Yuko Goto Butler

The effects of self-assessment among young learners of English

This study examined the effectiveness of self-assessment among 254 young learners of English as a foreign language. This study looked at 6th grade students in South Korea, who were asked to perform self-assessments on a regular basis for a semester during their English classes. The students improved their ability to self-assess their performance over time. A series of quantitative analyses found some positive effects of self-assessment on the students’ English performance as well as their confidence in learning English, though the effect sizes were rather small. The study also found that teachers and students perceived the effectiveness of self-assessment differently depending on their teaching/learning contexts. Individual teachers’ views towards assessment also influenced their perceived effectiveness in implementing the new self-assessment practice. A number of interesting insights were discovered through interviews with teachers regarding how best to implement self-assessment as part of foreign language instruction in contexts where teacher-centered teaching and measurement-driven assessment have been traditionally valued.

The Implementation of Communicative and Task-Based Language Teaching in the Asia-Pacific Region

Communicative language teaching (CLT) and task-based language teaching (TBLT) have been widely adopted in the Asia-Pacific region, with a number of Asian countries strongly promoting CLT and TBLT in their curricula and English language education policies. Despite their popularity, a number of challenges have arisen in connection with implementing CLT and TBLT in Asian classrooms. The challenges that have emerged include (a) conceptual constraints (e.g., conflicts with local values and misconceptions regarding CLT/TBLT); (b) classroom-level constraints (e.g., various student and teacher-related factors, classroom management practices, and resource availability); and (c) societal-institutional level constraints (e.g., curricula and examination systems). These constraints have led some to argue that successfully implementing CLT and TBLT in Asia requires adaptation to local environments, such that CLT and TBLT become embedded in local practices. Although there have been a growing number of reports of various CLT/TBLT implementation efforts in different Asia-Pacific regions, we still have only a limited understanding of how best to achieve contextually embedded adaptations and how they affect students’ English learning. After reviewing relevant studies, this article suggests potential options for moving forward, including (a) employing more contextually feasible and flexible interpretations of CLT and TBLT, (b) implementing decentralized or innovative language-in-education policies, and (c) creating communities of learning outside of the classroom as well as in the classroom.

Comparative perspectives towards communicative activities among elementary school teachers in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan

With the spread of globalization and information technology, the goal of English education in East Asian countries has recently undergone drastic change, with one such change being the introduction of English at the elementary school level. Based on a sociocultural theoretical framework, this study attempts to identify and compare the ways in which local elementary school teachers consider classroom activities in English that are ‘effective’ in their given sociocultural and policy contexts. Employing multivocal ethnography, classroom activities in these countries were videotaped and edited. The edited videotape was shown to elementary school teachers in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, who were then asked to discuss various aspects of teaching practice and activities in small groups. Among the many issues raised by teachers, this paper focuses on their concerns and challenges in employing communicative activities with respect to (1) creating motives and goals that drive communicative activities; (2) identifying developmentally appropriate mediational means; and (3) situating activities in specific contexts. The study found that teachers’ challenges were due to a lack of understanding of three factors, including what constitutes ‘teaching for communicative purposes’, the roles that developmental factors play in EFL learning and teaching, and strategies for harmonizing learning/teaching and context.

Foreign Language Education at Elementary Schools in Japan: Searching for Solutions Amidst Growing Diversification

Hoping to achieve the current Japanese administrations goals of decentralisation and privatisation, the Japanese government has granted substantial latitude to local governments and individual schools as part of its recent reform of foreign language education. In introducing English at elementary schools, micro-language policies have been actively enacted at the local level along with slow but somewhat tactical top-down policies. The driving force behind the implementation of English in Japanese elementary schools is not simply a desire to prepare students for a global economy but also a result of multiple social and political factors. The most fundamental challenges that EES in Japan currently faces relate to issues of equity and growing diversity.

Parental factors and early English education as a foreign language: a case study in Mainland China

As English has increasingly become associated with social and economic power in the context of globalisation, there has been a growing concern regarding achievement gaps in English that appear to be correlated to learners’ socio-economic status (SES). The present study aims to examine how parents’ SES and their behaviours and beliefs about English education relate to their children’s English language learning, and how such relationships may differ across different grade levels. The participants were fourth-, sixth- and eighth-grade students who had learned English from the third-grade level (572 students in total) together with their parents in a medium-sized city in China. An extensive parental survey revealed that while parental beliefs about English education and their beliefs about their children’s success in acquiring English did not differ between different SES groups, their direct behaviours (such as providing direct assistance for their children to learn English) and their indirect behaviours (such as the home literacy environment and indirect modelling they provided) showed significant differences by the fourth-grade level. Combined with the students’ learning outcome data, it was found that while the parents’ SES did not show much effect on their children’s listening and reading/writing performance during their elementary school years, it did indicate an effect on their speaking abilities at the fourth-grade level, if not earlier. This paper suggests the importance of incorporating socio-economic dimensions in theorising second and foreign language acquisition (SLA), which are largely missing in current major approaches in SLA.

