Graham Crookes

Three Approaches to Task‐Based Syllabus Design

Choice of the unit of analysis in syllabus design is crucial for all aspects of a language teaching program. A variety of units, including word, structure, notion, function, topic, and situation, continue to be employed in synthetic, Type A, syllabuses. While each is relevant for analyses of the target language and its use, nativelike linguistic elements find little support as meaningful acquisition units from a language learners perspective. Task has more recently appeared as the unit of analysis in three analytic, (primarily) Type B, alternatives: procedural, process, and task syllabuses. Each of these has certain limitations, too, but when the task syllabus is combined with a focus on form in task-based language teaching, the task receives more support in second language acquisition (SLA) research as a viable unit around which to organize language teaching and learning opportunities.

PLANNING AND INTERLANGUAGE VARIATION

Having focused previously on attention, cognitively oriented investigations of interlanguage variation and development are turning toward other possible explanatory variables, such as planning. The present study reports on an experiment in which two groups of 20 Japanese learners of English as a second language performed two monologic production tasks with and without time for planning. It was found that providing learners with time to plan their utterances results in interlanguage productions which are more complex in the short run.

The Practicum in TESOL

This article reports the results of a questionnaire survey of how the teaching practicum is conducted in U.S. graduate TESOL programs. Information was sought on the objectives of the practicum, the kinds of training experiences and activities employed, and how the practicum is implemented. The results are discussed with reference to key issues in the field of practice teaching in TESOL. The Directory of Professional Preparation Programs in TESOL in the United States (Frank-McNeil, 1986) lists 120 institutions that have programs leading to a masters degree. These programs typically offer a wide range of courses serving a diverse student population. Some lead to certification so that graduates may teach in public schools; other programs have a particular specialization, such as bilingual education, adult education, or teaching English overseas. Most attempt to achieve their goals through offering a balanced curriculum emphasizing both theory and practice. However, theory sometimes wins out over practice. In a survey of American MA TESOL graduates working in Japan (Richards & Hino, 1983), the most frequently studied courses in MA TESOL programs were phonology, transformational grammar, structural linguistics, second language acquisition, first language acquisition, and contrastive analysis. In the same survey respondents reported that the courses they found to be most useful in view of the professional demands made on them as practicing language teachers were practice teaching, classroom management, second language acquisition, materials writing and adaptation, method analysis, and phonology. In most MA TESOL programs, the practice teaching course, or practicum, is the major opportunity for the student teacher to acquire the practical skills and knowledge needed to function as an effective language teacher. Yet there is little research or literature in

Syllable Duration and Pausing in the Speech of Chinese ESL Speakers

* Although suprasegmentals (stress, rhythm, and intonation) and pausing are very important for intelligibility (Anderson-Hsieh, 1992), the literature contains only a few acoustic studies investigating these aspects of speaking proficiency in ESL learners. Bond and Fokes (1985) investigated stress and syllable duration at the word level and found that nonnative speakers representing several language backgrounds showed less differentiation in syllable duration than did native speakers (NSs). Adams (1979) investigated rhythm and pausing at the discourse level in a linguistically heterogeneous group of ESL learners using rhymes and paragraphs as elicitation tasks. She found that the nonnative speakers in her study paused frequently and at inappropriate points in the sentence and differentiated less in duration between stressed and unstressed syllables than did native speakers. However, the studies cited above did not use an independent test to assess speaking proficiency, and they apparently investigated only one level of proficiency-intermediate to high intermediate-so the extent to which more advanced speakers acquire syllable duration and pausing is not known. The preliminary study reported here investigated syllable duration and pausing in Chinese ESL speakers, a group not investigated in the earlier studies but one that has been reported informally as having difficulties with English rhythm (Chang, 1987). We investigated both intermediate-proficiency (IP) and high-proficiency (HP) speakers because comparing such speakers with native speakers should provide information on both the difficulties that Chinese learners have with syllable duration and

SLA and Language Pedagogy: A Socioeducational Perspective.

The connection between SLA research and second and foreign language (S/FL) teaching is discussed in this paper, from the viewpoint that such a relationship is desirable and that it is advantageous to see it as one mediated by a variety of factors. At the same time, it is asserted that the relationship is presently often weaker than it should be. The conditions under which S/FL language teaching take place are identified as strongly contributing to this state of affairs, though other aspects of SLA research that might have limited its relevance to teaching are also considered. A call is made for empirical studies into the use by teachers of research.

