Elizabeth Gatbonton

Investigating Experienced ESL Teachers’ Pedagogical Knowledge

This study investigated the hypothesis that it is possible to access the pattern of knowledge about teaching and learning (pedagogical knowledge) that experienced teachers utilize while they teach. This hypothesis was investigated through qualitative and quantitative analyses of verbal protocols obtained from teachers who simultaneously watched videotaped segments of themselves teaching and reported on thoughts they had as they taught these segments. Two sets of experienced teachers (N = 7) uniformly reported 20 to 21 categories of pedagogical thoughts that they claimed were in their minds while teaching. Of these, 7 to 8 were reported more frequently than others. The lists of predominant categories for both sets are headed by thoughts concerned with managing both the language the students hear and the language they produce (Language Management). Thoughts about students (Knowledge of Students), thoughts about ensuring the smooth transition of activities in the classroom (Procedure Check), and assessing student participation in and progress with the classroom tasks (Progress Review) were also among those that featured highly on both sets of teachers’ predominance lists. In terms of an approach in analyzing the thought processes of ESL teachers, the study suggests that a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods may be profitable.

Ethnocentrism, Cultural Traits, Beliefs, and English Proficiency: A Japanese Sample

This article reports on a study investigating the role in second language (L2) learning of ethnocentrism, cultural and personality traits, and acceptance of values and beliefs expressed in myths and proverbs. Although scholars have conjectured that these factors may play an important role in L2 proficiency, there has been very little empirical investigation of this issue. In our study, 108 adult Japanese living in North America were asked how much they agreed with or accepted statements expressing ethnocentric views about Japanese culture and language that described their shyness, inwardness, and groupist tendencies and that indicated certain Japanese values and beliefs as expressed through myths and proverbs. Three sets of variables were tested: (a) participants’ ethnocentrism, (b) willingness to acknowledge certain cultural traits as being characteristic of Japanese as a group, and (c) willingness to accept the validity of Japanese-oriented myths and proverbs. The participants’ responses on these variables were correlated with their levels of English proficiency as measured by a cloze test, a self-rated ability sacle, and a self-rated performance scale. It was hypothesized that the higher the participants’ responses on these variables, the lower their proficiency levels in English would be. Results suggest that these cultural traits and beliefs play a role in L2 learning but provide little evidence for an effect of ethnocentrism as the term is commonly defined.

The Ethnic Group Affiliation and L2 Proficiency Link: Empirical Evidence

With economic globalisation making second language (L2) learning inevitable throughout the world, understanding what factors facilitate success is a socioeconomic necessity. This paper examined the role of social factors, those related to ethnic group affiliation (EGA), in the development of L2 proficiency. Although numerous studies have documented an intimate relationship between language and EGA, few have examined whether and how this relationship shapes L2 learning. The participants were 59 adult French–English bilinguals from Québec who read an English text and completed a questionnaire assessing their EGA, including pride, loyalty and support for their ethnic group and its language. Results revealed a significant, albeit complex, association between EGA and L2 proficiency. Basic feelings of pride and loyalty towards the ethnic group had no associations with L2 proficiency. Strong support for the groups sociopolitical aspirations were associated with low L2 proficiency. In turn, strong ethnic group identification, coupled with a positive orientation towards the L2 group, was associated with high L2 proficiency. These EGA effects were found to be mediated by amount of L2 use, revealing a plausible link sustaining the relationship between EGA and L2 learning success.

Automaticity and Lexical Skills in Second Language Fluency: Implications for Computer Assisted Language Learning

Abstract This article addresses the question of how computer assisted language learning should be designed to promote second language lexical fluency. The discussion reviews findings in the psychological literature concerning the nature of lexical development, transfer appropriate learning, the conditions that promote automaticity in skilled performance, and ways to assess level of automaticity. The paper outlines a possible application of computer assisted language learning to lexical skill development that takes into account the psychological issues reviewed.

Investigating Heritage Language and Culture Links: An Indo-Canadian Hindu Perspective

Abstract Although it is commonly believed that language and culture are inexorably linked, the precise nature of this relationship remains elusive. This study investigated the hypothesis that a loss in language signals a loss in culture if language is considered a central value. This hypothesis was investigated by rating the Hindi and English proficiency of 30 first and second generation Indo-Canadian Hindi speakers (15 parent–child pairs) and relating these to their reactions in a matched-guise task, featuring culturally charged English and Hindi scenarios recorded by the same speaker. The scenarios targeted one aspect of North Indian culture – the value of filial duty – in two contexts (marriage, career). It was hypothesised that, if language loss triggered culture loss, then speakers losing their Hindi (second generation), but not those maintaining it (first generation), would differ in their reactions to scenarios as a function of language. Findings revealed a language shift and the beginnings of a culture shift between the two generations. However, the shift in culture appeared not to be mediated by language. Implications of these findings for heritage language and culture maintenance, the language–culture relationship and group identity construction are discussed.

