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A principled approach to incorporating second language acquisition research into a teacher education programme
SLA researchers have not been slow to assert the importance of second language acquisition research (SLA) for language pedagogy (LP). There is, however, no consensus on the nature of the relationship between SLA and LP. A number of sometimes conflicting positions can be identified, ranging from a super-cautious ‘don’t apply’ to a confident ‘go ahead and apply’ while also claiming that the relationship should not be one-way but symbiotic.
In this talk, I will probe the relationship in terms of a framework that links (1) SLA researchers, (2) classroom researchers, (2) teacher educators and (3) language teachers. Using this framework, I will propose a set of general principles that can inform the SLA/LP relationship and serve as basis for designing a course as part of a graduate programme in TESOL or foreign language teaching. The principles concern both the 'what' and the 'how' of the relationship between SLA and LP - that is, what SLA topics are of relevance to teachers and how technical knowledge drawn from SLA can interface with the practical knowledge that informs actual teaching.
Finally, I will try to apply these principles to the examination of one particular aspect of teaching – corrective feedback – and how this can be informed by SLA. I will review the theory/research that has addressed the role of corrective feedback in L2 acquisition as well as various pedagogic proposals for tackling corrective feedback. I will then present an example of a unit on corrective feedback from a masters’ level program and discuss how this unit reflects the general principles.
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Some (more) Dichotomies in Genre Analysis for Languages for Specific Purposes
Genres are staged, structured, communicative events, motivated by various communicative purposes, and performed by members of specific discourse communities (Swales, 1990; Bhatia, 1993, 2004; Berkenkotter and Huckin, 1995; Johns, 1997). Since its inception with the two seminal works on the topic by Swales (1990) and Bhatia (1993), genre analysis has taken pride of place in much of the ongoing research in languages for specific purposes (LSP). The goal of much of this research is pedagogic, the understanding being that good genre descriptions can feed into pedagogy in the form of syllabus and materials design. In a paper that I presented in a conference last year, I talked about four dichotomies for genre research. These dichotomies are: 1. Individual genres vs genre networks; 2. Written vs spoken genres; 3. Macro vs micro levels of analysis; and 4. Move structure vs. lexico-grammar. In the present paper I will discuss a further four dichotomies. These are 1. Obligatory vs. optional components; 2. Public vs. occluded (Swales, 1996) genres; 3. Acceptable intertextuality vs. plagiaristic practice; and 4. Training vs. learning in genre pedagogy. All of these dichotomies have important implications for LSP pedagogy, not just the last, and these will be highlighted in the course of the presentation.
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The ‘Popular Cultural’ Turn in Education in the 21st Century: Cultural Studies for ELT Practitioners
The first decade of the 21st Century has witnessed fast growing trends of global popular cultural flows saturating the lifeworld of people, both young and old. A lot of these trans-local, trans-border popular cultural texts are mediated by some form of English or Englishes. Many educators have started to bring popular culture in different forms into their classrooms for a diverse range of educational purposes including development of critical literacies, and empowerment of ESL students and urban youth and adults (e.g., Buckingham, 1998, 2003; Alvermann, Moon, & Hagood, 1999; Lam, 2000; Stevens, 2001; Duff, 2002; Callahan & Low, 2004; Morrell, 2002, 2004; Wright & Sandlin, 2009; Lin & Man, 2010). The English language educator is, however, often baffled by this diverse range of literature, without a roadmap or some conceptual tools to help them in understanding both the challenge and potential of using popular culture in English language education. In this presentation, I attempt to provide some basic conceptual tools from cultural studies that teachers can draw on in designing their own ways of exploiting popular cultural texts, topics and practices in their own pedagogical contexts for their own specific goals.
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Managing learning: authority and language assessment
A feature of language assessment internationally is its role in the enforcement of language policies established by governments and other educational and cultural agencies. This trend has led to the near-universal adoption of curriculum and assessment frameworks, the clearest example of which is the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for Languages. What does this movement represent? What is the source of the authority of frameworks such as the CEFR, and why are they so appealing to governments? What are the implications of this development for teachers and learners? |
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Rod ELLIS
Tim McNAMARA
