Language Teaching and Learning : New Dimensions and Interventions [1 ed.] 9781443861809, 9781443859806

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Language Teaching and Learning

Language Teaching and Learning: New Dimensions and Interventions

Edited by

Ambigapathy Pandian, Christine Liew Ching Ling, Debbita Tan Ai Lin, Jayagowri Muniandy, Lee Bee Choo and Toh Chwee Hiang

Language Teaching and Learning: New Dimensions and Interventions, Edited by Ambigapathy Pandian, Christine Liew Ching Ling, Debbita Tan Ai Lin, Jayagowri Muniandy, Lee Bee Choo and Toh Chwee Hiang This book first published 2014 Cambridge Scholars Publishing 12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2014 by Ambigapathy Pandian, Christine Liew Ching Ling, Debbita Tan Ai Lin, Jayagowri Muniandy, Lee Bee Choo, Toh Chwee Hiang and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-5980-X, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-5980-6

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface ........................................................................................................ ix Part I: Language Teaching Chapter I ...................................................................................................... 2 ESL Students’ Engagement with the Tutor’s Blog: Three Phases of Immersion Zuraidah Ali Chapter II ................................................................................................... 15 Reflective Teaching as a Way of Improving Teaching Jinan A. Khaleel Chapter III ................................................................................................. 26 Towards an Intercultural Competence in the World English Era: Some Emerging Issues and Considerations Regarding Culture in the Classrooms Athriyana Pattiwael Chapter IV ................................................................................................. 43 English Language Teaching in Malaysian Teacher-Training Institutes: Issues and Challenges Sachithanantham Tachina Moorthi Chapter V .................................................................................................. 57 English Language Teachers’ Professional Development Practices: The Amount of Time Spent and Support System Received to Participate in English Language Programmes in Penang Kasthuri Veratharaju, G.K. Marriappen and Muhammad Kamarul Kabilan Abdullah Chapter VI ................................................................................................. 72 Appropriating English Language Teaching in Malaysia Ambigapathy Pandian, Shanthi Balraj and Marcia Jane Ganasan

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Chapter VII ................................................................................................ 86 The English Language at the Early Bird State in Thailand Uthai Piromruen Part II: Language Learning Chapter VIII .............................................................................................. 94 Quality Standards in English Language Skills of Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya Graduates Majoring in Business Administration Praneet Thongpan and Vikrom Chantarangkul Chapter IX ............................................................................................... 108 The Relationship between Motivation to Participate in Learning and Academic Achievement among Part-Time Adult Learners in Sabah Pei-Ling Lee and Vincent Pang Chapter X ................................................................................................ 124 Linguistics and Oral English Communication Difficulties of Personnel at the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) Chanitsara Thaveeprayoon Chapter XI ............................................................................................... 135 Foreign Language Learning through Self-Directed Learning: A Learner’s Experience Chuah Hong Hoon and Shaik Abdul Malik Mohamed Ismail Chapter XII .............................................................................................. 155 Differences and Similarities between Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia: Problems in Academic Writing and Oral Communication Syed Zainal Ariff Syed Jamaluddin and Noordin Mohd Noor Chapter XIII ............................................................................................ 165 Analysing Academic Writing Difficulties of Yemeni Postgraduate Students at Universiti Sains Malaysia Ali Abdullah Alghail and Sarjit Kaur Chapter XIV ............................................................................................ 179 The Role of Culture, Motivation and Interest on Reading Comprehension among Iranian University Students Mahboobeh Mahboobi, Ambigapathy Pandian and Shaik Abdul Malik Mohamed Ismail

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Chapter XV.............................................................................................. 195 Irregularities in English Spelling: A Concise Historical Analysis Akbar Solati Part III: New Dimensions Chapter XVI ............................................................................................ 204 TT: Together Everyone Achieves More—Teaching English Language in a Team Shirley Tay Siew Hong Chapter XVII ........................................................................................... 232 An Experimental Approach Using Movies in Class for Teaching and Learning of Foreign Languages (Mandarin, Spanish, Korean) and Bahasa Malaysia Aida Shuhaida Bt Mustafa, Lidia Ramírez Arriaga, Kim Taek Hoon, Khor Gek Suan and Ambigapathy Pandian Chapter XVIII .......................................................................................... 246 Theatre Plays in the Foreign Language Classroom as an Opportunity for Self-Directed Learning Siti Waltraud Brigitte Mayr Chapter XIX ............................................................................................ 270 Promoting Interest in Spanish Language Learning through the Customized ‘The Amazing Race’ Khong Hou-Keat and Ummu Salmah Rahamatullah Part IV: New Interventions Chapter XX.............................................................................................. 282 Creative Vocabulary Activities in an English Language Classroom Manesha Kaur Rajendra Singh and Manjet Kaur Mehar Singh Chapter XXI ............................................................................................ 292 Meeting Learners’ Needs: The Effect of Multiple Intelligences-Based Activities on Listening Proficiency Ma’ssoumeh Bemani Naeini, Zahra Zohoorian Vahid Baghban and Ambigapathy Pandian

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Chapter XXII ........................................................................................... 315 The Use of Word-Guessing Strategy in Developing Reading Proficiency Ali Zahabi and Ambigapathy Pandian Chapter XXIII .......................................................................................... 330 Making Sense of Non-Sense Yeoh Phaik Kin Chapter XXIV ......................................................................................... 346 Looking into Accuracy, Complexity and Fluency of EFL Learners’ Written Task Production and the Potency of Unguided Planning Reza Khorasani, Ambigapathy Pandian, Shaik Abdul Malik Mohamed Ismail and Saber Alavi About the Authors ................................................................................... 360

PREFACE

Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about. —Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897–1941)

In every discussion on the role that language plays in our lives, every orator – from prominent politicians and corporate figures to linguists, educational experts, and others – concedes that language is important in all spheres of life. Language is both personal and introspective as well as public and communal. Without it, we would not be able to communicate and articulate our thoughts and feelings to ourselves, to those in our inner circles, and to those in the world at large. Without it, we would not be able to establish partnerships and collaborations and to unite peoples of diverse backgrounds and intrinsic values. Without it, too, we would not be able to learn of new discoveries and knowledge that scientists continue to publish. Against this backdrop, the nurturing of a language learning culture by all members of society, especially those in academia, must come to the fore to ensure that language teaching and learning supports the development of individuals, societies, nations, and populations. Language researchers, educators, and practitioners need to ensure that their learners are empowered to remain relevant. In other words, they need to produce critical and analytical thinkers, and successful language users in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Language practitioners, therefore, have to constantly look for new methodologies and techniques to make their lessons fun, exciting and relevant to their learners. Otherwise, they lose the golden opportunity to impart to their learners, ranging from pre-school to post-tertiary levels, a valuable skill that will empower them for life. These practitioners have been experimenting with a variety of approaches focusing on structure, form and meaning. Methodologies vary according to whether the language is being taught as mother tongue, national language, second language, foreign language, third language, or beyond. The collection of chapters in this volume engages the readers in the sharing of inspirational accounts by educators and researchers in addressing teaching dilemmas in their unfolding narratives and draws their attention to challenges they have overcome and those they continue to

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face. By sharing these chronicles, the writers advance our knowledge and visions for new approaches to teaching and learning, together with the tools that will help learners achieve social, economic, educational, and professional success. The book chapters here reflect the transcendence by language teaching and learning of ordinary boundaries, especially with the advent of the digital revolution, and provided new perspectives, pedagogies, and approaches that help shape ethical, responsible, and sustainable policies. It is hoped that the insights and research offered in this volume will help educators and researchers in exploring new identities, new instructional media for interactive learning, and new modes of meaning in diverse local and global environments. For the purpose of organization, the chapters have been categorized according to orientation, but readers should be aware that they complement each other to provide the ideal space for the deliberation on important language issues that have global implications and repercussions.

Language Teaching … This volume’s opening chapter by Zuraidah Ali titled ESL Students’ Engagement with the Tutor’s Blog: Three Phases of Immersion heralds the latest trend of incorporating technology into teaching and learning by focusing on the experience of ESL (English as a Second Language) learners using an academic blog. The chapter’s conclusion, that ESL teachers should avail themselves of the potential inherent in the ESL blogosphere for effective language teaching, is a clarion call for concerned and engaging language educationists. Jinan A. Khaleel, in Reflective Teaching as a Way of Improving Teaching, proposes a method of intervention for language practitioners to use teaching journals for improved self-reflection to respond to learners’ needs with immediacy and efficiency. Language practitioners cannot deny the role that culture plays in their classrooms. This opinion is further expounded by Athriyana Pattiwael who examines the role of culture in teaching an international language and proposes a redevelopment of instructional activities and materials in the teaching of English in her chapter Towards an Intercultural Competence in the World English Era: Some Emerging Issues and Considerations Regarding Culture in the Classrooms. From the perspective of Malaysian education, Sachithanantham Tachina Moorthi, in English Language Teaching in Malaysian TeacherTraining Institutes: Issues and Challenges, addresses the efforts of the Malaysian Ministry of Education in arresting the decline of the English

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language and how this has affected educators in teacher-training institutions. Kasthuri Veratharaju, G.K. Marriappen and Muhammad Kamarul Kabilan Abdullah propose the need for education authorities and policy makers to establish professional development programmes for English language educators to enhance their language teaching pedagogy and methodology based on their case study entitled English Language Teachers’ Professional Development Practices: The Amount of Time Spent and Support System Received to Participate in English Language Programmes in Penang. In their chapter Appropriating English Language Teaching in Malaysia, Ambigapathy Pandian, Shanthi Balraj and Marcia Jane Ganasan trace the history of English language education in Malaysia focusing on the evolution of ELT from the pre-independence era to the twenty-first century. They also illustrate how Malaysia is capable of becoming an international hub for EL teaching and learning with its array of diverse opportunities and resources. Along similar lines, Uthai Piromruen introduces readers to the ELT scenario in the Kingdom of Thailand and traces the history of the influence of English back to the Thai–European connection from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to the present day.

... Language Learning Proficiency in English has always been a prerequisite in helping graduates secure jobs of their choice. The survey in Praneet Thongpan and Vikrom Chantarangkul’s Quality Standards in English Language Skills of Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya Graduates Majoring in Business Administration reveals a huge disparity between the students’ actual proficiency in English and the prospective employers’ expectations. The researchers recommend that internship courses be made compulsory in all undergraduate programmes to expose students to the real world, especially where English is concerned. In addition to the environment in language learning, the learners’ motivation plays an equally important role. Pei-Ling Lee and Vincent Pang in their study The Relationship between Motivation to Participate in Learning and Academic Achievement among Part-Time Adult Learners in Sabah set out to explore the connection between part-time adult learners’ motivation in learning and their academic achievement. For their learners, intrinsic motivation plays a significant role in influencing academic achievement compared with extrinsic motivation.

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The learners’ perspectives can be harnessed to help educators design and implement effective and engaging language programmes and teaching materials. Chanitsara Thaveeprayoon’s study on Linguistics and Oral Communication Difficulties of Personnel at the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives reveal concrete factors influencing the standard of English of bank personnel when the latter use English for both personal and business purposes. Hence, the findings of her study could be used to improve the design and delivery of English training courses and suitable language training activities in accordance with the needs of the learners. Learner autonomy is yet another contributory factor in effective language learning, especially among adult learners. Chuah Hong Hoon and Shaik Abdul Malik Mohamed Ismail in their study entitled Foreign Language Learning through Self-Directed Learning: A Learner’s Experience explore an individual learner’s experience of learning a foreign language through SDL (Self-Directed Learning). They found that the learner was more successful in adopting direct strategies compared with indirect strategies in acquiring the target language, thus opening up the prospect of using SDL in language teaching as a tool for empowering students. Academic writing appears to be a stumbling block for many second and foreign language learners. Syed Zainal Ariff Syed Jamaluddin and Noordin Mohd Noor provide a glimpse of the differences and similarities between two languages (Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia) and the difficulties Indonesian students experience in writing academically in both Bahasa Malaysia and English. In the same vein, Ali Abdullah Alghail and Sarjit Kaur’s chapter sheds light on the academic writing difficulties faced by postgraduate students from Yemen studying at Universiti Sains Malaysia and explains the critical need to provide writing support to international students. In their chapter, The Role of Culture, Motivation and Interest on Reading Comprehension among Iranian University Students, Mahboobeh Mahboobi, Ambigapathy Pandian and Shaik Abdul Malik Mohamed Ismail discuss the uniquess of Iranian university students whose diverse cultural background influences their motivation and interest in learning which in turn affects their performance in reading comprehension in EFL. Akbar Solati’s Irregularities in English Spelling: A Concise Historical Analysis looks into the difficulties of spelling in English and provides a detailed outline of the historical, political, and linguistic influences of other languages on English spelling today. These studies shed light on how learners can be further assisted as they grapple with learning a new language, especially in the writing skill of the target language.

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New Dimensions… This section’s selection of chapters brings to light the innovative curriculum that incorporates language teaching and learning in the global perspective. Shirley Tay Siew Hong’s chapter, TT: Together Everyone Achieves More Teaching English Language in a Team, takes a refreshing look at the concept and implementation of team teaching in teaching LEP (Low English Proficiency) students in the classroom. In this study, the researcher demonstrates an educational breakthrough not only in elevating the students’ interests and attitudes towards learning and hence their performance in English but also in alleviating the teachers’ workload and challenges in teaching low-proficiency classes. Innovation cuts across language teaching and prevails not only in TESL but also in teaching language as a national language and also as a foreign language. Aida Shuhaida Bt Mustafa, Lidia Ramírez Arriaga, Kim Taek Hoon, Khor Gek Suan and Ambigapathy Pandian, in An Experimental Approach Using Movies in Class for Teaching and Learning of Foreign Languages (Mandarin, Spanish, Korean) and Bahasa Malaysia, employ the use of movies to promote an interactive learning environment and students’ acquisition of language skills. Siti Waltraud Brigitte Mayr attests to the effectiveness of using another form of the performing arts, viz. theatre, in the foreign language classroom. Her learners engage voluntarily in SDL (Self-Directed Learning) after being exposed to the synergy of theatre pedagogy and language education that enables them to interact productively in a global setting. Khong Hou-Keat and Ummu Salmah Rahamatullah advocate another avant-garde teaching approach in foreign language learning by engaging their learners in a non-threatening environment using customized “Amazing Race” games. Their description and analysis highlight the affective elements of the games and how the learners spontaneously speak up, learn and work in a team, without the barriers of language anxiety.

... New Interventions The array of chapters in this section reflects the reorientation in terms of how educators and stakeholders view the pedagogies and methodologies of language teaching and learning, to ensure that learners are equipped with the relevant skills for effective learning. Manesha Kaur Rajendra Singh and Manjet Kaur Mehar Singh’s Creative Vocabulary Activities in an English Language Classroom describes a variety of interventions to

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expand vocabulary knowledge and increase the vocabulary size of their learners. The activities they propose create a conducive and dynamic environment for the students’ class participation and increased enthusiasm in learning English. Ma’ssoumeh Bemani Naeini, Zahra Zohoorian Vahid Baghban and Ambigapathy Pandian, in Meeting Learners’ Needs: The Effect of Multiple Intelligences-Based Activities on Listening Proficiency, trace the potential effects of MIT (Multiple Intelligences Theory) on listening proficiency in an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) setting. They suggest that multiple intelligences activities should be integrated in to the teaching methodology and that educators should not merely rely on learners’ intellectual strengths and their quest for knowledge. Ali Zahabi and Ambigapathy Pandian, in The Use of Word-Guessing Strategy in Developing Reading Proficiency and Yeoh Phaik Kin in Making Sense of Non-Sense, offer useful tips on developing reading schemata and proficiency skills as well as augmenting the learners’ familiarization with grammatical and lexical density in textual comprehension. Similarly Reza Khorasani, Ambigapathy Pandian, Shaik Abdul Malik Mohamed Ismail and Saber Alavi, in Looking into Accuracy, Complexity and Fluency of EFL Learners’ Written Task Production and the Potency of Unguided Planning, provide guidelines on the organization of sentences and the planning of ideas in producing logical and coherent writing which demonstrates the learners’ understanding of multiple skills related to written expression. Readers of this volume, be they language practitioners, students, researchers, policy- and decision-makers, concerned educationists, or any interested individuals, will gain new insights and experiences. The book chapters have been carefully selected to reflect not only language teaching and learning in its entirety but also the new dimensions and interventions that have been tried and tested by their researchers that may be adopted, adapted, or considered for implementation by other language practitioners. Editors Ambigapathy Pandian Christine Liew Ching Ling Debbita Tan Ai Lin Jayagowri a/p Muniandy Lee Bee Choo Toh Chwee Hiang

PART I: LANGUAGE TEACHING

CHAPTER I ESL STUDENTS’ ENGAGEMENT WITH THE TUTOR’S BLOG: THREE PHASES OF IMMERSION ZURAIDAH ALI

It is currently a trend to incorporate technology into teaching and learning. In Malaysia, this is propelled by government ICT initiatives as well as the ESL teachers’ passion and determination to enhance the virtues of the classroom climate. Indeed, academic blogging has been implemented and researched by many local researchers who have contributed to more effective lessons, better teacher–student rapport, and other personal and interpersonal gains. Nevertheless, one curiosity remains untouched: the cycle of experience of ESL learners using the tutor’s blog. Hence, this study seeks to describe and define the phases of experience that the ESL learners go through as they are introduced to academic blogging as an educational tool, until they emerge contented. Data was collected via reflective journaling and interviews. The tutor’s blog http://www.speakup-avenue.blogspot.com contributes to content analysis. Results from the qualitative inquiry show the ESL learner’s acceptance of academic blogging as a tool to enhance their learning and experience. Most importantly, the findings depict three phases of academic blogging experience. The study concludes that ESL practitioners may want to capitalize on the third sphere of the ESL blogosphere.

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Introduction It is currently a trend to incorporate technology into teaching and learning. In Malaysia, this is propelled by government ICT initiatives as well as ESL teachers’ passion and determination to enhance the virtues of the classroom climate. Indeed, academic blogging has been rigorously implemented and researched by researchers and ESL practitioners worldwide, which have contributed to more effective lessons, better teacher–student rapport, and other personal and interpersonal gains. Since blogging has become a convenient and popular form of communication, it is well received by academia. Among others, Jones (2011) has discovered that weblogs serve as a pedagogical tool to promote autonomous learning in language learning. Anuratha and Pramela (2010) demonstrated that the use of weblogs as a form of ICT in education promotes information-sharing and encourages active participation in the virtual mode. Zuraidah (2011) proved that the use of blogs in ESL classrooms increases learners’ self-confidence and helps to overcome shyness in THE expression of opinion among undergraduates. Indeed, the benefits of ICT and weblogs in ESL classrooms surpass many traditional pedagogical tools. In the midst of articles and research affirmatives on the significant role of weblogs in ESL, one curiosity remains untouched: the cycle of experience of ESL learners using the tutor’s blog. Hence, this study seeks to describe and define the phases of experience that ESL learners go through as they are introduced to academic blogging as an educational tool, immersed in the process, until they emerge contented. The tutor’s blog in discussion can be accessed at http://www.speakup-avenue.blogspot.com.

Past Studies Research in computer-mediated communicated (CMC) environments has presented ESL practitioners with a rich variety of pedagogical tools in and outside of the classroom. The use of online forum (Supyan, 2008; Pramela, 2011) and academic blogging (Nadzrah, 2009; Supyan et al., 2010; Zuraidah, 2008, 2011) are two local examples keeping abreast with other forms of CMCs like chat rooms, newsgroups, and multi-user domains (MUDs) that have made ESL classes more interesting and up-to-date. Indeed, the recent development in exploring ESL pedagogical boundaries is the weblog or ‘blog’. It acts as an easy-to-use and easy-tounderstand technological package featuring instant publishing, safe postings, reader’s commentary and reaction, archives, and hyperlinks

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(Campbell, 2003; Huffaker, 2005; Di Zhang, 2009). In fact, ever since their inception in 1998, weblogs (or blogs) have won over the cyberspace community and a growing number of educators have applied this userfriendly technology to classroom instruction and language learning (Campbell, 2003; Johnson, 2004). Numerous reasons have been cited for using blogs in education, such as providing a real audience for student writing, providing extra reading practice for students, increasing the sense of community in a class, encouraging students to participate, and creating an online portfolio of student written work (Stanley, 2005). In fact, anybody with access to the Internet can read blog entries and post comments on what they have read upon the author’s invitation or approval. These interactive and public aspects of blogs have attracted teachers worldwide to explore the potential of this tool as a learning environment (Soares, 2008). Some students express a preference for blogging interaction over the traditional face-to-face interaction because the former is a more comfortable learning environment for them. Students dislike interacting face-to-face with their classmates (Di Zhang, 2009). Indeed, blogging interaction serves as a virtual reality and students are allowed to join the community and yet hide their identity. Other than that, students report a climate more conducive to learning as well as some personal and interpersonal gains after a period of engagement (Zuraidah, 2011). To date, blog authorship in ESL revolves around three common types as advanced by Campbell (2003). The three different types of blog are deemed to fit pedagogical purposes. They are: (1) the tutor’s blog, run by the class teacher, (2) the learner’s blog, run by each student in the group individually, and (3) the class blog, run by the teacher and students collaboratively. This study is concerned with the implementation of the tutor’s blog in the ESL classroom. According to Campbell (2003), the tutor’s blog is unique as it can perform several functions as follows: i. It gives daily reading practice to the learners ii. It promotes exploration of English websites iii.It encourages online verbal exchange by use of comment buttons iv.It provides class or syllabus information v. It serves as a resource of links for self-study In Malaysia, most researches have focused on either the learner’s blog or the class blog. Indeed, there is a dearth of research exploring the impact of the tutor’s blog among ESL learners. This study aims to fill this gap

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and explore the experience described by the ESL learners as they were involved with ESL academic blogging.

Recent Study The study is a longitudinal research which began in January 2008 when the academic blog was launched to reach out to ESL learners with the aim of encouraging them to speak their minds via writing and self-expression. As of today, there is a total of 101 articles written by the tutor. Most of the topics discussed in the academic blog are related to classroom discussions as well as real-life concerns. In this way, the academic blog content is deemed relevant as well as appropriate for use among the undergraduate cohort. This study involved several cohorts of undergraduates taking the Foundation programme in Information Technology and Engineering. They were enrolled in the Foundation English course with the researcher. The course emphasizes two specific skills: academic writing and public speaking. At the start of the semester, the students were invited to visit the academic blog at http://www.speakup-avenue.blogspot.com. The blogging process began with the students visiting the tutor’s blog. After reading the article or post, the students configured a response to the issue raised or discussed by the tutor as author. Students were encouraged to express thoughts at the minimum length of a paragraph, and they were allowed to sign up using screen names or pseudonyms. Some time during the semester, they had to declare their identity, but only to the tutor (as researcher). Figure 1 illustrates the convenience of the process. Students were advised to type their comments using Word and edit their composition using the resources available on the computer and the Internet (e.g. language check, online dictionary, synonyms, etc.) Once they were satisfied with their writing, they copied and pasted it into the comment box and published (with the approval of the author).

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Chapter I

Figure 1: The Comment Page

For this study, each cohort was invited to share some feedback regarding their experience and immersion in the academic blogging process via email or the blogosphere at the end of the semester. This participation was strictly voluntary. Students were told to submit their comments to two titles in the blog as follows: i.Rejuvenating academic blogging http://speakup-avenue.blogspot.com/2010/02/rejuvenatingacademic-blogging.html ii.Academic blogging: Speak up and write http://speakup-avenue.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html The most active blog participants were invited to participate in semistructured interviews. Data collated from reflective journal, interview, and blog comments contributed to the final analysis and findings of this study. To explore its niche, this study is guided by the following research question: How do ESL learners react to the use of academic blogging via the tutor’s blog?

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Framework for Phases of Immersion in ESL Academic Blogging Figure 2 maps out a framework to describe the academic blogging experience among ESL learners engaged in http://www.speakupavenue.blogspot.com. Based on the reflective journals, semi-structured interviews as well as content analysis of blog commentaries from the learners, it can be said that the ESL learners who participated in the study exhibited three predominant stages of acceptance and reaction to the academic blogging immersion. The phase begins with random first reaction followed by engagement with the academic blogging process where they experienced the interactive nature as well as the benefits of academic blogging. Having gone through the process, the learners captured some lasting impressions with regards to the introduction of academic blogging in ESL classrooms.

Figure 2: Three Phases of Immersion in Academic Blogging

It is important to note that the three stages followed a clear demarcation of development process without any specific timeline. To some learners, it was observed that the first reaction lasted only for a while and they could immerse themselves in the ESL blogosphere almost immediately. Nevertheless, several cohorts took a while longer to adapt to the new approach and feel comfortable with the process. Towards the end of the course when the lecturer collected their feedback and response to the academic blogging immersion, learners would have already formed some lasting impressions of the approach.

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Chapter I

Discussion It was indeed gratifying to discover that all learners accepted the blogging activity as a learning experience which was indeed “intoxicating” and “rewarding”. From its inception in January 2008, it seemed that all learners who shared their feedback regarding their involvement with the blog as a pedagogical tool reported appreciation and improvement as well as transformation. Table 1 below illustrates several instances of the three phases of the learners’ engagement with academic blogging in ESL. Table 1 describes the three phases of immersion in ESL academic blogging in greater detail. It is noted that the first phase labelled 1st Reaction presents mixed feelings and reactions among the learners with regards to the introduction of the tutor’s blog in the ESL class. Some learners were excited that their lecturer also had a blog, very much like theirs. Perhaps they were counting on a diminishing gap between two distinctive generations. Furthermore, learners were impressed with the novelty of the approach and took it as a “fresh breath of developing one’s skill”. Still, there were several cohorts who felt nervous and also doubtful of their ability to participate in the tutor’s blog. More seriously, it would be their first time posting educational comments for a worldwide audience. The second phase, labelled Experience, brings more promise to the introduction of the tutor’s blog in ESL. Comments from learners showed some degree of excitement particularly in “encouraging” and “rewarding”. During this phase, learners experienced total immersion in the academic blogging climate where they would post at least one comment per week. Once approved by the tutor, their comments would appear in the blog, and friends or classmates could read and react to them. It was observed that learners in and outside of the class would notice certain commentaries more than the rest because of the composition style or novelty of ideas and opinions. This scenario reflects Deng and Yuen’s (2011) framework which proposed three social or psychological dimensions during blogging, viz. self-expression, social connection, and social interaction.

Excited

1st Reaction

Doubtful

Nervous

Main Theme

Phase

Lack of confidence

No idea

First time

Afraid

New idea

Anticipation

Sub-theme

Table 1: Illustrative examples from Academic Blogging Corpus

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To be honest with you, I realy3 afraid to speak up mdm zue. I don’t have the strength to speak up. I don’t have the confidence in me. Afraid with others thought

First I send my comment, I am feel afraid because of my language. I am bad when writing. I am afraid of laugh. I was so nervous because it was my first time posting an educational comment and all my friend will read it. first time I saw it, I just blur. I don’t know what should I do. I also shy to comment. I don’t have any idea to comment.

I just can’t wait to see your blog. I feel great and excited to visit and see what all about the blog. It’s a fresh breath of developing one’s skill. At first I was like..what?? This is something new.

Example evidence form Corpus

ESL Students’ Engagement with the Tutor’s Blog

Encouraging

Experience

Rewarding

Main Theme

Phase

10

Acknowledged

Brave

Approved Knowledge

Sharing

Interest

Shyness

Improvement

Discussion

Sub-theme

Chapter I

It is interesting because we can discuss a lot of thing and we can see other person opinion about the topic that we discuss… It improve my writing skill and it also improve my skill express my opinion to other people. Being able to share our thought with others and for those who shy to talk in front of public can post their comment without need to talk in front of people. YES!YES!YES! I totally agree with this academic blogs. Keep it up! It can increase students’ interest to this subject and self-confidence too (just like me). Yes,it’s fun. I can express what I’m feeling. I can share my story to others It feels tremendously great when you approve my comment. By reading the blogs, I know how to write an essay. Some of the blogs gave me more information that is benefit to me And by writing comments, it teach me to be brave to give out any opinion to others. I think that it is a perfect place or medium for those who are afraid to speak up in class. I feel very happy when people responding and appreciate my comments.

Example evidence form Corpus

Positive Vibes

Lasting Impression

Thanks a lot!!! You’d changed me. You create the new me. Ouhh..but I’m not showing you the changes in me in the class. Still got the shyness.. Students like it when they are approved of. It gives them a positive vibe. With this academic blog, nobody will feel left out. In fact, they feel more accepted and attached to one another as a community. It also produces individuals who speak their mind. In class, I noe that everyone is so shy to speak or to give their opinion. When you create a blog you can noe about our talent. Creating academic blogs for the student shows that the lecturers are really care about the student, about their academic course. For me, it is one of the ways to develop relationship between students and lecturer. It also can help many shy students to express their opinion. By creating this blog I think many student can improve their skill in writing and they will not be shy because they can hide their identities. By creating the academic blogs, the way you teach us in class and all the stuff that you did, made our journey as a student more interesting. You really want to help your student and you sacrifice your time just for your student. I’m glad to have you as my lecturer.

Transformation

Interesting journey

Meaningful Sacrifice Sacrifice

Hide identity

Relationship

Care

Discover talent

Accepted

When I saw my friends keep on comment, I know that they really like your blog. Keep on posting.

Example evidence form Corpus

11

Encouragement

Sub-theme

Hidden Identity

Good Relationship

Main Theme

Phase

ESL Students’ Engagement with the Tutor’s Blog

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Chapter I

Since most learners used screen names, their remarks were impartial and without prejudice. Most importantly, learners felt the freedom to express and share their thoughts with the blogging community, practised their writing and speaking-up skills, and mustered the courage to speak up. Also, they felt rewarded and appreciated the acknowledgement when the tutor approved their comment and put it “on air”. The following responses from two participants illustrate this notion: “I think that it is a perfect place or medium for those who are afraid to speak up in class. I feel very happy when people responding and appreciate my comments.” “It feels tremendously great when you approve my comment.”

The third phase wrapped up the challenge and pursuit with final remarks from the learners. After a semester-long involvement with http://www.speakup-avenue.blogspot.com as a tool for CMC in ESL, four themes were captured, namely “positive vibes”, “good relationship”, “hidden identity” and “meaningful sacrifice”. Learners appreciated the tutor’s initiative in setting up the blog for extended class practice on speaking their minds. Learners who were slightly weak in writing appreciated the writing practice as they expressed their opinion on the blogosphere. They also appreciated the audience-effect; and, most interestingly, shy individuals could make remarkable comments and still hide their identity. The crucial point in responding to the tutor’s blog challenge is indeed authorship. Here, the learners realized the extra effort being put in by their tutor in writing articles which catered especially for their interest, curiosity, and concerns. In the tutor’s views and stance on the related issues, learners also had the opportunity to post their views and contribute to the debate and discussion. It was gratifying to discover that the ESL learners noticed and appreciated this little effort by the tutor. In their own words, this pursuit of setting up the blog, writing consistently and moderating comments, as well as endlessly encouraging learners to contribute and speak their minds is referred to as “sacrifice”. “You really want to help your student and you sacrifice your time just for your student. I’m glad to have you as my lecturer.”

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Conclusion Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is indeed the trend in our education system this century. Furthermore, academic blogging is a noble initiative and worthwhile educational investment which allows us to meet this expectation and cater to the needs and interests of the present cohort of ESL learners. Compared with the class blog and the learners’ blog, the tutor’s blog may not be as easy as it requires the tutor to serve as the writer and tutor. Nevertheless, it is important that more ESL practitioners explore their own thoughts and share their opinions with their students and the blogging community. This authentic experience allows the learners to communicate with their teacher and understand her views, philosophy, and perception. It also makes the teacher a significant part of the pedagogical process. In this study, it is established that in introducing academic blogging using the tutor’s blog, one may need to consider the three stages of engagement among ESL learners: first reaction, experience, and lasting impression. The concept may be surprising and intimidating in the beginning as learners may not be familiar with speaking their minds, and with speaking to an audience, even though virtually. As time goes by and as they become more immersed in the context, learners will appreciate the “experience” and the total impact it brings to the individual learner and the blogging community. “Lasting impression” matters and tutors will see exstudents still communicating with her and the blogging community even after they leave the university. Indeed, education continues beyond the boundaries of time and space in the ESL blogosphere.

References Anuratha, K. & Pramela, K. (2010). Collaborative learning skills in weblog. CALL-EJ Online 11(2). from http://www.callej.org/journal/112/kanniah_krish.html. Campbell, A. P. (2003). Weblogs for use with ESL classes. The Internet TESL Journal, 9(2).. Deng, L. & Yuen, A.H.K. (2011). Towards a framework for educational affordances of blogs. Computers & Education, 56, 441-451. Di Zhang (2009). The Application of Blog in English Writing. Journal of Cambridge Studies, 4(1), 64-72. Huffaker, D. (2005). The educated blogger: Using weblogs to promote literacy in the classroom. AACE Journal, 13(2), 91-98

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Johnson, A. (2004). Creating a writing course utilizing class and student blogs. The Internet TESL Journal, 10(8). Jones, R. G. (2011). Emerging technologies autonomous language learning. Language Learning & Technology, 15(3), 4-11. Nadzrah, A. B. (2009). E-Learning environment: Blogging as a platform for language learning. European Journal of Social Sciences, 9(4), 594604. Pramela, K. (2011). Fostering student engagement in online forums for language proficiency and knowledge enrichment. 2011 International Conference on Social Science and Humanity IPEDR, Vol. 5, 329-332. Soares, D. A. (2008). Understanding class blogs as a tool for language development. Language Teaching Research, 12, 517. Stanley, G. (2005). Blogging for ELT. from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/blogging-elt Supyan, H. (2008). Creating a bigger Z.P.D. for ESL learners via online forum. The College Teaching Methods and Styles Journal, 4(11), 1-9. Zaini, A., Kemboja, I. & Supyan, H. (2011). Blogs in language learning: Maximizing students’ collaborative writing. Procedia Social Behavioral Sciences, 18, 537-543. Zuraidah, A. (2008). Connecting with ESL Learners in the Blogosphere: The “Weblog” Phenomenon. Paper presented at the 1st UNITEN Teaching and Learning Conference. —. (2011). Technology as niche and panacea for the shyness syndrome in ESL. Proceedings for the International Conference on Teaching and Learning Education.

CHAPTER II REFLECTIVE TEACHING AS A WAY OF IMPROVING TEACHING JINAN A. KHALEEL

Every teacher wants to improve the teaching process. This may be done by initiating a way to understand and examine more clearly what took place each day in the classroom. This could be by writing daily in a teaching journal. Unfortunately, our teachers do not have teaching journals and are somewhat isolated in their classrooms. The aim of this study is to illustrate that teachers should have a positive role in improving the educational system in Iraq. The teaching journal will serve to inform the teacher of the various uses of this kind of reflective writing and thinking. As teachers are active thinkers and agents of change in schools, teaching can become more responsive to the learning needs of individual students in class. Conversations, notes, passing gestures, and posters on classroom walls are data in the researcher's quest to learn more about her and her colleagues’ teaching process, students, and university. This process allows us to see the educational systems as patterns of behaviour that could be questioned, revisited, and modified.

What is Reflective Teaching? Wisdom is learnt by three methods: (1) by reflection, which is noblest, (2) by imitation, which is easiest, and (3) by experience, which is bitterest (Confucius, Chinese philosopher, 479–551 BC). The practice of reflective teaching helps us, as professional teachers, to examine our work. Students’ active participation in reflective teaching provides us with data and with procedures which bring coherence out of complex “cognitive processing” as well as shape to huge amounts of activity (Bailey, 1997).

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With reference to “cognitive processing”, it should be mentioned that there are three perspectives of teaching. The first is the behavioural view that focuses on what teachers actually do. The second is the cognitive view that views teaching as a combination of thinking and doing, the emphasis being on the teachers’ thought processes. The third perspective is the interpretive view that sees skilled teaching as knowing what to do. Teachers interpret the available information in their own particular settings, make decisions, and act on them. Reflective teaching is addressed within this context (Freeman, 1996). Thus, reflective teaching is a process of self-observation and evaluation. As Borg (2003) suggests, “teachers are active, thinking decision-makers who make instructional choices by drawing on complex, practically-oriented, personalized, and context-sensitive networks of knowledge, thoughts, and beliefs”. Within TESOL, there has been a growing realization of a need to understand, and account for, the underlying belief systems of language teachers and the influence on their classroom practices (Borg, 1998). Reflective teaching examines the underlying assumption and becomes a useful model to understand the interaction of “dispositions” (being), “practice” (doing), and “professional knowledge” (knowing). Knowing is constructed when awareness is created by: (1) observation and gathering information, (2) analysing the information to identify any implications, (3) hypothesizing to explain the events and guide further action, and (4) implementing an action plan (Richards & Lockhart, 1994). The model of reflection incorporates five categories of knowledge: (1) knowledge of self, (2) knowledge of content, (3) knowledge of teaching and learning, (4) knowledge of pupils, and (5) knowledge of context within schools and society. This knowledge that is based on inquiry is the main aim of all professional development activities (teaching and practical learning; that is teacher–student) (ibid). In other words; such knowledge will continually change our teaching process and develop it.

Kinds of Reflective Teaching The question of how teachers can build practical professional work-related knowledge via reflective teaching may be answered by discussing three kinds of reflective teaching (Allwright and Bailey, 1991): (1) Reflection-on-classroom episodes. The teacher addresses the students’ needs by consulting research reports, and applying suggested solutions. The teacher might contemplate, at one point in time, the difference between two lessons based on the same lesson plan.

