Mirosław Pawlak

New perspectives on individual differences in language learning and teaching

Changing Perspectives on Individual Learner Differences.- Cognitive Factors and Instructed Language Acquisition.- Affective and Social Factors in Language Learning.- Individual Differences in Learning and Teaching Practices.

Production-oriented and comprehension-based grammar teaching in the foreign language classroom

Issues in Grammar Learning and Teaching.- Theoretical Perspectives on Grammar Learning and Teaching.- Input-oriented Approaches to Grammar Teaching.- Investigating the effectiveness of Output-oriented and Input-based Instruction in the Language Classroom.- Exploring the Effects of Diversified Treatment Modes on Production and Reception of Grammatical Forms.

Grammar Learning Strategies and Language Attainment: Seeking a Relationship

Grammar Learning Strategies and Language Attainment: Seeking a Relationship Despite major advances in research on language learning strategies, there are still areas that have received only scant attention, and one of them is undoubtedly learning grammar. The paper contributes to the paucity of empirical investigations in this domain by presenting the findings of a study which sought to investigate the relationship between the use of grammar learning strategies (GLS) reported by 142 English Department students and target language attainment, operationalized as their performance in a practical grammar course and the end-of-the-year examination. Information about GLS use was obtained by means of a tool that was designed on the basis of a theoretical scheme proposed by Oxford, Rang Lee and Park (2007) in which GLS are divided into three categories depending on whether they represent implicit learning with focus on form, explicit inductive learning and explicit deductive learning. The analysis failed to find a strong positive relationship between the use of GLS and achievement, irrespective of the level of the BA program, or statistically significant differences in this respect between lower-level and higher-level participants. The highest, albeit very weak, correlation was identified between the use of GLS associated with explicit deductive learning and grammar course grades, which testifies to the traditional nature of instruction the subjects receive. The findings serve as a basis for putting forward a handful of recommendations for learning, teaching and testing grammar as well as directions for future studies into grammar learning strategies.

Investigating the nature of classroom willingness to communicate (WTC): A micro-perspective

Recent years have witnessed a shift in empirical investigations of language learners’ willingness to communicate (WTC) from quantitative studies examining the ways in which WTC antecedents co-act and contribute to communication, treating the concept as a stable characteristic, to a mixed-methods approach that allows the examination of stable behavioral tendencies and dynamic changes brought about by contextual variables. The rationale behind this study comes from the assumption that more profound understanding of motives underlying learners’ readiness or reluctance to speak may help create classroom conditions that facilitate communication, thus contributing to linguistic attainment. More specifically, the study represents an attempt to tap factors that shape advanced learners’ WTC during conversation classes in four different groups of students. Each time, the data were collected by means of self-ratings (i.e. indications of the level of WTC on a scale from −10 to +10) and immediate reports (i.e. questionnaires including closed and open-ended items). A combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis revealed that the extent to which WTC fluctuated was impacted by a range of contextual and individual factors. It was enhanced in particular when students were given the opportunity to communicate with familiar receivers in small groups or pairs on topics related to personal experiences.

Fluctuations in Learners’ Willingness to Communicate During Communicative Task Performance: Conditions and Tendencies

Abstract A person’s willingness to communicate (WTC), believed to stem from a combination of proximal and distal variables comprising psychological, linguistic, educational and communicative dimensions of language, appears to be a significant predictor of success in language learning. The ability to communicate is both a means and end of language education, since, on the one hand, being able to express the intended meanings in the target language is generally perceived as the main purpose of any language course and, on the other, linguistic development proceeds in the course of language use. However, MacIntyre (2007, p. 564) observes that some learners, despite extensive study, may never become successful L2 speakers. The inability or unwillingness to sustain contacts with more competent language users may influence the way learners are evaluated in various social contexts. Establishing social networks as a result of frequent communication with target language users is believed to foster linguistic development. WTC, initially considered a stable personality trait and then a result of context-dependent influences, has recently been viewed as a dynamic phenomenon changing its intensity within one communicative event (MacIntyre and Legatto, 2011; MacIntyre et al., 2011). The study whose results are reported here attempts to tap into factors that shape one’s willingness to speak during a communicative task. The measures employed to collect the data - selfratings and surveys - allow looking at the issue from a number of perspectives.

Applying Cognitive Grammar in the Foreign Language Classroom

Introduction to Cognitive Grammar.- Traditional and Cognitive Grammar descriptions of the English present tense, progressive aspect, and stative and dynamic verbs.- Pedagogical options in grammar teaching.- Applying Cognitive Grammar in the classroom.- Conclusions and Implications.

