Rosamond Mitchell

Rote or Rule? Exploring the Role of Formulaic Language in Classroom Foreign Language Learning.

This article investigates the role in learning of rotelearned formulas or chunks. We examined data from a longitudinal study of 16 child beginner classroom learners of French for occurrences of three chunks, against which we first tried out definitional criteria. We then tracked these forms for 2 years to chart their breakdown and explore their contribution to the development of a creative language capacity. Our data showed that most of the learners not only gradually “unpacked” their early chunks, but also used parts of them productively in the generation of new utterances. These findings demonstrated that rotelearning of formulas and the construction of rules are not independent processes, but interact and actively feed into one another.

INTERROGATIVE CHUNKS IN FRENCH L2

This paper explores the relationship between formulaic language and creative construction in SLA by examining the production of interrogatives in an extensive naturalistic corpus of L2 French produced by early classroom learners. The paper first analyzes the production and breakdown of such formulaic language over time, before exploring the development of more creative structures. The interaction between the two processes “rote learning of formulas and creative construction” is then investigated. This interaction is shown to be a dynamic two-way process, with learners being driven forward in the development of their L2 system by their attempts to resolve the tension between structurally complex but communicatively rich formulas on the one hand, and structurally simple but communicatively inadequate creative structures on the other hand.

Sameness and difference in classroom learning cultures: interpretations of communicative pedagogy in the UK and Korea

This paper is a contribution to the growing sociolinguistic literature on classroom foreign/second language learning and teaching (Duff 1995; Willett, 1995; Bailey and Nunan, 1996; Bremer et al., 1996; Coleman, 1996; Toohey, 1998; Heller, 1999; Rampton, 1999). We report two case studies of mainstream beginner-level FL instruction, using observational and interview data gathered in schools in Seoul, Korea, and in Southern England. In both cases, the public rationales offered for foreign language learning include a mix of ‘internationalist’ and ‘instrumental’ values (MoE, 1995; DES, 1991; DfEE/QCA, 1999). The dominant language-teaching ideologies to which the teachers in the different locations declare allegiance are also similar, involving commitment to various principles of the ‘communicative approach’ to language teaching. (In both settings, for example, the speaking skill is given priority, there is use of group work, etc.) Through analysis of selected lesson excerpts we identify similarities and differences in the classroom interpretations of communicative methodology, and in particular the opportunities available for individual students to engage in L2 interaction. We examine how the identity of the ‘good language learner’ is constructed in the different settings, for example, through differing teacher emphases on individual vs. collective responsibility for learning. Differences between the two classrooms are linked to broader features of the educational setting, but we show that these differences do not reflect common stereotypes about Anglo and Asian teaching styles in any simple way.

Rethinking the concept of progression in the National Curriculum for Modern Foreign Languages: a research perspective

This paper reviews problems with the model of linguistic progression which underpins the National Curriculum for Modern Foreign Languages in England, and argues that the curriculum in its present form has been a missed opportunity for “languages for all”. Among other difficulties, the model is poorly informed by current research-based understandings of the nature of classroom-based interlanguage development. Current levels of learner motivation and learner achievement are known to be problematic, and UK society is sceptical about the need for languages as a compulsory curriculum component. In this difficult situation, it is argued, curriculum renewal must draw on research-based theory and data much more systematically, if a more successful language learning experience is to be provided for the majority of school age learners.

Social Work Education and criticality: some thoughts from research

This article reports a current ESRC‐funded research project which is examining the development of criticality in undergraduate students, taking social work and modern languages as exemplars. This is a twin‐track study which aims to develop the conceptualisation of ‘criticality’ in the context of empirical research. Two complementary models for the theorisation of criticality are presented, and their implications for social work education are explored. Some preliminary data from the empirical study are presented, enabling further discussion of the relevance of this research to social work.