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(2) Reflection-in-action. Here the teacher goes a step further than merely contemplating his beliefs to the process of a longitudinal sequence of planning, acting, observing, reflecting, and re-planning. This involves analysing teaching situations, the difficulties students are experiencing, and synthesizing a solution. (3) Reflection-on-collaborative exercises. This is carried out with colleagues, leading to the development and further reinforcement of knowledge about what is required to work with others to achieve specific goals.

Central to any kind of reflective teaching, however, is a three-part process which involves the following (Richards, 2011, 2): (1) Stage 1: The event itself. The starting point of any teaching episode is a lesson or other instructional event. The teacher might either selfreflect, or might be observed by another person’s teaching. (2) Stage 2: Recollection of the event. This is an account of what happened without explanation or evaluation. It includes written descriptions of an event, a video or audio recording of an event, or the use of checklists. (3) Stage 3: Review and response to the event. The teacher returns to the event and reviews it. The event is processed at a deeper level, and questions are asked about the experience.

Wallace (1991, 99-102) explains these stages by using the term “microteaching”, which involves the following: (1) The briefing. The supervisor presents the skill to be practised and explains how this can be accomplished, e.g. by conducting a group activity. The presentation might be through oral discussion or may be based on readings or checklists, or involves modelling (video lesson demonstrations). (2) The planning. The student teacher plans the skills he has assigned to practise, prepares a description of the objective of his lesson, and provides a context for the lesson. (3) The teaching. The student teacher now teaches his micro lesson and the students take notes. (4) The critique. The lesson is discussed, analysed and evaluated.

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Note: The supervisor is the faculty member or teacher-trainer in charge of the practice teaching course; the student teacher is a person completing a teaching practice (Richards & Farrell, 2011).

How to Become a Reflective Teacher The process of reflective teaching might be conducted by one of the following methods (Richards, 2011): (1) Maintain a teaching diary. This is a daily record of the teacher's professional experiences. The teacher writes in a notebook what happened; describes his own reactions and feelings; and poses questions about lesson objectives, activities, materials, students, and classroom management. (2) Self-reports: This involves completing a checklist in which the teacher indicates which teaching practices were used within a lesson or within a specified time period and how often they were employed. Such an inventory may be completed individually or in group sessions. (3) Recording lessons. Video or audio recordings of lessons can provide very useful information for reflection. Audio recordings can be useful for considering aspects of teachers’ speech. Video recordings can be useful in showing aspects of the teacher’s behaviour. (4) Student feedback. The teacher can ask his students what they think about what goes on in the classroom. This can be done with simple questionnaires or learning diaries. (5) Peer observation. This is done by inviting a colleague to come into the teacher’s class to collect information about his lesson. The teacher might ask his colleague to focus on a particular aspect of his teaching (e.g. patterns of interaction with students) or to comment on his teaching in general. (6) Collaborative diary keeping. Teachers can keep diaries on their teaching, read each others’ diaries, and discuss their teaching and diary-keeping experiences on a weekly basis. (7) Autobiographies. Students meet an hour each week for at least ten weeks. Each student writes an account of his/her educational experience, and the weekly meetings are used to enable each person to

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read a passage from his/her autobiography. This is supported and commented on by his/her peers and the teacher. (8)

Journal writing. The goal here is to: (a) provide a record of the significant learning experiences, and (b) foster creative interaction between: x the participant and the self-development process that is taking place; x the participant and other participants who are also in the process of self-development; and x the participant and the facilitator whose role is to foster such development.

Method Subjects The subjects who participated in this study were 100 second stage university students from the College of Education for Women, comprising 50 second-year students studying grammar taught by the researcher, and another 50 second-year students taught by her colleague (Prof. Nejat Ahmed). They were given two courses in grammar (An Introductory English Grammar, by Norman C. Stageberg). In the first course, the researcher taught them without using any reflective teaching whereas in the second course, reflective teaching was used. Furthermore, the researcher attended her colleague’s class and vice versa.

Instrumentation Two achievement tests on the materials taught during the two courses were constructed and given to the students by the researcher. As for the second course, teaching materials used as indicators of reflective pedagogy were: (1) audio recordings of the lessons, (2) peer or expert observation checklist, (3) students’ feedback checklist, (4) teacher diary, and (5) personal communications with experts and colleagues.

Procedure The researcher and her colleague applied the traditional approach to the teaching of grammar in the first course (pre-test). Then they conducted a communicative approach in the second course with the help of reflective teaching. The results show that the performance of the students in

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grammatical terms was better, with the total average of performance being raised from 29% to 75%, since the researchers made use of the other teacher's belief with regards to the approach of teaching grammar. Thus a correspondence is made between the beliefs and the actual observed classroom practices. In the first course, the researcher conducted an interview with her colleague to examine the students’ performance when following a traditional approach in the teaching of grammatical issues of the present and the past tenses and the adverbs of manner. The experimenters exchanged the following beliefs: (1) The traditional approach is not useful in the teaching of grammar. (2) Lessons are primarily teacher-centred where the teacher is engaged in giving instructions. (3) Lessons are based on mainly work-sheet drilling practices. (4) The approach is mainly overt and stresses testing. (5) The students’ performance, based on this approach, does not exceed 29%.

However, in the second course where a communicative approach is used, they showed a divergence in their beliefs: (1) Students show interest in the lessons as these were integrated into other activities like speaking and writing. (2) The communicative approach creates a humorous atmosphere in the class as teachers give the students different roles where and when necessary. (3) The students feel encouraged as the use of audiovisual materials makes the lesson more enjoyable.

Conclusion Since teaching is more than what goes on in the context of a classroom, there is a need for staff development to reflect before and after one’s own practices, to make decisions and adapt during the teaching process, and to examine his values and beliefs in the light of other teachers’ theories and practices. We have seen that the use of checklists and other teachers’

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observations is important to reflect on one’s practice in teaching grammar, and that qualitative testing proves successful in showing how reflective teaching is important. Reflective teaching creates a humorous atmosphere in the class. It helps the students relax. Students’ co-operation, satisfaction, and support showed an increase in the second course. Thus, it is empirically proven that reflective teaching results in superior teaching and more effective learning.

References Allwright, D. and Bailey, K.M. (1991). Focus on the Language Classroom: An Introduction to Classroom Research for Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Bailey, K.M (1997). Reflective teaching: situating our stories. Asian Journal of English Language Teaching, 7, 1-19. Borg, S. (1998). Teachers’ pedagogical systems and grammar teaching: A qualitative study. TESOL Quarterly, 32(1), 9-38. —. (2003). Teacher cognition in language teaching: a review of research on what language teachers think, know, believe, and do. Language Teaching (2 April), 36, 81-109. Cakir, I. (2010). Criticizing ourselves as teachers through observation: From reflective to effective teaching. English for Specific Purposes World, 9(30), 11-12. Freeman, D. (1996). Redefining the relationship between research and what teachers know. In Bailey and D. Nunan (1996) (eds), Voices from the language classroom: Qualitative research in second language education (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 88-115. Richards, J. C. (2011). Towards reflective teaching. Retrieved from http://www.tttjournal.co.uk. Richards, J. C. and Farrell, S. C. (2011). Practice teaching: A reflective approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Richards, J. C. and Lockhart, C. (1994). Reflective teaching in second language classrooms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wallace, M .J. (1991). Educating foreign language teachers: A reflective approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Appendix Self-Observation Checklist for ESL Teachers Thoughtfully consider each statement. Rate yourself in the following way: ) Excellent 3 ) Good 2 ) Needs improvement 1 ) Not applicable 0 Write your rating in the blanks provided. When you have finished, give overall consideration to the various areas. I. Learning Environment A. Relationship to Students I establish good eye contact with my class. I do not talk over their heads, to the blackboard or to just one individual. If I tend to teach predominantly to one area of the classroom, I am aware of this. I make a conscious effort at all times to pay attention to all students equally. I divide my students into small groups in an organized and principled manner. I recognize that these groups should differ in size and composition, varying with the objective of the group activity. B. The Classroom I arrange the seating in my class to suit the class activity for the day. I consider the physical comfort of the room such as heat and light. When I need special materials or equipment, I have them set up before the class begins. C. Presentation My handwriting on the blackboard and charts is legible from all locations in the classroom. It is large enough to be read by students with visual impairment. I speak loudly enough to be heard in all parts of the classroom and I enunciate clearly. I vary the exercises in class, alternating between rapid- and slowpaced activities to keep up maximum interest level in the class.

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I am prepared to give a variety of explanations, models, or descriptions, on the understanding that one explanation may not be sufficient for all students. I help the students form working principles and generalizations. Students use new skills or concepts long enough so that they are retained and thus future application is possible. I plan for “thinking time” for my students so they can organize their thoughts and plan what they are going to say or do. D. Culture and Adjustment I am aware that cultural differences affect the learning situation. I keep the cultural background(s) of my students in mind when planning daily activities and am aware of cultural misunderstandings which might arise from the activities I choose. I work for an atmosphere of understanding and mutual respect. II. The Individuals A. Physical Health I know which students have visual or aural impairments, and have seated them as close to my usual teaching position as possible. I am aware that a student’s attention span varies from day to day depending on mental and physical health and outside distractions. I pace my class activities to accommodate their strengths. I don’t continue with an activity which may exhaust or bore them. Criticizing Ourselves as Teachers through Observation: A. From Reflective to Effective Teaching: I begin my class with a simple activity to wake the students up and get them working together. I am sensitive to individual students who have bad days. I don’t press a student who is incapable of performing at the usual level. I try to challenge students who are at their best. If I am having a bad day and feel it might affect my normal teaching style, I let my students know so there is no misunderstanding about my feelings for them.

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B. Self-concepts I treat my students with the same respect that I expect them to show me. I plan “one-centred” activities which give all students an opportunity at some point to feel important and accepted. I like to teach and have a good time teaching on most days. C. Aptitude and Perception I am aware that my students learn differently. My exercises are varied: some are visual, aural, oral, and kinaesthetic. I provide models, examples, and experiences to maximize learning in each of these areas. I know basic concepts in the memory process. When applicable, I make use of techniques such as backward build-up and association to aid students in rapid skill acquisition. D. Reinforcement I tell students when they have done well, but I don’t let praise become mechanical. I finish my class period leaving sufficient time to review the new concepts presented during the class period. My students can immediately evaluate their understanding of those concepts. My tests are well-planned and produced. I make my system of grading clear to my students so that there are no misunderstandings of expectations. E. Development I keep up to date on new techniques in the ESL profession by attending conferences and workshops and by reading pertinent professional articles and books. I realize that there is no one right way to present any lesson. I try new ideas where and when they seem appropriate. I observe other ESL teachers so that I can get other ideas and compare them to my own teaching style. I want to have several ideas for teaching any one concept.

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III. The Activity A. Interaction I minimize my role in conducting the activities. I organize the activities so they are suitable for real interaction among the students. The activities maximize student involvement. The activities promote spontaneity or experimentation on the part of the learner. The activities generally transfer attention away from self and outward toward a task. The activities are organized to insure a high success rate, leaving enough room for error to make the activity challenging. I am not overly concerned with error correction. I concentrate on what my students are saying (content). B. Language The activity is focused. The content or the skill presented will be easily transferable for use outside the class. The activity is geared to the proficiency level of my class or slightly beyond. The content of the activity is not too sophisticated for my students. I make the content of the activity relevant and meaningful to my students’ world. *This checklist was adopted from Ismail Cakir.

CHAPTER III TOWARDS AN INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN THE WORLD ENGLISH ERA: SOME EMERGING ISSUES AND CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING CULTURE IN THE CLASSROOMS ATHRIYANA PATTIWAEL

The inclusion of cultural perspectives in instructional language activities is now challenged by the nature of English as an international language. The role of culture in teaching an international language needs to be significantly different from the role of culture in teaching other languages. It should be understood within the relationship between an international language and culture itself, instead of approaching it as the source of cultural information. Besides, the educational goal of learning English as an international language that helps students arrive at the point of cultural consciousness and helps them to manipulate this consciousness in their participation in intercultural communication should frame teachers’ decision in the instructional material design. As a small contribution to the extensive discussion and effort in this area, this chapter will address some emerging issues in redeveloping instructional activity, such as culture’s role, pedagogic reorientation, cultural information presented in the materials, and the notion of the “third place”. Some considerations related to these emerging issues will also be discussed.

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Introduction The number of L2 speakers of English has increased extensively across the world. Graddol (1999) even contended that in the not-too-distant future, the number of L2 speakers of English will surpass the number of native speakers. He further maintained that the status of English has experienced a rise, with many countries in the Expanding Circle (where there exists the greatest potential for the continued spread of English) using it within the country as well as for international communication, as in countries of the Outer Circle. This shift reflects the use of English as a language of wider communication in a global sense for a great variety of purposes. Knowledge of English is necessary for accessing many discourses at a global level from international relations to popular culture to academia; it has gained global currency (McKay, 2002). Jenkins and Murata (2009) also described this feature, stating that increasingly these days in most of the English communication in international and intercultural settings where interactants who do not share a language cannot help using a language of their “choice” as a means of communication, and in current international communicative situations, the lingua franca is most likely to be English with its global spread. Canagarajah (2006), in his notion of post-modern globalization, described another view of the spread of English. He maintained that the varieties of English in the Outer Circle have started to leak outside their national borders. Within this setting, he argued that Indian English is also relevant to Americans, that American English is also necessary for Indians, etc. In relation to what has happened in the Expanding Circle countries, he noted that speakers in countries such as China, Vietnam, the Phillipines, Brazil, etc. use English not solely for extra-community relations but also for intra-national purposes. There is a strong demand for English learning and teaching practices to reorient and revisit its goal in which English is learnt for interaction with native speakers, adopting the communicative competence of native speakers as a goal of learning English, and learning the cultural conventions of the native speakers. In the present situation, where English is used quite intensively and extensively in the daily lives of individuals in many non-native English contexts in today’s world, however, English has taken various forms, reflecting the linguistic and cultural backgrounds of the speakers (Acar, 2009). Thus, English is used more and more as an international language among both native and non-native speakers; it is not learnt as a foreign language merely to communicate with native speakers. Seidlhofer (2003) asserted that this reminds us that English is used by

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plurilingual and monolingual people alike (but obviously, due to the numerical predominance of non-native speakers, the plurilinguals outnumber the monolinguals); and, lastly, that it is the non-native speakers of English who will be the main agents in the ways English is used, maintained, and changed, and who will shape the ideologies and beliefs associated with it. This chapter departs from this point and agrees with some researchers such as McKay (2002, 2003), Alptekin (2002), Canagarajah (2006), and Acar (2009), that this reality of cross-cultural communication in English should start to question the appropriateness of the native speaker-based notion of communicative competence as a goal in English as an international language pedagogy. It discusses some of the emerging issues and considerations regarding culture’s role, pedagogic reorientation, cultural information presented in the materials and the notion of the “third place” in building students’ intercultural competence. As asserted by McKay (2002), the primary reason for dealing with culture in EIL teaching is that the use of EIL involves the crossing of borders as individuals interact in cross-cultural encounters that demand high intercultural competence.

Intercultural Competence in the World English Era Byram (2000) proposed a valuable paradigm on defining, teaching, and assessing intercultural communicative competence that has been exploited and referred to by various researchers in the field of intercultural communicative competence. Briefly, he contended that intercultural competence involves five elements, namely (1) attitudes, (2) knowledge, (3) skills in interpreting and relating, (4) skills in discovery and interaction, and (5) critical cultural awareness/political education. Byram (2000) described someone with some degree of intercultural competence as being able to see relationships between different cultures – both internal and external to a society – and is able to mediate, i.e. to interpret each in terms of the other, either for themselves or for other people. It is also someone who has a critical or analytical understanding of their own and other cultures (or parts thereof), someone who is conscious of their own perspective, of the way in which their thinking is culturally determined, rather than believing that their understanding and perspective is natural. Nault (2006 in Nunn, 2011) summarized different dimensions of Byram’s model of intercultural communicative competence and suggested that they can be exploited as teaching objectives:

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1. Attitudes. Learners should be curious, open-minded and flexible, or ready “to suspend disbelief” about others’ cultures. 2. Knowledge. Learners should understand “social groups and their products and practices” and “the general processes of societal and individual interaction” in their own and foreign countries. 3. Skills of interpreting and relating. Learners should be able “to interpret a document or event from another culture” in relation to their own cultural perspective. 4. Skills of discovery and interaction. Learners should be able “to acquire new knowledge of a culture and cultural practices” and “operate knowledge, attitudes and skills under the constraints of real-time communication and interaction”. 5. Critical cultural awareness. Learners should be able “to evaluate critically and on the basis of explicit criteria perspectives, practices and products” in their own and others’ cultures and countries. Acar (2009) argued that while intercultural communication is not always EIL communication, EIL communication is always intercultural communication, and that Byram’s framework should be elaborated more into the setting of EIL. McKay (2002), in the context of bilingual users in the Outer Circle, focused her discussion on this notion more on pragmatic and rhetorical competence. Achieving pragmatic competence involves the ability to understand the illocutionary force of an utterance. It also covers the ability to know which form for expressing a particular meaning is most appropriate for a particular context. The selection of form itself has a cultural basis, as selecting an inappropriate form may lead to cross-cultural misunderstanding. The underlying intercultural competence here is developing the awareness that pragmatic rules can differ significantly cross-culturally. Alptekin (2002), by accommodating the case of English as an international and intercultural communication tool, described intercultural competence as the ability to communicate effectively with others, accompanied with an awareness of difference and with strategies for coping with such differences. Nunn (2007 in Acar 2009), together with another four components of communicative competence, maintained that intercultural competence for EIL is not based on the knowledge of one other culture for successful communication between two cultures. It means the ability to adjust to unpredictable multicultural situations. Canagarajah (2006), in his notion of post-modern globalization, stated that post-modern globalization requires that students strive for competence in a repertoire of English varieties as they shuttle between multilingual communities. In

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addition, he asserted that “to be really proficient in English today one has to be multidialectal”. This does not mean, however, being proficient in all the varieties of English in the world. By situating the need to engage with multiple English varieties, even other languages, he stressed that it is unwise for a speaker to develop competence in only one dialect or language system. It is more important to develop the cognitive abilities to negotiate multiple dialects as one shuttles between communities. Acar (2009) elaborated on McKay (2002) and Canagarajah’s aforementioned notions on EIL competence, which include linguistic competence, pragmatic competence, discourse competence, strategic competence, and intercultural competence. He maintained that in postmodern globalization where English speakers from the Inner Circle, the Outer Circle, and the Expanding Circle are involved in cross-cultural communication with each other, they need to be sensitive to each others’ cultural differences and to develop cross-cultural awareness. Thus, cultures of the Inner Circle, the Outer Circle, and the Expanding Circle speakers are relevant to each other. Rather than teaching students all the cultures of the world, which is certainly impossible, the best way is to raise students’ cross-cultural awareness, which requires them to gain knowledge about their own culture and also how their own culture differs from the cultures of others.

Towards an Intercultural Competence in English World Era Issue and Consideration 1: Culture in the Teaching of EIL Bringing culture to students so far involves the supply of cultural information in most English classrooms in Outer and probably all Expanding Circle countries. Such information typically includes at least one of the following dimensions of culture as discussed by Adaskou, Britten, and Fahsi (1990 in McKay, 2002): (1) “the aesthetic sense”, in which the literature, film, and music of a target language country are examined, (2) “the sociological sense”, in which the customs and institutions of this country are explained, (3) “the semantic sense”, in which the manner a culture’s conceptual system is embodied in a language is investigated, and (4) “the pragmatic sense”, in which how cultural norms influence what language is appropriate in the contexts being examined. Approaching culture in the sense of supplying information presents problems in developing intercultural competence. First, it cannot be

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assumed that the culture of any one particular country (especially an Inner Circle country) should provide the basis for cultural content. Second, if one of the goals of using culture is to help the students interact in crosscultural encounters, then merely knowing about the culture is insufficient to gain insight into how to interact in these encounters. In order for interaction to occur, students need to reflect on how such information might affect their information (McKay, 2002). Bringing culture into the notion of EIL appears to be a more convincing framework in developing students’ intercultural competence. The support originates mainly from the nature of EIL itself that determines the role of culture in the teaching-learning process. The role of culture should be understood within the relationship between an international language and culture itself. Smith (1976, in McKay, 2002) noted that one of the natures of English as an international language is that it is used by people of different nations to communicate with one another. Based on this nature, several assumptions that may describe the relationship between an international language and culture are as follows: a. Learners of an international language do not need to internalize the cultural norms of native speakers of that language. b. The ownership of an international language becomes “denationalized”. c. The educational goal of learning an international language is to enable learners to communicate their ideas and culture to others. The individual use of EIL in a global sense to communicate with people of other countries seems to be valid within these assumptions. McKay (2002) further stated the need to modify these assumptions for the use of EIL in a local sense. This type of use occurs mainly in many Outer Circle countries where English is used as a language of wider communication within one country. While still in line with Smith’s aforementioned first and third assumptions, with the second assumption related to the distinction of both the global and local senses, she provided the following revisions regarding the relationship between an international language and culture: (1) as an international language, English is used both in a global sense for international communication between countries and in a local sense as a language of wider communication within multilingual societies; (2) English being an international language, its use is no longer connected to the culture of Inner Circle countries; (3) as it is an international language in a local sense, English becomes embedded in the culture of the country in which it is used; and (4) as English is an international language in a

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global sense, one of its primary functions is to enable speakers to share with others their ideas and culture. Working on these relationships in bringing culture into the classroom as part of intercultural competence development presents challenges to the role of culture in instructional activities. Culture plays its role in language teaching in two important ways (McKay, 2003). First, culture is significant in the linguistic dimension of the language itself, affecting the semantic, pragmatic, and discourse levels of the language. Second, culture is operative in a pedagogical sense in that choices need to be made regarding the cultural content of language materials and the cultural basis of the teaching methodology (to be discussed in greater depth in Issue and Consideration 2 and 3). Concerns which arise in the linguistic dimension focus largely on the culturally embedded linguistic forms and rules and the notion that if learners of an international language do not need to internalize the cultural norms of native speakers, then there is no need for L2 speakers of EIL to conform to the discourse level as well as the semantic and pragmatic rules of native speakers of English. McKay (2002) argued that the focus of attention for bilingual speakers of English in the Outer Circle should be on their own linguistic, pragmatic, and rhetorical competence rather than on the competence of native speakers. As for the use of EIL between individuals from different countries, the focus of pragmatic competence should be on raising “the awareness of both native speakers and bilingual users of English that pragmatic rules can differ significantly cross-culturally”. On the level of semantics, McKay (2002) underlined the important decision the teacher should make in relation to what culturally embedded lexical phrases should be included in the materials. Besides, teachers should also maintain the balance of exposing the class to the vast differences in how various cultures enact a particular speech act. The attention of the class should focus on developing an awareness of crosscultural variation in spoken interaction rather than promoting Inner Circle pragmatic rules. The students within the context of EIL have no need to conform to the pragmatic rules of native speakers of English. A similar situation occurs at the discourse level of language teaching. McKay (2002) further affirmed that the rhetorical goals of the L2 speaker of English as well as the intended audience of certain texts need to be considered when making curriculum choices in EIL teaching. There are differences in how various cultures develop particular genres such as a business letter or an argumentative essay. Research on contrastive rhetoric has raised questions on the extent of the internalization of the discourse rules of native speakers of English that EIL learners need to demonstrate.

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The use of EIL should not be associated with any particular rhetoric tradition. Besides, there is a need for readers of English to be willing to process English texts that conform to a variety of rhetorical patterns (McKay, 2002; Acar, 2009).

Issue and Consideration 2: Pedagogy Reorientation In the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language, learners are expected not only to acquire accurate forms of the target language but also to learn how to use these forms in given social situations to convey appropriate, coherent, and strategically affective meaning for native speakers (Alptekin, 2002). The native speakers’ language and culture making Non-standard (NS) English norms, NS authentic communication, and NS culture are the ultimate focus of curriculum design and classroom practice. Learners should acquire the norms of English language usage appropriate to the users of the Inner Circle. It is taken for granted that English pedagogy should judge the use of English by non-native speakers by how it approximates native language use while considering differences in non-native language use as “mistakes” or “errors” which should be corrected to avoid fossilization (Acar, 2009). The validity of this pedagogic model that is based on the Inner Circle native speakers’ English usage has been seriously questioned by some researchers such as McKay (2002, 2003), Alptekin (2002), Canagarajah (2006) and others who hold a pluricentric view of English and hence English language norms at all levels. They argue for the recognition of variations in the use of English in the Outer Circle from the native standard English as innovations rather than mistakes or errors, and of Outer Circle Englishes as local standard Englishes rather than interlanguages, and the inclusion of these local Englishes as pedagogical models in these local contexts (Acar, 2009). Besides, English is no longer the sole property of native speakers but is also the language of non-native speakers who adapt it to their own sociolinguistic and sociocultural contexts. The emerging reality of the legitimacy of multiple norms of English around the world also calls into question the validity of the native speaker-based notion of communicative competence as the ultimate goal for language learners and necessitates a reconceptualization of communicative competence which would embrace such international variability in English (Acar, 2009). The pedagogic model based on the native speaker is challenged by McKay (2002) who based herself on the features of English as an international language. She claimed that an appropriate EIL pedagogy

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should no longer be informed by native speaker models. She convincingly stated that “it cannot be assumed that the culture of any one particular country, especially an Inner Circle country, should provide the basis for cultural content when teaching EIL … and … that if one of the goals of using culture in EIL teaching is to help individuals interact in crosscultural encounters, then merely knowing about a culture will not be sufficient to gain insight into how to interact in these encounters”. She then suggested that the examination of the various ways in which bilinguals make use of English within their linguistic repertoire is more important than comparing them with native speakers. The focus of attention should also be drawn to bilingual speakers’ own linguistics, pragmatics, and rhetorical competence (especially the bilingual speakers of English in the Outer Circle) rather than native speakers’ competence. Acar (2009), who expressed similar notions, explained that the orientation to culture teaching, in which learners are required to learn the cultures of the Inner Circle native speakers, would not be adequate when teaching English as an international language (which involves cross-cultural communication among speakers from different cultural backgrounds). Alptekin (2002) also questioned the validity of the pedagogic model based on the native speaker-based notion of communicative competence. The assumption that the model best reflects native speakership is a linguistic myth that betrays a monolithic perception of the native speaker’s language and culture. The model is also considered to be unrealistic because it fails to reflect the lingua franca status of English. The restriction on both teacher and learner autonomy, by associating the concept of authenticity with the social milieu of the native speaker, makes this model a constraint in relation to EIL. He argued for the need of a new pedagogic model which would accommodate the case of English as an international and intercultural communication tool characterized by the following criteria: 1. Successful bilinguals with intercultural insights and knowledge should serve as pedagogic models in English as an international language (EIL) rather than the monolingual native speaker. 2. Intercultural communicative competence should be developed among EIL learners by equipping them with (a) linguistic and cultural behaviours which will enable them to communicate effectively with others, (b) with an awareness of differences, and (c) with strategies for coping with such differences. 3. The EIL pedagogy should be one of global appropriacy and local appropriation, in that it should prepare learners “to be both global

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and local speakers of English and to feel at home in both international and national cultures”. 4. Instructional materials and activities should involve local and international contexts that are familiar and relevant to language learners’ lives. 5. Instructional materials and activities should have suitable discourse samples pertaining to native and non-native speaker interactions. Discourse displaying exclusive native speaker use should be kept to a minimum, as it is chiefly irrelevant for many learners in terms of potential use in authentic settings.

Issue and Consideration 3: What Culture Content Should Be Presented The culture content of the textbook and teaching materials is essential for they can be seen as ideology (Cortazzi & Jin, 1999), in the sense that they reflect a worldview or cultural system, a social construction that may be imposed on teachers and students and that indirectly constructs their view of a culture. Valdes (cited in Baker, 2003) shared the same account that every lesson is about something and that that something is cultural. Therefore it can be assumed that exposure to certain textbooks and teaching materials can be understood as exposure to a particular culture content. Furthermore, the various culture contents presented by various textbooks and teaching materials mean that more opportunities are presented to students to allow them to experience, encounter, and interact with various cultures which, in turn, will facilitate the development of their intercultural competence. Cortazzi and Jin (1999) proposed three patterns in English textbooks and teaching materials reflecting cultures: 1. Source culture materials, which draw on the learners’ own culture as content. 2. Target culture materials, which use the culture of a country where English is spoken as an L1. 3. International target culture materials, which use a great variety of cultures in English- and non-English-speaking countries around the world. Each pattern has its advantages and disadvantages related to the role and contribution of culture to the teaching-learning process, the achievement

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of students’ goals in learning English, and the building of their intercultural competence. Source culture materials refer to materials which focus on the learners’ own culture. Related to the teaching-learning process, this material shows its significant contribution. It seems that the involvement of the students will be higher since the topic is familiar to them and is in the immediate environment of the students. Furthermore, the teachers, who are from the source culture, share at least the same access and resources to cultural information. McKay (2002) pointed out that this will help the teachers secure their problematic position and role, especially those whose students’ cultural backgrounds make them view the teacher as the sole provider of communication. These materials are usually designed to help students become aware of and able to communicate their own cultural identity by using English, thus implying a supply of context for learning and using English. Yet Cortazzi and Jin (1999) stated that even though the students are provided with the context and opportunity to communicate (in English), they can communicate only within their cultural frameworks because they have not encountered cultural alternatives and are therefore likely to carry their home culture with them in their use of English. In using such materials, the students see members of their own culture, in their own context, who are not different from themselves, except for the fact that they all speak English. They have limited contact and direct encounters with different forms of culture and context which require different communicative (cultural) strategies. Furthermore, the students experience limited culture reflection (a process which involves the students in objective and subjective reflections of their culture and the cultures of others) and choose their own meanings that best reflect their personal perspectives. They are exposed only to their own culture system and, therefore, have little opportunity to engage in intercultural negotiation with another culture. The negotiation process is where they identify and confirm their own cultural identity, or ascertain its similarities and differences with those of another cultural group. Target culture – Textbooks and teaching materials can also base themselves on target culture, the culture of the country where English is spoken as the first language. Since the topic presents new and unfamiliar information about English-speaking cultures, the students may be interested in learning more. For students whose goal of learning English is to prepare themselves to encounter activities involving English-speaking people, this content culture brings a significant contribution.

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Yet McKay (2002) argued that some of these materials are largely irrelevant or uninteresting. To some extent this issue may even present cultural conflict for the students. The portrayal of the members of the target cultural group along with their ideas, lifestyles, norms, and values may lead to culture homogenization. This can be counter-productive since students who find themselves as the minority will feel threatened culturally (and, to some extent, religiously) and become defensive. Feeling pressured and threatened, people will usually seek refuge in their primordial identities, including a cultural one (Naisbitt, cited in Lie, 2002). This cultural-psychological context may hinder learners’ development of individual as well as group identities. Lie (2002) pointed out that it is likely that students who are under-represented and/or negatively stereotyped in their learning materials are vulnerable to the feeling of ambivalence with regard to their group identification process. To some extent, this may even block the learners’ learning process. Cultural conflict may also take place when there is greater social distance between students’ source culture and the culture of the language studied. If they find their culture group to be inferior politically, culturally, technically, or economically to the target language (culture) group, there will be a greater distance between the two cultures. Schumann (cited in Brown, 2000) pointed out that the greater the social distance between two cultures, the greater the difficulty for students in terms of learning the target language. Furthermore, for teachers who come from a culture that expects them to be the main information provider in the classroom and the main source of knowledge, this kind of material will place them in a troubling position if they have limited access to the cultural reference of the topic discussed. International target cultures – Some other textbooks and teaching materials include a wide variety of cultures set in English-speaking countries or, in other countries, international target cultures. Uninterested students and the lack of information needed to explain the cultural information in the materials may still pose problems with this kind of material. Yet some benefits might arise from using these materials in relation to the enhancement of students’ intercultural competence. When students come into direct contact with other cultures, the opportunities to experience reflective interpretation of their own culture (C1) and the cultures of others (C2) will become available. This experience involves the students in objective and subjective reflections of C1 and C2 from which they must choose their own meanings that best reflect their personal perspectives. Through careful and effective management, the teacher may also lead the students to ways in which English is used effectively to communicate with others for international purposes. Nunn (2011)

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discussed the importance of providing students with the opportunity to adapt to different types of “communities”. He argued that EIL users do not operate in homogenous, single-speech communities. Therefore, they need to be able to communicate within different kinds of communities. Some of these, such as communities of practice, will be semi-permanent while others will be temporary.

Issue and Consideration 4: Establishing the “‘third place” Concerning cultural background, each student brings the cultural mores and patterns of accepted behaviour learnt in their native culture which may differ from their classmates’ and teacher’s. They arrive with not only their mother tongue but also their way of interacting and expressing themselves according to strategies and conventions learnt in their own linguistic and cultural community. When they learn English as a medium which displays various cultural contents, they at the same time come into contact with various cultures – the culture of their classmates, that of the teacher, and that of the textbook and teaching materials. Brown (2000) stated that learning a second language involves the acquisition of a second (cultural) identity. Contact with other cultures and acquiring a second cultural identity can cause students to experience culture shock. Unfortunately, this aspect is often neglected during the teaching-learning process. Very little attention is paid to how support is provided for students when they go through the acculturation process. The students’ native culture and cultural experiences can actually be exploited to support the process of second-language learning. To this extent, English classrooms display potential as a place where students can extend their process of acquiring new cultures and be encouraged to follow this process via self-reflection and meaning modification. Learning about cultures within this setting is more than just the transfer of information between cultures. It requires students to consider their own culture in relation to another culture. McKay (2002) strengthened this idea by stating that the process of learning about another culture entails reflection on one’s own culture as well as the target culture – the very characteristic of intercultural competence. There is a call, then, for teachers to facilitate this phase. As students begin to lose some of the ties of their native culture and to adapt to the second culture, they experience feelings of chagrin or regret, mixed with the fearful anticipation of entering a new group. They suffer from feelings of social uncertainty or dissatisfaction, as a significant aspect of the relationship between language learning and attitude towards the foreign

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culture, as stipulated by the concept of anomie (Brown, 2000). Anomie may be described as the first symptom of the stage of acculturation, a feeling of “homesickness”, where one feels neither firmly bound to one’s native culture nor fully adapted to the second culture. It is unavoidable since becoming bilingual or multilingual means becoming bicultural or multicultural to some extent. In assisting students whose feelings are neither bound firmly to their native culture nor adapted fully to the second culture (the culture of their classmates, the culture of the teacher, and the culture of the textbook and teaching materials), the teacher should attempt to bridge the gap by helping them to establish their “third place” where they position themselves between their first culture (C1) and second culture (C2) (Kramsch, 1993). This “third place” involves the learners in an objective and subjective reflection of C1 and C2 from which they must choose their own meanings that best reflect their personal perspectives. The students are encouraged to reflect on comparisons between cultures and form their own perspectives on them. This conception of culture emphasizes the importance of individual interpretations of culture rather than rigid stereotypical notions. This establishment of this “third place” should be supported by some systematic activities; otherwise the goal of reflective activity will not be achieved. Below are ideas (adapted from Kramch, 1993) of how the teacher can assist their students in conducting their reflective activity. First, the teacher can establish a sphere of interculturality, in which the learners are encouraged to relate C1 to C2 and reflect on their perceptions of them. The more reflective activity they have, the clearer the relationship between different cultures will be. Second, the focus of teaching culture should be on the interpersonal process. Instructional activities should go beyond the presentation of cultural facts and move towards a process of understanding what seems to be the “foreignness” of other cultures (macro-features such as specific cultural values and attitudes). The differences should be deliberately made visible to the students. By noticing the differences, they are able to understand their own culture better, to see how different cultures interact with one another, and to appreciate their unique and distinct characteristics. By increasing students’ awareness of cultural differences, their appreciation and respect for cultural differences can be developed. Third, cultural differences should not be viewed as only national traits. Many other aspects of culture such as age, race, gender, and social class should be taken into account. The teacher can exploit some of the interesting or problematic patterns of classroom interaction as a topic for

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discussion. This, however, demands intercultural knowledge, skills, and awareness. Fourth, the teacher should cross the disciplinary boundaries and understand culture by encompassing other subjects such as sociology, ethnography, and socio-linguistics. The explication of the differences between cultures – how a particular culture operates, how it produces its values and concepts, and what its differences are – is essential for the students so that negative stereotypes can be broken. Teachers should equip themselves with such cultural knowledge and understanding (as the external forces and internal forces which contribute to the existence of particular cultural frames, concepts, values, and practices). If this process of acquiring culture and language is successful, learners will be able to use English in such a way as to communicate effectively and appropriately, and, furthermore, in a way that reflects their own local cultures and personal beliefs (Kramsch & Sullivan, in Baker, 2003).

Conclusion EIL teaching and learning demonstrates its potential in preparing students to become competent English speakers in an English world through the development of intercultural competence. By liberating itself from the native speaker-based model and working within the framework of EIL competence, it will enable students to be effective communicators in any cross-cultural international communication. A reorientation and revisit of the pedagogy, the concept of culture’s role, teaching materials, and the creation of the “third place” is imperative, to be conducted along with sufficient descriptive work on EIL which would be a necessary requirement as a component of EIL-focused curriculum, the codification of varieties, and the notion of academic assessment.

