the
traces of the subjectivity and bias of writing assessment and provides a relatively agreed-upon-
criteria on which learners can rely after long and short discussions. To bridge the mentioned
gap–lack of research on enhancing teachers’ critical thinking – the current research has taken
over the mission to find out whether there is any significant difference between teachers’ critical
thinking abilities before and after being involved in individual and collaborative assessments.
As many as 24 Iranian male and female adult teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL)
were given instructions which clarified what they were supposed to do such as: scoring IELTS
writing samples, providing comments on texts, scoring individually and collaboratively, and
thinking aloud while assessing texts. Raters, at first, scored the writing individually while
verbalizing their thoughts in Persian or English without any time limit set for the task of scoring.
Moreover, they provided the researchers with some comments on writing papers. Participated in
this step, they were asked to score collaboratively a blank copy of the same writing samples in
paired groups. The introspective verbal protocols were recorded and subsequently transcribed by
researchers. The coded data provided a source of information to be analyzed. Chi–Square
analyses were conducted to investigate significant differences between individual and
collaborative groups. The content analysis of think aloud protocols provided further support.
The coding categories for the present study were developed based on Toulmin’s (1985,
mentioned in Brown and Keeley, 1994) because they counted these abilities as components of
critical thinking. This model is what Stapleton (2001) has described as a logical way for
measuring critical thinking. Based on this model, transcribed texts were finally analyzed for the
following components: number of arguments; extent of evidence: recognition of opposition;
corresponding refutations; and. number of fallacies
Total number of assertions which were based on critical thinking components was equal to
(n=226) statements for individual raters out of a 216-minute transcription and (n=241)
statements out of a 79–minute transcription in collaborative group. Although no significant
discrepancies was observed regarding each individual components except refutations (x2=11.7 >
x2
critical = 3.84), the total amount of Chi–square observed value (x
2=33.02, df =4, p=.000≤ .05) is
much more higher than the critical value of 9.48 at 4 degrees of freedom. Therefore, it can be
concluded that there are significant differences among critical thinking components of both
groups of raters.
As it is displayed in Table1, collaborative raters exceeded the expected rate in employing
some components of critical thinking such as ‘arguments’ and ‘refutations’. They have used
‘arguments’ 0.8 times more than expected and ‘refutations’ as much as 16.7 times while their
selection of ‘evidence’, ‘recognition of opposition’, and ‘fallacy’ choices are lower than the
expected rate. Interestingly, they have recognized the opposite views about 11 times more than
expected rate and consequently, ‘recognition of opposition’ was placed as the lowest component
of critical thinking used by collaborative raters.
MICELT 2012
12
Table2. Observed, Expected and Residuals in collaborative assessments
Observed N Expected N Residual
Collaborative
assessment
Argument 152 151.2 +.8
Evidence 15 19.09 -4.09
Recognition
of
opposition
29 40.25 -11.25
Refutation
42 25.28 +16.72
This study was an attempt to find out whether one form of alternative assessment, namely
collaborative assessment, is influential in fostering critical thinking abilities. The results revealed
that raters become more critical while rating collaboratively rather than individually. Some other
researchers (Gokhale, 1995; McConnell, 2002; Quitadamo, et al., 2009) second the findings.
Tsui (1999) has also accentuated the role of discussion on improving critical thinking abilities
and skills.
The findings of this study presented insights into how raters operate across individual or
collaborative assessment. The major findings emerging from theses analyses reveal that how
enhancement of critical thinking abilities in collaborative assessment will facilitate raters with
undeniable benefits. Before starting with how to test writing, we must start with attempting to
define what we mean by writing ability. This is a big deal since as, researchers in L1 and L2
have pointed out, the uses of which writing is put out by different people in different situations
therefore, and no single definition can cover all situations. Raters may apply not necessarily the
same criteria to the scripts, and even when they apply the same criteria, their evaluations and
judgments may differ. Teachers bring their teaching experience to the task of judging and engage
themselves as active readers trying to make common sense with students’ writings. Weigle
(1994) counted rater variation as an undesirable problem that causes error variance and this
problem should be eliminated or reduced, but there are some problems in achieving this goal.
Moreover, it can be observed that collaborative raters have the lower rate of using fallacies
comparing with individual ones; however, the difference is not eye–catching. Fallacies are
erroneous thinking which play trick on one’s critical thinking. Ramasamy (2011) has mentioned
that informal fallacy as one of the dimensions of critical thinking can distract people in thinking
critically because “they tend to appear reasonable and their unreliability is not apparent on the
surface” (p. 1). Based on this claim, the finding of this study on enhancing critical thinking while
assessing collaboratively can be approved of. A good critical thinker has the ability of
recognizing these fallacies and reasoning them out before deciding or concluding certainly.
At this point, a word regarding limitations of this study is worth mentioning. The findings of
this study should be taken cautiously due to gathering of information just through think aloud
protocols. Observations, diaries, retrospective process, and interviews can help next researchers
to triangulate the data. Further comparisons could reveal more about the relationship between
critical thinking skills and other prominent pedagogical solutions in ELT.
MICELT 2012
13
References
Brown, M. N. & Keelley, S. M. (1994). Asking the right questions. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice Hall.
Canagarajah, S. (2005). Critical pedagogy in L2 learning and teaching. In E. Hinkel (Ed.),
Handbook on research in second language teaching and learning (pp. 931-950).
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Ennis, R. (1993). Critical thinking assessment. Theory into Practice, 32(3), 179–187.
Gokhale, A. A. (1995). Collaborative learning enhances critical thinking. Journal of Technology
Education, 7(1), 22–30.
Hall, G.S. (1997). Redefining the Syllabus: An investigation into whether syllabuses can meet
learners’ linguistic and social needs’. Essay for CCLL1 Module, MA ELT, Lancaster
University.
McConnell, D. (2002). The experience of collaborative assessment in E-learning. Studies in
Continuing Education, 24 (1), 2002, 73–93.
Mirhosseini , S. A. & Ghahremani Ghajar, S. (2005 ). English class or speaking about everything
class? Dialogue journal writing as a critical EFL literacy practice in an Iranian high
school. Language, Culture and Curriculum,18 (3), 286-300.
Qian, L. (2007). Critical thinking and educational ideal. US-China Education Review, 4(1), 174-
202.
Quitadamo, J., Brahler, J., & Crouch, G. J. (2009). Peer-Led Team Learning: A Prospective
Method for Increasing Critical Thinking in Undergraduate Science Courses. Science
Educator, 18 (1), 29–40.
Ramasamy, S. (2011). An analysis of informal reasoning fallacy and critical thinking dispositions
among Malaysian undergraduates. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No.
ED525513).
Stapleton, P. (2001). Assessing critical thinking in the writing of Japanese university students:
Insights about assumptions and content familiarity. Writing Communication, 18 (4), 506–
548.
Tsui, L. (1999). Courses and instruction affecting critical thinking. Research in Higher Education,
40 (2), 185–200.
Weigle, S. C. (1994). Effects of training on raters of ESL compositions. Language Testing, 11,
197–223.
MICELT 2012
14
ERROR CORRECTION IN 2ND
LANGUAGE WRITING
Yvonne Gruberska
ELS Language Centres
This workshop is based on research carried out by ESL specialist Dana Ferris and published in
her book: “Treatment of error in second language student writing” (University of Michigan
Press, 2002). Dana Ferris is Professor and Associate Director for Lower-Division Writing in the
University Writing Program at the University of California, Davis. She oversees the UWP 1
course and teaches upper-division writing courses, pedagogy courses and Ph.D. seminars on
second language writing and other areas of interest. Dana is also a participating faculty member
in the Graduate Group in Education, the Graduate Group in Linguistics, and the Designated
Emphasis in Writing, Rhetoric, and Composition Studies.
Introduction
Aims:
To help teachers acquire strategies to successfully deal with a variety of errors in student
writing.
To help students to take more responsibility for the accuracy of their writing.
1. Why is error treatment necessary for L2 writers
Second language acquisition and its implications for error correction.
o Foreign language acquisition takes a considerable amount of time, particularly
when it is for academic purposes.
o Some students will never attain native-like mastery of the language. SLA occurs
in stages.
o Language acquisition can take place in different stages.
o The types of errors made by 2nd language learners are different from those made
by native speakers.
Objections to error correction in L2 writing classes.
o In the 1970’s and 1980’s the focus was not so much on grammar but on the ability
to express ideas and get your message across. Recently, the emphasis has moved
towards grammatical accuracy in writing. In addition, there has also been
significant debate about the effects of error correction on students’ accuracy in
writing. However, it has been proven that, in the short term, error correction does
have a number of beneficial effects on students’ writing.
2. Preparing L2 writing teachers to treat student error
Teachers need to study aspects of grammar that are particularly problematic for
non-native speakers of English.
MICELT 2012
15
o Many types of errors are unique to particular languages, e.g. lack of articles in
Russian, lack of indefinite article in Arabic, lack of tenses in Malay. Therefore if
teachers are aware of their students’ backgrounds they can be better prepared for
dealing with the specific types of errors those students will make.
Teachers need practice in recognizing and identifying errors in student writing.
o Teachers need to have a good grounding in grammar themselves in able to error
correct effectively. Unfortunately, many teachers still lack the necessary basic
grammatical knowledge to help their students properly.
Teachers need practice in developing lessons and teaching grammar points to
students.
o Grammar mini-lessons can be an effective tool in teaching writing. Not full-
blown grammar lessons, but mini-lessons which can focus on specific
grammatical problems affecting a class.
Teachers need to understand the principles of 2nd
language acquisition and of
composition theory.
o It is important that teachers are aware of second language acquisition theory.
Teacher should understand that differences between L1 and L2 forms may lead to
student errors in writing and that individual differences in learning styles and
motivation may affect students’ responsiveness to grammar-teaching techniques
and to editing strategy training. Also, writing teachers need to consider the
relative importance of error correction in student writing processes. While we
should not neglect accuracy and clarity in writing we also should also not give it
more attention than it merits.
3. Perspectives on error correction in L2 writing and responding to student errors
What are the effects of teacher.correction on student writing?
Do writing teachers give accurate and complete feedback on students’ errors?
o There have been several research reports which claim that teachers’ feedback is
inadequate and inconsistent. The accuracy of corrections made has also been
called into questions. However, there has been no significant research carried out
to prove that this is the case in general.
Do students attend to teacher feedback and attempt to utilize it in revisions of
their texts?
o One criticism of teacher error correction and of written feedback in general is that
students do not pay attention to it. However, in studies carried out in which
MICELT 2012
16
students have been given in-class time to correct errors highlighted by the teacher
it has been found that they can correct anywhere from 60% to over 90% of their
errors. The important fact is that students need to be given in-class time or
assigned such tasks (e.g. redrafting) for homework.
Do students who receive teacher feedback on their errors make accurate changes
in their revisions?
Yes in the majority of cases – 70-80%.
Do students who receive error feedback improve in written accuracy over time?
Not enough research has been done about the long-term effects of error correction.
Students do improve in general but this could also be attributed to other factors such
as increased writing practice, more exposure to English, changes in study practices
etc. However, it can be argued that error correction, together with the above
strategies, are necessary in general to increasing levels of accuracy.
Does it matter what types of feedback students receive (e.g., direct or indirect,
error location versus error identification, coded or uncoded, written or verbal?
Direct feedback is when the teacher not only highlights the error but actually corrects
it for the student. Indirect feedback is when the teacher indicates that an error has
been made but leaves it to the student writer to correct the error. It has been argued
that indirect feedback is more helpful to student writers in most cases.
Coded versus uncoded: Students and instructors feel that more explicit (i.e. coded)
feedback is preferable. However, certain studies have also shown that there is no real
significant difference between the effectiveness of coded and uncoded error
correction. The important fact is that the error is highlighted for the student, but not
necessarily identified as to the type of error it is.
Are certain types of error more “treatable” by means of error feedback than
others?
Treatable and untreatable errors – Certain types of error are more “treatable” by
students themselves, e.g. verb endings, articles etc. However, certain types of errors
such as word choice errors cannot always be corrected by the student.
4. What are the effects of other types of classroom intervention on the accuracy of
student writing? Other successful techniques to help students improve their accuracy in writing are:
o Teacher-student conferences
o Peer editing sessions
MICELT 2012
17
o Revision/rewriting after receiving feedback
o In-class grammar instructions tailored to specific structural problems
o Maintenance of error logs
Does required revision after receiving feedback facilitate student progress?
There is not compelling evidence that the presence or absence or revision makes a
difference in the long run. On the other hand, some researchers have suggested that
revision, along with other forms or writing practice, is the key to long-term student
improvement. This is certainly a major area for further research.
Does in-class grammar instruction help students to improve their writing?
It has been proposed that, if mini grammar lessons are carefully tailored to the needs
of students and linked and applied to the writing being done in class, it will certainly
have a beneficial effect. However, there have been no studies that have looked solely
at grammar instruction and its effects on the accuracy of writing.
Does maintenance of error logs or charts help students to become more accurate
over time?
Error logs help students to focus on major patterns of written error and to be aware of
the relative frequency of various types of errors. However, research in this area is
minimal so no real judgments can be made about the effectiveness of error logs. On
the other hand, in the short term, it has been proven that error logs do help students
become more aware of and attend to the types of errors they make.
5. What are students’ views and perceptions about error treatment in their writing?
Do L2 student writers value error feedback, or do they resent it and find it
discouraging and demotivating?
Students feel that teacher feedback on grammar and errors is extremely important to
their progress as writers;
Do students value feedback on errors as much as feedback on other aspects of
writing (e.g., ideas, organization)?
Students in the most recent students also see value in other types of teacher feedback
(on ideas and organization);
What specific feedback styles or mechanisms to do students prefer (e.g., selective
or comprehensive, direct or indirect)?
Student writers mostly favour comprehensive teacher marking of errors;
Student writers, when given a choice of teacher marking strategies, tend to prefer that
teachers mark errors and give them strategies for correcting them over either direct
correction of errors or less explicit indirect method (e.g. underlining)
Students sometimes found teachers’ marking systems confusing or cumbersome.
NOTE: Students also need to be aware of assessment criteria in order to fulfil them successfully.
MICELT 2012
18
6. Beyond Error Correction
Helping students understand the importance of self-editing.
Training students in self-editing strategies.
Using peer-editing as a tool.
Training students to focus on specific issues in a text.
Encouraging students to track their progress in self-editing.
Teaching students how to edit under time pressure.
Encouraging better development of ideas in essay writing.
7. Dealing with workload and avoiding burnout
It is not essential to give written error feedback on every single paper students write.
Focus on specific errors only.
Be aware of what your students already know, find out what they want and design your
feedback strategies accordingly.
Be realistic in your goals about error feedback. Aim to make most of your feedback
indirect, focused on error location rather than identification and verbal as far as possible.
As time goes on, mark fewer errors and require the students to take increasing
responsibility for their own progress.
References
Ferris, D. (2002). Treatment of error in second language student writing. University of
Michigan Press.
MICELT 2012
19
Wikinomics Of Collaborative Writing
Tan Bee Hoon
Department of English
Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication
Universiti Putra Malaysia
E-mail: [email protected]
The wiki software was created for the purpose of developing web pages collaboratively and
efficiently. The idea was originally mooted by a computer programmer named Ward
Cunningham in 1995. Wiki allows information to be added or edited freely by any user, and the
evolving information becomes available freely to the community or any selected audience. Given
the popularity of wiki as a collaboration platform or device through recent years, “wiki” has
become synonymous to “collaboration”. The term “wikinomics” was coined by Tapscott and his
co-author in two recent books that emphasize on the importance of a collaborative culture in all
spheres of human activities. They reckoned that wikinomics brings people together on the
Internet to create a giant brain, and together the group can tap from the collective wisdom to
achieve a common goal. Taking on the innovative ideas from wikinomics, the present study
investigates how wiki can be best applied for maximum benefits in ESL writing classrooms. It
draws and discusses results from three related wiki projects completed locally to illustrate the
potentials, benefits and implications of wikinomics.
Literature review
In English-as-Second-Language (ESL) contexts, students are often reluctant to write in English.
Their reluctance can be attributed to the lack of a real or compelling reason to write, the absence
of complementary support besides the teacher-fronted classroom, and the ignorance of
interesting writing tools. Yet writing in English is an essential skill for students to succeed in
their academic endeavours and later in their career. Adding to these challenges is the nature of
the current generation of learners who are are growing up with the Internet, and this has
impacted on how they live and learn. Therefore, teachers can no longer rely solely on traditional
pedagogy in English language instruction. More engaging techniques are needed to motivate
learning in view of the lack of authentic reasons for students to write in English. Besides,
problems such as big class size, limited class time and limited opportunities for students to
practice English all point to the need for new pedagogy to complement classroom learning of
English and to extend the learning beyond the classroom space and time. The problems has
instigated researchers to explore the application of wiki (an online collaborative platform)
(Chong, Tan & Mardziah, 2011) and the Writing With Wiki (WWW) approach in the ESL
writing classroom (Tan, 2009).
The potentials of wiki are realized in the writing classrooms because of its participatory and
collaborative nature. Every student gets an equal chance to contribute to the task (Lund, 2008).
MICELT 2012
20
Several scholars and practitioners have articulated the potentials of wiki in supporting
knowledge-building networks especially for communities of practice who engaged in
collaborative learning (Grant, 2006). In other words, Wiki is basically useful for class or group
projects, and it helps define the curriculum as students work on the project. Wiki can also be
applied outside the classroom for learners to pursue their individual interests and research
agenda. It can be used for online publishing, and Wiki sites can function as information sources
(Mejias, 2006). In short, Wiki is best for group work that requires the input of ideas from
different people whereby everyone can contribute and edit the content independently of space
and time (Clyde, 2005).
Given the popularity of wiki as a collaboration platform or device through recent years, “wiki”
has become synonymous to “collaboration”. In 2006, the term “wikinomics” was coined from
“wiki” and “economics” to emphasize the importance of collaboration in all spheres of human
activities (Tapscott & Williams, 2006). The authors describe wikinomics as the art and science
of peer production. The metaphor has introduced a new era of mass collaboration and
participation. This new form of giant-scaled collaboration using low-cost collaborative
infrastructures afforded by Web 2.0 is changing almost all forms of human activities such as
businesses, communication and education. One good example of wikinomics can be seen in
Wikipedia that research has recognized to be as good as Britannica (Terdiman, 2005). In 2010,
Tapscott and Williams proposed five principles of networked intelligence comprising:
collaboration, openness, sharing, integrity and interdependency. The same principles can be
used to guide Wikinomics, and are applicable for collaborative learning and writing.
Methodology
The aim of this paper is to report on three studies related to wikinomics conducted in a local
secondary school and a university. The participants of the first study were secondary school
students, and the second and third studies involved university students. The studies adopted the
ethnographic research design where the learning behaviours of students were observed and
monitored over a period of time. The students were trained to use the wiki technology and to
write collaboratively throughout one academic year in completing written assignments in and out
of class. During the participants’ writing on wiki, their writing behaviours, interaction patterns,
strategies used, attitudes, and writing improvement and achievement were observed and
recorded. By the end of each study, one-to-one interviews were carried out to obtain students’
feedback regarding the use of wiki. Their collaborative writing efforts on wiki pages were
analysed. A questionnaire was administered at the end of the study to investigate students’
perceptions and attitudes toward the use of wiki after experimenting with it over an academic
year or a semester.
Results and discussion
For the first study, the secondary school students collaborated to co-construct a wiki science
dictionary. The active students felt that wiki was an interesting tool for collaborative work.
However, the inactive users perceived wiki somewhat negatively. On one hand they perceived
MICELT 2012
21
that wiki was too structured and writing was difficult, but on the other they reported that the
reading done at the wiki site had helped them in acquiring new vocabulary. The active users who
claimed that they had improved in the learning of English opined that the wiki tool they used, i.e.
Tiki Wiki, failed to meet their social needs as it was overly structured for discussion. However,
this shortcoming has been corrected by more recent wiki tools such as Wetpaint that provides an
accompanying forum for users to interact online. Another interesting finding was that high ICT
knowledge and skills were not necessarily required for students to participate in a wiki project. It
was the interest and the perceived value of wiki that really mattered. If students valued the wiki
project, they would try to collaborate and contribute to the content to make the project a success.
For the second study, the tertiary students who collaborated to write the course textbook found
that the collaborative writing task motivated them to write as they appreciated the authentic
purpose of their writing. It also boosted the students’ confidence that they could be textbook
authors, besides learning to be critical thinkers in evaluating and integrating related content in
the textbook. Through collaboratively writing the textbook, students learned the craft of
academic writing such as paraphrasing, quoting, synthesizing and summarizing ideas, and the
conventions of citation and referencing, besides exacting coherence and cohesion, focus and
emphasis, and grammaticality. Observation on their writing process as well as data collected
from the exit questionnaire confirmed their positive perception and experience in using Wetpaint
as a wiki tool in the e-textbook project. The collaborative task allowed them writing to learn the
course content while learning the craft of writing. The dual purposes of writing helped them gain
confidence as English language users.
For the third study, the university students collaborated to write essays through two different
modes: face-to-face and on wiki. They recognized the usefulness of wiki and the power of
wikinomics as in the second study. In addition, the study found that the participants indicated
more preference for collaborative writing on wiki. The study is still in the analysis stage, and
further results and findings will be reported at a future conference.
Conclusion
The findings provide positive evidence to encourage an alternative approach of web-based
complementary teaching of English as opposed to the conventional methods and the backbone of
the research is students’ collaboration. The findings of the three studies are a reflection of how
the learning of English and ICT skills can happen simultaneously in a Wiki collaborative writing
environment. The successful production of the Wiki-science dictionary by the secondary
students, the wiki textbooks produced by the university students and the positive finding to
collaborative writing on wiki show that collaborative writing can be made easy by ICT, and the
interaction, synchronous or asynchronous, can be mediated by social media without the barrier of
time, location or space. It is time that educators and instructors pay attention to the potentials
and power of wikinomics in achieving higher performance in learning outcomes of students, and
in preparing them for real life tasks and the job market.
MICELT 2012
22
References
Chong, M.L., Tan, B.H., & Mardziah Hayati Abdullah (2011, September). Wiki for Co-Writing
a Science Dictionary. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 11(3), 109-128.
Clyde, L. A. (2005). “Wikis”. Teacher Librarian, 32(4), 54-57.
Grant, L. (2006). Using Wikis in schools: A case study. Retrieved from
http://www.futurelab.org.uk/ research/discuss/05discuss04.html
Lund, A. (2008). Wikis: A collective approach to language production. ReCALL, 20(1), 35-54.
Mejias, U. (2006). Writing and Wikis. (Online) Retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/pub/
er/erm04/ erm0452.asp?bhcp=1
Tan, B. H. (2009). WWW: Learning the Craft and the Content. Paper presented at International
Conference of Language Learning in Computer-Mediated Communication, University of
Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, 10-13 October 2009.
Tapscott, D., & Williams, A. D. (2006). Wikinomics: How mass production changes everything.
London: Atlantic Books.
Tapscott, D., & Williams, A. D. (2010). Macrowikinomics: Rebootingbusiness and the world.
London: Atlantic Books.
Terdiman, D. (2005, December 15). Study: Wikipedia as accurate as Britannica. Cnet News.
Retrieved from http://news.cnet.com/study-wikipedia-as-accurate-as-britannica/2100-
1038_3-5997332.html
MICELT 2012
23
Interactional Metadiscourse in Research Article: A Marker of Academic Discipline
Mohsen Khedri , Seyed Jamal Ebrahimi & Chan Swee Heng
Univerisiti Putra Malaysia
Getting entry into any discourse community can be fulfilled through defining its particular
established goals (Bizzell, 1992) and being aware of and competent in its writing practices
(Hyland & Hamp-Lyons, 2002). A discourse community possesses the following features
mentioned by Swales (1990): 1) Determined and fixed set of common public aims; 2)
Mechanisms and approaches for its members to communicate with each other; 3) One or more
genres in the communicative assertions of its goals; 4) And a threshold level of members with an
appropriate degree of relevant content and discursive expertise.
Swales (1990) describes further that there are plenty of established ways for any
discourse community to contribute information which give rise to different genres. The defining
characteristic of a genre is the communicative purpose it fulfills. This communicative purpose is
reflected in the rhetorical structure or organization of the genre. To Bruce (2005), genres are of
two types, social and cognitive. He figures out research article (henceforth RA) as a social genre
employed as a communicative way among members of a specific discourse community.
A generic analysis of RAs can cover a wide variety of matters such as rhetorical features.
An essential part of rhetorical features of RA is shaped through metadiscourse that is used to
make the text persuasive and reader-friendly, and it also helps authors to arrive at audiences
(Hyland, 2005). Hyland (2004) views metadiscourse as "self-reflective linguistic expressions
referring to the evolving text, to the writer, and to the imagined readers of that text" (p. 133).
Hyland asserts that metadiscourse markers are facilitating tools in social communication which
contribute to making knowledge within discipline and owing to the differential characteristics of
the discipline, the application of metadiscourse is variously applied in different disciplines (2005,
p. 143).
A number of studies have been incorporated to the notion of metadiscourse in academic
RAs disciplinarily and cross-disciplinarily. (Abdi, 2002; Abdollahzadeh, 2011; Harwood, 2005;
Hyland, 1998, 2001; Millan, 2010; Vazquez & Giner, 2008). According to the existing literature,
studies on metadiscourse in the genre of RA are extremely low. The scarcity is felt even greater
when it comes to the status of metadiscourse markers across various disciplines, and also how
these cohesive devices are manifested in different rhetorical sections of RA, especially in the
result and discussion sections. Therefore, this study aims to explore how interactional
metadiscourse markers, based on Hyland’s (2005) taxonomy, are manifested in result and
discussion sections of RAs across four different disciplines.
Method. The corpus of this comparative and contrastive research consists of sixteen
result and discussion sections of RAs (4 from each selected discipline). The details of the corpus
are as follows:
Discipline: English Language Teaching (ELT) and Economics (Eco) representing
soft sciences, and Biology (Bio) and Civil Engineering (CE) representing hard
sciences (based on Becher’s, (1989) taxonomy).
Year of publication: All RAs from which result and discussion sections were
extracted have been published in two consecutive years, 2009 and 2010.
MICELT 2012
24
Journal: Social Sciences and Humanities, Economics and Management, Tropical and
Agricultural Sciences, and Science and Technology. These journals are indexed in
Scopus which are published by Universiti Putra Malaysia.
Result and discussion. Table 1 presents the frequency analysis of interactional
metadiscourse markers in each discipline. Results identified that elements which carry the
meaning of hedges are manifested more or less identically in all disciplines, though a little more
in soft sciences disciplines, 144 tokens (35.68 per 1000 words) while 139 tokens (32.28 per 1000
words) in hard-knowledge fields respectively. Such a similarity can be justified considering the
manner of soft and hard authors in article writing to display their humility and deference to
audiences and provide them some opportunities to intervene with their opinions.
In contrary, both groups of fields were statistically discrepant in the use of boosters. They
occurred much more in the soft fields, 256 tokens (62.7 per 1000 words) in soft disciplines and
163 tokens (38.76 per 1000 words) in hard disciplines. It was revealed that soft sciences authors
expressed their argumentations about the propositional content with a much higher degree of
certainty leaving little room for their addresses to mediate alternative voices and opinions.
Regarding attitude markers, to figures shown in table 1, soft writers used 69 cases (17.17
per 1000 words) while their cognates in hard sciences used fewer, especially in Bio, getting to 50
tokens (12.34 per 1000 words). Hyland (2005) comments that in hard sciences, more burden is
often put on research practices and the methodology, procedures, and equipment applied to do
the research. Hence, these writers shed more light on demonstrable generalizations with less
emphasis on individual interpretations. Conversely, soft sciences authors more often than not,
cannot claim their findings to be based on proven quantitative methods; causing them to evaluate
their arguments more explicitly (pp. 150-151).
Moreover, findings marked that, no case of engagements showed up in three disciplines
with some infrequent use in Eco, 2 tokens 0.61 (per 1000 words). This lack of occurrence is not
something odd as, in our study; we only included two rhetorical sections of the RA, namely,
result and discussion. In these two sections, we make judgment mainly reliant on the findings of
studies which could mean that visuals such as figures are likely to “talk” more and this
characteristic could predominate over prose expression thus resulting in economy of extended
writing
Last, the interesting point is that there was no presence of self-mentions in the whole
corpus of Bio and CE used in this study. This being the case, it could be inferred that no element
signals the authorial identity or writers’ presentation metadiscursively of this nature. There were
just a few cases of such attempts in ELT (2 tokens) and Eco (9 tokens), altogether 3.19 per 1000
words, leading to the conclusion that there is only very faint presence of writers exercising the
rhetorical stance.
Table 1: Frequency analysis of interactional metadiscourse markers in each discipline per 1000
words
Soft sciences Hard sciences
ELT Eco Bio CE
Row
No.
Per
1000
words
F Per
1000
words
Total F Per
1000
words
F Per
1000
word
s
Total
MICELT 2012
25
Hedges 89 18.75 55 16.93 35.68 87 18.4 52 13.88 32.28
Boosters 166 35 90 27.7 62.7 86 18.2 77 20.56 38.76
Attitude markers 42 8.86 27 8.31 17.17 18 3.80 32 8.54 12.34
Engagements * * 2 0.61 0.61 * * * * *
Self-mentions 2 0.42 9 2.77 3.19 * * * * *
Total 119.35 83.38
Overall, table 2 presents results of Chi-square analysis. As the table indicates, there is no
statistically predominant difference between soft and hard fields of knowledge in terms of
interactional metadiscourse markers excepting boosters.
Table 2: Chi-square analysis of interactional metadiscourse markers across disciplines
Soft Disciplines Hard Disciplines
Xvalue df P
Hedges 35.68 32.28 0.235 1 0.6276
Boosters 62.7 38.76 5.647 1 0.0175
Attitude markers 17.17 12.34 0.862 1 0.3532
Engagements 0.61 * 1.000 1 0.3173
Self-mentions 3.19 * 3.000 1 0.0833
Conclusion. In the present research, we presented a cross-disciplinary picture of interpersonality
in academic writing accentuating interactional metadiscourse elements in the genre of RAs.
However, the results reported that there are some similarities and differences across four selected
disciplines in terms of interactional metadiscourse markers. The most significant differential area
referred to boosters that were so prevalent among soft sciences authors used to signal their full
commitment towards the thoroughness and preciseness of propositional information. Some other
interesting outcomes found in the corpus are non-existence of engagement markers and self-
mentions in hard fields, and in one of soft disciplines, ELT, there was no evidence of
engagement markers at all.
References
Abdi, R. (2002). Interpersonal metadiscourse as an indicator of interaction and identity.
Discourse Studies, 4, 139–145.
Abdollahzadeh, E. (2011). Poring over the findings: Interpersonal authorial engagement in
applied linguistics papers. Journal of Pragmatics, 43, 288-297.
MICELT 2012
26
Becher, T. (1989) Academic tribes and territories: Intellectual inquiry and the cultures of
disciplines. Milton Keynes, England: Open University Press.
Bizzell, P. (1992). Academic Discourse and Critical Consciousness. Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh
University Press.
Bruce, I. (2005). Syllabus design for general EAP courses: a cognitive approach. Journal of
English for Academic Purposes, 4(3), 239-256.
Harwood, N. (2005). ‘Nowhere has anyone attempted . . . In this article I aim to do just that’: A
corpus-based study of self-promotional I and we in academic writing across four discipline.
Journal of Pragmatics, 37, 1207-1231.
Hyland, K. (1998). Persuasion and context: The pragmatics of metadiscourse. Journal of
Pragmatics, 30, 437-455.
Hyland, K. (2001). Humble servants of the discipline? Self-mentions in research articles. English
for Specific Purposes, 20, 207-226.
Hyland, K. (2004). Disciplinary interactions: Metadiscourse in L2 postgraduate writing. Journal
of Second Language Writing, 13, 133–151.
Hyland, K. (2005). Metadiscourse: Exploring interaction in writing. London: Continuum.
Hyland, K. , & Hamp-Lyons, L. (2002). EAP: Issues and directions. Journal of English for
Academic Purposes, 1, 1–12.
Millan, E. L. (2010). ‘Extending this claim, we propose…’ The writer’s presence in research
articles from different disciplines. Iberica, 20, 35-56.
Swales, J. (1990). Genre Analysis. English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Vazquez, I. , & Giner, D. (2008). Beyond mood and modality: Epistemic modality markers as
hedges in research articles. A cross-disciplinary study. Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses,
21, 171-190.
MICELT 2012
27
Needs Analysis Of Ipg Students For A Web-Based Argumentative Writing Resource: A
Case Study In Ipgm Kampus Perempuan Melayu Melaka
Jai Shree Bipinchandra, Parilah Mohd. Shah
& Sharifah Nor Puteh
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Introduction
Essay writing is a required task for academic communication. Students have to do much of their
writing for assignments and exams in colleges as well as universities. It is however, a stressful
task for many L2 learners because they have difficulty in generating ideas to discuss the essay
topic, or have inadequate time to organise their language and thoughts within the given period of
time. It is also an extremely demanding and time-consuming task for some ESL lecturers
because they may not be able give the scaffolding necessary regardless if it is an in-class or take-
home exercise.
English Language Academic (ELA) for the students from teacher training colleges is taught at
Foundation level. The non-TESL optionists require a minimum of 13 credit hours. It is intended
to achieve linguistic skills namely listening, speaking, reading, and writing as well as grammar.
In semester two of the foundation programme, students are required to write expository and
argumentative essays. Based on past experience, as an English Language lecturer, most students
(about 90%) opt to write argumentative essays during end of semester exams but only manage to
pass as they tend to only attempt modestly.
Purpose of Study
This study will first focus on the needs in learning argumentative writing of PPISMP students
who will be pursuing their Bachelor of Teaching programme in the teacher training colleges. An
analysis of student needs, often known as Needs Analysis, has been generally regarded as a
necessary factor in language curriculum reform since the 1970’s (Munby, 1978).
Research Questions
This research attempts to answer a few questions such as:
RQ1: To identify the needs of ‘argumentative writing’ students have when arriving at college.
RQ2. To explore the difficulties students experience with argumentation in academic writing.
RQ3. To discuss the limitations of current instruction and make recommendations for
improvements
Literature Review
The term ‘argument’ is used in different ways in academic discourse, ranging from the
philosophical construct of premises and conclusions (Toulmin, 1958) to diverse writing practices
(Mitchell et al., 2008). It can refer to individual claims or the whole text. Toulmin, Reike, and
Janik (1984: p. 14) define argument similarly as ‘the sequence of interlinked claims and reasons
that, between them, establish content and force of the position for which a particular speaker is
arguing’.
MICELT 2012
28
Past Research
Ahmad Yasruddin Md Yassin et. Al. (2010) conducted a study to investigate the English
proficiency of civil engineering students of a Malaysian polytechnic. A questionnaire was
administered to 171 civil engineering students. Analyses of skill deficiencies revealed wide
learning gaps between the acquired and required English skill attributes. The results of this study
implied the need for curriculum changes (such as content and mode of delivery) so that
polytechnic graduates could meet the workplace expectations.
Wingate, U (2011) conducted a study on undergraduate learners’ concepts of arguments in their
essays and the type and quality of instruction they receive. The findings revealed that the learners
have only partial or incorrect concepts of argument. The researcher suggested more scaffolding
and proposed an essay writing framework. Interestingly, Englert et.al (2007) conducted an
experimental research and found that web-based scaffolding produced lengthier pieces and
higher quality essays. This was also found by a local researcher, R. Sarasvati (2011) whereby she
stated that “scaffolding gives a greater assurance of the learner acquiring the desired skill,
knowledge or ability”.
Methodology
Generally, it is a mixed-method approach. A total of 21 foundation level students (TESL) who
are currently pursuing their Foundation in Bachelor of Teaching programme were involved in
this case study. They are studying in a college in Melaka. Purposive sampling was employed to
obtain data as the sample is suitable for a case study when the researcher wants to build
understanding on a particular case without making generalisations on other cases (Patton 2002).
Research Instruments
In order to complete the data collection process, a few approaches were employed. As this is a
mixed method research, the data was collected by getting the respondents to fill in questionnaires
as well as interview sessions and document analysis (essays written by students). In this research,
the questionnaire for needs analysis was adapted from Kamaruzzaman (2012) and Mohd Zaki
Mohd Amin (2011).
Results and Discussion
A total of 21 female pre-service teachers between the ages of 19-20 were involved in the first
stage of data collection, while in the second stage, 3 were selected for interviews. As for their
level of proficiency, most of them rated themselves as good (71.4%), while 23.8% and 4.8%
rated themselves as fair and very good respectively.
Identifying the Needs Of ‘Argumentative Writing’ Students Have When Arriving At
College
a. Interest and Motivation
The pre-service teachers can be said to be quite motivated to learn how to write argumentative
essays with almost all the means to be above 3. R3 said “..umm like to write argumentative if I
know topic, but I got problem in saying..um writing…something madam Z said, uh oh,
ohhh…she say I am not coherent and cohesive..but I don’t understand what she mean..hehe”
b. The way the instructor teaches
MICELT 2012
29
The way the instructor teaches has quite an average score as the means fall within the range of 3
except for the last two questions where the means fall below 3. Maybe the instructor does not use
LCD or language software often, as stated by the lecturer interviewed, “…the class is quite far
from my office and it is difficult to carry all the equipment. Sometimes, there are not enough
lcd’s to go around.” Regarding language software, “hmm, we do not have adequate funds for
these softwares”.
c. Use of Dictionary
The pre-service teachers can be said to be quite frequent users of dictionary as the means fall
above 4, therefore they agree that the use of dictionary is vital for helping them write
argumentative essays.
d. Time Allocation
It is interesting to note that the pre-service learners hardly agree to the notion that they are able to
complete all their argumentative writing exercises in class as the mean falls below an average
level of 3. According to R2, “every time we cannot finish our essays, then ahh, we finish in
hostel, sometimes, can forget also”.
e. Learning Style
The highest mean score for the above construct is the fact that pre-service teachers in this college
have a certain style for following learning content (3.91) followed by they prefer to learn
language in a group (3.86). All three respondents in the interview said they liked working in
groups.
f. Use of Internet Facilities
During their own time, these pre-service teachers have a tendency to use internet to find
information online (4.68) as well as to obtain additional information (4.68). They do not keep-in-
touch with friends via email as often (3.96).
g. Facilities
Actually the campus does not provide any facilities for language lab so obviously the means are
low for those two questions. Nevertheless, the pre-service teachers all own a laptop each and
some also have ipads and smart phones. They like to learn outside class hours (3.48) and prefer
learning in a group.
h. Argumentative Writing
Although the means for the above construct are high, according to R2, “we need proper guidance
lah, madam..sometimes so many essays to write, we forget the format and then, aiyo, very bad no
idea how to do properly.” So, they do need a resource they can fall back on each time they are
not sure about the format and other crucial matters related to Argumentative Writing.
i. Writing Strategy Use
All the strategies have been tried by the pre-service teachers and it seems on the surface they are
keen to use a variety of strategies. Based on the interview, the main thing they do is they plan out
what they intend to write and they do review but only once. They hardly ever have time to do
peer-checks.
MICELT 2012
30
Difficulties Students Experience With Argumentation In Academic Writing.
As the pre-service teachers wrote an argumentative essay entitled “English Language should be
used and implemented in all subjects at the University level in order to produce quality
graduates”, the essays were marked by a team of examiners and 65% of the essays only scored a
Band 3 based on the MUET writing rubric, whereas 20% and 15% of the essays obtained a Band
4 and Band 2 respectively.
Limitations of Current Instruction Recommendations for Improvements
It seems the current instruction is rather instructor-centred and it is also exam oriented. The
learners aren’t able to relate their ideas in writing as it focuses more on the product rather than
the process of writing. Learners are also not able to grasp the skills needed due to lack of time
and lack of group-based activities for collaboration. It is strongly recommended that a Mobile
web-based resource for the learning of Argumentative writing skills be developed in order to
help these learners access it anywhere, anytime to overcome the said limitations. The resource
can also be used as teaching aid and can scaffold their learning in a comprehensive manner (R.
Sarasvati, 2011 and Englert, C.s. et.al, 2007). The predominant approach to learning support will
be remedial but enrichment activities will also be included so as not to disinterest the good
learners who can further improve themselves.
Conclusion
This research was carried out to conduct a needs analysis of the problems trainee teachers face in
their Argumentative Writing. The findings reveal that trainee teachers need a mobile web-based
resource to be developed as it can facilitate deep learning and offer more flexible learning
opportunities for the learners.
References
Ahmad Yasruddin Md Yassin et. Al. 2010 English proficiency of civil engineering students of a
Malaysian polytechnic. lAsian Social Science Journal. Retrieved on October 2nd 2011 from
http://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ass/article/view/5147Andrews, R. (1995). Teaching and
Learning Argument. London, NY: Cassell.
Andrews, R. (2010). Argumentation in higher education. Improving practice through theory and
research. New York, London: Routledge.
Englert, C. S.; Zhao, Yong; Dunsmore, K.; Collings, N. Y.; Wolbers, K.; Yevgenyevna, N. 2012.
Scaffolding The Writing Of Students With Disabilites Through Facilitation : Using An
Internet-Based Technology To Improve Performance. Learning Disability Quarterly, Vol.
30(1), 9-29. Retrieved on 16th July from http://www.jstor.org/stable/30035513
Kamaruzzaman Ismail. 2012. Pembangunan dan Perisian Bahasa Perancis Asas (Easifrench)
Berasaskan Web. Doctorate Thesis UKM, Bangi.
Patton, M.Q. 2002. Qualitative evaluation and research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications.
Mohd Zaki Mohd Amin (2011) Development and Evaluation of a Learning-to-learn English
Module for EFL Learners, Masters Thesis UKM, Bangi.
Munby, J. 1978. Communicative Syllabus Design. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Sarasvati, R. (2011). Students’ reaction towards scaffolding in writing instruction. (Paper
presented during “Teaching and Learning of English in Asia 4 (TLEIA 4)” held in Hard
Rock Hotel, Penang 10-12 November 2011
MICELT 2012
31
Toulmin, S. (1958). The uses of argument. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Toulmin, S., Reike, R., & Janik, A. (1984). An introduction to reasoning (2nd ed.). New York:
Macmillan.
Wingate, U.Dreiss, C. 2009. Developing students’ academic literacy: an online approach. Journal
of Academic Language & Learning, 3(1), 14-25. Retrieved on 6th August 2012 from
http://journal.aall.org.au/index.php/jall/article/view/65/58
Wingate, U.,2011. ‘Argument!’ helping students understand what essay writing is about, Journal
of English for Academic Purposes (2011), 11(2), 145-154. Elsevier Ltd. Retrieved on 14th
March 2012 from http://dx.doi.org.www.ezplib.ukm.my/10.1016/j.jeap.2011.11.001
MICELT 2012
32
Attitudes, Knowledge, and Skills of ESL Teachers Towards Cooperative Learning
Strategies in Writing Classroom
Siti Rahimah Ahmad (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia)
Writing has been quite highly emphasised across all levels in school settings in language
education although it is regarded as as a complex cognitive skill and thinking process (Ching Ya
Chu, 2004). Thus, ESL teachers, as agents of change are responsible in designing the teaching
activities and choosing the most suitable approaches or methods in teaching writing to fulfil the
needs and the trends of the world (Faradibah Sudari, 2006; Nakamol Nudee, Monta Chatupote,
Adisa Teo, 2010). One of the methods recommended in teaching writing is the use of
cooperative learning (Kagan 2002) as it seems to be a potential solution and one of the teaching
methods that not only improve language learning, academic achievement (Ghazi Ghaith,2003;
Faridah Hanim.2003; Marhamah, 2005), social skills (S. Wichadee. 2005; Tzu-Pu Wang, 2007;
Rosimah Abdul Rashid. 2008; Luu Trong Tuan, 2010), and inculcate moral values during
classroom activities (Ching Ya Chu, 2004;Tok Hoon Seng, 2006; Bobbette M. Morgan, Graciela
P. Rosenberg, Lori Wells. 2010), but also improve the learners’ performance in writing
(Kirembwe Rashid Abdul-Hamed. 2004; Syafini Ismail. 2009; R.R.Mandal, 2009).
However, most teachers in Malaysia are prone to using the traditional method in teaching
writing, for they believe it can help them to control the large number of students compared to
learner centered (Faridah 2003; Tok Hoon Seng, 2006; Rosimah Abdul Rashid, 2008;
Kamaruddin, 2010). Apart from that, the time to attend to the students individually is limited and
more time is needed to correct students’ writing exercises ( Ching Ya Chu, 2007) because the
size of every class in most government schools in Malaysia mostly comprises of thirty five to
fourty five students per class (Marlinda, 2005). Due to that, quality marking and teaching writing
cannot be expected. Therefore, cooperative learning is a strategy that can be explored and used in
writing classrooms to help minimise the risks of neglecting the students. However, teachers
knowledge, skills and attitudes towards the strategy need to be investigated before it can be
implemented in ESL writing class. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to find out the level of
knowledge, skills, and attitudes of ESL teachers towards cooperative learning in writing class.
Many researches related to cooperative learning have proven that not only cooperative
learning (CL) benefit students, but also teachers. For example, a study done by Kamaruddin
Ismail (2010) on chemistry teachers have shown that there is no significant different between the
teachers’ knowledge and cooperative learning. However, in terms of their skills, teachers who
have more than 5 years of teaching experience are better in using the strategy in their classroom
and have positive attitude in using it. Similarly, Rosimah (2008) concluded that teachers who
have more than 21 years of teaching experience showed more comprehension and implement
more cooperative learning strategies, whereas those with less teaching experience have the
lowest frequency of the implementation and face more difficulties in implementing the strategies
in the classroom. Furthermore, result by Mimi Haryani Hassim. et.al (2004) on fourteen
engineering lecturers has shown that cooperative learning was accepted by the lecturers and the
MICELT 2012
33
students although the inexperienced lecturers claimed that they took more time to cover a topic
in their first class compared to pure lectures approach.
As a whole, cooperative learning benefits in many ways. Although teachers may have
difficulties in implementing CL for the first time, but their positive attitudes and constant use of
CL will enhance their skills and improve their knowledge on the strategy.
Methodology
The study employed a quantitative research design where questionnaires were given to 75
randomly selected secondary English teachers in Hulu Langat district. The questionnaire consists
of structured questions which employed the 5-point Likert scale and was divided into 4 sections,
i.e. background information, knowledge, skills, attitudes, and teachers’ perceptions on their
learners’ preferences on cooperative learning. The questionnaires were analyzed descriptively
using percentage in order to find answers to all the 4 research questions planned.
Result and Discussion
The result from the study showed that most of the respondents were 69 female teachers (92%)
and only 6 (8%) male teachers. As teaching field is mostly dominated by females, the result was
somehow predicted.. Most respondent teachers were Malays 43(57%), followed by 21 (28%)
Indian teachers and 11 (15%) Chinese teachers. All the teachers were permanent teachers and
very experienced in their teaching field. 37 teachers (49%) have taught English for more than 15
years, 18 teachers (25%) have taught for 10 - 14 years, and 11 teachers (12%) have taught for 5
– 9 years, and 9 teachers (12%) have less than 5 years of English teaching experience.
From the survey done, teachers are found to have moderate knowledge on all the items tested for
it holds the highest percentage in the result; characteristics of cooperative learning (62.7 % ), the
differences and similarities of cooperative learning vs traditional learning (65.3% ), the theory
of cooperative learning strategies ( 51%), and advantages of cooperative learning (56%). The
items on teachers’ role and definition on cooperative learning also showed that teachers have
moderate knowledge on the strategy (42%).
As a whole, knowledge of the teachers involved in the teaching environment must not be
overlooked, for knowledge of the theory and the implementation are important to upgrade the
teaching practices of teachers. Teachers with lack of knowledge are certain to affect their
teaching performance (Lilia and Norlena, 2000).Thus, teachers’ knowledge and understanding
of cooperative learning (CL) strategy in terms of content and pedagogy is important if they are to
implement the strategy in their classroom, specifically their writing class.
In terms of teachers’ level of skills, the 8 items tested have indicated that most teachers
have the skills of implementing cooperative learning in their writing class where 69% of them
provided their students with opportunities to voice out their ideas and thoughts during class, 60%
of the teachers focussed their lessons on moral values and active participation. Moreover, 68% of
the respondents arranged students for easy observation, class control, and students' discussion
process, while 52% of them always divide students according to their different background .
Finally, 61% of respondents gave opportunities to their students to structure their own group and
56% prepare cooperative learning materials prior to their lessons. In addition, 65% of the
MICELT 2012
34
teachers often function as facilitators during lessons and 56% of them always guide their students
with problems that occur during the learning session.
From the result, teachers were found to have the skills of implementing CL strategies in
their writing class. Although they may not be well versed on the theory and pedagogy on CL, but
experience in teaching somehow lead them into using the strategy in their writing class. Thus,
the role of teachers post a great impact on the students’ performance in writing, where the
knowledge and skills of teachers are likely to influence their teaching styles. Teachers who are
knowledgeable are effective teachers ( Kamaruddin ismail, 2010).
The result regarding the level of teachers’ attitudes towards cooperative learning in writing
class has revealed that respondents were most likely to agree to all the items. The result from the
questionnaire showed that majority of respondents ( 77.%) believed that if CL is well planned,
the teaching and learning will be more effective. 73% of them agreed that CL encourages
positive learning environment besides inculcating moral values and positive social interaction
among the learners which resulted to 65%. On the contrary, only 46% of the respondents believe
that CL can improve students' academic achievements although the pecentage was the highest
shown from the item tested. Apart from that, 72% of the respondents believed that CL can
lessen their workload and help them complete the syllabus within the time given (58%) as it
focuses more on the students and groupwork. However, 14.5% of them disagreed that their
workload will be lessen for they need time to prepare their lesson well before CL can be
implemented.. In addition, 63% of the respondents agreed that students have shown some
positive changes during the implementation of CL compared to the traditional way of learning.
