Marlise Horst

First and second language knowledge in the language classroom

This feasibility study investigated how language instruction can be designed to help learners build on first language (L1) knowledge in acquiring a new language. It seems likely that learners will benefit from activities that draw their attention to features of their L1, but attempts to bridge the first and second language (L2) curricula often break down because the teachers typically work in isolation and are uncertain how to proceed. We attempted to address these problems by designing a series of cross-linguistic awareness (CLA) activities to be implemented on a trial basis with 48 young francophone learners of English (age 9—10 years) at a school in Montreal, Quebec. We observed language instruction in their French (L1) classes and identified features and themes that lent themselves to reinvestment in their English (L2) classes. Then 11 CLA teaching packages were developed and piloted with in an intensive year-long English as a second language (ESL) program. Classroom observations, interviews with both L1 and L2 teachers, and learner journal responses indicated that the activities were well received and that CLA instruction can usefully address a wide variety of linguistic features. Problems highlighted by the study are discussed; we also outline new research that will explore whether this promising experimental pedagogy leads to distinct language learning benefits.

Research Perspectives on English for Academic Purposes: Reading academic English: Carrying learners across the lexical threshold

The ESP reading problem With the growth of English as the lingua franca of work and study, many non-English speakers find themselves needing to attain some level of proficiency in English in order to function in jobs or courses. However, they may have limited time to devote to language learning, and little interest in knowing English outside the work or study context. Responding to these circumstances, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) curriculum designers have attempted to reduce the time frame of learning through domain targeting. They attempt to identify and teach the lexis, syntax, functions and discourse patterns most commonly used in a domain (for chemistry students, test tubes, passive voice, clarification requests and laboratory reports). This approach has given waiters, tour guides and airline pilots enough English to function in their domains after relatively short periods in the classroom. But it runs into complications when the specific purpose is to read extended texts in a professional or academic domain. It now seems clear that the cross-domain generalities of English (pronoun system, verb tenses, basic vocabulary, etc.) can be introduced and practised within a subset of the language. Simple reading tasks such as understanding signs and instructions can be undertaken knowing only the English used in a particular job or profession. But does this hold true for reading longer texts? Consider the position of the learner who knows the grammar of English and the technical terms of a domain: text analysis shows that these terms are typically rather few (Flowerdew, 1993c), roughly 5% of tokens (Nation, 1990).

How much vocabulary is needed to use English? Replication of van Zeeland & Schmitt (2012), Nation (2006) and Cobb (2007)

There is current research consensus that second language (L2) learners are able to adequately comprehend general English written texts if they know 98% of the words that occur in the materials. This important finding prompts an important question: How much English vocabulary do English as a second language (ESL) learners need to know to achieve this crucial level of known-word coverage? A landmark paper by Nation (2006) provides a rather daunting answer. His exploration of the 98% figure through a variety of spoken and written corpora showed that knowledge of around 8,000–9,000 word families is needed for reading and 6,000–7,000 for listening. But is this the definitive picture? A recent study by van Zeeland & Schmitt (2012) suggests that 95% coverage may be sufficient for listening comprehension, and that this can be reached with 2,000–3,000 word families, which is much more manageable. Getting these figures right for a variety of text modalities, genres and conditions of reading and listening is essential. Teachers and learners need to be able to set goals, and as Cobbs study of learning opportunities (2007) has shown, coverage percentages and their associated vocabulary knowledge requirements have important implications for the acquisition of new word knowledge through exposure to comprehensible L2 input. This article proposes approximate replications of Nation (2006), van Zeeland & Schmitt (2012), and Cobb (2007), in order to clarify these key coverage and size figures.

Cognate awareness -raising in late childhood: teachable and useful

This study is part of a larger investigation of the usefulness of instruction designed to raise cross-linguistic awareness in young Francophone learners of English in Quebec. In the research reported here, the focus is on cognates. Since previous research shows that learners typically fail to recognise many helpful similarities between words in a new language (in this case, English) and languages they already know, the instructional activities we designed emphasised strategies for identifying ‘good friend’ resemblances, though false friends were also discussed. The impact of the activities was assessed in three ways: learners’ performance on a measure of French–English cognate recognition ability; their written responses to a question that probed developing cognate awareness; and interviews that explored teachers’ experiences after using the activities in their classes. Findings suggested that learners benefited from the activities. Gains on the recognition test pointed to an advantage for ‘pattern’ instruction that addresses resemblances that are not readily detected (e.g. English screen = French écran). Learners who received the experimental instruction outperformed control groups on the cognate awareness measure. Furthermore, teachers were positive about the cross-linguistic comparisons. We conclude that the activities were effective and even enjoyable.