References Acar, A. (2009). On EIL competence. English as an International Language Journal (Special Edition), 5, 11-26. Alptekin, Cem (2002). Towards intercultural communicative competence. ELT Journal, 56(1), 57-64. Baker, W. (2003). Should culture be an overt component of EFL instruction outside English speaking countries? The Thai context. Asian. Retrieved 3 November 2004 from http://www.telus.net/linguisticissues/thai.htm/

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Brown, H. D. (2000) Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, 4th ed. New York: Longman. Byram, M. (2000). Assessing Intercultural Competence in Language Teaching. Sprogforum, 16(1), 8-13. Byram, M., Nichols, A., & Stevens, D. (eds) (2001). Developing intercultural competence in practice. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Canagarajah, S. (2006). Changing communicative needs, revised assessment objectives: Testing English as an international language. Language Assessment Quarterly, 3(3), 229-242. Cortazzi, M. & Jin, L. (1999). Cultural mirrors: materials and methods in the EFL classroom. In Eli Hinkel (ed.). Culture in Second Language Teaching and Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Fantini, E. A. (1995). An expanded goal for language education: Developing intercultural communicative competence. In Makhan L. Tickoo (Ed.), Language and Culture in Multilingual Societies: Viewpoints and Visions. Anthology Series, 36, 37-52. Singapore: SEAMEO Regional Language Centre. Graddol, D. (1999). The decline of the native speaker. AILA Review, 13, 57-68. Harumi, I. (2002). A new framework of culture teaching for teaching English as a global language. RELC Journal, 33(12), 37-57. Jenkins, J. & Murata, K. (2009). Global Englishes in Asian Contexts; Current and Future Debate. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Komin, S. (1998). English Language learning in the 21st “Asian” century. In Willy A. R., & George, M. J. (eds), Learners and Language Learning.Anthology Series, 39, 263-270. Kramsch, Claire (1993). Context and Culture in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lie, A. (2002). Multicultural erspectives in ELT materials development. Paper presented at 1st International Seminar on English language Studies, Yogyakarta, May 2002. McKay, S. (2000). Teaching English Overseas: An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. —. (2002). Teaching English as an International Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. —. (2003). The cultural basis of teaching English as an international language. TESOL Matters, 13(4). —. (2005). Teaching English as an international language: The role of culture in Asian countries. Paper presented at 1st International Seminar on Culture, English Language Teaching and Literature, Semarang, January 2005.

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Nunn, R. (2011). From defining to developing competence in EIL and intercultural communication. English as an International Language Journal, 6(1), 21-46. Renner, C. (1994). Multicultural methodologies in second language acquisition: Integrating global responsibility, peace education and cross-cultural awareness. Retrieved 5 November 2005 from http://www.midtesol.org/articles/htm. Seidlhofer, B. (2003). A Concept of International English and Related Issues: From “Real English” to “Realistic English”. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Language Policy Division.

CHAPTER IV ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING IN MALAYSIAN TEACHER-TRAINING INSTITUTES: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES SACHITHANANTHAM TACHINA MOORTHI

The Malaysian Ministry of Education has been implementing a variety of programmes to address the steady decline in the standard of English among Malaysian students. Besides revamping the syllabus and employing native speakers of English, the Ministry of Education has increased the intake of trainee-teachers majoring in English. All these initiatives have had a tremendous impact on English-language teaching and the English-language lecturers in teacher-training institutions. This study attempts to examine the issues and challenges faced by the English-language lecturers in selected Malaysian teacher-training institutions. A questionnaire containing ranking and open-ended questions was administered to the English-language lecturers in five teacher-training institutions from three northern states in Malaysia. The participants’ answers were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. This chapter reports on the issues and challenges faced by these Englishlanguage lecturers and suggests strategies to further strengthen the teaching of English in Malaysia.

Introduction The important role of the English language in transforming Malaysia into a developed nation cannot be overstated. Mastering English, which is also the language of knowledge, is vital for our citizenry to excel in the ever expanding knowledge domain. As the language of international trade, English language proficiency is necessary for Malaysia to gain opportunities in the international economies and be able to function

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effectively in the global markets (Muhyiddin Yassin, 2011). “In today’s world, no other language can claim greater universal currency status for the transaction of knowledge and information than the English language” (Zarith Sofiah, 2011). Malaysia realizes the need to improve English language proficiency among its citizens. In the last two decades the Malaysian Ministry of Education has gone to great lengths to strengthen English language proficiency in Malaysia. For example, many curricular changes have been made to make the teaching and learning of English relevant to the present times (Pandian, 2005). Pedagogical innovations have been implemented to ensure that the teaching and learning of English is both interesting and of state-of-the-art. The recruitment of teachers who are native speakers of the language and textbook overhauls have also been initiated and executed (www.mysinchew.com; 2011) The training of more new English language teachers is yet another effort towards strengthening English language in Malaysia. After all “it is the classroom teacher whom society holds primarily responsible for the child being literate” (Pandian, 2005). On that score, the annual report of the Language Department of the Sultan Abdul Halim teacher-training institute (2010) outlined the following developments in the teachertraining institutes. First, the intake of students to major in English has been increased in the 27 teacher-training institutes. Several different modes of courses have also been introduced in these institutes. For instance, baccalaureate degree courses in TESL are being conducted locally by lecturers in the teacher-training institutes. In additon, these teacher-training institutes also conduct twinning programmes (B. Ed. TESL) with local and foreign universities. Students majoring in other subjects are also given English-language proficiency courses. These developments have posed some serious challenges to the English-language lecturers in Malaysian teacher-training institutes. These challenges are further compounded with the changing landscape of education worldwide. Education today is geared towards producing learners who possess global knowledge and be global thinkers (Zarith Sofiah, 2011). Lecturers therefore need to employ methodologies of instruction that will nurture global learning competencies. Apart from that, the emergence of new information and communication technologies and globalization has compounded the need for new pedagogical approaches and strategies (Kalantzis & Cope, 2005). According to them, cyberclassrooms are swiftly replacing traditional classrooms. Traditional education systems can no longer sustain these new developments. Considering the fact that the teaching settings have changed and become more complex, it is important to know the competencies of the English-

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language lecturers as well as the dilemmas and challenges that they face in teaching English in Malaysian teacher-training institutes. The lecturers’ capacity and capability to cope with and confront these changes and challenges will determine the success of strengthening the English language in Malaysia, as clearly stated by Pandian (2007): “the development of English in Malaysia will heavily depend on the teachers’ capacities to deal with change, learn from it and to facilitate students’ learning experiences”.

Literature Review Language experts and researchers are unanimous in their view that educators need to apply innovative pedagogical approaches and employ state-of-the art methodologies to make teaching and learning a successful venture in the twenty-first century. Kalantzis & Cope (2005) noted that a revolution is occurring in education fuelled by the new information and communication technologies. They described the traditional classrooms as the medium for the transmission of disciplinary knowledge and asserted that these traditional classrooms are passive, boring, and a failure. They opined that traditional classrooms and traditional bureaucratic education systems cannot provide today’s society with what it needs. They therefore proposed that educators today need to remake themselves, by equipping themselves with new tools to support new ways of working, so as to engage with their learners. Ng (2005), in discussing innovative educational implementations, argued that teachers need to be involved if innovative practices are to become part of the school curricula. Once again, this brings to light that educators, be they teachers or lecturers, need to keep abreast of the latest methods and strategies and actively exploit these new ways in their classrooms. She also found that innovative approaches through IELP in Hong Kong primary schools had an overwhelmingly positive impact on the pupils’ language learning progress and on their attitude towards learning English. Children under the IELP project were found to be improving faster in their oral, reading, and writing skills in English than children learning by the traditional teaching methods. Pandian and Revathy (2005) asserted that the rapid development in information and communication technology has made it imperative for teachers to be IT savvy. These technologies open the door to education innovation. Apart from teaching the curriculum, teachers also transmit their own knowledge and practices to their students. They also need to

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keep abreast of the new pedagogies and employ the best practices in class. Pandian (2005) emphasized the fact that “teacher expertise or what teachers know and can do affect all the core tasks of teaching”. Clearly, in teacher-training institutes the knowledge and practice of the Englishlanguage lecturers would have a considerable influence on the quality of their teaching. However, these new developments in the education arena have also created some dilemmas and challenges for the educators. For example, Kell (2005) pointed out that nation states face dilemmas in having to juggle the need to resource the teaching of English with having to maintain and sustain their national language. Such conflicts give rise to ad hoc policies which can create unnecessary stress for the educators. The MBMMBI, which is an abbreviation in the Malay language meaning “Upholding the Malay language and strengthening the English language”, is an excellent example of such an ad hoc policy. According to Kell (2005), the repositioning of English in Malaysia has caused many private institutions to mushroom, causing the rapid turnover of staff who move on to greener pastures as English-proficient personnel are highly sought after. Hargreaves (2003) referred to time constraint as another dilemma which arises as the consequence of a rushed reform agenda. He says that “It is now a staple truth of educational change knowledge and wisdom, that successful and sustainable change requires time for teachers to understand it and integrate it into their practice.” Policies made ad hoc and implemented speedily put demands on people’s existing commitments. Teachers faced with such reforms initially work clumsily and less than competently, at least until they learn how to integrate the changes into existing routines. Teachers need time to prepare their lessons as well as develop themselves professionally. However, extended working hours, hurried implementation of new curricula, and other “multiple demands” coming “all at once” will certainly put tremendous pressure on the teachers. Hargreaves (2003) also pointed to “disillusionment” and “mass exodus of teachers” as a serious problem arising from the “hurried reforms” and speedy demand for change. “Imposed and negatively intoned change had emotional effects on teachers’ motivation and morale” (Hargreaves, 2003). In fact, through a study in Canada on the effects of secondary school reform, Hargreaves found that teachers were “distressed”, “discouraged”, “demoralised”, and “disillusioned”. The following response of a teacher sums it all up: “Since the Secondary School Reform I do not have time to do my job, which I loved, properly. I liked teaching but not so much any more. Too much time spent on nonteaching activities …”

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The demands of the new times on education and the educators and the dilemmas that come together may not be separated but need to be negotiated and a compromise needs to be reached. On this premise, this study attempts to investigate the issues and challenges of teaching English in Malaysian teacher-training institutes.

Research Design This study sought to examine the issues and challenges of teaching English in Malaysian teacher-training institutes. Specifically, the study examined the English-language lecturers’ pedagogical knowledge and practices as well as their workload and other problems that they encounter in teaching English in their institutes.

Subjects Forty-four (44) language lecturers from four teacher-training institutes in Northern Malaysia participated in this study.

Instrument The instrument used in this study is a questionnaire which consists of four sections. Section A solicits demographic information of the respondents, Section B information on the lecturers’ pedagogical knowledge, Section C information on the lecturers’ teaching practices, and Section D information on the challenges of teaching English in teacher-training institutes. Interviews with participants selected at random were also conducted to obtain useful insights on the views of the English-language lecturers pertaining to the issues and challenges in teaching English in the institutes.

Data Analysis The data obtained were analysed using descriptive statistics with the use of the SPSS package. Percentages were used to describe the demographic data. The subjects’ responses in Sections B and C were first marked and ranked in a Likert Scale of 1 to 5 (1 = very weak, 2 = weak, 3 = average, 4 = good, 5 = very good) before analysis. The subjects’ responses in Section D were grouped under common topics and described.

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Findings and Discussion (1) English Lecturers’ Demography A total of 75 copies of the questionnaire were distributed to the Englishlanguage lecturers from four (4) teacher-training institutes in northern Malaysia. Unfortunately, only 44 were returned completed, probably because of the busy schedule of the lecturers who could not find the time to complete the questionnaire or simply because the lecturers might have felt that the exercise was not going to bring about much relief to their overloaded job in the institute. However, interviews with some lecturers at random revealed that some might have stayed away from participating as they feared that their inadequacy might be exposed. Of the 44 participants, 33 were females and 11 were males.

Figure 1: Gender Composition of Respondents

Ethnically categorized, 19 of them were Malays, 15 Chinese, 9 Indians and one (1) belonging to the “Others” category. Fig 2 illustrates the ethnic composition of the respondents.

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Ethnicity

Figure 2: Ethnic Compositions of the Respondents

The respondents were also categorized based on their age as shown in Table 1. Table 1: Lecturers’ grouping according to age Age groupings

25–29

30–39

40–49

Number of lecturers

-

2

20

50 and above 22

Finally, the respondents were grouped according to their teaching experience in teacher-training institutes (see Table 2). Table 2: Lecturers’ grouping according to their years of service in teacher-training institutes Teaching experience No.

Less than 1 year 3

1–5 years

6–10 years

11–15 years

16–20 years

10

16

6

7

Above 20 years 2

The following analysis might or might not represent the true composition of English language lecturers in the 27 teacher-training institutes. However, based on the composition of the respondents, it appears that female lecturers outnumbered males as English language lecturers. Though

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44 respondents is a small figure, their racial breakdown somewhat resembled that of the population of peninsular Malaysia. On the basis of age grouping, almost 40% of the participants wre above 40 years and 48% were above 50 years. Considering the fact that the retirement age of government servants had been extended to 58, teacher-training institutes in Malaysia were quite adequately staffed. It was found that all 44 of them had masters’ degrees, with two of them additionally having PhDs. Moreover, the majority of them had 5–15 years of teaching experience in teacher-training institutes. Based on these data, it can be said that teachertraining institutes in Malaysia had a strong cadre of well qualified and experienced lecturers. While the work force, on paper, seemed well qualified, the participants’ responses to Sections B and C indicated otherwise.

(2) English Lecturers’ Pedagogical Knowledge Section B of the questionnaire solicited information on the lecturers’ pedagogical knowledge by asking them to state their understanding of strategy, approach, method, and technique, besides describing their language skills. The respondents were also asked to list some Englishlanguage teaching methodologies that they knew. Their answers were marked and their scores were ranked on a Likert scale ranging from 1 to 5 and categorized as shown below. Scale Category Score

1 Very weak 0–20 marks

2 Weak 21–40 marks

3 Average 41–60 marks

4 Good 61–80 marks

5 Excellent 81–100 marks

Almost all the respondents answered well in this section except for two. Thirty-six of them scored between 60 and 80 marks in this section. Another six respondents scored over 50 marks and were grouped into the Average category. Meanwhile two of the respondents scored less than 40 marks and dropped into the Weak category. It is interesting to note that the respondents’ scores and their years of service in teacher-training institutes corresponded. In fact, all the 42 lecturers who scored more than 50 marks had more than 10 years of teaching experience in their respective institutes. The two respondents whose answers were sketchy were found to have less than a year of teaching experience in the teacher-training institutes.

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Table 3: Lecturers’ responses to Section B: Pedagogical Knowledge

Category Number of respondents

Very weak 0–20 marks -

Weak 21–40 marks

Average 41–60 marks

Good 61–80 marks

Excellent 81–100 marks

2

6

36

-

Sketchy answers by Respondent 11: Strategy: Particular ways of achieving objectives Approach: Particular strategy based on some theory of learning Method: Collection of activities Technique: Activities Language Skills in English Language: All the four language skills Teaching Methods: Situational method, Direct method, Translation method, Audio-lingual method The more experienced lecturer (16 years in college) had given the following answers. Answers by Respondent 23: Strategy: A plan of delivering lessons in the most effective way. Approach: Refers to the theories about language learning, describing how people acquire their knowledge of language. Method: The practical realization of the approach which includes strategies and techniques. Technique: A single slot in a sequence of procedures. English Language Teaching Methods: Grammar translation method, Direct method, Audio-lingualism, Communicative method, Suggestopaedia

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The answers from the two respondents clearly showed a divide between the experienced lecturer and the novice. In conclusion, English lecturers in teacher-training institutes were well equipped with pedagogical knowledge and they became more proficient with experience in the system.

(3) English Language Lecturers’ Practices Section C solicited information on the lecturers’ practices. Respondents were asked how they prepared their lessons. They were also asked to list some language activities that they carried out during their lessons and to mention the digital technologies that they used during their lessons. (a) Do you prepare your lessons? How? For this question, all the 44 answered in the affirmative. Most of them explained how they prepared their lessons. One commonality in their answer was that they all planned their lessons based on their semester plans which were provided by the institutes’ central Curriculum Division. There seemed to be little room for individual innovation. It was also found that the respondents did not use any particular “lesson plan document” to prepare their lesson. When asked about that, respondents articulated that their “years of experience” was good enough for them to prepare their lessons mentally. They also pointed out that their workload did not give them the time and space to sit and prepare lessons like their traineestudents. (b) List some of the language activities that you use This was a rather easy question to which the respondents had listed a variety of language activities. It looked as though they had listed all the activities that they had come across in their teaching. However, those interviewed admitted that most often their lessons were conducted in lecture-mode, sometimes using PowerPoint presentations, when most often students participated in doing written exercises. Role plays, reading circles, and simulations were also carried out when time permitted. Clearly, English language lecturers needed to be more innovative. They seemed to be using practices that they had been used to during their school days and to be continuing with the same rudimentary chores. Their teaching practices surely did not meet the changes proposed by language experts and researchers.

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(c) What digital technologies do you use in your classroom? How often? For this question almost all respondents answered that they use PowerPoint presentations, about thrice a week. Going by the number of hours that they had (12–16 hours per week), the use of PowerPoint presentations seemed ineffective. Moreover, this mode of presentation seemed to be the only application of modern technology. Lecturers complained that shortage of computers and LCDs and regular failures of servers were the major reasons for a dearth in their digital practices. Clearly the lecturers’ pedagogical knowledge did not match their practice, which was mundane and boring as in traditional classrooms.

Challenges in Teaching English in Teacher-training Institutes Section D of the questionnaire solicited information on the challenges that English language lecturers confronted while teaching English in their respective institutes. It must be noted that while the respondents were quite prudent in answering Sections B and C, they wrote volumes for Section D. Their grievances ranged from time constraints, heavy workload, unfair distribution of teaching hours, ad hoc policies, and radical changes that had created undue stress and pressure at their workplaces. The first complaint by the lecturers was the radical change to their working hours, which once was 8 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. However, the working hours were extended (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) when the status of colleges was raised to that of institutes. Lecturers had not taken kindly to this change, simply because the raising of the status of colleges came with heavier workloads and unfulfilled promises, which seemed to be a major demoralizing factor among the English-language lecturers. One respondent described his workload as very challenging. “I teach 12 to 14 hours in a week. Very challenging, because apart from teaching those many hours other concerns come in, it is very heavy when I want to plan my lesson well. Planning involves a lot of reading and sourcing which is time consuming, especially when I have to prepare for various courses/subjects introduced due to the Institute status. The addition of other duties such as invigilation, co-curriculum, tutorials, preparation of assignment and examination questions all add to our burden. Work has increased, working hours have increased but lecturers did not get any of those promotions and monetary gains as promised by the ministry.”

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The above response was echoed by almost all the 15 lecturers who were interviewed, thus giving credence to their disappointment and disillusionment. The next point of frustration amongst the respondents was the poor command of English of the trainee-teachers. Almost 75% (33 respondents) stated that the trainee-teachers admitted into the programmes, including the TESL programmes, did not possess the required level of proficiency in the English language. One respondent made a very severe remark when discussing the students’ English language proficiency. “Poor quality overall. Only very few are proficient. There are so many school students who are proficient but they are not selected. Those selected are so weak in English that they themselves are shocked that they got the TESL course. Those who are also shocked include their school English teachers who have not/never heard them converse in English.”

This remark created a reasonable doubt about the selection process but that was not the concern of this study. However, this study took cognizance of the fact that trainees who were selected generally did not have the necessary proficiency to follow English-language courses. Another respondent, when elaborating on the trainee-teachers’ poor command of English, said that lecturers’ work became overburdened because they had to give extra coaching to the weak trainee-teachers who were “just one too many”. “It is taxing on the lecturers having to give extra classes, extra input, more coaching and more personal consultation. We should not be doing that in higher education institution, but we got to do this because we got to meet the standards.”

Finally, the respondents admitted that the biggest challenge in the Institute was improving the English language proficiency of the trainee-teachers over the five-and-a-half-year programme so that they could become model English-language teachers themselves.

Conclusion With worldwide changes in the education landscape, there is a need for English-language lecturers to continuously develop themselves professionally to be innovative and motivated educators. Transformation of teachertraining programmes is inevitable. Lecturers in teacher-training institutes need to change their mindset about their working conditions. The respondents’ negative comments when discussing their workload clearly indicate that lecturers in teacher-training institutes have yet to come to

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terms with the changed learning environment of their institutes. Meanwhile the Ministry of Education and the Teacher Education Division have to take cognizance of the lecturers’ professional woes. “Evidently, the changes in the learning process have to be supported with proper policy measures at the level of national government as well as interested parties at the local level” (Pandian, 2005).

References Hargreaves, A. (2003). Teaching in the Knowledge Society: Education in the Age of Insecurity. Philadelphia: Open University Press. Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Sultan Abdul Halim (2010). Annual report. Kedah. Kalantzis, M., & Cope, B. (eds). (2005). Learning by design. Melbourne, VIC: Victorian Schools Innovation Commission and Common Ground. Kell, P. (2005). The challenges and dilemmas of the global business of teaching English in South East Asia. In Ambigapathy. Pandian, Gitu Chackravarthy, Peter Kell & Sarjit Kaur (eds), Strategies and Practices for Improving Learning and Literacy. Serdang: Universiti Putra Malaysia Press. Muhyiddin Yassin (2011). Message. 20th MELTA International Conference, 30 May – 2 June 2011. Primula Beach Hotel, Kuala Trengganu. Ng Seok Moi (2005). The practice, problems and possibilities of educational change: The integrated English Language Programme in Hong Kong. In Ambigapathy, Pandian, Gitu Chackravarthy, Peter Kell & Sarjit Kaur (eds), Strategies and Practices for Improving Learning and Literacy. Serdang: Universiti Putra Malaysia Press Pandian, A. (2005). IT Challenges: Practices and views of language teachers. In Ambigapathy. Pandian, Gitu Chackravarthy, Peter Kell & Sarjit Kaur (eds), Strategies and Practices for Improving Learning and Literacy. Serdang: Universiti Putra Malaysia Press. Pandian, A. & Revathy (2005). Computer usage and literacy among English Language trainee-teachers from teacher-training colleges in Malaysia. In Ambigapathy, Pandian, Gitu Chackravarthy, Peter Kell & Sarjit Kaur (eds), Innovation and Learning in Diverse Settings. Serdang: Universiti Putra Malaysia Press. Pandian, A. (2007). English for all: Reflections and best practices. In Ambigapathy Pandian, Koo Yew Lie and Peter Kell (eds), INNOVATION and INTERVENTION in ELT: Pathways and Practices. Serdang: Universiti Putra Malaysia Press. Strengthening English Language (2011). Available: www.mysinchew.com

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Zarith Sofiah, Raja. (2011). English lnguage and global learning: Policy, pactice, performance. Royal Patron’s Message. 20th MELTA International Conference, 30 May – 2 June 2011. Primula Beach Hotel, Kuala Trengganu.

CHAPTER V ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES: THE AMOUNT OF TIME SPENT AND SUPPORT SYSTEM RECEIVED TO PARTICIPATE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRAMMES IN PENANG KASTHURI VERATHARAJU, G.K. MARRIAPPEN AND MUHAMMAD KAMARUL KABILAN ABDULLAH

Neglecting to identify the longing of English-language teachers for high-end professional development practice (amount of time spent and support received) has become the stumbling block for the personal and professional growth of teachers. This chapter discusses how often English-language teachers spend time in English language programmes and the types of support received to participate in English language programmes. The data collected was based on a survey (n = 100) among secondary Englishlanguage teachers. The findings indicate that “all the time” the teachers were “engaged in personal reflection on daily teaching” and “collaborated with peers from own school”. Besides, the teachers expressed themselves “Extremely satisfied” with the encouragement received from peers to participate in Englishlanguage programmes. This study concludes with the hope that it will provide education authorities and policy makers the insight to “infuse” professional development as a school culture “all the time”, with relevant support for teachers to fulfil their contemporary needs.

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Introduction Professional development has been an interesting topic that has received much attention across the nation. Professional development is a lifelong treasured investment in a teacher’s career. Teachers’ involvement in professional development practices not only assists teachers to succeed but also enables our children to learn; it is an investment in human potential (Teaching Commission, 2004). In other words, the key mechanism to enhance knowledge and inculcate skills and values in acquiring meaningful adult learning experiences is accumulated through high end professional development practices (Henke et al., 2000). High end professional development is an on-going process with programme followups, and sufficient time to be involved in programmes with adequate support to benefit both teachers and schools (OECD, 2005). The high end or effective professional development is an unachievable reality. Professional development has been found to be ineffective. This phenomenon is a global problem that occurs from the United States of America (Thompson and Zeuli, 1999) to Malaysia (Kabilan et al., 2008). With ineffective professional development, the in-service teachers have nowhere to turn to. They cling to these ineffective practices as the only way they know since they lack relevant and sufficient professional development (Smith et al., 2005). Experience is built upon one’s own understanding to obtain relevant competency. In other words, competency is acquired through meaningful learning experiences. Deepened subject knowledge and skills improvement are essential modes of building the art of meaningful adult learning experiences (Hutchens and Pankratz, 2000, Cochran-Smith, 2006, Lowden, 2006, Park et al., 2007). Adult learning experiences differ with the individual teacher’s time spent and support received to participate in high end professional development practices (Uptis et al., 2010). Hence, the amount of time spent by the teachers in English-language programmes and the English-language professional development support they have experienced support the provision of meaningful adult learning experiences. Nonetheless, being in a developing nation like Malaysia and as English-language teachers in Penang, this group of teachers have shared their experiences (amount of time spent and the support received to participate in English language programmes) with the nation in the hope of working towards promising programme practices that will meet their needs. This study is expected to answer the following research questions:

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1. How often did the ELTs spend time in EL professional development throughout 2008? 2. How satisfactory was the support system received to participate in EL professional development in 2007–2009?

Review of the Literature Experiential Learning “Tell me and I will forget, Show me and I will remember, Involve me and I will understand.” (Confucius, circa 551-479 BCE)

The above statement was, for centuries, a significant landmark in human civilization, emphasising the acquisition of experience. Today, experience is said to be attained through one’s own understanding through a process of self-discovery learning or “experiential learning’ (Kirschenbaum, 2004). The experiential learning approach falls under the umbrella of humanistic theory. The experiential learning approach was developed by American psychologist Carl Rogers. Experiential learning is related to the process of “changingness”. This process is the ultimate goal in maximizing human capability in acquiring knowledge and skills with the aim of free curiosity (Kirschenbaum, 2004; Jarvis, 2006). This process of change is directed by one’s personal interests and self-exploration in realizing a closer approximation to “truth” (Rogers, 1996). Rogers stressed that human beings have the natural potentiality to attain knowledge and skills. Meaningful learning experiences are internalized when learners become self-accountable for the learning process. A self-initiated learning process would take the path towards enlightened knowledge and skills. Therefore, programmes are expected to include the teachers’ needs and be based on their own expectations.

Levels of Professional Development Programmes Rogan and Grayson (2003) created a model to portray the different levels of professional development (Table 1). The model is based on two assumptions. The first assumption relates to the subject matter. The second assumption is that every teacher has at least a teacher education certificate or bachelor’s degree as the minimum qualification. This model is implemented at the school level from Level 1 and then gradually moves to the next level and, at last, to Level 4. At every level the model focuses on respective themes and aims. At Level 1, the model

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stresses introducing education and school policies, essential for teachers’ general knowledge. The presentation is through short workshops. Level 2 looks into implementing new practices introduced from the policies. Teachers engage in simulation techniques in short-term workshop practices. The duration of the programme is a whole year. Level 3 also involves school-based programmes, designed by school administrators, depending on the type of professional development practices which the administrators would like to implement. This approach involves programmes based outside school besides school-based ones. This is carried out for a duration of between two and three years. The final level (level 4) is where the school is formed as a community of practice. At this level, the schools are fully responsible for the implementing the programmes and inviting external professional development instructors to enrich the school-based practices. Table 1 Levels of Professional Development Level 1 2

3

Level 4

Design of Professional Development Information on policy and expected changes are presented at school-based personnel. Typical mode is short, one-off workshop. Examples of new practices as suggested by the policies are presented to school-based personnel, who are given the opportunity to engage in these practices in a simulated situation. Typical mode is a series of short workshops lasting one year. Professional development is designed by school-based personnel depending on which new practices they wish to implement, and implemented using both inside and outside support. Typical mode consists of both external and school-based INSET for two to three years. Design of Professional Development Communities of practice take full responsibility for their own continued professional growth, and for school governance and curriculum implementation, calling on outside support as appropriate. Typical mode consists of ongoing school-based and directed professional INSET. Source: Rogan and Grayson, 2003.

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Time Factor The amount of time spent on English language programmes differs from one country to another. It depends on the countries’ active involvement in professional development practices. A survey was carried out by the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS, 2009) among lower secondary teachers from 23 countries worldwide. A total of 25% of teachers from Turkey, Denmark, and the Slovak Republic reported that they had not participated in any professional development for the past 18 months. Furthermore, the teachers felt reluctant to participate in professional development because the programmes did not offer them the scope for becoming “reflective practitioners” (Grossman et al., 2000). According to Grossman et al. (2000), teachers felt they were wasting time when involved in in-house programmes. In contrast, Korean and Mexican teachers had been spending more than 30 days per year taking part in professional development. An alarming finding of this report was that 80% of teachers from Malaysia, Mexico, and Brazil indicated that they had not received effective professional development. In addition, 9 out of 10 teachers expressed dissatisfaction with the professional development practices available. On the basis of the length of time spent on professional development, there is a vast difference between the traditional and the job-embedded approaches. The job-embedded approach focuses on developing teachers’ knowledge of the content, analysing student thinking, and identifying how that knowledge can be applied to changes in instructional practices tailored to the local educational context. Teachers participating in this type of professional development often work together over extended periods of time (a year or more), bringing in and examining “artefacts of teaching” (Ball and Cohen, 1999). On the other hand, the primary goal of the traditional approach is focused on single-session programmes (LoucksHorsley et al., 2003) whereas the job-embedded approach is designed to cater for long-term durations and ongoing sessions (Little et al., 2003). Currently in Malaysia, teachers are entitled to participate in professional development programmes. Every teacher in Malaysia is entitled to participate for a total of 56 hours per 12 months (MOE, 2010). By contrast, Korean and Mexican teachers have participated for 30 days on average in the past 18 months, while teachers from Italy, Bulgaria, Spain, and Poland have spent only 26 days in 18 years. As a whole, the amount of time spent on professional development practices needs to be given due attention with the aim of producing quality in-service Englishlanguage programmes in Malaysia.

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Support System The deficiency of support to satisfy teachers’ professional development needs is a major hindrance for effective programme practices. A survey implemented by TALIS (2009) found that school administrators had been supportive of teachers participating in professional development programmes. However, teachers in Denmark (33%), Italy (6%), Spain (6%), and Bulgaria (3%) claimed that they had not received the expected support from school administrators. A significant finding of this survey revealed that Malaysian teachers did not receive the necessary support to participate in professional development programmes. The professional development programmes available have failed to cater for more than 70% of the Malaysian teachers’ desired needs. The Ministry of Education in Malaysia opted for school-based professional development in 2010. This approach was enforced because of financial constraints, and support from the educational authorities was accordingly reduced. The quality of the professional development programmes might have declined. A well organized programme needs sufficient financial support to fulfil a variety of technical and professional needs (Guskey, 2002). Teachers admitted to a “lack of peer support” which has been the major contribution towards preventing teachers from being actively involved in programmes (TALIS, 2009). The teachers also did not receive expected feedback on how to improve their teaching skills and knowledge acquisition. In addition, the teachers’ aim to reflect upon their practices was not acknowledged by their respective peers (Grossman et al., 2000). Therefore, it is vital to provide relevant support to fulfil teachers’ professional development needs. Adequate support is expected to engage teachers in meaningful learning experiences. This experience is expected to assist teachers in enhancing the quality of their classroom practices. In short, the neglect in providing adequate and basic support for teachers to be involved in professional development practice needs urgent remedy.

Procedure and Data Collection A self-administered survey that incorporated the 5-point Likert scale was implemented in this study. Overall, 120 questionnaire forms were randomly distributed to 16 national secondary schools throughout the island of Penang. Only 100 questionnaire forms were returned. The data collected was analysed using the SPSS Version 18, yielding mainly descriptive data that reported the mean scores of the constructs. The

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significant findings based on frequency and percentages are highlighted in this study. The 5-point Likert scale for the construct amount of time spent was segregated as follows: “Never”; Seldom + Sometimes = “Occasionally”; Frequently + All the Time = “Usually”. The mean scores of the construct (amount of time spent with 27 items) were grouped accordingly: 1.00–2.00 (Never), 2.01–3.00 and 3.01–4.00 (Occasionally), and 4.01–5.00 (Usually). The support system received had 20 items. The Likert scale for the construct support system was equally narrowed as follows: “Not Satisfied”; Slightly Satisfied + Satisfied = “Least Satisfied”; and Very Satisfied + Extremely Satisfied = “Strongly Satisfied”. The mean scores were categorized according to grouping such as: 1.00–2.00 (Not Satisfied), 2.01–3.00 and 3.01–4.00 (Least Satisfied); and 4.01–5.00 (Strongly Satisfied).

Profile of the Samples The samples were national secondary school English-language teachers who had been teaching from less than one year to more than 30 years. This group encompassed both novice and veteran teachers. In total, from the 100 samples who returned the questionnaire, more than half (55%) taught in lower secondary schools and 45% in higher secondary schools. Of these samples, 23% were English department heads. 5% were school administrators, and the rest (72%) were English teachers. The participants’ teaching experience was varied, with 27.3% having less than 10 years of experience, 35.6% with between 11 to 15 years of experience, 15.4% with 16 to 20 years of experience, and 21.7% with more than 20 years of teaching experience. Research Question 1: How often did the ELTs spend time participating in EL professional development throughout 2008? The general time spent by the secondary English language teachers engaging in English language programmes throughout 2008 (based on their shared experiences) was corroborated by the quantitative data of the questionnaire. “Occasionally” the teachers engaged in the following practices: ƒ The teachers engage in personal reflection on daily teaching [mean – 3.49 out of 5 (occasionally)] ƒ Collaborate with peers from own schools [mean – 3.43] ƒ Search the Internet for academic materials [mean – 3.29]

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ƒ Read academic books/e-books [mean – 3.19] The teachers also shared their experiences in following practices that they had experienced for the past 12 months. The teachers claimed they were “Never” engaged, being English-language teachers in Penang: ƒ Write academic books [mean – 1.25] ƒ Become members of professional organisations such as MELTA, British Council [mean – 1.35] ƒ Publish articles [mean – 1.36] ƒ Maintain a blog related to ELT [mean – 1.39] ƒ Present papers at conferences/seminars [mean – 1.40] More than 80% of the teachers said they had never written academic books (84%), become members of professional organizations such as MELTA and British Council (82%), or published articles (81%). The teachers also shared their experiences regarding the practices that they were engaged in all the time, which encompassed engaging in personal reflection on daily teaching (23%), collaborating with peers from own schools (16%), and searching the Internet for academic articles (15%). Research Question 2: How satisfactory was the support system received to participate in EL professional development in 2007– 2009? Overall, the English language teachers shared their experiences regarding the support received to partake in English-language professional development practices. The support received was focused on school administrators, educational authorities (Ministry of Education, State Department Education Offices, District Education Offices), peers, technical support, facilities, and financial assistance. Moreover, all the English-language teachers said they had never been “Strongly Satisfied” with the support received to participate in Englishlanguage programmes. The teachers were “Least Satisfied” with the support received. The highlights are as follows: x Encouragement by peers [mean: 3.26] x Motivation by peers [mean: 3.21] x Encouragement by school administrators [mean: 3.08] x Motivation by school administrators [mean: 3.06] x Permission to attend/participate [mean: 3.05]

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x Recognition by educational authorities [mean: 2.36] x Encouragement by relevant educational authorities [mean: 2.38] x Motivation by relevant educational authorities [mean: 2.40] x Rewards by educational authorities [mean: 2.32] x Financial assistance by educational authorities [mean: 2.31] The teachers reported being “Not Satisfied” with the support received from the educational authorities (Ministry of Education, State Department Education Offices, District Education Offices) such as: financial assistance by educational authorities (22%), encouragement by relevant educational authorities (16%), motivation by relevant educational authorities (15%), recognition by relevant educational authorities (16%), and rewards by relevant educational authorities (14%). The teachers were also “Not Satisfied” with the support received from the school administrators in terms of financial support (16%), technical assistance (13%), and career advancement recommendations (12%). On the other hand, the teachers were “Extremely Satisfied” with the motivation (7%) and encouragement (6%) received from school administrators to participate in Englishlanguage programmes.