However, 14.5% of the respondents believed that CL is not practical in terms of its theory and
implementation, probably because of its preparation and time needed. Nevertheless, 51%
respondent teachers have positive attitudes towards its theory and implementation and 43.42% of
the respondents agreed that cooperative learning is one of the most appropriate methods for the
teaching of writing.
Thus, positive attitudes of teachers can create positive environment in language teaching.
Teachers with positive attitudes can motivate their students into believing that writing is fun and
easy. Gardner (1985) believes that motivation is a combination of effort, desire and favourable
attitudes towards learning the language. As such, teachers with positive attitudes can instil
positive attitudes in the students besides motivating them in learning the language ( Choy, 2002).
Conclusion
The results presented in this study has shown that majority of the respondent teachers have
moderate knowledge of the theories and pedagogy of CL, but having the skills of implementing
CL in their writing class. Their attitudes towards CL are also positive. Thus, teacher’s
knowledge, attitudes, and skills in teaching writing are important elements that should be looked
into to determine the success of the implementation of the strategy which will later lead to the
success of the learners in language learning, (Guskey,1986; Kamaruddin Ismail, 2010), which is
in this study, the writing performance. An explicit knowledge and a shift of paradigm in teaching
and employing new strategies will provide new input as how language is supposed to be taught
and will give the best output, cognitively, socially, and emotionally which indirectly lead to
character development, unity and finally fulfil the global needs.
MICELT 2012
35
REFERENCE
Rashidi Azizan And Abdul Razak Habib, (1995). Pengajaran dalam bilik darjah. :
Kaedah dan strategi. Kajang: Masa Enterprise.
Faridah Hanim, (2003). The implementation of ccoperative learning in Mathematics at a
secondary school: a case study. UKM. Tesis Sarjana
Kamaruddin Ismail, (2010). Knowledge, skill, and attitude towards cooperative learning method
among Chemistry teachers. Masters Thesis. UKM.
Rosimah Abdul Rashid, (2008). Pelaksanaan pembelajaran koperatif oleh guru Sains, Matematik,
dan Bahasa Inggeris di sekolah menengah di kawasan bandar Kudat, Sabah.
Ching-ya Chiu, Feng-cheng Chiang, and Shu-chuan Chung, (2007). The effects of cooperative
learning on interactive behaviours and learning attitude. Proceedings of the Independent
Learning Association 2007 Japan Conference: Exploring Theory, Enhancing Practice:
Autonomy Across the Disciplines. Kanda University of International Studies, Chiba, Japan.
http://www.independentlearning.org [7th
November 2011].
Luu Trong Tuan, (2010). Infusing cooperative learning into an EFL classroom. English
Language Teaching. 3(2) : 64 -77. www.ccsenet.org/elt. [ 1st October 2010].
Shafqat Ali Khan, (2008). An experimental study to evaluate the effectiveness of cooperative
learning versus traditional learning method. PHD Thesis. Faculty of Social Sciences.
International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan. eprints.hec.gov.pk/6517/ - 19k.
S. Wichadee. 2005. The Effects of Cooperative Learning on English Reading Skills and
Attitudes of the First-Year Students at Bangkok University.
www.bu.ac.th/knowledgecenter/epaper/july_dec2005/saovapa.pdf. [10 November 2011].
Syafini Ismail dan Tengku Nor Rizan Tengku Muhammad, (2009). The effects of cooperative
learning in enhancing
writing.http://pkukmweb.ukm.my/~solls09/Proceeding/PDF/Shafini.pdf
Bobbette M. Morgan, Graciela P. Rosenberg, Lori Wells, (2010). Undergraduate
Hispanic student response to cooperative learning. College Teaching Methods & Styles
Journal. Vol.6 (1). P 7-12.
cluteonline.com/index.php/CTMS/article/download/5515/5600.
Ghaith. Ghazi, (2003). Effects of the Learning Together Model of Cooperative Learning on
English as a Foreign Language Reading Achievement, Academic Self-Esteem, and
Feelings of School Alienation. Bilingual Research Journal 27(3) : 451 – 456.
www.antiessays.com/free-essays/64675.html
MICELT 2012
36
Marhamah Hj. Ahmad Hamid. 2005. Keberkesanan Pembelajaran Koperatif ke Atas
Pencapaian Pelajar Dalam Matapelajaran Bahasa Inggeris di Sekolah Menengah
Pertama Babussalam, Pekan-Baru Riau, Indonesia. Tesis Sarjana pendidikan. Bangi.
Universiti Kebangsaan.
http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC18/Johnson.htm [December 9, 2010].
MICELT 2012
37
Effect of Model Essays on the Improvement of
IELTS Candidate Writing Ability
*Mohamadreza Jafary, *Nooreen Nordin, Arshad.Bin.Samad, Roselan Baki
University Putra Malaysia
During the last 3 decades, many studies have been carried out to show the effectiveness or
ineffectiveness of the common practice of most writing teachers in providing feedback to their
students. However, most of these studies were in one way or another flawed. That is why
drawing any conclusion about the effectiveness of such a practice has been, if not impossible,
very difficult. On one hand, Truscott (1996, 1999) argue that providing students with corrective
feedback is not only ineffective but also harmful. On the other hand those who argue against
Truscott’s claim do present results which are obtained from studies most of which are
problematic in their methodology. Many studies showing positive results (Chandler, 2000;
Ferris, 1995, 1997; Ferris, Chaney, Komura, Roberts, & McKee, 2000; Lalande, 1982) were
carried out without having a control group included, which makes drawing any conclusion about
the comparison of correction/no correction approaches implausible. Three studies mostly cited in
different reviews are Ashwell (2000), Fathman and Whally (1990), and Ferris and Roberts
(2001). These studies have shown positive results for the practice of providing students with CF
and they did include a control group. However, having a control group is not sufficient. What is
needed is a control group which is compatible with the treatment group in all aspects including
proficiency level, writing conditions, and instructional context (Guenette, 2007). It is a fact that
the above mentioned studies, did have a control group, but their experimental and control groups
differed in proficiency levels. Also, most of these studies were of a short duration. For example,
Fathman and Whally’s (1990) participants were required to write one essay and had 30 minutes
to correct it. The effect of feedback on learners’ accuracy in such a short time does not seem to
be conclusive at all. Moreover, most of the studies examining the effect of CF, do so by requiring
learners to work on the same piece of work, i.e., working on different drafts of the same essay.
Very few studies have examined the corrective feedback on a new piece of writing.
Corrective Feedback
Providing students with written corrective feedback has always been controversial. While some
claim that it is ineffective and even harmful (Truscott, 1996, 1999), others (e.g., Ferris, 1999)
argue for the practice. Truscott (1996) reviewing a number of research concluded that grammar
correction in L2 writing classes should be abandoned. He gave a number of reasons for that: (a)
Research evidence shows that grammar correction is ineffective; (b) this lack of effectiveness is
exactly what should be expected, given the nature of the correction process and the nature of
language learning; (c) grammar correction has significant harmful effects; and (d) the various
arguments offered for continuing it all lack merits (p. 328).
Truscott (1999) responding to Ferris’ (1999) referring to his 1996 article ‘the Case against
Grammar Correction in L2 Writing Classes,’ argues that her criticism are both “unfounded and
highly selective, leaving large portions of [his] case unchallenged, and in some cases, even
strengthening them” (p. 111).
MICELT 2012
38
Guenette (2007) considering the debate between those who argue against and those arguing for
giving corrective feedback and its effect on students’ written accuracy tries to answer two
questions: (1) To what extent might the conflicting results of the selected written corrective
feedback studies be attributed to the research design and methodology? (2) To what extent
might these results be attributed to variables that were not considered in the design? Regarding
his two research questions, Guenette reviewed some studies done in this regard including
Ashwell (2000), Chandler (2003), Fathman and Whalley (1990), Fazio (2001), Ferris and
Roberts (2001), Goring-Kepner (1991), Polio, Fleck, and Leder (1998), Semke (1984), and
Sheppard (1992) in terms of their methodology and other factors and concluded that:
The first, and probably most obvious, is that the studies just reviewed are not necessarily
comparable because the design and methodology were not constant.
He also reminds us of one very important factor not considered in any research, i.e., the
individual differences, especially motivation. Unmotivated learners will pay little attention to
what they are supposed to do. They do not notice the feedback and do not apply the
corrections. Lee and Schallert (2008) also explain how a trusting student-teacher relationship
may be fundamental to the effective use of feedback provided. They report how one student
building a trusting relationship with his teacher faithfully used her written feedback in revision
improving his drafts whereas the other student having difficulty trusting her did not respond to
her feedback positively.
The present study
The present study as its primary objective attempts to explore the effectiveness of providing
students with corrective feedback in teaching writing courses. In doing so, it examines the
effectiveness of the use of model essays written by native speakers of English as a form of
feedback. Also, this study seeks to find out which aspect of IELTS writing rubric including the
task response/achievement, coherence and cohesion, lexical resources, and grammatical range
and accuracy is more affected by the use of model essays as a feedback tool through the use of
an analytical rubric and later the interview with the participants. Also, what makes this study
stand out is the use of model essays as a form of feedback and exploring the effect of such an
apparatus in teaching writing to the students of English as a foreign language. Moreover the
present study attempts to avoid the pitfalls of most studies carried out in this regard so far by
including a control group; judging the effectiveness of the practice based on a post test of a new
piece of writing; having homogenous treatment and control groups; and extending the treatment
over a course of 10 two-hour sessions. As such, it was attempted to answer the following two
questions:
1. Does the use of model essays, written by native English speakers, make any difference in
learners’ writing ability defined by their gain score in IELTS mock writing test?
2. Does the use of model essays, written by native English speakers, make any difference in
learners’ gain score in the four components of IELTS writing scoring rubric including
‘task response,’ ‘coherence and cohesion,’ ‘lexical resource,’ and ‘grammatical range and
accuracy’?
MICELT 2012
39
Methodology
For the purpose of this study, four intact groups from two different English institutes in Tehran,
including 34 female and 28 male participants, were used. The participants’ age ranged from 21 to
34 all Iranian students of differing majors studying English as a foreign language at a post-
intermediate level. In each institute, there were two classes, as such it did not seem plausible to
randomly assign the four classes into treatment and control group because if each institute had
received one treatment group (TG) and one control group (CG), then the participants could have
been aware of the fact that they were being studied and might have behaved differently (the Halo
and Hawthorn Effect) and also they might have questioned why some receive a different kind of
instruction. Therefore, to keep participants blind to the research, only the institutes were
randomly assigned to treatment and control groups, so that the control groups and the treatment
groups were kept separate and unaware of the fact they were participating in the study. The two
treatment groups included 33 participants, 18 female and 15 male participants, and the control
group included 29 (16 female and 13 male) participants. Due to the fact that 2 participants in the
TG and 3 in the CG left the course unfinished without taking the post test, the researcher was left
with no choice but excluding their samples and results from the analysis. As such we were left
with 57 (32 female and 25 male) participants. As mentioned above, the classes in the two
institutes were first randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. A TOEFL proficiency
test as well as a writing pretest was administered in the first session for both groups. The
participants were given 40 minutes to plan and write a sample for an IELTS topic given to them.
Since participants were required to write only one piece of writing in the posttest in the final
session, and in order to avoid the ‘fatigue’ factor introduced to the program by participants’
having a proficiency test in the first session, they were required to write the sample essay before
taking the TOEFL test, so that participants’ pre and post-tests in writing could be regarded as of
comparable nature.
In order to avoid the effects of handwriting on the raters, all the gathered samples were typed by
the researcher. The researcher was cautious to type them as they were actually written by the
participants, i.e., all misspellings, wrong punctuations and other types of mistakes were typed
exactly as they had appeared in the scripts. All the participants’ information was omitted from
the samples and each sample was given only a code in order to be identified only by the
researcher rather than the raters. The samples were then given to two experienced university
faculty members to be rated. Before rating the samples, a meeting was arranged with both raters
and the procedure and the type of scoring guide were explained to them. However, they were not
clued in on the purpose of the study. The raters were required to score the samples based on the
IELTS Task 2 Writing band descriptors on a scale of 1 to 9 at intervals of 0.5. The raters were
required to score each sample individually and blind to the scores given by the other rater. For
each sample, 5 scores were given; one for the whole essay (a holistic score) and one for each
component specified in the rubric i.e., task response, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource,
and grammatical range and accuracy.
In the second session, the IELTS writing rubric and the criteria based on which participants’
writing samples were to be evaluated on the IELTS exam were explained to the students in both
control and treatment groups. The IELTS band descriptor was copied and distributed among the
students as the instructor (the researcher himself) was explaining each component. Then,
different parts of an essay (introduction, body, & conclusion) and their subcomponents (e.g.,
MICELT 2012
40
topic sentence, stance, and preview in the introduction) were explained. A model essay was
given to the students in the treatment group for them to be able to better understand the
instructor’s explanations. The rest of the second session as well as the third session were spent
explaining and working on the components of an essay. During the second and third sessions
students were not required to write complete essays. Instead they were asked to write different
parts of an essay separately before being ready to write a complete essay. At the end of the third
session, students in both groups were given a topic to write a complete essay for the fourth
session.
At the beginning of the fourth session, students in the treatment group were given the model
essay for the topic they were supposed to write. Different parts of the model essay such as the
topic sentence, writer’s stance, the use of transition words, different parts of the body paragraphs
and conclusion were identified and shown to the participants in the treatment group. Then, they
were asked to read their essays part by part as the instructor explained how and why their essays
were good or bad based on the model essays. For the control group, the same thing was done but
instead of comparing their writings with the model essay, they were asked to read their essays
and the instructor commented on them and simply explained why they were acceptable or not
without any reference to a model essay. Both groups were given a topic to write about for session
5. Note that the topic given to both groups were the same and they were only the topics for which
the instructor had the models.
The fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and the ninth sessions were carried out as the previous session
with an exception. At the end of the ninth session, the treatment group was given 2 topics instead
of one to write about for the next session. The control group was required to write one topic,
similar to the treatment group’s first topic. At the beginning of the tenth session, the same thing
was done for the first topic as in the beginning of the fourth session. However, at the end of the
session, the participants in the treatment group were given the second model essay and were
asked to reflect on the model essay. Then, the participants were interviewed individually through
a set of questions about different aspects of an essay based on what had already been explained
to them in the first session. The participants were asked about the aspects to which they had paid
attention in the model essay and their own essays. The interviews were carried out in Persian,
participants’ native language and were recorded using a digital mp3 player and recorder. The
interview question set is provided in Appendix E.
The eleventh session was the posttest session, in which students in both groups were required to
write an essay for the same IELTS topic in 40 minutes. The samples gathered were typed and
then given to be scored as in the case of pre-test samples. Also the interviews in the case of
treatment group were transcribed and later analyzed. During the whole study, it was tried to keep
everything the same and equal for both control and treatment groups but for the use of model
essays, trying to avoid introducing any source of bias to the study.
The scores given by the raters for the pretest and posttest as well as the four elements of an essay
(task response, coherence & cohesion, lexical resource, and grammatical range & accuracy)
identified by the IELTS band descriptor were compared with each other for the two groups of
participants through the use of multiple independent t-tests.
MICELT 2012
41
Results & Discussion
Due to practicality issues, the inter and intra rater reliability indices were calculated only for the
holistic scores given by raters to the pretest and post-tests in the study and the results were taken
as representative of the raters’ performance in scoring the four elements of an essay identified by
the IELTS writing task 2 rubric. Table 1 summarizes the results obtained through the use of
Pearson product-moment correlation:
Table 4.1
The Rater Reliability Indices for Rater 1 & 2
Pre-test Post-test
Inter-rater Reliability .92 .89
Intra-rater Reliability - -
Rater No.1 .97 .94
Rater No.2 .87 .91
The analysis of the proficiency test results showed no significant difference between the two
groups (T = 1.431, P = .158). Moreover, the independent t-tests conducted between the two
groups’ writing pretests showed no significant difference between the treatment and control
groups in terms of their overall score and their scores for the four elements. Gender was also
checked and appeared not to affect the results. Table 2 shows the results of the multiple
independent t-tests checking for any preexisting differences between the control and treatment
group.
Table 2: Independent t-tests checking for Preexisting Differences between Treatment & Control
Groups
t df Sig. (2-tailed)
Pretest overall writing score -1.33 55 .189
Pretest task response -1.31 55 .306
Pretest coherence & cohesion -.917 55 .363
Pretest lexical resource -1.39 55 .171
Pretest grammatical range -1.53 55 .131
To answer the first research question, first, participants’ pretest and posttest writing samples
were rated ,and then the gain scores for each group was calculated by subtracting participants’
scores in pretest from theirs in posttest. After that, the two lists of gain scores for the treatment
MICELT 2012
42
and control groups were compared using an independent t-test. The results showed that there
existed a statistically significant difference between the two groups (t = 3.671, P = .001).
For the second question, as in the case of the first one, the gain scores were calculated for each
component. For the ‘task response,’ the treatment group outperformed the control group and the
difference between their performances was significantly found different (t = 9.975, P = .000).
The same result was observed in case of the second component, i.e., the ‘cohesion and
coherence.’ The treatment group performed significantly better (t = 2.576, P = .013). However,
in case of the ‘lexical resource’ (t = 1. 547, P = .128), and the ‘grammatical range and accuracy’
(t = .637, P = .527) no significant difference was observed.
The Interview
The participants were interviewed through a set of three questions in the last session of the
course. This was done in order to see if participants’ perceptions differ from the reality reflected
in their scores in the pre- and post-tests. Interestingly enough, almost all the participants
answering to the first question stated that the ‘task response’ was the one which attracted their
attention the most. The majority chose ‘coherence and cohesion’ as the second option. Based on
the last question, the ‘grammatical range and accuracy’ stood third and before ‘lexical resource’.
Conclusion
The results showed that the participants who had received model essays as a form of feedback
during their instruction outperformed the control group who had received the same instruction
but for the use of model essays. Also, checking the four components specified in the IELTS
writing task 2 band descriptor, i.e., task response, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource, and
grammatical range and accuracy, it was revealed that the difference in learners’ performance did
lie in the case of the first 2 components, i.e., task response, and coherence and cohesion.
Although the treatment group had a larger gain score in case of the other two components, the
difference with that of the control group was not found statistically significant. Based on the
figures obtained, it is evident that the use of essays does make a difference in the learners’
achievement by affecting their overall score in general and their right use of issues specified in
the ‘task response,’ the cohesive devices, and other tools which can help someone produce a
coherent piece of writing. In the task response part of the rubric, it is examined to see if the
writer has fully addressed all parts of the task question and whether the position taken in
answering the question is presented with relevant, fully extended, and well-supported ideas. In
the second component, coherence and cohesion, it is checked whether the ideas and sentences are
arranged logically so that the reader can easily follow the flow of ideas. Moreover, in a cohesive
paragraph, sentences are well connected to each other through the use of different cohesive
devices such as the repetition of ideas and the use of pronouns and connecting words.
In the lexical resource component, raters are supposed to check if the test takers have used a
wide range of vocabulary and have a natural and good command of lexical features. Finally, in
the last component, i.e., grammatical range and accuracy, it is considered whether the writer has
used a wide variety of structures with accuracy.
Based on the definitions given and the explanations and narratives given by the participants in
their interviews, the first 2 components, i.e., task response, and coherence and cohesion, seem to
MICELT 2012
43
measure or deal with abilities which are of a more global nature and are more easily identified in
a piece of writing. For example, it would be much easier to recognize the ideas which are more
directly related to the task question presented than emulating an author’s style in terms of her
variant use of grammatical structures. Also, identifying the transition words in and between
paragraphs, and how one paragraph shifts or merges into the next paragraph seems more easily
perceivable. However, having a wide range of vocabulary and a good command of grammatical
structures as well as being able to use them are not things to be possible to teach or get command
of in 10 sessions. Even if the participants do pay attention to them in the model essays, it seems
implausible to expect them to apply such items to their writings because creating a new piece of
writing on a new topic demands a different range of vocabulary and sometimes grammatical
structures gaining command over which requires much longer periods of language instruction.
This interpretation is somehow confirmed with what the participants stated in their interviews.
Almost all of them identified ‘task response’ features as the first factor to which they paid
attention when examining the model essays given to them. They were unanimous that reviewing
the model essays, they were better aware of the fact that they either give irrelevant answers to the
task questions or only partially do they address the question. It was also stated that when they
read the topic, instead of analyzing and decoding the task question and the task focus, they
simply pick up a key word in the topic about which they think they can write an essay of 250
words, and then they start developing that aspect not paying much attention to whether that
aspect is the same as the one intended by the task question.
It seems that once learners are aware of this fact and examine how different their approach to
topic development is from that of a native speaker, they can change their strategies and approach
each topic in a better and more efficient way. In addition, many learners examining the model
essays could identify the cohesive devices such as the use of connecting words and different
conjunctive adverbs which show the relationship between the ideas, sentences, as well as the
paragraphs. A few could also identify the writers’ attitude expressed through different adverbs
and adjectives throughout the essays. Some could point out how the writer had naturally moved
from one paragraph to the next.
The learners had scarcely reported on the other two factors. However, the nature of their reports
was quite different. They did recognize that the model essays did differ from their own essays in
terms of the lexical range and grammatical accuracy, but this recognition unlike the previous
ones led to frustration and disappointment. They often mentioned that they could not write as
accurate as the authors in the model essays and they do not know as much vocabulary as the
native speakers do. Some stated that their sentences were less complex and less accurate in
comparison with those in the model essays. Still some others believed that their choice of
vocabulary is more naïve comparing with that of a native speaker.
As such, it seems plausible in hypothesizing that the observation of such results in the present
study is more due to the nature of such factors. The ones which only need a kind of
consciousness raising can be improved more easily than those whose improvement needs long
term investments.
References
MICELT 2012
44
Ashwell, T. (2000). Patterns of teacher response to student writing in a multi-draft
composition classroom: Is content feedback followed by form feedback the best
method? Journal of Second Language Writing 9 (3), 227–257.
Bitchener, J. (2008). Evidence in support of written corrective feedback. Journal of Second
Language Writing 17 (2), 69–124.
Chandler, J. (2000, March). The efficacy of error correction for improvement in the
accuracy of L2 student writing. Paper presented at the AAAL conference.
Cohen, A. & Calvacanti, M. (1990). Feedback on compositions: Teacher and student verbal
reports. In B. Kroll (Ed.), Second language writing: Research insights for the classroom
(pp. 155–177). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ellis, R., Sheen, Y., Murakami, M. & Takashima, H. (2008). The effects of focused and
unfocused written corrective feedback in an English as a foreign language context.
System, 36, 353-371.
Enginarlar, H. (1993). Student response to teacher feedback in EFL writing. System,
21(2), 193-204.
Fathman, A. & Whalley, E. (1990). Teacher response to student writing: focus on form versus
content. In: B. Kroll (Ed.), Second Language Writing: Research Insights for the Classroom.
(pp. 178–190). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Fazio, L. (2001). The effect of corrections and commentaries on the journal writing
accuracy of minority- and majority language students. Journal of Second Language
Writing, 10, 235–249.
Ferris, D.R. (2003). Response to Student Writing: Implications for Second Language
Students. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ.
Goring-Kepner, C. (1991). An experiment in the relationship of types of written feedback to
the development of second language writing skills. The Modern Language Journal, 75, 305–
313.
Guenette, D. (2007). Is feedback pedagogically correct? Research design issues in studies
of feedback on writing. Journal of Second Language Writing 16, 40–53.
Hillocks, G. (1986). Research on written composition: New directions for teaching. Paper
presented at the Urbana IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills and
the National Conference on Research in English.
Knoblauch, C.H., & Brannon, L. (1981). Teacher commentary on student writing. The state of
the art. Freshman English News, 10(2), 1-4.
Lalande, J.F. (1982). Reducing composition errors: an experiment. Modern Language Journal
66, 140–149.
Lee, G., & Schallert, D.L. (2008). Meeting in the margins: Effects of the teacher–student
relationship on revision processes of EFL college students taking a composition course.
Journal of Second Language Writing, 17, 165-182.
Polio, C., Fleck, N., & Leder, N. (1998). If only I had more time: ESL learners’ changes in
linguistic accuracy on essay revisions. Journal of Second Language Writing 7,
43–68.
Robb, T., Ross, S., & Shortreed, I. (1986). Salience of feedback on error and its effect on
EFL writing quality. TESOL Quarterly 20, 83–93.
Schmidt, R. (1994). Deconstructing consciousness in search of useful definitions for applied
linguistics. AILA Review 11, 11–26.
MICELT 2012
45
Sheen, Y. (2007). The effect of focused written corrective feedback and language aptitude on
ESL learners’ acquisition of articles. TESOL Quarterly 41, 255–283.
Sheppard, K. (1992). Two feedback types: do they make a difference? RELC Journal 23, 103–
110.
Truscott, J. (1999). The case for ‘‘the case for grammar correction in L2 writing classes”: A
response to Ferris. Journal of Second Language Writing 8, 111–122.
MICELT 2012
46
The Effect Of Direct Versus Indirect Cultural Texts On
Iranian Efl Learners’ Reading Ability
Zahra Sadat Roozafzai
Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research, IUT Branch
In accordance with different definitions two main views toward culture can be extracted:
A) our shared human models for living and interactions, day- to-day living patterns, the ways of
acting learnt through socialization;
B) our cognitive constructs, the ways of thinking, affective understanding, arts, etc.
In addition, due to many studies (e.g. Swender&Duncan (1998), Muyale-Manenji. F. (1998))
language and culture are interrelated, it can be hypothesized that if there is a positive effect of
culture teaching on EFL learners’ reading skill, there will be two ways through which ELLs
reading skill can be improved. According to two categorized views of culture above, one might
be teaching culture directly through every-day life, informative-comparative texts and the other
through literary texts as art.
Literature Review
Culture, as the matter of fact, penetrates every aspect of our beings. Nieto (2009) “culture is
complex and intricate. It cannot be reduced to holidays, foods or dances, although these are of
course elements of culture….. culture is not simply rituals, foods and holidays of specific groups
of people, but also the social markers that differentiate that group from others….”
It has been said that culture is like an iceberg, that only ten percent of it is visible and the other
ninety percent is hidden below the surface. For this reason, ESL teachers must make intentional
efforts to teach cultural understanding. Borrowing from Bachmann (1990) there can be two
“channels” to teach culture in EFL classrooms; i.e. visual and aural, in two “modes”; i.e.
receptive and productive. Different combination of these channels and modes leads to different
methods. For instance, EFL teachers can give students some cultural topics and bring a
discussion of culture into the classroom and talk about target culture or provide them with videos
and cultural internet texts and images or ask students to have a native target English speaker pen
pal to write and chat and get to know the target culture in many other ways. But the method used
in a formal EFL classroom in this study is to provide students with texts and ask them to read
and answer the questions. But what kind of texts?
There are different models and approaches which investigate the effects of culture and
interaction in target language contexts and environments like “Intercultural Interaction Model”
(Culhane, S.F. 2004) , “social interaction model of Vygotsky (socio-cultural theory) and
‘interaction approach in second language acquisition’ ( Mackey, 2012 in Williams (Ed.) ),
MICELT 2012
47
‘optimal distance model’ of second language acquisition (Brown, 1980) and ‘input-interaction-
output model’ (Block, 2003). Lantolf (2012) compares SLA with SCT and summarizes that
“SLA focuses on and privileges learning over teaching. All developmental mechanisms are
inside the learner [the container], while SCT focuses on dialectical unity of teaching/learning.
Obuchenie is a central mechanism in development.”
Gay (2000) defines culturally responsive teaching as taking advantage of the cultural knowledge,
prior experiences, and performance styles of students to make learning more appropriate and
effective for them; it teaches to and through the strengths of language learners. So, one of the
best ways for teaching culture directly to students can be providing students with informative
texts and then comparing different aspects of western culture with their native culture. This style
of comparison-and-contrast through informative texts can also raise their consciousness,
cognitive attention (Tomlina and Villa, 1994) and awareness to cultural differences and culture
learning effectively enough.
On the other hand, as one aspect of culture refers to art and literature, we can select short stories
to teach culture. But since stories essentially have their own literary mission and application and
their basic function depending on the genre basically is to narrate a plot or teach a theme, they
can be indirectly used for the purpose of culture teaching to EFL students.
Research Questions
The current study has aimed to compare the effect of culture teaching via direct versus indirect
cultural texts on EFL learners’ reading ability. In other words it tries to see if the Iranian ELLs
who are taught target culture by culturally informative- comparative texts outperform or
underperform in a general reading test than the ones who are taught culture by short stories.
Methodology: Design.
The selected research design in this study was quasi-experimental in which two experimental
groups, randomly-selected, participated. One group was taught culture through culturally
informative- comparative texts and the other group was taught culture through short stories.
Participants and Materials.
From a population of Persian monocultural, Iranian female language learners, aged 20-40,
university students, the university graduated or holders of high school diploma, 4 classes of low-
intermediate language proficiency level according to International House language level, equal to
B1 according to CEF( Common European Framework), in one of the language institutes in an
urban area in Isfahan city of Iran were chosen. To determine their level of English language
proficiency, students passed a placement test consisting of two parts: a short written test, with a
handy answer sheet for quick marking, followed by a more detailed oral test, similar to CEFR
(Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) placement test – Cornelsen. All
MICELT 2012
48
four classes followed the regular program (with CLT method) of the institute, teaching same
units (first two units) of one of EFL series of books (Total English, by Antonia Clare and JJ
Wilson) at intermediate level in 20 sessions. Since the number of students in each class was less
than 30, two classes were selected for each treatment.
The participants in group 1 (two classes out of four) were taught English in the same program as
group 2 but were taught cultural points through 10 texts which either gave direct cultural
information about shopping, foods, holidays, driving, schooling and education, greeting,
entertainment, party holding, exhibitions, child breeding, pet keeping, marriage and some other
social family matters of the U.K., and some American culture information texts from some
credible websites, while group 2 were taught cultural points through 10 short stories by some
writers like Langston Hughes or Pearl S. Buck and some contemporary shorter stories from
websites.
Method.
There are some techniques for teaching culture developed by researchers like Taylor &
Sorenson, 1961 (Culture Capsules, based on eight cultural categories, proposed by Taylor and
Sorensen, namely Subcultural, Technology, Economic Organization, Social Organization,
Political Organization, World View, Esthetics), Meade & Morain, 1973(Culture Clusters) ,
Fiedler et al., 1971( Culture Assimilators), Gorden's prototype 1970 (Mini-Dramas, offered as
the prototype audio-visual unit of the Cross-Cultural Communication Packet (CCCP)), Helen
Wilkes,1983 (Cultural Consciousness-Raising) and many others such as Kinesics and Body
Language, Cultoons, Audio–motor Units, Critical Incidents/Problem Solving Media/Visuals,
Celebrating Festivals etc. According to Christine Elmore (1997) in order to put teaching culture
into classroom practice, we need to follow specific strategies including: “The lecture, Native
informants, Audio-taped interviews,Video-taped interviews/Observational dialogs,Using
authentic readings and realia for cross-cultural understanding (a four-stage approach to a cultural
reading of authentic materials is very effective to lead students through the process of guided
exploration and discovery : 1- Thinking, 2- Looking, 3- Learning, 4- Integrating)”
So, in the present paper the researcher used authentic reading texts and realia, and raised EFL
students’ cultural consciousness with combination of culture capsule and Cultural
Consciousness-Raising. Thus, beside the syllabus of the term, on the basis of CLT
(communicative language teaching) direct and indirect cultural texts were taught similarly.
Results
In this study, the input of statistical analysis consisted of scores of students’ answers to 19-item
multiple-choice reading comprehension questions of two general passages selected from TOEFL
tests administered by ETS in the past. Students received one mark for each correct answer and
lose 1/3 mark for incorrect answer.
MICELT 2012
49
Information about the mean, standard deviation and standard error mean of the two groups are
shown in Table 2. below
Table2. Group Statistics
Group N Mean Std. Deviation SEM
SCORES 1.00
2.00
30
30
12.2967
10.5307
2.8074
3.0718
0.5126
0.5608
The higher mean of group 1, with mean difference of 1.7660 implies that they have
outperformed on reading test over group 2. Besides, Direct group’s lower standard deviation
score shows that their scores are less dispersed from the mean value than that of Indirect group.
Table 3. illustrates the results obtained from the independent t-test application.
Table 3. Independent Sample Test
t-test for Equality of Means
t df Sig. (2-
tailed)
Mean
Difference
Std. Error
Difference
SCORE Equal variances assumed 2.3244 58 0.0236 1.7660 0.760
As the t value for equal variance is 2.3244 which with 58 degrees of freedom has the two-tailed
significance level of 0.0236 which is less than two-tailed probability vale; i.e. 0.05, the two-
tailed P value is less than 0.05, by conventional criteria, this difference of two groups’
performance is considered to be statistically significant.
Discussion
‘Implicit Learning’ and ‘Explicit Learning’ are two terms that are largely investigated and
accepted in cognitive psychology (for example, Eysenck, 2001). Implicit learning is learning
unintentionally without learner’s awareness. For instance, learners are exposed to input data for
processing meaning but being investigated for learning any L2 linguistic properties. However, it
cannot promise that learning is absolutely without awareness. Since researchers believe that any
learning is impossible without some degree of awareness (Ellis, 2008).
Explicit learning, on the other hand, is an intentional conscious process. For instance, learners
are given an explicit rule and asked to use it or they are asked to discover an explicit rule from
data provided. These two types of learning, as a result, lead to implicit and explicit knowledge.
(Ellis, 2008). Learning involves both implicit and explicit knowledge, which interact at the level
of performance.
MICELT 2012
50
Although Ellis (1990), believes that implicit and explicit L2 knowledge are different in kind and
are held separately in brain he, Ellis et al. (2009), postulated three different interface kinds
between implicit and explicit L2 knowledge:
“1. According to strong interface position, explicit knowledge can be converted into implicit
knowledge when learners practice explicit and declarative rules.
2. According to non-interface position, implicit and explicit knowledge are held separate in brain
and each involves rigidly distinct mechanisms and thus cannot be converted to each other.
3. According to the weak interface position, explicit knowledge can assist the acquisition of
implicit knowledge by making some aspects of input salient and noticeable to learners.” (Rassaei
et al. (2012))
Moreover, according to Richards & Schmidt 2009, the interface hypothesis is a concept in
second language acquisition that describes the various possible theoretical relationships between
implicit and explicit knowledge in the mind of a second language learner. There are three basic
positions in the interface hypothesis: the no-interface position, the strong-interface position, and
various weak-interface positions. The no-interface position states that there is no relationship
between these two types of knowledge; in other words, knowledge that has been learned
explicitly can never become fast, automatic language knowledge. This position has been largely
discredited, and the debate has now focused on the strong- and weak-interface positions. The
strong-interface position states that explicit language knowledge can always become implicit
language knowledge, and that such knowledge becomes implicit through repeated practice. This
position is most often associated with skill-building theories of second language acquisition. The
weak-interface positions state that explicit language knowledge can become implicit to some
extent, but that these are limited by various developmental factors.
Dupuy and Krashen, 1993, investigated implicit learning of vocabulary by asking learners to
read a book and then test them to see if they learned any new vocabulary in the process. In this
study, as well, students were given culturally comparative-informative texts and short stories,
used as reading texts for the purpose of teaching target culture. As a consequence, students were
investigated for any development of their reading ability in EFL in Iran which is monocultural.
As to the interrelationship of language and culture, the outperformance of group 1, treated by
direct cultural texts, could result in improving students’ cultural knowledge more effectively than
group 2, treated by short stories as indirect cultural texts. Moreover, G 1 students’ better scores
on general reading test at the end of the treatment could be due to their more efficient implicit
learning than G 2 students’ as well. Besides, we can say students’ explicit learning and
knowledge of (learning) culture has stronger interface with their implicit knowledge of (learning)
reading in Direct group. That is using direct cultural texts for the purpose of teaching culture to
students through reading, can increase EFL learners’ both explicit knowledge; i.e. cultural
MICELT 2012
51
knowledge, and implicit knowledge; i.e. knowledge of reading, more successfully than using
short stories as indirect cultural texts for the same purpose.
Conclusion
In the light of the above findings, the research question posed in the current study can be
answered that teaching culture through comparative-informative texts has more positive effect on
Iranians EFL learners’ reading skill than through short stories. In other words, the findings
indicated that teaching culture through direct cultural texts had a distinct advantage over indirect
cultural texts in improving EFL reading skill. And finally, Vygotsky (1997) has stated education
grounded in explicit mediation is ‘artificial development’ of the individual.
References
Bachmann, Lyle F. (1990). Fundamental Considerations in Language Testing. Oxford
University press.
Block, D. (2003).The Social Turn in Second Language Acquisition. Edinburg University:
Edinburgh.
TESOL Brown, H.D. (1980). The optimal Distance of Second Language Acquisition.
Vol.14. No.2. Quarterly.
Culhane, Stephen F. (2004). An Intercultural Interaction Model: Acculturation Attitudes in
2004, Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching.uage Acquisition. Second Lang
61.-Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 50
S. (1993). Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition in French as a Foreign Dupuy, B. and Krashen,
63.-: 554 Applied Language LearningLanguage.
Implicit and Explicit Ellis, R. Loewen, S. Elder, C. Erlam, R. Philp, J. Reinders, H. (2009).
. Knowledge in Second Language Learning, Testing and Teaching. Multilingual Matters
Bristol, UK.
. Oxford University udy of Second Language AcquisitionThe St Ellis, Rod (2008).
. 4-442257-19-0-978 ISBN Press.
Ellis, R. (1994). The study of second language acquisition. Oxford University Press: Oxford.
Applied Language Studies. Blackwell - guage AcquisitionInstructed Second LanEllis, R. (1990).
Publishers
. New Haven Teachers Strategies for Teaching the Value of DiversityElmore, Christine. (1997).
Institute. Yale
MICELT 2012
52
ond Edition).Psychology Press: (Sec Psychology Principles of CognitiveEysenck, M. (2001).
Hove.
Fiedler, F. E., Mitchell, T. R., & Triandis, H.C. (1971). The culture assimilator: An approach to
102.-, 55, 95Journal of Applied Psychologycultural training. -cross
. ly Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, & PracticeCulturalGay, G. (2000).
Teachers College Press. New York
ERIC Cultural Encounter In A Latin American Bank. -Gorden, Raymond L. (1970). Cross
Service: ED 040 120production -Document Re
Lantolf, James P. (2012). Sociocultural Approaches to Teaching to the Advanced Level: The
Penn State University UCLA Heritage Language Institute.Pedagogical Imperative.
n second language acquisition. In J. Williams (Ed.), Mackey, A. (2012). Interaction approach i
-Wiley The encyclopedia of applied linguistics: Cognitive second language acquisition.
Blackwell. Malden, MA.
Foreignter. . The Culture Clus)Morain. (1973 Meade, Betsy, and Genelle
8.-6(3): 331 Language Annals
(1998). The effects of globalization on culture in Africa in the eyes of an Manenji, F.-Muyale
African woman.
Nieto, Sonia. (2009). Language, Culture, and Teaching: Critical Perspectives (Second Ed.).
Rassaei, Ehsan; Moinzadeh, A. & Youhanaee, M. (2012). The Effect of Corrective Feedback on
the Acquisition of Implicit and Explicit L2 Knowledge. The Journal of Language
Teaching and Learning, 2012, 2(1), 59-75.
Richards, Jack C.; Schmidt, Richard, eds. (2009). Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching
.3-0460-4082-1-978 ISBN . Longman: New York.and Applied Linguistics
Swender, E. & Duncan, G.(1998). ACTFL performance guidelines for K12 learners. Foreign
Language Annals, 31.
Taylor, H. D & Sorensen, J. L. (1961), Culture Capsules, The Modern language Journal, 45 (8),
350-354.
Tomlina, Russell S. & Villa, Victor. (1994) .Attention in Cognitive Science and Second
Language Acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition. Vol. 16. Issue02. pp
183 – 203.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1997). Educational Psychology. St. Lucie Press. ISBN-13: 9781878205155
MICELT 2012
53
Wilkes, H. (1983). Title Pages: A Simple Device for Cultural Consciousness-Raising in the
Teenaged Student of French, Foreign Language Annals, Volume 16. New York,
MICELT 2012
54
The Use Of Metacognitive Reading Strategies In Academic Reading Among ASASI TESL
Students.
Nor Atifah Mohamad & Nazarul Azali Razali
Academy of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA Melaka, Malaysia
University students have to read a high number of English academic texts which are written in a
more taxing manner (Kolić-Vehovec et al., 2011) to suit the demands of their learning. However,
since English is the second language (L2) learnt by most students in Malaysia, reading in L2 is
usually less successful (Cohen, 1994). This is due to lack of vocabulary and schema of the L2
learners (Grabe, 1996) and worsen by the lack of knowledge of utilizing appropriate reading
strategies (Van Wyk, 2001). This is true to university students. According to Benson (1991),
university students are unable to do selective reading, in which they are unable to extort the
important information and leave the insignificance. Many L2 readers struggle to attain a
semblance of meaning from text they are reading, do not contemplate a detailed relevance of
unfamiliar words. Indeed they created a vague meaning of what is being read. As a result,
comprehension becomes such a challenge that these readers disengage and refrain from
making meaning (Block & Johnson, 2002).
It is vital for the L2 readers to be aware in their process of understanding the text and to
exercise the mechanisms needed for their understanding and in line with this, Cabral (2002)
stated that metacognitive strategies is important to ensure the effectiveness of the reading
comprehension process. According to Baker and Brown (1989: as cited in Singhal, 2001),
metacognitive awareness is knowledge about ourselves, the tasks we face and the strategies we
employ. Knowledge about ourselves is acknowledging our achievement on certain types of
tasks or difficulty level. Knowledge about task includes knowledge about tasks or
recognizing our proficiency level. On the one hand, strategies are the elaboration of material
that assists the L2 readers in retrieving or predicting the article's content based on its topic.
Block (1992) asserted that metacognitive strategies can distinguish the proficient and less
proficient L2 readers. Studies comparing the first language (L1) and L2 showed that the
effectiveness of the reading strategy used relies on whether a strategy is used metacognitively
(Jiménez et al., 1996). Studies also showed that, the low proficiency students are not able to
apply the reading strategies as effectively and appropriately as the successful students (Garcia
et al., 1998). They are not able to effectively apply the reading strategies and therefore are rigid
in utilizing them. Thus, the low proficiency L2 readers need to be made aware and think of the
reading strategies that can be applied in their reading process so that they can comprehend the
text better.
MICELT 2012
55
Previous research studies
Previous research recognizes the role of metacognitive awareness in reading comprehension.
Martinez (2008) investigates the readers’ metacognitive knowledge about reading and reading
strategies in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Spanish speaking students. The participants
were 157 non-native English speaking Spanish students from University of Oviedo. The
Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI) instrument was
administered after regular class period. MARSI was designed to assess adolescents’ awareness
of reading strategies while reading academic related materials. It has three domains which are
problem solving strategies, support reading strategies and global reading strategies. Results
show that there is a high overall use of all the categories of reading strategies. Only two
domains that were highly used by the students which were problem solving strategies and global
reading strategies. It is also reported that female highly used the support reading strategies.
In another research done by Berkowitz and Ciccheli (2004), they investigated the metacognitive
strategy used in reading of gifted high achieving and underachieving gifted middle school
students in New York City. 63 students were selected as high achievers and low achievers. The
participants were chosen based on scores from the New York State English Language Arts test
(ELA). This study used MARSI, think-aloud protocols and interview. The results show that
there were no significant differences in the frequency of strategy used in which the high
achievers are more homogenous and the low achievers more heterogeneous.
Materials and Methods
The main purpose of this study is to look into metacognitive reading strategies which are
utilized by ASASI TESL students. Thus, the present study is aimed to investigate the ASASI
TESL students reading strategies in reading L2 academic text. More specifically, this study
will explore on the three issues which are to analyze the reading strategies used by high,
average and low achievers, to look for differences if any, between the number of frequency of
strategy across students’ reading proficiency and finally to determine the type of strategy mostly
used by students in academic setting.
Participants
The participants for this study were 115 ASASI TESL students from Universiti Teknologi
MARA cawangan Melaka. The participants were grouped as high, average and low achievers
depending on their reading proficiency. This is determined based on their grades in Reading
subject. The subject was taught for two semesters and compulsory for the students who undergo
the ASASI programme. The categorizations are as follow; students who got an A and A- are
categorized as high achievers, B+ as average whereas B and B- are considered as low achievers.
20% of the participants were categorized as high, 52% as average and another 28% as low
achievers.
MICELT 2012
56
Data collection
The students’ metacognitive reading strategies were assessed using MARSI which was
developed by Mokhtari and Reichard (2002). The MARSI instrument consists of 30 statements,
5 point-Likert scale ranging from 1 (I never or almost never use this strategy) to 5 (I always or
almost always use this strategy). The statements are categorized into three broad domains of
strategies which are global reading strategies (GLOB), problem-solving Strategies (PROB) and
support reading strategies (SUP). The descriptions are as follow:
(1) Global Reading Strategies consists of 13 statements that inquire about the
participants’ strategies prior to reading. For examples, having a purpose in mind,
preview the text and guessing what the text is about.
(2) Problem-Solving Strategies contains eight statements which ask for the
information of the strategies used by the participants when the text becomes harder to
comprehend. For examples, adjusting the reading speed, rereading the text and trying to
refocus when losing concentration.
(3) Support Reading Strategies which contains nine statements inquire about the
medium of support the participants used in order for them to keep reading. For
examples, reading aloud, discuss with others and use reference materials.
The MARSI instrument was administered after all the participants have sat for their final
examination for Reading. This was done in semester two, which is the final semester because the
students have already learnt all the reading strategies asked in the inventory. There was no time
limit and they were allowed to refer to their final exam questions to revise on the strategies used
during the test. As for Support Reading Strategies, the participants can answer based on their
practice while reading academic text whether in normal class or during their self-study.
Results and Discussion
In examining the result of MARSI, IBM SPSS was used to determine the mean of all the reading
strategies used by the students across their reading proficiency. Table 1 shows the mean of the
strategies according to domain and proficiency level.
Type High achievers (mean) Average achievers (mean) Low achievers (mean)
GLOB 3.93 3.66 3.43
SUP 3.98 3.63 3.31
PROB 4.03 3.95 3.61
Table 1. Mean of the reported reading strategies according to domain and proficiency level
MICELT 2012
57
This data show the reading strategies utilized by the ASASI TESL students. The means of
strategies based on the three domain range from 3.31 to 4.03. High achievers have the highest
mean for all the domains ranging from 3.93 to 4.03 which show that they usually practice the
strategies. Average achievers range from 3.63 to 3.95 which fall under the category of sometimes
practice the reading strategies. As for the low achievers, their mean is the lowest from 3.31 to
3.61. This shows that they still fall under the category of sometimes practice the reading
strategies but the frequency count is the lowest among all students. Thus, it shows that high
achievers used all the strategies the most and followed by average achievers and low achievers.
Conclusions
The aims of this study are to look into the reading strategies used across students’ achievements,
investigate the differences in the strategy used and determine the mostly used reading strategies
by the students.
For the first aim, it is found that there is moderate to high use of all the reading strategies for all
the students. This result agrees with previous research on the matter. There is also no vast
difference between the numbers of mean used by the students across reading proficiency.
Furthermore, this study also showed that there is higher mean for global reading strategies and
problem solving reading strategies.
In sum, this research has found and acknowledged that high proficiency students applied all the
metacognitive reading strategies more than the average and low achievers. Even though the
difference in the number of mean for all the strategies across reading proficiency is not that high,
but it is important to encourage and remind the students to practice more of these strategies as it
is vital for their reading comprehension. This study also supports the previous research in which
the support reading strategies is the least used strategies for all the students.
References
Benson, M. J. (1991). University ESL reading: a content analysis. English for Specific
Purposes, 10, 75-88.
Berkowitz, E. and Cicchelli, T. (2004). Metacognitive strategy use in reading of gifted high
achieving and gifted underachieving middle school students in New York City.
Education and Urban Society, 37, 1, 37-57.
Block, E. (1992). See How They Read: Comprehension Monitoring of L1 andL2 Readers.
TESOL Quarterly. Vol. 26, 2.
Block, C and Johnson, R. (2002). The Thinking Process Approach to Comprehension
Development. In Block, C. Gambrell, L. and Pressley, M. (Eds.), Improving
Comprehension Instruction: Rethinking, Research, Theory and Classroom Practice. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass Education.
MICELT 2012
58
Cabral, A. P. (2002). Practicing College Reading Skills. Retrieved February 12, 2006 from
http://readingmatrix.com
Cohen, A.D. (1994). Assessing Language Ability in the Classroom. Boston: Heinle and Heinle
Publishers.
Garcia, G. E. Jimenez R. T. & Pearson P.D. (1998). Metacognition, childhood bilingualism, and
reading in Hacker, D., Dunlowsky, J & Grasser, A. (eds.), Metacognition in Educational
Theory and Practice, 200-248, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Grabe, W. (1996). Reading in an ESP Context: Dilemmas and Possible Solutions. ESP
Malaysia. Vol. 4.
Jiménez García, R. T., Garcia, G. E. & Pearson, P. D. (1996). The reading strategies of
bilingual Latina/o students who are successful English readers: opportunities and
Obstacles. Reading Research Quarterly, 31: 90-112.
Kolić-Vehovec et al. (2011). The role of reading strategies in scientific text comprehension and
academic achievement of university students. Review of Psychology, 18 (2), 81-90.
Martinez, A.C. (2008). Analysis of ESP university students’ reading strategy awareness.
IBERICA, 15, 165-176.
Meena Singhal (2001). Reading Proficiency, Reading Strategies, Metacognitive Awareness
andL2 Readers. Retrieved February 28, 2006 from http://readingmatrix.com
Mokhtari, K. & Reichard, C. (2002). Assessing students’ metacognitive awareness of
reading strategies. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 249,259.
Van Wyk, A. L. (2001). The development and implementation of an English language and
literature programme for low proficiency tertiary learners. Unpublished thesis.
University of the Free State, Bloemfontein.
