TESOL at 40

This article is a good overview of the TESOL issues we have been learning and reading about in class.  It also discusses potential TESOL questions and research for the future.  Canagarajah talks about TESOL as a metaphor of growth, problem-solution dialectic, and stability.  One quote I found interesting was, "In terms of language skills, we now recognize that all four skills are integrated, and we are developing our curricula in terms of other organizing principles-projects, purposes, tasks, or portfolios, which draw from skills variously for their accomplishment" (12).  This quote shows the progress researchers are making throughout the years to move from focus on the instructors role to focus on the what the learner can produce.  I like the chart on page 15 of Brown's shifts that favor empowerment of the learner.  He defines empowerment as "enabling students 'to become critical thinkers, equipped with problem-solving strategies, poised to challenge those forces in society that would keep them passive'" (15).

In addition, the author discusses globalization and the continual increase of use the of technology for language learning.  "Digital technologies have led to new genres of communication, new conventions of language use, and new vocabulary and grammar rules for English" (25-26).  As teachers we must remember technology is always advancing, and that it is important to continue researching best educational practices as the times change.  "To begin to address these new questions, we have to recognize that language norms are relative, variable, and heterogeneous" (26).    

Chapter 7: Ideas about Language Learning

Chapter 7:
This is a great chapter to end the book on!  I like how the author has us reflect on our thoughts and views we had before reading the book, and then think about how they have changed after reading and discussing second language acquisition.  Lightbrown and Spada discuss 17 ideas we have about second language acquisition and how they relate to the studies presented in the previous chapters.  One point I found interesting was the point 10 that teachers should present grammatical rules one at a time, and learners should practise examples of each one before going to another (189).  I was not aware of the thought of developing interlanguage through exploration before I read this book.  The author explains "Language development is not just adding one rule after another.  Rather it involves processes of integrating new language forms and patterns into an existing interlanguage, readjusting and restructuring until all the pieces fit" (189).  Another interesting point is number15: Students learn what they are taught (192).  The authors make the point that learners use their own internal learning mechanisms to discover rules and relationships with languages that nobody actually teaches them.  This shows how complex our brains are and that all students can learn a second language.    


   

Chapter 6: Lightbrown/Spada, Saville/Troike

The studies in chapter six of Lightbrown/Spada where a great way to show the proof of evidence for the six proposals for classroom teaching.  I liked how they explained each proposal then presented the studies to show the evidence.  For example, in Study 13: Grammar plus communicative practice, Sandra Savignon divided students into three groups: communicative group, cultural group, and control group.  Savignon found that there were no significant differences between the groups in linguistic competence, yet the communicative group scored higher than the other groups on the communicative tests.  She points out that "language programmes that focus only on accuracy and form do not give students sufficient opportunity to develop communication abilities in a second language" (143).  In addition, "the 'Get it right from the beginning' approach was the evidence that opportunities for freer communication did not cause learners to do less well on measure of linguistic accuracy" (143).

In chapter six of Saville/Troike, I enjoyed reading the differences between academic competence and interpersonal competence because I see it with such prevalence in the bilingual classrooms.  As a bilingual teacher, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between students who are not competent academically because their interpersonal competence is so strong.  For example, native Spanish speaking students will talk face to face in English with other students and teachers, communicating very effectively.  Sometimes the students with strong interpersonal competence are placed in a level that is too high academically until we realize they are not as competent when it comes to understanding the academic language.  We must remember that just because a learner has interpersonal competence, it does not mean they are competent academically and the other way around.  

In addition, the explanation and chart of the bottom-up and top-down approach was very helpful.  Sometimes it is difficult to know which approach will be more effective for a certain topic or activity when teaching.  I also think it depends on learner preferences.  Some students learn better when they know the basic concept and can work up from there.  Others understand and retain the information better if they start with the big picture and solve the puzzle, so to speak, of the meaning of smaller components.

Lingua Franca

The concept of Lingua Franca is complex because it takes into consideration many dichotomies in language acquisition such as grammar vs. pragmatics, individual vs. community, cognition vs. context, and monolingual vs multilingual (just to name a few).  Speakers of LFE inhabit and practice other languages and cultures in their own locations yet they mutually recognize a set of attitudes, forms, and conventions that ensure successful communication (925).  This is so complex to me and show that the speakers have a double conscious mind because they are able to learn another language without assimilating into the mainstream culture.  It is also surprising that the pragmatic strategies of the language are not the same!  Another thought I liked from the article was "such individuals and communities are so radically multilingual that it is difficult to identify one's mother tongue or native language" (930).  This shows that the communities are multilingual and multicultural. 

Chapter 5: Knowledge for Whom

This chapter explains the power behind learning the English language.  I had never really realized that speaker's of other languages considered English to be a language of the elite.  Like we discussed in class, it would be nice to be able to separate a person's identity from the language they speak but often times that is hard to do. 

Vygotsky's quote "We must develop the curriculum to challenge, to stimulate, to arouse!" (163) stuck out to me because as teachers we need to take our students needs and desires into consideration when planning a curriculum.  We must ask ourselves what do they want to know and what knowledge will help our students be successful.  "Our goal as teachers is to provide the students with access to English and all the personal and professional possibilities that come with the ability to speak English, and to decolonize the teaching of English" (165)

Another concept I found interesting was the difference between double consciousness and assimilation.  Through the development of double consciousness, students have a sense of identity and a sense of wholeness uniting two cultural worlds.  They keep their own identity and are able to learn the new language and culture in addition.  However, with assimilation, students loose their identity and are forced to blend in with the mainstream culture.  As teachers we must strive to promote programs that teach students double consciousness rather than assimilation into our culture.