Discussion and Implications Although claims about generalization are impossible with limited data from the 100 English-language teachers participating in this survey, a number of important implications can be drawn based on the teachers’ shared experiences pertaining to professional development practice (amount of time spent and support system). Based on the teachers’ professional development norms in Penang, the English teachers were not actively involved “All the Time” in practices that enhanced their selfdevelopment. For instance, practices such as writing academic books, becoming a member of professional organizations, and publishing books were merely a culture that had failed to be embedded in personal and professional development. Teachers in Penang surf the Internet for subject materials and for reading books/e-books. Probably teachers feel it is easier to access these materials online. However, these practices exist in an “Occasional” manner with the aim of deepening their knowledge of certain subject matter. This is a form of self-discovering in acquiring knowledge in a free curiosity mode (Kirschenbaum, 2004). Nonetheless, the experiential learning mode is still lacking in teachers’ professional development practices. This is clearly seen with the amount

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of time the teachers have spent in their English-language professional development practice. In fact, the professional development practice in Malaysia is distinguished from those in other countries. In Malaysia, professional development is carried out seven days or 56 hours per year. This practice is keeping us far behind other countries like Korea, Mexico, Italy, Bulgaria, Spain, Poland, and Australia (TALIS, 2009). Besides, the absence of self-initiated interest in developing oneself towards seeking the truth of knowledge is lacking among the teachers (Rogers, 1996). Examples are: writing academic books, publishing articles, and presenting papers at conferences/seminars. These practices are necessary in maximizing human capabilities by inculcating skills and enhancing knowledge (Kirschenbaum, 2004; Jarvis, 2006). Hence, to learn by self-exploration (Rogers, 1996), the teacher has to be accountable and take his or her own initiatives towards acquiring the relevant competencies. However, teachers do “Occasionally” engage in reflective practice in their daily teaching. The finding contradicts Grossman et al. (2000) who stressed that professional development has neglected teachers’ opportunities to become reflective practitioners. The phenomenon is different in Malaysia. This may be because jotting down self-reflective practices is emphasized towards the end of every implemented lesson plan. The act of reflective practice becomes the bridge for the teacher’s past, present, and future practices. Hence, this is a norm that has been made compulsory in every Malaysian school. Even so, not all teachers follow this practice. Professional development practices among Penang’s English language teachers are “Occasionally” school-based. The teachers share professional development practice with their peers from their own schools. This may be the enforcement of the Ministry of Education’s policy which has been implemented for school-based professional development practices nationwide in 2010. Referring to Rogan and Grayson’s (2003) levels of Professional Development, Malaysian teachers are partially committed at Levels 1, 2, and 3. The mode of English professional development in Malaysia is either short or without follow-ups. Literature has emphasized providing sufficient time for programmes with the aim of providing effective practice opportunities (OECD, 2005). Countries like Korea and Mexico are moving towards the job-embedded approach with 30 days per year of professional development (Little et al., 2003). It is high time the Malaysian Ministry of Education looked into this. Then there is the TALIS (2009) survey report. An alarming fact revealed by this survey report is that 9 out of 10 Malaysian teachers expressed dissatisfaction in participating in Malaysian

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professional development practices. Penang English language teachers have also pointed out that they were “Least Satisfied” with the support received from educational authorities, peers, and school administrators. However, as compared with the educational authorities and school administrators, the teachers have gained support from their peers. Peers’ encouragement and motivation have been the major support for the English language teachers to participate in English-language professional development programmes. The findings prove that the teachers indulge in communities of practices (Rogan and Grayson, 2003). These peers have been the the community of practice which acts as the backbone for their colleagues’ professional growth. This may be the infused values that permit human progress (Rogers, 1996). In fact, this is a norm of eastern culture that has to be embraced in every teacher’s personal and professional progress towards acquiring the relevant competencies. Moreover, in many countries the teachers have been receiving encouragement from their respective school administrators to participate in professional development programmes (TALIS, 2003). This scenario is also similar in Malaysia. However, according to TALIS (2009), Malaysian teachers complained that they had not received the basic support to participate in professional development programmes. The findings of this survey postulated that the English-language teachers in Penang did not receive recognition, encouragement, motivation, rewards, and financial assistance from the educational authorities to participate in Englishlanguage professional development programmes. Probably these teachers expected the programmes to take place outside school. The teachers said they had been denied the basic support (TALIS, 2009) necessary for effective professional development practices. The evidence shows that more than 70% of Malaysian teachers fell in the periphery of dissatisfied professional development needs due to inadequate support received (TALIS, 2009). Lastly, financial constraints have also been a major problem. The enforcement of the community of practice may be effective if outside support is drawn into the internal programmes. A balanced combination of external and internal professional development practice, together with adequate support from the educational authorities, would sustain a culture of ongoing and effective English-language programme practice in Malaysia. The problem with the amount of time spent and support received to participate in the English language programmes needs to be given attention. It is crucial that educational authorities consider seriously the

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financial drawbacks as well as the support expected by the teachers. Infusing a culture of life-long learning would be a tremendous investment towards realizing a state of world class education. This quality is in line with the nation’s progress towards making Malaysia South-East Asia’s education hub (Malaysian Education Summit, 2005).

Conclusion This chapter presents the findings of a study on the amount of time spent by English-language teachers participating in English-language professional development and the support system received to participate in the English language programmes. In short, the findings highlight that relevant actions are necessary to provide meaningful experience for teachers in grasping the required skills and knowledge for personal and professional growth. Further research could be implemented on a nationwide basis with the aim of making a generalization. The suggested nationwide survey could also be complemented with interview sessions to obtain a clearer picture of the survey data. As a closing remark, teachers’ professional development practices have to be designed based on teachers’ professional development expectations, aligned with the teachers’ contemporary needs. As to their needs maturing with the years (Zuraimi Zakaria, 2008), teachers have to keep abreast with current pedagogical demands. Hence, the amount of quality time spent on programmes and practices and sufficient support should be sustained along a teacher’s career path. If teachers are given empowerment and ownership to decide upon their own professional development practices so as to fulfil their quest for high-end tailor-made English-language programmes, the teachers may maximize their capabilities in enriching and meaningful learning experiences (Jarvis, 2006). Teachers enriched with meaningful experiences may show how to produce well-educated human beings, citizens, and societies. “Professional development plays an essential role in successful education reform … [and] serves as a bridge between where prospective and experienced educators are now and where they will need to be to meet the new challenges of guiding all students in achieving higher standards of learning and development.” (US Department of Education, 1996)

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References Ball, D. L. & Cohen, D. K. (1999). Developing practice, developing practitioners: Toward a practice-based theory of professional education. In L. Darling-Hammond & G. Sykes (ed.), Teaching as the Learning Profession: Handbook of Policy and Practice, 3–32. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Cochran-Smith, M. (2006). Foreword. In L. R. Van Zoest (ed.), Teachers engaged in research: Inquiry into mathematics classrooms, Grades 9– 12, p. ix). Greenwich, CDT: IAP-Information Age Pub. Grossman, P.L., Valencia, S.W., Evans, K., Thompson, C., Martin, S., & Place, N. (2000). Transitions into teaching: Learning to teach writing in teacher education and beyond. Journal of Literacy Research, 32, 631-662. Guskey, T. R. (2002). Professional development and teacher change, Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice 8(3/4), 381–391. Henke, R., Chen, X. & Geis, S. (2000). Progress through the Teacher Pipeline: 1992–93 College Graduates and Elementary/Secondary School Teaching as of 1997. (NCES 2000–152). US Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. Hutchens, J. & Pankratz, D. (2000). Change in arts education: transforming education through the arts challenge (TETAC), Art Education Policy Review, 101(4), 5-10. Jarvis, P. (2006). Towards a Comprehensive Theory of Human Learning. New York, NY: Routledge. Kabilan, M. K., Malachi E. V., & Chee, S. F. (2008). Learning from the meaningful INSET: Teachers’ perspective, 79-95. Sasbadi MELTA Series. Kirschenbaum, H. (2004). Carl Rogers’s Life and Work: An Assessment on the 100th Anniversary of His Birth. Journal of Counseling & Development, 82(1), 116-124. Little, J. W., Gearhart, M., Curry, M. & Kafta, J. (2003). Looking at students work for teacher learning, teacher community, and several school reform. Phi Delta Kappan, 83(5), 184-192. Loucks-Horsley, S., Love, N., Stiles, K. E., Mundry, S. & Hewson, P. W. (2003). Designing Professional Development for Teachers of Science and Mathematics (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Lowden, C. (2006). Reality check: Survey highlights the disparity between the ideal and real in professional learning programs. Journal of Staff Development, 27, 61–64.

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Malaysian Education Summit (9th, 2005), World-Class Education in Malaysia: Creating a New Breed of Human Capital to Transform Malaysia into a Centre of Knowledge and Technology Excellence. 21 & 22 March 2005, Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre. Park, S., Oliver, J. S., Johnson, T. S., Graham, P. & Oppong, N. K. (2007). Colleagues’ role in the professional development of teachers: Results from a research study of National Board certification. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23, 368-389. Rogan, J. & Grayson, D. (2003). Towards a theory of curriculum implementation with particular reference to science education in developing countries. International Journal of Science Education, 25(10), 1171-1204. Rogers, A. (1996). Teaching Adults (2nd ed.). Buckingham: Open University Press. Smith, T. M., Desimone, L. M. & Ueno, K. (2005). “Highly qualified” to do what? The relationship between NCLB teacher quality mandates and the use of reform-oriented instruction in middle school math. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 27(1), 75-109. TALIS (2009). Teachers’ professional development: a snapshot from Talis of lower secondary education. http://www.ec.europa.eu/education/school-education Teaching Commission (2004). Teaching at Risk: A Call to Action. New York: CUNY Graduate Center Teaching Commission. THE ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD) ANNUAL REPORT 2 0 0 5 Thompson, C. L., & Zeuli, J. S. (1999). The frame and the tapestry: Standards-based reform and professional development. In L. DarlingHammond & Sykes, G. (ed.), Teaching as the Learning Profession: Handbook of Policy and Practice, 341-375. San Francisco: JosseyBass. Uptis, R., Azadeh, A., Kelly, C. & Lewis, A. (2010). Teachers’ experiences of professional development programs in the Arts: Generalist teachers as arts advocates, UNESCO Observatory, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning. The University of Melbourne Refereed E-Journal, 1(5). US Department of Education (1996). Building bridges: The mission and principles of professional development. [Online]. Available: http://www.ed.gov/G2K/bridge.html Zuraimi Zakaria (2008). In-school Assessment for Teachers Professional Development: The Development of Assessment Tool in Identifying

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Teachers Professional Issues and Concern for Training Interventions, Sasbadi MELTA-ELT series, 28-60.

CHAPTER VI APPROPRIATING ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING IN MALAYSIA AMBIGAPATHY PANDIAN, SHANTHI BALRAJ AND MARCIA JANE GANASAN

Malaysia is an expanding ELT market. The entry of new ELT providers has created an explosion of educational opportunities for learners of English in this region. The Malaysian government is acutely conscious that in its drive to integrate the country into the global knowledge economy it must have a population that is proficient in English as it has become the language of the information age. English, therefore, offers potential market opportunities in the ELT sector. This article excavates the way English is being appropriated in the ELT industry today. It examines the changing roles of English from the colonial and the post-colonial eras and seeks to highlight the issues associated with the trends, diversities, and challenges in the ELT industry. The chapter reveals the ways in which ELT has evolved as a result of rising demands. It highlights ELT as a competitive business among its major providers. Also, it shows the trends of the competition by its providers and the diversification that takes place in catering for the multicultural speakers, which, in turn, positions Malaysia as an international hub for learning.

Introduction Language plays a crucial role in globalization specifically in unifying the world’s culture and economy through the use of information technology, media, and educational institutions (Ahulu, 1997). English is a powerful language and it is used in many different arrays of sectors, ranging from the government, public and private organizations, and communication to

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media agencies; and in institutions of learning. English is used internationally where it is also referred to as Global English, World English, and Common English (Waters, 1995). Also, the English language facilitates communication and interaction to build international networks in business, cultural, and political exchanges (Graddol, 1997). According to Dragoescu (2010), English is becoming the language of choice of the marketplace and a universal medium used to conduct business communication worldwide. It is undeniable that the English language is the second most widely spoken tongue in the world today. It has become such an international force because of its ability to adapt in the face of change. It is English that most readily bridges different cultures in the world (Warschauer, 2000). Globalization and the advent of e-business or e-commerce have reinforced the status and use of English as the lingua franca in international business communication (Seidlhofer, 2001). English has become an important language in the world owing to the need to have a shared linguistic medium in the era of globalization and to the impact of global networks such as the Internet. As it becomes integrated into the practices of businesses, governments, and social movements, the Internet has influenced the evolution of English because the world’s digital information is dominated by English. Therefore, the expansion of English is momentous in today’s world and it would be interesting to map the ways English is being appropriated in different cultural contexts. The requirement for English continues to expand because many people are prepared to invest in English due to the high market value attached to it (Nelson, 2005). Crystal (2000) reports that 85 per cent of international organizations make official use of English and about 90 per cent of published articles are written in English. In addition, Zai, Zheng and Zhang (1999) report that more than 80 per cent of all scientific papers are first published in English and over half of the world’s technical and scientific periodicals are in English. This chapter attempts to look at the growth of English and the ways in which private and public English Language Teaching (ELT) providers have responded to meet the changing demands of learning in Malaysia. It takes a cursory look at the emergence of Englishes and their spread in the early days, and presents Malaysia as an international learning hub especially in the field of English language education. It also gives attention to the diversities in English language learning and teaching practices and features English Language Teaching (ELT) as a competitive business in Malaysia.

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Emergence of Englishes McKay (2002) points out that the widespread use of English in a variety of political and intellectual areas makes it imperative for any country wishing to access the global community to ensure that its citizens are proficient in English (Canagarajah, 1999). Therefore the growth of English used as a first, second, or foreign language has increased, creating diversities among the Englishes emerging across the globe. For instance, in the Asian region, we have the Malaysian English (Manglish), Singaporean English (Singlish) and Korean English (Konglish). It is common to hear expressions like “don’t want lah”, “come on lah” among speakers of Malaysia. The hybridization and localization of many speakers of English in many countries has led to varieties of dialects and accents and resulted in the emergence of heterogeneous “global/local Englishes” culturally owned by different people (Crystal, 1997). While it is deemed that we all speak English, it appears that the language spoken varies in different cultural contexts. As Crystal (2000:25) points out, “a totally uniform, regionally neutral and arguably prestigious variety of English does not yet exist” because speakers of English have created their own identities and linguistic cultures. Yano (2001) echoes Crystal’s views and adds that there is a blurring line between native and non-native speakers of English. According to Yano, we are far from uniformity even though British English, Australian English and American English dominate the language landscapes in many parts of the world. The same can be witnessed in Malaysia where different varieties of English are spoken among our multicultural speakers. English Language Teaching (ELT), therefore, addresses different needs to cater for the diverse local and international learners of English. In such context, it is helpful to discern the movements experienced in the expansion of English language in Malaysia and the key trends that are available in the marketing of English in the ELT industry.

English Language Movements in Malaysia During the British occupation of Malaya, there was no clear policy on the implementation of English language learning. The British were contented to let the various types of schools, which were already in existence, carry on with their activities. There were four types of school during the British occupation: the English-medium, the Malay-medium, the Chinesemedium, and the Tamil-medium schools. Each used a different language as the medium of instruction as well as provided a different syllabus. The

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English-medium schools that existed during British colonization were run by missionaries and the British government. The English-medium schools, commonly called English schools, were the only ones that provided secondary education under the provision of the colonial government (Singh, Kell & Ambigapathy, 2002). There were different types of school that catered for ethnic groups, using mediums of instruction that varied with each of these ethnic groups. Students who ventured to such schools could obtain technical and trade skills. Some of them even went to the extent of pursuing the Cambridge Senior School Certificate examination. As noted, the education system was not harmonized during British colonization and was very much left to individual ethnic groups (Singh, Kell & Ambigapathy, 2002). After World War Two, the education system in Malaya was in shambles and, until Malaya achieved independence in 1957, much had to be done to map out a new education system for the nation. Efforts began with the introduction of a new, national education system with English as the medium of instruction. Teachers’ training colleges mushroomed throughout the country to meet the language and learning needs of schools. The Ministry of Education announced the conversion of English-medium schools to Malay-medium schools in 1970. English then became a second language in Malaysia. Despite the fact that the role of English in the nation changed from an official language to that of a second language, there was recognition for the continued need for Malaysians to be competent in the language due the impact of globalization and internationalization of the language. Since then, the Ministry of Education has taken initiatives in English language learning and has introduced programmes in the English curriculum in Malaysia to address flagging interest in the English language. The government has stressed the pressing need to achieve a high standard of proficiency in English, providing incentives and encouragement to promote English language teaching and learning (Malaysian Ministry of Education, 2004). The Ministry of Education introduced various programmes to enhance and expose students to English language learning. In 2001, “Extensive Reading and Contemporary Literature” was introduced as a core component in the secondary school curriculum. The objective of this programme was to expose students to English literature and good writing as well as to develop critical thinking skills. The mode of teaching and learning was designed to enable students to respond to texts, draw insights, and appreciate the culture in the texts. The “Structured Early Reading Program” was introduced in 2002 and aimed to inculcate the love for reading in English for young children. The schools were

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provided with “big books” to attract children to read. Teachers were introduced to this programme through an extensive induction programme (National Report of Malaysia, 2004). The “Native Speakers Project” was launched in 2003. Under this project, teachers of English were placed in rural districts. They were also sent to low-performing schools to coordinate English language activities in responding to the implementation of English language curriculum (National Report of Malaysia, 2004). At present, English language is a compulsory subject in both the primary and secondary schools. The three main examinations in the school years feature English as a compulsory paper. The first examination is held in Year 6 (UPSR – Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah) or Primary School Evaluation Certificate, the second examination is at the lower secondary in Form 3 (PMR – Penilaian Menengah Rendah) or Lower Secondary School Certificate, and the third examination is taken at the end of upper secondary in Form 5 (SPM – Sijil Persekolahan Malaysia) or Malaysian School Certificate. Students may also choose to enter the Form 6 or attend matriculation courses at this stage, and they are required to sit for MUET (Malaysian University English Test) as an entry requirement to pursue their education at the tertiary level. It is clear that the Ministry of Education acknowledges the importance of English. Hence, competence in the English language is highly regarded in preparing citizens of Malaysia for the global workforce. As a global competitor, Malaysia is aware of the vital need to be literate in English in order to access the wealth of data available in trade and industry (Brutt-Griffler, 2002). Carrying the status of an essential second language, the English language in Malaysia is fast changing from being the language for education and official proceedings to being a tool of communication and business in many circumstances (Singh, Kell & Ambigapathy, 2002). In other words, English is massively incorporated in different areas and disciplines, giving rise to the business of teaching English.

The Rise of ELT as a Business English has penetrated into the global workplace and created the need to master the language, which, in turn, has led to the growth of ELT as a business in Malaysia. Ainol and Isarji (2009) argue that in order to actively engage in the global economy, one has to possess knowledge and skills and to communicate effectively in English. The rise in educational opportunities with the mushrooming of many public and private institutions of learning also led to the need for English as a requirement for admission

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as well as for graduation. Therefore, the two key areas that have contributed to the expansion and booming of ELT are education and workplace communication. Massive international and local effort is taken in marketing ELT to address the demand for new products and services to secure English language proficiency. ELT providers from the Anglophone diaspora are more than a little anxious about those countries where English was a second language but which have now made English their language (Global English, 2007). Indeed this anxiety is heightened by the recognition that there are fewer first language speakers of English than there are multilingual speakers of English, thus increasing competition in the international ELT market (Crystal, 2000). Countries where English is spoken as a second language are increasingly competitive with Anglophone nations in the ELT business and in the global market for intellectual property available in English. There are many stakeholders involved in the teaching and learning process (Smith, 1992). Learners, their families, teachers, governments, employers, textbook publishers, and examination providers are more interested in the English language business (Graddol, 1997). New trends have emerged from this phenomenon as both local and international forces are reshaping the ELT industry. The trends are discussed in the following section.

Trend 1: A Competitive ELT Market The higher education sector has expanded its management by privatizing a number of colleges and private universities. This has further liberalized the educational sector and provided legal framework for the establishment of twinning arrangements between public and private institutions and foreign and local institutions. The private institutions of higher education offer degree, diploma, and certificate courses. The privatization of higher education in Malaysia occurs through the corporatization of public universities and their internationalization through the development of offshore partnerships, agreements, and twinning arrangements (Koo, 2008). Among the courses offered by the private institutions that attract the largest number of students are the diploma courses, followed by the certificate and degree courses. Part of the growth in private ELT provision has been in penetration of the Malaysian higher education system by several companies like Disted Stamford College, Sunway University, INTI College and more (Singh, Kell & Ambigapathy, 2002). The Malaysian education and training market is characterised by a range of creative options for students. Consortia involving international providers offer twinning or split degrees, expressed as, say, 2+1. In addition, there are a

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number of offshore campuses of foreign universities in Malaysia offering degree courses in English studies. Monash University of Australia is one of these, which, together with the University of Nottingham (UK) and Curtin University of Technology in Sarawak, offer degree courses and selected postgraduate degrees in English. On the other hand, major English providers like the British Council, the Australian International Development Program (AUSAID), and the ELS-US play important roles in the ELT market. Since the 1970s, the British Council has been a key participant in the ELT market, having established its position as the world authority on TESL/TEFOL (Singh, Kell & Ambigapathy, 2002). The Council’s aims are to secure a substantial share of the global market for its ELT products and services, to recover the full range of costs, and to make a profit while doing so. The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organization for cultural relations and educational opportunities. It runs programmes in the arts, science, sport, governance, and the English language. It is recognized as a world authority in English language teaching for children, adults, and business professionals in Malaysia. The Council has been working to improve its business performance through investing in products such as Direct Teaching of English and increasing the demand for English language examinations (Pennycook, 1994). The ELS is an affiliated agency with the US and offers franchise programmes through language centres in Malaysia called the US-based ELS Language Centers. Increasingly American English is making inroads into the ELT business market because the Internet and e-commerce influence English in the academic as well as the business world. ELS Malaysia has gained recognition as a leader in providing quality English language programmes. The ELS is a Certified Intensive English Program (CIEP) that accelerates English learning with the Communicative English Program. Many colleges and universities accept completion of an advanced ELS level as fulfilment of the English language requirement for admission. This programme is ideal for campus students and working adults who are keen in developing their English language competency. Its certificate is recognized in many universities and colleges locally and internationally in place of TOEFL and IELTS for entry requirements. Thus, the UK, the USA, and the Australian agencies are places where learners flock to acquire English. Also, Australia is another prestigious country that has a reputation for learning English language and multimedia due to its renowned educational programmes in the world (A Scan of Malaysia’s English Language Print Media during August 2008-July 2009). Australia’s education and training

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institutions utilize the latest technology in the teaching environment and technical knowledge to cater for its learners. Australia is directed to Vocational Education and Training (VET) which is a part of Australia’s education system. Therefore, it illustrates the importance of education as a major determinant in preparing learners for the workforce. The Australian Agency for International Development within Foreign Affairs (AusAID) in Malaysia focuses on Language and Communication Skills, IT and Multimedia, and other professional courses relevant in today’s market. Holding an Australian qualification is deemed to give a competitive edge to its learners because employers, governments, and other education systems recognize the high quality of Australian education and training. As competition is intense in Malaysia, the ELT providers have emerged with unique and individualized brandings in the ELT market. In this context, providers like the British Council, ELS (US), the Australian International Development Program (AusAID), and trans-national universities are seen to engage sophisticated “brandings” and “product lines” to appropriate English in the ELT industry. Besides, such images would attract both local and international learners in the niche market. According to the Scan of Malaysia’s English Language Print Media during August 2008-July 2009 (2009), Australian education projects its worldclass education; the US highlights the influence of American English in the Internet age; and the UK upholds its Standard English in the ELT industry in Malaysia. For example, the British Council’s products link the “Queen’s English” as its trademark to perpetuate the status of “British English” as the language of globalization, commerce, and technology (Singh, Kell & Ambigapathy, 2002). Thus, the competition in the ELT industry will only continue to expand to cater for the growing needs of different learners regardless of age, gender, and geographical proximity. Corporate sponsorship, social responsibility programmes, and specialized events are some of the marketing strategies that help strengthen the ELT industry in Malaysia. The provision of ELT is characterized by an increasingly competitive and commercialized market-based environment.

Trend 2: Towards a New Professionalism The ever-growing need for good communication and workplace skills in English has created a huge demand in the teaching of the English language. The need to continuously improve professionally is necessary for teachers and public service providers in order to respond to a wide range of demands as a result of this rapid and ever-changing world. Therefore, English language teachers and staff in the public services are

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expected to be dynamic practitioners and deliver quality services in line with the dimensions in the ELT epistemology. In the case of teachers, Bhattarai and Gautaman (2005) state that teachers should look for professional linkages through the professional network and come out of the confines of the classroom. It is vital to empower teachers and provide them with opportunities for knowledgesharing in training, workshops, conferences, and research and publications at national and international levels which can be recognized by the Ministry of Education or through collaboration among universities. These opportunities serve as powerful platforms for accelerating professional developments through which teachers are able to update themselves with the current developments related to teaching (Paul, 2003). Such opportunities evidently equip teachers with fresh and new outlooks in ELT in the global context. By engaging in professional discussions and sharing, teachers are able to empower themselves with the larger community of practitioners in the ELT landscape (The Star, 2 May 2010). It is also important to cater for the needs of workplace communities in meeting the demands of today’s world. ELT has made inroads in the area of public services in creating niches in the training market through innovative and customized programmes. The English language programmes are packaged in an attractive and enterprising manner. The ELT public services are targeted at corporate and government establishments (Singh, Kell & Ambigapathy, 2002). The programmes are open to executives and professional working adults. The programmes also cater for support staff and lower management employees (or higher) who require ready-to-use English language skills. Most of the programmes aim to help participants overcome the fear of English and enable them to communicate confidently in English. English enrichment programmes include soft skills courses, pronunciation courses, business presentation skills courses and public speaking courses. The ELT public service engages its learners through active participation in activities where interactive communication takes place in the workforce. Hence, the emphasis today is on learner-centred instruction that is packaged to meet the realistic language needs of the learners (Griffiths, 1995).

Trend 3: The Diversification of ELT products The transnational ELT business is a growing industry that supplies a diverse range of products and services to speakers of other languages and is often directed to supporting exclusively the acquisition of standard English. A range of what might be termed “language exports” supports the

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preservation of the standard English product, including the worldwide distribution of teachers (Wright & Wright, 2009). The quest for global harmonization has produced pre-packaged responses to ELT challenges in teaching in the simplified form of instrumental activities. Furthermore, the use of traditional teaching methods has been also supplemented with multimedia products in the form of CDs, DVDs, videos, and cassettes developed by multimedia organizations such as the BBC (Singh, Kell & Ambigapathy, 2002). These coursewares are instrumental, and learning modules and materials are pre-packaged with learning tasks and assessment items. For instance, the coursewares feature unique content from the most current Business English experts across the world. These English courses offer users the chance to learn the language using highly interactive multimedia – text, graphics, sound and video, and a dedicated on-line service and teacher assistance (Kirk, 2010). These courseware deliverables are accentuated by the use of corporate branding and templates for materials to create product identity and image that enhance the prestige of various national brandings of English in ELT marketing. The teaching of English has moved beyond the communicative approach, thus opening doors to more purposeful and sophisticated courses in the ELT industry (Dudley-Evans & St John, 1998). Also, the use of the communicative approach in general English classes focuses on social and functional uses of language in everyday conversation. It offers a choice of English courses designed to meet specific needs of local and international learners for beginners and advanced learners. It offers English for Specific Purposes (ESP), TESOL, TESL, Professional English, Business English, Communication English, Intensive English, and Corporate English for trainees in corporations and organizations. The nurturing of these new niche markets has created a demand for new integrated products involving ELT techniques and packages and educational futures, financial plans, loans schemes, and immigration programmes to suit their own customized learning needs.

Malaysia as a Hub of International ELT Malaysia has become a regional exporter of educational goods and services. At the tertiary level, there are about 20 fully funded government universities and 32 private universities offering a wide range of courses in English, including twinning programmes as well as education degrees. Therefore, Malaysia has high numbers of foreign students taking local degrees since the Malaysian education is recognized worldwide. The Malaysian higher education institutions have a large number of international

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students from more than 100 countries (Malaysian Ministry of Education, 2004). Malaysia aspires to be a hub of education and internationalize the higher education sector in accordance with Vision 2020 and to be the “The Regional Centre for Educational Excellence”. In this light, new programmes in English are being introduced to cater for the more contemporary needs of local and international students. The School of Languages, Literacies and Translation (SoLLaT), a faculty in Universiti Sains Malaysia, began as a Language Unit in 1969 to provide language courses to fulfil the language needs of local and international communities. It offers a wide range of English programmes designed to meet the international demands in today’s world. The Intensive English Programme is a course that aims to improve students’ English language proficiency in social and academic environments. This course targets both local and international students who wish to learn English in a university environment. It also caters for local and international students who plan to apply to do postgraduate degrees in the university as well as for students who have already been accepted yet lack the language proficiency for postgraduate studies in the university. The course is also a prerequisite entrance for degree programmes. It is tailored for those seeking to improve their proficiency skills as well as their confidence in the enhancement programmes. The English component in the “Certificate for Teaching and Learning” caters for the needs of lecturers who are seeking confirmation in their posts. Topics covered are Effective Lecture Delivery, Critical Reading, and Critical Writing and Listening. The “In-Service Language Course” is tailored for the administrative staff of USM. Learners are taught communication skills commonly used in their workplace (e.g. sending greetings, describing processes, dealing with problems, etc.). It also offers an “In-Country Training Programme” on Language and Culture which provides basic instruction in communication as well as individual language development. Whilst the emphasis on communication and learning skills addresses the group of students as a whole, language development work is individualized and takes place on the basis of individual needs. The “Summer English Camp” is designed to enhance students’ level of English in authentic situations. It also offers learners a unique and fun-filled opportunity to experience Malaysian culture whilst learning English. In addition to English classes, they will participate in educational and fun activities in small groups led by experienced facilitators. These activities are designed to improve learners’ language abilities and at the same time introduce them to different aspects of Malaysian life and culture. The camp is specially designed to expose

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international learners to a unique and different learning setting where they learn English in an enjoyable and relaxing environment. By the end of the programme, students should be able to understand and use basic grammatical patterns and structures in everyday situations and develop English vocabulary for communication.

Conclusion The English language has attained a noteworthy place in countries and communities around the world. It is used in politics, business dealings, education, and everyday life. There are different perceptions of English in Malaysia: mainly it has been appreciated as a valuable means of promoting the commercial, economic, technological, and industrial interests of the country in the global world. The growth of English is not consistent, and this undirected growth has led to the emergence of Englishes in Malaysia. In this regard, ELT has surfaced to respond to the diverse demands of education and the workplace. ELT providers like the UK, the USA, and the Australian agencies present competitive challenges in setting apart from one another and branding their products. Local institutions of higher learning also contend in this race to offer a diverse range of packages that appeal to local and international communities. Given the increasing role of English language teaching as a business, English has been appropriated in many ways to attract different groups of consumers. The examples of appropriation suggest that students in countries like Malaysia will use their English language education in various ways for different purposes. To understand the needs of students and to respond to these needs is not an easy task because the different approaches, curriculum content, and materials as well as an assorted range of pedagogies and resources clearly denote a very dynamic setting for ELT. The shifting movements suggest that the new ELT environment is creating significant challenges for practitioners in responding to new hybridities and multi-modalities in language and literacy as well as demanding a response to the new cultural, social and economic relationships that characterize the local/global Englishes.

References Ainol Madziah Zubairi & Isarji Hj Sarudin (2009). Motivation to learn a foreign language. GEMA Online Journal of Studies, 9. Kuala Lumpur: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Press.

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Ahulu, Samuel (1997). General English: The Nature of English as an International Language. English Today 49, 17-27. Bhattarai, R. G. & Gautam, B. R. (2005). English Language Teaching at the Crossroads. Journal of Nelta, 10, 1-2. Brutt-Griffler, J. (2002) World English: A Study of its Development. Clevedon & Buffalo: Multilingual Matters. Canagarajah, A.S. (1999) Resisting Linguistic Imperialism in English Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Celente, G. (1997). Trends 2000: How to Prepare for and Profit from the Changes of the 21st Century. New York: Warner Books. Crystal, D. (1997). English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. —. (2000). Language Death. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dragoescu, A. (2010). Contrastive Corpora of Business English Compounds and Derivatives of the Words Market and Marketing. In Language Education Today. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Dudley-Evans, T. & St John, M. J. (1998). Developments in English for Specific Purposes: A Multidisciplinary Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Featherstone, M. (1995). Undoing Culture: Globalisation, Postmodernism and Identity. London: Sage. GlobalEnglish Corporation (2007). Globalization of English 2007 Report: Trends in Business Communication and Implications for Global Companies. Graddol, D. (1997). The Future of English? A Guide for Forecasting the Popularity of the English Language in the 21th Century. London: British Council. Griffiths, C. (1995). Evaluating materials for teaching English to adult speakers of other languages. Forum, 33(3), 50. Hogan, T. (1996). Globalization: Experiences and explanations. In A. Kellehear (ed.), Social Self, Global Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kirk, D. (2010). Why research matters: Current status and future trends in physical education pedagogy. Movimento, 16(2), 11-44. Koo, Y. L. (2007). Internationalising academic literacy practices in English as a lingua franca for teaching and learning. In K. Sarjit, S. Morshidi, and A. Norzaini (eds) (2007). Globalisation and Internationalisation of Higher Education in Malaysia. Penang: IPPTN, USM Press, 51-76.

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McKay, S. (2002) Teaching English as an International Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Malaysia. Ministry of Education (2004), The Development of Education, National Report of Malaysia. Ministry of Higher Education, http://www.portal.mohe.gov.my/portal/page/portal/ExtPortal/ accessed 10 February 2011. Morley, D. & Robins, K. (1995). Spaces of Identity. London: Routledge. Nelson, J. 2005. Education in a Globalising World: Why the Reach Exceeds the Grasp. Bangi, Malaysia: UKM Press. Paul, D. (2003). Teaching English to Children in Asia. Hong Kong: Longman Asia ELT. Pennycook, A. (1994). The Cultural Politics of English as an International Language. London: Longman. Pennycook, A. (1998). English and the Discourses of Colonialism. London: Routledge. A Scan of Malaysia’s English Language Print Media during August 2008July 2009. December 2009. Australian Education International. School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia http://www.ppblt.usm.my/ Seidlhofer, 2001. Closing a conceptual gap: The case for a description Singh, M., Kell, P. & Ambigapathy, P. (2002). Appropriating English: Innovation in the Global Business of English Language Teaching. New York: Peter Lang Publishing. Smith, L. E. (1992). Spread of English and matters of intelligibility. In B. B. Kachru (ed.). The Other Tongue: English Across Cultures. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. The Star, 2 May 2010. The Tenth Malaysian Plan 2011-2015. http://www.epu.gov.my/c/document_library/get_file?p_l_id=21137&fo lderId=288195&name=DLFE-8204.pdf accessed on 2 February 2011. Warschauer, M. (2000). The changing global economy and the future of English teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 34, 511-535. Waters, M. (1995). Globalisation. London: Routledge. Wright, M. F., & Wright, B. (2009). A holistic view of English education through the lens of sustainability. English in Australia, 45(1), 39-46. Yano, Y. (2001). World Englishes in 2000 and beyond. World Englishes, 202, 119-32. Zai, X. J., Zheng, S. T. & Zhang, Z. J. (1999). 21st Century College English. Beijing, Shanghai: Higher Education Press, Fudan University Press.

CHAPTER VII THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AT THE EARLY BIRD STATE IN THAILAND UTHAI PIROMRUEN

The Thai people came into contact with the Europeans at the beginning of the seventeenth century during the Ayutthaya Period. The Portuguese who came to Siam (now called Thailand) in 1516 were the first visitors followed by the Spanish (1598), the English (1600), the Dutch (1604), and the French (1662). Historical evidence shows that these European visitors, who were mostly merchants and missionaries, were granted privilege by the Royal Thai rulers to settle down in Thailand. They introduced their languages, cultures, and new knowledge of navigation to the Thais during the period of their stay. The Thais might have absorbed some of these European languages such as Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish, English, and French. The English language, however, was not absorbed into the Thai way of life until later when it was taught and learned in schools. The princes and princesses of King Mongkut or King Rama IV were the first group of students who learned English. Mrs Anna Leonowens, an English widow, was the first tutor of English for the royal children in the Grand Palace. Prince Chulalongkorn, who later became King Rama V, was one of her students. Later, some schools outside of the palace began implementing a programme of teaching English by native speakers to groups of children (of high ranking officials). After the political revolution in 1932, the new national education plan was promulgated; the English language became a required subject in the lower high school syllabus. Subsequently, when public basic education was expanded, Thai students in the primary grades throughout the kingdom were engaged in the learning of English. This situation continues to the present.

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A Brief Historical Outlook Thailand and European Connections during the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries Thai-European connections began during the early nineteenth century. There were groups of Europeans coming to Thailand during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The early European visitors were the Portuguese. They landed in Thailand in 1516. Then came the Spanish in 1598. The Dutch arrived in 1604 and successfully established a close connection with Thailand, and in 1607 Thailand sent its ambassadors to the Netherlands (Syamananda, 1968). The early European visitors were mostly merchants and missionaries. Their main interests were trading and religious practices. However, they introduced their languages and new cultures to the Thais. The Portuguese taught how to make the famous sweets khanom thongyib and foythong from egg-yolk. The Dutch taught navigation and artillery. The French established a Catholic seminary where Thai youths learnt French and Christianity and were prepared for holy orders (Piromruen & Boonprasert, 1992). The English took an interest in Thailand in 1600 after founding the East India Company in Penang (the betelnut island). The French came later, in 1662, and they stayed longer than the other European visitors.

Early Bird of English Teaching and Learning The efforts of “early bird English learning and teaching” did not take place until almost 200 years after the Ayutthya Period. It was in the Ratanakosin (Bangkok) Period in 1851 when King Mongkut or Rama IV began learning English, French, and Pali from the American and French missionaries. He was the first king in South-East Asia who had access to these foreign languages in the nineteenth century (Syamananda, 1968, 43).

The Beginning of English Language Teaching The teaching of English began during the Ratanakosin (Bangkok) Period, during the reigns of King Rama III (1824–1851) and King Rama IV (1851–1868). According to Professor Rong Syamanana (1968, 44), King Mongkut, or Rama IV of Thailand, achieved real eminence as far as the study of foreign languages was concerned. He possessed a good working

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knowledge of English, as witnesses the fact that he corresponded with President Abraham Lincoln of the USA, and with Sir John Bowring, the Governor of Hong Kong, in signing a new treaty with Thailand in 1855.

The First Formal English Class Prince Chulalongkorn was one of the royal children who learned English from Mrs Anna Leonowens, an English widow hired by King Mongkut from 1862 to 1867. In 1868, Prince Chulalongkorn became King Rama V, the most beloved and respected King of Thailand. In 1905, he proclaimed the abolition of slavery in Thailand without any bloodshed, 42 years after President Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery throughout the United States in the spring of 1863 (Wikipedia, retrieved 1st September 2011).