MICELT 2012
59
The Role Of Cultural Nativization In Comprehension Of Anecdotes In Efl Reading
Contexts
Razieh Assi
Fatemeh Zahra Teacher Training Centre, Ahvaz, Iran
Research on the psychological processes involved in comprehension indicates that
people's understanding of language is a function of their past experiences, their background
knowledge or what are technically known as their schemata. The role of prior knowledge in
language comprehension has been formalized in a theoretical model known as schema theory.
One of the basic tenets of this theory is that texts themselves, whether spoken or written, do not
carry meaning; rather, they provide signposts or clues for listeners or readers in reconstructing
the meanings from their own background knowledge. Reading comprehension is thus an
interactive process between the reader and the textual input, in that the reader is required to fit
the clues provided in the text to his own previously acquired knowledge (Nunan, 2002;
Rumelhart, 1980).
In recent years, as cultural factors receive more emphasis in EFL instruction,
considerable attention has focused on understanding the role of cultural schemata in reading
comprehension. It is argued that non-native readers' failure to activate appropriate cultural
schemata during reading may result in various degrees of non-comprehension. This is because
schemata, as Yule (2000) points out, are culturally determined, and people develop their cultural
schemata in the context of their basic experiences. It follows that when a person is presented
with culturally familiar information, this information will be easier to understand than culturally
unfamiliar information, as the former ties in better with the person's cultural schemata.
The notion of cultural nativization was introduced by Alptekin (2002, as cited in Erten &
Razi, 2003) as a way of investigating the effect of cultural background knowledge on
comprehension of short stories. Alptekin (2006) elaborated on the issue and gave a
comprehensive definition of the term as "sociological, semantic, and pragmatic adaptation of the
textual and contextual cues of the original story into the learner's own culture, while keeping its
linguistic and rhetorical content essentially intact" (p.499). By textual cues Alptekin means data
having to do with settings and locations as well as characters and occupations. Contextual cues,
on the other hand, include culture-specific customs, rituals, notion, structures, and values.
Previous studies on cultural nativization (Alptekin, 2006; Erten & Razi, 2003, 2009;
Jalilifar and Assi, 2008; Razi, 2004) have generally indicated that nativizing a target language
narrative text to conform to the learners' cultural schemata facilitates learners' comprehension of
the text. However, these studies have investigated the role of cultural nativization in reading
comprehension in relation to only short stories, and longer or shorter narrative texts have been
ignored. Furthermore, most of these studies have investigated the issue in Turkish culture and
with Turkish EFL learners. As such, the studies need to be replicated and the findings have to be
MICELT 2012
60
confirmed by other studies with learners from other cultural contexts. Taking these limitations
into account, this study aims at investigating the effect of cultural nativization on the
comprehension of anecdotes. More specifically it explores the issue in relation to Persian culture
in students learning English as a foreign language. The study attempts to answer the following
question:
1. Does nativization of anecdotes from the target language culture into Persian culture affect
Iranian EFL learners' comprehension of the anecdotes?
Methodology
Participants. The subjects participating in this study were 60 Iranian EFL learners with the
average age of fifteen. They were selected from among 100 first-graders in a high school in
Ahvaz, the capital city of Khuzestan in southwest of Iran, based on the scores obtained from a
standard proficiency test, that is, a Nelson Test (Fowler and Coe, 1976) consisting of 50 multiple
choice items. On the basis of the results obtained from the test, 60 students whose scores fell
between one standard deviation above or below the mean score were selected as a homogenous
sample. Then, they were randomly divided into two groups of 30. One group was considered as
the experimental and the other as the control group.
Materials. Three American anecdotes taken from Hill (1980) were selected for the study. The
selection procedure was based on several factors the most important of which were the level of
difficulty, the length, and the cultural load of the texts.
Instrument. Three tests were utilized in the study: a Nelson English Language Test for
selecting homogeneous subjects, and two types of reading comprehension tests developed by the
researcher. Both types of reading comprehension tests included three cloze passages. In one type,
the cloze texts were based on the original anecdotes, while in the other, they were based on the
nativized versions. In each anecdote, ten words were deleted from the text and students were
required to fill in the blanks. Therefore, there were 30 blanks altogether in each cloze test.
Procedures. The texts selected for the study were nativized into the language learners' own
culture (i.e., Persian) based on Alptekin's (2006) definition of cultural nativization. To
accomplish this, first, the textual and contextual cues of the anecdotes which reflected American
culture were identified, and then these cues were adapted sociologically, semantically, and
pragmatically in the modified versions to reflect Persian culture, while keeping linguistic
features and rhetorical structures of the texts intact. So this resulted in having two versions of
each anecdote – one native English and one nativized.
The anecdotes were nativized in a way that reflected the learners' own culture; that is,
they were re-written as if the events were taking place in Iran. Therefore, in the nativized
versions all the names of the characters and cities were changed to Iranian names. In addition, a
great number of concepts concerning American culture in the original anecdotes were changed in
MICELT 2012
61
the nativized versions to reflect Persian culture. These concepts were related to cultural elements
such as food, jobs, currency, interpersonal relationships, and so on.
The two versions of the test were administered to the two groups of the subjects
participating in the study. Therefore, the students in the control group received the original
version of the cloze test and the students in the experimental group received the nativized
version. The subjects in both groups were given the same amount of time to complete the cloze
passages.
The cloze tests were scored according to the acceptable word method. Accordingly, one
mark was given to each semantically acceptable answer and zero mark was given to each
semantically unacceptable answer. The subjects' grammatical and spelling errors were ignored in
scoring procedure.
Results and Discussion
After administering the tests and correcting the papers, the collected data were analyzed.
Results indicated that the mean of the nativized group's scores was greater than the mean of the
original group's. To see if the difference between the means was statistically significant, an
independent t-test was run. The result of this statistical analysis is shown in Table 1.
Table 1
Independent T-Test Comparing the Means of the two Groups' Scores on Cloze Tests
Groups N Mean SD t-value df
Original 30 17.16 4.02 7.77 58
Nativized 30 22.88 3.72
p<0.05 t-critical=2.000
As illustrated in the table, the observed value of t was much greater than the critical value
of t, indicating that the difference between the two groups was statistically significant and, in
fact, nativization of the texts had a positive effect on students' reading comprehension.
So the results provided an affirmative answer to the research question; that is, nativization of
anecdotes from the target language culture into Persian culture facilitates Iranian EFL learners'
comprehension of the anecdotes. Comprehension, according to schema theory, is an interactive
process between the reader and the text, and successful understanding of a text depends crucially
on the readers' ability to activate the relevant schemata to relate information from the text to
already existing background knowledge. When a person reads a narrative text, the schemata
embodying his background knowledge provide the framework for understanding the setting,
mood, characters, and the chain of events. When reading the original anecdotes, the readers
MICELT 2012
62
might not be able to activate their schemata as efficiently as when they read the nativized version
since the original texts are not in line with the EFL readers' cultural background knowledge. So a
possible reason for the outperformance of the nativized group is that the nativized anecdotes are
more consistent with Iranian readers' cultural knowledge and thus help them better activate their
schemata regarding the content of the texts and enable them to relate the incidents in the texts to
their own background knowledge and experience.
The difference between the two groups’ performance in reading comprehension test can also
be related to the possible interest aroused by culturally nativized texts. When readers see
elements of their native culture in the texts, because of the cultural proximity they feel between
themselves and the characters, they probably feel much more engaged with the plot and can more
strongly identify themselves with the characters of the stories. This, in turn, leads to better
understanding of the texts. In addition, research has shown that compared with the first language,
the mind is less efficient in a second language at any task, and there is "an L2 cognitive deficit"
as it is sometimes called (Cook, 2001, p. 87). It seems that nativizing the texts to conform to the
learners' native culture enables learners to compensate for this cognitive deficit and helps them
better connect each sentence with its subsequent and previous sentences in the text. In fact, the
nativized texts put fewer loads on the subjects' memory in comparison to the original ones and
this results in better comprehension of the texts.
Results of the study are in line with Oller and Chen's (2007) ideas in relation to episodic
organization in discourse processing measurements. Bringing empirical evidence, Oller and
Chen show that both second language learners and native speakers use episodic organization to
fill in missing elements in a cloze task. They further argue that the depth of comprehension of
episodic organization is sensitive to relatively minute elements of surface forms and more
specifically to the names of persons and places in the discourse. That is, changing the surface
forms of referring terms in a narrative text to more familiar ones would make them easier for
learners to interpret. This is also borne out by this research because the texts contained a number
of proper names referring to persons and places which were culturally modified in the nativized
versions. This modification probably helped the subjects who read the nativized anecdotes
understand the texts better and thus they could solve more cloze items in comparison to the
subjects who read the original texts.
Conclusion
Comprehension does not occur in a vacuum, and indeed, schemata activation is an
important part of the process by which meaning is created by the reader. When reading texts
from target language culture, readers will naturally draw upon information gained from their own
cultural experiences and cultural background knowledge. In the case of foreign language reading,
where the reader and writer presumably belong to different cultures and have distinct cultural
experiences and expectations, readers may lack the cultural background knowledge which is
assumed by the writer, and which is necessary for successful comprehension of the text.
MICELT 2012
63
Therefore, through nativizing the culture-specific cues in the texts, the influence of cultural
schemata can be triggered, and the comprehension can be facilitated.
Nativization is recommended to EFL teachers and material designers as a new way of
text modification to enhance learners' reading comprehension of narrative texts. Using nativized
texts in reading classes will have positive import on the development of reading skill. Nativized
texts may arise feelings of interest in the readers and increase their motivation to read further and
could thus be a good stimulant for extensive reading. Longer narrative texts such as short stories,
novellas, and novels can be nativized into learners' own culture and used in extensive reading
programs for EFL learners.
References
Alptekin, C. (2006). Cultural familiarity in inferential and literal comprehension in L2 reading.
System, 34, 494-508.
Cook, V. (2001). Second language learning and second language teaching (3rd
ed.). London:
Arnold.
Erten, I. H., & Razi, S. (2003). An experimental investigation into the impact of cultural
schemata on reading comprehension. Paper presented at the 2nd
International Balkan ELT
Conference on Theory and Practice of TESOL, Edirne, Turkey.
Erten, I. H., & Razi, S. (2009). The effects of cultural familiarity on reading comprehension.
Reading in a Foreign Language. 21(1), 60-77.
Fowler, W. S., & Coa, N. (1976). Nelson English language test. Great Britain: Bulter & Tanner.
Hill, L. A. (1980). Anecdotes in American English: Elementary, intermediate, advanced. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Jalilifar, A., & Assi, R. (2008). The role of cultural nativization in comprehension of short stories
in EFL reading contexts. Language, society and culture, 26, 62-79.
Nunan, D. (2002). Second language teaching and learning. Boston: Heinle & Heinle.
Oller, J., & Chen, L. (2007). Episodic organization in discourse and valid measurement in the
sciences. Journal of Quantitative Linguistics, 14(2), 127-144.
Razi, S. (2004). The effects of cultural schema and reading activities on reading comprehension.
In M. Singhal (Ed.), Proceedings of the 1st international online conference on second and
foreign language teaching and research (pp. 276-293). USA: The Reading Matrix. Retrieved
September 16, 2010 from http://www.readingmatrix.com/conference/pp/proceedings/razi.pdf
MICELT 2012
64
Rumelhart, D. E. (1980). Schemata: The building blocks of cognition. In R. J. Spiro, B. C.
Bruce, and W. E. Brewer (Eds.), Theoretical issues in reading comprehension. Hillsdale, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Yule, G. (2000). Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
MICELT 2012
65
The Influence Of Content Schemata On Second Language Reading
Amizura Hanadi Mohd. Radzi
Universiti Teknologi MARA (Perlis)
Dr. Noor Hashima Bt. Abdul Aziz
Universiti Utara Malaysia
Second language learners depend on their prior knowledge and experience when trying to
comprehend a text. This knowledge is referred to as schema or schemata which readers access
during reading. Readers make use of their schema when they relate their background knowledge
to the facts and ideas appearing in a text. As reading is an interactive process between the
reader’s schemata and the text, lacking in schemata on the content area of the text can impede
comprehension. This study aimed at exploring in what way content schemata contribute to
learners’ understanding of a text. This study is crucial as it looks at the aspects of content
schemata that influence reading comprehension in second language reading with tertiary level
students as the target group. This pilot study helps the researcher to practice conducting a think
aloud protocol and interview sessions and also to familiarize herself with coding the interview
data.
Problem Statement
More often than not, ESL learners, lacking in schemata, will stumble upon problems in
understanding the content of the texts that they are unfamiliar with. As stated in Carrell (1988,
pp. 111), ‘schema unavailability’ is a huge stumbling block for many tertiary level L2 learners to
comprehend reading texts. Reading texts selected for Diploma level, pertaining to English
Language servicing courses at UiTM campuses cover the issue on asylum seekers. However,
unfamiliarity with the issue has proven the text to be a relatively challenging topic for language
learners at UiTM (Perlis). Nuttall (1982) explains that there may be problems for learners who
do not share the relevant schema as the learners may be left with too little information to make
sense of the text. There is a need to carry out a research on the aspect of content schemata as
Diploma level students may not have sufficient background knowledge on certain content area
and this ‘schema unavailability’ may become a hindrance to smooth understanding of the reading
text.
Research Questions
This study explored the following research questions: a) How does content schemata influence
learners’ understanding of a text? b) What can be understood about the learners’ reading
experience on texts that require specific content schemata?
Definition Of Key Terms
Schema Theory. A schema theory is a theory about knowledge, about how knowledge
is represented and about how that representation facilitates the use of the knowledge in certain
ways (Rumelhart, 1980).
MICELT 2012
66
Schemata. Schemata are the building blocks of cognition. They are the fundamental
elements upon which all information processing depends (Rumelhart, 1980).
Content schema. Content schema which refers to a reader's background or world
knowledge, provides readers with a foundation, a basis for comparison (Carrell & Eisterhold,
1983).
Literature Review
Proponents of schema theory. Rumelhart (1980) explains that within the scope of schema
theories, all knowledge is packaged into units, i.e. schemata. Information about how this
knowledge is to be used is embedded in these packets of knowledge. A schema theory embodies
a prototype theory of meaning where a schema underlying a concept stored in memory
corresponds to the meaning of that concept, meanings that are encoded in terms of the typical
situations or events that instantiate the particular concept (Rumelhart, 1980). Four major
characteristics of schemata as listed by Rumelhart and Ortony (1977) are: schemata have
variables, schemata can embed one within another, schemata represent knowledge at all levels of
abstraction and schemata represent knowledge rather than definitions. The embedding
characteristic of schemata can be explained in this sense that schemata consist of subschemata.
Schemata, therefore can represent knowledge at all levels. Rumelhart (1980) lists two more
general features of schemata: schemata are active processes and schemata are recognition
devices whose processing is aimed at the evaluation of their goodness of fit to the data being
processed. Expanding Rumelhart’s (1980) explanation of schema theory, Anderson & Pearson
(1988) introduce the elements of schema theory, which comprise of “nodes,” “variable,” or
“slots,” (p. 42).
Methodology
With regard to the research design, this particular study is a qualitative case study. The
researcher adopted the case study design as the contextual condition, i.e. the familiarity or
unfamiliarity with the content of the texts, is the most crucial to the phenomenon of this study.
The participant of this study is a Part 6, Universiti Teknologi MARA (Perlis) degree level
student. In order to explore the contribution of content schemata to learners’ understanding of
a text, think aloud protocol was carried out on the participant. In order to triangulate the data
to be collected, in-depth interviews, i.e. one-on-one interviewing, were also conducted. The
framework of schema theory which emphasizes the role of background knowledge as a
primary support in reading comprehension served as a guideline in constructing the in-depth
interview questions. The reading texts chosen in this study were: i) a text which is regarded as
content-familiar to the participant, i.e. ‘ A Quid of Sirih, a Bowl of Water’, Khadijah Hashim
(1973) and ii) a text which is regarded as content-unfamiliar to the participant, i.e. ‘The
Lottery’, Shirley Jackson (1948).
Findings
Analysis of the think aloud protocol transcription (A Quid of Sirih, a Bowl of
Water).The analysis of the verbal protocol transcriptions was done based on the list of
activities in relation to the metacognitive character to mental actions (Brown, 1980). In
transcribing the verbal protocols, the researcher had used the specific notations adapted from
MICELT 2012
67
Cavalcanti (1989) as cited in Fujita, Nardi & Fagundes (2003). It was observed that during the
think aloud protocol session, the participant identified important aspects of a message (text)
and allocated attention so that concentration could be focused on the major content area. The
participant always looked for the connection between the characters and the subject matter in
the short story. It was also observed that the participant always monitored ongoing activities
to find out whether his comprehension was occurring.
Analysis of the in-depth interview (A Quid of Sirih, a Bowl of Water).
The findings are discussed based on two semi-structured guideline questions. The interview
response was analyzed for themes, which were indicative of the role of content schemata that
facilitates understanding. Sample quotes to illustrate the points are stated as follows. Interview
Question 1: How do you describe your reading experience on this text? The theme ‘general
understanding’ had emerged as the participant had a general understanding of the short story,
even though the beginning of the story seemed to be a bit confusing to the participant. The
participant said,
The continuation of the story...the characters’ focus, keep jumping
from one to another...but the middle of the story is very
interesting...and the continuity of the story...the flow of the story is
well delivered.
Interview Question 2: How do you cope with the text that requires specific background
knowledge? Another theme, i.e. ‘relies on background knowledge’ had emerged as the
participant used his background knowledge to understand the text. This is because it is a
common practice of his family to become pawang. The participant said,
Yea…because my own family rooted from pawang...my ancestors were
pawangs...
Analysis of the think aloud protocol (The Lottery).
The analysis of the verbal protocol transcriptions was done based on the list of activities in
relation to the meta-cognitive character to mental actions (Brown, 1980). It was observed that
during the think aloud protocol session, the participant identified important aspects of a message
(text) and allocated attention so that concentration could be focused on the major content area.
The participant tried to find the connection between the characters and the subject matter in the
short story. It was also observed that during the think aloud protocol session for the content-
unfamiliar text, the participant always monitored ongoing activities to find out whether his
comprehension was occurring.
Analysis of the in-depth interview (The Lottery).
The findings discussed are based on two semi-structured guideline questions. The interview
response was analyzed for themes, which were indicative of the need for content schemata to
facilitate understanding. Sample quotes to illustrate the points are stated as follows. Interview
Question 1: How do you describe your reading experience on this text? The theme ‘absent of
general understanding’ emerged as the participant could not understand the short story because
he could not make any connection with his own background knowledge. He said,
…the story is very hard to read…very confusing… because of the
MICELT 2012
68
conflicting idea of what the lottery is and that has caused confusion to me
and therefore I failed to understand the storyline...
Interview Question 2: How do you cope with the text that requires specific background
knowledge? Another theme, i.e. ‘absent of background knowledge’ emerged
as the participant stated that he had no background knowledge that he could rely on to aid his
understanding. He said,
…I have no experience what so ever with the kind of lottery in the short
story. I’m used to the normal kind of lottery where people receive prizes
when their number is called and not to this kind of lottery...
Discussion
Based on the findings, it can be concluded that language learners without any prior knowledge or
experience with a particular topic will be unable to comprehend what is being read. Background
knowledge (content schemata) therefore is crucial as it plays a vital role in reading
comprehension. In this study, the participant carried out three activities in relation to the meta-
cognitive character to mental actions (Brown, 1980). The participant’s schema on seeing a
medicine man in the content-familiar text was activated. Therefore, a quick prediction of the
relationship between the characters and a correct judgement can be made. The participant stated
that he had relied on his background knowledge to understand the content-familiar text. The
participant had experienced meeting with a medicine man in several occasions and his family
background is of generations of pawang. These had helped him to relate the content area of the
short story to his own personal experience. As for the content-unfamiliar text, the participant
failed to understand the concept of ‘lottery’. This can be explained as some key concepts may be
absent in the schemata of some non-native readers or they may carry alternate interpretations
(Carrell & Eisterhold, 1988).
Conclusion
This study aimed at exploring the contribution of content and background knowledge to reading
comprehension. Based on the analysis of the think aloud protocols and interview responses, this
study, therefore, discovers that content schemata play a huge role in readers’ comprehension of
reading texts. Lacking in content schemata will impede reading comprehension.
Contributions Of This Paper
This study can add to the body of knowledge on the role of content schemata on reading
comprehension. The content of this paper will help researchers interested in this area to have a
better understanding of the concepts and framework.
References
Anderson, R. C., & Pearson, P.D. (1988). A schema-theoretic view of basic processes in reading
comprehension. In P.L. Carrell, J. Devine & D.E. Eskey (Eds.), Interactive approaches to
second language reading (pp. 37-55).Cambridge: CUP.
Brown, N. (1980). Meta-cognitive development and reading. In Rand J. Spiro, Bertram C. Bruce,
& William F. Brewer (Eds.), Theoretical issues in reading comprehension: perspectives
MICELT 2012
69
from cognitive psychology, linguistics, artificial intelligence, and education (pp. 453-
481). Hillsdale, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates.
Carrell, P.L. (1988). Some causes of text-boundedness and schema interference in ESL Reading.
In P.L. Carrell, J. Devine & D.E. Eskey (Eds.), Interactive approaches to second
language reading. Cambridge: CUP.
Carrell, P., & Eisterhold, J. C. (1983). Schema theory and ESL reading pedagogy. TESOL
Quarterly, 17(4), 553-573.
Carrell, P.L., & Eisterhold, J. C. (1988). Schema theory and ESL reading pedagogy. In P.L.
Carrell, J. Devine & D.E. Eskey (Eds.), Interactive approaches to second language
reading. Cambridge: CUP.
Fujita, M.S.L.J., Nardi, M.I.A., & Fagundes, S.A. (2003). Observing documentary reading by
verbal protocol. Information Research, 8(4), July 2003. Retrieved November 20, 2009,
from http://www. informationr.net/ir/8- 4/paper155.html
Jackson, S. (1948). The lottery. Retrieved from
http://www.americanliterature.com/SS/SSINDX.HTML
Nuttall, C. (1982). Teaching reading skills in a foreign language. Oxford: Heinemann
Rumelhart, D. E., & Ortony, A. (1977). The representation of knowledge in memory. In R. C.
Anderson, R. J. Spiro, & W. E. Montague (Eds.), Schooling and the acquisition of
knowledge. Hillsdale, N. J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Rumelhart, D. E. (1980). Schemata: The building blocks of cognition. In R. J. Spiro, B. C.
Bruce, & W. F. Brewer (Eds.), Theoretical issues in reading comprehension:
Perspectives from cognitive psychology, linguistics, artificial intelligence, and education
(pp. 33-58). Hillsdale, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates.
Khadijah Hashim. (1988). A quid of sirih, a bowl of water. In Muhammad Haji Salleh. (Ed.), An
anthology of contemporary Malaysian Literature (pp. 93-101). Dewan Bahasa Dan
Pustaka: Ministry of Education, Kuala Lumpur.
MICELT 2012
70
The Effectiveness and the Efficiency of the Phonics Approach in Improving Primary
School Children’ Reading Ability.
Yusnamariah Md Yusop (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia)
English plays an important role as the communication tools in the era of information and
technology. It is taught in the schools to empower the children to use English in everyday
situations and to prepare them for higher education as reported in The Cabinet Report on the
Review of the Implementation of the Education Policy 1979. In order to survive and compete in
the globalized world, the young Malaysians must be well equipped with the proficiency in
English language. The aim of teaching English to the children is to assist them function
appropriately in the business and commercial sectors. Thus, it is hoped that the children will
have a strong foundation in the English language through the English curriculum for primary
schools children so that they will be able to erect on the language as they proceed to the higher
level (Ambigapathy, 2006). Starting in 2011, the Ministry of Education has introduced the new
curriculum which the aims to equip children with basic language skills to enable them to
communicate effectively in a variety of contexts that’s appropriate to the children’ level of
development.(http://kssrperak.weebly.com):
Due to the implementation of this new curriculum, one of the objectives is teaching reading
through the phonics approach. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to identify the phonics
approach teaching strategies used by the teachers. It is believes that children who have gaps in
their phonological knowledge has limited success in reading (Pam Macdonald, 2010). Besides
that, based on the previous study it found that the typical word-reading approach, do not make a
good start with reading skills for many English-speaking children (John Ashbrook, 2010).
Therefore, it is suggested that children who know letters and being able to segment spoken words
into speech sounds fare better in the reading stakes (Margaret J. et.al, 2006). Thus, based on
these studies, this paper objective is to identify the steps in teaching phonics approach and to
evaluate the children’ reading ability through phonics approach. Besides that, this paper will
attempt to seek answers to the following research questions:
1. What are the steps in teaching phonics approach?
2. What are the children’ reading ability through phonic approach?
Reading is one of the strongest indicators of future academic success (Ehri, 2005). It is a
process of decoding written symbols into their aural equivalents in a linear fashion. Reading
fluency is a key element in reading and learning to read (Timothy R. Et.al, 21009). Reader may
utilize several forms in learning reading such as decoding, analogizing or predicting to read
unfamiliar words (Ehri, 2005). The process of readers read familiar words by assessing them in
memory is known as sight word reading. It involves forming connections between graphemes
(letters) and phonemes (sounds) to bond spelling of words to their pronunciation and meanings in
memory (Ehri, 2005). On the other hand, the phonic approach focuses in learning the sounds
(phonemes) represented by letters (graphemes) through repetition and practice. This principle is
based upon the idea that the written language represents sounds of speech, and written letters or
graphemes represent sounds or phonemes (A.A. Roman et.al, 2009). Thus, methods based upon
MICELT 2012
71
this approach directly introduce the alphabetical principle by translating letters to the sounds they
represent. In this study, phonics is defined as the concentrated study of the sound symbol
relationships in order to learn to read and spell. The purpose of phonics in this study was to raise
accuracy of decoding and fluency in word recognition. While, the reading ability among the
primary school children who were referring to the children aged 8 years old on the 1st January
2004 in this study were measured based on their ability to segmenting and blending the
phonemes, psuedoword identification, word identification and spelling. Learning approaches
include development of phonological awareness and the acquisition of syllables and vowels. All
this is done while using multi-sensory means as well as vocal and visual associations (John
Ashbrook, 2010).
According to Karen Edwards (2008), teaching of phonics is a fundamental component of
early reading instruction that can benefits students’ ability to read and write. It is because
phonics is considered as a “bottom-up” approach where children decode the meaning of a text.
This is supported by John Ashbrook (2010) who shared the same view said that the typical word
reading approach do not make a good start with reading skills. In addition, Pauline et.al (2011)
who conducted a study on the impacts of phonics interventions in India found that there were
statistically significant differences between the intervention and control groups in the children’s
achievement in reading and spelling. Besides that, phonics awareness approach not only benefits
the ordinary children but it is an effective teaching method to improve the struggling children’s
reading ability (Meree et.al, 2011). This view is supported by Karen Edwards who found that the
phonics intervention had positive effects on secondary students who their reading ability below
grade level.
Methodology
The investigation was conducted in a National Primary school in the FELDA territory in
Jempol, Negeri Sembilan. The school district serves children from families of low to middle
socioeconomic status. The school has been considered an “Academic Watch” school owing to
low performance on national level academic proficiency tests. Participants in this study consisted
of 30 Malay children from one Year two classroom. The total sample was comprised of 13
females and 17 males. Parents’ permission to participate in this study was obtained for all 30
children. The instructor received training on phonic approach from the Ministry of Education
through the Native Speakers Programme. She was guided by the Native Speaker from London,
United Kingdom for 2 hours and 30 minutes per week.
Materials offered by Jolly Learning Ltd, “Jolly Phonics” (Llyod, 1992) were utilized in
this study. However, lesson plan and activity were designed specifically for this study. The
package used including the flashcard with printed letters on them shown to the children to sound
out as a class activity, blending cards used in lessons once the children had learnt the sounds,
textbook (provided by the Ministry of Education) consisting of stories, song and poems in order
for the children to learn the sound/letter for that day using the story, poem or song as a
mnemonic for the letter sound; and reading books for the children to practise their decoding
skills using sounds and letters taught thus far.
MICELT 2012
72
Findings and discussion
Using a table of 42 sounds (Sue Llyod, 2011), thirty children from one Year Two
classroom were purposive selected to participate in this study.The study was conducted as one
group design experiment. All children were administered individually in a quiet room that
suitable for testing during the pre test. Pre tests are subsequently described, and they consisted of
phonemic awareness (phonemic segmenting and phonemic blending), word identification,
pseudo word naming and spelling measures to obtain initial performance levels on word
recognition prior to implementation of contemporary phonic approaches.
Means and standard deviations on all post test measures. A paired samples t-test was
conducted to evaluate the impact of the intervention on children’s scores on the Reading Ability
through Phonics Approach Statistics Test. There was a statistically significant increase in
Reading Ability through Phonics Approach Statistics Test from Pre Test (M=-.58000,
SD=1.01077) to Post test (M=-1.83333, SD=1.32153), t (29)=-3.143, p<.000(two-tailed).
Therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected and it be concluded that there is significant different
between children’s pre reading ability and post reading ability mean. The mean increase in
Reading Ability through Phonics Approach Statistics Test scores was -0.38244 with 95%
Confidence Interval ranging from -.95743 to -1.33987. The eta squared statistics (-.56) indicated
a large effect size.
The data were powerful indicators that the phonics intervention was an effective way to
improve reading ability among the children. Through this approach we can see the improvements
were significant for all children in this study. It not only benefited to the good children but it will
be more meaningful to the struggling children. If the teacher knows the intervention can benefit
their children, then it is their responsibility to provide their children the tools they need for
success. The more children employed the phonics ‘tips’, the easier it was to read. The easier it
was for the children to read, the more they read because they were having success. The more
they felt success, the more they read and the better they became at reading. This one group
design experiment was a preliminary study that had positive effects on children’s reading ability.
A phonics intervention should be considered when the children are reading below grade level. It
is especially effective for the lowest performing children as they had the greatest grade level
growth. The children will have afforded opportunities with the improved skills thus they will be
more successful readers. Nevertheless, the phonics intervention may not the total answer to
children’s reading problems; however it will give children additional skills and tools to use.
Some may argue that through phonics intervention, children may only able to read words but that
does not mean they comprehend the text but how can the children comprehend the meaning of a
passage if they cannot read the words.
References
A.A.Roman, J.R. Kirby, R.K.Parrila et.al (2009). Toward a comprehensive view of the skills
involved in word reading in Grades 4,6, and 8. Journal of Experimental Children
Psychology,102:96-113
Ambigapathy Pandian (2006). English Language Teaching in Malaysia Today. Asia Pacific
Journal of Education, 22:2:35-52
MICELT 2012
73
Department of Curriculum Development, Ministry of Education.(2011) Retrieved from:
http://kssrperak.weebly.com
John Ashbrook (2010). Learning a ‘new language’- The Objective Approach to Early
Literacy in English. Educational Psychology in Practice: Theory, Research and
Practice in Educational Psychology, 26(3):219-238
Karen Edwards (2008). Examining the impacts of phonics intervention on secondary
students’ reading improvements. Educational Action Research, 6(4):545-555.
Margaret J. Snowling & Charles Hulme (2006).Language skills, learning to read
and reading intervention, London Review of Education, 4(1): 63-76
Meree Reynolds, Kevin Wheldall &Alison Madeline (2011). What Recent Reviews Tell Us
About the Efficacy of Reading Interventions for Struggling Readers in the Early
Years of Schooling. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education,
58(3):257-286.
Pam Macdonald (2010). Paired reading: A Structured Approach to Raising Attainment in
Literacy. Support for Learning, 25(1): 15-23
Pauline Dixon, Ian Schagen & Paul Seedhouse (2011). The Impacts of An Intervention on
Children’s Reading and Spelling Ability in Low –income Schools in India. School
Effectiveness and School Improvement: An International Journal of Research, Policy
and Practice, 22(4):461-482
Sue Lloyd (1992).The Phonics Handbook (3rd
Edition).United Kingdom: Jolly Learning Ltd.
Suria Mohd Yasin, Selajothi M.S. & Norehan M.Nooh (2011).Standard Based Curriculum
for Primary Schools: Textbook English Sekolah Kebangsaan Year 2. Malaysia:
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Timothy Rasinski, Susan Homan & Marie Biggs (2009). Teaching Reading Fluency to
Struggling Readers: Method, Materials, and Evidence. Reading & Writing Quarterly:
Overcoming Learning Difficulties, 25:2(3), 192-204
MICELT 2012
74
Tertiary students’ perceptions of the impact of Reader Theatre activities in an ESL
classroom
M.Indrani, P.Dhayapari, Intan Safinas Mohd Ariff Albakri, Noria Ismail
UiTM Kuala Pilah, UiTM Seri Iskandar, Perak, UPSI, Perak, UiTM Segamat, Johor
Readers’ Theatre - Reading and Oral Skills Enhancement
Readers’ Theatre is a reading aloud performance by a group of students. During the performance,
the students would read aloud a script held in one hand. Each student would be given a specific
role to read out, including the role of a narrator which is often the most important. The narrator
conveys the story’s setting, actions and scenes transition. The main aim is to read in such a
way that the audience will be able to visualize the characters from the story come alive and be
absorbed in the story. To achieve this aim, the readers must focus on their voice projection, facial
expressions and some gestures. This is important because in Readers’ Theatre, actions are
restricted. Instead of moving around and acting out like a drama, students performing Readers’
Theatre stay in a line or semicircle as they read the script aloud.
Although RT has been defined in several different ways, researchers have agreed that it has five
basic characteristics as described in detail by Ng (2003):
i. There is selective and limited use of scenery and costumes.
ii. Voices, retrained gestures and facial expressions project the mood.
iii. A narrator usually describes the setting, action, character or mood.
iv. Each actor uses a physical script.
v. Effort is made to develop a close relationship between the performer and audience.
Why Readers’ Theater?
Readers’ Theatre instills in students the love for reading aloud activity. It is highly
motivational and is truly convenient for classroom instruction, because unlike the
traditional drama it is considered ‘no frill’ performance. This is because to perform a
Readers’ Theatre, students do not need to come up with elaborate stage props, costumes
or make-up. All that is necessary is a script and some minimal props if desired. This is
especially important because while performing, students are not allowed to move about
or hold too many things because they already have a script in one hand.
Unlike conventional theatre or drama, RT is motivating friendly classroom activity
because it does not require full costumes, stage sets and memorization of scripts.RT is
particularly important in developing reading and oral skills. Scripted dialogues provide
EFL students with the opportunity to express their thoughts and ideas (Adams, 2003). In
addition, scripted dialogues have often been used in the language classroom to enable
students to acquire the vocabulary, idioms, grammar and syntax of English speech
(Berlinger, 2000). As they involve all aspects of language use, scripts that are rehearsed
in class can offer students an authentic communicative context to practice spoken
English. . To implement RT in the classroom, students first read a story, and then
MICELT 2012
75
transform the story into a script through negotiations with other group members. The
students then rehearse their scripts by reading aloud their lines, paying attention to the
way they articulate the words in the script, varying their tone and projecting their voice.
They finally perform for an audience by reading aloud from their scripts held in their
hands.
Educators and researchers in language and education have long emphasized reading
aloud activity for literacy and language learning. In fact Readers’ Theatre is strongly
recommended by The International Reading Association (IRA) and the National Council
of Teachers of English (NCTE).
This is because Readers’ Theatre:
Motivates students to read in reading class (Carrick, 2001)
Provides interesting script reading activity for fun learning (Harris and Sipay, 1990)
Provides a context for purposeful reading (Coody,1992)
Reinforces the social nature of reading (Busching, 1981)
Energizes students to be actively involved in responding to and interpreting literature thus
increasing comprehension (Sebesta, 1997).
Encourages cooperative learning and enables students with mixed abilities to work
together as a team. (Flood, 1993)
RT was implemented via several steps. The researchers first selected a story and
conducted a pre-reading activity ( reading aloud within their groups) , questioning,
explaining the vocabulary, etc) to get students to familiarize with the storyline. Next, we
provided tips for the script writing and instructed the students to write a script based on
the stories selected by the respective groups. When the their scripts were completed,
editing was done by the researchers and rehearsal of the scripts was mostly done after
class hours.The researchers then assessed the students’ performance through a Readers
Theatre evaluation rubric. Once they had performed in front of the class their
performance was recorded and played back so that students could comment on their
peers’ performance.
Based on the qualitative data from the students’ reflective journal entries and our notes on
the students’ learning behaviours. Feedback and comments from total of 30 individuals
were collected and analyzed. We then organized the feedback and comments into two
categories:
i. Students’ perception towards RT as a language learning experience, and
ii. Students’ perception towards RT as a way to enhance their oral and written English.
(i) Experienced fun writing and reading the scripts and enjoyed the performance
(ii) Learnt to speak English fluently and improved my vocabulary.
Many of our students had no previous experience with drama and when we first
introduced we were unsure of their interest and performance.Once RT was introduced we
were pleasantly surprised to observe their enthusiasm and willingness to participate in the
RT activity and their comments in their journal entries showed that they enjoyed RT and
it was a motivating approach to learning English. For example, one student had a lot of
fun writing and performing the script. Overall, RT activity provided a positive experience
for her:
MICELT 2012
76
I was really motivated gained my confidence doing this activity.I was never confident of
myself to speak and read fluently in English. However, it was really challenging to work
on script writing. We wrote the script, practiced and when not happy with it we did
editing and learnt to summarise the story line too. There were so many steps to go
through and working in a team was challenging. Overall all my group members improved
our presentation skills and learnt to speak fluently in English.
Many students provided similar feedback, and some expressed anxiety and apprehension.
One student commented feeling nervous acting in front of an audience and felt it was
difficult to cooperate with other group members especially when writing the script.
The researchers’ experience with using RT in ESL classroom is that,it contributes to the
enhancement of teaching oral and written English proficiency. In order to carry out RT
successfully in the classroom, the teacher should give clear instructions to the students.
The teacher also needs to ensure that every student is involved by getting students to
create sufficient characters in relation to the story. The teacher may include the role of a
narrator to create the atmosphere for the play RT can be an effective teaching technique
to motivate not only beginners but also intermediate and advance EFL students in
developing oral and written English proficiency.
References:
Adams, W. (2003). Institute book of Readers Theatre: A practical guide for school, theatre and
community. Chapel Hill, NC: Professional Press.
Berlinger, M. (2000). Encouraging English expression through script-based improvisations. The
Internet TESL Journal Website. Retrieved July 2005, from http://www.aitech.ac.jp
Busching, B.A. (1981). Readers’ Theatre: An education for language and life. Language Arts,
58, 330-338.
Carrick, L.U. (2000). The effects of Readers Theatre on fluency and comprehension in fifth grade
students in regular classrooms. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Lehigh University.
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Coody, B. (1992). Using literature with young children (4th ed.). Debuque, IA: William C.
Brown.
Dixon, N., Davies, A., & Politano, C. (1996). Learning with Readers Theatre. Winnipeg, AB:
Peguis.
Felton, M., Little, G., Parsons, B., & Schaffner, M. (1984). Drama, language, and learning.
NADIE Papers, I. Australia: National Association for Drama in Education.
MICELT 2012
77
Poker Card Game:
A Chatting Booster To Assist Esl Students In Group Discussion
Razanawati Nordin (Universiti Teknologi MARA Kedah)
Poker card game or playing cards is a universal game around the globe. It has been around since
the 9th century in ancient China during the Tang dynasty. For the card game to survive for over
1200 years, it definitely has its powerful strength to overcome the cultural diversity and multiple
major facelifts. For obvious reasons, people indulge into poker card game due to its
competitiveness, interaction, addiction, stimulation, excitement and relaxation. Thus, based on
the poker card game concept, ESL teachers should bring the nature of competitiveness,
interaction, addiction, stimulation, excitement and relaxation into the classrooms.
In order to bring the poker card game into the ESL classroom, there are a few transformations to
be performed. The classic icons such as the diamonds, spades, cloves, queens and kings have to
go. The replacement will be a set of cards containing English communicative “chatty” phrases.
By placing 52 different communicative phrases on 52 different cards, students will be exposed to
a variety of accurate language expression. During the first exposure, most ESL students are
curious to discover different expressions for different functions. The card game also becomes
the catalyst that helps to overcome the student’s fear in speaking. The obvious fears among ESL
students are to search the correct words, to construct the accurate sentences, and to present
relevant ideas. To reduce the speaking fear, students are required to play using card. The word
play itself carries the connotation of relax and fun. As the result, students will able to speak in
English and participate freely.
Cooperative Learning
Dr. Spencer Kagan (1996) defined cooperative learning as an interactive teaching strategy used
in the classrooms with students of diverse levels of ability. One of Dr. Kagan’s 52 Cooperative
Learning Structures is called the Response Mode Chips (RMC). The RMC contains response
modes such as Summarizing, Giving an Idea, Praising an Idea. Futhermore, the basic rules of
RMC are students are to put the chips in the center each time they talk, and they cannot speak
until all chips are in the center and collected. Students who engaged in RMC are focussed in
developing their Mutiple Intelligences (Verbal /Linguistics, Interpersonal/Social) and also
improved their thinking skills, communication skills and information sharing (Kagan, 1996).
However, most ESL students fail to utilize appropriate language expressions and vocabulary
during group discussion. They constantly repeat the same incorrect expressions, fail to construct
grammatical sentences and at the end, the whole discussion was cut short due to their failure to
maintain discussion by recommending, suggesting and responding to the group. The discussion
would be very boring with limited creativity and without coherence. As a result the discussion
would lack unity and organization. Students’ inability to use appropriate language expressions
MICELT 2012
78
and vocabulary during group discussion might be due to the limited vocabulary that they have
and also lack of confidence in speaking English. So, the writer made adjustment on the RMC so
that students are able to responds correctly. Instead on having instructions, the writer put correct
language expression on the cards (See below for illustration).
Preparation for teachers. Before bringing the card game into the classroom,
teachers should introduce the format of a group discussion and the basic language expressions of
different functions. Teachers may identify any different functions but these are the best
functions: to greet, to initiate, to make suggestions, to agree, to disagree, to interrupt, to clarify,
to give reasons, and to conclude. Then, the teacher should print the variety of language
expression, photocopy the cards on colourful 160 g papers and cut papers into 2.5 inches x 3.5
inches (See below for sample). It seems like hard work but in the long run, the cards can be
reused and recycled.
Instruction for students. The instruction given by the teacher to the students should be
clear and specific. Here are the instructions to be explained in the classroom:
1. Students are placed in groups of four. Their sitting position should be facing one
another.
Good morning / afternoon, I bid
to our examiners & fellow candidates / friends
[TO GREET]
Firstly,
I would highlight …
[TO GIVE OPINION]
Let’s start / begin by discussing…
[TO INITIATE]
What do you suggest?
[TO ASK QUESTION]
MICELT 2012
79
2. Each group is given a set of cards (of the same colour).
3. Teacher explains how to play the cards
i. A student shuffles the cards.
ii. A student distributes the cards evenly to group members.
iii. They are given 1 minute to browse through their cards.
iv. Students are allowed to ask for explanation regarding the language
expressions on the cards.
v. Then, teacher gives a situation (Justin Bieber is a great artist, If I were a
billionaire, etc.)
vi. Students begin the discussion based on the given situation.
vii. Each response expressed by students should make use of the language
expression on the cards.
viii. The session continues till the last card is used.
ix. Winner is decided on whoever manages to finish all his or her cards first.
4. When complete the discussion, a student will reshuffle and deal cards.
5. Then, teacher gives the next situation.
6. Repeat step 4 and 5.
Let the game begins. The card is a license to speak. If the student decides to speak, he
may pick the card and speak out his opinion. For every turn when card is used in the response,
the student must place the card on the centre of the table. The student needs to say the
expression out loud and form a sentence of opinion on the given situation. The beauty of the
card game is there is no specific turn-taking. But, the cards will guide the owner to respond and
speak. Lastly, students are not allowed to rush the discussion.
To sum up, the poker card game does not involve betting and yet it is fun. The concept is
simple, light, user-friendly, wireless, flexible, durable, diverse usage and entertaining for
teachers and students to use in the classroom. It is usually popular among students as they find it
easy and effective. The card also successfully encourages participation among students in group
discussion, collaborates communication skills, accommodates tactile and kinaesthetic ESL
learners (fully utilised different learning style) and lastly overcomes fear of discussing. The
usefulness of the cards is to maintain rapport, generate listening skill, and give appropriate
context to respond. The cards also assist the students by giving them the samples of correct form
and functions. The students also manage to correct each other while using the cards. So, the
cards are not only the platform for students to express their views and encourage interaction in
group but also a chatting booster for the discussion.
References
Kagan, S. (1989). Cooperative Learning Resources for Teachers. San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
Resources for Teachers.
Kagan, S. (1994). Cooperative Learning. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing, 1994.
MICELT 2012
80
Kagan, S. (1996). Structural approach to cooperative learning. Retrieved from
http://www.horseheadsdistrict.com/ir/kagan/s41.htm
Kagan, S. (2001). Kagan Structures for Emotional Intelligence. Retrieved from Kagan Online
Magazine., 4(4). http://www.kaganonline.com/Newsletter/index.html
Ellis, S. & Whalen, S. (1992). Keys to Cooperative Learning: 35 ways to keep kids responsible,
challenged, and most of all, cooperative. Instructor.
Kagan, S. (2011). Cooperative Learning – Quick References Guide of Kagan Structures.
Retrieved from http://www.docstoc.com/docs/82728737/Kagan-Team-Building
Staples, J. (1992). Common Models of Cooperative Learning. NRC G/T Executive Summary
Report, Ann Robinson.
MICELT 2012
81
It’s Just English In The Classroom
Kalairani Nadasan & Jeswant Kaur (Pin Hwa High School, Klang)
Background to the study
Teaching English in a Chinese medium school, in the suburbs, where students do not see the
relevance of the language is an uphill task. The school where I work is relatively a big school
with approximately 1500 students and motivating all of them to learn English is like being on
battle-front each day. There are a lot of factors that influence the students learning habits but one
that calls for attention is the students’ general attitude towards learning English. The lack of
exposure due to their background has helped little in enabling them to appreciate the language on
the whole and the immediate surroundings which does not necessitate the learning of the
language has further cast a shroud over the acquisition of the language for both academic and
personal development. In addition, it is difficult to get good, experienced teachers as most young
teachers rather work in the city. The school has been, for the last 7 years using Just English
language books in the classrooms. The move has brought about tremendous positive changes in
the teaching and learning of English Language among the teachers as well as the students. This is
reflected in the students’ progress where it has been growing consistently upwards with
justifiable percentage in both the Junior and Senior levels Chinese school examinations. Just
English (JE) books are designed to utilize the latest approaches and techniques for teaching
English. Students learn the four skills in an integrated mode and in context. Books used at each
level cover the four skills as well as grammar. The Just English Activating Language through
Speaking series introduces structure, and then vocabulary, pronunciation through contextual
listening activities and exercises, which are taken across to produce speech and writing. Some
formal structure practice is included to give students direction in language use. The listening and
speaking skills help students not only to boost their confidence to speak the language but also
their writing. The Just English reading and writing books takes students through the steps in the
writing process for each essay genre, as well as address grammar and structure points relevant to
the writing. For both first and second language learners, extensive reading also significantly
promotes grammatical fluency and a command of the syntactic resources of the language
(Krashen, 1993). Reading also gives the students content knowledge on a range of topics. The
Just English reading series give students this exposure.
The study A study was carried out to assess the effectiveness of the Just English books series in teaching
and learning. The study was carried out among the elementary level students of Pin Hwa High
School. A total of 356 students from Junior 1 and Junior 2 were involved in the study. The
students were given a pre-test: on Grammar and on Writing, prior to the teaching of the
structures and the writing genres. Results of the tests were computed. Then using the Just
English books, the students were taught the relevant structures and given practice exercises from
the books. After 12 weeks of teaching, post-tests were administered. The post-test was similar
but not identical to the pre-test. Results of the tests were compared.
MICELT 2012
82
The findings
Descriptive statistics were calculated on students’ test results. The total mark for the test was 70.
In the pre-test, 97 students failed scoring less than 35. In the post-test, students with scores less
than 35 were 21. Scores of the post-test showed a marked increase in numbers getting scores
above 50 out of a total of 70. In the post-test the percentage of students scoring more than 50 out
of a total of 70 was 46% as compared to only 12% in the pre-test.
Conclusions
The current study is not without limitations. The following report is based on a small-scale
attempt to seek some answers but the overall findings are sufficiently robust to at least merit
serious consideration. Teaching using any reputable book can result in effective learning taking
place. Similar results may have been acquired using any other book but this study was carried
out to assess if the Just English books, which are relatively new in the market, can achieve
similar objectives. The findings of this study show that teaching using these books does and can
lend to effective learning. So it can be concluded that these books are effective in helping
students learn language.
The books itself may not be the answer to higher test scores. Teachers teaching and the way the
material is used are also instrumental in improving scores. Just English books are very user-
friendly for both the teacher and the student. Books come with manuals and CDs (audio, video,
power point slides) for teachers. This makes it very easy for the teacher to instruct in a
systematic manner. Units and lessons are accompanied by exercises which are graded from
guided practice to free practice. This enables step-by-step learning of the language. And, the
books are a workbook in itself.
The books address all the four skills, but unlike other publishers, JE does not have all the four
skills packaged into one book. The purpose of this is to ascertain that teachers do target teaching
of the skills in detail and do not gloss them over as can be the case when all skills are put
together on the same page. It also allows for easy spot referencing and revising.
Teachers, students and parents want teaching-learning materials that are effective in producing
results and books that are affordable. The Just English books are designed to improve one’s
mastery of language. They are packaged in progression of levels. A level one book can be used
by a 12-year old or a 14-year old, depending on the individual’s entry level. To top it all, the
books are very affordable.
Note
JUST ENGLISH books used in the study – Elementary level:
-Activating Language through Speaking 2
-Developing Reading and Writing Skills
Selected references:
MICELT 2012
83
Daiker, D.A., Kerek, A., & Morenberg, M. (1990). The writer's options: Combining to
composing (4th ed.). New York: Harper & Row.
Harris, R. J. (1962). An experimental inquiry into the functions and value of formal grammar in
the teaching of English, with special reference to the teaching of correct written English to
children aged twelve to fourteen. PhD thesis, University of London.