The practicality and relevance of second language critical pedagogy

The paper reviews eight topics in the area of second language critical pedagogy: (i) historical inheritances and lines of development associated with critical pedagogies; (ii) advocacy (and the need for critical language teachers to engage in it); (iii) the diverse institutional contexts that could be explored for critical language pedagogy; (iv) the range of languages within which critical approaches have been explored; (v) EFL critical pedagogy; (vi) the broad range of categories of oppression addressed by critical language pedagogy; (vii) materials for critical language pedagogy, and (viii) the role of the ‘imaginary’ in encouraging critical language pedagogy. I suggest that these constitute matters which, if given attention by critical language pedagogy specialists, could enhance the perceived practicality and/or relevance of the area.

Exploring the Possibilities for EFL Critical Pedagogy in Korea: A Two-Part Case Study

The paper reports an investigation carried out in two Korean EFL classrooms, being small-scale interventions within existing classrooms or institutional structures. A teacher-researcher introduced critically-oriented material using an optional class in a junior high school and an existing class in a senior high school. The focus was on establishing critical dialogue between students and teachers, providing opportunities for learners to develop English language abilities while engaging in critical discussion of topics. Data collected included audio and videotapes of classrooms, oral and written interviews with students and teachers, student class evaluations, and associated documents. Findings (based on qualitative analyses of data) suggest that students were by no means resistant to this kind of material or class, and showed the ability to handle and generate critical dialogue in English. Students recognized the classes as challenging though not as focused on exam preparation as their regular course offerings. The study, while small-scale and exploratory, calls into question the stereotype of East Asian students as passive and non-autonomous and helps dispel the idea that East Asian classrooms are inherently rigidly hierarchical.

Power, Effect Size, and Second Language Research A Researcher Comments…

We are rather raising three central questions for the profession to address, consider, and debate. No syllogisms of the sort Hoye puts forth underlie our article. Although social equality may well contribute to language learning, we are not so naive as to think that mainstreaming, in and of itself, will result in social equality. Social equality will be achieved only when all individuals share equal political and economic access. The school, along with other social institutions, plays a role in either supporting or undermining social equality. When social equality is attained, individuals and social groups will be able to select the language programs that best meet their needs. We envision our article being used in the following manner. A community would set the priorities they believe important based on the questions we raised and others. If a community were to decide that its priorities included native language development, academic achievement, and social integration, then program development would proceed with these priorities in mind. Setting priorities would encourage planners to design innovative programs responsive to community needs, rather than automatically selecting a preexisting model. Our article advocated no approach. We argued rather for a careful weighing of priorities before designing or accepting any approach to minority education.

Research Issues: The Use of Multiple t Tests in Language Research

Flynn, S. (1987). Contrast and constructions in a parameter-setting model of L2 acquisition. Language Learning, 37(1), 19-62. Hermon, G. (1987, March). Government and binding theory: Implications for L1 and L2 acquisition. Paper presented at the Second Language Acquisition and Teacher Education Seminar, Champaign, IL. McLaughlin, B. (1987). Theories of second-language learning. London: Edward Arnold.

Indigenous Critical Traditions for TEFL? A Historical and Comparative Perspective in the Case of Korea

The possibility of curricular innovation in English teaching in non-Western countries has been questioned on cultural grounds. However, in some cases this may be unjustified; insufficient attention may have been paid to the diversity and extent of the educational traditions that either co-exist, or have existed in the past, in a particular cultural area. Historical and theoretical analyses may suggest greater possibilities to the curriculum developer who devotes attention to these aspects of culture. In this paper, the non-mainstream curricular inheritances within Korean education are discussed, and their resources applied to the question of feasibility of critical pedagogy in a Korean situation. After considering the role of Orientalism in establishing a position of unfeasibility that is not empirically well-grounded, this paper reviews some aspects of the Confucian inheritances common to East Asian countries, which might be inhibitory. The paper argues that the Confucian tradition has more than one side, and other cultural practices, both ancient and more recent mean that critical language curriculum development possibilities could be based on these diverse cultural and historical inheritances in the case of Korea.