The Threat of Colonialization Much more teaching of English was carried out within the Grand Palace in Bangkok. This early English teaching and learning prompted King Rama IV to send Thai scholars to study in Europe for the first time. Eventually, the wave of colonialization from the western powers began moving towards Asia. Envisioning the threat of this movement to his kingdom, the King prepared to establish friendships with western powers (Pashornsawan, 2004).

English Teaching Anchored on Firm Ground (1868 to 1910) More English classes were organized outside the palace by English and American missionaries. Francis George Patterson and Samuel G. MacFairland, for example, were the forefathers of English teachers from 1870 to 1878. Suankulap School, the earliest Thai school to open English classes in 1881 (taught by native speakers), became the hub of English education in Bangkok.

The Expansion of English Teaching From 1910 to 1932, during the reign of King Rama VI and King Rama VII, English teaching extended into schools outside of Bangkok. English was taught at the intermediate secondary and upper secondary levels. In 1932, the national political system was changed from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy, and formal English language instruction expanded throughout the country.

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During World War Two (1944–1945), English teaching was banned, but after the victory of the Allies over the Japanese, the teaching of English was revived, and English became a major subject in secondary schools. A great deal of foreign aid in terms of scholarships and funding was received to improve English language teaching in schools. From 1970 up to the present, English teaching and learning has been active in all schools, colleges, and universities throughout Thailand. English has been officially adopted as the first foreign language for Thai students, and subsequently this step has proven to be a boon for the country in terms of politics, economics, and culture (Syamananda, 1968; Piromruen & Boonprasert, 1992).

The Present Set-up of English Teaching and Learning Curriculum Changes The National Education Act (1999) and its 2007 revision made changes in English language teaching and learning in schools. Four main changes can be seen (Wiriyachitra, 2001; Chulongkorn Unversity Language Center, 2000), as follows: 1.

English became a compulsory foreign language subject starting from Level 1 in primary education (6 years of age) 2. English was one of the eight compulsory subjects 3. Four levels were identified for the basic education subjects: Levels 1 and 2 for primary classes Levels 3 and 4 for upper secondary classes 4. There were three objectives of the core and elective English courses including knowledge, skills, and attitudes: A. Knowledge covering: x English for communication x Culture of native speakers x Differences between English and Thai x Use English to gain information in other subjects x Use of English for life-long learning x Finding pleasure in and using it at work B. Skills training focusing on: x Involving communication strategies x Thinking skills (critical and creative) x Self-evaluation in learning, knowledge-seeking, technology, and ways to work with others C. Attitude: Eencouraging positive attitudes towards English and its culture

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National Curriculum for Primary and Secondary Education The central national curriculum provides only descriptions of strands and standards in content and performance, with a benchmark specified for each level of learning. In order to comply with this national standard, teachers have to write their own course materials with the content related to the real-life situations in their community

New Development of International Learning of English in the Basic Education Level In recent years, English at the basic education level in primary and secondary schools has been expanding internationally. A number of international schools adopting American and British international curriculum standards have increased in Bangkok and in large provincial cities such as Chiang Mai, Phuket, and Cholburi. As of 2010, there were 56 international schools throughout Thailand. Special English instruction programmes known as the Bilingual or English Preparation Program (EPP) using English as a medium of instruction were also offered in both private and public primary and secondary schools.

Teacher Preparation Since English is a compulsory subject for all schools at the primary or secondary level, there is a great need of an enormous number of teachers of English to teach the course. Since no specific preparation for teachers of English is provided by the local school administration, a shortage of teachers can be seen among other needed subjects like Mathematics and Science. So, the schools have to select and assign those who have at least a bachelor’s degree to handle the English classes (Markmee & Taylor, 2001).

Methods of Teaching and Learning at Present New approaches in teaching and learning of English have been applied. These are the interactive student-centred, functional-notional communicative skills practices. Teachers of English are given periodical in-service training organized the Ministry of Education through local Education Areas. Moreover, new materials are written and used in the classrooms, some applying Internet- and IT-supported techniques. However, the

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grammar-translation method is still used by teachers to make sure that students master the grammar points (Wiriyachitra, 2008).

Quality Assurance Internal and external quality control and assurance have been applied to all schools with all teaching and learning subjects. Students are assessed for their English proficiency through the Standardized National English Testing. The upper secondary students are required to sit in this test to prepare for continuing education in the college or university levels. The national norm of students’ English proficiency is still below the average for other subjects such as Thai, but somewhat higher than for Mathematics and Science.

Problems and Shortcomings There is room for improving English teaching and learning in Thailand. Teachers are struggling with heavy teaching loads. Even so, there is a lack of English language skills and native-speaker cultural knowledge (Biyaem, 1997). From another angle, students lack opportunities to use English in their daily lives, receiving unchallenging English lessons and themselves being passive learners. Students are too shy to speak English with their classmates (Biyaem, 1997).

Conclusions and Recommendations The historical sketch on the English language at the early stage up to the present time reveals the current development and expansion of English teaching and learning in Thailand. New directions for the improvement of this language education programme in schools are to lift up the quality and standard of language learning. This objective may be achieved by employing a systematic English teacher-preparation approach to challenge the students’ learning. Moreover, more cultural studies as well as sharing between the culture of the native speakers and that of the ASEAN community are urgently needed. (Foley, 2008; Luanganggoon, 2001).

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References Biyaem, S. (1997). Learner training: Changing roles for a changing world, educational innovation for sustainable development. 3rd UNESCOACEID International Conference, Bangkok. Chulalongkorn University Language Center (2000). The Reform of the English Syllabus in the General Education Curriculum in Thai University, Bangkok. Foley, J. A. (2008). Critical examination of ELT in Thailand: The role of cultural awareness. RELC Journal, 39, 131-146. Luanganggoon, N. (2001). Improving English Language Teaching in Thailand. EdD thesis, School of Social and Cultural Studies in Education, Deakin University. Markmee, K. & Taylor, S. (2001). Ongoing teacher development initiatives. Thai TESOL, 14(1), 10-13. Pashornsawan (2004). Debating Anna: The Textual Politics of English Literature Teaching in Thailand. Available at http://www.education.monash.edu.au Piromruen, U. & Boonprasert, M. (1992). The teaching and learning of English in Thailand. Paper presented at the 14th World Congress on Reading, at Maui, Hawaii, July 13–16. Syamananda, R. (1968). A history study of the teaching of foreign languages in Thailand. In Tatlow, A. T. (ed.)., Language Problems in Southeast Asian Universities: Seminar Papers and Discussions, 44, ASAIHL. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Chulalongkorn, the Abolition of Slavery. (1905.) Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chulalongkorn#AbolitionofCorv.C3.A9e_ and_Slavery. Wiriyachitra, A. (2001). A Thai university English scenario in the coming decade. Thai TESOL, 14(1), 4-7. —. (2008). English language learning and teaching in Thailand in this decade. Available at http://www.apecknowledgebank.org.

PART II: LANGUAGE LEARNING

CHAPTER VIII QUALITY STANDARDS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE SKILLS OF RAJAMANGALA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY SRIVIJAYA GRADUATES MAJORING IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION PRANEET THONGPAN AND VIKROM CHANTARANGKUL

This study aimed to investigate the English language proficiency of fourth-year students majoring in business administration at the Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya (RMUTSV) and to survey the requirements of entrepreneurs in terms of the English language skills of graduates majoring in business administration. The research instruments were a set of TOEIC tests including listening and reading tests, and a questionnaire. The samples comprised 397 fourth-year students from the Faculty of Business Administration and 257 entrepreneurs from the southern provinces. Regarding English proficiency, the results show that about 70% of participants from both campuses fell into the weak category, and no significant differences (p>0.05) were observed among all groups of students. In terms of the entrepreneurs’ opinions, the desirable characteristics of graduates are: academic knowledge as well as emotional, social, and English language skills at high levels. The recommendation of internship programmes and better standards of English language skills are also proposed in this study.

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Introduction Recently, there have been dramatic changes in economy, society, politics, and technology. To keep pace with these changes, several factors need to be considered. Among these, education is regarded as one of the most important since it is the foundation for growth and development in various disciplines. Education also plays a significant role in helping individuals develop desirable characteristics. However, in order to achieve this aim, the features or characteristics of graduates (as defined in the curricula) must meet the demands of entrepreneurs and stakeholders. In this case, tertiary education is very important since the ultimate goal of tertiary education is to produce graduates with the desirable features based on the needs of the labour market. The quality of graduates is a very important part of any curriculum; having students graduate from university with the characteristics that entrepreneurs require is the heart of tertiary education management. Most studies concerning the quality of graduates have been focused on three aspects: knowledge and professional skills, personality, and moral and ethics. Regarding knowledge and professional skills, most researchers have always surveyed the general view of entrepreneurs about graduates’ knowledge in their major fields, computer literacy, and language skills. In the area of language skills, most researchers conduct their studies in the same way. In other words, entrepreneurs are always asked whether they perceive the English language skills of graduates as important. The results of most studies reveal that entrepreneurs possess positive attitudes towards language skills (Puengpipattrakul, 2007; Sama-air, 2007; Hemasilapin, Intrachuto & Ratanawijit, 2006; Chanthet, 1995). However, their expectations are often mismatched with the actual skills of the graduates. While they are satisfied with the knowledge and professional skills of the graduates, most entrepreneurs are dissatisfied with the graduates’ language ability, particularly their English language skills, and even mention that their lack of English language skills have become a disadvantage for them. Hemasilapin, Intrachuto and Ratanawijit (2006) mentioned that graduates of Kasetsart University possessed strong computer literacy, but their weak point lay in their language ability. This finding is in agreement with Tangjueng, Panyanuwat and Tai (2002), who found that the graduates of Chiang Mai University had good knowledge in their professional areas but lacked the language skills necessary to communicate with foreigners. As mentioned, most research studies have focused on the graduates’ ability in terms of their professional skills, while scant information about language skills and computer literacy is provided. In other words, most

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studies reveal that entrepreneurs expected graduates to have language skills but gave no detailed information. For instance, among the four language skills, listening, speaking, reading, and writing, which language skill is considered to be the most important skill for the workplace? While English is widely recognized as the global language, this kind of information is necessary for the university to design a curriculum that meets the demands of the labour market, especially on English language skills. Conducting the research to obtain information on such matters is likely to be beneficial to curriculum development. This can ensure that the graduates possess language competency that is consistent with the actual needs of the entrepreneurs. Although there are many studies focusing on the quality of the graduates, little literature about the quality standards in the area of language skills exists. According to regulations, universities in Thailand are required to have their curricula improved every five years. Therefore, research involving the quality standards of English language skills is necessary as the results can then be applied to curriculum development, thus ensuring that the improved curricula meet the real needs of the labour market as much as possible and provide more opportunities for the students to succeed in their careers upon graduation. This study was conducted to explore the English language ability of students majoring in business administration, and to investigate the entrepreneurs’ needs apropos the English language skills of Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya students majoring in business administration.

Method Participants The study encompassed: (1) 397 Thai fourth-year students (202 students from the Faculty of Business Administration, Songkhla campus, and 195 students from the Faculty of Management Technology, Nakhon Si Thammarat campus, Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya), and (2) 257 entrepreneurs (153 females and 104 males) from the southern provinces. The participants had similar educational backgrounds as they had received at least six years of formal English instruction in secondary school while the entrepreneurs differed in their expectations of the graduates’ language abilities.

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Research Instruments Two types of research instruments were used. The participants were given two multiple-choice tests, a TOEIC listening test and a TOEIC reading test; and the questionnaires were given to examine entrepreneurs’ opinions on the desirable characteristics of graduates in four aspects: academic knowledge, emotional skills, social skills, and English skills. TOEIC Listening Test. To assess the participants’ listening comprehension, a TOEIC test, consisting of different target-language situations that addressed a wide range of skills involving listening comprehension at the upper-intermediate level, was used. The test, taking approximately 40 minutes to complete, contained 40 questions and was made up of two parts. Part 1 comprised 10 multiple (four)-choice questions. Students were asked to look at the pictures and choose the correct answers according to what they had heard. Part 2 comprised 30 multiple (three)-choice questions. They were asked to listen to short stories and choose the best answers. The text, which was recorded on a CD, was played once and the recordings contained a variety of accents. There were two reasons for selecting the TOEIC test to measure listening comprehension in the study. First, the test measured students’ abilities in professional careers. Secondly, students should be prepared for the real TOEIC test since many workplaces nowadays require their recruits to pass the TOEIC test. TOEIC Reading Test. This test assessed students’ reading comprehension. The test consists of three parts. Part 1 comprised 20 questions measuring the students’ structure and vocabulary knowledge. They were asked to choose structure (e.g. tenses, parts of speech, active and passive voices, prepositions and conjunctions) and the appropriate vocabulary for sentence completion. Part 2 comprised eight questions from two passages, each of 50–100 words and asking four questions. This part measured the students’ structure and vocabulary knowledge from the two passages (e.g. business letters, e-mail business correspondence). Part 3 comprised 22 questions: two questions each from three passages and four questions each from four other passages. All the passages were between 50 and 100 words in length. The test measured reading skills (e.g. reading for main ideas, reading for detailed information, guessing the meaning of words from context). The passages selected were those commonly found in magazines, news articles, memos, letters, and business advertisements. The rationale for selecting this particular test for the study was two-fold. First, students needed reading skills in order to be successful in their academic studies.

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Secondly, they needed to read a variety of business texts in their working life. Questionnaire. The questionnaire was modified from Natesopa (2004) and Tangjueng, Panyanuwat, and Tai (2002). It was tried out for reliability with entrepreneurs in Nakhon Si Thammarat and the content validity was checked with the experts. The questionnaire consisted of three parts. Part 1 was a checklist to garner general information of the respondents. Part 2 was a five-rating Likert scale checklist dealing with the opinions of the entrepreneurs in four aspects: academic knowledge, language skills, emotional skills, and social skills. Part 3 was made up of two open-ended questions regarding the desirable characteristics of business administration graduates and the collaboration between the university and stakeholders.

Results (1) English language ability of Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya students majoring in business administration Descriptive and Reliability Statistics Table 1 presents the means, standard deviations, and standard errors of measurements of listening and reading TOEIC test results. Additionally, this table reports the KR-20 reliability coefficients for tests as a measurement of their internal consistency. Table 1: Means, standard deviations, standard errors, and reliability estimates of TOEIC Reading Test and TOEIC Listening Test

Statement Minimum scores Maximum scores Mean scores Standard deviations Standard errors Reliability estimates (KR-20)

(n = 397) Scores obtained Reading skills Listening skills (50 marks) (40 marks) 4 7 28 24 14.22 14.09 3.15 3.88 0.19 0.16 0.75 0.78

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A classical item analysis was carried out to obtain information concerning the facility values, the discrimination indices of various items, and the effectiveness of the distractors in each item on the TOEIC listening and reading tests. Items with p-values between 0.33 and 0.67 were considered to be reliable (Tuckman, 1972). The criteria for the interpretation of the discrimination indices were adapted from Nuttal and Skurnik (1969), who regarded items with the discrimination index of 0.21 or above as being acceptable. For the analysis of point-biserial correlation, items with pointbiseral correlation of 0.25 or above were found to acceptable (Henning, 1987). The results of the TOEIC listening test showed that 15 items were difficult, 24 items were desirable, and one item was easy. According to Nuttall and Skurnik (1969), 20 items were effectively discriminating, 11 items satisfactory, and 9 items should be used with caution. The results of the TOEIC reading test indicated that 37 items were difficult and 13 items were desirable. The distractor analysis revealed that 13 items were effectively discriminating, 12 items satisfactory, and 25 items should be used with caution. After administering the TOEIC listening and reading tests on the students studying in the Faculty of Business Administration, Songkhla campus, and in Faculty of Management Technology, Nakhon Si Thammarat campus, the results obtained are as shown in Tables 2 and 3. Table 2: Means, standard deviations, and standard errors of measurements of TOEIC Listening Test according to the programmes

Program

(n = 397) No. of students B. A1

MT 2

Mean B. A1

MT 2

Standard deviation B. A1

MT 2

Standard error B. A1

MT 2

MG3 59 66 15.66 16.08 2.81 2.94 0.37 MK4 50 45 14.26 12.96 3.17 2.88 0.45 AC5 34 35 14.12 12.49 2.88 2.61 0.49 IS6 59 49 13.51 13.18 2.88 3.01 0.38 1 = Faculty of Business Administration, Songkhla Campus 2= Faculty of Management Technology, Nakhon Si Thammarat Campus 3= Business Administration programme 4 = Marketing programme 5 = Accounting programme 6 = Information System programme

0.36 0.43 0.44 0.43

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Table 3: Means, standard deviations, and standard errors of measurements of TOEIC Reading Test according to the programmes

Program

(n = 397) No. of students B. A1

MT 2

Mean B. A1

MT 2

Standard deviation B. A1

MT 2

Standard error B. A1

MT 2

MG3 59 66 13.88 13.74 3.70 3.12 0.48 MK4 50 45 14.44 12.29 4.22 2.90 0.59 AC5 34 35 15.44 14.51 3.62 3.29 0.62 IS6 59 49 15.80 13.61 4.31 4.60 0.56 1 = Faculty of Business Administration, Songkhla Campus 2= Faculty of Management Technology, Nakhon Si Thammarat Campus 3= Business Administration programme 4 = Marketing programme 5 = Accounting programme 6 = Information System programme

0.38 0.43 0.56 0.67

A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed to compare the means of the scores on the TOEIC listening and reading tests on students studying in the programmes. The results show that there were no significant differences on the performance of the TOEIC listening and reading tests of the students studying in the different programmes. In order to categorize the students, the individual scores were applied as the criteria. For the listening test, students with scores ranging from 28 to 40 were classified as good students, 15-27 as moderate students, and 0-14 as weak students. Regarding the reading test, those with scores ranging from 35 to 50 were classified as good students, 18-34 as moderate students, and 0-17 as weak students. The results show that in the TOEIC listening test, no students were categorized as good students but there were almost the same proportion of students in moderate and weak groups of students approximately 50: 50 in both campuses. For the TOEIC reading test, no students were classified in the good group of students. However, a larger number of students fell into the weak group, accounting for approximately 80% in both campuses (see Table 4).

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Table 4: Students categorized into groups according to their scores (n = 397) Samples Listening Skill Faculty of Business Administration Business Administration Marketing Accounting Information System Total Faculty of Management Technology Business Administration Marketing Accounting Information System Total Reading Skill Faculty of Business Administration Business Administration Marketing Accounting Information System Total Faculty of Management Technology Business Administration Marketing Accounting Information System Total

Weak No. of % students

moderate No. of % students

Good No. of % students

16

27.11

43

72.89

0

0

27 20 38 101

54.00 58.82 64.40 50.00

23 14 21 101

46.00 41.18 35.60 50.00

0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0

18

27.27

48

72.73

0

0

31 27 36

69.88 77.14 73.46

14 8 13

31.12 22.86 26.54

0 0 0

0 0 0

112

57.14

83

42.56

0

0

55

93.22

4

6.78

0

0

36 24 39

70.58 70.58 66.10

14 10 20

29.42 29.42 33.90

0 0 0

0 0 0

154

76.24

48

23.76

0

0

61

92.42

5

7.58

0

0

43 30 41

95.55 85.71 83.67

2 5 8

4.45 14.28 16.33

0 0 0

0 0 0

175

89.74

20

10.26

0

0

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(2) Entrepreneurs’ view in terms of desirable characteristics and quality standards in English Language ability of graduates majoring in business administration The information in this part was obtained from the questionnaires sent to 397 entrepreneurs. A total of 278 sets were returned and only 257 completed sets were used for analysis. Table 5 shows the opinions of entrepreneurs toward the desirable characteristics and the English language ability of Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya (RMUTSV) graduates majoring in business in the overall aspect. Table 5: Entrepreneurs’ opinions on desirable characteristics and quality of English language skills of graduates majoring in business administration Aspects Academic knowledge English skills Social Emotional Overall average

mean 4.16 4.11 4.16 4.21 4.16

(n = 257) S.D. 0.48 0.51 0.49 0.51 0.44

As shown in Table 5, the entrepreneurs expressed their opinions on the overall aspect of the graduates in terms of level of expectations. It was revealed that at the high level of expectation, the graduates were found to fail in all aspects. Concerning English language skills, the questionnaire consisting of 15 items is subdivided into the four basic language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Table 6 presents the entrepreneurs’ opinions on the English language skills of business administration graduates.

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Table 6: The entrepreneurs’ opinions towards the quality standards in English skills of business administration graduates mean

(n = 257) S.D.

4.14 4.08

0.63 0.74

3.94

0.76

4.07 4.21

0.69 0.68

4.03

0.76

4.09

0.71

4.19

0.72

4.06

0.81

4.12

0.77

Writing skill 1.Be able to write e-mails in English. 2.Be able to write business documents. 3.Be able to write minutes. 4.Be able to write a project or report. 5.Be able to write a summary from what they have read or listen.

4.05 4.14 4.13 4.22 4.15

0.81 0.67 0.66 0.81 0.65

Overall average

4.10

0.68

Aspects Listening skill 1.Understand the information from T.V. 2.Understand the information from radio. 3.Understand the information from oral presentations. Speaking skill 1.Be able to talk on phone. 2.Be able to have conversations with foreigners. 3.Be able to have conversations under the professional topics. 4.Be able to present the information obtained from listening or reading accurately. Reading skill 1.Understand the information from printed ads, brochures, and leaflets. 2.Understand the information from English newspapers, magazines, and journals. 3.Understand the information from various kinds of business documents.

As shown in Table 6, the entrepreneurs perceived the four language skills possessed by the graduates as vital. They anticipated that the graduates would be able to understand information from various kinds of sources in different channels (oral and written), to conduct both face-to-face and two-

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way communications, and to summarize and produce certain kinds of business document. In Part 3 of the questionnaire, the respondents were asked to express their opinions freely about the desirable characteristics of business administration graduates and the participation between the university and stakeholders. Information obtained included the improvement of English language skills and academic knowledge to increase the competency and performance of the graduates. Regarding collaboration between the university and stakeholders, it is recommended that the internship programme be emphasized and the real workplace conditions be simulated in the programme.

Quality Standards of English Skills Towey et al. (1985) stated that quality standards of the graduates should be established and used as guidelines for effective teaching and learning. According to the study, the quality standards of English language skills for business administration graduates are as follows: Listening skill 1. Understand information from various sources, e.g. TV and radio. 2. Understand information from oral presentations, recitations, and dictations. 3. Understand directions and instructions. Reading skill 1. Understand information from printed advertisements, brochures, and leaflets. 2. Understand information from newspapers, magazines, and journals. 3. Understand information from various kinds of business document. Speaking skill 1. Be able to talk on phone. 2. Be able to communicate with foreigners in daily life situations. 3. Be able to communicate with foreigners in the professional context. 4. Be able to present the information obtained from listening and reading. Writing skill 1. Be able to write e-mails. 2. Be able to write business documents.

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3. Be able to write minutes. 4. Be able to write a report for a project. 5. Be able to summarize information obtained through reading or listening.

Discussion From the results of the study, it is obvious that the receptive skills, vis-àvis the English language abilities, of students from both Songkhla and Nakkon Si Thammarat campuses were of similar levels, i.e., low to moderate. There were no significant differences in the performances of the TOEIC listening and reading tests of the students studying in the various programmes. This is consistent with the study conducted by Puengpipattrakul (2007), who found that samples from the Faculty of Management, Prince of Songkhla University were categorized in the intermediate group based on their language abilities and that their scores were rather low when compared with the TOEIC scores. There may be several reasons. First, the business administration curriculum of RMUTSV (2008) requires the students to take only two fundamental English language courses while the rest are elective courses. Such curriculum may not be sufficient for the students to improve on their English. Secondly, the low language ability of the students may result in negative attitudes being formed towards the English language. According to Puengpipattrakul (2007), the students’ achievements in English in the fundamental courses were correlated with their proficiencies in English. It is, therefore, necessary to emphasize to the students the importance of the English fundamental courses. Finally, it is likely that the students lack motivation in studying and practising English language skills. Tangjueng, Panyanuwat, and Tai (2002) emphasized that in addition to academic knowledge, graduates with good English communication skills are highly demanded in the workforce. Without the motivation, the students may get bored in learning English. In terms of the entrepreneurs’ opinions on the desirable characteristics and the English language skills of business administration graduates, it is clearly seen that all the four aspects – academic knowledge, English skills, emotional skills, and social skills – are considered significantly important. This is in tandem with several previous studies (Sama-air, 2004, etc. ), which mentioned that in designing or improving any curriculum, these four factors should be taken into consideration to ensure that the curriculum will meet the actual needs of the stakeholders. In this study, it is also noticed that the entrepreneurs placed the English language abilities of the graduates at a high level, indicating that English

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language skills are essential for job applications and career advancements. This is supported by studies conducted by researchers such as Sama-air (2007), Hemasilapin, Intrachuto and Ratanawijit (2006), Bualert et al. (2009), and Tangjueng, Panyanuwat, and Tai Xiang Chi (2002), who stated that a lack of English language ability is considered to be the weak point of most graduates from Thai universities. Most Thai graduates lack English language skills to communicate with foreigners and this lack is an important constraint for career advancement. Consequently, it was recommended that the universities take appropriate steps to improve the English proficiency of Thai graduates.

Limitation of the Study The study focused only on the receptive skills, the listening skills, and the reading skills, while the productive skills were excluded owing to time constraint and the sample size. Another constraint of this study relates to the schedules to conduct the tests on the students. It was rather difficult to make appointments with a large number of students to sit the tests.

Conclusion According to this study, the English language abilities in the listening and reading skills of business administration graduates from both Songkhla and Nakhon Si Thammarat campuses, RMUTSV ranged from low to intermediate. There were no significant differences in the performances of the TOEIC listening and reading tests of the students studying in the various programmes. Regarding the entrepreneurs’ opinions of the desirable characteristics of the business administration graduates, academic knowledge, language skills, emotional skills, and social skills are considered important. Similarly, English language proficiency for communicating in daily life and in the business context is in great demand in the workplace. Therefore, to develop a curriculum that meets the actual needs of the entrepreneurs, the quality standards of English language skills should be taken into account since only then can the success of the career of business administration graduates be assured.

Acknowledgement This research received financial support from the Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya under the 2009 fiscal budget.

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References Bualert, A. et al. (2009). A Survey Report on Satisfaction of Employers toward Graduates from Faculty of Liberal Arts, Huachiew Chalermprakiet University in academic year 2006. Bangkok: Faculty of Liberal Arts, Huachiew Chalermprakiet University. Chanthet, Manop. (1995). A Report on Desirable Characteristics of Graduates from Faculty of Management, Rajabhat Petchaburi Institute. Petchaburi, Thailand: Rajabhat Petchaburi Institute. Hemasilapin, Y., Intrachuto, S. & Ratanawijit, P. (2006). Quality of Graduates from Faculty of Architecture, Kasetsart University. Paper presented at 44th Kasetsart University Conference. Bangkok: Kasetsart University Press. Henning, G. (1987). A Guide to Language Test: Development, Evaluation, Research. Cambridge, Mass.: Newbury House. Natesopa, J. (2004). Quality of Graduates in Computer Study Program, Rajabhat Songkla Institute. Master of Education thesis, Rajabhat Songkla Institute. Songkhla: Prince of Songkla University. Nuttall, D. L. & Skurnik, L.S. (1969). Examination and Item Analysis Manual. London: National Foundation for Educational Research in England and Wales. Puengpipattrakul, W. (2007). A Study of the Relationships among Motivation, Motivational Variables and English Language Proficiency of the Fourth-year Management Sciences PSU Students. Master of Arts thesis, Prince of Songkla University. Songkhla: Prince of Songkla University. Sama-air, S. (2007). Evaluation of Desirable Characteristics of Postgraduates from Faculty of Education, Prince of Songkla University Based on the Employers’ Opinions. Master of Education, Educational Assessment and Research program, Prince of Songkla University. Songkhla: Prince of Songkla University. Tangjueng, P., Panyanuwat, A. & Tai Xiang Chi. (2002). Satisfaction of Employees toward the Graduates of Chiang Mai University in 1997– 2001. Chiang Mai: Committee of Chiang Mai University Educational Development Plan Evaluation Phase 8 (1997–2001). Towey, C. F. et al. (1985). Quality Standards for Adult Education Programs. A presentation at the National Adult Education Conference, Milwaukee, WI. November, 1985. Tuckman, B. W. (1972). Conducting Education Research. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

CHAPTER IX THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOTIVATION TO PARTICIPATE IN LEARNING AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AMONG PART-TIME ADULT LEARNERS IN SABAH PEI-LING LEE AND VINCENT PANG

This study aims to investigate the relationship between motivation to participate in learning and academic achievement of adult learners in a part-time programme. Efforts are also made to find out the predictors for the academic achievement of adult learners. This is a descriptive-correlational study using questionnaire as the mode of data collection. Fifty adult learners who enrolled in a parttime programme at UMS and UNIRAZAK in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah were selected as samples of the study. A thirty-item questionnaire, adapted from Boshier’s EPS (1991) and Neill’s TUSMSQ2 (2004), was used to measure the five motivational factors i.e. personal development, career advancement, social pressure, social and communication improvement, and escapism. The findings indicated a positive relationship between personal development and academic achievement of adult learners, while social pressure and escapism have a negative impact on academic achievement. In contrast, social and communication improvement, and career advancement do not correlate with academic achievement. Intrinsic motivation is found to be significant in influencing academic achievement while extrinsic motivation is insignificant in doing so. Lastly, some recommendations and proposals for future study are discussed.

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Introduction The transformation of the world economy in recent decades has increasingly demanded a more educated workforce with higher levels of skills and credentials. Education is deemed as a lifelong process and is not only a prerogative of children and adolescents. Nowadays, employers strive to improve the quality of their workforce to compete in a global marketplace while employees work hard to improve on their qualifications and experiences to enhance their employability. As the trends and changes in workplace occur constantly, learning is seen as the only viable way to keep abreast with the changes and to upgrade a person’s knowledge and skills. Therefore, working adults are motivated to pursue continuous learning in order to keep up with this knowledge-based society. This triggers the emphasis on adult education in higher education institutions, and on the reform and restructure of the programmes of the undergraduate and postgraduate studies. In a similar vein, the enrolment of working adults in part-time learning programmes or work-related educational programmes is increasing exponentially. Chao et al. (2007) stated that adult learners aged 24 and above comprised 44 per cent of US post-secondary students. In Malaysia, Supyan Hussin (2004) stated that the number of adult learners had increased from 17,756 in 1996 to 20,000 in 2000.

Problem Statement Unlike children and adolescents, adults would have other responsibilities at their workplace and in their families on top of their studies. These barriers would hinder the participation of adult learners in continuous learning (Tan, 2006). Therefore, motivation is paramount to the enrolment of working adults in part-time programmes. Working adults are motivated by internal and external needs to embark on higher education. This agreed with Abdul Razaq Ahmad et al. (2009) who stated that adults seek learning to fulfil their needs. The various motivational factors probably would reflect their attitudes and perceptions during the whole learning process and affect their academic performance. Some adults return to study for career advancement. They are likely to be more concerned with getting the degree and the necessary credentials that their learning programs will accord them knowledge-wise. This agreed with the study conducted by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (1986) which found part-time students to be more concerned with completing the programme than getting high grades

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in their academic performance. Therefore, the quality of learning outcomes, particularly the academic achievement of part-time adult learners, is debatable. Another issue that arises from this is the question of how many adult learners are truly able to master the deep processing skills and knowledge from their learning through part-time programmes. Currently, there are many studies conducted overseas and locally on the relationship between motivation in learning and academic achievement among full-time undergraduate students. However, very limited studies on the same issues have been conducted on part-time undergraduate and postgraduate students. This study was conducted to fill the gap.

Research Objectives The study aims to investigate the motivation of adult learners to participate in part-time learning programmes and the impact it has on their academic achievement. The specific objectives are as follows: a. To determine the interrelationships among between personal development, career advancement, social pressure, social and communication improvement, and escapism with the academic achievement of adult learners. b. To determine the significant influences of personal development, career advancement, social pressure, social and communication improvement, and escapism on the academic achievement of adult learners.

Literature Review Human Capital Theory Olaniyan and Okemakinde (2008) stated that formal education is influential and necessary to improve the production capacity of a nation. Therefore, formal education investment in human capital can enhance the productivity and efficiency of workers. The assurance of high-quality education and the fulfilment of skill-demand needs in the economy are required to lead economic growth. Hence, this assumption continues to induce employers to increasingly encourage their employees to embark on continuous learning such as postgraduate professional education, so that their work productivity might be enhanced.

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Malcom Knowles’ Theory of Andragogy Knowles’ Andragogy explains the differences between children and adult learners. It is influential because it outlines six assumptions of adult learning based on humanistic theory to understand characteristics of adult learners that can lead to their success in learning. The six assumptions proposed by Knowles et al. (2005) are: (1) a need to know, (2) selfconcept, (3) the role of experience, (4) readiness to learn, (5) orientation to learning, and (6) motivation to learn. Knowles’ theory contributes significantly to enhancing the efforts of adult learners and broadening access to higher education. Knowles’ theory of Andragogy also brought about the understanding and realization of the learning needs of adult learners as well as their different learning characteristics, as compared with children.

Motivational Factors in Learning Boshier (1991) created the Educational Participation Scale (EPS) as a new version (A-form) to measure the motivation to pursue learning among adult learners. Boshier’s EPS is comprised of seven factors with 42 items, and the seven motivational factors of Boshier’s EPS (A-form) are: (1) communication improvements, (2) social contact, (3) educational preparation, (4) professional advancement, (5) family togetherness, (6) escapism, and (7) cognitive interest. Boshier’s EPS is a frequently used instrument for measuring adults’ motivation in learning due to its validity, reliability, and acceptability (Joned & Lee, 2006). Boshier’s theory states that participants in adult education programmes are goal-oriented, and are motivated by external and internal drives. Mok and Kwong (1999) examined the six motivational factors of adult learners to further their study in higher education, using adaptations from Boshier’s EPS. The six factors included skills and knowledge acquisition, social and communication improvement, family togetherness, career advancement, escapism, and personal development. The findings indicated that skills and knowledge acquisition, career advancement, and personal development were the most influential motivators. Similarly, Storm (1990) revealed that cognitive interest ranked the highest, with a mean of 3.03 as the motivation for adults to enrol in college. Following that were professional advancement (2.82), community service (2.46), social stimulation (2.06), social contact (1.95), and external expectations (1.49). Kim and Merriam (2004) found that cognitive interest is the most influential motivator in pursuing higher learning among adults aged 50 and

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above. Mulenga and Liang (2008) also carried out a study which focused on adult learners aged 55 and above. Their results showed that intellectual stimulation still appears as the strongest motivation among older adults. The second most influential motivator is keeping up and fulfilment, followed by adjustment, and escape and social contact as the least influential motivators. Raghavan and Kumar (2008) indicated that adult learners of Open University Malaysia (OUM) were motivated to participate in learning for the needs of career advancement, and organizational and personal selfdevelopment. In a study on the motivation of teachers to further their education in the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) program, Joned and Lee (2006) revealed that professional advancement had the highest mean score of motivation in learning, followed by educational preparation, cognitive interest, communication improvement, family togetherness, social contact, and social stimulation.

Motivation in Learning and Academic Achievement A study by Storm (1990) found that non-traditional students aged 25 years and above enrolled in Montana State University (MSU) ranked cognitive interest and professional advancement with equal importance as motivation to enrol in studying. These respondents were able to obtain the highest mean grade point average (GPA) of 3.41 for academic achievement. Regression analysis revealed that the six motivational factors (social contact, social stimulation, professional advancement, community service, external expectations, and cognitive interest) of EPS did not contribute significantly to the prediction of academic achievement in GPA. Weaver (1984) revealed that there were no significant relationships among all the 15 motivational reasons to participate in learning in relation to academic achievement among adult learners. However, the most influential motivators for participating in learning were obtaining a satisfying career, obtaining a salary increase, and preparation for the future. Clark (1990) ascertained the correlations among the six motivators involving learning (career advancement, external requirements, personal development, networking, knowledge acquisition, and personal fulfilment) and the academic achievement in terms of grades of adult learners. His findings revealed that grades did not correlate with any of the six motivators. In contrast, Flaherty (1968) stated that the several motivational orientations such as the need for acceptance by others, personal goal and societal goal had negative correlations with the average grades obtained by adult students.

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On the other hand, Abdul Razaq Ahmad et al. (2009) asserted that positive motivation is believed to lead adults to learning more and obtaining higher achievement in computer learning. Lin et al. (2003) stated that students with a medium level of extrinsic motivation associated with high intrinsic motivation achieved higher mean course grades than students with either low or high extrinsic motivation. Hassan Afzal et al. (2010) revealed that students with intrinsic motivation performed much better academically as compared with students with extrinsic motivation. As a result, extrinsically motivated students’ academic performances did not remain constant because they only performed well with the motive to receive certain rewards. They might have performed well in a semester to achieve a reward and performed poorly in the subsequent semester when there was no desired reward. The intrinsic motivation variables used by Hassan Afzal et al. (2010) were self-exploration and altruism, while the extrinsic motivation variables were rejection of alternative options, career and qualifications, social enjoyment, and social pressure. Meanwhile, a study carried out by Broussard (2002) concerning the relationship between classroom motivation and academic achievement among first and third graders indicated that intrinsic motivation is positively related to children’s motivation in learning. As the intrinsic motivation increased, the academic achievement of these children also increased. Chiu and Xihua (2007) also claimed that students performed better in mathematics when they were intrinsically motivated to have greater interest in the subject, to put in more effort, were persistence, and to possess higher self-efficacy or self-concept. The researchers additionally revealed that cultural values and extrinsic motivation were not associated with students’ achievements.