Krashen, S.D. (1993). The power of reading: Insights from the research. Englewood, CO:
Libraries Unlimited.
Weaver, C. (1996). Teaching grammar in context. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook
MICELT 2012
84
Motivation For Students And Teachers In The Esl Classroom
Sumitra Ravindran Naidu / Deeya S. Menon (ELS Language Centres)
Motivation is defined as “some kind of internal drive that pushes someone to do things in order
to achieve something (Harmer, 2001:51 quoted in Suslu, 2006 Test Journal Vol XII No 1). The
presence of motivation allows us to achieve great heights and the lack of it can cause great
downfall. L2 learning would probably bring forth more difficulties and more need for motivation
than learning in general as it involves the more complex study of all the intricacies of language
such as lingo, rhetoric, sarcasm, and humor, apart from the general form and function of all the
many facets of the language. Dornyei referred to it as ‘the multifaceted nature of language’ (2).
There have been numerous studies done into this, from Gardner and Lambert to Deci and Ryan
to Weiner among many others. How can students and teachers maintain a high level of
motivation in every class? This extended abstract will attempt to highlight the key factors that
affect motivation in the classroom, and include functional and practical strategies in applying
motivation in teaching and learning.
Motivation Theories
The grandfather of educational motivational theories was that of Robert Gardner and his
colleagues in the 1970s. This theory basically consists of two parts: integrativeness and
instrumentality. Integrativeness is the desire of the L2 student to fit in to the L2 community
culturally and linguistically. The learner wants very much to be accepted by L2 peers and be like
them in all possible ways. Instrumentality refers to the usefulness of acquiring the L2 in the areas
of employment, education and better income, among others (2). Beginning in the 1990s, there
was an influx of research into this field and new studies emerged, from researchers such as
Dornyei, Clement, Kruidenier, Skehan, Oxford and Shearin.
One of these theories has become well known in the field of L2 motivation: intrinsic and
extrinsic motivation. This theory was developed by Deci and Ryan and, as the name suggests,
shows the difference between motivation that comes from external factors and motivation that
comes from within. Extrinsic motivation can be caused by a prize or reward upon completion,
such as high marks or accolades. On the other hand, intrinsic motivation is fueled by self-
satisfaction, satisfying curiosity and feeling good about fulfilling a task. In addition to these,
Deci and Ryan also suggested the self-determination theory, which, according to them, is
essential for intrinsic motivation to take place. In this case, self-determination can be equated to
autonomy. At the same time, they also introduced four sub-divisions of extrinsic motivation,
namely external regulation – motivation comes completely from the outside, introjected
regulation – rules that come from the outside that the learner accepts to be regular even if not
agreeing fully, identified regulations – rules that the learner sees as useful and necessary, and
MICELT 2012
85
integrated regulation – rules that the learner completely identifies with and are part and parcel of
everyday life (3).
Weiner suggests three major cognitive aspects of motivation: attribution theory, learned
helplessness and self-efficacy theory. Attribution theory is where a student bases his potential
success or failure on past successes or failures. His studies show that this is more prevalent
among L2 learners. Learned helplessness is the attitude that the student won’t be able to succeed
at learning. The learner may have a negative attitude and doesn’t put in any effort towards goal
achievement. Lastly, self-efficacy, which comes up rampantly in L2 motivation literature, refers
to “an individual’s judgment of his or her ability to perform a specific action” (Dornyei). In this
case, it is not so much success or failure that matter, but the learner’s attitude towards this
success or failure. If there has been failure in the past, the impact of which had been reduced by
supportive teachers or parents, it would not influence the learner’s self-confidence towards
learning. On the subject of self-confidence, implementing realistic goals is key. Self-confidence
can be classified as a person’s belief that he/she is able to achieve a set goal or task. For this
reason, setting realistic goals is the best way for a learner to acquire immediate incentives via
mini-goals set and larger rewards via end of target goals set (7).
Lastly, the need to achieve is a very strong motivating factor. In this case, the more successful L2
learners will be the ones who are more driven and find great satisfaction in achieving goals (2).
More specific to learning situations, motivating factors can be divided into three categories:
motivational components specific to the course, to the teacher and to the group.
Course-specific. From the aspect of the course being taught, Crookes and Schmidt (cited by
Dornyei, MLJ 1994) have identified four main factors that can be used as describers. Firstly,
there is interest. This could be applied to both teacher and student where motivation to perform
will be high if the subject matter piques the interest of both parties and the desire to learn
intrinsically drives the lesson.
Secondly, there is relevance, which means that the student will be keener to learn when they
understand how learning the L2 applies to, and will be useful in, their lives. Following that, there
is expectancy. Again, this factor relates to teacher and learner as it is the end result that matters
here. From the point of view of the learner, this factor involves areas such as the perceived
difficulty of the L2, the amount of effort that is required along with the availability and
effectiveness of the teacher. On the other hand, the teacher will have expectations of certain
results, involvement of the student and outcome of lessons planned, and these will be the driving
force towards a successful lesson.
MICELT 2012
86
Satisfaction is the final factor in this area, which also can be looked at from both sides. The
teacher will surely gain satisfaction from student achievements. The student will gain satisfaction
when goals are achieved, and when praise is received; whether as praise or good grades
(extrinsic) or as pride in his or herself or self-satisfaction (intrinsic).
Teacher specific. Affiliative drive plays a very important role in teacher specific motivation in
the learning environment. The desire to please the teacher will make the learner strive to greater
heights, in exams, communicative ability and task completion. The rewards could be extrinsic –
praise and reward, and intrinsic – admiration and loyalty to the teacher and the desire to be seen
as a good student in the teacher’s eyes.
The teacher’s authority type is the next component to this area of learning situation motivation.
A teacher who overly controls the classroom is not going to enhance motivation in the
classroom, as research shows that autonomy is what works best for it to be intrinsically
rewarding (Deci and Ryan).
Lastly, the role of the teacher in socializing student motivation is another key area. The teacher
functions as a model in the classroom and he or she should be motivated, interested and driven in
order to get the same from the students. The tasks should be presented dynamically and
interestingly and positive reinforcement given via feedback.
Group specific. There has been an abundance of evidence that people learn in groups much better
than individually. This applies across the board from young learners to adult learners (Dornyei).
Therefore, this is an important motivating factor in the learning situation. For group dynamics to
be a successful motivating factor the group should have the same end goal and there needs to be
an accepted reward system.
How to motivate students. There are of, course, many ways to practice motivation in the
classroom. The following are ten suggestions that could work for ESL students from the very
young to the more senior. (2, 5, 6)
Make the lesson relevant to the students. Pop culture is a great way to gain and focus attention.
Keep abreast with what is interesting to the students and incorporate that into the lesson as much
as possible.
Expose learners to L2 environment and cultures. When learners understand the world that will
open up to them after mastering the L2, they will be much more likely to get motivated.
Exposing learners to music, movies and establishing pen pals are useful ways to do this.
MICELT 2012
87
Set collective goals. Set aside some time at the beginning of a session to decide on some
common goals. Write these up and put them somewhere visible so that students are reminded of
them as the class progresses. This promotes autonomy and self determination also.
Games and competitions. Winning is a motivating force in many cultures and societies. Have
mini games within the lesson and reward the winners with a small prize. An example of a game
would be such as writing as many adjectives as possible in 30 seconds.
Realia. Particularly for lower level learners, bringing actual items into the classroom can speed
up understanding and therefore motivation levels. For students’ assignments, they an also be
encouraged to do the same.
Keep the lesson varied. In order to avoid complacency and boredom, and to keep students on
their toes, teachers should try to vary lessons as much as possible. Use different techniques,
different kinds of activities and materials, and rewards systems.
Make sure tasks are level specific. If the task is too difficult for students, goals set will not be
achieved. This will set the tone for the opposite of a motivated classroom as students’ self –
esteem drops. Tasks selected must provide challenge while being achievable with some effort.
Encourage group dynamics. When students see their classmates as allies and sources of learning,
there will be more solidarity in the classroom and this will create an atmosphere of heightened
motivation and interest. Do lots of groupwork right from the start and encourage students to
discuss questions and answers with their partners, focusing on things they could learn from each
other and help each other with.
Focus on the positive. While error correction is essential in L2 teaching and learning, it must be
done with sensitivity and heavy focus should be placed on what was correct before pointing out
what was wrong.
Be a model of interest and motivation. The teacher is the centre of the classroom and can be the
ultimate role model to exude interest in the L2. A teacher who is obviously ‘going through the
motions’ will not succeed in producing a dynamic classroom environment.
Teacher Motivation
Whatever a teacher does has a motivational and formative influence on students. In other words,
teacher behavior is a powerful "motivational tool" (Dornyei, 2001: 120). For Alison (1993), a
key element is to establish a relationship of mutual trust and respect with the learners, by means
MICELT 2012
88
of talking with them on a personal level. This mutual trust could lead to enthusiasm. At any rate,
enthusiastic teachers impart a sense of commitment to, and interest in, the subject matter, not
only verbally but also non-verbally - cues that students take from them about how to behave. It is
believed that if there is desire for learners to be motivated, the teachers should be motivated as
well. What keeps a teacher motivated and to what extent does their motivation help contribute to,
and maximize the learning of, their students in a classroom?
Strategies for teacher motivation. Emotional management – Being able to manage your
emotions is having the coping skills that can inevitably lead to improved cognition (Eich,
Kihlstrom, Bower, Forgas, & Niedenthal, 2000 as quoted in Falout, 2010). This, in turn, does not
only affect you but also the people whom you interact with. The top ten most commonly used
emotional strategies are
1. To meet and maintain relationships with people who make you feel good
2. Occupying yourself with work
3. Be involved in activities that keep you excited
4. Strive to resolve problems
5. Use humor in situations
6. Be mindful of people’s feelings
7. Be aware of things turning sour
8. See yourself in a good mood as much as possible
9. Do not pay attention to things that do not bother you, i.e. ‘don’t sweat the small
things’
10. Constantly believe that you are in control
MICELT 2012
89
Joining communities. To avoid feeling stressed or burned out (Gayson and Alvaraez, 2007 as
quoted in Falout, 2010), teachers should commit to social support groups, or any form of
organizations, that can help to reach personal and mutual goals with other teachers.
Boosting efficacy. The two underlying psychological factors that stimulate professional
development and job satisfaction in a teacher lie in the teacher’s professional effectiveness
and the classroom’s effectiveness. (Mushayikwa & Lubben, 2009 as quoted in Falout, 2010).
It is important to be able to commit to attainable goals while maintaining hope through
certain strategies such as the motioned in the Agentive and Pathway Thinking Checklist
(excerpted from Synder, 1994, pp.239-240, 254 as displayed in Falout, 2010): Learn new
skills when required to reach a certain goal, have two-way friendships where giving and
receiving advice can be nurtured, mentally rehearse scripts when you encounter a blockage,
and avoid blaming yourself for something that was not workable; rather just conclude that the
strategy was not practical.
Motivation through interaction and worthwhile tasks. Applying the right teaching techniques
through various interactions in the lesson structure to maximize student’s motivation is seen
to be another method in teacher’s motivation.
Motivation due to environment. There are two factors that need to be taken into consideration
when it comes to creating an environment that maximizes the students learning rate. Having a
routine, to a certain extent, and discipline can help students feel that there is a need for them
to meet the teacher’s expectations.
References:
1. Steers, Richard, M. and Lyman W. Porter. (1991). Motivation and Work Behavior.
New York: Macgraw-Hill. Inc. Lincoln.
2. Falout, Joseph (2010) Straterges for Teacher Motivation. The Language Teacher
:34.6
3. Alison, J. 1993. Not bothered? Motivating reluctant language learners in Key
Stage 4: London: CILT.
4. Dornyei, Z. 2001. Teaching and Researching Motivation. England: Pearson
Education Limited.
5. T. Lile, William. 2002. Motivation in the ESL Classroom ,The Internet TESL
Journal, Volume VIII No 1, Japan ( http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Lile-
Motivation.html)
6. Eich, E., Kihlstrom, J.F., Bower, G. H., Forgas, J.P., & Niedenthal, P.M. (2000).
Cognition and Emotion. New York: Oxford University Press
7. Eggleto, J. Patrick, Motivation: A key to Effective Teaching, Volume 3 No 2 The
Mathematics
8. Suslu, Sebnam, 2006. Motivation of ESL Teachers, The Internet TESL Journal, Vol
MICELT 2012
90
1. XII, No 1 (http://iteslj.org/)
9. Hohnbaum, Bree (2012) Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation of Teachers.
10. Dornyei, Z. (2001a). Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom.
Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. Web. September 2012.
12. Dornyei, Z. (1994). Motivation and Motivating in the Foreign Language
Classroom. The Modern Language Journal, Vol.78, pp 273-284. Web.
September 2012.
13. Ryan, R.M., Deci, E.L (2000). Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations: Classic
Definitions and New Directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology 25,
pp. 54–67. Web. September 2012.
14. Harmer, J (2001). The Practice of English Language Teaching. Pearson Education
Limited: England. Print.
15. Pearce, C. (2010). How To Motivate ESL Students: The 10 Best Ways to Increase Teenage
Student Motivation. www.busyteacher.org. Web. September 2012.
16. Oxford, R., Shearin, J. (1994). Language Learning Motivation: Expanding the
Theoretical Framework. The Modern Language Journal, Volume 78, Issue 1,
pages 12–28. Web. September 2012.
17. Weiner, Bernard (1992). Motivation. Encyclopedia of Education Research. 6th
ed,
vol 3, pp 860-865. Macmillan: New York. Web. September 2012.
MICELT 2012
91
Teaching English Trough Drama
Mohd Ezwan Hussein bin Husni (ELS Language Centre)
Teaching English in school has now become a challenge in schools as we look
forward to find ways and methods to make the lesson interesting. Urban area students are
well versed in the language compared to those from the suburban area due to the exposure
from family, society and media whereas the students from the suburban and slightly bit
remote area will find it hard to understand the language. Even though there are vast
differences in the exposure, the teaching nonetheless is still the same. Teachers are faced with
challenges when students are either lax in their study of the language due to the overexposure
(Urban) or the students having a hard time trying to understand what the teacher is trying to
say despite the how simple the teachers have tried to make (suburban and remote). Students
get bored easily due to these reasons and tend to blank out whenever the teacher is in front
trying to teach them. Therefore the purpose of this workshop is to give and open up options to
teachers to find different ways to teach English in a slightly bit more fun way. With the
introduction of literature into the language teaching, students now have not just a hill but a
mountain to climb. What this workshop will do is show the students that the mountain is not
something that they have to fear but as an opportunity to make learning English more fun and
easily understood.
The workshop will be divided into 5 different parts: Writing, Reading, Speaking,
Listening and Presentation. In SPM, English Essays are divided into three parts, Summary,
Directed and Continuous Writing. This is perhaps the one part most students dread.
Regardless of how fluent or how confident they are in their speaking, putting it down n paper
is perhaps the one thing they don’t like to do. So, what is the best thing that you can do? Let
them write whatever they want (in a controlled environment of course). Tell them that they
have free reign on whatever they want to write and how long. This will relieve the pressure
on them and in a small way (or big) give them the opportunity to let their creativity flow.
Once they have done this, they will start to feel more relaxed and be afraid of writing so
much. In using Drama to teach writing, you can use any Literature text in the syllabus and
have them rewrite the text and turn them into a dialog or end it any way they like. Students
sometimes feel like some things should go in certain ways. So, let their creativity flow. Let
them write it out, how they feel the story should go or should end. All this should of course
be in a controlled environment as to not let the aesthetic value of the text change (too much).
By allowing them to do this, they will feel like they have control of what they are doing and
also indirectly make them read the text which they might find it boring.
The next skill is reading. Reading a text and not understanding the words and the
vocabulary is probably the fear of all weak students. This in hand generates the feeling of
incompetency and makes the students feel defensive and builds hatred or disinterest at the
language. Reading drama text or literature text can help the students find meaning and
understanding by using baby steps. Help them and guide them along the way and help them
generate interest in reading. It is not an easy task but it is a challenging one that can be
remedied by simply “choosing” the right text. Make it simple by choosing simple text and
stories. Do not give them facts instead give them fiction; simple fiction that they can
understand and relate too. As long as the texts are simple and interesting they can then try to
start creating their own stories. Stories that they can control and also stories that they find
interesting.
MICELT 2012
92
The next part of this workshop is listening. When students are in front presenting their
stories, the skill of listening can be applied by simply posing questions to the listening
students. This technique may seem redundant therefore mix it up. Radio drama, music,
Television series, and conversations, these are also materials that we can use in class and get
the student interested. Music is one part of teenagers life. Having that in our arsenal of
teaching can be beneficial and also make the students more interested in learning the
language. We can advise them by learning the language, they can also better understand the
message that their favorite singer or singers are trying to pass on.
The one thing that a student fears the most in learning another language, is speaking,
one that can be remedied easily in terms of using drama. When they have the chance to
produce or write whatever they want, they will also feel comfortable with the sentences and
also in terms of the story. Whenever they feel comfortable, this can generate self confidence
in them to speak and also help them to feel comfortable using the language. It doesn’t have to
start big but it can start small and simple. No complicated words or sentences are needed in
the beginning as to help generate speaking skills; they must first be comfortable with the text
that they will read. When, we speak about speaking, one final aspect that will be touched is
presentation. Presenting in front of a crowd is perhaps the most nerve wrecking thing a
person can do. So, what better way for a student to build their confidence to present by letting
them dictate “what” and “how”. When the “what” and the “how” are in their control they will
feel a bit of confidence in talking and presenting in public. Putting everything above into
perspective, it may also be a method or a way for teachers to make their classroom lively and
more fun in learning a new language.
MICELT 2012
93
Poetry Alive
Moomala binti Othman(Universiti Putra Malaysia)
Introduction
Research has shown that quite a number of teachers find teaching poem
daunting a task (Benton,1999). It has been reported, at the GCSE curriculum,
poetry has been slightly more marginalized and this has result ed in the
observed reticence behavior on the part of students enroll ing for language
courses at the university (Tome, 2009). In fact, there are some who think
poem is outdated and teaching it is irrelevant (Hughes, 2007).
But is poem really irrelevant?
Poem is a unique literary genre. This being the fact that it comes with a
specialized technical language: it is written in verse or stanza and via the
usage of meter, rhyme and imagery the aesthetics beauty of language is being
emphasized. Through these li terary devices, the poet conveys his ideas or
emotional experiences and this sets poem apart from the other literary
genre. Benton through his survey revealed the problem faced by teachers who
feel inadequate to deal with the technical aspect of poetry as they were not
given the necessary training (Benton ,1986).
In Pupil, Teacher, Poem (1986),Benton expressed” there is a real need to focus less on the
teaching of poetry and more on the “experience of it” strategies. This involves getting pupils
who can read poems to become engaged with them actively and to talk without teacher’s
domineering (Lookwood, 2011)
One of the ways of doing this is through multimedia. Through it, we take on the implications
of Rosenblat’s transactional theory ,“The words on the page constitute a lifeless text until the
poem is evoked” (1978)
Why multimedia?
Firstly, it is an opportunity to present poem away from the traditional print or
the pen and paper approach. Via digital , poem gets the chance to be lifted
from the printed pages and be represented in a novel way with the
amalgamation of sound, image and words altogether. In fact with the
presentation of poem via digital technology, students will get to see and
explore the relationship of text, image and sound in a dynamic manner.
Secondly, in today’s digital age youngsters spend hours logging on the
internet, face book, twi tter and my space. They are used to the digital
experience of reading texts combined with image, sound and words. Hence,
it makes sense to present poem through multimedia - it will assist their
understanding where they will get the opportunity to discuss, interpret and
mediate meaning by linking the image, sound and words. By this method,
learning becomes relevant and meaningful. Apart from that, they will enhance
their critical thinking skill.
Thirdly, via multimedia, students get the chance to “perform” poem when
they are given the task to create the poem. The fact that poem is concise,
brief and the message it conveys often is powerful, makes poem an excellent
MICELT 2012
94
multimedia material to work on. Interactive programs such as power point,
movie maker or f lash give students the opportunity to make sense of poetry
and in the process they are “creating” existing poems and responding to it by
bringing their own interpretation.
Lastly, the multi - mode nature of the new media (visual, text and sound)
enables students to synthesize in a creative manner their interpretation of the
poem and language used, for example the metaphors found in the poem. And
in the process, the poem becomes theirs. As succinctly puts by Hughes
(2007), “creating poetry using new med ia views performance as a vehicle for
exploration and learning, rather than as a fixed product to be rehearsed and
delivered as a final event.” The performance via multimedia brings a new
breath to poetry in today’s society.
In this case study , using the multimedia program movie maker, three different
interpretations of the poem “fighter line” were produced by three students for their English
project paper. Using the multi-media, these three readers, were given an autonomy as
powerful as the writer’s to evoke a poem .
Poetry alive
Fighter’s line : A case study
Three students did a project paper on “Fighter’s line” where they were required to interpret
the poem “Fighter line” by Marzuki Ali and then create a video clip based on their
interpretation. Later they presented their work at Kuala Kangsar on the 16 February 2012 at
an in–house training course for the lower form English teachers . After the presentation, they
gave an explanation of their work and what it meant to them. This paper aims to give a
description of their work and their interpretation based on their presentation at Kuala
Kangsar.
MICELT 2012
95
Fighter’s lines by Marzuki Ali
1.Interpretation One by Harith (The Arab Spring)
His video clips consist of 30 pictures of the Arab Spring. It contains powerful images of
young demonstrators caught in the mass demonstration or revolution in the recent Arab
World ,a picture of the former ruler of Libya, Mr. Muamir Gadafi and the ex President of
Egypt Mr.Hosni Mubarak. The clip was a dedication to the brave young demonstrators in
the recent Arab Spring. Towards the end of his video clip,Harithe included pictures of
demonstrations occurring elsewhere .
His message was change is inevitable and anything that gets in the way of the people’s
power will perish. The example that happened in the Middle East which was witnessed
worldwide, relayed this message of the inevitable power of the young people against injustice
in society.
I am old and worn
and have lost al l my st rength
sufferings
and the history of the fight for
independence
have forced sacrifices
that know no name
or l ife
from the wheelchair of the rest of my
days
I, body and energy crushed
see and cannot do much
these t imes are too big a challenge
for the remnants of my crippled years
the net of deceit spread everywhere
disturbs me.
In the name of justice
Wake up and form ranks sons of our
ancestor
Be brave
And erect a wall of people
Stand up heirs of our f reedom
I have no more voice
It is you now who should speak!
MICELT 2012
96
2.Interpretation Two by Hareen (Iraq after the invasion)
The second clip is a bit messy .He uses movies in his video – clip. He had a video clip of the
song , “This is war” as a prologue. The clip shows pictures of an American soldier in a war,
ex-President Bush with the text the moment of Lie and President Kennedy , with the text ,
moment of truth. It is about the American invasion in Iraq. The song ends with a line, this
is a story about an old man trapped in a war (presumably the Iraq war) and the sufferings he
went through. There were gruesome images of the effect of the war. The whole video is one
long story about effects of that war . After those pictures he had the text , to those who were
not caught in the war., In the name of justice, wake up. (This is part of the poem).After this,
he had a picture of a soldier followed by a group of men preparing for a battle. The last two
clips was a picture of an old man and a young girl. These last two pictures were the only ones
not related to war.
The explanation given was the clip is about the situation in Iraq. It is messy. It started with
the mess created by the American invasion. Then when the American left , the old man asked
the young people not caught in the American invasion to wake up. But even after the
American had left , everything is still a mess- hence the messy image. There is now a
likelihood of a sectarian violent or a civil war . Hareen ends his clip by asking everyone to
ponder and ask how to solve this mess.
3.Interpretation Three by Afdzal (Malaysia Today)
The clip prepared is about Malaysia. In this clip, Afdzal showed a man sitting on a bench
with a caption, “relieving 54 years of Independence” Then he showed the movie clip of
Tunku Abdul Rahman at the Merdeka Stadium, shouting “Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka” .
This was followed by a powerful image of the Malaysian flag being in tatters with the
caption “ I am old and worn”. He showed the statue of bronze fallen soldiers at the Masjid
Negara, picture of old folks and the recent images of the “Bersih” rally with the caption
“these times are too big of a challenge”. This is followed by the caption” the net of deceit
spreads everywhere” with pictures of schoolchildren loitering, drugs among youth,
prostitution, uncouth youths, etc. Then, there is the text, “in the name of Justce, be brave “(
the lines from the poem). Towards the end of the clips, Afzdal had pictures of prominent
personalities such as Siti Norhaliza, Tony Fernandez, Nicole David, etc.
He explained his interpretation of the poem is on the local scene . After 54 years of
independence, Malaysia has undergone a lot of development and changes and presently the
youth are facing a lot of challenges – drugs, prostitution, etc . For these challenges, it is
obvious which is wrong and right. But the, “Bersih” rally is not clear cut. To him, the biggest
challenge is the Bersih Rally- for youth like him do not know who to believe.
In this case study, there were three different interpretations on the same poem, Fighter’s line.
How is this possible ?
There are three important yet powerful elements involved. The first is the text, which is
the poem itself. The poem carries powerful message/s in its concise brevity. Yet , the
MICELT 2012
97
poem is a blueprint with latent clues or gaps which allow many shades of interpretation to be
made by the reader.
The next element is the Reader Response propounded by Rosenblatt (1978). According to
Rosenblatt, the reader’s interpretation is central rather than the author’s. This approach
encourages readers to interpret the poem by using their background knowledge and the text (
the author’s interpretation). In the process of trying to make sense of the poem, various
shades of interpretation are created.
The third element is the emergence of the new digital multimedia. The combination of
sound, visual, action or motion makes this digital multimedia a powerful tool. In poetry, it
enhances and transforms the “latent clues” in poems where different versions of meanings
of the poems are extrapolated. Students are savvy multimedia and by using a software such
as flash and movie maker , students create, perform and produce their own “poem”( Digital
Poem) , thus having a stake or an ownership in it. Hence, the claim made by Janet
(2011), “Poetry is a powerful medium for literacy and technology
development. ”
References
Tome, Marián Arribas. 2009. Teaching Poetry in Modern Languages Degree
Programmes at the Teaching Poetry in Modern Languages Degree
Programmes Conference , University of Exeter, UK.
Hughes, Janet. 2007. Poetry: A Powerful Medium for Literacy and
Technology Development in What works? Research into practice. Research
Monograph 7, 1-4.
Benton, P (1999). Unweaving the rainbow: Poetry teaching in the secondary
school 1, Oxford Review of Education , 26 (1), 81-93.
Rosenblatt, L (1978) The Reader, The Text , The Poem : The Transactional
Theory of Literary Work, Carbondale, Southern Illinois University Press
(reprint 1994)
Benton.P (1986) Pupil, Teacher, Poem. London.Hoddle & Stoughton.
Lockwood, Michael (2011) Bringing poetry alive : A guide to classroom practice. Sage
Publication: London
MICELT 2012
98
Learning Together or Alone: On the Effect of Using 2 Types of Cloze Tasks on Gaining
Knowledge of Grammatical Features in EFL Classrooms
Naser Sabourian Zadeh & Masoume Ahmadi
Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran
The teaching and using of group work and pair work has a history of research effort that
goes back for decades. The research done up to the present has identified that small groups
and pair work should be given prior attention as its positive influence on foreign language
learning outcomes has been rarely questioned (Long & Porter, 1985). Utilizing group and
pair work is one of the facets of communicative approach to L2 instruction which provides
learners with opportunities to use L2 (Canale & Swain, 1980). It is argued that peer
interactions as opposed to those traditional instructional atmospheres in which only possible
interaction was between teacher and his/her students, can potentially resolve considerable
part of issues existing in English learning (Slavin, 1983). Although the use of small
groups/pair work has been acknowledged in the literature to be supportive of L2 learning, it is
noteworthy that what really leads learners to greater acquisition of a foreign language
(English in this study) while working in small groups/pairs is ‘collaboration’. (Storch, 2002)
A second line of research concentrates on the role of output. Swain and Lapkin (1998)
suggested that using output tasks which prompts learners to produce some language could
function as a means for learners to focus on the more accurate production of grammatical
features. Task type also seemed to be influential on producing specific grammatical items
more accurately. In this regard, Storch (1999), in her research concluded that students were
not accurate on the choice of articles when doing cloze task–a task which focuses more
explicitly on grammatical features as Storch (1999) has put it−in pairs. On the contrary, the
selection of articles were done more accurately in tasks which required more production (text
reconstruction and composition), giving students more freedom to discuss different
grammatical choices. Due to somehow inconclusive results obtained in her research, Storch
called for further research in classroom setting to investigate the effect of pair work on
grammatical accuracy.
Based on Storch (1999) and to the best of the authors’ knowledge, research investigating
negotiation over grammatical forms is rare. Due to inconclusive findings in the previous
studies, there is clearly a need for further investigation on the efficacy of pair work on
grammatical accuracy. Further research is also needed due to the fact that none of the
previously conducted studies offered a structured setting regarding pair work to see whether
it has any influence on more accurate production of grammar. Therefore, the present study
addressed the three research questions as follow:
1. Do students working in pairs outperform those working individually on more
accurate completion of the cloze tasks?
2. Does implementing cloze task in the form of collaborative output jigsaw task make
any difference on more accurate completion of tasks?
3. Is there any difference in the effectiveness of collaboration on gaining knowledge
of three different grammatical features, i.e. past simple, past continuous, and
articles?
In order to fill the mentioned gap, the researchers carried out a study in an intact class of
14 Iranian male and female EFL learners at elementary level. In order for the effects of
MICELT 2012
99
individual differences to be eliminated, this study used a within–subject design. At the
beginning of the 6th
session, a pretest was distributed among learners to measure their
knowledge on articles and verb tenses (namely simple past and past continuous). The pretest
was conducted to measure the students’ level of competence for the target grammatical items.
The learners first were introduced to the grammatical items under focus through a mini
lesson. The class was randomly divided into 3 pairs and 8 individuals. Each individual and
each pair received a cloze task in a written form. Eight individuals were required to fill in the
gaps individually. However, the other six completed the task in pairs. When the assignments
were finished, pairs received and accomplished a jigsaw cloze task.
Next class, there was the second treatment session in which exactly the same procedures
were repeated. But the only difference was that a counterbalanced order was chosen, i.e. the
participants who had completed the tasks in pairs during the first session, did the second
cloze task individually during the second session and those as individuals accomplished the
tasks in pairs at second treatment session. After finishing the tasks, the participants were
given an immediate posttest. The pretest and posttest were each comprised of 15 multiple
choice questions adopted from Objective tests in English as a foreign language by Bloor,
Bloor, Forrest, Laird, and Relton (1970). They were the same in terms of format and level of
difficulty but their only difference was in the selection of vocabulary and context of items.
The analysis first compared the learner’s success in completing tasks collaboratively and
individually. So, learners’ performance in each task was examined in terms of the
accuracy of producing the target items when they completed the tasks. Learners’
responses to the target items were scored as either accurate or inaccurate.
A one-way ANOVA was run to probe the effect of three different methods of task
accomplishment; namely, individual, pair work in cloze tasks and pair work in the jigsaw
cloze task, on more accurate completion of tasks. The three groups enjoy homogenous
variances, an assumption that must be met for an appropriate one-way ANOVA design. The
Levene's F of 3.14 has a probability of .06. Since the probability associated with the Levene's
F is higher than the significance level of .05, it can be concluded that the three groups enjoy
homogenous variances. The F-observed value for the effect of accomplishment methods is
2.398 (Table 1). This amount of F-value is higher than the critical value of 2.3 at 2 and 25
degrees of freedom.
Table 1: Task performance by Different Accomplishment Methods
Sum of
Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Between
Groups 42.964 2 21.482 2.398 .112
Within Groups 224.000 25 8.960
Total 266.964 27
Based on these results it can be concluded that accomplishment methods have significant
effects on task performance. Doing pair work through jigsaw cloze task had the highest mean
MICELT 2012
100
score on task performance, i.e. 11.14. This is followed by pair work through cloze task (8.57)
and individual work (5.57).
As displayed in Table 2;
A: There is a significant difference between the individual work and pair work in cloze tasks
mean scores on task accomplishment. The paired learners outperformed the individuals on
task accomplishment with a mean score of 8.57.
B: There is a significant difference between the individual works and pair works of learners
in jigsaw tasks mean scores on task accomplishment. The paired learners in this group
outperformed the individuals on task accomplishment with a mean score of 11.14.
C: There is a significant difference between pair works of learners in jigsaw tasks and pair
works of learners in cloze tasks mean scores on task accomplishment. The learners in jigsaw
tasks outperformed the other pairs on task accomplishment with a mean score of 11.14.
Table 2: Post-Hoc Scheffe's Tests
(I)
Accomplishment
methods
(J)
Accomplishment
methods
Mean
Difference
(I-J)
Std.
Error Sig.
95% Confidence
Interval
Lower
Bound
Upper
Bound
Individual work paired. Cloze 3.00000* 1.38564 .117 -6.6054 .6054
paired. Jigsaw 5.71430* 1.38564 .919 -4.1769 3.0340
paired. Jigsaw Paired. Cloze 2.42857* 1.60000 .332 -6.5918 1.7346
*. The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.
According to what went, the first and second research question were positively
answered. Based on the aforementioned results, not only pair work but also type of task has
positive effect on more accurate completion of tasks.
The third research question addressed the differences in the effectiveness of collaboration
on acquiring knowledge of three different grammatical features, i.e. past simple, past
continuous, and articles. In order to investigate any significant difference between pretest and
posttest, a paired-sample t-test was run. The t-observed value was 2.53. This amount of t-
value is higher than the t-critical at 13 degrees of freedom. This analysis revealed a
significant difference between gaining knowledge of grammatical features in pretest and post
test. For the purpose of probing the differences between three grammatical features, the
analyses then examined learners’ actual gains of knowledge of the target grammatical
features (namely past simple, past continuous, and articles). The ANOVA did not reveal any
significant main difference for grammatical features (pretest vs. posttest): F (2, 24) = 1.697, p
≥ .05. So, the answer to the third question would interestingly be negative and there is no
difference in gaining knowledge of three different grammatical items features (past simple,
past continuous, and articles) by working collaboratively.
The results of this study confirmed the literature on the use of small group and pair work
in Second Language Acquisition. The results also were in line with Long and Porter (1985),
they concluded that students while working in groups or pairs have far more chances to talk
to each other for various purposes such as rhetorical and interpersonal, thus, practice their yet
to be developed foreign language skills than in lockstep climate. Goss, Ying-Hua, and
Lantolf’s (1994) findings seconded the current research. Another research by Swain and
Lapkin (2001) compared the effect of a dictogloss and a jigsaw task on production of LREs
MICELT 2012
101
(Language Related Episodes) by students while interacting during the tasks. However, the
results showed that none of the task types had greater influence over the other. Both types of
tasks also didn’t differentiate learners in both groups in terms of their attention to form and
grouping of knowledge. These findings, however, is not in the same vein with ours.
References
Bloor, M., Bloor, T., Forrest, R., Laird, E., Relton, H. (1970). Objective Tests in English as a
Foreign Language. Macmillan, Macmillan publication.
Goss, N., Yang-Hua, Z. and Lantolf, J.P. (1994). Two heads may be better than one: mental
activity in second-language grammaticality judgments. In Tarone, E.E., Gass, S.M.
and Cohen, A.D., editors, Research methodology in second language acquisition,
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 263–86.
Long, M.H. & Porter, P.A. (1985). Group work, interlanguage talk, and second language
acquisition. TESOL Quarterly, 19, 207–27.
Schmidt, R. (1990). The role of consciousness in second language learning. Applied
Linguistics, 11, 129- 158.
Slavin, R. E. (1983). When does cooperative learning increase student achievement?
Psychological Bulletin, 94(3), 429-445.
Storch, N. (1999). Are two heads better than one? Pair work and grammatical accuracy.
System, 27, 363-374.
Storch, N. (2002). Patterns of interaction in ESL pair work. Language Learning, 52, 119–58.
Swain, M. (1995). Three functions of output in second language learning. In B. Seidlhofer
(Ed.), Principle and practice in applied linguistics: Studies in honour of H.G.
Widdowson (pp. 125–44). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Swain, M. (2005). The output hypothesis: Theory and research. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook
on research in second language teaching and learning (pp. 471–83). Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Swain, M. & Lapkin, S. (1998). Interaction and second language learning: two adolescent
French immersion students working together. Modern Language Journal, 82, 320–37.
Swain, M. & Lapkin, S. (2001). Focus on form through collaborative dialogue: Exploring
task effects. In M. Bygate, P. Skehan, & M. Swain (Eds.), Researching pedagogic
tasks: Second language learning, teaching and testing (pp. 99–118). Harlow: Pearson
Education.
MICELT 2012
102
A Study of the Use of the “Learning Element” to Teach English in Selected Malaysian
Primary Schools
Sachithanantham Tachina Moorthi
Teacher Education Institute : Sultan Abdul Halim Campus
Sungai Petani, Kedah Darul Aman, Malaysia
Ambigapathy Pandian
School of Languages, Literacies and Translation
Univesiti Sains Malaysia
Lesson planning is an important aspect in any pre-service teacher education programme.
And, there are many lesson plan frameworks available for example, the PPP framework; the
‘Six Stages’ format by Sheila Estaire and Javier Zanon (1994); the Madeline Hunter, ‘Seven
Step Lesson Plan’ commonly used in the United States (Graham Crookes, 2003). Lesson
plans help beginning teachers to prepare materials beforehand and make it easier for them to
organize the time and flow of activities in classes (Woodward, T., 2001). Lesson planning
also instills confidence in the beginning teachers and help reduce any feelings of uncertainty
or panic during their practical teaching. More importantly, lesson plans help the beginning
teachers to identify the immediate objectives of each unit of lesson as well as keep them
focused on the purpose of that lesson. In Malaysian teacher-training institutions, the English
option trainee-teachers are taught to use the PPP framework to prepare their lesson plan. The
PPP (Presentation, Practice, Production) format popular in the British structural-situational
tradition is being used in Malaysian teacher training institutions for almost 50 years.
The Presentation phase proposes that the teacher introduces the new language item, to be
taught on that day, to the pupils through explanations and illustrations that will give the
pupils a clear understanding of the content. During the Presentation phase it is the teacher
who does most of the talking and has full control of the lesson. During the Practice phase,
the pupils are given a range of activities through listening, repeating, writing and reading.
Again, the teacher is still in control and pupils only carry out the activities according to their
teachers’ instructions. Lastly, during the Production phase, the pupils are given activities that
would show if the pupils have learnt the day’s language items and whether the pupils are
able to use these language items independently and correctly. Clearly, the PPP framework is
teacher-centred. It is also very general in form that beginning teachers have to struggle
determining the techniques and activities to teach the new language items. In addition, the
PPP framework places much emphasis on the usage of print media such as books and task
sheets. Teaching English Literacy to pupils in Malaysian rural primary schools can be very
challenging given that ‘rural students have limited exposure to English (Chitravelu, N., et
al., 2005). As such, a variety in techniques and different activities are necessary to draw and
hold the pupils’ interest and enthusiasm (Brown, H. D., 2001). Thus, the PPP framework is
unable to accommodate the broader concept of language learning and language usage of
today.
Literature Review
Meanwhile, the ‘Learning Element’ proposed under the Multiliteracies Pedagogy (Kalantzis
& Cope 1999)) is a framework for a lesson plan that creates the room for multimodal
MICELT 2012
103
expressions of meaning where the linguistic is integrated with visual, audio, gestural and
spatial modes of meaning. The Multiliteracies Pedagoy has widened the concept of literacy,
that initially referred to only the print media, to include the multimedia and the multimodal
text forms (Pandian, 1999). The ‘Learning Element’ could, therefore, be the alternative
lesson plan that would meet the demands of teaching in this digital age.
The Learning Element proposed in the Multiliteracies Pedagogy identifies four core
knowledge processes i.e.(i) experiencing, (ii) conceptualizing (iii) analysing and (iv)
applying (Cope and Kalantzis, 2001). Experiencing learning here refers to the drawing on
past experiences and immersing in new ones in relation to the topic learnt. Conceptualizing
refers to the generalizing of concepts and theoretical synthesis of the concepts. Analysing is
the transformation of knowledge both functionally and critically through the process of
reflection. Applying is the application of all the three knowledge processes in real life
situations.
Methodology
This study focuses on exploring the efficacy of the ‘Learning Element’ of the Multiliteracies
Pedagogy seeking answers to the following research questions:
1. 1. To what extent does the ‘Learning Element’ promote the learning of English?
2.
3. 2. Do the pupils learn English better when taught using the ‘Learning Element’ ?
This research project focused on the teaching of English in two rural National Primary
schools in the state of Kedah by four post-graduate English-option trainee-teachers (two
trainee-teachers in each school) during their practicum. The trainee-teachers in School I
taught 35 pupils from Primary Year 5 on the topic ‘Sea World’, while the trainee-teachers in
School II taught 30 pupils from Primary Year 1 pupils on the topic ‘Animals’. Both the
topics are in the official school syllabus. The trainee-teachers used the ‘Learning by Design’
(Kalantzis & Cope, 2005) framework to prepare their lesson plan. The study is
predominantly qualitative and data was collected via questionnaire, interviews, and
observations of lessons taught by the trainee-teachers. The respondents for this study include
4 post graduate English option trainee-teachers, 2 mentor-teachers from the respective
schools, 2 English language lecturers who were the trainee-teachers’ practicum supervisors
and 5 pupils selected at random from each participating school. The post-graduate trainee-
teachers paired up and each pair worked on the project in their schools during their
practicum teaching. All the four, post-graduate English option trainee-teachers were exposed
to the Multiliteracies Pedagogy concept through a two day seminar. Subsequently, they
underwent 4 sessions learning to use the ‘Learning Element’ framework. During their 3
months practicum they embarked on this multiliteracies project. This study attempts to
explore the ‘Learning by Design’ approach from numerous points of view (i.e. the pupils,
the trainee-teachers, the mentor-teachers and the practicum supervisors). A questionnaire
was administered among the four trainee-teachers as an important part of the evaluation
process. Meanwhile open ended questions were posed to all the above mentioned
respondents of the project to investigate their responses to the lesson taught using the
Learning by Design’ element.
Findings and Discussions
The responses of both the pupils and the trainee teachers clearly indicated that the Learning
MICELT 2012
104
Element has contributed to the success of these English lessons. The pupils in their diaries
have noted that the lesson was enjoyable because it provided many activities which opened
the opportunities for them to actively participate compared to the traditional method that
made them passive learners. The pupils were also very excited about seeing the colourful
images in video that accompanied the teacher’s explanations.
Pupils’ response:
“We enjoyed this lesson, we got many things to do, sing songs, go to the seaside,
make scrap book. The tiger in computer coulourful and the tiger sound very
frightening and exciting”
Trainee-teachers’ response:
The trainee-teachers confirmed the success of the lesson based on their observation that the
pupils enjoyed and had fun throughout the lesson. The trainee-teachers also articulated that
the pupils wanted more such lessons. The trainee-teachers felt that the success was due to
the fact that their multimedia presentations catered for pupils of different interests and
abilities.
For Research Question 2 the practicum supervisors and the mentor teachers’ comments were
sorted. The practicum supervisors who are actually lecturers from the teacher-training
institutes opined that the Learning Element is a very effective lesson planning tool as it
specifies the different learning processes which enables the trainee-teachers to select very
relevant and productive activities to teach a particular topic. The ‘Learning Element’
according to the supervisor entails a very detailed preparation and such a detailed
preparation naturally ensures the success of the lesson Furthermore the framework gives
room to shift from the print-media to multimedia and this shift from text-books to digital
media and field work took away the boredom and instilled excitement among students.
Clearly the study points to a positive inclination towards using the ‘Learning Element’.
The mentor-teachers also found the lesson to be interesting. They whole-heartedly agreed
that their pupils really enjoyed the lesson. However, they felt that the preparation of the
lesson using the ‘Learning Element’ is too demanding and time consuming. The mentor
teachers felt that their numerous school duties will not allow them the space and time to
indulge in such a detailed practice. Secondly, they also felt that most of the schools still lack
computer and internet facilities. In such a scenario, they opined that text-books and
workbooks are the next best option. The mentor-teachers also articulated that Malaysia’s
education system is so exam-orientated that using the workbooks to drill and to do repeated
practices as the easiest and most effective way of teaching.
Conclusion
This project takes pupils and teachers into a journey of new learning. The ‘Learning Design’
creates opportunities to a varied range of knowing that includes experiencing,
conceptualizing, analyzing and applying. Responses from the pupils, the trainee-teachers and
the supervisors clearly support the use of the Learning Element as the lesson planning tool of
the modern times. As for the practicing teachers, we cannot blame them for their scepticism,
however their responses only strengthens the argument for beginning teachers to be trained
using the Learning Element framework because it is they who are going to be the teachers
of the future. It is hoped that the use of the ‘Learning by Design’ element, would provide the
space and direction for innovation and creativity thus becoming a sustainable lesson
MICELT 2012
105
planning tool for the modern times. The Multiliteracies Pedagogy is a pedagogical
supplement and not a substitute to existing practices. The ‘Learning Element’ (Kalantzis and
Cope, 2005) therefore is an expansion of existing lesson plans, modeled to accommodate the
expanded concept and meaning of literacy.
Keywords: Lesson plan, ‘Learning Element’, Multiliteracies Pedagogy, knowledge
processes, mulitmedia
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I gratefully acknowledge and thank the participants of this study which include my four
post-graduate trainee-teachers, the schools’ administration, the mentor teachers from both
the schools, the practicum supervisors from the teacher-training institute and last but not
least all the pupils from both the schools for having participated in this study and giving
their valuable feedback.
References
Brown, H. D. (2001). Teaching by Principles. An Interactive Approach to Language
Pedagogy. (2nd
Edn). New York : Addison Wesley Longman. Inc.Chitravelu, N.,
Sithamparan, S. & Choon, T.S. (2005). ELT METHODOLOGY. Principles and
Practice. Shah Alam, Selangor : Penerbit Fajar Bakti Sdn Bhd.
Cope, B, & Kalantzis, M. (2000). Multiliteracies: the beginnings of an idea. Eds. Cope, B, &
Kalantzis, M. Multiliteracies: Literacy Learning and the Design of Social
Futures. South Yarra, Australia: Macmillan Publishers Australia PTY LTD.
Crookes, G. (2003). A Practicum in TESOL. Professional Development through Teaching
Practice. New York, USA: Cambridge University Press.
Estaire, S. & Zanon, J. (1994). Planning Classwork: A task based aspproach. Oxford:
Heinemann.
Kalantzis, M. & Cope, B, (2000). A Multiliteracies Pedagogy. A Pedagogical Supplement.
Eds. Cope, B, & Kalantzis, M. Multiliteracies: Literay Learning and the Design of
Social Futures. South Yarra, Australia: Macmillan Publishers Australia PTY LTD.
Kalantzis, M. & Cope, B. (1999). Multiliteracies: Rethinking What We Mean by Literacy
and What We Teach as Literacy in the Context of Global Cultural Diversity and
New Communications Technologies. Ed. Pandian, A. Global Literacy: Vision,
Revisions and Vistas in Education. Serdang, Selangor:Universiti Putra Malaysia.
Kalantzis, M. & Cope, B. (2005). Learning by Design. Melbourne, VIC : Victorian Schools
Innovation Commission / Common Ground.
Pandian, A. (1999). . Global Literacy: Vision, Revisions and Vistas in Education. Serdang,
Selangor:Universiti Putra Malaysia
Woodward, T. (2001). Planning Lessons and Courses. Designing sequences of work for the
language classroom. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.
MICELT 2012
106
What Else Can We Do With A Poem Besides ‘Torture A Confession Out Of It?’
Hawanum Hussein& Chong Seng Tong (Universiti Tenaga Nasional)
Like many English teachers, I love poetry. It is the epitome of linguistic beauty; simple lines
which capture an emotion, experience or episode in the poet’s life. Poetry is in my son’s
smile, the rustle of leaves, the graceful ripples of water or in the simple blink of my cat’s
eyes. My students like most students, hate poetry. They do not like the twist and turns of the
words and God forbid, ancient words like ‘thou’ and ‘thee’. Every semester I try to offer
literature and every semester the classes are cancelled due to poor response. My attempts to
infuse the reading classes with poetry are quickly snuffed out by administrators as they do not
and cannot understand why Engineering students should be exposed to literature that is
‘effeminate.’ Puzzled by such cold indifference to poetry, I conducted a quick survey with
my Engineering students about their literature experience in school. My questions were
greeted with howls of unhappy responses of ‘boring’, ‘dull’ and ‘never again.’ I discovered
that many of them perceived the literature class as just another reading comprehension class
that they could not score an ‘A’ unless their answers mirror those of their teachers.
According to them, divergent ideas were not welcome and many students listened and wrote
down answers prescribed by their teachers. In an exam oriented system, even poetry
succumbs to academic pressure. Not to be thwarted, I began speaking aloud Shakespeare’s
sonnet (often tortured in schools) and my students eyes’ widened in wonderment as they had
never heard that bit of poetry read like that. Thus I write this paper to show teachers (who are
under great stress to produce A students) that poetry can be a gem in class. I provide a
disclaimer that I am not a poet or a poetry expert and the following examples of doing other
things besides torturing a poem, is based on my teaching experience of more than twenty five
years.
Poetry for grammar lessons. Ever heard of Jabberwocky by Lewis Carrol? It is a
wonderfully ridiculous and romantic poem about a young man on a quest to kill a monster on
his father’s behest. The poem begins in this manner:
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe
Give this to students to rewrite the rubbish words and they will give back rubbish in return.
Classroom experience tells me that our Malaysian students have no clear notion of how
English grammar works. Thus to use “Jabberwocky” first, I get the students to imagine
themselves as great story tellers and to tell the story with dramatic pauses and stress. Of
course, a demonstration is necessary to prevent the sing song reading so ubiquitous in
Malaysian classrooms. Fun over; the grammar lesson kicks in.
