Roberta J. Vann

Strategies of Unsuccessful Language Learners

Recent research on learning strategies has yielded conflicting findings and generated limited success in learner training. These problems may be rooted in inadequate knowledge of the actual strategies used by unsuccessful learners in contrast to what they report doing. The present study combines methods to probe the strategies of two nsuccessful learners—both Saudi Arabian women enrolled in an academically oriented intensive English program (IEP)—as they completed four activities (an interview, a verb exercise, a cloze passage, and a composition). After task requirements were determined, learner strategies were ascertained by analyzing think-aloud protocols and task products. These combined analyses offer a detailed and insightful picture of learner strategies, providing counterevidence for the claim that unsuccessful learners are inactive. When viewed through the task-demand model proposed here, these unsuccessful learners emerged as active strategy users, though they sometimes applied strategies inappropriately. The model also revealed fundamental differences in the approaches to problem solving used by learners who appear similar on the basis of simple strategy counts. This research provides evidence of the importance of case studies in verifying critical assumptions about second language learning.

The Practice of English Language Teaching (3rd ed.)

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Error Gravity: A Study of Faculty Opinion of ESL Errors

This study is part of a larger project which examines faculty response to the written errors of students who are non-native speakers of English. The particular study described here was designed to determine which sentence-level errors are judged to be most serious by an academic community and to discover what factors may influence this judgment. A survey was conducted to measure how a cross-section of faculty at Iowa State University respond to certain common ESL writing errors. The 164 respondents ranked the relative gravity of 12 typical ESL written errors occurring in 24 sentences. Results indicate that most respondents did not judge all errors as equally grievous; rather, their judgments generate a hierarchy of errors. The study also suggests that both the age and academic discipline of faculty members may be important factors in predicting their response to certain ESL student writing errors.

Teaching English overseas : an introduction

Acknowledgements Introduction PART ONE: THE LARGER CONTEXT 1. Language teaching and the sociopolitical context Theoretical background - Language planning - Nationalism versus nationism Case studies - A-modal nations: Cameroon - Uni-modal nations: Malaysia - Multi-modal nations: The Philippines Conclusion - Exploring and researching the ideas - Suggestions for further reading 2. Language teaching and the economic context Theoretical background - Motivation and attitudes - Language spread Case studies - Thailand - The Philippines Conclusion - Exploring and researching the ideas - Suggestions for further reading 3. Language teaching and the cultural context Theoretical background - Multicultural classrooms - Ethnography - Culture in materials Case studies - Saudi Arabia - Japan Conclusion - Exploring and researching the ideas - Suggestions for further reading PART TWO: THE EDUCATIONAL CONTEXT 4. Language teaching and the language education context Theoretical background - Language education policies - Curriculum guidelines - The varieties of English Case studies - English as a required subject: Malaysia - English as a medium of instruction: The Philippines - English as an elective subject: Japan Conclusion - Exploring and researching the ideas - Suggestions for further reading 5. Language teaching and the institutional context Theoretical background - English teaching institutions - Securing employment Case studies - Public institutions: Turkey - Privately funded institutions: Tanzania - Private institutions: Spain and Japan Conclusion - Exploring and researching the ideas - Suggestions for further reading Glossary Bibliography Appendix Index

Deception by Design: Figure Ground and Verbal Illusion in Direct Mail

Analyzing illustrative set of direct mail messages, this article explores textual strategies that invite readers to participate in their own deception. These strategies, which include personalization, imbalance, and competing frameworks, create a type of verbal illusion that emphasizes certain potentialities and eliminates others present within the text itself. Such verbal illusion can be understood in terms of the concept of figure ground, which embodies the idea of visual appearance and disappearance in optical illusions. The success of these verbal illusions suggests that texts have the power to transform perception, sometimes resulting in deception as the reader interacts with the text.