Method The study is quantitative in nature and utilized a survey method. The relationships among variables were determined through a descriptivecorrelational study using a non-experimental survey. The samples were randomly chosen from adult learners. Fifty part-time adult learners, enrolled in part-time programmes at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNIRAZAK) in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, were randomly chosen as respondents. They were working adults studying in diverse disciplines, and consisted of various age groups and various cultural, ethnic, and family backgrounds. The questionnaire, consisting of 30 items measuring the motivation of participants, was adapted from the Boshier’s EPS (1991) and The

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University Student Motivation and Satisfaction Questionnaire Version 2 (TUSMSQ2) instrument which was developed by Neill (2004). According to Joned and Lee (2006), Boshier’s EPS was the most lasting, defensible, and often used instrument because of its high reliability, clarity, and applicability. The five motivational factors measured as the independent variables in this study were personal development, career advancement, social pressure, social and communication improvement, and escapism. Table 1 below displays the results of Cronbach’s Alpha for the overall motivation in learning and the five motivational factors of this study. Table 1. Cronbach’s Alpha for the scales of motivation to participate in learning Scale

n = 50 Number of Items

Personal development Career Advancement Social Pressure Social and Communication Improvement Escapism Motivation in learning (Total)

6 6 6 6 6 30

Cronbach’s Alpha 0.902 0.673 0.782 0.838 0.882 0.842

The Cronbach’s Alpha of the overall motivation to participate in learning is 0.842. Additionally, the Cronbach’s Alpha for personal development, career advancement, social pressure, social and communication improvement, and escapism are 0.902, 0.673, 0.782, 0.838, and 0.882 respectively. Obviously, personal development has the highest value of Cronbach’s Alpha among all the motivational factors. This supported the findings of Kim and Merriam (2004) that cognitive interest factor has the highest reliability coefficient among all motivational factors. The cognitive interest is related to the personal development in the present study. Overall, all the scales measured generally have high reliability and are acceptable. This is in line with Sekaran’s (2000) statement that the reliability with coefficient alpha from 0.61 to 0.79 is acceptable, while a higher value than 0.80 is considered as high. The values are also supported by Kim and Merriam (2004) and Joned and Lee (2006) who obtained reasonably high reliability coefficients, ranging from 0.60 to 0.92, for all motivational factors. On the other hand, academic achievement as the dependent variable in this study was obtained directly from the same questionnaire in which respondents were requested to give their latest Cumulative Grade Point

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Average (CGPA). The data collected was analysed using the Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 17. Pearson’s correlation analysis was used to test the relationship between motivation in learning and academic achievement. Meanwhile, stepwise multiple regression was performed to identify the predictors for academic achievement.

Research Framework MOTIVATION IN LEARNING Personal Development (IM) Career Advancement (EM) Social Pressure (EM)

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

Social and Communication Improvement(EM) Escapism (EM) The research framework structured the basis of the research project. The dependent variable is academic achievement measured by CGPA. Meanwhile, the independent variables are: personal development as intrinsic motivator (IM), career advancement, social pressure, social and communication improvement, and escapism as four (4) extrinsic motivators (EM).

Findings and Discussion Academic Achievement The overall mean of CGPA attained among all respondents is 3.2 which is considered as a satisfying and high achievement. The average grade of lowest achievement is 2.57 whereas that of the highest achievement is 3.87. A majority of the respondents (60 percent) obtained high achievement of CGPA ranging from 3.00 to 3.50. Twenty-six per cent of respondents obtained CGPA of between 2.57 and 3.00, followed by 14 percent of respondents who achieved excellent results with CGPA ranging from 3.50 to 3.87.

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Motivation of Participation in Learning Table 2. The mean scores based on responses of the motivational factors Independent Variables Personal Development Career Advancement Social Pressure Social and Communication Improvement Escapism

Mean

Median

Minimum

Maximum

4.0000

Std. Deviation 0.88208

3.8500

2.00

5.00

3.8067

3.8333

0.67205

2.33

5.00

3.1367 3.0867

3.1667 3.0000

0.85760 0.83452

1.00 1.00

4.67 4.83

2.2333

2.1667

0.91038

1.00

4.83

The motivations to return to studying were analysed based on the five motivational factors. Based on Table 2, the mean scores of personal development, career advancement, social pressure, social and communication improvement, and escapism are 3.8500, 3.8067, 3.1367, 3.0867 and 2.2333 respectively. The medians are found to be close to the mean values. The mean scores indicated that personal development and career advancement are the most influential motivating factors for learning among adult learners, whereas the least influential motivator is escapism. The results of the study supported the findings of researchers such as Mok and Kwong (1999), Storm (1990), Raghavan and Kumar (2008), Joned and Lee (2006), and Mulenga and Liang (2008). These researchers claimed that most adults were motivated to continue their study due to the needs for personal intellectual curiosity, cognitive interest and professional advancement. Meanwhile, escaping from routine was revealed as having little influence on motivation for continuing education among adult learners. Besides, the theory of Andragogy, as proposed by Knowles et al. (2005), supported the findings which revealed that adults were selfdirected learners, ready and intrinsically motivated to learn due to the personal development, and that they were oriented to engage in learning for personal interest in real life situations such as for career advancement. Most adult learners were motivated by personal development to get involved in learning because of their interests in gaining knowledge and for the joy of learning. Weaver (1984) also supported the findings which indicated career advancement as the most influential motivator for the learning engagement of adults. It can be explained that adult learners were

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motivated by this extrinsic motivation to get the necessary credentials in order to assist them in getting better jobs, to obtain increases in their salaries and for future career advancements.

Relationship between Motivation to Participate in Learning and Academic Achievement All the hypotheses were tested at the alpha level 0.05 of significance. The overall relationships between variables are presented in Table 3. Based on Pearson Product-moment correlation, only three of the five motivational factors are significantly correlated with adult learners’ academic achievements. They are personal development (Pearson’s r = 0.614), social pressure (Pearson’s r = -0.258), and escapism (Pearson’s r = 0.257). Table 3. Pearson’s Correlation between motivation to participate in learning and academic achievement

Academic Achievement Personal Development (IM) Career Advancement (EM) Social Pressure (EM) Social and Communication Improvement(EM) Escapism (EM)

Pearson’s Correlation, r 1.00 0.614 -0.023 -0.258 -0.095

Sig. value 0.000 0.438 0.035 0.256

N 50 50 50 50 50

-0.257

0.036

50

Personal development as a motivation to participate in learning was found to have a positive and significant relationship with the academic achievement of adult learners in their learning programs. Meanwhile, social pressure and escapism are found to have significant but low and negative relationships with academic achievement. However, there were no significant relationships between career advancement, and social and communication improvement, and the academic achievement of adult learners. Adult learners were motivated by personal development to embark on continuous learning due to cognitive interest, to gain more knowledge, to improve own self-potential and thinking skills, and to learn for the joy of learning. They had the motivation to know more and to learn, being intrinsically motivated to learn. The findings indicated that adults who were intrinsically motivated by personal development tended to perform

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better academically. This agrees with studies conducted by Hassan Afzal et al. (2010), Chiu and Xihua (2007), and Broussard (2002) that found students with intrinsic motivation to learn performed better academically as compared with students with extrinsic motivation. On that note, adult learners with highly extrinsic motivation (social pressure and escapism) in this study were found to obtain low academic achievement. The finding of escapism did not agree with Weaver (1984) who stated that there was no significant relationship between escapism and academic achievement of adult learners. However, the finding of social pressure was supported by Flaherty (1968) who revealed that the need for acceptance by others has negative correlation with academic achievement. It is possible that adult learners are keen to meet their objectives in undertaking learning programme rather than to be concerned with their grades, thus causing them to attain low achievement academically. Meanwhile, there was no impact on the academic achievement of adult learners who were extrinsically motivated by career advancement and social and communication improvement to participate in learning. The findings were supported by Clark (1990) who revealed that the needs for networking and career advancement in continuing education did not correlate with the grades in terms of academic achievement of adult learners. Table 4. Regression Analysis of five motivational factors with academic achievement as dependent variable (Model summary) Model 1

R

R Square

Adjusted R Square

Std. Error of the Estimate 0.26326

0.614 0.377 0.364 (a) a.Predictors: (Constant), Personal Development b.Dependent Variable: Academic Achievement

F Change

Sig. F Change

29.064

0.000

Table 4 shows the results of multiple regression analysis with the values of R-square of 0.377 and F-statistics of 29.064. The model is overall significant (p ‹ 0.05) and indicates that motivation in learning accounted for 37.7 per cent of the variance in academic achievement of adult learners. The regression model indicates that motivation in learning is able to significantly influence the academic achievement of adult learners.

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Table 5. Regression Analysis of motivation in learning with academic achievement (Coefficients) .

Model 1

Unstandardized Coefficients B Std. Error 2.315 0.168 0.230 0.043

Variables (Constant) Personal Development a.Dependent Variable: Academic Achievement

Standardized Coefficients Beta t-Value 13.754 0.614 5.391

Sig. 0.000 0.000

Table 5 shows that only personal development can significantly predict academic achievement (p ‹ 0.05). The other four variables are found to be insignificant (p › 0.05) and thus are excluded from the regression equation. This suggests that for every unit increase in personal development, academic achievement is increased by 23 per cent. To conclude, personal development is the only useful variable for predicting academic achievement. The other four variables are superfluous and can be dropped from the model. Hence, the regression equation to predict the grade in academic achievement upon personal development is formed as follows: Grade in Academic Achievement = 2.315 + (0.23 × Score of Personal Development) The findings related to the four insignificant variables are supported by Storm’s (1990) findings that career advancement, social pressure, social and communication improvement, escapism, and community service did not contribute significantly to the prediction of Grade Point Average in academic achievement among adult learners. Perhaps these results are due to the different standards of assessment in postgraduate and undergraduate studies. Thus, the existence of distinction of Grade Point Average among the two groups of respondents. The finding that personal development is significant in predicting academic achievement concurs with that of Hassan Afzal et al. (2010), probably because personal development is an intrinsic motivation as compared with the other four motivational factors which are extrinsic motivation. Moreover, Story et al. (2009) also stated that an adult with intrinsic motivation had more initiative to engage in continuing education. Additionally, the study of Chiu and Xihua (2007), and Lin et al. (2003) supported the finding that students with intrinsic motivation had greater interests in learning, put in more effort, were more persistent, and hence performed better academically.

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Conclusion The findings of this study show that adults were motivated to return to study by different motivational factors. However, the most influential motivators are personal development, an intrinsic motivation and career advancement, and extrinsic motivation. This is in accordance with the global development which emphasizes the knowledge-based society in this era. Therefore, adults are aware of the importance of education in terms of increasing their knowledge and improving their thinking skills. Also, the human capital theory proposed by Olaniyan and Okemakinde (2008) asserted that education investment could contribute to the workforce productivity enhancement. This further motivates working adults to participate in learning programmes for career advancement. Among the five motivational factors in this study personal development, which is the only intrinsic motivation, has a positive and significant relationship with the academic achievement of adult learners. Social pressure and escapism have negative and low relationships with academic achievement, whereas social and communication improvement, and career advancement do not correlate with the academic achievement of adult learners. The higher the intrinsic motivation of adults to participate in learning, the higher the academic achievement of adult learners. This agrees with Garst and Ried (1999) who claimed that intrinsic motivation is more potent than extrinsic motivation in adult education. Adults who are intrinsically motivated by personal development will put more effort into the learning process. The study also found that personal development, as intrinsic motivation, is the best predictor for academic achievement. It is important for colleges and universities to understand the different motivational factors involved in the various learning programmes to ensure that the needs of adult learners are met. This can be done through appropriate adjustments in programme curriculum, teaching-learning processes, and administrative procedures. Results of the study also will be of interest to programme planners and adult educators in assisting adult learners to be intrinsically motivated, thus to be more self-directed and persistent while enjoying their learning. This is important to enable adult learners to acquire quality learning outcomes and, therefore, to achieve higher academic achievement.

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References Abdul Razaq Ahmad, Norhasni Zainal Abiddin, Jamaludin Badusah & Pang, S. W. (2009). Computer usage and achievement among adults in rural area Malaysia. Journal of Social Sciences, 5(1), 1-8. Boshier, R. (1991). Psychometric properties of the alternative form of the educational participation scale. Adult Education Participation Quarterly, 41(3), 150-167. Broussard, S.C. (2002). The Relationship between Classroom Motivation and Achievement in First and Third Graders. Master’s degree thesis, Louisiana State University, 2002. Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. (1986). Parttimers: Myths and realities. Change, July/August 1986, 49-53. Chao, E. L., Stover DeRocco, E. & Flynn, M. K. (2007). Adult learners in higher education: Barriers to success and strategies to improve results. Employment and Training Administration Occasional Paper 2007-03. Washington, DC: ETA Occasional Papers. Chiu, M. M. & Xihua, Z. (2007). Family and motivation effects on mathematics achievement: Analyses of students in 41 countries. Learning and Instruction, 18, 321-336. Clark, F. (1990). Benefits Adults Attribute to their Participation in a University Continuing Education Management Certificate Program (Master’s degree thesis, McGill University, 1990). Dev, P.C. (1997). Intrinsic motivation and academic achievement: What does their relationship imply for the classroom teacher? Remedial and Special Education, 18(1), 12-19. Flaherty, M. J. (1968). The Prediction of College Level Academic Achievement in Adult Extension Students. PhD thesis, University of Toronto, 1968). Garst, W. C. & Ried, L. D. (1999). Motivational orientations: Evaluation of the education participation scale in a Nontraditional Doctor of Pharmacy Program. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 63, 300-304. Hassan Afzal, Cheung, S. W., Imran Ali, Muhammad Aslam Khan & Kashif Hamid. (2010). A study of students’ motivation and its relationship with their academic perfomamce. International Journal of Business and Management, 5(4), 80-89. Joned, R. & Lee, L. H. (2006). Motivational orientations of teachers in the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) Programme, Pertanika J. Soc. & Hum, 14(2), 85-94.

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Kim A. & Merriam S. B. (2004). Motivation for learning among older adults in a learning in retirement institute. Educational Gerontology, 30, 441-455. Knowles, M. S., Holton, E. F. & Swanson, R. A. (2005). The Adult Learner: The Definitive Classic in Adult Education and Human Resource Development, 6th edition. USA: Elsevier. Lin, Y. G., McKeachie, W. J. & Yung, C. K. (2003). College student intrinsic and/or extrinsic motivation and learning. Learning and Individual Differences, 13, 251-258. Mok, Y. F. & Kwong, T. M. (1999). Social-influence factors and motivations of participation in adult higher education. Educational Journal, 27, 83-101. Mulenga, D. & Liang Jr., S. (2008). Motivations for older adults’ participation in distance education: A study at the National Open University of Taiwan. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 27(3), 289-314. Neill, J. (2004). The University Student Motivation and Satisfaction Questionnaire version 2. Centre for Applied Psychology, University of Canberra. Olaniyan, D. A. & Okemakinde, T. (2008). Human capital theory: Implications for educational development. European Journal of Scientific Research, 24(2), 157-162. Raghavan S. & Kumar P. R. (2008). The need for participation in open and distance education: The Open University Malaysia experience. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education-TOJDE, 9(4), 77-88. Sekaran, U. (2000). Research Method for Business: A Skill Building Approach. New York: John Wiley. Storm, B. A. (1990). A Study of the Relationship between Perception and Judgement, Locus of Control, Motivation to Enroll, and Academic Achievement of Nontraditional University Student. PhD thesis, Montana State University, 1990. Story, P. A., Hart, J. W., Stasson, M. F. & Mahoney, J. M. (2009). Using a two-factor theory of achievement motivation to examine perfomancebased outcomes and self-regulatory processes. Personality and Individual Differences, 46, 391-395. Supyan Hussin (2004). Hidden voices of adult learners in open and distance learning program: Problems and strategies to overcome the problems. Proceedings (CDROM) for First Regional Workshop on Continuing and Online Lifelong Learning for All (COLLA2004). Putrajaya, Malaysia.

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Tan, H. L. (2006). Motivation and task difficulty: A solo experience with adult learners. Jurnal Pendidikan, 31, 71-81. Weaver, J. J. (1984). The Relationship between Selected Characteristics of Adult Learners and their Academic Achievement PhD thesis. Florida State University.

CHAPTER X LINGUISTICS AND ORAL ENGLISH COMMUNICATION DIFFICULTIES OF PERSONNEL AT THE BANK FOR AGRICULTURE AND AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES (BAAC) CHANITSARA THAVEEPRAYOON

This study examines the English-speaking ability of Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) personnel with three purposes: (1) to determine the factors influencing its personnel when there is a need to speak English for personal and business purposes, (2) to investigate their actual level of oral communicative competen which is very beneficial when it comes to giving suggestions to improve their English speaking skills, and (3) to improve the design and delivery of English training courses and suitable language training activities in accordance with the needs of the learners. Eighty bank personnel were randomly selected from different departments from branches of the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) in Bangkok and its vicinity. They were subjected to an English language written test on vocabulary and grammar, and a questionnaire. They were also subjected to an interview, and given a rating scale to check their

This article is written from the thesis, “Linguistics and Oral English Communication Difficulties of Personnel at the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC)”, under the supervision of the advisory committee, including Associate Professor Dr Uthai Piromruen, Associate Professor Em-orn Dispanya, and Associate Professor Yaowaluck Tantanapornchai.

An MA graduate in Communicative English, Faculty of Humanities, Ramkhamhaeng University.

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attitudes towards English language usage at their workplaces. Results of the statistical analysis of their test scores and attitudinal rating scales revealed that 48.3% of the population in this study agreed on the importance of the English speaking skills. The majority of them could not communicate effectively because of their limited vocabulary knowledge and uncertainty about grammatical usage.

Introduction English is one of the most important languages in the world. In a globalized world, it cannot be denied that English is the world’s leading international language of diplomacy, business, science, technology, banking, computing, medicine, engineering, and tourism, and that it is widely spoken as the lingua franca of the world. In addition to that, ASEAN countries have agreed that the working language of ASEAN shall be English. Therefore, it is very important for Thai people to improve their English language proficiency in order to be a competitive member of the ASEAN Community in 2015. As stated in the educational document from the Office of the Higher Education Commission [OHEC] (2010), Thailand has an educational weakness in its English teaching system even in the foundation stage. Schools are unable to teach the students to communicate at an international standard. In addition, the vocational and higher education systems are also weak in their English teaching methods. In an effort to improve the English performance of Thai people, the OHEC mentioned that one of the important strategies which they are focusing on is the English language development of Thai students. The researcher has observed that most Thai students learnt how to use English grammar correctly, but when they had to speak to foreigners they faced difficulties and finally failed to communicate because of a lack of vocabulary and grammatical knowledge. As stated by Bygate (1988), one of the basic problems in foreign-language teaching is to prepare learners to use the language. For instance, it is obvious that to be able to speak a foreign language, it is necessary to know a certain amount of grammar and vocabulary. For staff members of BAAC today, English is a requirement because BAAC has expanded its business line and products to serve the customers in ways similar to the other commercial banks. So, its staff members need to use more English in their workplaces – in, say, in money transfer and money exchange services. Moreover, from time to time they need to attend short courses, to study abroad, or to travel on business trips.

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The research focused on the linguistic and oral English communication difficulties of BAAC personnel with the aim to implement training programmes that address the perceived problem areas. Therefore, the first stage of the study involved the following: 1. What is the level of English proficiency in oral communication attained by BAAC personnel? 2. What are the difficulties in terms of linguistic and communicative competence as perceived by BAAC personnel in English communication with foreigners in various situations? 3. How do they solve their communication problems? 4. What is their motivation to learn English? The above questions need to be addressed in order to successfully design training courses for BAAC personnel to upgrade their oral proficiency for successful communication in English. The courses should take into account all of the pertinent factors identified.

The Concept of Communicative Competence According to Brown, Malmkjaer, and Williams (1996), linguistic competence is the knowledge of a particular language, in that those who possess it are able to produce and understand utterances in that language. Communicative competence is the ability to use the language forms for all language skills, i.e., the ability to use language forms in real situations for communicative purposes (Nazari, 2007).

Language Anxiety and Motivation in Language Learning There are many reasons for language learning anxiety. There are some people who suffer mainly from low self-confidence in speaking the target language. They may have difficulties when learning a second language as a result of their own emotional factors which could influence their language learning ability. Anxiety stands out as one of the main influential factors that could reduce effective language learning. Many scholars mentioned that foreign language anxiety is a feeling of tension, apprehension, and nervousness associated with the situation of learning a foreign language. According to Kitano (2001), some learners of a foreign language may fear making mistakes and being evaluated negatively in front of others, while some may have compared their speaking ability with friends, native

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speakers, and others. Some researchers stated that there is an interaction between fear of negative evaluation and self-perceived ability which affects the anxiety level. Language anxiety captures the wrong and usually negative emotional reaction aroused when learning or using an L2 (MacIntyre, 2007, 565). With regard to motivation in language learning, Roe (as cited in Kennedy & Bolitho, 1984, 15) suggested that there are three levels of motivation in learning English. Level 1 is the highest level when English is required to obtain a degree or a desirable job, or to get promoted. Level 2 is to improve exam grades or to positively influence one’s career prospects. On the other hand, Level 3 is where English could increase the student’s status, or be useful if he went abroad or widen his knowledge. Gardner (as cited in Macintyre, 2007, 566) similarly argued that motivation is the engine that drives the system, reflecting the notion that a truly motivated student shows a desire to learn the language, expends effort in learning, and enjoys the task. The major motivation to learn another language is to develop a communicative relationship with people from another cultural group. For speaking skills, motivation is considered very important by students learning a foreign language in high school as they believe that “language” means “something spoken”. Rivers (as cited in Tiprudee Toosiri, 2005) stated that students are often discouraged and lost interest when they found that studying a foreign language is just like studying other subjects. Achievement in language learning is correlated with motivation, which is influenced by the learners’ positive attitudes toward the learning situation and the target culture and people, as claimed by Gardner (cited in Hedge, 2000). It seems that not only anxiety and motivation but learners’ attitudes also affected the language-learning process. Richards et al. (cited in González, 2003) stated that experiences of positive or negative feelings toward a language may reflect the learner’s impression of linguistic difficulty; or simplicity, ease, or difficulty of learning. Due to its importance, a positive attitude towards English language learning should be emphasized (Somsamai Wisootruchira, cited in Parameth Lordasa, 2007). Somsamai Wisootruchira (cited in Parameth Lordasa, 2007) also found that the students who have low performance in learning usually dislike English, feeling that it is difficult to understand.

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Methodology This research employed the qualitative method. The study was conducted in a natural setting where the interview observation methods were used, and the research instruments consisted of an open-ended questionnaire as well as an English test. One-to-one interviews of about five minutes each were conducted by native English speakers from two famous language centres: the British Council and Inlingua. During the interview sessions, the researcher observed and took notes. In order to understand the subjects’ attitude toward L2, the researcher observed their behaviour, facial expressions, and emotional reactions as well. After that, the researcher asked the subjects to sit for an English competence test which they had to finish within an hour. The framework of the test was divided into three categories to test their vocabulary, grammar usage, and communicative ability. Table 1 Grading According to the Ability to Use in Each Part of the Test and Their Total Scores

Score Range

Vocabulary N/%

Grammatical Usage N/%

Communicative Ability N/%

80-100

11/13.8

18/22.5

18/22.5

75-79

5/6.3

9/11.3

13/16.3

70-74

7/8.8

0/0.0

0/0.0

65-69

4/5.0

8/10.0

9/11.3

60-64

8/10.0

0/0.0

10/12.5

55-59

8/10.0

7/8.8

0/0.0

50-54

10/12.5

16/20.0

11/13.8

0-49

27/33.8

22/27.5

19/23.8

Mean

10.85

7.16

8.25

SD

3.836

2.744

2.655

Total

80/100

80/100

80/100

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In Table 1, the result of the test on vocabulary shows that most of subjects (33.8%) scored 0-49%. Only 13.8% of them obtained 80-100%, and 5.0% recorded 65-69%. The majority of the subjects (27.5%) obtained 0-49%, while the next group obtained 80-100% (22.5%) in the grammatical usage section. Meanwhile, 23.8%, the majority of the subjects, obtained 0-49%, and 22.5% of them recorded 80-100% in the communicative ability section. Looking at the overall results of the study, it can be concluded that most of the subjects lack vocabulary and grammatical knowledge. Table 2 Most Important Language Skills Needed Most Important Skills

N

%

Rank

Speaking

29

48.30

1

Listening

14

23.30

2

All skills

9

15.00

3

Writing

3

5.00

4

Listening and speaking

3

5.00

4

Reading

1

1.70

5

Reading and speaking

1

1.70

5

Total

60

100.00

The results reveal that 29 subjects (48.30%) stated that speaking is the most important skills while 23.3% revealed that listening is most important.

Discussion The result of the study revealed that most of the subjects were weak in the English oral communication skills in that they could only answer in short

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sentences. In concurrence with the difficulties faced in terms of linguistic and communication competence, the results of the English test showed that the subjects had problems in grammatical usage. They had problems forming sentences with the correct sentence structure, were confused about the tenses, and had a tendency to use the wrong preposition. Some of the subjects also spoke Thai to the native speakers instead of English. However, the result of the study revealed that the subjects had high expectations in learning English. They believed that if they could communicate in English they would be able to travel around the world and be promoted at work. In addition, English is also useful for their work as well as in their daily life. The researcher found the results of the study to be similar to those from other related studies. For example, the study by Srikorakoch Tothubtim (cited in Nuttorn Lengcharoen, 2007) investigated the perceived ability of the Bangkok Bank staff when they spoke to foreigners. The findings showed that although the majority of the bank staff had rather low English language ability, they were highly motivated to learn and improve their spoken English so that they could communicate with foreigners and, if successful, have more chances for promotion or changing of jobs. Another similar study was done by Chidchanok Jiraworakitbancha (2009), who found that the staff members of Samitivej Sriracha Hospital had difficulties with their spoken and listening ability because they could not understand the foreign accents. The staff members needed to use body language and hand gestures when they communicated with foreign customers or asked for help from international officials. However, they liked to attend English conversation courses to improve their speaking and listening proficiency. Both studies revealed that their staff members had similiar problems in communicating in English and would like to improve so that they could achieve their respective goals.

Recommendations Based on the results of this study, the following are the recommendations for BAAC and for further study in this field. First, based on the results of the English test and the interview sessions, it is necessary for BAAC to provide an English training course that focuses on speaking skills. The content of the course must support the vocabulary knowledge of the learners and provide them with the chance to practise what they learn in the classroom. The situational conversations in various contexts also need to be added into the course outline. Moreover, BAAC should motivate its personnel to improve themselves by attending training courses. For example, BAAC could send them to

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attend courses on e-learning, evaluate their English performance every month, and offer them extra benefits if they showed improvements. BAAC personnel need to communicate in English in their daily life and workplace, as well as to improve their English speaking skills. Finally, further study should be conducted on other related topics that would be beneficial to the training courses, as, for example, the method and duration of training courses, the qualifications of the lecturers, the scope of the course material, etc.

Conclusion From this study, it can be concluded that most of the subjects realized that the English language and the learning of English are very important for their work and daily life. They also strongly agree that English should be one of the qualifications of BAAC staff members. Most of them said that they would like to attend English training courses in order to improve their English speaking ability which is the skill most needed by them. The results of this study showed that the subjects had a good attitude towards English language and English learning. They had high expectations and motivations to improve their English speaking performance because they believed that it would help them to be promoted in their workplace. However, the results of the English test and the interviews by the native speakers showed that most of the subjects had difficulties with their vocabulary and grammatical usage. They did not have much vocabulary knowledge and they did not know how to construct suitable sentences to answer the interviewers. In conclusion, the English teaching and learning system in Thailand seriously needs to be improved upon in order to compete with other countries. Moreover, many related studies also found that the staff members of many organizations in Thailand lacked the ability to perform well in English and that their speaking and listening skills needed to be improved. It will be very difficult to be a member of the ASEAN Community if a country’s citizens cannot communicate with citizens of other countries in the language used most often, i.e. English. In comparison with people in other Asian countries, many Thai citizens cannot carry on a conversation in English because they do not understand what the others are saying; some may be able to understand but are too shy to speak in English. English teachers need to seriously think about their teaching methods in order to help and motivate their students to effectively and successfully improve their English language skills. It is not too late to develop when people get older.

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References Alptekin, C. (2002). Towards intercultural communicative competence in ELT. ELT Journal, 56(1), 57-64. Anxiety in language learning. (2008). Retrieved July 8, 2009, from http://www.studentpresskit.com/index.php?option=com_content&view =article&id=45:anxiety-in-language-learning Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (n.d.) Prawat karn kor tung [Establishment]. Retrieved 16 August 2009, from http://www.baac.or.th/content-about.php Baugh, A. C. & Cable, T. (1993). A History of the English Language (4th ed.). London: Routledge. Brown, G., Malmkjaer, K. & Williams, J. (1996). Performance and Competence in Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Bygate, M. (1987). Speaking. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Chidchanok Jiraworakitbancha (2009). A survey study of the English speaking and listening skill proficiency of the staff members at Samitivej Sriracha Hospital. Unpublished master’s thesis, Ramkhamhaeng University, Bangkok. Communicative competence. (n.d.). Retrieved 27 September 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communicative_competence Csizér, K. & Kormos, J. (2008). Age related differences in the motivation of learning English as a foreign language: Attitudes, selves, and motivated learning behavior. Language Learning, 58(2), 327-355. Dubin, F. (1989). Situation literacy within traditions of communicative competence. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ellis, R. (2004). Individual difference in second language learning. In A. Davies & C. Elder (ed.), The Handbook of Applied Linguistics, 538-540. Oxford: Blackwell. González, J. M. (2003). Attitude towards English and ESP acquisition as a L2 or L3 at university. Ibérica, 6, 109-133. Retrieved 6 August 2009 from http://www.aelfe.org/documents/text6-Gonzalez.pdf Hamer, J. (1991). The Practice of English Language Teaching. New York: Longman Group. Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kasidech Boonrangsri, Duangporn Chuaymankhong, Nopporn Rermyindee & Nisakorn Vongchittpinyo (2004). A Survey Study of the Attitude towards English Learning of the Students in Vocational Certificate Level under Curriculum in 2002, a Case Study of Ayutthaya

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Technical College. Unpublished master’s thesis, Naresuan University, Pitsanulok, Thailand. Kawagishi, Y. (1974). The Difficulty of Speaking English. Retrieved 20 May 2010, from http://arch.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/10285/70/1/ 20010302161050605246007.pdf Kennedy, C. & Bolitho, R. (1984). English for Specific Purpose. Hong Kong: Macmillan. Kitano, K. (2001). Anxiety in the College Japanese Language Classroom. The Modern Language Journal, 85(4), 549-566. Liuoliene, A. & Metiuniene, R. (2006). Second Language Learning Motivation. Retrieved June 5, 2009, from http://www.coactivity.vgtu.lt/upload/filosof_zurn/a_liuoliene_metiuini ene_silologija_nr2.pdf Macintyre, P. D. (2007). Willingness to communicate in the second language: Understanding the decision to speak as a volitional process. The Modern Language Journal, 91, 565-566. Martínez, P. E. (2002). Oral communicative competence in English language at the completion of compulsory education: Level of achievement and conception at Galician community students. CAUCE, 25, 533-561. Retrieved 5 June 2009, from http://cvc.cervantes.es/literatura/cauce/pdf/cauce25/cauce25_24.pdf Mat Daud, N. S., Mat Daud, N. & Abu Kassim, N. L. (2005). Second language writing anxiety: Cause or effect? Malaysian Journal of ELT Research. Retrieved 19 May 2010, from http://www.melta.org.my/Doc/second_lang_writing_anxiety.pdf Narapon Plynate (2008). A Survey Study of the Functional Use of English as a Tool for Communication: A Case Study of the Need for TOT Staff’s Participation in English Training Course. Unpublished master’s thesis, Ramkhamhaeng University, Bangkok. Nazari, A. (2007). EFL teachers’ perception of the concept of communicative competence. EFL Journal, 61(3), 202-205. Nuttorn Lengcharoen (2007). A Survey Study of English for Civil Engineers at the Department of Highways, Thailand: From Needs Analysis to Course Design. Unpublished master’s thesis, Ramkhamhaeng University, Bangkok. Office of the Higher Education Commission (2010). Yuththasart udomsuksa thai ni karn triym khwamphrom su karn pen prachakhom asean nai pee phorsor 2558 [Thai higher education strategy preparing for the ASEAN Community in 2015]. Retrieved 16 August 2011, from http://sites.google.com/site/msrivirat2011/yuththsastr-xudmsuksa-thiyni-karte- ri-ym-khwam-phrxm-su-kar-pen-prachakhm-xaseiyn

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Parameth Lordasa (2007). A Study of the Role of Attitudes and Motivation in Learning English. Unpublished master’s thesis, Thammasat University, Bangkok. Robinson, C. P. (1980). ESP (English for Specific Purposes). Oxford, England: Pergamon. Rong Syamananda (1968). A history study of the teaching of foreign languages in Thailand. In Language problems in Southeast Asian universities: Seminar papers and discussions, 41-45 Bangkok: Association of Southeast Asian Institutions of Higher Learning. Saville-Troike, M. (2006). Introducing second language acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Tiprudee Toosiri (2005). A Survey Study of the Problems in Learning to Speak English of Second-year Students, Business English Program at North Bangkok College. Unpublished master’s thesis, Thammasat University, Bangkok.

CHAPTER XI FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING THROUGH SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING: A LEARNER’S EXPERIENCE CHUAH HONG HOON AND SHAIK ABDUL MALIK MOHAMED ISMAIL

Self-directed learning (SDL) is a learning process in which the learner is in active control. The learner initiates, plans, and undertakes the whole learning process and evaluates the progress made. Using this approach, an adult learner ventured into the learning of a foreign language and managed to acquire the ability to communicate in real-life situations in the target language within a span of 13 months. This paper reports on the initiative taken by the researchers to determine the learning process of the learner in relation to the taxonomy of language learning strategies (Oxford, 1990). The study was made through a questionnaire developed by Oxford. The findings show that the learner adopted various “direct” strategies described in Oxford’s taxonomy which relate to memory as well as cognitive and compensatory processes. An area of weakness identified was his failure to incorporate several “indirect” strategies – particularly those related to affective and social processes. It is hoped that the qualitative data showing the strengths and weaknesses of this learning process would provide useful insights for other self-directed learners. The paper ends with a discussion on the possibility of using SDL programmes in language teaching with the view of encouraging and empowering students.

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Introduction Self-directed learning (SDL) has been defined in various ways. It is a learning process in which the learner himself is in active control. The learner initiates, plans, and undertakes the whole learning process; and evaluates the progress made (Bolhuis, 1996; Garrison, 1997). Many adult learners embark on SDL or self-studies with neither the guidance nor the knowledge of appropriate strategies or methods that are necessary for success. Some of these learners devised their own learning strategies/methods or improvised them from self-help books. The effectiveness of these self-devised language strategies is variable. From anecdotal evidence many of these adult learners, unless properly guided, drop out and give up on their self studies completely. This outcome may be attributed to a lack of appropriate learning strategies and the inadequacies of the self-devised or improvised learning strategies they had adopted. Some of the adult learners, however, have managed to achieve some measure of success using their own self-devised learning strategies. This chapter records the initiative undertaken by the researchers to evaluate the learning strategies used by an adult learner who managed to read, write, and speak Lao (a foreign language) within thirteen months. Using Oxford’s classification of language learning strategies (Oxford, 1989) as a framework, the adult learner’s learning strategies were analysed. The analysis shows that there were many areas where the learner’s strategies were inadequate. The analysis also shows that the learner was unaware of some useful strategies and methods. The analysis identified areas where the learner required guidance and training in developing the skills needed to use the strategy and methods.

Background of the Adult Learner The adult learner is a male Malaysian Chinese in his mid-fifties. He speaks and writes in English and Bahasa Malaysia fairly well. Educated in an English-medium Malaysian school, he is not conversant in Mandarin Chinese but can speak the Hokkien and the Cantonese dialects. This adult learner is educated up to tertiary level. He embarked on self-directed study to learn the Lao language as he is currently managing a business in Laos. Even though Laos has opened up its economy to the rest of the world, the language used there is still predominantly the Lao language. The motivation for learning Lao is strong as the adult learner strongly believes that he needs to be conversant with the Lao language in order to have any chance of succeeding there.

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Learning Resources The adult learner started the learning process by selecting learning resources based on recommendations found in Lao learning sites on the Internet. He selected the book Lao for Beginners as his basic text. This book comes with an audio recording. Other resources used included a Lao–English dictionary; bilingual (Lao–English) books; children’s story books; magazines; school books for Primary 1 and 2 students; Internet sites such as YouTube which has Lao songs, documentaries, and movies; and Northern Illinois University’s Lao language site.

Anecdotal Account of Learning Approach The adult learner was asked to give an anecdotal account of his learning approach before responding to the questionnaire by Oxford on learning strategies. In brief, the adult learner described his approach as “learning to talk like the way babies do” i.e. listening, imitating,and repeating. He deliberately did not want to learn Lao in an “academic” way at the beginning and thus avoided learning Lao grammar and rules until a later stage. Basically, the adult learner would describe his learning strategy as having the following activities: a. Listening repetitively to the same passage or lesson b. Saying or pronouncing (by imitating) the words heard/spoken in the lessons repetitively c. Writing the words heard/spoken and in the lessons d. Self-monitoring and self-evaluation by the number of words recognized in a book and in a Lao documentary downloaded from YouTube. e. Checking by a Lao friend once per month on Lao words spoken or read out by the adult learner. From May 2010, he made trips to Laos every single month. The duration of each of the trip to Laos was between 8 and 12 days. The adult learner started with no knowledge of the Lao language at all. By the end of 13 months, he claimed to know 1000 words, of which he could use 200 quite competently. He has mastered the Lao script (vowels and consonants) and has made steady progress in acquiring the four skills.