Anxiety as a Factor Influencing the Use of Language Learning Strategies

One of the most fruitful lines of inquiry when it comes to research into language learning strategies is represented by empirical investigations which have sought to identify the variables that impact the choice and use of strategic devices employed by learners (cf. Chamot 2004; Takeuchi et al. 2007; Ellis 2008). This is evidenced by the fact that over the years researchers have managed to establish stronger or weaker links between the application of language learning strategies and a wide array of individual (e.g. age, gender, motivation, experience in language and language learning), situational (e.g. culture, ethnicity, instructional setting, learning task) and group factors (e.g. socially constructed goals shared by students). Nevertheless, there are some important variables that have received very little attention in the studies conducted so far, even though they are known to contribute to success and failure in language learning. One such key factor is anxiety, which, despite being the focus of a number of research projects (see Piechurska-Kuciel 2008), has only very infrequently been connected with the use of strategies (e.g. Mihaljevic Djigunovic 2000). The paper represents an attempt to fill this unfortunate gap in the existing research by reporting the findings of a study which investigated the relationship between levels of foreign language anxiety and learning strategy use, as reported by 142 students of English philology. The instruments of data collection included the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (Oxford 1990), the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz et al. 1986) and interviews with selected participants. The data were subjected to quantitative and qualitative analysis which focused on the overall relationship between the two variables as well as interfaces between specific categories of strategic behaviors, components of anxiety and proficiency levels.

Comparing Learners’ and Teachers’ Beliefs About Form-Focused Instruction

The effectiveness of form-focused instruction (FFI), irrespective of how it is conceptualized, is often considered only with respect to the use of concrete instructional options, such as, for example, deduction and induction, output-oriented and input-based teaching, explicit and implicit corrective feedback, and so on (see Pawlak in The place of form-focused instruction in the foreign language classroom. Adam Mickiewicz University Press, Kalisz, 2006; Ellis in The study of second language acquisition. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2008; Nassaji and Fotos in Form-focused instruction and teacher education: Studies in honor of Rod Ellis. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011). Although determining the contribution of specific techniques and procedures is by all means justified, it should be kept in mind that their real value in the classroom hinges upon the beliefs manifested by learners and teachers as to how formal instruction should best be conducted, and, in particular, the extent to which the perceptions of the two groups overlap. In line with this assumption, the present paper reports the findings of a study which aimed to compare the beliefs about different aspects of FFI held by 106 advanced learners majoring in English and 62 teachers working in Departments of English Studies. The analysis of the data collected by means of a questionnaire containing Likert-scale and open-ended items showed that there were many differences between the two groups, the discussion of which provided a basis for tentative pedagogical implications and suggestions for further research.

Instructional Mode and the Use of Grammar Learning Strategies

The scope of research into language learning strategies is impressive, with scholars using various instruments to identify strategic behaviors, proposing competing taxonomies, investigating the variables affecting strategy use, tracing the impact of the application of such devices on language proficiency, and evaluating the effectiveness of strategy training programs. These advances, however, do not apply in equal measure to all language skills and subsystems, and one of such neglected terrains is learning grammar. The present article contributes to the scant body of research in this area by reporting the findings of a study which investigated the use of grammar learning strategies by 142 English philology students at different stages of a BA program. It took as a point of reference a classification of such devices derived from the theoretical framework proposed by Oxford et al. (2007) in which such behaviors are related to three instructional modes in teaching grammar, namely implicit learning with focus on form, explicit inductive learning and explicit deductive learning. Although the analysis of Likert-scale items indicated a high rate of use of grammar learning strategies, especially in the implicit mode, the subjects’ responses to an open-ended question did not support such findings, which might be the result of some inherent weaknesses of the data collection instrument. The article closes with some tentative pedagogical recommendations as well as guidelines on how grammar learning strategies could be classified and investigated.

Another Look at Temporal Variation in Language Learning Motivation: Results of a Study

According to Dornyei (2005), research into second language learning motivation has entered what could be labeled as the process-oriented period, in which the emphasis has been shifted from the investigation of learners’ motives and the magnitude of their efforts to the study of how these change in the course of time. There are still few studies, however, that have attempted to look at motivational change, particularly such that would tap into fluctuations in learners’ interest, engagement and effort over the course of a language lesson or a sequence of successive lessons. The present chapter aims to extend our scant knowledge in these areas by reporting the findings of a study which sought to explore motivational evolution in 38 vocational senior high school learners of English, looking both at their reasons for learning, longer-term involvement and engagement in four lessons, and, as such, it can be viewed as a follow-up on the research project undertaken by Pawlak (2012). The data were collected by means of multiple tools, namely: (1) detailed lesson plans, (2) interviews with selected participants conducted twice over the period of the study, (3) motivation grids filled out at five-minute intervals during a specific class, and (4) teachers’ and learners’ evaluations of the lessons involved. The data were subjected to quantitative and qualitative analyses which revealed that motivation is indeed in a state of flux and identified some factors potentially responsible for such temporal variation.