‘Knowledge about Language’: policy, rationales and practices

Abstract This paper provides an overview of a project funded by ESRC from 1991‐1993 within the framework of the ‘Quality of Teaching and Learning’ initiative, titled ‘ “Knowledge about Language”, Language Learning and the National Curriculum’. The term ‘Knowledge about Language’ (KAL) has become current in curriculum debates since the late 1980s as a new title for an old concern: that pupils learning languages in formal settings should acquire some explicit understandings and knowledge of the nature of language, alongside the development of practical language skills. In this paper, we first review the range of rationales which have been advanced in support of this position, and a number of competing definitions of KAL, and comment on the absence of consensus achieved so far. We then report on two empirical studies undertaken within the project. The main study was an empirical investigation of the teaching of English and of modern foreign languages at year 9 in three case‐study schools, which documented te...

The role of dynamic contrasts in the L2 acquisition of Spanish past tense morphology

This study examines the second language acquisition of Spanish past tense morphology by three groups of English speakers (beginners, intermediates and advanced). We adopt a novel methodological approach – combining oral corpus data with controlled experimental data – in order to provide new evidence on the validity of the Lexical Aspect Hypothesis (LAH) in L2 Spanish. Data elicited through one comprehension and three oral tasks with varying degrees of experimental control show that the emergence of temporal markings is determined mainly by the dynamic/non-dynamic contrast (whether a verb is a state or an event) as beginner and intermediate speakers use Preterit with event verbs but Imperfect mainly with state verbs. One crucial finding is that although advanced learners use typical Preterit–telic associations in the least controlled oral tasks, as predicted by the LAH, this pattern is often reversed in tasks designed to include non-prototypical (and infrequent) form–meaning contexts. The results of the comprehension task also show that the Preterit-event and Imperfect-state associations observed in the production data determine the interpretation that learners assign to the Preterit and the Imperfect as well. These results show that beginner and intermediate learners treat event verbs (achievements, accomplishments and activities) in Spanish as a single class that they associate with Preterit morphology. We argue that dynamicity contrasts, and not telicity, affect learners’ use of past tense forms during early stages of acquisition.

The development of social relations during residence abroad

Language students in the UK undertake their ‘year abroad’ with high hopes for a linguistic and social ‘immersion’ experience. However, past research shows that language learning success, while real, can be uneven, and that many Erasmus exchange students form social relations largely with other international students. New virtual media make it easy and cheap for the current student generation to sustain existing social networks, blurring previous clear distinctions between ‘home’ and ‘abroad’. This paper draws on data from a larger two-year study of UK students undertaking residence abroad in France, Spain and Mexico (the LANGSNAP project). The participants were involved in three different placement types: teaching assistants, exchange students and workplace interns. A series of pre-sojourn and in-sojourn interviews with 28 students spending an academic year in France are analysed, to identify both the social networking opportunities available and the actual social relationships which were developed. The analysis shows that all three placement types offered structured opportunities for interaction with French nationals which led for almost all participants to moderate degrees of social networking. However, only a minority of participants developed closer relationships or friendship with locals, from which they drew emotional support.

Practice Learning and the Development of Students as Critical Practitioners—Some Findings from Research

This article reports some findings from an ESRC‐funded research project which has been examining the development of criticality in undergraduate students, taking social work and modern languages as contrasting disciplines. This twin‐track study aims to develop the conceptualisation of ‘criticality’ in the context of empirical research. This article examines the development of criticality in final year social work students, where the practice learning experience is predominant. The analysis is framed by the projects developing theoretical conceptualisation of criticality.

The National Curriculum Experience of Bilingual Pupils.

Abstract This paper derives from an ESRC‐funded study (L208252002) of the English and foreign languages classroom experiences of Year 9 pupils. In this project, researchers worked in three schools, one of which had significant numbers of bilingual learners, and observed/recorded lessons, interviewed teachers and pupils and recorded pupils performing a number of language‐related tasks. The main focus of the project was to explore the extent and nature of teachers’ and pupils’ ‘knowledge about language’ (KAL), how KAL issues were handled in the classroom and possible links between KAL and pupils’ language development. The paper uses data from the project to compare the experience and responses of bilingual learners in mainstream classrooms with those of monolingual English speakers, in relation to factors such as awareness of language variation and language learning strategies. This empirical account is set in the context of a critical discussion of recent policy developments for language education and an e...