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Methodology The classification or taxonomy of language learning strategies formulated by Oxford (1989) was used as the framework to analyse the learning strategies employed by the adult learner. Oxford’s classification is selected because it is comprehensive and detailed enough to capture the wide spectrum of learning strategies and methods needed to cover the multiplicity of factors influencing the learning process. Oxford classified the language learning strategies at four levels. At the first level, they were grouped into two classes, i.e. Direct and Indirect Strategies. According to Oxford, Direct Strategies involve the target language (language to be acquired) and require the mental processing of the target language. Indirect Strategies do not directly involve the target language but work to support and manage the learning process and are important to sustain the learners’ interests and motivations in continuing their language learning. Both the Direct and Indirect Strategies are further subdivided into various strategies. The subdivision goes on until the fourth level which is defined as activities for this paper. The classification by Oxford is given in Appendix 1. Using “The Strategy Inventory for Language Learning” (SILL) developed by Oxford, information concerning the use of the various strategies by adult learner was collected. In the inventory, the adult learner was asked to choose a response to the inventory questionnaire in the context of learning the Lao language using a 5-point scale, the responses ranging from 1 to 5 representing as follows: 1 Never or almost never true (Rarely used ) 2 Generally not true of me (Infrequently – less than 50% of the time but more frequently than “Rarely”) 3 Somewhat true of me (Neutral – 50% of the time) 4 Generally true of me (Frequently – more than 50%) 5 Always or almost always true of me (Always – almost 100%)

Findings and Discussion The responses of the adult learner to the SILL questionnaire are grouped into 35 activities under Direct Strategies (Table 1) and 27 activities under Indirect Strategies (Table 2). The results show that although the adult learner had described his learning strategies as involving only five activities, in reality he had adopted more than that, albeit unconsciously during his learning. The findings from SILL provide a detailed and

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comprehensive description of the learning strategies adopted in his learning process.

Direct Strategies The activities within the Direct Strategies class are shown in Table 1. There was a total of 35 activities which the adult learner had undertaken, of which: x 18 activities (48%) - Score 4 and 5 (Frequently & always) x 5 activities (14%) - Score 3 (Somewhat true of me) x 12 activities (32%) - Score 1 & 2 (Rarely or never) The Direct Strategies that the adult learner used according to the order of frequency were: x Compensating strategy (7 out of 10 activities or 70% were used frequently) x Cognitive strategy (9 out of 15 activities or 60% were used frequently) x Memory strategy (2 out of 10 activities or 20% were used frequently) Table 1: Frequency Scores for Direct Strategies Strategy

Activities

Memory

Creating mental linkages

Applying images and sounds Reviewing well Employing action

Grouping Associating/ Elaborating Placing new words into a context Using imagery Semantic mapping Using key words Representing sounds in memory Structured reviewing

Frequenc y Score 4 2 3 2 2 2 3

Using physical response

5 1

Using mechanical techniques

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Cognitive

Practicing

Receiving and sending messages Analysing and reasoning Creating structure for input and output

Strategy

Activities Guessing intelligently

Compensating

Repeating Formally practising with sounds and writing Recognising and using formula and patterns Recombining Practising in natural and realistic settings Getting the idea quickly Using resources for sending and receiving messages Reasoning deductively Analysing expressions Analysing contrastively Translating Transferring Taking notes Summarizing Higlighting

Overcoming limitation in speaking and writing

Using linguistic clues Using other clues Switching to mother tongue/English Getting help Using mime and gestures Avoiding communication partially or totally Selecting the topic Adjusting or approximating the message Coining words Using circumlocution or synonym

5 5 5 4 3 1 5 4 4 3 5 4 1 1 1 Frequency Score 4 2 4 4 4 1 4 4 2 4

Compensating Strategies The adult learner employed the Compensating strategy very frequently compared with the other two types of direct strategies. This can be attributed to his multilingual skills. Like most Malaysians, the adult learner had the experience of acquiring at least two languages besides his mother tongue. This had given him skills in employing the activities described in the Compensating strategy. The adult learner employed this

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strategy unconsciously without much deliberate effort; e.g. “Guessing by using linguistic clues” which is illustrated below. Very often the adult learner faced many words in a sentence/text that he did not understand. Making intelligent guesses in order to get the overall meaning based on partial understanding, in terms of words recognized in a given sentence/text was adopted. For example, in reading a children’s rhyme about prawns, the learner did the following:

In this rhyme, the subject recognized the Lao words written in English above, and was able to guess “B” as “swimming”; “C” as “like a”; and “D” as “live”. However, the subject was unable to guess what “A” meant. The subject also drew on his prior knowledge on the structure of the Chinese Hokkien dialect, which shares similar linguistic structures with the Lao language. An example of this is:

The adult learner subconsciously used many of the activities listed under “Overcoming limitation in speaking andwriting” frequently. This included

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“switching to English”; “getting help”; “using mime and gestures”; “selecting topic”; “adjusting the message” and “using synonyms”.

Cognitive Strategies In terms of the Cognitive strategy, the adult learner had deliberately used this as his main strategy to acquire the target language. He had focussed much of his attention on “practising”. Most of the activities listed under this group were used in combination, including the activity: Repeating – Saying or doing something over and over again. The adult learner would repeatedly listen to the native speaker in the audio recording from the book Lao for Beginners. He would listen attentively to the native speaker on the tape as they read out the different sections (vocabulary list, the conversations, and single sentences) of each chapter in the Lao language. The adult learner would replay each section seven times, after which he would recite each word or phrase within the sentence following the audio recording. This process of repeating was a way of assimilating the new language automatically over time. With this process (aided by the English translation), the adult learner was able to learn the meaning of words as well as their correct pronunciation and tone. The same strategy was also adopted in writing and reading in the target language. The adult learner mastered the basics of the Lao alphabet by copying the consonants and vowels several times over and over again until he knew them by heart and could reproduce them automatically without any aid. Reading repetitively the same passage also helped him understand it more completely. In the same way the adult learner also used “Recognizing and using formulas and patterns” in the learning process. According to Oxford (loc. cit.), “formulas and patterns” enhance learner’s comprehension and production. Examples of these are listed below. I. “Do you like to play...... a. football b. takraw

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II. “Do not ...................... here. a. drink alcohol b. use mobile phones.

For “receiving and sending messages”, the adult learner used resources such as dictionaries, bilingual books, and magazines very extensively in the learning process. These resources also enabled the adult to understand some aspects of the cultural context of the language. By using simple analysis and reasoning, the adult learner was able to determine the meanings of sentences by using linguistic clues. For example, the Lao word “kor” would always be used in a statement relating to requesting something. There are many such words in Lao that would give an indication of what is being stated or meant. In some instances, because of some similarities in the Lao language with Malay and Hokkien, the adult learner was able to transfer his prior knowledge to help him understand and remember Lao words. The following are examples: (1) “lakorn” in Lao, meaning “to act” (the same meaning as ‘lakun’ in Malay); (2) “puak” in Lao, meaning “group” (the same meaning as ‘puak’ in Malay); (3) “tok”, meaning “table” and “kao ii” meaning “chair” (the same sounds and meaning in Hokkien). Overall, the adult learner was adept in using the various activities listed under “Cognitive” strategies in his learning process. However, he was unable to “create structure for input and output for the target language”, such as taking notes, summarizing, and highlighting, because his language skills were still at an elementary stage.

Memory Strategies The adult learner did not use the Memory strategy as frequently as the other two direct strategies even though the use of “memorization” (which he defined as “making words become imprinted in his memory”) was part of his main strategy. When probed, the adult learner revealed that he was unaware of the activities (associating/elaborating; and using imagery, semantic mapping, and physical response) described by Oxford and even

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if he were aware them, he would still be unable to use them because he lacked the skills and experience to do so. These included activities such as: x creating visual images to help him recall words grouping words with the same conceptual similarities together, and x linking concepts together through semantic mapping. The subject showed willingness in experimenting with these strategies in the future. Nevertheless, the adult learner was very organized and systematic in reviewing the lessons he had completed. During the first month, a completed lesson would be reviewed three times per week. During the second and third months, the lessons would be reviewed once a week; and after the third month they would be reviewed once every fortnight.

Indirect Strategies The results for the activities within the Indirect Strategies class are shown in Table 2. There are a total of 27 activities of which the adult learner had undertaken: x 13 activities (48%) - Score 4 and 5 (Frequently & always) x 3 activities (11%)- Score 3 (Somewhat true of me) x 11 activities (41%)- Score 1 & 2 (Rarely or never) The strategies that adult learner used according to the order of frequency were: x Metacognitive strategy (8 out of 11 activities or 73% were used frequently) x Social strategy (4 out of 6 activities or 67% were used frequently) x Affective strategy (1 out of 10 activities or 10% were used frequently)

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Table 2: Frequency Scores for Indirect Strategies Strategy

Activities Centring your learning

Metacogn itive

Arranging and planning your learning

Evaluating your learning Lowering anxiety Encouraging yourself Affective Taking your emotional temperature

Asking questions

Social

Cooperating with others Empathizing with others

Frequency Score

Overviewing and linking with already known material Paying attention Delaying speech production Finding out about language learning Organizing Setting goals and objectives Identifying the purpose of a language task Planning for a language task Seeking practice opportunities

2 4

Self-monitoring

5

Self-evaluation Using progressive relaxation, deep breathing Using music Using laughter Making positive statements Taking risks wisely Rewarding yourself Listening to your body Using a checklist to discover feelings, etc. with regard to language learning Keeping a language learning diary Discussing your feelings with another person Asking for clarification or verification Asking for correction Cooperating with peers Cooperating with proficient users of the new language Developing cultural understanding Becoming aware of others’ thoughts and feelings

5

3 4 5 4 4 4 2

1 1 1 3 4 1 1 1 3 2 5 5 1 1 4 4

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Metacognitive Strategies Much of the adult learner’s ability to undertake the activities listed down as part of the Metacognitive strategies must have come from his previous learning experiences as a tertiary level student. However, it must never be assumed that less experienced students will handle this area well.

Organizing The adult learner has the ability to organize well. The studies were undertaken in a systematic and well-organised manner with weekly schedules and deadlines for accomplishing the different chapters from the basic text “Lao for Beginners”. The adult learner also kept written records of his studies which comprised the letters in the Lao alphabet, vocabulary, and language expressions and sentences

Setting Goals There was a well-defined goal set for the learning process. Tthe adult learner aimed to be able to read and write Lao within 12 months and to know at least 1,000 Lao words. To achieve his goal, he was ready to take risks and discover language learning on his own. Based on his prior experience of learning his first language as a child, he launched into familiarizing himself with the sounds of Lao words and patterns of speech, using the audio recording from “Lao for Beginners” as his guide. The adult learner also demonstrated control over his learning as well as having the ability to self-correct. When he realised that catching the tones of the Lao words proved to be too challenging, he reorganized his own learning and changed his focus to reading and writing, instead of solely depending on listening in the early stage of learning. Reading and writing allowed him to see tangible results of his learning. In learning how to read and write, he changed to using the Lao script, instead of transliterating from the Lao system, which is a non-standardized system with different ways of spelling which ultimately caused confusion in learning.

Identifying the Purpose of the Language Task He was also aware of the need to identify a clear purpose of the language tasks found in each chapter of the book “Lao for Beginners”. For instance

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in the first chapter on “GREETINGS” the learner had to understand casual speech for listening and speaking. For reading, the purpose was to engage the learner in intensive reading: he read the short dialogues carefully and in detail. For writing, the focus was on copying the vocabulary, phrases, and simple sentences.

Seeking Practice Opportunities Furthermore, he also took responsibility for his own learning by seeking opportunities to practise his skills. He made a conscious effort to practise his listening comprehension skills by listening to songs and watching short films on YouTube. To improve his reading skills, he exposed himself to different sources of materials: brochures, fashion magazines, and children’s story books. He also created opportunities to speak to native speakers in Laos, using the language to order food at restaurants, haggling at the market, and engaging himself with “small talk” with locals on everyday situations as well as other types of social interaction. Attempting to read road signs and names of villages was another way of putting language into action.

Self-monitoring and Evaluation The findings also show that the adult learner took responsibility for monitoring his own learning and evaluating his overall progress. (a) Listening skills To evaluate his listening skill, he would check whether he had correctly understood the message. Usually, he would identify the words that he could recognize; and work out the difficult words and make inaccurate guesses with the help of a bilingual dictionary. During the next few rounds of listening to the same resource, he would evaluate if he could recognize the new words that he had come across earlier and would add them to his vocabulary list. With respect to films, the adult learner would watch the same film a few times: the first time he aimed to understand the story line with the help of English subtitles; and the next few times, he would concentrate on the language aspects, making attempts to imitate the language expressions.

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(b) Reading skills To evaluate his reading skills, the adult learner would check his ability to recognize the Lao script from magazines and books. Over time, the adult learner noted a steady increase in the number of words that he could recognize. In addition, the adult learner would constantly review his pronunciation to improve on the tones, using the native speaker in the audio recording from Lao for Beginners as his benchmark for accuracy. (c) Vocabulary building The adult learner relied heavily on the bilingual dictionary to help him expand his vocabulary. Every time he learnt a new word, he would mark it with red ink in the dictionary. The subject monitored vocabulary building through this process, and repeatedly reviewed the dictionary until the words became imprinted in his memory.

Social Strategies The adult learner also used the Social strategies frequently. One of the ways was to ask for verification and correction in his pronunciation and reading of the target language from his Lao friends whenever he visited them. The adult learner would monitor his ability to pronounce Lao words correctly with the help of a Lao friend. He would read aloud a short passage from a children’s storybook sentence by sentence. At the end of each sentence, the Lao friend was asked to evaluate him in any one of the following ways: x To indicate to the adult learner whether he understood the entire sentence. x To indicate whether there were any particular words in the sentence that he did not understand, or whether the adult learner needed to repeat the words. x To ask the adult learner to show him the word in writing if the friend still could not understand eventough the adult learner had made several attempts to repeat the words. However the adult learner was handicapped by a lack of interaction with other learners of the target language. The opportunity to practise in a group situation, share experiences, and jointly learn the target language with other learners, especially with the more proficient ones, would have

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helped him greatly. The subject could have explored social media to achieve that target.

Affective Strategies The adult learner used Affective strategies very infrequently. Except for “taking risks wisely”, the adult learner expressed discomfort in undertaking the other more “touchy-feely” activities which relate to expressing own feelings about learning, rewarding oneself, discussing feelings about learning with another and other activities listed in Oxford’s classification. There is the possibility of a cultural dimension in which such Affective strategies may not be suitable for the adult learner.

Implications for Future SDL Learners The success of the adult learner may be attributed to his adoption of a wide range appropriate learning strategies which included the Cognitive, Compensating, Metacognitive, and Social strategies. From the extensive interviews the researchers had with the adult learner, it was obvious that the adult learner had learned some of these strategies and skills from his earlier educational experiences and had applied them in this learning process. However, these learning strategies and skills may need to be formally taught to less experienced learners. Less experienced learners may need to be instructed and trained in these areas in order to be successful in SDL. In this respect, the role of teachers as trainers is very important: they can provide expert advice on how to apply different strategies in studying. Teaching them how to apply the different strategies in their own learning will enable and empower the learners in the long run. This study’s comprehensive coverage of different learning strategies will benefit learners greatly. SDL is very challenging, often requiring a lot of effort and perseverance. Using different strategies in learning will help overcome boredom and sustain interest in studying. Besides, learners can experiment with different strategies recommended by Oxford with the help of teachers, focusing on those which suit their learning styles. Such experimentation would boost confidence and result in more effective learning. One of the Social strategies from Oxford includes learning cooperatively in groups, implying that studying with others is beneficial. However, the adult learner in this study did not undertake learning in cooperation with other learners. Learning with others would have

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accelerated his learning: they would have provided him with valuable feedback on his progress, helped him self-correct the errors he made, and identified areas in which he needed to work on. In this age of electronic media, the adult learner could have linked up with other learners via social media. This advantage should be exploited by other future self-directed learners who are adept at handling Internet technology. Despite the wide range of learning strategies that the adult learner had employed, there were many areas in which he needed to be instructed, especially the Memory strategies. Training in this area would have given him a new set of skills which would help him improve his performance. This finding suggests the importance of working together with selfdirected learners to exploit the different possible strategies which could be used to their advantage. Learners should experiment with as many strategies as possible in an attempt to discover those that they are comfortable with, as well as those which suit their individual learning styles. This study suggests that it may be possible for students to learn English as a second language using the SDL approach. However, it is imperative that the programme must incorporate formal instruction in the use of appropriate learning strategies. Besides, organizing learning in small groups that involves collaboration and cooperation among learners is also essential. One final consideration, which is of equal importance, is that a successful SDL programme should prepare students to take full responsibility for their own learning; set their own goals, plan and organize their own learning, and monitor and evaluate their own progress.

Conclusion An important indicator of a successful self-directed learner is one who has learnt how to learn. In the context of this study, the adult learner is one such learner: he knows how to manage the different learning strategies and exploits them to bring most benefits to himself. He takes full responsibility of his learning and feels empowered because of the progress he had made in learning a new language within a span of 13 months. As a self-directed learner, he has learnt the importance of planning, implementing, and monitoring and evaluating his own progress. In summary, this study serves as a useful guide for successful self-study from the aspect of acquiring appropriate learning strategies.

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References Bolhuis, S. (1996). Towards active and self-directed learning: Preparing for lifelong learning, with reference to Dutch secondary education. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (New York, NY, April 8–12, 1996). Garrison, D. R. (1997). Self-directed learning: Toward a comprehensive model. Adult Education Quarterly, 48(1), 16-18. Hedge, Tricia (1993). Key concepts in ELT. ELT Journal Volume 4711, January. Oxford, R. (1989). Use of language learning strategies: A synthesis of studies with implications for strategy training. System, 17, 235-247. Oxford, R. (2008). Language Learning Strategies: What Every Teacher Should Know. California: Newbury House, 37-91; 283-288. Thornton, K. (2010). Supporting self-directed Learning: A framework for teachers. Language Education in Asia, Vol. 1. Wenden, A. (1996). Learner Strategies for Learner Autonomy. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall, 27-30; 59; 94; 121.

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Appendix I I. Direct Strategies A.Memory 1. Creating Mental Linkages a. Grouping b. Associating/elaborating c. Placing new words in a context 2. Applying Images & Sounds a. Using imagery b. Semantic mapping c. Using keywords d. Representing sounds in memory 3. Reviewing Well a. Structured reviewing 4.Employing Action a. Using physical response b. Using mechanical techniques B.Cognitive 1.Practising a. Repeating b. Formally repeating with sounds and words c. Recognizing and using formulae d. Practising in natural and realistic settings 2. Receiving & sending messages a. Getting the idea quickly b. Using resources for sending and receiving messages 3. Analysing & reasoning a. Reasoning deductively b. Analysing expressions c. Analysing contrastively d. Translating e. Transferring 4.Creating structure for input & output a. Taking notes b. Summarizing c. Highlighting

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C. Compensating 1. Guessing intelligently a. Using linguistic clues b. Using other clues 2. Overcoming limitation in speaking and writing a. Switching to mother tongue/English b. Getting help c. Using mimes and gestures d. Avoiding communication partially or totally e. Selecting the topic f. Adjusting or approximating the message g. Coining words h. Using circumlocution and synonyms II. Indirect Strategies A. Metacognitive 1. Centring your learning a. Overviewing and linking already known material b. Paying attention c. Delaying speech production 2.Arranging & planning your learning a. Finding out about language learning b. Organising c. Setting goals and objectives d. Identifying the purpose of a language task e. Planning for a language task f. Seeking practice opportunities 3. Evaluating your learning a. Self-monitoring b. Self-evaluation B. Affective 1. Lowering anxiety a. Using progressive relaxation and deep breathing b. Using music c. Using laughter 2. Encouraging yourself a. Making positive statements b. Taking risks wisely c. Rewarding yourself

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3. Taking your emotional temperature a. Listening to your body b. Using a checklist to discover feelings respect to language learning c. Keeping a language learning diary d. Discussing your feelings with other persons C. Social 1. Asking questions a. Asking for clarification or verification b. Asking for correction 2. Cooperating with others a. Cooperating with peers b. Cooperating with proficient users of the new language 3.Empathizing with others a. Developing cultural understanding b. Becoming aware of others’ thoughts and feelings

CHAPTER XII DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES BETWEEN BAHASA INDONESIA AND BAHASA MALAYSIA: PROBLEMS IN ACADEMIC WRITING AND ORAL COMMUNICATION SYED ZAINAL ARIFF SYED JAMALUDDIN AND NOORDIN MOHD NOOR

This report is based on observations and some reports from editors who have edited some of the written work of Indonesian graduate students. Information was also obtained from interview sessions carried out and from personal interactions with them. The focus of this article is to clarify the differences between Bahasa Indonesia (henceforth BI) and Bahasa Malaysia (henceforth BM) in various aspects and how the differences direcly affected Indonesian students studying in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) academically, such as translation from BI to English (especially for those in the School of Humanities) and BI to BM. The academic writings of the Indonesian graduate students were analysed from four different perspectives; reports from direct oral interviews, reviews, and contrasts in the multiplicity and differences in the nuances between BI and BM. An interview was conducted on 21 July 2009 on a few Indonesian graduate students regarding the problems they encountered in doing academic writings at the School of Humanities, USM. Also, the report describes the experiences of some graduate students from Indonesia studying at PPIK in using English in their academic writings (especially their thesis), and in using BM in the daily communication with the lecturers and fellow students from Malaysia. Eventually, it exposes

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some risks that contributed to the negative effects of direct translation of BI to BM and posed several solutions and suggestions that may help Indonesian students to overcome the matter.

Introduction This chapter is concerned with the linguistic problem that Indonesian students face. It is possible to identify a number of challenges specific to Indonesian students’ language usage. Indonesian graduate students in Malaysia face difficulties in their academic writing and in their oral presentations because of the differences found between Bahasa Indonesia (BI) and Bahasa Malaysia (BM). BI, in its standard form, is mutually intelligible with standard BM in many aspects, such as pronunciation, diction, spelling, accent, and vocabulary. This is due to Dutch and Javanese influences on BI, which have also affected the students’ English. Many Indonesian graduate students in USM struggle when it comes to adopting the new language. They face difficulties in their study and in communicating with other people even though most of them communicate either in English or BM. Most of these Indonesian graduate students, in particular those in the School of Humanities, were found to possess low proficiency in the English language although English is currently one of the most widely used language in communication worldwide. These Indonesian graduate students found it a burden to speak and write in English. Such feelings became even more acute when English in the spoken form does not always correspond to the written form. This means that orally, the interlocutors paid more attention to the communicative process rather than to grammar and the correct usage of the vocabulary items, making the students feel even more pressured academically. The pressure may even push some students to drop out of the school or cause them to underperform academically.

English and Bahasa Indonesia English is acknowledged as a widely spoken language worldwide. Though the official language in Indonesia is BI, the written and spoken form was based on the Malay trade dialect which was extensively used throughout the region in the past. Presently, in Indonesia, more than 300 distinct languages are still being used. BI is rather similar to Bahasa Malaysia and

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is quite easy to pick up if one needs to be only sufficiently proficient for day-to-day transactions and activities. In Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, the English language is used especially in multinational companies in high-level business contexts. However, in the rural areas, the English language is not commonly used unless the place is a tourist attraction. Those working in the hospitality sector (such as in hotels), tourist guides, and taxi drivers are more likely to be able to understand and communicate in English. Earlier, when the Dutch were in Indonesia, they established Dutch schools. Hence, some Indonesians, especially the older ones who had attended the Dutch schools, were able to understand the Dutch language. In the Indonesian junior and senior high schools, English is a compulsory subject in the national curriculum for students aged between 12 and 18. While it is not compulsory at the elementary school level, many public and private schools make it a requirement for their students to study English. Unlike neighbouring countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines, Indonesia does not have a tradition of wide usage of English in education, domestic trade, and administration. Indonesia’s linguistic legacy is increasingly coming under threat as a growing number of wealthy and upper-middle-class families shun state schools in favour of private schools where the focus is on English with little time devoted to BI, unlike state schools where BI remains the main language used and English is often poorly taught and neglected. However, the government has (from 2013) made it compulsory for all private schools to teach BI to its Indonesian students. Many Indonesians further their studies in public and private universities in Malaysia, leading to an interface made up of BM, BI, and English. Languagewise, these students need to adapt as most lectures are conducted either in English or in BM in all the public and private universities. This article aims to report the learning experiences of some of the graduate students from Indonesia currently enrolled at the School of Humanities in USM, particularly in the use of English in their academic writings (such as their theses) and in the use of BM in communicating with their lecturers and the local students. The data for the present paper is based on the reports of those editors who have edited some of the written work of these Indonesian graduate students. Additionally, information was obtained from interviews with the respondents and from personal interactions with them. With the recent increase in the number of Indonesian students enrolled in USM, there was a need to find out the reasons behind the issues, the

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ways to solve them, and the roles USM and the Indonesian students could play to help solve the problems, so that the issues would cease to be problematic for both the Indonesian students and the local students in USM. In the discussions pertaining to the problems encountered by the Indonesian students in their language use in academic writing, the issues were presented as follows: (1) the translation of BI into English, (2) the transfer of thoughts from BI into BM, (3) the multiplicity and differences in the nuances between BI and BM, and (4) the report from the direct oral interviews.

A. Translating BI into English In USM the Indonesian students have option to choose between using BM or BI in their academic writings. Due to their low proficiency in the English language, they often had to struggle when it came to using English so that they often resorted to translating directly from BI to English. If required to write in the English language, many of the Indonesian students, more often than not, translated their writings from BI to English. They would first write in BI and then have the completed writing translated into English. Producing their work in this manner actually made a seemingly positive arrangement turn out to be unfavourable to them for a number of reasons. The original message might get distorted as it might be depleted (undertranslated), expanded (overtranslated), or inaccurately interpreted in translation (Newmark, 1988). In addition, the meanings or messages in the writing may not be correctly conveyed or certain points may be omitted for a number of reasons. Two relevant questions immediately came to mind: i) Do the translated academic writings actually convey the student’s original thoughts as originally penned in BI? ii)How much of the translated writing can actually be attributed to the students and how much to the translators? Different kinds of problem often arise due to the translation. Take, for example, the case study of an academic writing being translated from BI to BM: “I have the experience of reading and translating the Indonesian student thesis or paper from BI to BM and I’m quite surprise to see the words used in the paper. BI seems to have quite a number of loan words from Dutch and English and so does the pronunciation. It looks like BI has a mixed

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pronunciation as a result of borrowing. Sometimes the words used are similar to the English ones such as ‘efficiency’ and the Indonesian would translate and define it as ‘effisiensi’ and the word ‘internal’ as ‘internal’. Other examples are such words from Dutch like kantor (office), polisi (police) and korupsi (corruption).” (Marina Musa, editor/translator).

Problems such as those mentioned above are deep-rooted and can be understood only with some reflections on the Indonesian history. The Dutch ruled Indonesia for 350 years, which undoubtedly accounts not only for many of the Dutch words found in BI, but also for the BI expressions constructed according to Dutch syntax. Take, for example, the phrases: “test laboratory” is translated as “laboratoriumujicoba” and “cost-benefit analysis” as “analisamaslahatbiaya”. In addition, in recent years there has been an influx into BI of not only English words and expressions per se, especially scientific and technological terms, but also ordinary English words where the forms remain in English but the spelling is in BI, e.g. kondisi < condition, effisiensi < efficiency, and identifikasi < identification. Thus, one sees in modern BI vocabulary a mix of words and expressions from both Dutch and English. For a translator/editor working on the writings of an Indonesian student, such a predicament could be a very daunting task.

B. The transfer of thoughts from BI into BM There are many significant differences between BI and BM although the two languages share a lot of common vocabulary and grammar, especially when it comes to communication or translation. If the Indonesian students write in BI and have their writings translated to BM, one would still encounter problems – but of a different nature – in the two languages. Although their vocabulary and grammar have a lot in common and BI and BM are mutually intelligible, there remain a lot of residual problems which can hinder successful communication in both oral and written forms. For example, the same word in BI may carry a different meaning in BM and will definitely deliver an incorrect message that may lead to a misunderstanding. Basically, direct translation is not an efficient way to translate BI to BM as the simple differences may project the wrong interpretations or lead to confusion. The residual problems which can hinder oral and written communication include the following: i) The standard and correct version of the BI is rarely used in daily communication. Most Indonesians tend to use or are used to using their own local languages such as Javanese (the Jakarta dialect), the

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Balinese language, and even the Chinese dialects (in particular Hokkien). ii) The direct translation of words from another language to BI mostly does not reflect the actual meaning of the text, especially when the two languages have a lot of differences. Some words cannot be readily understood by those who are not familiar with the Latin terms (e.g. in situ, ceteris paribus), or the local terms (e.g. termin, mumpuni, daun kelor, and materi). The vocabulary items that are derived from the local dialects are known only to the Indonesians or to the author who knows the meaning of these words and expressions, so that these words have to be replaced and the expressions to be rephrased so that their supervisor or lecturer may understand what the students are trying to say. iii) Furthermore, in oral communication, BI and BM have some words which have th same meaning and are pronounced in the same way but they are spelt differently in the both languages. For example, BI sastrawan and BM sasterawan are different in spelling but are pronounced the same way. The same considerations hold for BI pribad’ and BM peribadi in BM; and for BI menantang and BM menentang. The same word may have different meanings in the two languages, leading to a lot of confusion between the communicators because the message cannot be delivered. For example, the word bisa in BI can mean “able (mampu)” or “possible (boleh)”, whereas in BM, the word “bisa” means “poison or venom”. Again, BI gampang means “easy” whereas BM gampang means “born out of wedlock” in writing but “a swear or a cure” in speech. With the many significant differences in the usage of vocabulary items due to cultural differences, the transfer of thoughts from BI into BM (if the work is first written in BI) can be problematic as it may lead to a fabrication of the original thoughts or even the misrepresentation of the authenticity of the original ideas, thus affecting the standard of the academic writing.

C. The multiplicity and difference in nuance between BI and BM When one further compares BI and BM, one cannot but agree that the main differences are in their vocabularies and grammars, especially in

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their morphologies. This paper, however, confines itself to the former only. Such differences have arisen for many reasons, as follows: Table 1. Examples of difference in vocabulary (forms) but with the same meaning English March

Bahasa Malaysia

Bahasa Indonesian

Mac (from English) Maret (Dutch: Maart)

August

Ogos

Agustus (Dutch: Augustus)

Challenge

Cabaran

tantangan, cabaran. (Kecabaran is also used in the meaning for fear)

Speak

Bercakap

Berbicara. (Bercakap is also used but is not so popular)

Shop

Kedai

Toko. (Kedai is used to denote the meaning of warung)

Ticket

Tiket

karcis (Dutch: kaartje), but now ticket is also used

Report from oral interviews This part represents our observations arising from an interview of a few Indonesian postgraduate students conducted on 21 July 2009. The questionnaire focused on the problems the students encountered in their academic writings at PPIK, USM. There were only five respondents, so that the observations here must be taken only as a mere indication of the some of the existing problems and are not represenatative of the whole population of Indonesian graduate students enrolled in PPIK, USM. Each student saw his or her problem differently. However, it was found that these students could manage well and satisfactorily circumvented the problems they faced. Be that as it may, their remarks may be noteworthy, as illustrated below: i) They noted that writing in BM is different from writing in BI. Often, the initial problems related to vocabulary, phrases, clauses and sentences which they could overcome very easily after a few meetings with their Malay peers and/or supervisors. Some of them were concerned with such BI words as bisa (BM:

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boleh), kontribusi ‘(BM: sumbangan). In their different perceptions and perspectives, BM retained the old meaning while BI retained both the old meaning and a newly acquired meaning. ii) Different Nuances. It has also been observed that some words carried different nuances in the two languages. Here are few of them: a) BM mesra “not offending” is equivalent to BI mesra “a negative meaning of ramah”. The Indonesian students were more comfortable with ramah or sopan. b) The BM vocabulary was found to be easier to understand compared with BI because it still retained the BM root words, e.g. mengenalpasti (identifikasi in BI), pembolehubah (variabel in BI), etc. c) Other aspects that needed to be considered were the use of compounds and poems (peribahasa). For example, bau kencur in BI is not a proper word to use. In BI, belum cukup matang is used as compared with the BM setahun jagung. iii) Spelling Some common words in BI and BM are spelt differently, posing a problem initially. Some of these include: bahwa (BI) is bahawa (BM); pribadi (BI) is peribadi (BM), kawin (BI) is kahwin (BM) karena (BI) is kerana (BM) uang (BI) is wang (BM) Some common words may have the same spelling but are assigned different meanings: bual (BM) means “percakapan”, whereas in BI it means “omong kosong”, perihatin (BM) means “ambil hirau”, whereas in BI it means “sedih/kesihan”.

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There are many terminologies that are different, for example: tolak ukur (BI) and kayu ukur (BM). Differences and similarities in spelling such as the above hinder the students from writing and communicating effectively. Here is part of the interview of an Indonesian student that was conducted with regard to the issue on bahasa. Interviewer: What is the basic problem that you faced in doing academic writings? Student: I noted that writing in BM is different from writing in BI. Interviewer: What else? Student: BM retains the old meaning while BI retains both the old meaning as well a newly acquired meaning. Interviewer: Mmmhh.

Conclusion This study discusses several aspects to clarify the differences between Bahasa Indonesia (BI) and Bahasa Malaysia (BM) and how they have a direct effect on Indonesian students enrolled in USM academically. It also discusses issues pertaining to the academic writings of Indonesian postgraduate students from four perspectives: (a) the issues of translating BI into English, (b) the transfer of thoughts from BI into BM, (c) the multiplicity and difference in the nuances between BI and BM, and (d) the report from an oral interview. The study also discusses how these differences influence their academic performance. It also points out the reasons for the differences between BI and BM. Indonesian students should try to solve this problem by trying to adopt the new differences created from the English language or the cultural imports of BM words from the diverse history of BI. This would require a lot of efforts and Indonesian students need to accept the necessity of a change in their perception where their language is concerned. Such situation arises because some Indonesian students felt that if they used BM more often than their mother language, they were downgrading BI. Such perception may stop them from progressing in the learning of a new culture and language. To succeed, an open mind is required. Also the Indonesian students were highly recommended to register for the BM courses in PPBL, namely LKM300 and LKM400 BM language courses. The faster they internalized the BM language, the better off they

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would be. It was further suggested that the Indonesian students should not first write in BI and later get it translated to BM as this would increase the risk of misinterpreting the original meaning of the text. To cap the above cautionary statements, one suggestion that must be heeded is to allow the Indonesian students to take both LKM300 and LKM400, instead of just allowing them to register for LKM100, in order to enhance their BM language proficiency. Suggestions to help them improve include recommendations to read written material in standard Malay, such as the Malay newspapers – Utusan Malaysia, Berita Harian, and the academic journal Pemikir – as much as possible. One of the students found this particularly helpful. Yet another suggestion is for them to have close friends who are native speakers of BM to facilitate their oral ability in BM.

References Balai Pustaka (2002). Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta. Depdikbud (1996). Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia. Jakarta: Balai Pustaka. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (1994). Kamus Dewan, Kuala Lumpur. Hasan Alwi, et al. (1999). Tata Bahasa Baku Bahasa Indonesia. Jakarta: Balai Pustaka. Iskandar, T. (1970). Kamus Dewan. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. Keraf, G. (1991). Diksi Dan Gaya Bahasa. Jakarta: PT Gramedia. Newmark, P. (1988). A Textbook of Translation. Singapore: Prentice Hall. Nik Safiah Karim, et al. (1987) Tatabahasa Dewan. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. Nulawadin Mustafagani, J. (1991). Asas Kemahiran Berbahasa Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Fajar Bakti.

CHAPTER XIII ANALYSING ACADEMIC WRITING DIFFICULTIES OF YEMENI POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS AT UNIVERSITI SAINS MALAYSIA ALI ABDULLAH ALGHAIL AND SARJIT KAUR

In recent years, there has been an increasing awareness of postgraduate students’ academic writing among theorists and practitioners as evidenced by the proliferation of published work in the field. In Malaysian public universities, postgraduate students are required to write a thesis or complete a project as one of the requirements in their fields of academic study. They are also expected to produce written texts that are substantially more elaborate than essays produced by undergraduate students. Furthermore, postgraduate students’ theses are expected to reflect discourse structures and genres that are appropriate to their disciplines. This study reports the results of a survey research that investigated the academic writing difficulties of 92 Yemeni postgraduate students in Universiti Sains Malaysia. The findings show that the major problems of Yemeni postgraduate students include writing coherent paragraphs, using appropriate academic style, linking sentences, summarizing, writing body sections of the thesis, and writing conclusions. The implications of the study suggest that providing writing support is a critical need for international research students who have to tackle the challenges of thesis writing in English, which is often a second/foreign language for Yemeni postgraduate students.