I. Teach students:
a. the structure of a simple sentence:
subject - verb – object/complement
b. adjectives which comes before nouns
c. adverbs which comes after the verb
II. Next scaffold. Together, identify the rubbish word as a noun, verb, an adjective or adverb
in one or two stanzas.
MICELT 2012
107
III. Finally, give the rewrite exercise as pair or group work.
I have found that students were able to provide a decent rewrite once they understand the
grammar part. For more grammar ideas using poetry please refer to this link :
iteslj.org/Techniques/Hussein-Poems.html
Poems for pronunciation. Malaysian students often struggle with some sounds that do not
occur naturally in their native language. Some do not even know that the word ‘three’ is not
pronounced the same way as ‘tree.’ Why is this important, some students have asked me. I
tell them that my Arab speaking students have problems differentiating the ‘p’ sound and
would pronounce it as a ‘b.’ Thus, the lovely state of Perak (where this conference is being
held) is pronounced as ‘.........’ That ended all protests and queries. Students preparing to
study abroad are more open to pronunciation exercises. I usually begin the class with simple
sentences and then move on to longer poems once pronunciation of problematic sounds has
been arrested.
The following are examples of ‘th’ sounds, both voiced and voiceless interdental fricatives.
a. I thought of thinking of thanking you.
b. He threw three free throws.
c. Nothing is worth thousands of deaths.
d. If you notice this notice,
you will notice that this notice is not worth noticing.
Next are the poems that I ask my students to recite once as a class, secondly as two halves of
the class and finally individually.
What a to do to die today
At a quarter or two to two.
A terrible difficult thing to say
But a harder thing still to do.
The dragon will come at the beat of the drum
With a rat-a-tat-tat a-tat-tat a-tat-to
At a quarter or two to two today,
At a quarter or two to two.
Whether the weather be fine
or whether the weather be not.
Whether the weather be cold
or whether the weather be hot.
We'll weather the weather
whatever the weather
whether we like it or not
Poems for writing stimulus. ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling is an amazing but over-analyzed poem
in many classrooms. I find this poem to be an interesting stimulus for writing topics. This
poem works better with adult learners who have never studied it in secondary school and
would not say ‘Ala..this poem we studied in school, teacher!’ I usually begin with a reading
aloud session (aka oral interpretation) and then discuss the poet’s definition of a man. I
would sketch a figure of a man and write students’ responses as described by Kipling. I
would not however accept direct quotes like ‘walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch.’
Smiling, I would tell them to answer using their own words to see if they actually understood
what the lines mean. Next comes the writing assignments in its many versions:
‘In your culture, what is a man?’
MICELT 2012
108
‘How has the definition of a man changed from your parents’ time to your time, here and
now.’
‘In your opinion, what is a woman?’
In one class discussion, a female student describes a man as someone who cooks like Jamie
Oliver. A male student retorted and said, “No, I don’t have to cook, my wife will do that.”
Teachers will often be surprised at how little perceptions of gender stereotypes and roles have
changed after 55 years of Independence.
Other poems that can be good writing stimulus about gender and relationships are ‘Lord
Lochinvar’ a traditional Scottish love ballad or Ogden Nash’s poem ‘A lady who thinks she is
thirty.’
Poems for oral interpretation. What is oral interpretation, pray tell? Very simply it means
to bring a poem to life by infusing it with dramatic pauses, stress and intonation or one could
say ‘to act out a poem.’ Jabberwocky is an excellent poem for oral interpretation and is an
effective poem to bring out shy students. Group interpretation is ideal for classes with a large
number of intelligent but painfully shy students. All you need is a livewire or two to get the
class going and the shy ones will soon follow. A good beginning poem to start with is the
funny and wacky ‘On the Ning Nang Nong’ by Spike Milligan
On the Ning Nang Nong
On the Ning Nang Nong
Where the Cows go Bong!
and the monkeys all say BOO!
There's a Nong Nang Ning
Where the trees go Ping!
And the tea pots jibber jabber joo.
On the Nong Ning Nang
All the mice go Clang
And you just can't catch 'em when they do!
So its Ning Nang Nong
Cows go Bong!
Nong Nang Ning
Trees go ping
Nong Ning Nang
The mice go Clang
What a noisy place to belong
is the Ning Nang Ning Nang Nong!!
The objective of this poem is to get your students to have fun by making loud noises as they
read and to sound excited as seen by the many exclamation marks in the poem. A follow up
poem like ‘Phenomenal Woman’ by Maya Angelou would work for classes of mainly girls
and a smattering of boys who are not shy about reading about what it is like to be a woman. I
usually delete a line that may cause discomfort before I give out the poem to the class. The
MICELT 2012
109
point of oral interpretation using poems is to increase confidence while improving
pronunciation and vocal expressiveness. These are important as they form the bedrock of
effective communication or soft skills.
Conclusion
In short, poetry can be a wonderful and useful friend to the teacher. Poetry can be used to
teach grammar in a less dreary and boring manner. Poems can improve students’
pronunciation and speaking confidence. They also make good, interesting writing stimulus.
So, while helping students to score an A is commendable, inspiring students to see poetry for
what it truly is should also be the goal of every English teacher.
MICELT 2012
110
Teaching English Through Literature
(C.L.I.P.S- Children’s Literature In Primary School) To Develop
Communication And Writing Skills : A Scaffolding Technique
Sarala A/P Subramanyam
District Of Hulu Selangor & Selangor Ministry Of Education
Teaching English Through Literature (C.L.i.P.S) to Develop Communication and
Writing Skills.
Literature helps us grow, both personally and intellectually. ( Edgar V.Roberts and Henry
E.Jacobs, An Introduction to Reading and Writing, 1998). It provides an objective base for
knowledge and understanding. It links us with the cultural, philosophic and religous world of
which we are a part. It also enables us to recognise human dreams and struggles in different
places and times which we do not know of its existance. Literature also helpsiu us develop
mature sensibility and compassion for the condition of all living things. Most of the time the
readers do not know how to explain why they actually enjoy reading. Literature is lovable
and pleasurable. It has universal appeal and it appeals to the heart of the readers. Literature
finds an everlasting place in the memory of the learner because of its strong appealing
quality but this is not agreed by all. Some say Literature is boring and difficult to understand.
One does not have to be an expert in Literature to understand and to know it. It is actually up
to the reader how he interprets the text.
In 2004, The Malaysian Ministry of Education implemented ‘Contemporary Children’s
Literature to be taught in all primary schools in Malaysia. Teaching English was tough, what
more with extra storybooks, portfolios and project based. The teachers were provided with 8
books since 2004 which are used for year 4=3 books, year 5= 3 books and year 6=2 books.
The aims for introducing Literature in primary school is to :
- help the pupils improve in their English through reading simple fictions.
- provide a continuum for the literature component introduced in secondary school.
- create an enjoyable learning environment.
The objectives for the implementation is to:
- instill and inculcate the reading habit among pupils.
- enrich pupils’ vocabulary and language content.
- enhance pupils’ thinking skills.
- promote cultural understanding in the Malaysian context.
- improve Engish Language proficiency of pupils.
- provide lively, enjoyable and high-interest readings.
The Cabinet decided that ‘Children’s Contemporay Literature be taught in Year 4,5 and 6 so
that it can provide an early beginning and a foundation in literature and will develop an
understanding of other societies, cultures, values and traditions that will help them in their
emotional and spiritual growth. It is also to prepare the primary school students to the
MICELT 2012
111
literature lessons in the secondary schools. All the schools were provided with the books and
they were on rotation basis for the classroom implementation. Most of the English Language
teachers were sent for short courses and the pupils were introduced with all the books. Pupils
need to read 2/3 books in a year, which will be 4 months for a book.
In 2008, The Ministry of Education sent 24 English Language teachers from 3 states (Kedah,
Pahang and Selangor ) to attend a course in RELC Singapore. The duration of the course was
just for a month and it was all about how to teach English through Literature and it was
project- based.
I was one of the participant and before leaving to Singapore to attend this course, I was
exposed to the normal ‘Contemporary Literature’ too. I did teach my students using all the
books and the activities were some answering questions and a few worksheets for the pupils
to take home as homework. When I came back from RELC, my perception of
‘Contemporary Literature’ completely changed. My school was the pioneer and I had to
conduct courses for the whole district of Hulu Selangor too. I took it as a challenge and
wanted to proove that my pupils who are in the rural area will manage to do it with guidance.
(Malachi Edwin Vethamani - The Malaysian Journal of ELT Research, Vol. 3, 2007) stated
that the study and teaching of literature has been a challenge for many teachers and students.
He also mentioned that it is due to the fact that many teachers are not trainned to teach the
subject and many students have not seen the significance of reading literary texts as an
important aspect for language development but that is for secondary school. Well, Literature
Component is tested in the examinations and students in secondary school has no choice but
to read the text and most of the time they memorize their literary elements and details to
prepare themselves for their examinations.
Well, for primary school, ‘Contemporary Literature’ is not tested in any examinations but it
helps them to improve in their English through their simple fictions and it also creates an
enjoyable learning environment.
Machura(1995) presented a delightful description of her experience with children’s Lit in
Hungary. Her 12 year olds actively worked through ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar (a picture
storybook for young children, by Eric Carle). The same story was also done in Lebanon for 4
year olds (Goshn 1997). Both have mentioned that the superb illustrations undoubtedly add to
visually aesthetic experience as well. We, know that the text chosen for the students are very
important and when the teachers take charge to deliver it, they have to play the biggest role to
make the students to understand the text and enjoy the story too.
A research by P.Padmini, M.A., M.Phil., M.C.J., was done in India, 2009 to show ‘Why and
How’ of Literature in Language Classroom and the Poor Communicative Competence in
English. The question was, ‘Is Literature Teaching Responsible for it? The reseach has
shown that Literature provides the students with abundant examples of the subtle and
complex uses of grammar and vocabulary of English. It also shows that English is used at its
idiomatic best and is used most effectively in Literature. The teaching of literature would
MICELT 2012
112
definitely help the students improve their language skills and leads them in gaining not only
communicative but also creative competence.
What happens in the classroom here is, many teachers fail to discuss a prescribed literary
text, they just read and interpret the literary text. The students should be engaged in as many
activities as possible to ensure their interaction with the text and with each other in many
ways which would hopefully help in promoting language learning ( P. Padmini, 2009).
These are the reasons why I chose to teach English through Literature and made it into a fun
learning environment. All the 35 pupils in my class enjoyed learning the subject and they
always wait for lesson eventhough it is only once a week.
Methodoly
This study was addressed using qualitative measures. The data collection and information
were based on the non-structured interview and classroom observation. It was conducted in a
rural school, in the district of Hulu Selangor. The targeted group was 35 pupils from year 6
aged 12 whom I followed the class since they were in year 4 (2009). The research instuments
were mainly a classroom observation and non-structured interview. The interviews were
audio taped, transribed and interpreted. A pilot study was carried out on these 35 pupils when
they were in year 4 (2009). Scaffolding techniques were used to help the weak students. The
reading record booklet was the tool which help the students in their writing skills. The pupils
were interviewed and the classroom observation for each activity were compiled. All
observations were summarized and compared in order to draw appropirate conclusions and
interpretations. In order to achieve the objectives. In the second study, the scaffolding
techniques were used to enable learners(MKO) to assist their partners to gain understanding
during the discussions and class performances . Vygotsky (1978) claims that the learning
process takes place when learners are transported from the actual development to the
potential development by (MKO) a more knowledgeable other. This can only be achieved if
the learning process occurs in the zone of proximal development (ZPD). The idea is that a
child is only able to take the next step in their cognitive development if another person
supports and prompts them to do so. This sort of assistance has been called ‘scaffolding’.
Pupils were divided into groups and I always put the good ones in every group which
represents the (MKO), by doing so the average pupils were guided through. When the pupils
complete a particular text, they will complete their reading record booklet in order for them to
remember things, such as the sentences, the familiar words, the characters and other
important information. By doing so, the pupils started to improve in their writing skills.
When they began to prepare the skit, it was the best work ever. It was not easy but they did it.
Results
The findings revealed that the use of ‘scaffolding’ techniques and the ‘reading record
booklet’ as the main tool had enhanced the communicative and the writing skills for the year
6 pupils of the particular school. When I interviewed a few pupils before I started the
scaffolding technique, none of them came forward to talk or give any answers. After a year,
when they were in year 5, they became slightly brave when once a week they have to present
MICELT 2012
113
a story, a skit or even retell the story which they have read. The ‘Hot-Seat’ activity gave them
the confidence to communicate to each other, I really did not focus much on their minor
errors when they did the skit or the retelling of a story. What concerned me was, my pupils
actually forgot the fear in the subject and I manage to get rid of the ‘stage-fright’ in them.
Out of 35 pupils, 27 of them obtained ‘A’ in their trial examinations (UPSR 2011) compared
to only 2 pupils with ‘A’ when they were in year 4(2009). 7 pupils obtained ‘B’ and 1 with
a ‘C’ and when he was in year 4, he always fails in English. I also realised that when I did
Literature, the pupils were very interested because they tried to involve themselves in the
characters. It also helped the pupils to remember the story well. I noticed that most of the
pupils began to act out the characters during other lessons with other teachers when they
relief their classes. The pupils were given a chance to prepare masks, pertaining to the text
and the end product was always some hands on activities based on the project based lesson.
This had enhanced the pupils to know the story well and by involving themselves in the act,
skit and drama had made them to know the whole story very well indeed. All my students,
whom I followed from year 4 (2009 ) till year 6 (2011) were able to communicate and write
in English.
Discussions
The data gained from the interview and the classroom observation shows that pupils prefer to
have more hands-on-activities such as story telling, hot-seat, retelling a story, poem reciting,
singing, making puppets, masks, performing a short skit and drama too. All these are
basically project-based which has enhanced the pupils communication skills and led them the
write creatively in their written work especially the examinations. The tool used to enhance
their writing skills was a reading record booklet which I created for this class. It is known
that by just reading a literary text pupils will not go anywhere, so after a year following them
by just reading, explaining and answering questions, I decided to change the teaching style.
The course I attended in Singapore was a great help and the guidance by the lecturers in
ELTC KL (Mdm Jaya and Ms Mercy) were excellent. So, I referred to all the project based
activities that I was exposed to in order for the pupils to understand what they are reading and
what is the literary text is all about. It was fun to watch the pupils working in groups,
discussing, arguing and the best part was they started to add extra characters in the story. This
added some spices to the story. The short skits created by the pupils were better than the text
which were prescribed. They did not run away from the story, its just some dialogue were
given for some passive objects which became the humor in the skit. This happened because
of the scaffolding techniques and the reading record booklet, because the booklet is very
detailed and it helped them to write better and gain ideas. End of the day, the pupils began to
write creatively in their essays, test and examinations.
Conclusion
Eversince the ‘Children’s Literature in Primary School was launched in 2008, quite a few
teachers started to do it in their schools. The teachers find it difficult to cope because we
have limited time to teach literature in primary schools. Teachers complained that they have
MICELT 2012
114
to prepare a lot of work before they teach literature and they also cannot do much because of
the exam classes where they have to complete their syllabus before the final exams. When I
conducted the internal courses, many teachers asked me how I managed the time since I was
teaching the exam classes. My answer was simple, if we teach the pupils English Language
and not the examination formats, the pupils will be able to answer anything. C.L.i.P.S or
Contemporary Literature is not all about Shakespear or Robert Frost. CDC has provided 8
books which were carefully chosen, guidlines to follow and some sample lessons and
activities for the teachers to use in the classrooms.
There are problems when we conduct the lessons, such as time consuming, books to be
shared, classroom control and other factors. It is in our hands how to plan and to carry out
the lesson interestingly in order for the pupils to understand it easily. It not just reading.
They have to understand what they have read. It is time that more teachers accept the
challenge and be more creative.
References
Vygotsky, L (1962). Thought and Language, Cambridge: MIT.
Janet Maybin, Neil Mercer and Barry Stierer (1992) Scaffolding learning in the classroom,
London, Hodder & Stoughton.
Larkin, M (2002). Using scaffolded instruction to optimize learning.
Irma K.Ghosn, Four good reasons to use literature in primary school ELT, ELT Journal
Volume
56/2 April 2002, Oxford University Press.
Nithi Muthukrishnan (2010), Redifining the Teaching of Literature in the Primary School as
Meaning Construction, 9th Conference on South African Literature.
Donato R (1994) Collective scaffolding second language. In Vygotskyan Approaches to
Second
Language Research Lantolf J P & Appel G. (eds) Norwooe NJ: Ablex Publishing
Corporation .
Gibbons P (2002) Scaffolding Language, scaffolding Learning Portsmouth NH: Heinemann.
P.Padmini, M.MA.,M.Phil (2009), Why and How of Literature in Language Classroom.
Chittramuthusamy (2010) Literature Learning in the Malaysian ESL Classroom: A UiTM
Experience.
Malachi Edwin Vethamani (2010), Approaches Employed by Teachers in Teaching
Literature to Less Proficient Students in Form 1 and 2.
MICELT 2012
115
Vocabulary learning strategies and vocabulary knowledge: match and/or conflict
Ali Almagtoof Aljdee
Recently more attention has been paid to vocabulary learning by researchers, materials
designers, and teachers who have been trying to find answers to questions such as the
strategies that learners use to acquire new words or to remember them. The current study
aims to identify the vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) used by Libyan English language
majors at university level. It goes further to explore their vocabulary knowledge and proceeds
to investigate the relationship between these learners’ VLS and their vocabulary knowledge.
The taxonomy for the current study is mainly based on Schmitt’s (1997) taxonomy of VLS,
which was basically based on Oxford’s (1990) social, memory, cognitive and metacognitive
categories. It lists 58 VLS, and is categorized in two categories: (1) the discovery strategies
that are “useful for the initial discovery of a word’s meaning” and (2) the consolidation
strategies that are “useful for remembering that word once it has been introduced” (Schmitt,
2000, p. 135).
METHODOLOGY
Participants. They were all the 4th
year undergraduate students (112 students)
majoring in English as a foreign language at the faculty of Arts/ Al:Zawia University, Zawia,
Libya. They represented two English language departments in the cities of Zawia and
Sabratha. Zawia students (Group A) were 56 (6 males and 50 females), Sabratha students
(Group B) were 56 (6 males and 50 females) who turned up of the total number of 71
students. So coincidentally the two groups were identical in the number of students as well as
their gender.
Data Collection Instruments
Vocabulary Learning Strategies Questionnaire (VLSQ). This questionnaire was
chosen to measure the range and the frequency of vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) EFL
learners use. It consists of 44 items related to VLS (see appendix 2). The VLSQ items have
been developed in some studies (e.g. Schmitt, 1997) and proved to be effective in obtaining
data about learners’ VLS.
The Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT). It was designed by Nation (1983, 1990), it is a
multiple-choice vocabulary test. It has been widely used by researchers to measure the
EFL/ESL learners’ vocabulary size receptively at four word frequency levels: the 2000 word
level, 3000 word level, 5000 word level, 10,000 word level; it also measures the learners’
academic vocabulary also called University Word List (henceforth UWL)
The Vocabulary Size Test of Controlled Productive Ability (CPA): The CPA is used
to test the ability to use a word when asked to do so by a teacher or researcher
(performance-based). The overall structure of the CPA test is modelled on the Vocabulary
Levels Test (VLT) that was originally made by Paul Nation (1983, 1990) The CPA is
“reliable, valid (in that the levels distinguished between different proficiency groups) and
practical” (Laufer and Nation, 1999, p. 33).
Semi-structured Interviews: 15 participants were randomly selected out of 112
respondents according to their scores in the vocabulary knowledge tests and were divided
into three groups of five. The high vocabulary knowledge group (HVK) represents the 5
students with the highest scores, the moderate vocabulary knowledge group (MVK)
represents the 5 students with moderate scores, and the low vocabulary knowledge group
(LVK) represents the 5 students with the lowest scores. The interviews were conducted as a
MICELT 2012
116
group with the aims of eliciting information about learners’ perceptions of VLS use and most
importantly, probing in detail how these learners use VLS.
Results and Discussion
Range and Frequency of Use of VLS. The most frequently used of all strategies by
these EFL learners were the discovery strategies of guessing meaning from context, using
bilingual dictionaries (English/Arabic), and monolingual dictionaries These results are
congruent with the results of Schmitt’s (1997) and Gu and Johnson’s (1996) studies. Yet,
differences between student interviewees were observed in terms of ways of use. While high
vocabulary knowledge (HVK) students reported that they used bilingual dictionaries when
they could not understand the meaning of a new word after consulting other reference sources
like guessing or monolingual dictionaries, moderate vocabulary knowledge (MVK) and low
vocabulary knowledge (LVK) students usually use English/Arabic dictionaries immediately
after they come across a new word; they indicated that it is easier and faster compared to
using a monolingual dictionary.
Interestingly, while using bilingual dictionaries (Arabic/English) is the least frequent
discovery strategy for GA learners, it is a frequent strategy for GB learners. On the other
hand, GA learners reported more frequent use of monolingual dictionaries than their GB
counterparts. This could indicate that GA’s vocabulary knowledge is better than that of GB,
as shown in the results of vocabulary tests. Moreover, differences among the three groups of
interviewees are obvious from their responses to using Arabic/ English dictionaries. HVK
students reported that they had never used this strategy, while some MVK and most of LVK
students reported frequent use of it when involved in writing activities; this is certainly due to
the fact that they do not have enough productive L2 vocabulary to express themselves in
English.
With regard to consolidation strategies, the two cognitive strategies of verbal and written
repetition come at the top in terms of use. This frequent use could be attributed both to the
ease of using them as rote strategies and to learners being used to those strategies since they
were in pre-college where the teacher makes the class repeat words aloud as a typical way of
teaching pronunciation and introducing new words in Libyan schools, as some student
interviewees reported. It also indicates that the Libyan EFL learners may not have other
alternatives to be used instead of or along with these rote strategies. Moreover teachers, as
student interviewees reported, pay no attention to strategy training which plays a crucial role
in developing language learning (Nation, 2001; Macaro, 2006). Wenden (1987b) claims that
“learner training remains a secondary concern in many second language classrooms” (p. 159).
Vocabulary knowledge. The results show a clear pattern of declining scores across
frequency levels from highest to lowest in the VLT and CPA word frequency levels and from
receptive knowledge (VLT scores) to controlled productive knowledge (CPA scores). This
gap means that learners are unable to use their receptive knowledge of vocabulary in
productive situations. Hence, it is a must for such learners to be more exposed to the language
through language in use activities.
The findings also show that there were internal high positive correlations within the elements
of the VLT and CPA. This to a great extent confirms that the learners who did well in a lower
frequency level (e.g. 3000 word level) could normally be assumed to have done well in a
higher frequency level and vice versa. Significantly moderate to high positive correlations
were observed across all word frequency levels of the VLT and CPA. These positive
correlations could mean that learners with higher receptive vocabulary knowledge are also
higher in productive knowledge and vice versa.
MICELT 2012
117
Relationship between VLS and Vocabulary knowledge. With regard to the
discovery strategies, using the monolingual dictionary was positively correlated with the
learners’ vocabulary knowledge, as were guessing meaning from context and identifying part
of speech with the vocabulary knowledge. These findings are congruent with Gu and
Johnson’s (1996) findings. This could be attributed to the fact that both strategies require a
certain level of vocabulary knowledge to be used efficiently as Laufer (1997) stated that a
learner should know about 95% of the words in a text in order to guess words successfully.
This can explain the more frequent use of these strategies by the HVK learners than the MVK
and LVK learners, as mentioned earlier. Thus, the learners with higher vocabulary knowledge
are normally more successful and higher in terms of using monolingual dictionaries and
guessing from context and vice versa.
Conclusion and implications
In general, learners reported using discovery strategies more frequently than consolidation
strategies. One interpretation of this is that those learners seem to be more interested in
discovering or understanding the meaning of new words than learning them. This could be
attributed to the fact that the Libyan English majors restrict themselves to the task they
perform. These learners need to use some metacognitive strategies like assessing their
vocabulary in order to help them be aware of their vocabulary knowledge and develop it.
The Libyan EFL learners’ infrequent use of metacognitive strategies indicates that most of
these learners do not have plans or directions for their learning which are important for
success. It also indicates that learners are not independent in their learning and lack the
knowledge of what to learn about words. Most of them, especially MVK and LVK learners,
rely only on class material. These findings are consistent with those of Moir and Nation
(2002) who discovered that their subjects were not responsible for their learning and unaware
of what learning vocabulary should require. Such students should be more independent in
their learning through learner training.
Regarding the relationship between VLS and vocabulary knowledge, there is usually
consistency in that the VLS correlated with the learners’ receptive vocabulary knowledge are
also correlated with their controlled productive vocabulary knowledge. Thus, EFL/ESL
learners are required to focus on a range of VLS, (e.g. group learning in classrooms, talking
to native speakers, making own lists of words) that enhance their productive vocabulary
knowledge as well as their receptive knowledge.
The findings of this study reconfirm that the correlation between vocabulary learning
strategies (VLS) and vocabulary knowledge is more a matter of quality than quantity of use
of VLS. This can be demonstrated by the fact that GB learners reported more frequent use of
VLS than that of GA learners, but GA learners’ vocabulary knowledge is significantly better
than that of GB learners; this indicates that GA learners are more efficient in using different
VLS than GB learners, considering the positive correlations observed between the Libyan
EFL learners’ vocabulary knowledge and a range of VLS they use. This also contradicts
research because other studies of LLS and VLS generally show better students using more
strategies; this result, therefore, stands out as new here.
References
Gu, Y. and Johnson, R. (1996). Vocabulary learning strategies and language learning
outcomes. Language Learning, 46, 643-679.
MICELT 2012
118
Laufer, B. (1997). The lexical plight in second language reading: Words you don’t know
words you think you know and words you can’t guess. In J. Coady and T. Huckin
(Eds), Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition: A rationale for pedagogy.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 20-34.
Laufer, B. and Nation, P. (1999). A vocabulary-size test of controlled productive
ability. Language Testing, 16 (1), 33-51.
Macaro, E. (2006). Strategies for language learning and for language use; Revising
the theoretical framework. The Modern Language Journal, 90 (3), 320-337.
Moir, J. and Nation, P. (2002). Learners' use of strategies for effective vocabulary
learning. Prospect, 17 (1), 15-35.
Nation, P. (1983). Testing and teaching vocabulary. Guidelines, 5, 12-25.
Nation, P. (1990). Teaching and Learning Vocabulary. New York: Newbury House.
Nation, P. (2001). Learning Vocabulary in Another Language. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Oxford, R. (1990). Language Learning Strategies: What every teacher should know.
New York: Newbury House/Harber and Row.
Schmitt, N. (1997). Vocabulary learning strategies. In N. Schmitt and M. McCarthy
(Eds), Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition, and Pedagogy. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 199-227.
Schmitt, N. (2000). Vocabulary in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
MICELT 2012
119
Consciousness-raising tasks for teaching grammar in Language Learning
Ali Nezami1 & Mohammad Reza Vatanparasrt
2
1Member of Faculty, Department of English Language, Islamic Azad University, Rasht
Branch-Iran
2Member of Faculty, Department of Accounting, Islamic Azad University, Rasht Branch-Iran
In the history of second language pedagogy and second language acquisition (SLA),
grammar-teaching methods have alternated themselves between two opposing approaches. At
one end of the continuum, some researchers like Krashen (1981) believe that there is no need
for grammar instruction if learners are exposed to sufficient comprehensible input. Krashen,
by making a distinction between conscious learning and unconscious acquisition, points out
that language should be acquired through natural exposure, not learned through formal
instruction. At the other end, there are those who call for the inclusion of formal grammar
teaching, and claim that the acquisition of some grammatical forms cannot be made through
mere exposure to linguistic input. White (1987) counters Krashen’s claim by suggesting that
comprehensible input cannot trigger the necessary grammar development, but
incomprehensible input can.
However, most SLA investigators argue against the so-called “focus on forms”, in which
language forms are studied in isolation, in favor of a “focus on form” approach which
captures learner’s attention to form in the context of a meaningful communication (Long,
1991).
Occupying the midway between the zero position (communicative instruction) and total
grammar (grammar instruction) is the approach called consciousness raising (Sherwood
Smith, 1981). Instead of being given the rules, learners are induced to attend to a specific
linguistic feature in the course of performing a communicative task, the content of which is a
specific target structure. This view finds support in cognitive learning theory which
propounds that noticing linguistic forms in the input can help learners acquire implicit
knowledge (Ellis, 1994).
Practice vs. consciousness-raising
The desired outcome of second language grammar instructions is to help learners to use
the taught structure in their conversations. Therefore, they are provided with an
opportunity to practice the structures at the controlled level and are supposed to produce
them at the free level, where the primary focus is on meaning and learners use their
implicit knowledge to convey meaning.
Referring to three types of practice (mechanical, contextual, and communicative),
Ellis(2002) identifies five characteristics of practice activities, regardless of their types.
They include:
1. A specific grammatical feature is isolated for focused attention.
2. The learners are expected to make s en t ences encompassing the targeted
feature.
3. T he r e w i l l b e o cca s i on s f o r rehearsal of the newly introduced linguistic
form.
4. Learners are supposed to perform the grammatical feature correctly.
MICELT 2012
120
5. Teachers provide their students with an immediate or d e l ayed feedback on the
accuracy of thei r performance of the grammatical structure.
Proponents of the instruction focusing on the accurate production of the newly introduced
linguistic form (i.e. practice) believe that as learners satisfy their communicative needs by
producing precise, coherent, and situationally appropriate, the targeted grammatical
structures become salient and the learners’ grammatical competence is advanced (Swain,
1985). Faerch & Kasper (1986) argue that "occasions for rehearsal" promote learning.
However, Ellis (1992) adds the caveat that “practice may only facilitate acquisition directly
if it is communicative, i.e. meaning focused in nature” (p.120).
The effectiveness of practice has been challenged, and there have been proposals to direct
learners’ attention to forms without necessary requiring them to immediately produce well-
formed L2 structures. Schmidt (1990) argues that c o n s c i o u s l y "noticing" the form is
critical for its subsequent processing. Similarly, Fotos (1993) sees noticing as an "interface"
between "explicit" and "implicit" knowledge. Sharwood-Smith (1991) adds that simply noticing
the form is not enough, but "what is desired is ... acting on it, that is, learning something from
it" (p. 121).
Consciousness-raising tasks, as focused tasks, has been widely proposed to direct learners’
attentions to targeted linguistic features (Fotos, 1993,1998, 2002; Fotos & Ellis, 1991;
Leow, 2001; Sheen, 1992). Such tasks are intended to raise learners’ awareness of the
usage of the linguistic features. They also require learners to communicate with each other
about the target grammar. Ellis (2002, p. 168) specifies the main characteristics of the
consciousness-raising tasks as follows:
1. There should be an attempt t o isolate a specific linguistic feature for focused
attention;
2. The learners are provided with data which illustrate the targeted feature and they
may be supplied with an explicit rule describing or explaining the feature.
3. The learners are expected to utilize intellectual effort to understand the targeted
feature;
4. Misunderstanding or incomplete understanding of the grammatical structure by the
learners leads to clarification in the form of further data and description or
explanation; and
5. Learners are required (although this is not obligatory) to articulate the rule
describing the grammatical feature.
In short, whi le practice is directed at the acquisition of implicit knowledge of a
grammatical structure and involve learners in a repeated production, C-R tasks aim at
helping learners to develop explicit knowledge of grammar by noticing a certain feature of
language, and manipulating the structure while they communicate about that feature, often
generating rules for its use (Ellis, 2003).
Researchers and methodologist (e.g. Ellis, 1992; Fotos & Ellis, 1991; Nobuyoshi & Ellis,
1993) suggest that an effective grammar instruction may benefit from both consciousness-
raising and communicative practice. There are two reasons which seem to call for their
integration. First reason involve Anderson’s ACT model which distinguishes between
“declarative” (what) and “procedural” (how) knowledge. Declarative knowledge is available
to consciousness and can be used “as a set of instructions to guide behaviour through
interpretative, problem-solving, or analogy-forming procedures” (Anderson, 1983, pp. 216-
218). Procedural knowledge, on the other hand, starts as declarative and gradually becomes
procedural through “strengthening and tuning processes while using combined units of
MICELT 2012
121
declarative knowledge in productions” (Anderson, 1983, pp. 215-217). Accordingly, it can be
argued that consciousness-raising will cause declarative knowledge, whereas practice will
enhance procedural knowledge. The second reason concerns Bialystok’s analysis-control
model. According to his model, language is processed at two levels. At the level of analysis,
the model distinguishes between “implicit” and “explicit” knowledge. Implicit knowledge
can guide performance, but cannot be detected. Explicit knowledge, however, is “independent
of meaning and accessible to inspection” (Bialystok, 1990, p. 121). One aspect of language
proficiency development is to analyze the implicit knowledge governing performance
through explicit explanations. At control level, applicable to both explicit and implicit
knowledge, the major focus is on the ability to intentionally direct “attention to relevant and
appropriate information and to integrate forms in real time” (Bialystok, 1990, p. 125).
Consciousness-raising tasks are expected to facilitate the development of explicit knowledge
at the level of analysis, whereas practice tasks are expected to lead learners to higher levels of
control.
Conclusion Current research clearly indicates that grammar instruction is necessary to help language
learners to attain high levels of proficiency in the target language. Traditional teaching
approaches to grammar have been substituted by treatments which present the linguistic
features in various communicative contexts designed to induce learners to notice the
structures. Consciousness-raising tasks, as valuable grammar teaching strategies in
second/foreign language classrooms, provide opportunities for explicit learning of specific
linguistic features. The outcome of such tasks is awareness and discovery of how a specific
structure works. Learners involve with the discovery of the rule governing a particular
linguistic feature as they talk about the form as the content of their task.
References
Anderson, J.R. (1983). The Architecture of Cognition. Harvard University Press.
Bialystok, E. (1990). Communication Strategies. Basil Blackwell.
Ellis, R. (1992). Second Language Acquisition and Language Pedagogy. Multilingual
Matters.
Ellis, R. (1994). The study of second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ellis, R. (2002). Grammar teaching-practice or consciousness-raising? In J. Richards
& W. Renandya (Eds.), Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice (pp. 167-174). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Ellis, R (2003) Task-based Language Learning and Teaching. Oxford, Oxford University
Press.
Faerch, C. & Kasper, G. (1986). The role of comprehension in second language
learning.
Applied Linguistics, Vol.14, No.4. Fotos, S. (1993). Consciousness-raising and noticing through focus on form: Grammar task
performance versus formal instruction. Applied Linguistics, 14, 385–407. Fotos, S. (1998). Shifting the focus from forms to form in the EFL classroom. ELT Journal, 52, 301–307. Fotos, S. (2002). Structure-based interactive tasks for the EFL grammar learner. In E.
Hinkel & S. Fotos (Eds.), New perspectives on grammar teaching in second language classrooms (pp. 135–155). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Fotos, S., & Ellis, R. (1991). Communicating about grammar: A task-based approach. TESOL
MICELT 2012
122
Quarterly, 25, 605–628. Krashen, S. (1981). Second language acquisition and second language learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Leow, R. (2001). Attention, awareness, and foreign language behavior. Language Learning,
51, 113–155. Long, M. (1991). Focus on form: A design feature in language teaching methodology. In K. DeBot, R. Ginsberg, & C. Kramsch (Eds.), Foreignlanguage research in cross-cultural perspective (pp.39–52). Amsterdam:Benjamins. Nobuyoshi, J., & Ellis, R. (1993). Focused communication tasks and second language acquisition. ELT Journal, 47, 113–128.
Sheen, R. 1992. ‘Problem solving brought to task’.RELC Journal 23/2: 44–59.
Sherwood Smith. M. (1981) ‘Consciousness raising and the second language learner’.
AppliedLinguistics 2: 159-168. Schmidt, R. W. (1990). The role of consciousness in second language learning. Applied
Linguistics, 11(2), 129–158. Sharwood-smith, M. (1991). Speaking to many minds. Second Language Research. Vol 1/ No.2 White, L. (1987). Against comprehensible input: the input hypothesis and the development of second langaue competence. Applied Linguistics, Vol8/No.2: 95-110.
MICELT 2012
123
The Use of Cognitive Apprenticeship in the Teaching of Past Tense Forms among ESL
Learners
Gan Shiau Hui & Dr. Ng Lee Luan
Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, University of Malaya
Despite learning English in a formal environment for eleven years in the primary and
secondary levels, studies shown that many Malaysian students fail to achieve satisfactory
level of English language competency (Nor Hashimah Jalaluddin, Norsimah Mat Awal, &
Kesumawati Abu Bakar, 2008). This is especially true when it comes to writing (Saadiyah
Darus & Kaladevi Subramaniam, 2009) as grammatical inaccuracy in students’ written work
has fast becoming a serious issue that needs to be addressed (Maskanah Mohammad Lotfie &
Arshad Abd. Samad, 2007). From the students’ written work, it is found that tenses is among
the most common errors (Saadiyah Darus & Khor, 2009; Vahdatinejad, 2008) and is difficult
to remedy (Saadiyah Darus & Kaladevi Subramaniam, 2009; Vijaya & Viswanath, 2010).
In Malaysian schools, students are taught the concepts of tenses in their grammar lessons
every year. Yet, not all are able to use them well, especially those from the suburban and
rural areas. Findings from a study indicated that some might be able to state the concepts of
past tenses but fail to apply the conceptual knowledge in their writing while some are not
even aware of the need to change the verb forms when stating actions done in different time
frames (Saadiyah Darus & Kaladevi Subramaniam, 2009). In view of this phenomenon, there
is a need to explore instruction approaches that enable educational practitioners to assist these
students improve their writing.
The mentor-supported cognitive apprenticeship offers an alternative teaching method that
could help these students with lower intermediate to lower English language proficiency
incorporate their explicit knowledge of tenses into their communication task, i.e. on the use
of past tense in their narrative writing.
Teaching Methods and Key Features of Cognitive Apprenticeship
Cognitive apprenticeship, coined by Brown, Collins & Newman (1987), is a learning model
that falls under the social constructivist paradigm and is based on situated cognition. It
acknowledges the effectiveness of traditional apprenticeship and combines it into formal
schooling as it retools apprenticeship methods for the teaching and learning of cognitive
skills (Collins et al., 1987). Cognitive apprenticeship focuses on exemplifying conceptual
knowledge in situated context where it stresses on the learning of cognitive process through
guided experience where the cognitive processes are externalised so that the processes are
observable to the learners. It has been utilised in the education arena in various fields
including writing (Beck, 1999; Collins, Brown, & Newman, 1987; Duncan, 1996; Kolikant et
al., 2006), reading (Collins et al., 1987; Kolikant et al., 2006), listening (Shan, 2008),
mathematics (Collins et al., 1987) and other technical and vocational subjects (Cash, Stadt,
Behrmann, & Daniels, 1997).
MICELT 2012
124
There are six teaching methods in cognitive apprenticeship, i.e. modelling, coaching,
scaffolding, articulate, reflection and exploration, only the first three, as shown in Figure 1
below, are investigated in the context of the present study. Modelling refers to the process
where the mentor carries out a cognitive task to allow the students to observe and build
conceptual knowledge on that particular task. Coaching takes place when the mentor
monitors the students carrying out a task while offering hints, verbal scaffolding, feedback,
reminders with the aim of bringing the students performance closer to the experts while
scaffolding is the stage where the mentor gives support to help the students improve their
performance. It can either be in the form of suggestions and help or in physical supports such
as cue cards and task sheets. This includes fading which refers to the gradual removal of
supports as the students start to improve in their performance.
Figure 1: Three Main Teaching Methods in Cognitive Apprenticeship
Apart from the teaching methods stated above, there are also a few main features that are
commonly highlighted in studies involving cognitive apprenticeship. They are the use of
explicit instructions, collaborative social interaction between peers and mentor, the design of
lessons that are situated in context and learners are trained to do self-correction and
eventually monitor their own work (Collins et al., 1987).
The Use of Cognitive Apprenticeship in the Teaching of Grammar
With the teaching methods and key features of cognitive apprenticeship in mind, a series of
lessons on the teaching of grammar in writing were designed to help these students to be
aware of the existence of the different verb forms and their functions, as well as to
demonstrate the editing process that involves the use of past tenses in their narrative writing.
The series of lessons are carried out in six sessions, 90 minutes per session, as shown in
Figure 2 below.
MICELT 2012
125
Figure 2: Flow
Chart on the Teaching Sessions
Sessions 1 & 2. The first two sessions are on the explicit teaching of grammatical items
which fulfill the key feature of explicit teaching in cognitive apprenticeship. The teacher
explains the usage and basic structures (formula) of the past tense forms explicitly so that
students are consciously aware of them. After the explanation, the teacher demonstrates the
use of the basic structures given by constructing examples sentences on events related to the
students’ life on the board to allow the students to relate the use of past tenses to their daily
life. This illustrates the modelling method. The teacher’s cognitive steps in modelling the
use of the formula are made explicit to the students as they are verbalised during the process.
This is to enable students to see first-hand the process of task completion rather than only the
final product.
Later, a few students are then asked to construct sentences on the board with the teacher
providing steps and guidance (scaffolding) on how the formula is used. Finally, the students
attempt the exercise assigned on their own while the teacher facilitates the process. This
activity demonstrates the coaching process in the teaching methods. After the exercises are
marked, the students are also required to self-correct their mistakes with the help of their
peers and submit their completed tasksheets for re-marking.
Sessions 3 & 4. The third and fourth sessions involve getting the students to start
writing. To enable students to familiarise themselves with the formula, they are only asked to
attempt a one paragraph writing relevant to their life experience. This is to provide students
with authentic context in their learning. For the first paragraph, the students are allowed to
MICELT 2012
126
work in pairs to encourage collaborative social interaction among them and to lower their
anxiety level.
To provide some scaffolding before the writing process, the students are required to list 15
verbs related to a recent school event. The teacher lists the present form of the verbs on the
board and volunteers are asked to state the past and perfect forms. This is to ensure that the
students are consciously aware of the existence of different verb forms of the 15 verbs listed
and to use the one from the correct column when constructing different types of sentences.
With all the verb forms listed on the board, students attempt their task with their partner. The
teacher facilitates the session by providing hints and reminders to coach the students in their
writing process.
When the students have completed their paragraphs, the teacher will ask a few students to
write their paragraphs on the board using the verbs that are listed previously and the teacher
models the editing process, focussing only on the use of tenses. Each pair is then required to
edit their work, imitating the editing process demonstrated by the teacher on the board, before
submitting it for marking. The students are encouraged to refer to the formula from the first
two sessions when editing their work. The students are also required to do correction on their
mistakes and resubmit their tasksheets for remarking.
Session 5. In the fifth session, the students are given a pictorial note-expansion with
verbs given in different verb forms. This is to provide scaffolding to the students so that they
can focus their thought on the grammar structures rather than the content. They are required
to manipulate their sentence structures to accommodate to the verbs given and this provide
the students the opportunity to practice their sentence construction so that they are
consciously aware of the usage of the explicit formula taught during the first two sessions.
As usual, the teacher facilitates the session by coaching the students while they attempt their
task. The scaffolding by the teacher could gradually fade off as the students slowly progress
in their performance. Students submit their work for making and corrections are carried out
for resubmission of their essay.
Session 6. For the last session, a directed writing is assigned where the students are
asked to write an informal letter/email to a pen pal, sharing their experience on a recently
celebrated festival. This is again another task designed in context, which is in line with the
key feature of cognitive apprenticeship. A few questions are provided as a guide in this
activity to provide scaffolding for the students and they could also refer to their previous task
on paragraph writing if the content is related. Similar to previous sessions, the teacher
coaches the students and provides verbal scaffolding during the writing process and the
students submit their essay for marking, followed by the correction.
Conclusion
To sum up, this series of lessons which is designed based on the use of cognitive
apprenticeship is simple and basic but it could help students with low English language
proficiency grasp the basic understanding on the use of past tenses, which will ultimately
enable them to use tenses more effectively in their speaking and writing.
MICELT 2012
127
References
Beck, M. A. (1999). Expertise and Composition: Cognitive Apprenticeship and the Use of
Planning Strategies by Freshmen Writers. Unpublished Ph.D., Northern Arizona
University, United States -- Arizona.
Cash, J. R., Stadt, R. W., Behrmann, M. B., & Daniels, H. M. (1997). Effectiveness of
Cognitive Apprenticeship Instructional Methods in College Automotive Technology
Classrooms. Journal of Industrial Teacher Education, 34(2).
Collins, A., Brown, J. S., & Newman, S. E. (1987). Cognitive Apprenticeship: Teaching the
Craft of Reading, Writing and Mathematics (No. 403): Illinois Univ., Urbana. Center
for the Study of Reading.; Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Inc., Cambridge, MA.o.
Document Number)
Duncan, S. L. S. (1996). Effects of Integrating Cognitive Apprenticeship Instructional
Methods into the Community College Writing Classroom. Unpublished Ph.D.,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, United States -- Illinois.
Kolikant, Y. B.-D., Gatchell, D., W. , Hirsch, P., L. , & Linsenmeier, R., A. . (2006). A
Cognitive-Apprenticeship-Inspired Instructional Approach for Teaching Scientific
Writing and Reading. Journal of College Science Teaching, 36(3), 20.
Maskanah Mohammad Lotfie, & Arshad Abd. Samad. (2007). Noticing and Grammar
Accuracy in ESL Learners' Writing. Indonesian Journal of English Language
Teaching, 3(2).
Nor Hashimah Jalaluddin, Norsimah Mat Awal, & Kesumawati Abu Bakar. (2008). The
Mastery of English Language among Lower Secondary school Students in Malaysia:
A Linguistic Analysis. European Journal of Social Sciences, 7(2).
Saadiyah Darus, & Kaladevi Subramaniam. (2009). Error Analysis of the Written English
Essays of Secondary School Students in Malaysia: A Case Study. European Journal of
Social Sciences, 8(3).
Saadiyah Darus, & Khor, H. C. (2009). Common Errors in Written English Essays of Form
One Chinese Students: A Case Study. European Journal of Social Sciences, 10(2).
Shan, G. (2008). Cognitive Apprenticeship --- An Effective Learning Mode in the College
English Listening Teaching. Asian Social Science, 4(7).
Vahdatinejad, S. (2008). Students' Error Analysis and Attitude Towards Teacher Feedback
Using a Selected Software: a Case Study. Unpublished Masters Thesis, University
Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi.
Vijaya, K. R., & Viswanath, L. (2010). The Problems of Teaching/Learning Tenses.
Language in India, 10.
MICELT 2012
128
Learning Together or Alone: On the Effect of Using 2 Types of Cloze Tasks on Gaining
Knowledge of Grammatical Features in EFL Classrooms
Naser Sabourian Zadeh & Masoume Ahmadi
Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran
The teaching and using of group work and pair work has a history of research effort that
goes back for decades. The research done up to the present has identified that small groups
and pair work should be given prior attention as its positive influence on foreign language
learning outcomes has been rarely questioned (Long & Porter, 1985). There are two major
theoretical learning notions supporting the use of group/pair work. The first one which arises
from the work of Long (1996) is the psycholinguistic theory of interaction. Long in his
‘interaction hypothesis’ believes that by providing comprehensible output and negative
feedback during an interaction, learners can facilitate second language (L2) learning.
‘Sociocultural theory’ is the second of which originates from the work of Vygotsky (1978).
This theory highlights the importance of collaboration as well as social interaction. It claims
that human cannot be developed cognitively unless he/she interacts with others in a society.
In its original sense such interactions should be in form of ‘scaffolding’ (Wood, Burner, and
Ross, 1976). It means a novice member of society must rely on a more able individual who
can be a parent, teacher, or a more advanced pupil to reach a higher level of cognitive
development. In such ‘asymmetrical interaction’ (cf. Faulkner, Littleton, & Woodhead,
1998,p.172-3), the novice is drawn to act similarly to that of the expert for solving problem
which finally results in novice’s extension of his or her current competence (Donato, 1994).
Form the pedagogical standpoint, utilizing group and pair work is one of the facets of
communicative approach to L2 instruction which provides learners with opportunities to use
L2 (Canale & Swain, 1980). It is argued that peer interactions as opposed to those traditional
instructional atmospheres in which only possible interaction was between teacher and his/her
students, can potentially resolve considerable part of issues existing in English learning
(Slavin, 1983). Although the use of small groups/pair work has been acknowledged in the
literature to be supportive of L2 learning, it is noteworthy that what really leads learners to
greater acquisition of a foreign language (English in this study) while working in small
groups/pairs is ‘collaboration’. (Storch, 2002)
A second line of research concentrates on the role of output. Swain and Lapkin (1998)
suggested that using output tasks which prompts learners to produce some language could
function as a means for learners to focus on the more accurate production of grammatical
features. Swain (1995, 2005) also believed that producing output might increase learners’
‘noticing the gap’, (Schmidt, 1990), between their interlanguage and the target language,
thus, helping learners to reformulate their linguistic competence and create an environment
for language growth. Furthermore, task type also seemed to be influential on producing
specific grammatical items more accurately. In this regard, Storch (1999), in her research
concluded that students were not accurate on the choice of articles when doing cloze task–a
task which focuses more explicitly on grammatical features as Storch (1999) has put it−in
pairs. On the contrary, the selection of articles were done more accurately in tasks which
required more production (text reconstruction and composition), giving students more
freedom to discuss different grammatical choices. Due to somehow inconclusive results
obtained in her research, Storch called for further research in classroom setting to investigate
the effect of pair work on grammatical accuracy.
MICELT 2012
129
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, research investigating negotiation over
grammatical forms is rare. Due to the small body of existing research and also inconclusive
findings in the previous studies, there is clearly a need for further investigation on the
efficacy of pair work on grammatical accuracy. Further research is also needed due to the fact
that none of the previously conducted studies offered a structured setting regarding pair work
to see whether it has any influence on more accurate production of grammar. Therefore, the
present study planned to examine the effect of pair work on grammatical accuracy and
addressed the three research questions as follow:
1. Do students working in pairs outperform those working individually on more
accurate completion of the cloze tasks?
2. Does implementing cloze task in the form of collaborative output jigsaw task make
any difference on more accurate completion of tasks?