English Language Education among Young Learners in East Asia: A Review of Current Research (2004-2014).

The teaching of foreign languages to young learners is growing in popularity around the world. Research in this field, particularly of English as a second/foreign language education in East Asia, is a relatively new area of empirical inquiry, and it has the potential to make significant contributions to child second-language acquisition (Child-SLA) theory building, research methodologies, and policies in East Asia and beyond. This article reviews relevant peer-reviewed literature on English education among young learners in East Asia (China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan). I begin by reviewing policy literature to illustrate the social and policy contexts of early English education, identifying major policy-related concerns. Next, I review empirical studies of English learning and teaching, organizing them by their relevance to the previously identified policy concerns. The article concludes with suggestions for future research.

Parental Factors in Children's Motivation for Learning English: A Case in China.

Schools in China and elsewhere are starting to teach English as a second language or foreign language (FL) to students at increasingly earlier ages. Although young learners (YLs), due to their developmental stage, are likely to be particularly susceptible to the influence of parents, parents’ roles in YLs’ motivation to learn English as an FL is not well understood. Moreover, we don’t fully understand why YLs lose their motivation to learn English by their upper elementary school years. Using self-determination theory, this study examined how parents’ socio-economic status (SES) and behaviours and beliefs about their children’s English education influenced children’s motivation to learn English in China. The participants were 198 fourth-, 191 sixth- and 183 eighth-grade students and their parents. Data were gathered using a series of surveys distributed to all the students and their parents, as well as interviews with 96 focus group students. Parents had substantial but varying influences on their children’s motivation, depending on their SES backgrounds and their children’s grade level. Whereas higher SES parents adjusted their behaviours according to their children’s changing needs, lower SES parents tended to remain controlling and often failed to foster their children’s self-competence and self-determined motivation. Higher SES parents’ abilities to provide their children with greater opportunities to use English outside of school were increasingly advantageous for the children’s development of self-determined motivation as their grade level increased.

Young Foreign Language Learners’ Interactions During Task-Based Paired Assessments

Despite the popularity of task-based language teaching (TBLT) in foreign language (FL) education at elementary school, it remains unclear how young learners’ FL abilities can best be evaluated with tasks. The present study seeks to understand developmental differences in interactions among elementary-school students during task-based language assessment (TBLA) and aims to address the possibilities and limitations of introducing paired-TBLA among young FL learners. The participants were 32 fourth-grade students (ages 9–10) and 32 sixth-grade students (ages 11–12) and their teachers from a FL program where TBLT was mandated. The students were engaged in two sets of assessment tasks with their peers. It was found that the interaction patterns were different between the two grade levels. Compared with the sixth-grade dyads, the fourth-grade dyads showed less mutual topic development, used formulaic turn-taking more frequently, and had a harder time taking their partners’ perspectives during the tasks. Consequently, a smaller variety of interactional functions were observed among the fourth graders. The potential for eliciting a wide range of interactional functions, which is a primary advantage of introducing paired assessment, may have limited application for younger dyads. The study also discusses the strategic roles that such interactional characteristics may play among younger learners.

The Relationship Between Academic Oral Proficiency and Reading Performance: A Comparative Study Between English Learners and English-Only Students

This study investigates the relationship between oral proficiency and reading proficiency in English-learning children (L2 students) and native English-speaking children (NE students). A set of oral activities measuring students’ academic oral skills in science classes was developed and administered to 61 fourth graders. Both the meaning-related aspects and the formal aspects of the students’ academic oral proficiency were compared between strong and struggling readers and between NE and L2 students. The study thus used a 2 × 2 factorial design (Strong/Struggling Readers × NE/L2 Students). After controlling for the students’ nonverbal analytic and reasoning skills, this study found that strong and struggling readers showed different levels of performance with respect to the meaning-related aspects of oral academic language but not with respect to the formal aspects of language. Conversely, differences between NE and L2 students were found in components related to the formal aspects but not in those related to the meaning aspects of oral language.

Self-Assessment of and for Young Learners’ Foreign Language Learning

Despite the recent focus on self-assessment (SA) as a tool for enhancing learning, some researchers and practitioners have expressed concerns about its subjectivity and lack of accuracy. Such concerns, however, originated from the traditional, measurement-based notion of assessment (assessment of learning) rather than the learning-based notion of assessment (assessment for learning). In addition, existing research on SA in second/foreign language education has been concentrated on adult learners, leaving us with limited information on SA among young learners. In this chapter, I address both sets of issues: the confusion between the two orientations for assessment and age-related concerns regarding SA. First, I clarify the two orientations of assessment—assessment of learning and assessment for learning—and demonstrate that most of the concerns about subjectivity and accuracy apply primarily to the former orientation. Second, I detail the current findings on SA among young learners and identify the most urgent topics for future research in this area. Finally, to help teachers and researchers examine and develop SA items that are most appropriate for their purposes, I propose five dimensions that characterize existing major SAs for young learners: (a) domain setting; (b) scale setting; (c) goal setting; (d) focus of assessment; and (e) method of assessment.