Learner attention to form in ACCESS task-based interaction

This study explored the potential effects of communicative tasks developed using a reformulation of a task-based language teaching called Automatization in Communicative Contexts of Essential Speech Sequences (ACCESS) that includes automatization of language elements as one of its goals on learner attention to form in task-based interaction. The interaction data collected from a class for English as a second language (ESL) over a four-week period was analysed for incidence, outcome and characteristics (i.e. focus, initiation, response, and turn length) of language-related episodes (LREs) operationalized as evidence of learner attention to form. The results showed that during ACCESS task-based interactions, learners attended to form as reflected in a large number of LREs. Despite being brief, a majority of these LREs were correctly resolved, self-initiated, self- and other-responded, and focused on the target linguistic item: past-tense verbs. These results are discussed in terms of the potential effects of ACCESS task principles, different task features (i.e. task complexity, pre-task modeling, speaker role and group size), and learners’ approach to tasks on the incidence and characteristics of LREs.

Oral corrective feedback: Pre-service English as a second language teachers’ beliefs and practices:

This study investigated the relationship between pre-service English-as-a-second-language (ESL) teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and their actual teaching practices. To determine the nature of this relationship, 99 teachers-in-training with little or no teaching experience were asked to complete a questionnaire seeking information about their teaching beliefs, particularly about oral corrective feedback (i.e. teachers’ responses to students’ language errors). The teachers’ responses were subjected to an exploratory factor analysis which revealed several dimensions underlying their beliefs. To examine how these beliefs affect classroom performance, 10 of the teachers were first asked to indicate how they would correct language errors illustrated in hypothetical (videotaped) classroom scenarios and were then observed teaching an authentic ESL class. The classes were video-recorded and 30-minute teacher-fronted communicative segments from the lessons were analysed for the number and type of errors learners made and the teachers addressed. Results indicate a multifarious relationship between stated beliefs and actual teaching practices in that while the teachers corrected fewer errors than they believed they would, they preferred the same corrective techniques in both hypothetical and actual teaching situations. Most notably, the study suggests that the complexities of the language classroom and the pre-service teachers’ lack of experience at integrating theoretical knowledge and practical skills, lead them to behave overall as native-speaking interlocutors, not as language teachers. Implications for teacher training are discussed.

A Pedagogical Corpus to Support a Language Teaching Curriculum to Revitalize an Endangered Language: The Case of Labrador Inuttitut

An obstacle to revitalizing an endangered language is the shortage of authentic speech samples for learners to use as models. Digital recordings of community elders performing traditional chores and special rituals or narrating legends and myths are often made to overcome this obstacle. These recordings, however, contain speech that lacks the crucial features of conversational speech that make them appropriate instructional models. Effective model utterances should be short, have a stand-alone format, and have similar structures to utterances used in everyday transactions, which must be labeled and tagged and organized into a searchable corpus. To date, however, no such corpus exists for indigenous languages, and compiling one is an enormous task. To provide native speech models for adult Labrador Inuit learning their endangered language, Inuttitut, the authors explored the feasibility of building a specialized corpus potentially useful for aiding classroom instruction, using an internationally recognized open-source search and retrieval system called Topic Maps to create its database.

Comments on Elizabeth Gatbonton and Norman Segalowitz's "Creative Automatization: Principles for Promoting Fluency within a Communicative Framework". The Authors Respond

implications? In J. E. Alatis (Ed.), Report of the Twentieth Annual Round Table Meeting on Linguistics and Language Studies (pp. 143155). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. Spolsky, B. (1985a). Formulating a theory of second language learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 7, 269-288. Spolsky, B. (1985b). Some psycholinguistic conditions for second language learning. Per linguam, 1, 2-11. Spolsky, B. (1986). A multiple choice for language testers. Language Testing, 3, 148-158. Spolsky, B. (1987). The place of linguistics in a general theory of second language learning and in language teaching. AILA Review, 4, 32-43. Spolsky, B. (1988). [Review article: Review of R. Ellis, Understanding second language acquisition, and R. C. Gardner, Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation]. Applied Linguistics, 9, 100-113. Spolsky, B. (1989). Conditions for second language learning: Introduction to a general theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.