3. Is there any difference in the effectiveness of collaboration on gaining knowledge
of three different grammatical features, i.e. past simple, past continuous, and
articles?
In order to fill the mentioned gap, the researchers carried out a study in an intact class and
14 Iranian male and female EFL learners studying at elementary level at Kish Air Institute,
Tehran, Iran, participated in the study. In order for the effects of individual differences to be
eliminated, this study used a within–subject design. The data was collected through the
results of a pretest and a posttest administered in the class which met 3 days a week for a total
of six hours per week during a 45–day institutional semester. At the beginning of the 6th
session, a pretest was distributed among learners to measure their knowledge on articles and
verb tenses (namely simple past and past continuous). The reason for not undertaking the
research at the beginning of the semester was not only the rapport which the teacher wanted
to build up with learners, but also the familiarity that he wanted his students to have with
each other in order to be able to do pair works in a friendly and supportive environment. The
pretest was conducted to measure the students’ level of competence for the target
grammatical items because based on Tewksbury’ (1995) claim, knowing individual’s
information is one of the ingredients of having jigsaw tasks at the classroom. The learners
first were introduced to the grammatical items under focus through a mini lesson. The reason
for giving the mini lesson was making learners familiar with the target items before they were
asked to accomplish the tasks. The class was randomly divided into 3 pairs and 8 individuals.
Each individual and each pair received a cloze task in a written form. Eight individuals were
required to fill in the gaps with correct article or correct verb tense individually. However, the
other six completed the task in pairs. The paired students in each group were given only one
copy of cloze task to be encouraged to negotiate and to collaborate more. When the
assignments were finished, pairs received and accomplished jigsaw cloze task in which
learners in each pair first accomplished a part of the jigsaw (5 minutes).Then they all
discussed their answers with other pairs and they discussed the points in groups and each
person mentioned the rational for choosing that response prepared by his/her team. In this
time the individuals were asked to finish a spelling assignment, to put it in another words,
they received a placebo. In this way, the teacher ensured that no learning of the grammatical
features might occur when pairs were accomplishing those jigsaw cloze task .
During the treatment sessions, the teacher set aside time (approximately 15 minutes) for
students to accomplish their cloze tasks and about 10 minutes for jigsaw cloze task in pairs.
The teacher also made sure that the students made the points for which they were asked. Next
class, there was the second treatment session in which exactly the same procedures were
repeated. But the only difference was that a counterbalanced order was chosen, i.e. the
MICELT 2012
130
participants who had completed the tasks in pairs during the first session, did the second
cloze task individually during the second session and those as individuals accomplished the
tasks in pairs at second treatment session. After finishing the tasks, the participants were
given an immediate posttest. The posttest retested their knowledge on the aspects of grammar
which were the focus of this study.
The analyses were run on the result of accomplishing the tasks individually and
collaboratively. The pretest and posttest were each comprised of 15 multiple choice questions
adopted from Objective tests in English as a foreign language by Bloor, Bloor, Forrest, Laird,
and Relton (1970). They were the same in terms of format and level of difficulty but their
only difference was in the selection of vocabulary and context of items. The mean score of
pretest and posttest were also compared by employing a series of independent and paired
sample t–tests through the use of the 16th version of the Statistical Package for Social
Sciences (SPSS).
The analysis first compared the learner’s success in completing tasks collaboratively and
individually. To this end, learners’ performance in each task was examined in terms of the
accuracy of producing the target items when they completed the tasks. Learners’
responses to the target items were scored as either accurate or inaccurate. A response was
scored as accurate if the learners correctly supplied the target verb tense or article in
tasks. The ratio of skewness and kurtosis over their respective standard errors are all within
the ranges of +/-1.96. Accordingly, parametric tests could be run to analyze the data.
A one-way ANOVA was run to probe the effect of three different methods of task
accomplishment; namely, individual, pair work in cloze tasks and pair work in the jigsaw
cloze task, on more accurate completion of tasks. The three groups enjoy homogenous
variances, an assumption that must be met for an appropriate one-way ANOVA design. As
displayed in Table 1, the Levene's F of 3.14 has a probability of .06. Since the probability
associated with the Levene's F is higher than the significance level of .05, it can be concluded
that the three groups enjoy homogenous variances.
Table 1: Levene's Test of Homogeneity of Variances
Levene
Statistic df1 df2 Sig.
3.140 2 25 .061
The F-observed value for the effect of accomplishment methods is 2.398 (Table 2). This
amount of F-value is higher than the critical value of 2.3 at 2 and 25 degrees of freedom.
Table 2: Task performance by Different Accomplishment Methods
Sum of
Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Between
Groups 42.964 2 21.482 2.398 .112
Within Groups 224.000 25 8.960
Total 266.964 27
Based on these results it can be concluded that accomplishment methods have significant
effects on task performance. The Descriptive Statistics for the three groups are displayed in
MICELT 2012
131
Table 3. The pair work through jigsaw cloze task showed the highest mean score on task
performance, i.e. 11.14. This is followed by pair work through cloze task (8.57) and
individual work (5.57).
Table 3: Descriptive Statistics Task performance by Different Accomplishment Methods
N Mean
Std.
Deviation
Std.
Error
95% Confidence
Interval for Mean
Minimum Maximum
Lower
Bound
Upper
Bound
individual 14 5.5714 3.32159 .88773 3.6536 7.4893 1.00 11.00
col. cloze 7 8.5714 3.10146 1.17224 5.7031 11.4398 4.00 12.00
col.
jigsaw 7 11.1429 1.95180 .73771 4.3377 7.9480 4.00 12.00
Total 28 8.4285 3.14445 .59425 5.2450 7.6836 1.00 12.00
As displayed in Table 4;
A: There is a significant difference between the individual work and pair work in cloze tasks
mean scores on task accomplishment. The paired learners outperformed the individuals on
task accomplishment with a mean score of 8.57.
B: There is a significant difference between the individual works and pair works of learners
in jigsaw tasks mean scores on task accomplishment. The paired learners in this group
outperformed the individuals on task accomplishment with a mean score of 11.14.
C: There is a significant difference between pair works of learners in jigsaw tasks and pair
works of learners in cloze tasks mean scores on task accomplishment. The learners in jigsaw
tasks outperformed the other pairs on task accomplishment with a mean score of 11.14.
Table 4: Post-Hoc Scheffe's Tests
(I)
Accomplishment
methods
(J)
Accomplishment
methods
Mean
Difference
(I-J)
Std.
Error Sig.
95% Confidence
Interval
Lower
Bound
Upper
Bound
Individual work paired. Cloze 3.00000* 1.38564 .117 -6.6054 .6054
paired. Jigsaw 5.71430* 1.38564 .919 -4.1769 3.0340
paired. Jigsaw Paired. Cloze 2.42857* 1.60000 .332 -6.5918 1.7346
*. The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.
According to what went, the first and second research question that whether students
working in pairs outperform those working individually on more accurate completion of tasks
and that whether implementing cloze task in the form of collaborative jigsaw task make
differences on more accurate completion of tasks were positively answered. Based on the
aforementioned results, not only pair work but also type of task has positive effect on more
accurate completion of tasks.
The third research question addressed the differences difference in the effectiveness of
collaboration on gaining knowledge of three different grammatical items features, i.e. past
simple, past continuous, and articles. In order to investigate any significant difference
between pretest and posttest, a paired-sample t-test was run. The t-observed value was 2.53
MICELT 2012
132
(presented in Table5). This amount of t-value is higher than the t=critical at 13 degrees of
freedom. This analysis revealed a significant difference between gaining knowledge of
grammatical features in pretest and post test.
Table 5: Paired Samples Test (Pretest vs. Posttest)
Paired Differences
t df
Sig. (2-
tailed)
Mean
Std.
Deviation
Std. Error
Mean
95% Confidence Interval
of the Difference
Lower Upper
Pair
1
posttest -
pretest .64286 4.46537 1.19342 -1.03537 3.92109 2.539 13 .099
For the purpose of probing the differences between three grammatical features, the
analyses then examined learners’ actual gains of knowledge of the target grammatical
features (namely past simple, past continuous, and articles). The ANOVA did not reveal any
significant main difference for grammatical features (pretest vs. posttest): F (2, 24) = 1.697, p
≥ .05, suggesting that learners did not increase their knowledge of the grammatical features
significantly from the pretest to the post -test. So, the answer to the third question would
interestingly be negative and there is no difference in gaining knowledge of three different
grammatical items features (past simple, past continuous, and articles) by working
collaboratively.
The results of this study confirmed the literature on the use of small group and pair work
in Second Language Acquisition (SLA). The results also were in line with Long and Porter
(1985), they concluded that students while working in groups or pairs have far more chances
to talk to each other for various purposes such as rhetorical and interpersonal, thus, practice
their yet to be developed foreign language skills than in lockstep climate. Learners who are
working in groups and pairs tend to be more critical of one another, resulting in greater
numbers of correction compared to lockstep classroom, and ‘negotiation of meaning’ (Long,
1983) as the essence of group work is higher in comparison with whole class setting.
Another research by Swain and Lapkin (2001) compared the effect of a dictogloss and a
jigsaw task on production of LREs (Language Related Episodes) by students while
interacting during the tasks. However, the results showed that none of the task types had
greater influence over the other in generating LREs and both tasks equally led to substantial
amount of LREs production. Both types of tasks also didn’t differentiate learners in both
groups in terms of their attention to form and grouping of knowledge. These findings,
however, is not in the same vein with ours.
Another similar result was obtained by Goss, Ying-Hua, and Lantolf (1994) who claimed
that Spanish learners completed grammatical judgment tasks in pairs with a slightly better
outcome on some grammatical features compared to those who completed them individually.
Yet in another early study of this kind, Storch (1999) investigated whether pair work has any
privilege on making more accurate and sound grammatical decisions over individual work on
a series of grammar-focused tasks (a cloze task, a text reconstruction, and a short
composition). Nevertheless, it had wavering effect on certain grammatical items. Thus she
came to conclusion that not all grammatical structures may benefit from such collaboration.
Despite the numerous benefits of using group/pair works in foreign language classes, it still
MICELT 2012
133
seems that it is a story never coming to an end. Further investigation is also needed to probe
the effect of task type and pair work on the longer retention of grammatical features.
References
Baleghizadeh, S. (2010). The effect of pair work on a word building task. ELT Journal,
64(4).
Bloor, M., Bloor, T., Forrest, R., Laird, E., Relton, H. (1970). Objective Tests in English as a
Foreign Language. Macmillan, Macmillan publication.
Canale, M. & Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second
language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics, 1, 1–47.
Faulkner, D., Littleton, K. & Woodhead, M. (1998). Learning relationships in the classroom.
Routledge, Routledge publication.
Goss, N., Yang-Hua, Z. and Lantolf, J.P. (1994). Two heads may be better than one: mental
activity in second-language grammaticality judgments. In Tarone, E.E., Gass, S.M.
and Cohen, A.D., editors, Research methodology in second language acquisition,
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 263–86.
Long, M.H. (1983). Native speaker/non-native speaker conversation and the negotiation of
comprehensible input. Applied Linguistics, 4(2), 126–41.
Long, M.H. (1996). The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In
Ritchie,W.C. and Bhatia, T.K., editors, Handbook of language acquisition.Vol. 2,
Second language acquisition. New York: Academic Press, 413–68.
Long, M.H. & Porter, P.A. (1985). Group work, interlanguage talk, and second language
acquisition. TESOL Quarterly, 19, 207–27.
Schmidt, R. (1990). The role of consciousness in second language learning. Applied
Linguistics, 11, 129- 158.
Slavin, R. E. (1983). When does cooperative learning increase student achievement?
Psychological Bulletin, 94(3), 429-445.
Storch, N. (1999). Are two heads better than one? Pair work and grammatical accuracy.
System, 27, 363-374.
Storch, N. (2002). Patterns of interaction in ESL pair work. Language Learning, 52, 119–58.
Swain, M. (1995). Three functions of output in second language learning. In B. Seidlhofer
(Ed.), Principle and practice in applied linguistics: Studies in honour of H.G.
Widdowson (pp. 125–44). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Swain, M. (2005). The output hypothesis: Theory and research. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook
on research in second language teaching and learning (pp. 471–83). Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Swain, M. & Lapkin, S. (1998). Interaction and second language learning: two adolescent
French immersion students working together. Modern Language Journal, 82, 320–37.
Swain, M. & Lapkin, S. (2001). Focus on form through collaborative dialogue: Exploring
task effects. In M. Bygate, P. Skehan, & M. Swain (Eds.), Researching pedagogic
tasks: Second language learning, teaching and testing (pp. 99–118). Harlow: Pearson
Education.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes.
Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press.
Wood, D., Bruner, J. S., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal
of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17(2), 89–100.
MICELT 2012
134
The status of theme in research article abstracts: A cross-disciplinary study
Seyed Foad Ebrahimi
Ph.D. Candidate, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra
Malaysia, Malaysia
Tan Bee Hoon
Department of English, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra
Malaysia, Malaysia
ChanSwee Heng
Department of English, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra
Malaysia, Malaysia
Many studies have been done targeting research article abstract (RA abstract) as an important
part of research article (RA). According to Martin (2003), RA abstract aids writers to pack
the important and significant information and findings reported by a RA into a compact unit,
and to guide the flow of information to be communicated in the scientific community. Time
saving is another function which an RA abstract fulfills by “informing the reader about the
exact content of the article, indicating whether the full text merits their further attention”
(Martin, 2003 p.26). Another function of RA abstract is to convince conference organizers or
journal editors to accept or publish a RA. Given its multiple functions RA abstract analysis
could provide the readers and the writers with relevant insights concerning the underlying
mechanisms and structures (Lores, 2004) as textual operatives in the writing of an RA
abstract.
A discourse community is seen as a social space with experts at the center and
aspiring novices at the periphery (Swales, 1990). Swales outlined six defining criteria
guarding entry into a discourse community, which are: 1) common public goals, 2)
mechanisms for intercommunication between members, 3) participatory mechanisms to give
feedback and information, 4) developed and continues to develop discoursal expectations, 5)
inbuilt dynamics towards an increasingly shared and specialized terminology, and 6) a critical
mass of members with a suitable degree of relevant discoursal and content expertise (1990).
He adds that different mechanisms for intercommunication may be utilized by each discourse
community which led to different genres. One of these genres is academic RA abstract.
According to Lores (2004), this genre is an academic genre with its own functions, rhetorical
structures, and linguistic realizations. Its two functions of being informative and indicative
can be captured in two basic rhetorical structures, CARS (Create a Research Space) and
IMRD (Introduction, Method, Result, Discussion). These two rhetorical structures are
realized by different linguistic features among which is the Hallidyan textual metafunction
(p.281). This metafunction manifests as theme in the clause (Gosden, 1992). Halliday (1994,
2004) defines theme as the element in a particular structural configuration taken as whole and
it organizes the clause as a message and provides the configuration of theme and rheme.
Based on this definition, a clause therefore is made of two parts, theme followed by rheme.
In recent years, many researchers (Whittaker, 1995; Jalilifar, 2010) have addressed
the notion of theme in RA. However, little work, to the researchers’ knowledge, has been
MICELT 2012
135
focused on the RA abstracts regarding theme types and patterns. Therefore, this research
focuses on this aspect of the discoursive practice to find out how theme types and patterns are
applied in RA abstracts with particular reference to the community of writers in the
disciplines of Economics and Applied Linguistics.
Methodology
Corpus: The corpus comprises of 60 RA abstracts from two disciplines of Applied
Linguistics and Economics. The RA abstracts were taken from two journals: ‘Applied
Linguistics’ and ‘Oxford Economic Papers’ published by Oxford University Press. All the
RA abstracts were published in the 2010 to 2011 volumes for the regular articles imply the
IMRD structure.
Method of Analysis: To analyze the data for the applied theme types and patterns, this study
relied on Hallidayan (1994) model of thematic organization and McCabe (1999) model of
thematic progression.
Unit of analysis: This study selected the t-unit as the basic unit of analysis. The selection
was done on the ground that a) t-unit includes one main independent clause together with its
dependent clause(s) which would help investigating theme types and patterns in large amount
of text, and b) the theme type and pattern of a dependent clause is often constrained by the
independent clause (Fries & Francis, 1992).
Data Interpretation: The data obtained was subject to the frequency and percentage count
of theme types and patterns. Together with the presentation, specific selections of the theme
types and patterns are illustrated to provide information on the theme-rheme manifestations.
These manifestations are discussed in the context of the functions embodied in their use.
Finally, Chi-Square test was run to check on the significance of the differences between
disciplines in using theme types and patterns. This helps to reveal discipline preference, if
any exist in the data.
Results and Discussion
In the following two sections, the results concerning theme types and patterns will be
presented and discussed.
Theme Types: Disciplinary difference was indicated by the result concerning the application
of textual theme. While Applied Linguists dedicated 12% of their theme for textual theme
presentation, in Economics RA abstracts this theme was realized in 17% of the total themes.
The results were in line with that of Whittaker’s study (1995) which found 15% of this theme
in the corpus of Applied Linguistics and Economics RAs. The reported result however, was
in contrast with that of McCabe’s (1999). She found 23.91% and 23.40% textual theme in
Spanish History and English texts respectively. This difference could be ascribed to generic
differences in relation to language use. The result also illustrated that both disciplines used
this theme to create external and internal relationships. In case of external relationship,
writers of both disciplines try to present information about the logical relations which hold in
the world out side the text e.g. ‘then’ and ‘however’. In terms of internal relationship, writers
give information regarding the text organization and function e.g. ‘and’ and ‘but’ (Whittaker,
1995).
MICELT 2012
136
Both disciplines dedicated small proportion of interpersonal themes. This theme made
up 2% and 3% of the total theme in Applied Linguistics and Economics RA abstracts in
turns. This finding was in the same line with what earlier reported by Jalilifar (2010). He
found 2.5% and 4% of this theme in his corpus of Applied Linguistics research Articles. This
similarity may be attributed to similarity shared in the rhetorical structure (IMRD). However,
the result of this study also reported disciplinary difference regarding the functions of this
theme. In Applied Linguistics RA abstracts, this theme was applied mostly in the result and
discussion sections aiming at specifying and taking the reader attention to the significance of
the gained result. In the Economics RA abstracts, this theme was used to specify the method
used and presenting the study background. Overall, interpersonal theme underestimation in
this study may indicate the preference of an impersonal tone in the writing of such RA
abstracts.
Both corpora were explored for the applied marked and unmarked topical themes.
Result indicated the use of unmarked theme was four times more than that of marked theme.
This may illustrate that in most of the analyzed t-units, topical theme occupied both thematic
and subject position. This compliance of theme and subject may indicate the structural
simplicity of the analyzed RA abstracts. This is also in line with Halliday’s (1994) idea. He
states that writers mostly prefer to situate theme in the grammatical subject of the clause.
Application of unmarked theme could show that in most of the t-unites there was no need for
prior context leading up to the information provided by the theme, or there was no positive
reason for choosing anything else (Halliday, 1994).
The data analyzed for simple and multiple themes revealed that there was a marked
tendency towards the use of simple theme. This may illustrate that in both disciplines, there
were few overt combinations of the simple theme with the interpersonal and/or textual
elements to signal thematic organization. It could be said that multiple themes are not the
norm in RA abstract writing. This is to be expected as multiple themes are more loaded
functionally which would demand more processing.
The result of chi-square analysis illustrated that the difference between two
disciplines concerning theme type frequency was not statistically significant. This would
mean that both disciplines are rather similar in theme type preference as far as thematic
development is concerned.
Table 1. Frequency, Percentage and Chi-Square analysis of Theme types
Applied Linguistics (%) Economics (%) Chi-square df
sig
Textual 21 (12) 29 (17) 0.862 1
0.3552
Interpersonal 5 (2) 6 (3) 0.200 1
0.6547
Marked 37(21) 32(19) 0.100 1
0.7518
Unmarked 139(79) 139(81) 0.025 1
0.8744
Simple 150(85) 137(80) 0.152 1
MICELT 2012
137
0.6971
Multiple 26 (15) 34(20) 0.714 1 0.
3980
Significant Level= 0.05
Thematic Patterns: In both corpora, writers preferred the linear pattern on constant pattern.
This result may be supported by Fries (1983) who believes that in the presentation of
complex arguments in which each successive idea is an expansion of previous sentence idea,
an academic text, RA abstract in this study, may need to use more cross-referential links from
the rheme of the clause to the theme of the next clause. As such a linear theme may be the
better choice. In the same line of argumentation, Alonso and McCabe (2000) states that this
pattern serves two functions, that of giving explanation to help evolve the dynamic text and
to signal the moving from a new information to given information in the next clause in idea
connection.
While split rheme received very low tendency, split theme was totally put aside in the
both corpora. A split rheme pattern develops the theme in a rather sophisticated manner to
provide the logical coherence. Texts which use this pattern manipulate information in a
pattern that may require the nominalization of a verb in the clause to act as the next theme
and then only proceed with the nominalised theme introduced in the same clause. Split theme
as a possible thematic progression gives a pattern that requires writing dexterity. Adding this
skill clearly would require a greater level of conscious awareness and practice in writing
coherence endeavors.
The data analysis indicated that writers of both corpora used miscellaneous pattern
which is beyond the ambit of McCabe’s (1999) patterns. This pattern is utilized significantly
in 65% and 67% of the total progression patterns in Applied Linguistic and Economics RA
abstracts investigated. In view of the tightness of an RA abstract which is constrained by
length, writers may opt to develop their themes through a more subtle manner. In this sense,
the theme is inferred based on our ability to make logical. McCabe (1999) in fact argues that
a miscellaneous pattern is necessary for discourse development. She adds that this pattern
provide continuity in the text since its references are accessible to the reader.
The figures obtained on thematic progression patterns are also subject to Chi-Square
analysis to relay if there is a significant difference between the data collected. The Chi-square
results reported that the differences were not statistically significant.
Table 2. Frequency, Percentage and Chi- Square analysis of Theme Patterns
Applied Linguistics (%) Economics (%) Chi-square df
sig
Linear 35 (20) 29 (17) 0.243 1 0.6219
Constant 24 (14) 26 (15) 0.034 1 0.8527
Split Rheme 1 (1) 2 (1) 0.000 1 1.0000
Split Theme - - - - -
Miscellaneous 115 (65) 115 (67) 0.030 1
MICELT 2012
138
0.8618
Significant level= 0.05
Conclusion
This research intended to find out how theme types and patterns are used in Applied
Linguistic and Economics RA abstracts. It also aimed to figure out whether the possible
differences between two disciplines in tackling theme types and patterns could support the
earlier claim of North (2005) and Lovejoy (1991) that disciplinary background shapes the
academic writing, RA abstracts in this study.
The results showed more similarities than differences and suggest that writers with
different disciplinary background use similar linguistic resources in expressing theme types
and patterns in RA abstract writing in this study. The result revealed a small difference and
was not statistically significant. Therefore the reported result could not support North’s
(2005) and Lovejoy’s (1991) claims. The similarities showed through the results of this study
concerning theme types and patterns could support Halliday and Hasan’s postulation (1985)
that texts belonging to the same genre are represented through similar contextual
configurations. This is due to shared characteristics regarding field, mood, and tenor of
discourse.
However, the study is revealing in showing how writers balance their choice in theme
types and patterns. The choice of type and pattern is governed by functional notions and may
depend on a number of factors; among them are length, idea complexity and relative
emphasis.
References
Alonso, I. & McCabe, A. (2000). Improving text flow in ESL learner composition. Retrieved April
18, 2011, from: http:// iteslj.org/Articles/Alonso-improving flow.htm.
Fries, P. H. (1983). On the status of theme in English: Arguments from discourse. Forum
Linguisticum, 6 (1), 1-38.
Fries, P. H. & G. Francis (1992). Exploring Theme: problems for research, Occasional Papers in
Systemic Linguistics, 6, 45–60.
Gosden, H. (1992). Discourse functions of marked theme in scientific research articles. Journal of
English for Specific Purposes, 11, 207-224.
Halliday, M. A. k. (1994). An introduction to functional grammar (2nd
ed.). London: Britain Edward
Arnold.
Halliday, M. A. k. (2004). An introduction to functional grammar (3rd
ed.). London: Britain Edward
Arnold.
Halliday, M. A. K. , & Hasan, R. (1985). Language, context, and text: Aspect of language in a social
semiotic perspective. Australia: Deakin University Press.
Jalilifar, A.R. (2010). The status of theme in Applied Linguistics Articles. The Asian ESP Journal, 6
(2), 7-39.
Lores, R. (2004). On RA abstracts: From rhetorical structure to thematic organization. Journal of
English for Specific Purposes, 23, 280-302.
MICELT 2012
139
Lovejoy, K. B. (1991). Cohesion and information strategies in academic writing: Analysis of passages
in three disciplines. Journal of Linguistics and Education, 3, 315-343.
Martin, M. P. (2003). A genre analysis of English and Spanish research paper abstracts in
experimental social sciences. English for Specific Purpose, 22, 25-43.
McCabe, A. M. (1999). Theme and thematic patterns in Spanish and English history texts. Retrieved
April 19, 2011, from: http: // www. wagsoft.com/systemics/archive/McCabe.phd
North, S (2005). Disciplinary variation in the use of theme in undergraduate essays. Journal of
Applied Linguistics, 26 (3), 431-452.
Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research setting. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Whittaker, R. (1995). Theme processes and the realization of meaning in academic articles. In M.
Ghadessy,(ed.) Thematic development in English text (pp. 105 – 128). London : Pinter
MICELT 2012
140
Issues in implementing Portfolio as an Assessment Tool in Two Malaysian Secondary
Schools
Charanjit Kaur a/p Swaran Singh1, Arshad Abdul Samad
2
1Faculty of Educational Studies
University Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, SELANGOR.
2Faculty of Educational Studies
University Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, SELANGOR
The concern for students’ achievement in English has received a lot of attention. The problem
of mastering English does not involve students alone. The English language teachers are also
affected. Thus, teachers have resorted to alternative assessment as a means to modify their
teaching and make learning more meaningful in the classroom. Teachers of English as a
second language have begun to use portfolios a non-traditional form of assessment as a
means of gathering information on their students to examine achievement, effort,
improvement and the process of self-assessment. While many proposals have been made on
how portfolios can be implemented, there is a need to seek teachers’ views on issues involved
in its implementation. A major driving force in improving the teaching and learning of
English is the assessment system. While traditional exams are still popular, present day
scholars have turned their attention to alternative type assessment to provide more valid and
reliable information on student progress and achievement (Tunku Mohani Tunku Mohtar,
2010).
Portfolio assessment is beneficial in the sense that it leaves students chance to reflect upon
their development, growth, and progress over time (Wang, & Liao, 2008). It offers teachers
teachers an opportunity to think about their students’ problems comprehensively (Nolet,
1992). Resisting the shortcomings of standardised examinations, portfolio assessment reflects
the “strength, needs, and individuality” of each unique student (Steward, 1993, p.522). To
sum up, portfolio assessment entails the procedure used to plan, collect, and analyse the
various types of products kept in the portfolio (Tunku Mohani Tunku Mohtar, 2010).
Portfolio assessment stimulates students’ learning motivation and facilitates students’
learning process (Paulson, et al., 1991; Nolet, 1992; Cole, Struyk, Kinder, Sheehan, & Kish,
1997). As opposed to the conventional tests which have been not only summative in nature
but also norm-referenced, portfolio assessment offers a more accurate reflection of students’
learning (Dutt-Doner & Gilman, 1998; Steward, 1993). Portfolio assessment is valuable as it
enable students to think critically, and also become active, independent and self-regulated
learners (Bergman, 1994 & Tunku Mohani Tunku Mohtar). Being independent learners,
students can take responsibility for their own learning (Ballard, 1992). Students are actively
engaged in their work and they understand the purpose of doing it. In other words, students
are able to develop their ability to self-assess and thus understand their strengths and
weaknesses in learning. Portfolio assessment helps students build up their self-confidence and
facilitate their engagement in the learning process (Wolf, 1993).
Since the main objective of this study was to discuss issues involved in implementing
portfolio as an assessment tool by the ESL teachers, hence the use of qualitative method
MICELT 2012
141
offers greater opportunities for conducting exploratory and descriptive research that uses the
context and setting to search for a deeper understanding of the person being studied (Troudi,
1994, Maykut and Morehouse, 1994; Maxwell, 1996; Silverman, 2000; Radnor, 2001). As
stated by many researchers, the advantage of having semi-structured interview is that it will
help the researcher to stay alert to the focus of the study and at the same time be open minded
to encounter spontaneous and new ideas that will emerge during the interview sessions
(Kvale, 1996; Gillham, 2000; Radnor, 2001; Silverman, 2006).
Advantages of using portfolio as an assessment tool
i. Identification of student needs
The portfolio assessment provided learners with new tools for assessing their own needs in
assessment and learning. Students were able to do this via the self-assessment activities as
they were able to voiced their difficulties in learning and also inform their teachers what they
learnt best. As for the teachers, the portfolio assessment opened up new opportunities for
them to identify student learning needs.
ii. Student learning
The use of portfolio as an assessment tool revealed its potential and positive impact on
student learning. Teachers shared that students were looking forward to portfolio assessment
as they were required to do the worksheets as to accumulate marks. The teachers concurred
that majority of their students were able to express their difficulties in learning English and
agreed that portfolio assessment had motivated them, made them more responsible and had
made them more confident.
Issues involved in implementing portfolio as an assessment tool
i. set standards for portfolio
Based on the teachers’ interviews and classroom observation data with regards to the
implementation portfolio as an assessment tool, the problems associated are multiple.
A further concern was how to set standards for the portfolios. Four teachers (Teacher F, G, H,
& I) revealed that they assessed students based on the school-based assessment standards
which were the bands, teacher B used the PMR grading method where she gave marks for
band A (20-25), followed by band B (15-20), band C (10-14), band D (5-9) and band E (0-4).
The rest of the teachers (A, C, D & E) disclosed that they prepared an evaluation form based
on the contents of the portfolio as following (assessment/worksheets 14%, personal 2%,
academic 2% & appendix 2%) to evaluate the portfolio as a whole at the end of the year. All
the teachers set the criteria for assessment based on the syllabus and learning outcomes to
ensure validity. However, the teachers found it very difficult to evaluate the nature of this
learning. It was also difficult for the teachers to identify and describe specific indicators of
student progress. Teachers shared that students faced some difficulties with self-assessment
and self-reflection as they seldom were asked to evaluate themselves.
ii. time
The time factor was viewed as problem voiced by the teachers. Teachers were concerned
with the amount of time needed to carry out the assessment process including teaching and
distributing the worksheets, self-assessment, self-reflection and to provide feedback to their
students. Although it was agreed this would require a great investment of time, it was also
agreed that the teachers spent more time explaining to students in overcoming their problems
MICELT 2012
142
and weaknesses in learning, correcting their work especially where writing is concerned and
expose students to self-assessment.
iii. record keeping
The teachers divulged that record keeping was another problem they faced with portfolio
assessment. There were cases where some students did not compile their worksheets
accordingly due to external factors such as being absent and coming late to the classroom,
attending outdoor activities organised by the school and refused to do the worksheets.
Students have to be vigilant with their portfolios so that it would be easier for the teachers to
keep track of their marks and record progress they make in learning.
iv. lack of training & financial constraint
An additional problem encountered was the lack of knowledge or training necessary for
implementing portfolio as an assessment tool. Teachers expressed that in order for this form
of assessment to be effective, teachers must be trained in the various approach.
Teacher F expressed that financial factor was a problem as she had to photocopy a lot
activities for her students.
v. Students’ proficiency
Teacher E expressed her concern with regards to students’ proficiency for written and oral
form as a problem while carrying out the portfolio assessment with her students. She further
explained that her students were afraid in expressing their thoughts whether positive or
negative pertaining to the lesson taught as they felt their marks would be deducted.
Researcher What are some of the disadvantages or difficulties you faced in implementing portfolio assessment?
How do you grade students’ work?
Teacher A Time constraint as sometimes i have to postponed the assessment to the following week due some other
work./
The portfolio carries 20% for year end exam.
Teacher B Not all the students participate because they have no interest./I use the PMR grading method.
Teacher C Sometimes the school reshuffle classes and i always get new students. It takes time to explain again./I give
students 20% based on the portfolio contents.
Teacher D Students seldom write their reflections especially the boys./students know their portfolio project carries 20%.
Teacher E Students cannot expressed their thoughts orally and in written form./ their portfolio project is given 20%.
Teacher F Financial constraint in terms of providing students with the papers and also photocopying./ I grade students
based on bands (school based assessment)
Teacher G It’s the time that I think is a problem./I grade students based on bands (school based assessment)
Teacher H I think it is the time that is a problem as I ask students to submit their work at least 2-3 times./ I grade
students based on bands (school based assessment)
Teacher I A lot of marking to do as I have very little time and also training for exposure./ I grade students based on
bands (school based assessment)
Classroom Observation
The classroom observation data revealed that it was crucial for both teachers and students to
view their portfolios simultaneously as to ensure record keeping each time when the teachers
distributed worksheets and student self-reflection. Interaction between the teachers and
students were obvious as the teachers provided detailed explanation on topics the students
could not understand. Some students were very apprehensive, nervous and afraid to reach the
teachers to share about the problems they encountered in learning or even understanding a
topic in the class, for this purpose the teachers prepared a self-evaluation form for each
student to fill in to indicate what they have learnt, do they understand what they have learnt
and how have they learnt it, is it via the teachers’ explanation or peer’s explanation. The
teachers had to instruct two students to carry boxes containing student’s portfolios from the
staffroom. Teachers distributed the portfolios to the students so that they could compile
MICELT 2012
143
materials, worksheets and self-reflections. Students showed some interest in learning as they
were determined to complete the worksheets as instructed by teachers. It was discovered via
the observation that that learning was meaningful through portfolio assessment as students
were aware of their roles in assessment specifically when they were instructed to assess their
own learning (via self-assessment).
Conclusion
Portfolio assessment provided various instructional/learning opportunities to the teachers and
students such as scrutinizing students’ progress, documenting students’ learning, and
assisting students to become aware of their own learning process. This study highlights
important implications. Teachers have to understand the elements of a portfolio specifically
in areas such as documenting learning, encouraging student reflection and identifying criteria
to assess progress.
References
Ballard, L. (1992). Portfolios and self-assessment. English Journal, 81, 46-48.
Bergman, T. (1994). Feasible electronic portfolios: Global networking for the self-
directed learner in the digital age.
Cole, K. B., Struyk, L. R., Kinder, D., Sheehan, J. K. & Kish, C. K. (1997). Portfolio
assessment: Challenges in secondary education. The High School Journal,
April/May, 261-272.
Dutt-Doner, K. & Gilman, D. A. (1998). Students react to portfolio assessment.
Contemporary Education, 69(3), 159-188.
Kvale, S. (1996). Interviews: An Introduction to qualitative research interviewing.
Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Maykut, P. and Morehouse, R. (1994). Beginning Qualitative Research. London:
Routledge Falmer.
Nolet, V. (1992). Classroom-based measurement and portfolio assessment.
Diagnostique, 18, 1, 5-23.
Paulson, F. L., Paulson, P., & Meyer, C. (1991). What makes a portfolio a portfolio?
Educational Leadership, 48, 60-63. Radnor, H. (2001). Researching Your Professional Practice: Buckingham: Open
University Press.
Silverman, D. (2000). Doing Qualitative Research. London: Sage Publications.
Steward, R. A. (1993). Have you read? Portfolios: Agents of change. The Reading
Teacher, 46(4), 522.
Tunku Mohani Tunku Mohani, (2010). The use of alternative assessment to sustain
Teaching and learning. Penerbit Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris.
Troudi, S. (1994). The Nature of Speaking Opportunities in An English As a Second
Language Speaking Class. University of Florida: Unpublished PhD Thesis.
Wang, Y. H. & Liao, H. C. (2008). The Application of Learning Portfolio Assessment for
Students in the Technological and Vocational Education System. The Asian EFL
Journal, June/2008, Volume 10, Number 2.
Wolf, D. P. “Assessment as an Episode of Learning.” Paper presented at the Conference
of Constructive Response, Princeton, N. J., November 1990.
MICELT 2012
144
THE INTERFACES BETWEEN MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY IN ESL
CLASSROOM
Saabdev Kumar Sabapathy and Agelyia Murugan
Bostonweb College of Technology and Management and Universiti Teknologi Mara
The term ‘technology’ is not new to language teaching. In fact it is like a buzz word that has
been constantly heard around people and spoken about. To be more precise, technology has
been around in language teaching for eras. This can be seen through the use of the most
common form of teaching, the blackboard which is also classified as one form of technology.
Even videos, tape recorders, language laboratories has been around in the 1960s and 1970s.
Until today, it is still used around the world.
Nowadays, the use of technology is becoming more and more significant in both our
personal and professional lives. Many innovative technological equipments are being
introduced day by day and this demonstrates that technology is equally important as
education does. This correlates with the fact that learners are constantly using technology
progressively. In actual fact, the first thing a student does before he or she starts studying is to
open the Facebook page. Mark Zuckerberg has done a good job in creating this wonderful
website which has indeed attracted millions of users everyday. Actually, it is a good source of
learning whereby it can develop students technological skills as well their language skills.
Although it is more of a social networking website, teachers can utilize ways in which it can
be incorporated into the education field. This can be further introduced to the students on the
different types of media available in language teaching.
Basically, educational technology refers to the different ways of learning through the
incorporation of media in education. It looks at how students can be brought up to a different
level of understanding as well introducing them to the various types of technology in
education. This provides the students with a fresh learning approach and at the same time
getting them to have some hands-on experience.
The relevance of using / incorporating media in technology in the ESL classroom.
Since the use of technology in the ESL classroom is becoming increasingly important,
the relevance of using or incorporating media does have its importance too. This statement is
clearly supported through Wang’s (2005) observation where he stated that there are many
advantages of using media in technology in the ESL classroom. One of the claims is a shift
from the behavioral approach to a constructivist learning style. For young learners,
technology is an essential thing whereby they can transport the outside world into the
classroom. This will enable them to be equipped with the current affairs, stories and so on.
Besides, the exposure and practice of the four core language skills - reading, speaking,
listening and writing will be developed.
Moreover, the easy access to the internet has also given opportunity for the inclusion
of media and technology in the ESL classroom. The internet generally contains thousands of
sources for learners to learn from. Ranging from authentic materials, ebooks, podcasts,
downloadable tasks, songs, movies and many more, the internet has provided more
opportunities for teachers and learners to fully utilize it. This offers more collaboration and
communication between learners from different countries.
MICELT 2012
145
In addition, these days, most coursebooks, workbooks, resource books and learning
materials comes with either a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM. This is an interesting feature
whereby the integration of education into technology is becoming more wider. The use of an
array of ICT tools together with these coursewares will offer more prospects for learning to
take place. In other terms, students get a chance to self access their learning performance,
keep track of their work and so on.
Types of media.
There are many different types of media that can be use in language teaching. This
ranges from using online newspapers, blogs, wikis, podcasts, YouTube videos, Skype,
movies, softwares such as Power Director, Window Movie Maker, Adobe applications and
even online applications that are available via smart phones or tablet. LeLoup and Ponterio
(2000) stated that the use of a variety of media does improve one’s own technological skills.
In other terms, the more the teachers utilize it, the better he or she will become. This will give
more space and time for teachers and learners to explore and use technology in the classroom.
By integrating media and technology in the language classroom, it will
simultaneously provide the motivation for the students to exert their best efforts in learning
English. The increased motivation deepens retention of content which can minimise the need
to re-teach the content or the language skills. King (2002) believes that the use of authentic
materials like movies will intrinsically motivates language learners to stay focus as it brings
the learners to a new experience, different from the ordinary classroom setting. When the
students work in groups, it will accelerate the delivery of information and increase the
quantity of information available. According to Frei, Gammill & Irons (2009), they stated
that “They (the students) do not immediately believe on what they read. They skim,
discriminate, question, analyse and synthesise information”. This statement is one of the
evidence on how students actively participate in the learning process. Furthermore, in the
English Language Classroom, students would be able to grasp the grammar skills through
media because learning grammar is always not fun and interesting by referring to the
academic books only. Apart from that, it can also build one’s vocabulary as well as the way
they speak their English language because media has the capability to strongly influence
people’s mind.
Enhancement of critical thinking skills through media and technology in the English
Language classroom.
As an educator, we must prepare the students to be able to make judgements on
certain issues more experientially than conceptually. Here, critical thinking encourages the
students to act as a practitioner rather than as an observer. Dressel and Mayhew (as cited in
Young, 1980) proposed that critical thinking can serve as ‘a principle for integrating the
curriculum as a point of view towards problems and their solutions and a way of thinking
about basic problems faced by the mankind’. In the English Language Classroom, media and
technology has the potential to enhance the skills for the students to view problems and find
ways for the solutions. As cited in Young (1980), it is stated that through critical thinking,
students would be able to have:
1. The ability to define a problem
2. The ability to select pertinent information for the solution of the problem
3. The ability to recognise stated and unstated assumptions
4. The ability to formulate and select relevant and promising hypotheses
5. The ability to draw conclusions validly and to judge the validity of the inferences
MICELT 2012
146
All in all, this critical thinking skills is very important for the students because nowadays in
Malaysia, the graduates employability is purely based on how they can use the language and
able to think creative and critically apart from their academic achievements.
New online applications for learning English via Smartphone and Tablet.
Although these devices are expensive, but it takes mobile learning to a new level
where it improves the teaching and learning process as well the convenience to use it either
in or outside the classroom hours. These devices can be best used in the classroom because
the teacher would not experience the hassle into dragging and booking the students to the
computer labs during the language class. Some of the examples of android applications that
can be used in the language classrooms via Smartphone and tablet are Dictionary. Com,
British Council, Jonny Grammar, Capital Quiz, Wattpad, Readers Hub, Test your English,
250 Grammar quizzes, Crosswords and many more. The various features in those
applications above can be used for the purpose of education, communication, information and
also entertainment.
References
Agelyia, M. & Wan Noorli, R (2011). Potential Use of Movies as Teaching Tool in English
Language Classroom to Encourage Active Participation and Critical Thinking.
Malaysia: RMI UITM Pulau Pinang.
Frei, S., Gammill, A & Irons, S. (2009). Integrating Technology into the Curriculum.
USA:Shell Education.
King, J (February 2002). ‘Using DVD Feature Films in the EFL Classroom’. The Weekly
Column Article 88. Retrieved on January 4th
2010 from http://www.eltnewsletter.com LeLoup, J. W. & Ponterio, R. (2000). Enhancing authentic language learning experiences
through Internet technology. ERIC Digest. ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and
Linguistics Washington DC. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 442 277).
Wang, L. (2005). The advantages of using technology in second language education. T.H.E.
Journal, 32 (10), 1-6.
Young, R. E. (1980). ‘New Directions for Teaching and Learning – Fostering Critical
Thinking’. Jossey – Bass Inc. Publishers: America.
MICELT 2012
147
Analysing the Reported Speech in Papua New Guinea’s Newspapers: Implications for
Teaching English for Journalism
Johnson Agwu Kalu
University of Papua New Guinea
The news report is a genre, a text type with peculiarities in function language and structure.
Its production, therefore, demands what Bhatia (2004:145) calls ‘generic competence’ - “the
ability to identify, construct, interpret, and successfully exploit a specific repertoire of
professional, disciplinary or workplace genres to participate in the daily activities and to
achieve the goals of a specific academic/professional community” (p.145). Managers of
newspaper houses are well aware of the importance of generic competence in newspaper
business. They thus engage specialists; each with a well-defined role, working as a team to
produce a perfect copy. In the chain of command of the newsroom, for example, the down
table subeditors ensure that every copy conforms to the newspaper’s house style in language,
content and structure.
In her book, Reporting in Australia, White (1996) notes the importance of observing the rules
of grammar and syntax in effective news reporting. Similarly, Lorenz and Vivian (1996:8)
stress the need for journalists to master the accepted rules of the English language and be able
to apply them appropriately in news writing. They note that news writing follows the
generally accepted rules of good English, avoiding euphemisms, jargons and convoluted
sentence constructions. In terms of structural and content configuration, a news story presents
facts which answer the who, what, when, where, why and how of the news event.
Kalu and Alimi (2003) suggest that studies that investigate errors in second language writing
should also explore strategies for using such errors as resource in teaching and learning. This
paper investigates errors of reported speech in newspapers in Papua New Guinea and
discusses the implications for teaching English to students of journalism.
Competence in the use of the reported speech is a crucial enabling proficiency for effective
news reporting. However, research suggests a general deviation from the norms of the use of
English among newspaper reporters in English second language contexts (Jubril, 1985;
Verma, 1996; Kalu, 2003). Jubril (1985) cites errors of grammar, spelling and pronunciation
as evidence of the imperfection of the linguistic performance of some Nigeria’s media
personnel, while Verma (1996:3) notes that “linguistic and sociocultural factors cause
deviation from standard English usage in Nepalese newspapers”. He adds that the deviations
manifest in three areas: use of non-English lexical items, transfer of Nepali grammatical
structures into English, and influence of Nepali stylistic conventions. Kalu’s (2003) study on
grammar in news reporting in two local newspapers in Swaziland pointed to poor training of
journalists in the fundamentals of grammar. A similar observation is being made on Papua
New Guinea where the poor writing skills of news reporters is a reflection of a general
underpreparedness of students in the use of English in secondary and tertiary
education(Winuan,2008;Vetunawa,2009;Gerry,2010;Kalu, 2011,2012).
MICELT 2012
148
Rules of Use of the Reported Speech
Reporting what people say can be done in two ways: the use of direct speech and the use of
reported speech. Direct speech is reporting the exact words of the speaker by placing them in
quotation marks. On the other hand, reported speech is reporting what people say such that it
reflects the time of the statement.
Two rules apply in reporting (Ogbulogo, 1990). The first has to do with what happens in the
reported clause when changing a direct speech into reported speech. Following this rule,
when the reporting verb (the verb that says or expresses the speaker’s statements) is in the
present tense, the reported verb (the verb that shows the actual action in the sentence) can be
in any tense without undergoing any change, as in the following examples:
Direct Speech Reported Speech
1. Binta says “I don’t like mangoes”
2. Rahman says “ I will not dance”.
3. Juliet says “I did not sleep well”.
4. Harry says “I did everything right”,
Binta says that she doesn’t like mangoes.
Rahman says that he will not dance.
Juliet says that she did not sleep well.
Harry says that he did everything right.
On the other hand (and this is the second rule), when the reporting verb is in the past tense,
there is usually a shift in the sequence of tense in the reported clause, as in the following
examples:
Direct Speech Reported Speech
Simple Present
He said: “I want to see the students”.
Present Continuous
She said: “I am visiting the zoo”.
Simple Past
They said: “We caught the thief”.
Past Continuous
Bob said: “I was waiting for ages”.
Present Perfect
Mina said:” I have been to France”.
Present Perfect Continuous
He said: “I have been dancing for six
hours”.
Simple Past
He said (that) he wanted to see the students
Past Continuous.
She said that she was visiting the zoo.
Past Perfect
They said that (that) they had caught the
fish.
Past Perfect Continuous
Bob said (that) he had been waiting for
ages.
Past Perfect
Mina said (that) she had been to France.
Past Perfect Continuous
He said (that) he had been dancing for six
hours.
The study. A total of 1,049 local news stories generated from ten issues of each of
newspapers under study (The National, Post-Courier, Weekly Chronicle and Pacific Business
MICELT 2012
149
Review) were analysed for errors in reported speech. The table below encapsulates the data
and results of the study.
Name of Paper Total No. of
Stories
Total No. of
Errors
Percentage of
Errors
Average No.
of Errors
per Story
The National 339 28 8% 0.08
Post-Courier 252 274 108% 1.08
Pacific Business Review 186 496 267% 2.7
Weekly Chronicle 272 792 291% 2.9
Total 1,049 1,590 152% 1.69
The table shows a ranking of the total number of errors, their percentage distribution and
average spread per story. Only The National (with its low average error level of 0.08) could
be said to have conformed largely to the rules of use of the reported speech. The three other
newspapers deviated significantly, with the Post-Courier showing an average of at least one
error per story while the Pacific Business Review and Weekly Chronicle posted an average of
more than two errors per story respectively.
Declining standard of English at all levels of education in Papua New Guinea probably
accounts for the poor performance of newspaper reporters in the use of English in general and
the reported speech in particular. Studies on teacher performance in schools in Papua New
Guinea (Osborne, 1995 and McLaughlin, 1995) revealed that the English proficiency of most
community school teachers was so low they could not teach effectively. The situation does
not seem any better at university level. Vetunawa (2009) reports that some lecturers at the
University of Goroka have the same academic communication skills problems (incorrect
pronunciation, poor grammar, wrong lexical choice and deviant syntactic constructions) as
the students they teach. Bele (2012) bemoans the incoherence, redundancies and poor
grammar in her first year undergraduates’ essays. Kalu (2012) attributes the poor writing of
university students in Papua New Guinea to a lack of connection between reading and writing
in teaching and learning and recommends a genre-based approach to writing instruction. The
real reason for the poor performance in reported speech is that the reporters (most of whom
are university graduates) were not adequately prepared for the target workplace, in terms of
language needs, while in the university.
What then are the implications of this study for the teaching of English to students of
Journalism at the University of Papua New Guinea? First, there is an urgent need for an
undergraduate-level course, English for Journalism, which addresses real-life language needs
of journalism students, taking into account their present and target proficiencies and the
middle ground lacks and enablers. A needs survey has already been completed with data
generated from analysis of newspaper and journalism students’ writings, in addition to
MICELT 2012
150
eliciting perceptions of senior media personnel (print and electronic) on the writing
challenges of graduate journalists. Second, there is an on-going development of a book with
the same title as the course (English for Journalism), and written in response to the results of
the needs survey. In the design of the new course and the development of the book, errors
from newspapers and students’ writing are used prominently for teaching and learning
purposes. Furthermore, university-wide service English courses are being reviewed to
emphasise the reading-writing interface and to incorporate critical strategies (analysis,
evaluation, synthesis, comparison and contrast, etc.) in the reading and production of texts.
The courses which now have generic and discipline-based components are expected to
provide better bridge and sieve as students transit from the world of secondary school
learning to the university. Finally a problem-based approach to teaching is being
implemented by the author, with the aim of introducing it in other academic communication
skills courses.
This paper set out to analyse the errors of reported speech in four newspapers in Papua New
Guinea. Results show a significant level of errors in three of the newspapers, and this is
attributed to the general decline in the standard of English in schools and universities in the
country. The paper reports concrete steps being taken at the University of Papua New Guinea
context of this study to improve the English language performance of journalism
undergraduates. These include profiling the real-world language needs of students, designing
a new English course for journalism students, development of a book on English for
Journalism, review of existing service English courses to make them more needs-sensitive
and a gradual implementation of a problem-based approach to teaching.
References
Bele, M. (2012). Communication Skills Literacy: Competency Level of University of Goroka
Students. Presented at the RASPNG Literacy Conference. Port Moresby, 5-6 September.
Bhatia, V. (2004). Worlds of Written Discourse: A Genre-Based View. Continuum: New
York.
Gerry, L. K. (2010). Language Dilemma in Contemporary PNG Classrooms: A Case for
Schools in the Eastern Highlands and Simbu Provinces. Language and Linguistics in
Oceania 1, 57-67.
Jubril, A. (1985). Use of English in Nigeria Media. Lagos: Lagos Notes and Records.
Kalu, J.A. & Alimi,M.M. (2003). Problems of Organization and Vocabulary in the Essays of
First Year Diploma Students of the University of Botswana. Botswana Journal of
Applied Linguistics 1, 59-71.
Kalu, J.A. (2003). Grammar in News Reporting in Two Swazi Newspapers: Implications for
Teaching Academic Communication Skills. UNISWA Research Journal 17, 30-37.
MICELT 2012
151
Kalu, J.A. (2008). Using the Research Article as Resource for Teaching Project Report
Writing to Final Year Undergraduates of PNG University of Technology. Journal of
Language and Communication Studies 1 (2), 22-43
Kalu, J.A. (2011). From Secondary School to the University: A Study of Transitional
Writing Challenges of First Year Undergraduates of the University of Papua New
Guinea. Paper presented at the National School of Excellence Seminar. Hide-Away
Hotel, Port Moresby. 28 October
Kalu, J.A. (2012). On the State of Written English in Higher Education in Papua New
Guinea: Some Evidence from Research. Presented at the Reading Association of Papua
New Guinea (RASPNG) Literacy Conference. Port Moresby, 5-6 September.
Lorenz, L. and Vivian, J. (1996). News Reporting and Writing. Allyn and Bacon: Needham.
McLaughlin, D. (1995).Teaching for Understanding: The Melanesian Perspective. Papua
New Guinea Journal of Teacher Education 2 (1), 7-15.
Ogbulogo, C. (1990). Problem Areas in English Grammar and Usage. Logomedia: Lagos
Osborne, D. (1995). A Comparison between the French Immersion in Canada and English
Language Instruction in PNG.Tesla: A Journal for Teachers of English as a Second
Language in Papua New Guinea 1 (1), 55.
Verma, P. Y. (1996). Some Features of Nepali Newspaper English. In Baumgardner, R.J.
(Ed) South Asian English. University of Illinois Press: Illinois.
Vetunawa, H. (2009). The Decline of the Standard of English in Schools and Universities in
Papua New Guinea. Language and Linguistics in Oceania 1, 63-71.
White, S.A. (1996). Reporting in Australia. Macmillan Publishers Australia: South Yarra.
Winuan, M. (2008). Factors Influencing Students’ Use of English in Oral Communication.
Journal of Language and Communication Studies I (2), 83-99.
MICELT 2012
152
A Generalized English For Academic Purposes (Eap) Needs Profile Of Undergraduate
Students
Soo Ruey Shing
University of Selangor, Malaysia (UNISEL)
English language, being the official language in Malaysia, is the major medium of instruction
at tertiary level. The mastery of the language will assure students to perform satisfactorily in
achieving both communicative and academic competencies. Thus, the students need to
possess the relevant language knowledge and study skills in order to gain the linguistic
competence in meeting the requirements of academic study. Realising this critical point,
many colleges and universities offer a diverse range of academic-based English language
courses namely remedial English, proficiency English, English for Specific Academic
Purposes (ESAP) and English for General Academic Purposes (EGAP) to assist their students
to master the academic language. However, questions such as to what extent the courses are
helpful in assisting the students to learn in a tertiary setting, whether the course content
recapitulates what the students have already learned previously in schools and whether the
courses really provide what the students need or want still remain unanswered. This is
prompted from the criticisms that there is no single course that can cater to all the students’
needs and the language support that is provided to the students tend to be on an ad hoc basis
(Jordan, 2002). In addition, there is a lack of awareness of the existence of needs analysis as a
tool in English course design and many have overlooked course planning as an area in
syllabus design (Cowling, 2007).
Needs Analysis and EAP
‘Needs analysis’ or ‘needs assessment’ is always considered a crucial component and is
fundamental to an EAP approach to course design (Tajino, James & Kyoichi, 2005; Jordan,
1997). A comprehensive needs analysis is a necessary precursor to course development
where it provides a strong foundation to the stake-holders pertaining to the concrete idea of
offering a particular language course and at the same time it also serves as a means of
evaluating the course to ensure that it continues to be relevant to students’ needs. Hamp-
Lyons (2001, cited in Tajino et al., 2005) articulates that “EAP begins with learner and the
situation, whereas General English begins with the language” (p.27). It is understood that the
nature of EAP courses is different from other types of English language courses as the
institutions or course developers should consider the users’ voices when deciding on the
course content.
The concept of EAP is interpreted and implemented differently according to the situation of a
country’s educational policy. In Malaysia, it is a situation where certain subjects are taught in
English and the rest being in the national language (Dudley-Evans and St. John, 1998; Faiz,
2005). However, the question whether having either ESAP or EGAP courses by considering
the status of the language in the country is not a fixed idea as the nature of the EAP courses is
still largely dependent on the real needs of the students in the respective institutions (Soo &
Tam, 2011) and the answer to this question can only be obtained via a needs analysis. This
MICELT 2012
153
study investigates the academic English language needs of undergraduate students from a
state university in Malaysia. It reports the students’ ability in the four English language skills,
academic English language needs and classroom leaning needs.
Methodology
The theoretical aspect of this study is based on the Target Situation Analysis (TSA), Present
Situation Analysis (PSA) and Learning Situation Analysis (LSA) approaches to needs
analysis (Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998). The subjects of this study were 93 second
semester undergraduates from three faculties, 10 ESL lecturers and 8 subject lecturers.
Questionnaires were used to collect data. Three sets of parallel questionnaires were used to
collect the required data from students, ESL lecturers and subject lecturers. These survey
questionnaires contained close-ended questions, open-ended question and semi close-ended
questions. In developing the questionnaires, several related studies were referred to, including
Hutchinson and Waters (1987), Dudley-Evans and St. John (1998), Deutch (2003), Banerjee
and Wall (2006), Evans and Green (2007) and Cowling (2007).
Results and Discussion
Ability in the Four English Language Skills (Present Situation Attributes)
Generally, the findings show that the students were much more proficient in their receptive
skills (reading and listening) than productive skills (speaking and writing).
Listening skills. Having to understand the lecturers when they speak fast in English
was identified as the only major difficulty encountered by the students (53.8%). This is
followed by difficulty in taking lecture notes (34.4%) and getting the important points of
lectures (33.3%). The ESL lecturers perceived that their students experienced the most
difficulty in following a classroom discussion which is conducted in the English medium and
in understanding lecturers who speak fast in English. On the contrary, all the subject lecturers
felt that their students did not face serious problems in most of the listening sub-skills.
Speaking skills. As perceived by the students and all the lecturers, the students face
either a lot or some difficulties in almost all the speaking sub-skills. At the top of the list is
the difficulty in using correct pronunciation and follow by speaking with friends inside and
outside of the classroom, using suitable words and sentences, speaking grammatically correct
English, speaking confidently and fluently, getting ideas to speak and giving presentation in
class. Additionally, the ESL lecturers also pointed out other problems such as failing to
pronounce or differentiating sounds like [th], [e] and [ae], always code-mix with native
language while speaking and unable to organize ideas or points clearly during presentation.
Reading skills. Although a greater number of students expressed some degree of ease
in most of the reading sub-skills, results show that they do face some difficulties in certain
sub-skills such as to understand difficult words in reading texts, understand the content of
textbooks and journals, reading quickly to get the general meaning of reading texts,
identifying main points and supporting details. The problem of understanding difficult words,
MICELT 2012
154
which was claimed difficult by most of the students (44.1%), could be the main factor that
causes them to face difficulties in other sub-skills. This finding is largely corroborated by
those reported in Evans and Green (2007). Thus, it could be inferred that lexical competence
has an impact on reading ability.
Writing skills. Among the major difficulties encountered by the students include
writing grammatically correct sentences, linking sentences in a paragraph, citation, using a
variety of sentence patterns and words, using correct punctuation, writing bibliography,
getting ideas to write and using suitable words. The findings suggest that the students
experience greater difficulty with the language rather than the content or structure of
academic texts. Other problems include having difficulty in planning for writing; using direct
translation from mother tongue and using the same function words in writing were also
pointed out by the ESL lecturers. The students were also reported extremely weak in using
tenses, subject-verb agreement and preposition. However, all the subject lecturers
contradictorily perceived that the students did not face problems in writing except for citation
as they only require their students to focus more on the subject matter.
English Language Needs (Target Situation Needs)
Listening needs. The majority of the respondents perceived that the need to
understand lectures, understand discussions and to understanding social conversation as the
most important listening skills.
Speaking needs. The findings reveal the matching opinion between the respondents
with regard to the students’ need in speaking. They emphasised on the importance of having
ability in participating in discussion, communicating with lecturers inside and outside of the
classroom, presenting written assignments, making suggestions, communicating with other
students inside and outside of the classroom and communicating with people in different
social situation. For the ESL and subject lecturers, the needs for skills to communicate well
with other students inside and outside of the classroom and with people in different social
situations were regarded the urgent need of the students.
Reading needs. The students perceived academic reading needs include reading
lecture handouts, reading and making own notes, reading newspaper articles and reading
technical materials such as journal. However, a contradicting opinion was recorded among
the students with regard to the importance of reading articles on the internet. Additionally, the
subject lecturers placed the greatest emphasis on the students’ need in reading and
understanding technical material.
Writing needs. Topping the list of the perceived important writing needs is taking
lecture notes. This is followed by report-writing and project-writing. According to the results,
summary-writing and writing daily journals were deemed as the least important writing skill
by the respondents.
Students Learning Needs (Learning Situation Attributes)
MICELT 2012
155
Instructional materials production and adaptation. The students strongly indicated
that the materials used in EAP courses should be (i) modified to suit the students’ level of
proficiency, (ii) related to the current issues, (iii) related to students’ programmes, and (iv)
related to students’ daily experience in the present and in the future. Similarly, all the ESL
lecturers also strongly agreed that the instructional materials used for EAP courses should be
designed based on these criteria.
Teaching aids. The result shows that the students were highly in favoured of four
types of teaching aids: computer with relevant courseware, TV, CD, PowerPoint Slides,
newspaper and magazine. Besides that, some students suggested the use of journal articles in
language class. However, most of the ESL lecturers disagreed to the use of PowerPoint. They
commented that it is more suitable for subject instructors to explain subject contents.
Assessment. A high percentage of the students strongly agreed to include these assessments
in EAP classes: test or short quizzes, final examination, paired-project work, group
presentation, oral test and listening test. Individual presentation and individual project work
were their least favourite ones.
Modes of conducting activities. The result indicates that most of the students preferred to
carry out academic tasks in small groups (3-4 persons) (90.4%) and in pairs (89.3%). On the
other hand, more than two-third of them did not like the idea of doing tasks as a whole-class
basis (57%) and in a large group which consists of more than 4 persons (39.8%). Similarly,
the ESL lecturers also preferred their students to do tasks individually, in pairs or in small
groups (3-4 persons). All of them also rejected the idea of asking students to do activities on a
whole-class basis and in a large group.
Types of activities. The data shows that the students’ preferred classroom activities include
reading comprehension (96.8%), lectures (94.6%), grammar exercise (94.6%), audio-visual
activities (90.3%), written assignments (90.3%), language games (90.3%) and public
speaking (89.2%). Debate, singing and homework, on other hand, are the least favourite
activities of the students. The data also witnessed a disagreement between the students and
ESL lecturers pertaining to language games in the language class. The ESL lecturers’ reasons
on this matter were: time-consuming, not suitable for adult learners and not suitable for a
large class and not suitable for classes that comprise of mixed-ability students.
Conclusion
With the outcomes obtained in needs analysis, the students’ real needs can be attained when
reviewing or planning for the EAP courses. The finding of this study suggests that ESAP
courses are more suitable in fulfilling the students’ current learning needs as compared to the
present EGAP courses. This is confirmed as the majority of the respondents expect the
students to learn the language in a content-based environment where the instructional
materials used in the language class should be relevant to the students’ course of learning.
Additionally, the students’ weaknesses in performing various language tasks have also been
identified. Although most of the sub-skills are covered in the present English courses, the
responses reveal that they are still not proficient enough in using the language in their studies.
MICELT 2012
156
In this regard, the current syllabus should be enhanced or improved so that the students can
be exposed to sufficient language input and the mismatch between the courses and the
students’ actual learning needs could be reduced.
References
Banerjee, J., & Wall, D. (2006). Assessing and reporting performances on pre-sessional EAP
courses: Developing a final assessment checklist and investigating its validity. Journal
of English for Academic Purposes, 5, 50-69.
Cowling, J. D. (2007). Needs analysis: Planning a syllabus for a series of intensive
workplace courses at a leading Japanese company. English for Specific Purposes, 26,
426-442.
Deutch, Y. (2003). Needs analysis for academic legal English courses in Israel: a model of
setting priorities. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 2, 125-146.
Dudley Evans, T., & St John, M. J. (1998). Developments in English for specific purposes: A
multi-disciplinary approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Evans, S., & Green, C. (2007). Why EAP is necessary: A survey of Hong Kong tertiary
students. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 6, 3-17.
Faiz S, Abdullah. (2005). Analyzing EAP needs for the university. In S. H. Chan & M. E.
Vethamani (Eds.), ELT concerns in assessment (pp. 202-233). Petaling Jaya: Sasbadi
Sdn. Bhd.
Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (1987). English for specific purpose: A learning-centered
approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jordan, R. R. (1997). English for academic purposes: A guide and resource book for
teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jordan, R. R. (2002). The growth of EAP in Britain. Journal of English for Academic
Purposes, 1, 69-78.
Soo, R. S., & Tam, S. S. (2011). EAP needs analysis in higher education: Significance and
future direction. English for Specific Purposes World, 11(33), 1-11.
Tajino, A., James, R., & Kyoichi, K. (2005). Beyond needs analysis: soft systems
methodology for meaningful collaboration in EAP course design. Journal of English
for Academic Purposes, 4, 27-42.
MICELT 2012
157
Speak Right: Practical Teaching Of Suprasegmental
Features Of Pronunciation For Accent Reduction In Esl
Nate Conrad
ELS Language Centres Malaysia
The Importance of Suprasegmental Features of Pronunciation in ESL/EFL Teaching
Central to the study of English phonology are phonemes, also known as segments, the
individual sounds in English. Languages differ not only in their array of phonemes, but the
patterns of putting those phonemes together using suprasegmental features: patterns of speech
that apply to groups of segments. The features in one language can and do vary greatly from
those in another language. (Mehler, Bertoncini, Dupoux, & Pallier, 1995). Research
(Derwing, Munro, & Wiebe, 1998)has demonstrated that speakers who receive instruction
emphasizing suprasegmental features could in all likelihood transfer their learning to
spontaneous production more effectively than those who receive instruction with only
segmental features (consonants and vowels). Despite this, many ESL/EFL programs continue
to neglect the instruction of suprasegmentals in favour of instruction of simple segmentals.
This omission in curricula doesn’t seem due to lack of pedagogical knowledge, but more to
the difficulty found in teaching intonation and other suprasegmental features. Fully
integrating stress and rhythm into teaching has proven troublesome (Celce-Murcia, 1987) and
the complexity of intonation makes it very difficult to teach (Roach, Emotions, attitudes and
the English speaker, 1996). Joshua Cohen (Cohen, 2007)says “Because of its significance in
English, teaching suprasegmental aspects to students is quintessential to their comprehension
and their comprehensibility.” The understanding and use of these pronunciation features leads
to smoother transmission and reception of language – essentially, accent reduction. In adding
suprasegmental instruction to a curriculum, one should keep in mind the features that are of
particular importance in English: stress, intonation, and how sounds change in connected
speech (Kelly, 2000). What follows are practical and tested classroom activities for teaching
these features.
Practical suprasegmental instruction: stress. Syllabic word stress in English mostly
follows grammatical patterns and is best taught at the time of introduction of new lexical
items. Stressed syllables don’t exist in isolation; in order for one syllable to be perceived as
stressed, the syllables around it need to be unstressed. There are several common ways to
indicate stress when presenting new words to students:
Circles can be used to show the stressed syllable: strawberry
Or boxes: banana
Some teachers use a mark before the stressed syllable (common in dictionaries): to
‘ma to
MICELT 2012
158
Others underline the stressed syllable: asparagus
Or capitalise it: avoCAdo
Sentence stress is primarily based on two factors: contrastive (the ever-shifting tonic
syllables) and the use of weak forms: the condensed, ‘squashed’ versions of certain words
(i.e. can, from, are, him, etc.). Contrastive stress is the effect shifting tonic (stressed) syllables
have on meaning and is closely related to accentual intonation, another suprasegmental
feature. For instance, consider the differences in meaning of these sentences with stress on
the capitalised words:
“I’d like a cup of Jasmine tea” (simple request)
“I’d like a CUP of Jasmine tea” (a cup, not a mug)
“I’d like a cup of JASMINE tea” (Jasmine, not Earl Grey tea).
This illustrative method of contrastive stress is further expanded in “Misunderstanding
dialogues,” an activity from Gerald Kelly’s How to Teach Pronunciation (Kelly, 2000):
In this activity, a dialogue is used which involves a series of misunderstandings. This
exercise is best done with no student preparation and helps to emphasize the idea of
contrastive stress. Students A and B should receive different cue cards:
Student A
I’d like a big, red cotton shirt.
No, I said a big, red cotton SHIRT.
No, I said a big, red COTTON shirt.
No, I said a big, RED cotton shirt.
Student B
Here you are. A big, red cotton
skirt.
Here you are. A big, red nylon
shirt.
Here you are. A big, blue cotton
shirt.
Sorry, I haven’t got one.
MICELT 2012
159
The instruction of weak forms in English is best accomplished through listening
exercises, presenting the target form and controlled speaking practice leading to freer
practice. For instance, both the full and weak forms of the modal verb ‘can’ are utilized
when students are taught and then practice these three sentences:
“Can you swim?”
“Yes, I can.”
“He can swim, too.”
For free practice of the full and weak forms of the word ‘can’, Liang Wenxia details an
excellent communicative activity in her China-centric “Teaching Weak Forms” (Liang,
2003):
In pairs, students interview each other about the special skills each of them has.
Some interview questions should contain can, for example: “Can you play _____
(a game or sport)?” “What else can you do?” “I remember you can _____, can't
you?” The answers “Yes, I can” and “No, I can't” will be used. In step 2, the
statement “I can ______” will be used spontaneously. In this activity, both the
strong form and weak form should be used frequently and the instructor will have
plenty of opportunities for assessment and error correction.
Of course, the stress features in English do not exist in isolation; another wonderful
activity, “Find a Partner” from Gerald Kelly’s How to Teach Pronunciation (Kelly,
2000), combines word and sentence stress (weak forms and perhaps even, contrastive
stress). It is an activity that has proven equally effective in both the cold warm-up and hot
application stages:
Give half the students a card with a word and the other half a card with a sentence.
Each word card has a sentence card match: the word and the sentence have the
same stress pattern. Students can use oral clues to find their correct partner.
Sample cards might be:
Politician / It’s important.
Policeman / He’s English.
Electrician / Can I help you?
Photographer / You idiot!
Interior Designer / I want to go to London.
MICELT 2012
160
Practical suprasegmental instruction: intonation. In a comprehensive sense,
intonation in English can be categorized (Roach, English Phonetics and Phonology : A
practical course, 1991)into six functional areas: grammatical (familiar patterns which
generally follow grammar generalizations), attitudinal (emotional or situational input),
discourse (transactional cues in natural speaking), accentual (closely related to tonic
stress in that words that carry great meaning are emphasized in speech), indexical (the
intonations particular to a social identity, i.e. doctor, surfer, gangster), and psychological
(artificial boundaries separating packages of information). Classroom activities for the
first three functions are detailed below.
Some functions of grammatical intonation may seem very familiar: falling pitch on who,
what, where, etc., questions and rising pitch on yes / no questions. Other examples
include falling pitch on statements and imperatives, and a rising and then falling pitch for
lists of items. With questions tags, the pitch may rise or fall, depending on the expected
answer. In this activity, students use question tags and alternate their pitch between rising
(expecting conformation) and falling (less certainty in the answer):
Your name is __________, isn’t it?
You are from __________, aren’t you?
You have been studying English for __________, haven’t you?
You think English is __________, don’t you?
Outside of school, you __________, don’t you?
Later tonight, you are going to __________, aren’t you?
Attitudinal intonation is the emotional input not inherent in words; it is somewhat
universal to the human condition, and can be quite familiar to students, even to complete
beginners. Pitch is not the only aspect at play here: tempo, precision and body language
also play important roles. In this activity, students can practice using appropriate
intonation when greeting:
A friend you see all the time
A friend you haven’t seen in a long time
A baby
Someone you don’t like
A student misbehaving
Someone on a phone
MICELT 2012
161
Discourse intonation concerns itself with the changes speakers make in relationship to
surrounding sounds. Generally speaking, pitch falls on information thought to be new,
and falls then rises on information thought to be shared. In this activity, students practice
a simple dialogue at a restaurant:
M: Can I help you?
C: I’d like a cheese (fall) roti canai.
M: One cheese (fall-rise) roti canai. Anything else?
C: One iced (fall) Milo.
M: One cheese (fall-rise) roti canai, one iced (fall-rise) Milo. Anything else?
C: Yes. One cheese (fall-rise) roti canai, one iced (fall-rise) Milo, and one
tandoori (fall) chicken.
Practical suprasegmental instruction: how sounds change in connected
speech. In authentic English speaking, words are not pronounced as separate, individual
units. Words blend together, are shortened or simply change all together. Examples of
connected speech include contractions (I am = I’m, that is = that’s), blends (this will =
this’ll, where did = where’d), linking (found out = foun doubt , pet turtle = pettturtle,
swim the channel = swimthe channel, may I go? = ma yi go?, blue is back = blue wis
back), assimilation (in Malaysia = im Malaysia, fished = fisht, did you = didZuw), and
deletions (going to = gonna, you are = you’re, chocolate = choc lit, family = fam lee,
months = muns, hands = hanz).
The aspects of connected speech are best handled through integration into all areas of
language instruction. For instance, in a reading class, the meaning and spelling of a new
word or phrase can be accompanied by the pronunciation in natural speech. However, it
is possible to target specific aspects, like linking in phrasal verbs for instance. In this
activity, “Story gaps,” students are given a set of sentences containing phrasal verbs that
infer gaps in the story and are tasked with filling in the missing narrative:
“When the doorbell rang, he stood up and turned off the TV set…”
“… they got around to discussing the time they first ran into each other …”
“… he was glad that she had dropped in to see him.”
The suprasegmental impact. According to the Longman Dictionary of
Contemporary English, a dictionary compiled for advanced ESL and EFL learners,
accent is “the way some one pronounces the words of a language, showing which country
or which part of a country they come from” (Pearson Education, 2003). Pronunciation is
MICELT 2012
162
“the way in which a particular word or language is pronounced [spoken]” (Pearson
Education, 2003). So, if ‘accent’ is the way a language is spoken, pronunciation is how a
language is spoken. While there are often many ‘ways,’ there is usually just a single
‘how.’ Thus, while accent among English speakers will vary according to nationality and
culture, pronunciation and the suprasegmental features discussed here are universal.
References
Celce-Murcia, M. (1987). Teaching pronunciation as communication. In J. Morley (Ed.),
Current Perspectives on Pronunciation: Practices Anchored in Theory (pp. 5-12).
Washington D.C.: TESOL.
Cohen, J. (November, 2007). Suprasegmentals: Pronunciation Practice for Your EFL
Classroom. The Internet TESL Journal, XIII(11). Retrieved from The Internet
TESL Journal: http://iteslj.org/techniques/Cohen-Suprasegmentals
Derwing, T. M., Munro, M. J., & Wiebe, G. (September , 1998). Evidence in Favor of a
Broad Framework for Pronunciation Instruction. Language Learning, Volume
48(3), 393–410.
Kelly, G. (2000). How to Teach Pronunciation. Harlow, Essex, England: Pearson
Education.
Liang, W. (2003). Teaching Weak Forms. English Teaching Forum, 41(2).
Mehler, J., Bertoncini, J., Dupoux, E., & Pallier, C. (1995). The role of suprasegmentals
in speech perception and acquistion. International School for Advanced Studies
(SISSA), Cognitive Neuroscience.
Pearson Education. (2003). Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (7 ed.).
Harlow, Essex, England: Pearson Education.
Roach, P. (1991). English Phonetics and Phonology : A practical course (2 ed.).
Cambridge: CUP.
Roach, P. (Summer, 1996). Emotions, attitudes and the English speaker. (M. Vaughan-
Rees, Ed.) Speak Out! Changes in Pronunciation, 45-49.
MICELT 2012
163
Excellent Students' Voice: English Public Speaking Activities are Fun!
Evelyn Yeap Ewe Lin1, Hawanum Hussein2, Mohd Anwar Muslimen3 and Mohd Ariff
Ahmad Tarmizi4
Department of Languages and Communication
College of Foundation and General Studies
Universiti Tenaga Nasional
Introduction
The importance of public speaking to influence others and share ideas has become a
social norm to the world. People speak in public all the time, for example, when one is
presenting a paper in a conference, or one is giving his idea in a meeting, etc. It is
definitely an important tool used by everyone in this world to convey important messages
to others (Lucas, 2009). However, before anyone is able to speak effectively and in
public, training is essential in providing the skill to stand up and speak in front of the
public especially when people have to speak in English which is not their native language
in Malaysia. Therefore, in many institutions in Malaysia, public speaking courses or
presentation skills courses in English are required to be taught to the undergraduates in
order to equip them to face future challenges in working contexts. According to Latisha
and Surina (2010), one of the most important criteria required by employers is the ability
to communicate well and to give a good presentation in English. However, apprehension
to speak in public or to give a presentation in public in English is still a big problem
among fresh graduates.
Hence, solutions to overcome or reduce public speaking anxiety needs to be realized
before they even graduated. To reduce their anxiety, this needs to be commenced first in
a classroom context whereby the teachers need to first obtain their interest in learning the
skill in class. The teachers’ effort in obtaining students’ interest in class is very important
as it will enhance students’ concentration to be engaged in learning.
With that thought in mind, a series of fun learning activities has been initiated to obtain
students’ interest in enhancing public speaking skills which will help them in getting used
to speak in public and finally to reduce the level of anxiety in public speaking. This series
of activities were designed to supplement the textbook used in ENGF103 (English for
Academic Purposes) classes in Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN) which is a public
speaking course. ENGF103 is a compulsory course for all Foundation students in
UNITEN. It is one of the most required skills to enter their next level of studies. This is
because, in bachelor degree, they will have to give a lot of presentation regarding their
core subjects. This public speaking course consists of three main speeches that students
have to deliver namely – Impromptu speech, informative speech, and persuasive speech.
The course content covers both theoretical concepts of oral communication and also the
mechanics of speech preparation and presentation.
MICELT 2012
164
Literature Review
Activities Facilitate Teaching and Learning
According to Sarjit (2005), teachers are very much required to be aware that the amount
of enthusiasm they portray in their teaching is carried through to their students. She
further emphasized that the use of variety of aids and activities in imparting content is
essential to help students to understand the content better.
This study also utilizes part of the Experiential Learning Model by Kolb (1984) which
stated that students learn from a cycle of four processes, which he insisted that they must
be present for learning to occur most completely. The cycle involves learner’s personal
involvement in the learning itself. From the involvement in the activities designed, the
learner will then reflect on the experiences from many points of view to seek for the
meaning (Reflective observation). From all the reflection the learner made, he will then
draws logical conclusions (abstract conceptualization) that will help him relate the
activities and theories learnt which will finally lead to the decisions and actions (active
experimentation) that lead to new experiences (concrete experiences).
Figure 1: Experiential Learning Cycle, Kolb (1984)
For example, when students are involved in activities conducted in the class related to the
subject they are learning at that particular time, the will start to reflect on the activities
done as how it relates to the subject taught theoretically by adding many viewpoints from
other knowledge. After that students will draw a conclusion by what they have done in
the activities by adding in the theory learnt. Then, it will guide them to make decision
that will then be added to their new concrete experience in mind.
Public Speaking Anxiety
According to past research, there are four forms of CA namely traitlike, audience-based,
situational, and context-based. Public speaking anxiety is a context-based form of CA
where a context-based CA is defined the anxiety to speak in a particular setting such as
public speaking, meetings, etc (Richmond and McCroskey, 1995).
This increased the interest of the research to find out whether the series of activities
designed by the researcher is able to reduce the level of anxiety among the students.
However, the current study is an exploratory research to first find out the perception of
Concrete Experience
Active Experimentation
Abstract Conceptualization
Reflective Observation
MICELT 2012
165
the students on the activities conducted before an experimental study should be carried.
This fits as a pilot study for the next study that will be conducted soon after this study.
Methodology
Design
The current study is an exploratory study which will gauge the students’ feedback on the
activities conducted throughout the semester of whether the activities help in reducing
their level of anxiety to speak in public. This study is necessary before an experimental
study should be conducted to avoid the use of fault treatment.
Sample
The sample for this study was two classes of excellent scholars whose studies were
sponsored by Public Service Department (JPA) and Council of Trust for the Indigenous
People (MARA) chosen to be enrolled at UNITEN. The total number of sample in this
study consists of 75 students who are closely monitored under the Excellent Student
Programme in UNITEN. Both classes consist of a mixture of male and female students in
a multicultural classroom environment.
English Public Speaking Activities as Treatment
There are 7 activities conducted to supplement most of the core topic in the book. They
are:
Expressive Introduction
Students were instructed to use different expressions of emotions to introduce themselves
on the first day of class. They will draw from a box filled with expressions of emotions
written down on pieces of small papers. Students will then introduce themselves using the
expression drawn.
10 Creative Ways to Use an Object
This activity was carried out immediately before students giving their impromptu
speeches. It will help them to think creatively and think on their feet. Students will draw
the object from a bag filled with weird objects. They will have to figure out what they can
do with the objects. It will trigger humour as they may not even know what the object is.
Charade
This is a familiar activity conducted by many teachers. This is a warm-up before teaching
delivery.
Sound Story
This is an activity to be credited to Mdm. Juridah Rashid, from Universiti Putra Malaysia
(UPM). This activity was carried out to help students with their effective use of voice
during presentation.
MICELT 2012
166
Chocolate VS Ice-cream
This is an activity used to practice their persuasive skills before delivering persuasive
speech. Students were instructed to promote their own newly created ice-cream or
chocolate with advertisements and posters. This is a competitive activity between two big
groups of students.
Lord Moulton’s Heir and Property
Students were placed in a court-like environment with lawyers and judges. Students were
the lawyers and the judges for this activity. The judge will determine who should get the
property. This is also an activity used to practice their persuasive skills before delivering
persuasive speech.
Blindly Arrange in Order
This activity was carried to supplement lecture on how to work in a group in the
textbook. Students were asked to arrange themselves in order from the shortest to the
tallest.
Instrument
The questionnaire consists of 4 sections. Section A is students demographic data, Section
B is students’ feedbacks on whether they like to have fun activities conducted in class or
just learning through theories from the textbook. This is a two-choice yes-no questions.
While, Section C will be students’ preferences on the list of activities conducted through
percentage. Lastly, Section D which will gauge their responses on their level of anxiety
with the use of Likert Scale from “1 as strongly disagree” and “5 as strongly agree”. The
overall reliability of the questionnaire is α = .79.
Results and Discussion
Students’ Responses on the Activities
Descriptive Statistics
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
Students Feedback 75 1.00 1.64 1.07 .11
Valid N (listwise) 75
Table 1: Overall Students’ responses on the English Public Speaking Activities
Overall, students preferred to have lively classes which is more student-centred as
compared to classes which is theoretical based. Among all the 75 students, almost all of
them stated that they like to have this kind of classes in future. The mean score as shown
MICELT 2012
167
in Table 1 has stated evidence from the responses of the students with the total score of
M=1.07, SD=.11 where 1 = Yes and 2 = No.
Students’ Preferences of Activities
Descriptive Statistics
Table 2: Students’ Preferences of English Public Speaking Activities
Referring to Table 2, the most preferred activity is the “10 Creative Ways to Use an
Object” which M = 74.50, SD = 20.37. The second and third preferred activities are
“Sound Story” and “Chocolate VS Ice Cream”. While the least preferred activity is
“Expressive Introduction”. This is probably because this activity was carried out during
their first class where students were still not warmed up.
Students’ Level of Anxiety
Descriptive Statistics
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
Level of Anxiety 75 2.38 4.90 3.6121 .42
Valid N (listwise) 75
Table 3: Students’ Level of Anxiety
English Public Speaking Activities N Min Max Mean SD
1. 10 Creative Ways to Use an Object 75 .00 100.00 74.50 20.37
2. Sound Story 75 .00 100.00 73.83 19.47
3. Chocolate VS Ice-cream 75 .00 100.00 73.21 22.14
4. Charade 75 .00 100.00 67.89 24.72
5. Arrange in order – shorter to taller 75 .00 100.00 67.49 22.69
6. Lord Moulton’s Heir and Property 75 .00 100.00 65.79 25.07
7. Expressive Introduction 75 .00 100.00 55.69 23.13
Valid N (listwise) 75
MICELT 2012
168
Table 3 shows that most of the students have agreed that they are less anxious to speak in
public after learning from the activities conducted which helped them to enjoy in class
and helped them to understand the course better. The overall scale shown the agreement
with M=3.61, SD=.42.
Conclusion and Recommendation
To conclude, further research can be conducted as the results shown that most students
enjoyed the activities while learning through the whole semester. Furthermore, activities
like this will also create a strong bond among the students which will then reduce their
anxiety level in public speaking. However, this is the first time the researcher conduct
this series of activities, further improvement on how to conduct the activities to create
maximum learning impact on the learners need to be explored. It is also important to use
a complete module for the upcoming study as to maximize the knowledge to be shared to
all academicians around the world on this series of activities.
Reference
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as a source of learning and
development. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Latisha Asmaak Shafie and Surina Nayan (2010). Employability awareness among
Malaysian undergraduates. International Journal of Business and Management,
5(8), 119-123.
Lucas, S. E. (2009). The art of public speaking (10th
Ed.). NY: McGraw Hill.
Richmond, V. P., & McCroskey, J. C. (1995). Communication: Apprehension,
Avoidance, and Effectiveness, 4th edition. Scottsdale, AZ: Gorsuch
Scarisbrick.
Sarjit Kaur (July, 2005). Suggestion for Teaching Public Speaking and Evaluating
Speeches. The Internet TESL Journal, 11 (7), 1-9.
Sellnow, D. D. (2005). Confident Public Speaking. USA: Thomson Wadsworth.
MICELT 2012
169
Iranian EFL learners’ listening performance and listening test item formats
Majid Nematpour
Educational office of Mazandaran. Babol
Background
The application of various kinds of tasks in teaching foreign languages and skills related
to language skills is inevitable. Therefore; in testing situation, it seems highly desirable to
include various forms of tasks and items which are connected with different types of
validity particularly construct validity.
Read (2007) considered two major sources of information in the process of listening. The
first one refers to systemic or linguistic knowledge, including phonology, lexis, syntax,
semantics and pragmatics; besides, the other one covers non-linguistic information,
which consists of a related grasp of the topic, memory and individual experience; as a
result, this enables the learners to combine what they hear with what the know. By
contrast, Buck (2001) regards the context of communication as a principal factor which
affects the listeners’ interpretation of what a speaker says. Consequently, context
functions as a third sort of knowledge, which brings about expectations for what we hear
and the best suitable condition for listeners is to have all three kinds of knowledge
mentioned above.
A number of factors that may affect listening task difficulty have been identified by
various researchers. Brindely ( 2001) summarized those prominent features as follows:
1. the nature of the input: speech rate, length of passage, syntactic complexity,
vocabulary, discourse structure, noise level, accent, register, propositional density,
amount of redundancy, etc.;
2. the nature of the assessment task: amount of context provided, clarity of
instructions, response format, availability of question preview, etc.;
3. the individual listener factors: memory, interest, background knowledge,
motivation, etc. (p.375)
Davies et al.(1999) believed that the terms “ item” and “ task” overlap with each other.
He considered items to be shorter and less complex in contrast with tasks which are
supposed to be larger and more complex. A test may include either a large number of
short items or a small number of complex tasks. In addition, the major factors that
influence the difficulty of listening comprehension items in different task types include:
1. amount of lexical overlap between the text and the response format (Freedle and
Kostin, 1996; Buck and Tatsuoka, 1998)
2. length of text preceding the information required to respond (Jensen et al ., 1997);
MICELT 2012
170
3. length of required response (Jensen et al., 1996; Buck and Tatsuoka, 1998);
4. repetition of tested information (Freedle and Kostin, 1996; Jensen et al., 1997; Buck and
Tatsuoka, 1998);
5. whether responses and repetitions of information are verbatim or paraphrases (Jensen et al .,
1997)
According to Brindley and Slatyer(2002), five variables which can affect listening test
performance are as follows:
1. Speech rate: Buck (1990: 91-93) reviews a range of studies, all of which suggest that
faster rates of delivery can reduce comprehension.
2. Text type: the extent to which the text includes features of spoken as opposed to
written language influences listening test scores. Shoamy and Inbar (1991)found that
listening passages differ from each other based on spoken features which are called
‘orality’. Besides, other studies suggested that inclusion of negotiated discourse and
recycling of propositions can help comprehension (Rost and Ross, 1991; Ross and
Langille, 1997).
3. Number of hearings: Listening sections in various tests based on the purpose they
intend to achieve are played in different times. Skehan(1998) recommends that
listening to a text just once enhances the cognitive load since it requires more online
processing; as a result, it makes the task more demanding.
4. Channel of administration: different modes of presentation including live (i.e., text
spoken by a person), video and audio are potentially variable with regard to
contextualization, discourse structure and propositional density.
5. Item formats: The results of some studies show that different item formats may need
various processing demands(Berne, 1992; Hansen and Jensen, 1994; Nissan et al.,
1996). Berne(1992) showed that test takers outperform in multiple choice questions
in comparison to an open-ended or cloze task. He suggested that recognition items
are easier than those need production and retrieval.
While the effects of various assessment tasks have been investigated in L2 reading
comprehension research( Shohamy, 1984; Lee, 1987; Wolf, 1991), extensive exploration
based on the relative effects of different assessment tasks cannot be observed in listening
comprehension. Rubin and Roberts (1987) used both multiple choice and open-ended
tasks to study the performance of subjects’ listening performance. The result of their
study showed that subjects outperform in open-ended section in comparison to multiple-
choice. Berne(1992) applied multiple choice, open-ended and cloze passage tasks to
compare subjects’ performance. The result of his study confirmed that subjects receiving
the multiple-choice task scored higher than the other listening test assessment.
Current study
The probable interaction between test item formats ( i.e., multiple choice, true/false, and
fill in the blanks) and EFL test takers’ listening test performance remains an important
issue. Therefore, the present study intends to investigate the probability of any existing
interaction between Iranian EFL test takers’ listening test performance and the type of
listening test items Thus, the question in this study is as follows:
Is there any relation between Iranian EFL test takers’ listening test performance and
listening test items( True/ False, Fill in the blanks and Multiple choice)?
Method
MICELT 2012
171
Design
An ex post facto design was used to explore the probable interaction between Iranian
EFL test takers’ listening test performance and listening test item formats. Six groups of
Iranian EFL learners’(N=180) was supposed to answer the same listening test including
48 items with the same number of questions, even with no little change in any parts. The
scores achieved by this group was used for the within comparison of this group and the
probable interaction of listening test items with regard to test takers’ listening
performance .
Participants
Six groups of Iranian EFL learners who belonged to intermediate level was selected out
of 538 students through administering a placement test (Interchange Placement and
Evaluation Package published by Cambridge, 2005). All of the participants were boys
and studied in grade 1, 2 ,3 and 4 of Shahid Beheshti High School in Babol.
Materials
Placement test
It was based on interchange (2005) placement and evaluation package published by
Cambridge. It included a 70-item multiple-choice test and consisted of three parts
including: listening(20 items), reading (20 items) and language use (30 items). The
questions in all sections consisted of four-option multiple-choice items and it was
administered in 30 minutes. After the administration of this placement test, the
participants whose scores fell within 43-49 were selected for this study.
Listening test
The construction of the listening test was based on Buck’s (2001)default listening
construct. It includes the ability to (a) process extended samples of realistic, spoken
language, automatically and in real time; (b) understand all the linguistic information that
is unequivocally included in the text; and (c) draw whatever inferences are clearly
implicit in the content of the passage. Besides, the listening test had a social target
language use domain and included four street interviews based on Top Notch Video
series developed by Saslow and Ascher (2006). It had an acceptable internal consistency,
with Chronbach’s alpha coefficient= 0.84 and consisted of an equal number of
Multiple- choice, True/False and Fill in the blanks. Each of the street interviews lasted
approximately between 2 to 3 minutes followed by the same number of questions
depicted in table1.
Table 1. Listening test items
Task Content
No. Of multiple
choice
No. of fill in the
blanks
No. of
true / false
MICELT 2012
172
The test-takers were allowed two minutes to read the 12 questions for each clip and each clip
was played just once, then they were given three minutes to answer all questions related with
each part. The whole listening test lasted roughly 40 minutes.
Data Collection
The listening test was administered within one session which lasted for about 40 minutes.
The test booklet with 48 items was given to each group and then the listening items were
played for them. All participants were supposed to write their answers in the test booklet.
The test was scored by the researcher and it was checked again by two other teachers who
were experts in TEFL in order to avoid any mistakes. One point was given to each
correct answer and the total points for each test was 48. There was no partial credit for
incomplete answers in fill in the blanks section.
Data analysis
The collected data went through statistical analysis by using SPSS 15. Descriptive
statistics for each of the test items was calculated and the assumptions of normality were
analyzed. The internal consistency reliability estimates were calculated by using
Cronbach’s alpha.
Since we were expected to investigate the probable relation between listening test item
formats and test takers’ listening performance in our research question , a multiple
regression was used as a statistical technique in order to explore the relationship between
test takers’ overall listening test scores and three independent variables which are fill in
the blanks, true/false, multiple choice formats of listening test in this study. Multiple
regression can be divided into three techniques including standard, hierarchical and
stepwise and for the purpose of this study standard type was selected since all the
independent variables were entered into the equation simultaneously. Each independent
variable was evaluated with regard to its predictive power, over and above that offered by
all the other independent variables.
According to Pallant(2007), multiple regression can be run if the following assumptions
are met:
Favorite Movies
4 4 4
Hotel Experience
4 4 4
Personality types
4 4 4
Computer use
4 4 4
MICELT 2012
173
1. Sample size: the required sample depends on the number of independent variables
that you wish to use: N > 50+8m ( m refers to the number of independent
variables)
2. Multicollinearity and singularity: Multicollinearity exits when the independent
variables are highly correlated( r = .9 and above). Singularity occurs when one
independent variable is actually a combination of other independent variables.
Thus, both multicollinearity and singularity do not contribute to a good regression
model.
3. Outliers: very high or low scores can threaten multiple regression
4. Normality, linearity, homoscedaticity, independence of residuals: they refer to
various aspects of the distribution of scores and the nature of the underlying
relationship between the variables. Residuals are the differences between the
obtained and the predicted dependent variable scores
Results
Checking the assumptions for multiple regression
The correlations in our model are provided in table 2. As can be seen, all our independent
variables show at least some relation with our dependent variable ( preferably above .3).
In this study, all three test items correlate with total listening test score. Also, the
correlation between each of our independent variables is not too high since all of them
are less than .7. Therefore, all variables were retained.
Table 2 - Correlations
Score
Multiple
choice
True /
False Production
Pearson
Correlation
Score 1.000 .336 .337 .453
M .336 1.000 .550 .184
T .337 .550 1.000 .192
P .453 .184 .192 1.000
Sig. (1-tailed) Score . .000 .000 .000
M .000 . .000 .007
T .000 .000 . .005
P .000 .007 .005 .
MICELT 2012
174
Table 3 shows the coefficients which refer to collinearity diagnostics on our variables as
a part of the multiple regression procedure. In this study no violation of multicollinearity
and singularity can be observed since Tolerance = .69, .68, .95 which are not less than .10
and VIF= 1.44, 1.45, 1.04 which are not above 10.
Table 3. Coefficients
Model
Standardized
Coefficients
t Sig.
Correlations
Collinearity
Statistics
Beta Part Tolerance VIF
1 (Constant) 7.637 .000
Multiple
choice .172 2.238 .027 .143 .691 1.446
T / F .168 2.177 .031 .139 .689 1.451
Production .389 5.930 .000 .380 .954 1.048
Normal Probability Plot(P.P) of the Regression Standardized Residual and the Scatterplot
were used to check outliers, normality, linearity, homoscedasticity, independence of
residuals. As can be seen in the Normal Probability Plot(P.P) of the Regression
Standardized Residual, the points are placed in an almost diagonal line from bottom left
to top right. This would suggest no major deviations from normality. In the Scatterplot of
the standard residuals, the residuals were roughly rectangularly distributed. According to
Tabacknick and Fidel(2007). Outliers are cases that have a standardized residuals of more
than 3.3 or less than -3.3 and this cannot be observed in the Scatterplot.
MICELT 2012
175
MICELT 2012
176
The R Square presented in table 4 which is the model summary shows that our model in
this study explains 29.1 per cent of the variance in total listening test score. To assess the
statistical significance of the result, it is necessary to look at table 4 which is called
ANOVA. This tests the null hypothesis that multiple R in the population equals .0. The
model in this study reaches statistical significance ( Sig= .000; this really means p<
.0005).
MICELT 2012
177
Table 4. Model summary
Model R R Square Adjusted R
Square
Std. Error of the
Estimate
1 .539 .291 .278 3.56047
The next thing which was considered in this study was which of the variables included in
the model contributed to the prediction of the dependent variable. By looking back at
table 2, we can see that the largest Beta value belongs to fill in the blanks items ( B=.57)
and for true/ false and multiple choice items its values are .42 and .44, respectively and
the difference between that last two item formats is not that much noticeable
By comparing the Sig. value of each item test format, it can be concluded that all of them
make a statistically significant contribution since all of them are less than .05. Besides,
the Part correlation confidents shows if we square this for each test item format, fill in the
blanks format of the listening test in this study has the highest contribution to the total R
square ( fill in the blanks uniquely explains 14 per cent of the variance in the total
listening test score while true/false and multiple choice formats explain 1.6 and 1.9 per
cent of the variance, respectively) . It can be concluded that multiple choice and
true/false formats are strongly correlated( r=.55).
Discussion
As for our research question, ‘Is there any relation between Iranian EFL test takers’
listening test performance and listening test items( True/ False, Fill in the blanks and
Multiple choice)?’
, it can be observed that listening test item format which includes fill in the blanks items
can make more contribution to the overall score of test takers’ listening score, while the
other two test item formats ( true/false and multiple choice) make less contribution in
comparison to fill in the blanks items.
The findings of this study are in parallel with the findings of some researcher that
various item formats may include differing processing demands on test takers’
performance in listening tests
( Berne, 1993; Hansen and Jensen , 1994; Nissan et al., 1996). The findings of this
study are in contrast with Berne’s (1993) findings in which subjects outperform on
multiple choice items rather than open-ended or cloze task, suggesting that items
requiring only recognition are easier than those needing retrieval and production. One
reason for the little difference between true/false and multiple-choice test items is that
both of them are based on recognition and the processes involved in answering these
items may seem similar. However, it cannot be claimed that recognition test items
facilitate listening comprehension. The better performance of test takers on fill in the
blanks items can refer to their higher reliability; besides, they limit guessing so that they
can help learners to enhance their concentration while listening.
MICELT 2012
178
As a result, the characteristics of listening tasks should be taken into account and be
based on the purpose of the test and TLU domain( Backman and Palmer, 1996). This
can help test makers to avoid replacing them instead of each other. Thus, the
combination of various test item formats can help test developers to use different kinds
of items rather than just one type which may be accompanied with more bias and cannot
assess the real listening ability of test takers.
Conclusion
The results of this study showed that each type of listening test item format can influence
test takers’ listening performance and make its own contribution, although one type can
make more contribution.
This study had some limitations which should be considered. Firstly, only one type of
genre ( street interview) was selected for this study and it does not reflect all
authentic listening, thus it narrows the findings of the current study and the necessity for
more thorough investigation is apparent. Secondly, this study was conducted merely
quantitatively, as a result, the qualitative considerations of future studies can make a
better contribution for more meticulous exploration on the effect of item test formats on
test takers’ listening performance. Furthermore, all test takers in this study belonged to
intermediate level and other studies with regard to different language proficiency levels
can be conducted in future. Last but not least, the inclusion of other possible listening test
item formats can also be investigated in more details in future studies.
References:
Bachman, L., Palmer, A.(1996). Language Testing in Practice. Oxford University Press,
Oxford.
Baltova, I.(1994). The impact of video on comprehension skills of core French students.
Canadian Modern Language Review 50, 507-531.
Berne, J.E. (1992). The effect of text type ,assessment task, and target language
experience on foreign language learners’ performance on listening comprehension test.
Unpublished PH.D dissertation. University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign.
Brindley, G. (2001). Investigating rater consistency in competency-based language
assessment. In Brindley, G. and Burrows, C., editors, Studies in immigrant English
language assessment. Volume 2. Sydney: National Centre for English Language
Teaching and Research, Macquarie University, 59–80.
Brindley, G., & Slatyer, H. (2002). Exploring task difficulty in ESL listening assessment.
Language Testing, 19, 369-394.
Buck, G. (2001). Assessing listening. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Buck, G. and Tatsuoka, K. (1998). Application of the rule-space procedure to language
testing: examining attributes of a free response listening test. Language Testing 15, 119–
57.
Davies, A., Brown, A., Elder, C., Hill, K., Lumley, T. and McNamara, T. (1999)
Dictionary of language testing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fidell, L.S, and Tabachnic,B.G. (2007). Using Multivariate Statistics: International Edition, 5ed.
Boston : Allyn and Bacon.
Freedle, R. and Kostin, I. (1996). The prediction of TOEFL listening comprehension item
difficulty for minitalk passages: implications for construct validity. TOEFL Research Report 56.
MICELT 2012
179
Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.
Jensen, C., Hansen, C., Green, S. and Akey, T. (1997). An investigation of item difficulty
incorporating
the structure of listening tests: a hierarchical linear modeling analysis. In Huhta, A., Kohonen, V.,
Kurki-Suonio, L. and Luoma, S., editors, Current developments and alternatives in language
assessment. Jyvaskyla: University of Jyvaskyla, 151–64.
Hansen, C. and Jensen, C. (1994) Evaluating lecture comprehension. In Flowerdew, J., editor,
Academic listening. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 241–68.
Lee, J.F. ( 1987). Comprehending the Spanish subjunctive: An information processing
perspective. Modern language journal , 71. 50-57.
Lesley,T., Hansen, C., Zukowski, J.(2005). Interchange and Passages placement and
evaluation package. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nissan, S., DeVincenzi, F. and Tang K.L.(1996)). An analysis of factors affecting the difficulty
of dialogue items in TOEFL listening comprehension. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing
Service.
Pallant, J.( 2007). SPSS survival manual.: A step by step guide to data analysis using
SPSS for windows. 3rd
edition. New York, NY: Open University Press.
Ross, S. and Langille, J. (1997).Negotiated discourse and interlanguage accent effects on a second
language listening test. In Brindley, G. and Wigglesworth, G., editors, Access: issues in language test
design and delivery. Sydney: National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research, Macquarie
University, 87–116.
Rost, M. and Ross, S.( 1991). Learner use of strategies in interaction: typology and
teachability. Language Learning 41, 235–73.
Rubin, R.B. & Roberts, C.V. ( 1987). A comparative examination and analysis of three
listening tests. Communication Education. 36, 142-153.
Saslow, J. Ascher, A.(2006). Top Notch T.V. Activity Worksheet. New York: Pearson
Longman.
Shohamy, E. and Inbar, O. (1991). Validation of listening comprehension tests: the effect
of text and question type. Language Testing 8, 23–40.
Skehan, P. (1998). A cognitive approach to language learning. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Shoamy, E. (1984). Does the testing method make a difference? The case of reading comprehension.
Language testing. 1, 147-170.
Wolf, D.F. (1991). The effects of task, language of assessment, and target language
experience on foreign language learners’ performance on reading comprehension tests.
Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign.
MICELT 2012
180
Baptism of Fire into the Teaching Profession: Tips from the Practicum
Habsah Hussin
Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia
The practicum is ESL (English as a Second Language) trainee teachers’ debut into the
teaching profession. Ideally, these trainee teachers should be looking forward to
undertaking the practicum as it is the culmination of their study at the university and an
avenue for them to hone their skills as teachers in applying the knowledge gained, and
translating theories into practice appropriate to the context, and needs of their learners.
As they are teaching in a ‘real context’ of the profession for the first time, the practicum
is their ‘baptism of fire’ into the teaching profession and could prove to be an over-
whelming experience for some of them. As such, they are bound to make mistakes (both
serious and mild) which if not curbed and rectified, may affect their effectiveness in their
teaching.
In this paper, I am going to focus specifically on common mistakes made by trainee
teachers in the early part of their practicum (before the interventions by their mentors and
supervisors) in the planning stage and in implementing the lesson planned.
The Planning Stage
These trainee teachers have two areas of weaknesses in the planning stage (as discerned
in their lesson plans) i.e. in delineating the objectives and the activities incorporated into
the lesson.
Specific objectives. Often, trainee teachers do not delineate the specific objectives of the
lesson succinctly. They may not be aware that even the wording of the objectives is
crucial. For instance, to write the opening line of the specific objectives in this way: ‘By
the end of the lesson ...’ is not appropriate because this gives the impression that
evaluation is summative, and all evaluation throughout the lesson is accumulated at the
end of the lesson. A better idea is to write the opening line like this: ‘As the lesson
progresses ...’ to illustrate that evaluation is on-going (formative) throughout the lesson.
Trainee teachers are observed to adhere closely to the traditional way of writing the
specific objectives: ‘... students should be able to answer 4 out of 8 questions correctly.’
Writing the objective in this way indicates that by inference, the teacher’s expectation of
his/her students is just average. The catch in this type of objective is that when the
teacher’s target is high: ‘... students should be able to answer 9 out of 10 questions’.
MICELT 2012
181
However, if students manage to answer only 8 questions right, the teacher has not
achieved the objective(s) as specified; does it mean that the lesson is a failure? Another
pitfall made by trainee teachers is the use of abstract verbs in formulating the objectives
such as “...students will be able to understand...” and “...enhance their knowledge.” The
question now is how to measure understanding and knowledge? For both situations,
writing the objective in general like this: ‘Students demonstrate their understanding of the
lesson content by their ability to perform the tasks assigned by the teacher throughout the
lesson.’ is more suitable.
The CCTS objectives. The Critical and Creative Thinking Skills (CCTS) objectives are
often neglected by trainee teachers yet these objectives are crucial in elevating students’
thinking by inviting them to share their ideas and opinions, tapping on their creativity and
kindling their emotions.
Activities. Activities are formulated to achieve the objectives set for the lesson. As such,
activities incorporated into the lesson should be realistic, practical, relevant and related to
students’ ability. Activities should be developmental: i.e. from simpler to more
challenging ones, to ensure that even weak students would be able to do the easier tasks,
which would help to instil them with some degree of confidence.
The Implementation Stage
The implementation of the planned lesson is the crux of the practicum. A well-executed
lesson should be taught as planned. Areas that trainee teachers are still weak in, as
observed during their practicum are in teacher input and instruction, teacher-students
interaction, time management and class management.
Teacher input and instruction. The information and instruction given by the trainee
teacher for the class throughout the lesson are in this category. It is good practice to
inform the class the topic and the content that they are going to learn in the lesson,
especially after the set induction in order for them to know what to expect. Doing it in
this way will indicate that the teacher is organised, prepared and ‘knowledgeable’; and
this can help to instil students’ confidence in the teacher’s ability. It is also a good idea
to signal the move from one activity to the next one (sign-posting) such as “_ next, we are
going to do this (activity) _. You are given 10 minutes to complete it.” This kind of
instruction will make students stay focus and on-task.
Before delivering any instruction, the teacher should make sure that all students are
attentive; otherwise those who have not been paying attention when the teacher was
giving the instruction the first time would keep on asking the same question again and
MICELT 2012
182
again. This will result in disrupting the lesson’s progress, as well as be very taxing for
the teacher too especially when this happens while the lesson is being observed by the
supervisor or mentor. Also, trainee teachers need to be consistent in giving their
instruction, as changing the instruction mid-way could confuse the students about which
instruction to follow. Another pitfall trainee teachers should avoid is being too dependent
on the textbook or workbook(s) in their teaching, resulting in the lesson being taught in
isolation i.e. not relating the lesson to students’ life experience, existing knowledge and
their learning environment.
Teacher-students interaction. This aspect is seen the most in the teacher’s techniques
of posing question to the class. A common mistake often observed among trainee
teachers is the tendency to pick a student first, then only to pose a question to ‘the’
student, resulting in the selected student having to face the question alone, with the rest of
the class not paying attention, because they are ‘safe’. The teacher may try to hasten a
response from the student due to constraint of time, thus inadvertently not giving him/her
the ‘wait time’ to process the question. When he/she is unable to provide an appropriate
answer and the teacher poses the same question to another student using the same process
i.e. pick the student first, then only poses the question, the teacher has succeeded in
creating a hostile and stressful classroom environment and injuring his/her students’
fragile emotion. By right, the teacher should pose the question to the class and invite
volunteers to answer the question. Students who are ready may volunteer a response.
Even if the response is not ‘accurate’, the teacher should provide positive feedback to
motivate other students to volunteer next. This can help to create conducive environment
for learning and nobody is humiliated.
Posing a question to each student (i.e. Question 1 to Student 1, Question 2 to Student 2
etc.) and accepting the answer by Student 1 as ‘the answer’ for Question 1 will limit the
range of possible answers for each question, deny students the opportunity to explore
ideas and be very tedious for the teacher to prepare. A better way of doing this is for the
teacher to pose the same question to five students picked at random across the class. If
one or two of the selected students give a response different from the others, the teacher
should ask them to rationalise their responses. Then ask the class for a consensus
response on the question. The manifold benefits of posing questions in this way are that
students are very much engaged in the learning process, SCL (Student-Centred Learning)
very much advocated nowadays is being practiced, reduce TTT (Teacher Talking Time)
and increase STT (Student Talking Time), all students are alert (who’s next? Me?), the
teacher acts as a facilitator and mentor, and students feel appreciated.
MICELT 2012
183
Trainee teachers have difficulty designing CCTS questions when in reality CCTS
questions are so accessible. The teacher just has to invite his/her students to express
opinions and ideas, taking a stance on selected issues, students are interested in.
Another weakness commonly observed among trainee teachers during their practicum is
their tendency to be overly accommodating towards their students. For instance, during
group work activities, the teacher would normally go around to answer every student’s
question. This can be very time consuming and tedious for the teacher to go ‘walk-about’
especially in a large class, as there are many groups. A smart way to handle this situation
is for the teacher to stand in front of the class, ask the student who would like to ask a
question to stand up and pose the question to the class, not to the teacher. The teacher
then should encourage the class to attempt answering the question. The teacher would
confirm the appropriateness of the answer provided by a student volunteer or the class; or
give the correct answer himself/herself if none is forthcoming from the students. Doing it
this way helps the teacher to showcase his/her authority, demonstrate to his/her students
various ways of obtaining information and learning (teacher-students and peer-learning)
while at the same time building teacher-students rapport and cooperation among students
which can result into a very supportive teaching-learning environment for both teacher
and students.
Time management. Trainee teachers should specify clearly the time allocation for each
stage of the lesson. Failure to do this may make the teacher use more time for a simple
task and allocating insufficient time for the more challenging ones. The maximum time
allocation for each stage should be +/- 15 minutes. Longer duration may bore the
students.
Assigning more time for each stage of the lesson will reduce the number of activities
which may make the lesson (seems) to be under-planned. Conversely, allocating shorter
time for each task will enable the teacher to incorporate more tasks into the lesson.
When the school bell rings to signal the end of the lesson, the teacher should leave
immediately in order not to infringe on the time of another teacher who is coming in for
the next lesson with the class. It is very crucial for the teacher not to entertain any
students who would like to ask a lot of last minute questions. The in-coming teacher may
have something important to do with the students (e.g. monthly test, a quiz) and may not
be happy with a reduced time to do his/her work.
Class management. This aspect is discerned in the way the teacher manages the class
throughout the lesson, which to a certain extent would reflect on the teacher’s personality
(strict, laissez-faire etc.), his/her beliefs about the teaching-learning process, and the
MICELT 2012
184
students. No matter how well-executed the lesson is, poor classroom management may
render the lesson to be a failure.
Some trainee teachers are so ‘focused’ in their teaching that they seem unperturbed by the
unruly behaviour of their students. So whom are they teaching, when their students are
not listening and be there with them? What the trainee teacher should do is to spread out
/ span his/her attention across the room (akin to the light at the lighthouse) to encompass
the whole class while in the act of teaching. The teacher should curb any students’
misbehaviours immediately, as case by case, gently yet firmly. Although unruly
behaviour is not accepted, it does not mean that the class has to be rigid. Conducive
noise (conversation during group discussion, applauding their friend’s presentations)
should be welcome, as this is an indication that learning is in progress.
Conclusion
The practicum is trainee teachers’ baptism of fire into the teaching profession.
This paper has scrutinised ‘areas’ trainee teachers are weak in, which could affect the
effectiveness of their teaching during the practicum. The detailed suggestions provided
on how to improve these ‘areas’ hopefully will help them to be more vigilant in the
planning and implementation of their lessons.
MICELT 2012
185
The Making Of Debaters
Moomala binti Othman (Universiti Putra Malaysia)
Literature review.
According to Collins English Dictionary (1), debate is defined as a formal discussion of
a topic or an issue in which opposing arguments are put forward. In a debate
competition, the debater puts across his argument to a third party, for example, a panel of
judges, who will then call for a vote to decide which team is better in its argument and
ability.
Debate is also said to be the oldest activity of the Western civilization rooted in the
tradition of democracy (Ericson, 2003). Proponent of debate such as the International
Debate Education Association (IDEA) states in its website (http://www.idebate.org/)
,“Debate is an essential activity in democratic societies.” Perhaps, this is the reason why
many find debate appealing as it is often linked to democracy. According to Malaysian
for Debate and Public Speaking (www.midp.edu.my/)/there has been a recent surge of
interest in debate as seen in the many tournaments held annually. Advocates of
debate often claim debate offers many benefits (Tumposky,2004). A review of the
literature on debate in the classroom confirms this. Among the advantages are, it
enhances communicative skills (Hall,2011), bolsters teamwork (Gervey,2009) and
understanding of content knowledge(Vo,2006), fosters leadership quality
(Christudeson,2003), improves listening and research skills and cultivates persuasive
public speaking (Oros,2007). As Christudeson (2008) asserts ,"Debate offers all in one
go."
From the educational aspect, debate is an interactive activity involving an authentic give
and take communicative interchange where the speaking and listening skill is intricately
integrated (Brown, 1994). According to MacGilcrist (2011), recent work in the field of
neuroscience has reminded educators of the crucial role that spoken language plays in the
cognitive development of pupils at all stages of schooling. Primary practitioners involved
in school improvement projects emphasize that curriculum should provide sufficient
opportunities for speaking and listening alongside the current emphasis on literacy ( ibid,
pg60).
However, debate has some major drawbacks. In a case study involving undergraduates at
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Gervey (2009) reported that these students found
debating uncomfortable and was a source of anxiety. In the Malaysian context, debate
in schools is an exclusive affair where only three or four upper secondary students are
involved at the district or the national debate competition. It is not possible for school to
hold a debate tournament involving all the students as the number of language teachers
are not many. Similarly due to the constraints of time and the large number of students,
not every student will have the chance to debate in a classroom debate. Hence, an
educational experience was set up to make debate accessible to all by engaging everyone
in a competition. The debate competition undertook a community service learning
MICELT 2012
186
approach where members of their peers would organize, oversee and adjudicate the
debate. Service learning is a teaching method where students will apply their knowledge
and skills to solve a problem or address a real need of their own community (Ohn,
2009). According to Judge(2011), it is a pedagogical strategy to facilitate student’s
potential and growth in academic , communication , collaboration and leadership. This
can be carried out in curricular or co-curricular settings. (Judge,ibid). Hence, this
debate competition project is an example of a specific community–centered service
learning initiative that combines experiential learning and service learning in a co-
curricular activity. The purpose of this paper is to present the Debate tournament project
as a model pedagogical strategy that can assist teachers in various settings to achieve
broad educational objectives related to language learning. At the end of the project, a
survey was undertaken to gauge students’ satisfaction and perception of their
participation.
Methodology : In this project, the competition adopted a parliamentary debate style. A
feature of parliamentary style debate is the use of point of information (POI). A point of
information is a request to the speaker who holds the floor to yield some of his time for
a point of information by the opposing team . This is done by extending his hand or
rising and saying, “ point of information” .
A. Participants
The debate competition constituted three groups: The debaters (debate teams), the
organizers and the adjudicators. 36 members of the English Language Club were selected
as the organizers. They ran the debate competition and were responsible for setting the
venue and deciding the fixture. They were initially given briefings about debate , its
structure and information such as debate topics (motions) , debate fixture, number of
teams and debaters, speaking order and speaking time limits, preparation period, point of
information, etc. 24 students who did well in their English exam were selected as
adjudicators. The recommendation came from their English teachers. A workshop was
held for them on how to adjudicate.
The debaters for this tournament were 120 students of form one and 120 students of form
two. Students of each form were divided into their respective house system. The house
system has six houses. At every debate venue, each house would be represented by a
pair of debaters . 6 debaters, representing three houses, would form the proposition team
while 6 other debaters ( the other three houses) would form the opposition team. In other
words, at each debate venue, 12 debaters were involved. The proposition team would
argue for the motion while the opposition team would oppose.
B. Debate Procedures
The execution of the debate project undergoes three stages:
MICELT 2012
187
1. Pre- debate tournament : During this stage, workshops and briefing about debates
were given separately to organizers and adjudicators. Subsequently, organizers gave
briefings to participants.
2. Debate tournaments : Participants would debate at least four times.
3. Post Debate : A survey was undertaken by the students to find out their perception of
the debate and to gauge their satisfaction participating .
C. Instrumentation
The instrument used in this study was a survey which uses a questionnaire and
interviews on the adjudicators . The interview was carried out at random to determine
the adjudicators’ opinion of the overall performance of the participants and what they felt
of the program.
The survey of the questionnaire looked at seven aspects:
A. Strategies used
B. Ideas
C. Confidence
D. Advantages of debating
E. Effects of debating
F. Recommendations
G. Suggestions
The questionnaire items used a Likert scale ranging from 1- strongly disagree to 5 –
strongly agree. The midpoint rating of “3” was defined as “not sure”.
D. Data Analyses
An SPSS descriptive data analysis was run on the data obtained from the survey.
Results & Discussion :
1) Analysis of Questionnaire :
MICELT 2012
188
Section A : Strategies used
The survey looked into 4 strategies used during debate. The mean for each strategy of
each form is as follow:
No Strategy Form one Form two
mean Most
favoured
mean Most
favoured
1. Discussion with debate partner 4.02 2 3.25 2
2. Writing down their speech in
complete sentences
2.6 3 3.15 3
3. Writing down ideas in point
form
4.15 1 4.04 1
4. Repetition 1.7 4 1.72 4
As shown above , both forms have the same favorite strategy : writing down their ideas
in points, was the most favoured, followed by discussion with debate partner and then
writing down their speech in complete sentences. Repetition was last . In other words,
they seldom use repetition as a strategy.
B. Ideas.
No. Item (Form one)
mean
(Form two)
mean
1. I had ideas 4.01 4.0
2. I could elaborate my points/ideas 3.3 3.2
3. I gave more than one idea 3.5 3.48
4. I did not repeat points given 3.36 3.17
Both forms had high mean for this section. The form one and form two had ideas , their
mean was 4.01 and 4.0 respectively. For elaboration of ideas , the mean for the form
one was 3.3 and 3.2 respectively. Both forms could give more than one argument, the
means was 3.5 and 3.48 respectively. Lastly , both form did not repeat what was said,
the mean was 3.36 and 3.17 respectively. What this meant was simply that since they
had ideas ( this is related to the fact that they could come up with more than one point)
and could elaborate on them, there was no need to use repetition as a strategy .
Section B : Confidence:
The overall mean for confidence was high for both forms. It was 3.03 and 3.27 for the
form one and form two respectively. The mean was moderately high for
loudness ,
MICELT 2012
189
not worried about making grammar mistakes,
confident in giving and accepting POIs from the opponents.
not scared to accept POIs
Despite this ,the majority felt they could not answer well the POIs given. The mean for
the form one and two students were 2.53 and 2.4 respectively . Similarly, the mean for
those who stated that debate was easy was moderately low. The mean for the form one
and two students were both 2.9. In other words, despite the confidence, the students
found debate was not easy.
Section C : Benefits of Debating
This looks at benefits of debate from the language aspect. In listening improvement the
mean was 4.2 for the form one and 3.9 for the form two. The mean for speaking
improvement was 4.2 (form one) and 4.5 (form two). The mean for confidence in
speaking was 3.82 and 3.9 for form one and two respectively. In getting ideas for
argument it was 3.95 (form) one) and 4.05 (form two). In conclusion, both forms found
debate helps in language improvement.
Section D : Effects of Debate
The effects of debate for both forms was positive. For the form one, students found
debating fun
( mean -3.5) , were glad they had debated ( mean- 3.6) and wanted to participate (mean-
3.37)and debate again( mean-3.01) . The mean for each of these was also high among the
form two. The mean for “debating was fun” was 3.5, “wanted to participate again” was
3.2 and “wanted to debate again” was 3.07 . The mean for “was glad I Had debated” was
3.48.
Section E : Recommendations.
Students were asked if they wanted to have debate every weekend during prep hour. The
mean was moderately low. The mean for form one was 2.18 whereas for the form two it
was 2.36. A majority of the form one and two disagree to have it during their weekend
prep class.
Students were also asked if the program should be carried again and the mean obtained
was moderately high. The mean obtained from the form one was 3.18 and from the form
two was 3.0 Overall, the response was favorable.
MICELT 2012
190
Section F : Suggestions
The survey also looked into two suggestions :
1. Adjudicators should inform debaters of their weaknesses after each debate,
2. Adjudicators should discuss the motion of the debate after each debate.
For both forms, the mean for each of the above was high. The form students wanted the
adjudicators to discuss the motion after each debate ( the mean was 3.77) and they also
wanted to be informed of their weaknesses ( the mean was 3.87). Similarly, among the
form two, they wanted the adjudicators to discuss the motion after each debate ( the mean
was 3.09 and that they be informed of their weaknesses after debating ( the mean was
3.7).
2. Interview Feedback from the Form Four Adjudicators
According to the adjudicators, most of the participants were repeating the same point
and elaboration was lacking. Despite this , they felt the debate program was a worthy one
as students did improve and so it should be carried out again .
Conclusion
Overall the debaters had a positive perception of the experience. They felt the debate
was beneficial and fun and they wanted to carry the activity again. However, there was
a mismatch of perception. The debaters felt they had ideas and could elaborate on them
but this contradicted with the adjudicators’ feedback who felt they lacked ideas and
could not elaborate well. The workshop provided merely explained the debate structure
and roles of each participant . The debaters were not shown how to elaborate effectively
nor how to use evidence. Probably, this aspect need to be incorporated in future debate
workshop. The suggestion made by the debaters need also to be incorporated- debaters
need feedback from the adjudicators of debaters’ weaknesses and suggestion on how to
further improve in subsequent debate. Lastly , this project showed that community
service learning is a worthwhile pedagogical strategy that can assist teachers to achieve
objectives related to language learning. As suggested by Ohn (2009), it is a worthy
teaching method as students will apply their knowledge and skills to solve a problem or
address a real need of their own community. As in this project , the organizers and
adjudicators made it possible for meaningful learning to take place for their own
community members.
MICELT 2012
191
References
1. Tumposky N, The debate debate. The Clearing House. 2004;78:42-55.
2. Hall.D. Debate:Innovative Teaching to Enhance Critical Thinking and
Communication Skills in Healthcare Professionals. The Internet Journal of Allied Health
Sciences and Practice.2011;9:3:1-8.
3. Gervey.R. Debate in the classroom: An evaluation of a Critical Thinking
Teaching Technique within a rehabilitation Counseling Course. Rehabilitation
Education.2009;23:1:61-74.
4. Vo.H.X., Morris. R.L. Debate as a tool in teaching Economics: Rationale,
Technique, and some evidence. Journal of Education for Business. 2006;
July/August:315-320.
5. Christudason.A. The Debate as a Teaching /Learning tool. Ideas on
Teaching.2003; Vol 1:1
6. Oros. A. Let’s Debate: Active Learning Encourages student Participation and
Critical Thinking. Journal of Political Science Education. 2007:3:293-311.
7. Edwards. R, 2008. Competitive debate: The official Guide. Penguin: New York
8. Ericson, J.M. , James, J.Murphy & Zeuschner, Raymond .Bud. 2003. The
Debater’s Guide: Third Edition. South Illinos University Press: Illinos:
9. Bahas Liga BI asah kemahiran komunikasi, Utusan Malaysia,2011, 31 Oktober
:29.
10. Colbert.K.R . Enhancing Critical Thinking Ability Through Academic Debate.
Contemporary Argumentation and Debate.1995:16: 52 – 72.
11. Mitra.D, Serriere,S. Student Voice in Elementary School Reform: Examining
Youth Development in Fifth Graders. American Educational Research Journal .
2012:49:743-774.
12. International Debate Education Association retrieved at
(http://www.idebate.org/)retrieved on the 30/7/2012
13. Judge , W.L . Engaging Experiential Service Learning Through a Co-Curricular
Club: The Chase Charlie Races, Journal of Research . Vol6 Issue 2.
14. Ohn,J.D. & Wade Rahima. Community Service –Learning as a Group Inquiry
Project: Elementary and Middle School CivicConnections Teacher’s Practices of
MICELT 2012
192
Integrating Historical Inquiry in Community Service –Learning. September /October
2009.
15. MacGilCrist.B, Myers,K & ReedsJ. 2011. The Intelligent School. Sage. London.
16. Malaysian for Debate and Public Speaking at (http://www.midp.edu.my/)
retrieved on 25/5/2012.
MICELT 2012
193
Malaysian postgraduate teachers use of Facebook in the ESL classroom:
Friend of foe?
Nooreen Noordin & Sharmila Ganapathy
Universiti Putra Malaysia/HELP University College
The internet age in Malaysia began its inception in 1995 in accordance with the rapid
growth in the number of internet hosts that saw the birth of search engines. A Malaysian
internet survey conducted in 1995 by MIMOS and Beta Interactive Services revealed
that one out of every thousand Malaysians had access to the internet. With more world
citizens gaining access to computers and the Internet every day, the Internet is fast
gaining traction in language education.
Facebook (FB), a social network site created by Mark Zuckerberg along with several of
his friends gained popularity within a period short of time. Inside Facebook Gold
(2010) reported that in 2011, Facebook had 661.3 million users worldwide. As of 31
March 2012, there are 12,365,780 Facebook users in Malaysia in which young people
between the age of 12 to 18 is reported to have access to a computer and internet and
has a Facebook account as well.
Statement of the Problem
Current literature shows that studies involving the use of Facebook have been carried
out across various disciplines and various fields and research on Facebook in education
from Western countries has been abundant but studies from the Asian context have been
scarce. Past studies show that most research carried out had focused more on the
students and not teachers. It is important to note that the use of technology as a
teaching aid in the English language classroom is not new of course; computer-assisted
language learning or CALL has been used in varying degrees in language classrooms as
early as the 1980s. Young adults in Malaysia with Internet access are already using the
medium for social, informational and entertainment purposes, hence using these
technologies in the language classroom may help them better digest learning materials
compared to static technologies such as word processors and software CDs. As most of
these young adults are also learners, educators have been looking for ways to
MICELT 2012
194
understand the phenomena in order to harness its potential for use in education. Hence,
it is imperative that a research that explores the potential of using Facebook in second
language context be carried out as failure to do so might result in Malaysia ESL
teachers falling behind their global counterparts in adopting new technologies in
utilizing far more advanced teaching tools in language teaching. Malaysian ESL
teachers should not miss out on using Facebook to engage with students (who use it) as
a tool to improve English language skills. Seeing that there is a lack of research on
teacher academic usage of Facebook in the Malaysian context, the study attempted to
investigate ESL postgraduate teachers’ academic usage of Facebook.
Review of Literature
Boyd (2008) states that social network sites include web-based services that allow
individuals to: (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2)
articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and
traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system.
In addtion, Kirkpatrick (2010) noted people aged 35 to 49 make up a third of FB users
and women account for more than half of FB users. Wong, Sidek, A., Mohd Yunus,
Sidek, Abu Bakar, Meseran, & Atan (2005) found females more competent than males in
some areas of ICT. These findings clearly show how Facebook has become an
important necessity in life as people combine both their physical life as well as virtual
life.
In a study done by Guo, Dobson, and Petrina (2008), it was found that there is no
significant difference in effective use of technology in teaching between teachers who
are ‘digital immigrants’ and ‘digital natives’ as coined by Prensky (2001). Bosch (2009)
on the other hand emphasized that Facebook allow students to ask questions that they are
not comfortable asking during class. In addition, a study done by Carter, Foulger, and
Ewbank (2008) found that high school teachers reacted positively towards the use of
Facebook as it allowed them to establish deeper relationships with and understand
students better. By tapping into the potential of Facebook, educators could tie classroom
instruction to “real life” for students. Mazamm and Usleul (2010) concluded by saying
that social network tools result in interaction, collaboration, active participation,
information and resource sharing, and critical thinking.
MICELT 2012
195
Facebook in Language Education
The use of Facebook could prove to be useful especially in learning a second language
learning as it involves reading and writing as well as engaging in social skills in
cyberspace. In a study done by Fouser (2010), results showed that students learning
Korean as a foreign language used it for discussions and to exchange information.
Meanwhile, Kabilan et al. (2010) found that Malaysian university students perceived
Facebook as a useful medium for them to confidently practice writing, reading and
communication skills. In addition, Skerrett (2010) found that teachers who use Facebook
create a Facebook profile for a character in a literature text as they believed the activity
added novelty and excitement to learning process.
Methodology
The study was carried out in three stages:
Stage 1 - Pilot study: Identified tertiary-level lecturers in MEd. (TESL) and
MSc.(TESL) programmes at UPM and their friends/peers who are Facebook users
(n=20). The researcher did a pilot study to test run both the 48 item questionnaire and
interview questions with 2 (10%) of respondents.
Stage 2 - Actual Study: Administration of the questionnaire via convenience sampling
method was done and semi-structured interviews were carried out with 10% of the
respondents.
Stage 3 - Tabulation of quantitative findings and qualitative information found as well
as presentation of the results and conclusions that emerged from the study.
The questionnaire was adapted from Shin and Son (2007) and Roblyer, McDaniel,
Webb, Herman and Witty (2010).
Results
The results of the study shows there is no significant difference between male and female
teachers in terms of frequency of Facebook usage. It was also found that there is no
significant difference in tertiary-level teachers’ Facebook use in reference to their age.
MICELT 2012
196
Majority use Facebook largely for personal and social uses rather than communicating
with or teaching their current students. Three teachers use Facebook to teach writing,
speaking, vocabulary and grammar skills. The reasons why teachers use Facebook for
teaching include: free, easy to access, up to date and support from students.
On the other hand, the reasons why some teachers do not use Facebook for language
teaching in the classroom include: limited class hours, limited computer facilities, slow
and/or limited Internet access. In addition, lack of support from management in using
technology in language teaching as well as difficulty in integrating Facebook into the
curriculum were among other reasons why teachers do not use Facebook in teaching.
Conclusion
The study shows that ESL teachers who are tech-savvy as well as those who are not are
actually equally competent in using Facebook. Some teachers use it mainly for
communicating with current and ex-students for both academic and personal reasons.
Teachers who use Facebook in English language teaching prove that it works as a
medium to enhance in-class language instruction. It also proves that Facebook can be a
useful peer review tool and strengthens teacher-student rapport. Hence, it is evident that
engaging in the “digital, social, mobile and 24/7” teaching and learning style (a.k.a.
Facebook) improves teaching outcomes and student-teacher communication or vice-
versa.
References
Boyd, D. (2008). Why youth (heart) social network sites: The role of networked publics
in teenage social life. In D. Buckingham (Ed.), Youth, Identity, and Digital Media
(pp. 119-142). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Carter, H.L., T. Foulger, and A. Ewbank. (2008) Have You Googled Your Teacher
Lately? Teachers’ Use of Social Networking Sites. Phi Delta Kappan, May, pp.
681-685.
Fouser, R. (July 19 – 23, 2010). From CMS to SNS: Exploring the Use of Facebook in
the Social Constructivist Paradigm. International Symposium on Applications
and the Internet, Seoul, Korea.
MICELT 2012
197
Guo, R. X., Dobson, T., & Petrina, S. (2008). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants: An
analysis of Age and ICT Competence in Teacher Education. Journal of
Educational Computing Research, 38(3), 235 – 254.
Kabilan, M. K., Ahmad, N., & Abidin, M. J. Z. (2010). Facebook: An online
environment for learning of English in institutions of higher education? The
Internet and HigherEducation, 13(4), 179-187. doi: 10.1016/j.iheduc.
2010.07.003
Kirkpatrick, D. (2010) The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That is
Connecting the World, Simon & Schuster, New York.
Mazamm, S., & Usleul, Y. (2010). Modeling Educational Usage of Facebook.
Computers & Education, 55(2), 444-453.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 1. On the Horizon, 9(5),
1 – 6.
Roblyer, M., McDaniel, M., Webb, M., Herman, J., & Witty, J. (2010). Findings on
Facebook in Higher Education: A Comparison of College Faculty and Student
Uses and Perceptions of Social Networking Sites. The Internet and Higher
Education, 13(3), 134-140.
Shin, H. J., & Son, J. B. (2007). EFL teachers' perceptions and perspectives on
Internet- assisted language teaching. CALL-EJ Online, 8(2). Retrieved July 17,
2008, from
http://www.tell.is.ritsumei.ac.jp/callejonline/journal/8-2/h-js_j-bs.html
Skerrett, A. (2010). Lolita, facebook, and the third space of literacy teacher
education. Educational Studies, 46(1), 67-84.
Wong Su Luan, Sidek Abdul Aziz, Aida Suraya Mohd Yunus, Zakaria Sidek, Kamariah
Abu Bakar, Hamidah Meseran & Hanafi Atan (2005). Gender Differences in
ICT Competencies among Academicians at Universiti Putra Malaysia
Malaysian Online Journal of Instructional Technology (MOJIT), Vol. 2,
No. 3, pp 62-69
MICELT 2012
198
Pragmatic strategies and linguistic structures in making ‘suggestions’: Towards
comprehensive taxonomies
Hossein Abolfathi asl & Ain Nadzimah Abdullah
Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)
Introduction
Research on second language pragmatics acquisition or development has been
synonymous with studying various speech acts in different cultural and pedagogical
settings. Researchers have tried to develop classifications for structures and strategies
used to perform different speech acts through cross-cultural and cross-linguistic studies in
recent years. These classifications and taxonomies can be used by other researchers in
pragmatics research, especially in interventional studies. They can also comprise teaching
material in ESL/EFL classroom. Suggesting is one of the face-threatening speech acts
which has not been studied much in pragmatics research. Few taxonomies and
classifications have been proposed for suggesting strategies and structures so far, yet
there is not a comprehensive set of taxonomies of the structures and strategies involved in
making L2 suggestions. In this paper, an improved taxonomy of linguistic structures for
making suggestions will be presented based on existing taxonomies and a set of
politeness strategies will be provided to make a more comprehensive set of taxonomies
for ‘suggestions’. The next section will define the speech act of suggesting, followed by
linguistic structure and politeness strategy classifications proposed in order to move
towards more inclusive taxonomies for the speech act of suggesting.
Defining the Speech Act of Suggesting
Suggesting belongs to directive speech acts in which, according to Searle (1976), the
speaker’s aim is to get the hearer to commit themselves to some future course of action.
Based on this definition, many researchers regard suggesting as a directive speech act
(Brown and Levinson, 1978; Holmes, 1983; Schmidt and Richards, 1985; Banerjee and
Carrell, 1988 among others). Banerjee and Carrell (1988) define suggestion as “an
utterance that the speaker intends the hearer to perceive as a directive to do something
that will be to the hearer’s benefit” (p. 319). In Bach and Harnish’s (1979) definition of
directives, it is implied that the speaker’s intention in an utterance must be taken as a
reason for the hearer’s future action. The necessary interaction between the speaker and
the hearer is one of the features distinguishing directives from other groups of speech
acts. According to Trosborg (1995), the hearer’s future action is part of the speaker’s
intention only in the case of directives. Thomas (1995) also believes that both the speaker
and the hearer should be considered in producing directive speech acts.
According to Brown and Levinson’s (1987) politeness theory, suggesting is regarded as a
face-threatening act (FTA) since the interlocutor who makes the suggestion somehow
intrudes into the hearer’s world through performing an act to get the latter to do
something. Banerjee and Carrell (1988) regard suggestions as an imposition on the
hearer by affronting their negative face. In making suggestions several factors should be
MICELT 2012
199
taken into account such as the degree of embarrassment in the situation, the urgency of
suggestion, the social distance and power between the interlocutors (Brown and
Levinson, 1987). Regarding these factors and the extent to which a situation can be more
or less threatening, the speaker might try to employ some politeness strategies to soften
or mitigate the speech act and thus prevent or minimize the chances of the hearer’s being
offended (Martinez-Flor, 2005).
Linguistic Structures Used for Making Suggestions
Successful speech act performance involves possessing socio-cultural and sociolinguistic
knowledge by the interlocutors (Cohen, 1996). Sociocultural knowledge determines when
and which speech act is appropriate in a given situation and sociolinguistic knowledge,
also referred to as pragmalinguistic knowledge (Thomas, 1983; Bardovi-Harlig, 1999;
Kasper and Rose, 2002), determines the linguistic realization of a speech act which is
appropriate in a specific situation. This type of knowledge encompasses the knowledge
about linguistic and strategic resources available for communicating through performing
a speech act. According to Kasper (1997), these resources include pragmatic strategies,
routines, and a variety of linguistic structures that can intensify or mitigate
communicative acts. Thus, a large range of linguistic structures and having knowledge of
these forms is an essential component of speech act performance.
In an attempt to come up with a comprehensive list of linguistic structures used for
making suggestions, the author reviewed the previous studies and taxonomies provided
for these structures in the literature. The linguistic structures used for making suggestions
provided by Jiang (2006) and Martinez-Flor (2005) were found to be the most recent and
comprehensive lists available to be used in the current study. The list of structures
provided by Jiang (2006) is based on corpus data analysis, thus it reflects real-life usage
of the structures well. A new list of structures would be created by merging the two lists
mentioned above in order to provide a more inclusive taxonomy to be used in the study.
Using naturally occurring data from office hours and study groups of the TOEFL 2000
Spoken and Written Academic Language Corpus (data from US universities) by Biber et
al. (2002) and generating a list of possible and most commonly used structures for
making suggestions from different sources, Jiang (2006) conducted a concordance search
to determine each structure’s frequency of occurrence and also the register differences
between office hours and study groups (i.e. corpus data) in terms of using the structures.
In the list provided by Jiang (2006), the structures are classified into nine categories
based on their grammatical features, including Let’s…, modals and semi-modals, Wh-
questions, conditionals, performatives, pseudo cleft structures, extraposed to-clauses, yes-
no questions, and imperatives. A list of the structures with examples for each category is
illustrated in Table 2.
LINGUISTIC
STRUCTURE
EXAMPLE
Let’s . . .
Modals and semi-modals You need to… You should…You must. . .
MICELT 2012
200
Wh-questions Why don’t you…? How about…?
Conditionals If I were… If you….
Performatives suggest/recommend/suggestion/recommendation/proposal
Pseudo-cleft structures One thing you could do is. . .All…is… what…..is….
Extraposed to-clauses It might be. . . to…
It never hurts/. . .won’t hurt… to...
Yes–no questions
Have you thought of/about . . .?
Would you consider . . .?
Imperatives
Try… Write…
Table 1 List of structures used for making suggestions (Jiang, 2006)
Martinez-Flor (2005) also proposed a taxonomy of suggestion linguistic realization
strategies including three main types of direct, conventionalized and indirect forms. The
direct strategies in which the speaker clearly states what he/she means are performed
using performative verbs, a noun of suggestion, imperatives and negative imperatives. It
has been argued that the use of performative verbs to make suggestions is not very
common in everyday life regarding its high level of directness. However, Martinez-Flor’s
(2004) findings show that native speakers sometimes use performative verbs to make
suggestions in formal situations. The use of a noun of suggestion is regarded as a very
direct type of suggestion as well (Tsui, 1994). Making suggestions using imperatives is
regarded as the most direct and impolite forms of suggesting (Edmonson and House,
1981; Koike, 1997; Hinkel, 1997; Martinez-Flor, 2005) since they carry the most literal
pragmatic force.
The second type of forms used to make suggestions in Martinez-Flor’s taxonomy is
conventionalized forms. These forms are not as direct as the first type of suggestions and
the illocutionary force indicator appears in the utterance so that the hearer can understand
the speaker’s intentions behind the suggestion. The conventionalized type includes the
use of specific formulae (i.e. interrogative forms), expressions of possibility or
probability, the use of verbs should and need, and the use of conditionals.
The third type of linguistic suggesting strategies is referred to as indirect suggestions
(Martinez-Flor, 2005). In these forms of suggestions, there is no indicator of illocutionary
force in the utterance so the speaker’s intention should be inferred by the hearer. Using
various impersonal forms and also hints has been regarded as two ways of making
indirect suggestions (Hinkel, 1994, 1997; Koike, 1994; Bardovi-Harlig and Hartford,
1996). The taxonomy of suggestion linguistic realization strate gies provided by
Martinez-Flor (2005) is shown in Table 0
MICELT 2012
201
TYPE STRATEGY EXAMPLE DIRECT Performative verb I suggest that you...
I advise you to ...
I recommend that you ... Noun of suggestion My suggestion would be... Imperative Try using... Negative
imperative
Don't trv to... CONVENTIONALISED
FORMS
Specific formulae
(interrogative
forms)
Why don't you...?
How about...?
What about...?
Have you thought about... ? Possibility/probabil
ity
You can... You could... You
may... You might...
Should You should... Need You need to... Conditional If I were you, I would ...
INDIRECT Impersonal One thing (that you can do)
would be
Here's one possibility: ...
There are a number of options
that
you...
It would be helpful if you...
It might be better to ...
A good idea would be ...
It would be nice if...
Hints I've heard that...
Table 0 Taxonomy of Suggestion Linguistic Realization Strategies (Martinez-
Flor, 2005)
Although classifications of linguistic forms used for making suggestions provided by
Jiang (2006) and Martinez-Flor (2005) overlap to some extent, there are specific features
to either classification which are absent in the other one. The list provided by Jiang
(2006) does not provide strategies of making suggestions; however, it seems to be a more
inclusive list regarding the categorization of linguistic structures. Martinez-Flor’s (2005)
taxonomy provides three types of strategies as well, even though the structure
classification is not as inclusive as the one presented in Jiang’s (2006) list. Thus, merging
the two taxonomies would provide a more inclusive taxonomy of linguistic structures and
strategies used for performing the speech act of suggesting. Table 3 illustrates the
taxonomy developed from combining previously discussed taxonomies in order to make
a more inclusive categorization of suggesting strategies and structures.
MICELT 2012
202
SUGGESTING
STRATEGY
STRUCTURE EXAMPLES
DIRECT
Performatives: Performative
Verbs & Noun of Suggestion
-I suggest/recommend/propose
-My suggestion/advice is that…
Imperatives & Negative
imperatives
-Ask them about…
-Don’t try to use…
Let’s… Let’s work together on the project.
INDIRECT
Pseudo-cleft Structures
-All…is…
-One thing you could do is…
-One important thing to keep in
mind is…
Extraposed to-clauses
-It might (not) be …to…
-It is …to…
Hints -I’ve read/heard that…
CONVENTIONALIZED
FORMS
Modals & Semi-modals
-You…have to/need to/should
(shouldn’t)/ought
to/can/could/might/had better…
Conditionals
-If you…
-If I were you…
Wh-Questions (interrogative)
-Why don’t you…?
-How about…?
Why not…?
Yes-no Questions
(interrogative)
-Would you consider…?
-Have you thought of…?
MICELT 2012
203
Table 3 An inclusive list of linguistic realization strategies used for making
suggestions
Politeness Strategies in Making Suggestions
In addition to linguistic structures used for making the speech act of suggesting, the
pragmatic strategies that one chooses to make suggestions appropriately should also be
taken into account. For the purpose of the current study, the most recent cross-cultural
studies on pragmatic strategies used for making suggestions were reviewed as well to
identify a list of politeness strategies used for performing the speech act of suggesting. Of
the previous comparative studies done on suggesting strategies and classifications
provided, Li’s (2010) classification of suggesting strategies would be used in the study
for the following reasons. First, Li’s (2010) study has provided classifications for both
directness and politeness strategies. Second, it is the most recent comparative study
addressing the suggesting strategies and has taken into account previous studies as well,
e.g. the Cross-cultural Speech Act Realization Project (CCSARP) scheme (Blum-Kulka,
1989).
According to Li (2010), there are three aspects of pragmatic strategies in making
suggestions which should be considered and analyzed, namely perspective, directness and
politeness. Politeness strategy is believed to be the central issue in linguistic performance.
Pragmatic strategies used for suggestions are examined in terms of politeness as well.
Suggestion is regarded as a face-threatening act (Brown and Levinson, 1987; Banerjee
and Carrell, 1988), thus an interlocutor makes a suggestion in one of two ways, namely
bald on record, i.e. without any redressive action and with redressive actions to lessen the
face-threatening force. There are two types of redressive actions, namely internal and
external redressive actions. Internal redressive actions are indicated inside the suggestion
utterance while external actions are linguistic elements or supportive moves that exist
outside the suggestion utterance in order to mitigate the intrusive force of making the
suggestion. Internal redressive actions include subjectivizers, appealers, tense forms,
cajolers, politeness markers, subjunctives and downtoners. External redressive actions
comprise grounder, politeness marker, preparatory, downgrading commitment and
imposition minimizer. A list of internal and external redressive actions with examples
adopted from Li (2010: 604-5) is shown below.
(1) Subjectivizers are elements used by the speaker to expresses the idea that the
suggestion only represents his/her subjective opinion, thus lowering the assertive force of
it.
(2) Appealers are elements used by the speaker to appeal to the hearer’s benevolent
understanding.
(3) In English, past tense forms can be used with present time reference to downgrade the
assertive force.
(4) Cajolers are conventionalized speech items in which their semantic contents are of
little transparent relevance to their discourse meaning to downgrade the assertive force of
a suggestion.
MICELT 2012
204
(5) Politeness markers are elements added to a suggestion aiming for cooperation from
the hearer.
(6) Subjunctives forms like might can be used by the speakers to soften the imposition
force in making suggestion.
(7) Downtoners are sentential or propositional modifiers to modify the impact the
suggestion is likely to have on the hearer.
External redressive actions include the following acts:
(1) Grounders refer to any reasons, explanations or justifications that the speaker gives
for his/her suggestion.
(2) External politeness markers are any elements inserted to suggestion aiming for
cooperation from the hearer.
(3) Preparators are any moves in which the speaker asks about the potential possibility of
carrying out the suggestion, or asks for the hearer’s permission to make a suggestion in
order to prepare the hearer for ensuing suggestion without giving away the content of the
speech act.
(4) Downgrading commitments are modifiers that the speaker employs to minimize the
degree of his/her commitment to a suggestion.
(5) Imposition minimizers are elements through which the speaker tries to reduce the
imposition placed on the hearer by his/her suggestion.
POLITENESS STRATEGY ACTION EXAMPLE
INTERNAL REDRESSIVE
ACTION
Subjectivizers
-I think it’d be better to go to
the movies.
Appealers -Let’s do it tomorrow, okay?
Past tense
-I wanted to get him a book for
present.
Cajolers
-You know, I think you should
take that course.
Politeness markers
-Let’s try once more, if you
don’t mind.
MICELT 2012
205
Subjunctive forms
-It’d be better if we finished it
today.
Downtoners
-You should perhaps move to
another place.
EXTERNAL REDRESSIVE
ACTION
Grounders
-How about going to the
beach. I bet we will have a
great time there.
External politeness markers
-You’d better drop that course.
What do you think?
Preparators
-Can I suggest something? I
think you have to take some
time off work.
Downgrading commitments
-I’m not too sure but I think
you need to check it online.
Imposition minimizers -I think you should go and talk
to the manager if you are not
against it.
Table 4 Politeness strategies in making suggestions adapted from Li (2010)
Summary
This paper was an attempt to move towards providing more inclusive and comprehensive
taxonomies and classifications of strategies and structures used for making the speech act
of suggesting. Although some taxonomies and lists of suggesting strategies and structures
have been proposed by researchers mainly in cross-cultural studies, bringing these
taxonomies together, comparing/contrasting them and presenting a rather improved set of
classifications seems to be a worthwhile act since researchers and L2 teachers can make
use of these taxonomies in their pragmatics studies and instructional settings. However,
these taxonomies are expected to be improved to be even more inclusive in reflecting the
strategies and structures used in performing suggestions in future studies.
MICELT 2012
206
References
Bach, K. & Harnish, R. M. (1979): Linguistic communication and speech acts.
Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press
Banerjee, J. & Carrell, P. L. (1988). Tuck in your shirt, you squid: Suggestions in
ESL. LanguageLearning, 38: 313-364.
Blum-Kulka, Sh. (1989). Playing it safe: the role of conventionality in indirectness. In:
Blum-Kulka, Shoshana, House, Juliane, Kasper, Gabriele (Eds.), Cross-cultural
Pragmatics: Requests and Apologies. Ablex, New Jersey, pp. 37–70.
Brown, P. & Levinson, S.C. (1987): Politeness: Some universals in language use.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jiang, X. (2006). Suggestions: What should ESL students know? System 34 (2006) 36–
54.
Li, E.S. (2010). Making suggestions: A contrastive study of young Hong Kong and
Australian students. Journal of Pragmatics 42 (2010) 598–616.
Martinez-Flor, A. (2005). A Theoretical Review of the Speech Act of Suggesting:
Towards a Taxonomy for its Use in FLT. Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses,
18(2005): 167-187
Searle, J. R. (1969): Speech acts: An essay in the philosophy of language. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Trosborg, A. (1995): Interlanguage pragmatics. Requests, complaints and apologies.
Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.