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Introduction In recent years, research on different aspects of difficulties faced by international postgraduate students has proliferated in a wide variety of disciplinary fields. One of these aspects is academic writing which is a challenge for postgraduate students, especially those who come from different educational and cultural backgrounds in which English is not the medium of instruction. Second Language (L2) students seem to have a mental block when they write and so they feel left behind. For them, producing a coherent written text is considered a difficult task because it requires them to have knowledge about the vocabulary of the language, the audience, and the other socio-cultural factors affecting the production of written texts. In addition, writing is a cultural activity related to the social context to which one belongs. Bizzell (1982) stresses that thinking and language can never be separated from the social context. In addition, Bruffee (1993) argues that writing is not a personal property but a social and collaborative process. In short, the factors that can contribute to the writing difficulties for L2 writers and negative feelings toward writing are psychological, socio-cultural, and linguistic. These types of burden limit L2 writers’ ability to develop their writing skills. At postgraduate level, writing is arguably considered to be the most important language skill because students’ grades are largely determined by their performance in written assignments, tests, and examinations (Leki & Carson, 1994; Zhu, 2004). Furthermore, postgraduate students need writing skills for writing up their theses and journal articles for publication before they graduate. Due to the importance and difficulty of writing in English at university level for international students, the current study focuses on investigating the difficulties postgraduate students face in developing and using academic writing skills. International students who are considered a heterogeneous group may face many barriers and challenges that hamper their learning experience; and their diversity should be taken into account because they have a tendency to experience various dilemmas in their educational ventures and social context (Pandian, 2008). In the Malaysian context of higher education, international students make up a significant portion of the postgraduate student population in Malaysian universities. Attracting international students to Malaysia has been “Malaysia’s latest response to the increasing demands arising from globalisation era and the internationalisation of higher education” (Sirat, 2010a). In addition, the Malaysian government’s goal is to become the higher education hub for the Asia-Pacific region. In Malaysia, the production of marketable

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graduates, attracting more international students and generating innovation through research and development are considered essential steps for the internationalization of higher education (Tham & Kam, 2008). It has been confirmed that there is an increase in the number of international students who come to Malaysia to seek education in Malaysian colleges and universities (McBurnie & Ziguras, 2001). Moreover, Malaysia has started positioning itself as the higher education hub in the Asia-Pacific region. Malaysia started attracting international students to its universities (Sirat, 2010b) because of the increasing cost of studying abroad in countries such as UK, USA, and Australia (Yusoff & Chelliah, 2010).

Related Studies In Malaysian contexts, few studies have focused on investigating academic writing difficulties of international postgraduate students. Rather, the focus of studies on international students in Malaysia has been on either general academic experiences or adjustment problems. Kaur and Sidhu (2009) indicated that postgraduate students face problems that are related to (a) pressures of undertaking and coping with the requirements of postgraduate work, (b) adjustment to a new academic culture, and (c) language difficulties. In another study, Yusoff and Chelliah (2010) found that the factors that affect international students’ psychological and socio-cultural adjustment problems are English language proficiency, social support, and some personality variables. After examining 385 international students’ adjustment in three universities in Malaysia, Mahmud et al. (2011) revealed that international students’ adjustment problems can be categorized under three major factors: academic, emotional, and social. Although these studies focused on academic experience of international students, none of them dealt with academic wiring difficulties. In non-Malaysian contexts, studies of the challenges of L2 students in writing their dissertations/theses have focused on language-related difficulties at sentence and paragraph levels. Focusing on 85 supervisors in 28 departments at Stanford University, Casanave and Hubbard (1992) reported that L2 doctoral students usually have more problems at the sentence level (grammatical accuracy and appropriateness, vocabulary appropriateness, spelling and punctuation accuracy) than at the paragraph level. In the survey by Cooley and Lewkowicz (1997), 26% of the L2 students thought that they had serious difficulties using English. Cooley and Lewkowicz found that L2 students’ major problems were related to organizing ideas and arguments, using the appropriate style of writing, and expressing their thoughts clearly in English. In another study, Dong (1998)

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revealed that all of the L2 students perceived vocabulary choice as important for expressing ideas and arguments. In addition, Dong indicated that most of the students believed that they had difficulty with grammar and mechanics. A review of studies on international students’ academic difficulties reveals that L2 students have problems concerning grammatical accuracy, vocabulary appropriateness, idea development, and appropriate writing styles. Consequently, there is a need for studies that analyse the academic difficulties of postgraduate students doing their postgraduate education in Malaysian public universities. In addition, international students pursuing higher education in institutions of higher education in Malaysia face a great number of difficulties. In addition, despite the vital importance of disciplinary writing (i.e. writing for disciplinary courses) for academic success for university students, research on such writing by non-native postgraduate students has been only a fairly recent phenomenon (Cadman, 1997; Casanave, 1995; Connor & Kramer, 1995; Prior, 1995). On emphasizing the needs of conducting research on academic writing difficulties of postgraduate students, Bitchener and Basturkmen (2006) stated: While much attention has been given to identifying difficulties at the sentence and paragraph levels in undergraduate and postgraduate coursework papers, less research has investigated the extent to which these difficulties continue to be problematic for postgraduate L2 students writing a thesis in English.

Thus, the main objective of this paper is to contribute to studies on the experiences of international students in the Malaysian context of higher education. This study addresses academic writing difficulties faced by Yemeni postgraduate students in Univeristi Sains Malaysia (USM). It is hoped that the findings of the current study may provide authorities in Malaysian public universities with some implications that may be useful in helping postgraduate students with their academic writing. This study is also significant because it examines learners’ difficulties through gaining insights into students’ actual perceptions.

Methodology This research is a survey which is one of the popular research designs in which a systematic set of methods is used to gather information that is used for generating knowledge and making decisions (Lavrakas, 2008). The instrument for data collection in this study was a questionnaire which

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was adapted from Evans and Green (2007), who focused on students’ academic problems at universities. Although their study examined students’ academic difficulties in writing, reading, speaking, and listening, the study reported in this paper examines only the academic writing difficulties faced by 92 Yemeni postgraduate students in USM. The questionnaire which was used for data collection included two sections. The first section, with seven items, was meant to obtain demographic data of the respondents’ gender, age, academic level, marital status, length living in Malaysia, type of financial support, and field of study. The second section, with 15 items, was aimed at getting information on students’ perceptions of their academic writing difficulties. The respondents were required to rate the aspects of academic writing difficulties they faced using a five-point Likert-scale, ranging from “very easy” to “very difficult”. Out of 112 questionnaires that were given to all Yemeni postgraduate students in USM, 92 questionnaires (82% response rate) were returned. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 16.

Results and Discussion While Table 1 below provides a description of the demographic data of the respondents, Tables 2 and 3 present the respondents’ responses regarding their perceptions of the difficulties they faced in academic writing. As shown in Table 1, 82 respondent students (89%) were males and 10 respondent students (10.9%) were females. The analysis of the item related to age revealed that 2 respondents (2.2%) were aged 25 years and below, 12 respondents (13%) were aged 26-30, 45 respondents (48.9%) were aged 31–35 years old, 29 respondents (31.5%) were aged 36–40 years, and only 4 respondents (4.3%) were aged 40 years and above. For the item related to the academic level of study, it was found that 78 students (84.8%) were doing doctorate programmes and only 14 students (15.2%) were doing master’s programmes. With reference to the item on the respondents’ marital status, 17 students (18.5%) were single, 52 students (56.5%) were married and living with their spouses, and 23 students (25.0%) were married but living without their spouses. For the item that sought information on the students’ duration of stay in Malaysia, only 10 students (10.9%) were in their first year, 27 students (29.3%) had stayed for 1–2 years, 44 students (47.8%) for 3–4 years, and only 11 students (12%) for 5 years or longer. Regarding the item related to the financial support that respondents depended on to meet the expenses of their postgraduate study, it was found that 13 students (14.1%) were self-supporting, 72 students

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(78.3%) were receiving scholarships from Yemen, 2 students (2.2%) depended on both family support and scholarships from Yemen, and 5 students (5.4%) were receiving Malaysian fellowships. Regarding the item related to the fields of study of the respondents, Table 1 shows the majors of all the respondents – 11 students (21%) in engineering, 46 students (50%) in the sciences, 4 students (4.3%) in business and management, 7 students (7.6%) in housing and building, 14 students (15.2%) in health, 5 students (5.4%) in arts, 1 student (1.1%) in education, and 4 students (4.3%) in other fields such as industrial technology. Table 1: Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents Item Gender Academic level

Age

Marital status

Years living in Malaysia

Financial support

Demographic characteristics Male Female Doctorate Master 25 or below 26-30 31-35 36-40 Above 40 Single Married living with spouse Married living without spouse Less than one year 1–2 years 3–4 years 5 years and above Self-supporting Scholarship from Yemen Family support Family support and scholarship Malaysian university fellowship

Frequency 82 10 78 14 2 12 45 29 4 17 52

Percentage (%) 89.1 10.9 84.8 15.2 2.2 13.0 48.9 31.5 4.3 18.5 56.5

23

25.0

10 27 44 11 13 72 2 5

10.9 29.3 47.8 12.0 14.1 78.3 2.2 5.4

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Field of study

Engineering Sciences Business & Management Housing & Building Health Arts Education Others

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11 46 4 7 14 5 1 4

12.0 50.0 4.3 7.6 15.2 5.45 1.1 4.3

Table 2: Frequencies of Aspects of Difficulty in Academic Writing

Aspects of difficulty 1. Writing introductions 2. Referring to sources (journal articles, books) 3. Revising written work 4. Writing references /bibliography 5. Writing conclusions 6. Writing body sections 7. Summarizing/ paraphrasing 8. Planning written assignments 9. Expressing ideas clearly/logically 10. Synthesizing information/ ideas 11. Writing coherent paragraphs

VE

E

N

D

VD

N (%) 2 (2.17)

N (%) 22 (23.91)

N (%) 27 (29.35)

N (%) 34 (36.96)

N (%) 7 (7.61)

38 (41.30)

29 (31.52)

16 (17.39)

7 (7.61)

2 (2.17)

8 (8.70)

17 (18.49)

26 (28.26)

35 (38.04)

6 (6.52)

47 (51.09)

23 (25.00)

13 (14.13)

6 (6.52)

3 (3.26)

3 (3.26) 18 (19.57) 2 (2.17) 5 (5.43) 1 (1.09)

15 (16.30) 0 (0.00) 11 (11.96) 29 (31.52) 12 (13.04)

23 (25.00) 26 (28.26) 22 (23.91) 29 (31.52) 21 (22.83)

35 (38.04) 34 (36.96) 44 (47.83) 23 (25) 51 (55.43)

16 (17.39) 14 (15.22) 13 (14.13) 6 (6.52) 7 (7.61)

10 (10.87)

0 (0.00)

21 (22.83)

49 (53.26)

12 (13.05)

8 (8.7)

0 (0.00)

22 (23.91)

43 (46.74)

19 (20.65)

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12. Proof-reading written 2 10 21 45 assignments/ (2.17) (10.87) (22.82) (48.91) thesis 13. Linking 1 11 18 45 sentences (1.09) (11.96) (19.57) (48.91) smoothly 14. Expressing ideas 2 11 20 44 in correct (2.17) (11.96) (21.74) (47.83) English 15. Using 1 11 24 29 appropriate (1.09) (11.96) (26.09) (31.52) academic style VE= Very easy, E= Easy, N= neutral, D= Difficult, VD= Very difficult

14 (15.22) 17 (18.48) 15 (16.30) 27 (29.35)

With reference to the 15 items on aspects of difficulties in academic writing faced by Yemeni postgraduate students, the results are reported in Tables 2 and 3. While Table 2 reports the frequencies of the students’ responses to the aspects of difficulty in different skills of academic writing, Table 3 reports the means for the 15 items on aspects of difficulty in academic writing. As shown in Table 2, 34 students (36.69%) indicated that they faced difficulties in writing the introduction in their assignments and theses. With reference to the writing skills when referring to sources, writing references, and planning written assignments, the majority of the respondents indicated that they faced no difficulties in these areas. While 38 students (41.3%) indicated that referring to sources such as journals and books was very easy for them, 29 students admitted that it was easy for them to refer to sources. Just over half the students (51%) pointed out that the skill of writing references was very easy for them. Planning written assignments was not an area of difficulty for the respondents: 29 of them (31.52%) indicated that this aspect of academic writing was easy. With reference to the skill of revising their written work, 35 students (38.04%) indicated that it was difficult. The subjects’ responses to Item 5, which is related to the skill of writing conclusions, reveal that this aspect of academic writing was difficult for Yemeni postgraduate students: 35 students (38.04%) indicated that writing conclusions was difficult and 16 students (17.39%) showed that it was very difficult.

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Table 3: Descriptive Statistics of Items on Difficulties in Academic Writing

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

Aspects of difficulty Writing coherent paragraphs Using appropriate academic style Linking sentences smoothly Synthesizing information/ideas Proof-reading written assignments/thesis Expressing ideas in correct English Summarizing/paraphrasing Expressing ideas clearly/logically Writing conclusions Writing body sections Writing introductions Revising written work Planning written assignments Referring to sources (journal articles, books) Writing references/bibliography

Mean 3.79 3.76 3.72 3.68 3.64 3.64 3.60 3.55 3.50 3.48 3.24 3.15 2.96 1.98 1.86

As shown in the results of Item 6, writing body sections in written assignments and theses was also an area of difficulty as perceived by Yemeni postgraduate students: more than half of the students (56.96%) pointed out that writing body sections was difficult; 14 students (15.22%) indicated that the skill of writing body section was very difficult. Paraphrasing and summarizing are very similar because they both involve taking ideas, words, or phrases from a source and using them for new sentences within one’s writing. In addition, summarizing includes condensing the source material into just a few lines. The skills of summarising and paraphrasing were considered difficult for postgraduate students: 44 students (47.83%) pointed out that these academic skills were difficult and 13 students (14.13%) also found these skills very difficult. Regarding the academic writing skill of expressing ideas logically, 51 students (55.43%) pointed out that it was difficult. In academic writing, synthesising information/ideas is a complex skill which is used to develop body paragraphs. It requires drawing together with the writer’s ideas, supported by the similar and sometimes contradictory ideas of others. As shown in Table 2, 49 students (53.26%) perceived this skill as difficult and 12 students (13.05%) pointed out that it was very difficult.

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Coherence is a product of many different factors. It is essential to make every paragraph, sentence, and phrase contribute to the meaning of the whole piece. 43 students (46.74%) indicated that writing coherent paragraphs was difficult and 19 of the respondents (20.65%) considered this skill to be very difficult. In regards to proof-reading of their written assignments and theses, 45 students (48.91%) perceived it as difficult, while 14 students (15.22%) indicated that this skill was very difficult. With reference to Item 13 that focused on linking sentences correctly, 45 students (48.91%) found that it was difficult and 17 students (18.48%) indicated that it was very difficult. Expressing ideas in correct English was another aspect of writing difficulty for the respondents: 44 students (47.83%) felt this skill was difficult; while 15 students (16.3%) indicated that it was very difficult. Finally, one of the most difficult areas of academic writing for Yemeni postgraduate students was using an appropriate academic writing style: 27 students (29.35%) admitted that it was a very difficult task for them while 29 students (31.52%) felt it was difficult. Table 3 shows students’ responses to 15 items on various aspects of academic writing difficulties as perceived by Yemeni postgraduate students. The subjects were required to assess the degree of difficulty they experience with these aspects of writing on a scale ranging from 1 (“very easy”) to 5 (“very difficult”). Table 3 summarizes the subjects’ responses in relation to these sub-skills in the form of mean (in descending order of difficulty). If we assume that a mean of 3.50 or over indicates some degree of difficulty, it would appear that the subjects generally have great difficulties in most of their academic writing skills. In descending order of aspects of difficulty, it can be summarized that out of the 15 sub-skills of academic writing, Yemeni postgraduate students faced difficulties in the following nine areas: writing coherent paragraphs (mean = 3.79), using an appropriate academic style (mean = 3.76), linking sentences smoothly (mean = 3.72), synthesizing information/ideas (mean = 3.68), proof-reading written assignments/thesis (mean = 3.64), expressing ideas in correct English (mean = 3.64), summarizing and paraphrasing (mean = 3.60), expressing ideas clearly and logically (mean = 3.55), and writing conclusions (mean = 3.50). Table 3 shows that the Yemeni postgraduate students experienced greater difficulties with the language, the content, and the structure of academic written texts. However, the last two items in Table 3 reveal that the subjects generally found it easy to refer to sources provided for them at the university (mean = 1.95) and writing references/bibliography (mean = 1.86).

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Conclusions and Practical Implications The current study reveals that the major academic writing difficulties faced by Yemeni postgraduate students include writing coherent paragraphs, using appropriate academic style, linking sentences smoothly and synthesizing information and ideas. These results are similar to those of Cooley and Lewkowicz (1997) and Evans and Green (2007). However, the current study shows that Yemeni postgraduate students had academic writing difficulties at both sentence and paragraph levels. This can be attributed to the educational background of this group of students who came from contexts where emphasising the use of English for academic purposes was a neglected issue. Due to their educational background in and limited exposure to the English language prior to enrolling in postgraduate studies in Malaysia, Yemeni postgraduate students face problems in expressing and/or explaining ideas clearly using correct English structures. These postgraduate students can be offered writing workshops that are geared towards writing tasks such as dissertation writing. Seminars and workshops on general writing skills can target the students’ academic writing needs. Supervisors can provide adequate research and language support to their students who are registered in research mode programmes. In order to facilitate postgraduate students’ success in this particular genre of writing, academic support is needed from their universities. Such support can include designing written assignments to be given, the feedback given on those assignments, and an awareness of the different ways of thinking, knowing, and writing. In this way, students can benefit from such academic support as is specific to their academic needs. According to Silva (1997), institutions and instructors in higher education contexts need to understand how international non-native speakers students’ skills and understanding are different and how to accommodate for these differences because “to do less is to work against the retention and success of non-native speakers of English in institutions of higher learning”. In addition, international students should receive more language support, focusing on all related academic writing difficulties. That writing is important should not be taken to indicate that academic success entails merely a mastery of the English language, particularly for advanced L2 writers (Raimes, 1985; Leki & Carson, 1994; Benson & Heidish, 1995). The other important factors include motivation, writing strategies and competence in the target culture (or pragmatic knowledge of social and cultural behavioural patterns). Thus academic success at the postgraduate level also entails familiarity with the writing expectations of

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the university culture, disciplinary subcultures, course-specific subcultures, and especially instructor/supervisor-specific subcultures or idiosyncrasies (Belcher, 1994; Prior, 1991; Schneider & Fujishima, 1995). With reference to suggestions for future research, issues that are open for further investigation are difficulties faced by international students in writing theses or writing specific thesis chapters. The current study unveils some academic writing difficulties for a specific group of international students in a specific public university in Malaysia. While this study employed a quantitative approach, other researchers can collect both quantitative and qualitative data to triangulate their findings. Furthermore, other studies can extend sampling to include all international students in more than one public Malaysian university. Another suggestion for future research is using qualitative case studies to provide deep and thick descriptions of problems faced by postgraduate students in their socialization of academic literacies. Finally, there is the need to investigate international postgraduate students’ experiences and challenges in writing course assignments, research proposals, conference papers, and articles for scholarly publication.

References Belcher, D. D. (1994). The apprenticeship approach to advanced academic literacy: graduate students and their mentors. English for Specific Purposes, 13(1), 23-34. Benson, P. J. & Heidish, P. (1995). The ESL technical expert: writing processes and classroom practices. In D. Belcher & G. Braine (eds), Academic Writing in a Second Language: Essays on Research and Pedagogy, 313-30. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing. Bitchener, J., & Basturkmen, H. (2006). Perceptions of the difficulties of postgraduate L2 thesis students writing the discussion section. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 5(1), 4-18. Bizzell, P. (1982). Cognition, convention, and certainty: what we need to know about writing. Pre/Text, 1(3), 294-301. Bruffee, K. (1993). Collaborative Learning. Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Cadman, K. (1997). Thesis writing for international students: a question of identity? English for Specific Purposes, 16(1), 3-14. Casanave, C. & Hubbard, P. (1992). The writing assignments and writing problems of doctoral students: faculty perceptions, pedagogical issues, and needed research. English for Specific Purposes, 11(1), 33–49.

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Casanave, C. (1995). Local interactions: constructing contexts for composing in a graduate sociology program. In D. Belcher & G. Braine (eds), Academic Writing in a Second Language: Essays in Research and Pedagogy, 83-110. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing. Connor, U. & Kramer, M. G. (1995). Writing from sources: case studies of graduate students in business management. In D. Belcher & G. Braine (eds), Academic Writing in a Second Language: Essays in Research and Pedagogy, 155-82. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing. Cooley, L. & Lewkowicz, J. (1997). Developing awareness of the rhetorical and linguistic conventions of writing a thesis in English: Addressing the needs of ESL/EFL postgraduate students. In A. Duszak (ed.), Culture and Styles of Academic Discourse, 113-140. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Dong, Y. R. (1998). Non-native graduate students’ thesis/dissertation writing in science: Self-reports by students and their advisors from two US institutions. English for Specific Purposes, 17, 369-390. Evans, S. & Green, C. (2007). Why EAP is necessary: A survey of Hong Kong tertiary students. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 6(1), 3-17. Kaur, S. & Sidhu, G. (2009). A qualitative study of postgraduate students’ learning experiences in Malaysia. International Education Studies, 2(3), 47-56. Lavrakas, P. J. (ed.) (2008). Encyclopaedia of Survey Research Methods. London: Sage Publications. Leki, I., & Carson, J. G. (1994). Students’ perceptions of EAP writing instruction and writing needs across the disciplines. TESOL Quarterly, 28(1), 81-102. McBurnie, G. & Ziguras, C. (2001). The regulation of transnational higher education in Southeast Asia: Case studies of Hong Kong, Malaysia and Australia. Higher Education, 42(1), 85-105. Mahmud, Z., Amat, S., Rahman, S. & Ishak, N. M. (2011). Campus adjustment among international students in Malaysia. International Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Change Management, 10(5), 8596. Pandian, A. (2008). Multiculturalism in higher education: a case study of Middle Eastern students’ perceptions and experiences in a Malaysian university. The International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies, 4(1), 3359. Prior, P. (1991). Contextualizing writing and response in a graduate seminar. Written Communication, 8(3), 267-310.

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—. (1995). Redefining the task: An ethnographic examination of writing and response in graduate seminars. In D. Belcher & G. Braine (eds), Academic Writing in a Second Language: Essays in Research and Pedagogy, 47-82. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing. Raimes, A. (1985). What unskilled writers do as they write: a classroom study. TESOL Quarterly, 25(3), 407-430. Schneider, M. & Fujishima, N. (1995). When practice doesn't make perfect: the case of a graduate ESL student. In D. Belcher & G. Braine (eds), Academic Writing in a Second Language: Essays in Research and Pedagogy, 3-22. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing. Silva, T. (1997). On the ethical treatment of ESL writers. TESOL Quarterly, 31(2), 359-363. Sirat, M. (2010a). Strategic planning directions of Malaysia’s higher education: university autonomy in the midst of political uncertainties. Higher Education, 59(4), 461-473. —. (2010b). Introduction. In Z. Morris (ed.), 50 Years of Higher Education Development in Malaysia (1957-2007), ix-xvii. Penang: Universiti Sains Malaysia Press. Tham, S. & Kam, A. (2008). Internationalising higher education: comparing the challenges of different higher education institutions in Malaysia. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 28(4), 353-367. Yusoff, Y. M., & Chelliah, S. (2010). Adjustment in international students in Malaysian public university. International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, 1(3), 275-278. Zhu, W. (2004). Faculty views on the importance of writing, the nature of academic writing, and teaching and responding to writing in the disciplines. Journal of Second Language Writing, 13(1), 29-48.

CHAPTER XIV THE ROLE OF CULTURE, MOTIVATION AND INTEREST ON READING COMPREHENSION AMONG IRANIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS MAHBOOBEH MAHBOOBI, AMBIGAPATHY PANDIAN AND SHAIK ABDUL MALIK MOHAMED ISMAIL

In the age of globalization, reading in second or foreign language settings continues to increase in importance. Many students of English as a Foreign Language rarely need to speak the language in their day-to-day lives but may need to read it in order to access a wealth of information. This study investigates to what extent culture, motivation, and interest can affect reading comprehension of Iranian English language university students. Based on 107 completed questionnaires, the results show that interest has the most significant correlation with literal (word-based) reading comprehension. The results also indicate that there is a positive correlation between familiarity and reading comprehension. It is also proven that there is a negative relationship between extrinsic motivation and word-based reading comprehension. The relationship between intrinsic motivation and word-based reading comprehension was not significant. The results of this study suggest that none of the independent variables have a significant effect on content-based reading comprehension.

Introduction In the globalization era, reading in a second or foreign language has been accorded increasing importance. The acquisition of reading skills in a second language (L2) is a main concern for learners all over the world. As

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Eskey (2005: 563) states, many students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) infrequently need to speak the language in their day-to-day lives but may need to read it in order to “access the wealth of information” which is available only in English. Grabe (2002) also mentions that reading is one of the most difficult skills to develop to a high level of proficiency due to the complexity of the reading process. Furthermore, Dreyer and Nel (2003) state that many students enter higher education under-prepared for the reading demands that are placed upon them. The structure of most foreign language learning, indeed most learning in classroom situations, requires a heavy reliance on reading comprehension (Nazari, 2007). There are a number of reasons for that. The first reason is that the extensive use of textbooks or manuals is based on the written word which forms the basis for learning. Another reason is the use of traditional teaching methods in classrooms which are passed on from one generation to another. Nazari (2007) concludes that teachers tend to use reading and writing more than aural/oral methods to present content in EFL classrooms. According to Jahangard (2007) “A good reader is one who is active and has specific goals in mind before starting to read. He/she continuously checks his/her understanding of the text and the text itself against the predetermined goals.” He further explains, “A good reader usually goes through the whole text before starting to read and pays attention to the organization and structure of the text as well as other parts which are relevant and compatible to the goals of the reading”. Reading is a source of difficulty for second language (L2) learners. The problems they encounter are due to a number of factors including lack of appropriate reading strategies, lack of background knowledge related to the topic of the target language or lack of interest in reading. However, learners can overcome their difficulties when they receive appropriate training (Carrell, 1985). Alderson (2000) states, in this regard, that factors affecting reading comprehension can be classified into two general categories: (1) reader variables, and (2) text variables. The first category includes factors such as the reader’s background knowledge, skills and abilities, and motivation and attitude. The second category includes factors such as text content, type and genre, organization, typographical features, and readability. The present study focuses on reading in general but with a particular focus on reading comprehension. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of culture, motivation, and interest on developing Iranian university students’ reading comprehension. The focus of this

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study rests, basically, on three key concepts: culture, motivation, and interest.

Literature Review Reading Comprehension Reading comprehension is defined as both a method of obtaining meaning and obtaining that meaning as a whole after it had been extracted from graphic stimuli. According to Linse (2005: 69), reading is a set of skills that involves making sense and deriving meaning from the printed word. He adds that in order to read, one must be able to decode the printed words and comprehend what one reads. Some individuals equate decoding with reading. But to be able to read out single words, phrases, or sentences does not indicate one’s capability to understand, say, or comprehend what they really are about (Jacobson and Johnson, 1967). Reading is defined as being comprised of two major types; the literal and the interpretative. Literal comprehension is defined as the ability to identify and utilize the primary and direct meaning of a word, idea, or sentence in context. Interpretative comprehension is defined as the ability to compare and associate a given idea with similar ideas and then relate them according to the experiential background of the reading. As such, it involves the attainment or anticipation of deeper meanings not directly stated in the text. When both literal and interpretative comprehension are considered in combination, it is considered total or general reading comprehension (Jacobson and Johnson, 1967).

Culture and Reading Comprehension Keshavarz and Atai (2007) mention that vocabulary and syntactic knowledge, content and background knowledge (content schemata), and L2 proficiency (as a reader variable) can affect reading comprehension. They also suggest content as the most important factor in reading EFL. They recommend that material developers should not select unfamiliar texts to present new linguistic items to EFL readers. Johnson (1982) investigated the effect of the cultural origin of text on the reading comprehension of Iranian intermediate and advanced students of English as a second language (ESL) at the university level. The results showed that the cultural origin of the text had a greater effect on comprehension than the syntactic or semantic complexity of the text.

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According to Carrell (1981), the text must activate all the appropriate cognitive schemata in the reader in order to be comprehended. When reading a story with a familiar text, especially from the native culture, L2 readers will be able activate the appropriate background knowledge more easily and therefore they can process the text more efficiently. It is not sufficient for the reader to have the background knowledge to read more efficiently, but that knowledge also needs to be activated. Nostrand (1989) also stated that specific schemata that are culturally linked affect comprehension. For example, he has shown that authentic texts from one culture may give a false impression of that culture to members of a second culture. To avoid this false impression, texts should be presented in an authentic context and students’ appropriate schema should be activated.

Motivation and Reading Comprehension As defined by Guthrie and Wigfield (2000: 406), “motivation is what activates behaviour”. Consequently, even the most able or skillful students may not keep on reading if they lack motivation. Gardner and Lambert (1972) showed that motivation and attitude affect general L2 learning. The role of motivation in reading comprehension is very important and has been mentioned in previous literature (Guthrie & Wigfield, 1999). Besides that, Fulcher (1997) states that a range of reader factors such as motivation, background knowledge, and previous reading experience affect the reading process significantly. Also Gardner and Lambert (1972) showed that motivation and attitude affect general L2 learning. Motivation is one concept that continually surfaces as an important focus in reading and learning to read, particularly for adolescents. It is often viewed as one of the determiners of adolescent literacy. Motivation (in reading) can be defined as the cluster of personal goals, values, and beliefs with regard to the topics, processes, and outcomes of reading that an individual possesses (Guthrie and Wigfield, 2000: 404). This is not the same as interest, attitude, or beliefs (Guthrie and Wigfield, 2000). One could have an interest in reading, but nevertheless chooses not to read. Motivation is the underlying factor that compels one to read or otherwise. At present, many motivation theorists propose that individuals’ ability and useful beliefs, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and purposes for achievement play a crucial role in their decisions about which activities to do, how much time to do them, and how much effort to put into them (Eccles, Wigfield, & Schiefele, 1998; Pintrich & Schunk, 1996; Wigfield, Eccles, & Rodriguez, 1998). Theorists mentioned a variety of effort to explain reading motivation and how it affects students’ reading engagement

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(Wigfield et al., 1998). Motivated readers thus will engage more in reading (Guthrie et al., 1996; Oldfather & Wigfield, 1996). Intrinsic motivation refers to being motivated, curious, and interested in an activity for its own sake, not because of extrinsic reasons such as working for a reward or grade (Deci & Ryan, 1985). Deci (1992) illustrates this type of motivation in terms of both experiential (focused task engagement, involvement, and the experience of enjoyment, interest, and excitement) and dispositional (the desire to continue doing those activities) components. Indeed, early research on intrinsic motivation recognized that external factors such as rewards, evaluation, competition, and deadlines could challenge intrinsic motivation.

Interest and Reading Comprehension Interest is defined as “the process by which the underlying needs or desires of learners are activated” (Alexander, Murphy, Woods, Duhon, & Parker, 1997: 128). Many factors can contribute to students’ lack of effort. For example, school work can be too difficult or boring, teachers can be too serious, and non-academic activities may be preferred. The lack of academic motivation and interest will cause students to neglect their studies (Hidi & Harackiewicz, 2000). The term “interest” can be analysed from different perspectives. It often refers to the topic. The reader's interest in a topic makes written material about that topic interesting. Topic-based interest works for those with a tendency to do something, for example, which usually implies a prior knowledge of these subjects, and for universally appealing content such as danger and sex (Schank, 1979). Another type of interest is textbased interest. It is an interest which may also occur from the way the text is written. Text-based interest is created by authors who use qualities such as action, mystery, imagery, and meaningful characters. These characteristics are also explained as creating “interestingness”. When readers are asked “is this interesting?” it may not be possible to know if their answers mean they are interested or the material is interesting. And, although this is the distinction between topic- and text-based interest, it is not a distinction most people recognize (Hidi and Baird, 1986). Hidi (1990) argued that interest is central in determining the ways in which we select and process certain types of information. Other researchers also have proven that being interested in a topic definitely increases comprehension (Asher, 1980; Cecil, 1984; Estes and Vaughan, 1973; Williams, 1983). These researchers mention that if the reader’s interest is because of prior knowledge of the topic, this prior knowledge

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will be helpful for the reader’s increased comprehension or recall scores. Studies have shown that topic interest and prior knowledge appear to contribute independently to increased comprehension (Baldwin et al., 1985; Bewley, 1988; Entin and Klare, 1985; Roberts, 1987; Sacks, 1990). Stevens (1980) investigated the relationship between topic interest and reading comprehension, focusing on higher ability students. Ninety-three fifth and sixth grade subjects were given reading passages of higher and lower interest, and tested on their comprehension of these passages. Analysis of the data revealed that higher interest materials significantly facilitated the reading comprehension of higher ability students. Conventional theories assert that if one is more interested in the topic of material read, one’s reading comprehension of that topic will be improved. Relatively few research studies have empirically investigated this relationship (Stevens, 1980).

Methodology Research Design The focus of this descriptive study is mainly on reading comprehension. The purpose of this study is to find the relationship between culture, motivation, and interest as independent variables and reading comprehension as a dependent variable. The type of the data includes primary data collected through a self-administered style questionnaire from Iranian university students.

Population and Sample The population of this study is Iranian university students in Tehran and Karaj. Convenience sampling was conducted in order to obtain a large number of completed questionnaires. A convenience sample chooses individuals that are easiest to reach or sampling can be done easily. Actually, in this method, the researcher makes no attempt, or only a limited attempt, to insure that this sample is an accurate representation of some larger group or population. Convenience sampling does not represent the entire population, and the findings can therefore be considered biased. However, the main reason for using convenience sampling was time constraint since the researcher had to collect as many as questionnaires as possible within a short time period. For this study 150 sets of questionnaire forms were distributed to respondents who are university students located in Tehran and Karaj. A

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total of 120 respondents returned the completed forms, which reflected an 80% response rate. The response rate was very good, although, the time that the researcher distributed the questionnaires and collected data was during the midterm exams in these universities, so most of the students were busy. Among 120 questionnaires collected, only 107 sets were useable as 13 questionnaires were less than 70% complete and they were taken out from the study.

Measurement This section represents the respective measurement of independent variables (culture, motivation, and interest) and dependent variable (reading comprehension) applied to the present study. All instruments were adopted from previous studies to fit into the current study. Questions related to culture were adopted from Al-shumaimeri (2006); questions related to motivation, intrinsic motivation were adopted from Takase (2007) and those on extrinsic motivation were adopted from Nishino (2005). Items related to interest are taken from Nishino (2005) and questions in the last section related to reading comprehension were developed based on the understanding of the concept available in related literature.

Results Profile of respondents A total of 150 sets of questionnaires were distributed to Iranian English language students in Tehran and Karaj. Out of the total questionnaires distributed, 120 sets of questionnaires were returned and only 107 sets were usable making a response rate of 71 %. Respondents were mostly in the age group between 21 and 23; around 77 % of the respondents were females. A detailed demographic profile of the respondents is tabulated in Table 1 below.

Reliability Analysis Based on the factors chosen from factor analysis, a reliability analysis was used to measure the reliabilitiy of data. This is to ensure that all items used in each variable are free from error; hence, providing consistent results. Cronbach’s alpha was the measurement used and Alpha more than 0.50 is

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acceptable. Based on the output of factor analysis, the items were grouped and a reliability analysis was performed on the grouped items. Table 1. Profile of respondents Variable

Frequency

Percentage (%)

Age (years) 18–20 21–23 24–26 27 & above

20 64 15 8

18.7 59.8 14.0 7.5

Gender Male Female

24 83

22.4 77.6

Marital Status Single Married Others

97 9 1

90.7 8.4 9

No. of items retained 6 4 3

Cronbach’s alpha .58 .59 .66

7

.69

Table 2. Reliability analysis Variables Culture Motivation Interest Reading Comprehension

Table 2 presents the summary of reliability analysis, which includes Cronbach’s alpha of culture, motivation, interest, and reading comprehension, are above .50; and thus, these are acceptable.

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Descriptive Analysis Descriptive analysis of all variables is presented in Table 3. All the variables are measured based on the 5-point Likert scale. From the result, it was found that all variables are more on the right scale on the five point Likert scale. The mean value indicates the high value of all variables, ranged from 2.18 to 4.50 respectively from unfamiliarity to familiarity. From the analysis, it may be concluded that all elements could have important effect on reading comprehension. Table 3. Descriptive analysis Variable Familiarity Unfamiliarity Intrinsic motivation Extrinsic motivation Interest Word-based comprehension Content-based comprehension

Mean 4.50 2.18 4.01 2.99 4.11

Std. Deviation .87 1.02 .91 1.00 .76

3.95

.65

3.56

.74

Regression Analysis Regression analysis was used to test the research questions. The results show that interest has the most significant relationship with literal (wordbased) reading comprehension. The results also show that there is a positive relationship between familiarity and reading comprehension. It is also proven that there is a negative relationship between extrinsic motivation and word-based reading comprehension. The relationship between intrinsic motivation and word-based reading comprehension was not significant. The findings of this study also revealed that none of the independent variables have a significant effect on content-based reading comprehension.

Discussion The results of regression analysis showed that familiarity is positively related to word-based reading comprehension. This indicates that the more students are familiar with the subject, the more they can understand and

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comprehend. The results support Johnson (1982) that the cultural origin of the stories had a great effect on comprehension of the text. The implication is that when the text is familiar to the reader, he or she can understand it more easily compared to an unfamiliar text. The texts that are chosen as educational material should include more familiar cultural content to the readers to facilitate comprehension. This will ensure that the learners will read more in the future. It is shown from the results of regression analysis that familiarity is not significantly related to interpretive (content-based) comprehension. This shows that students’ familiarity does not mean that they have better interpretive comprehension. It only helps them to comprehend the new words that are familiar to them. The effect of unfamiliarity on both wordbased and content-based reading comprehension is not supported. This means that when students are not familiar with the text they are reading, their reading comprehension will not improve. The justification is that when they are unfamiliar with a different culture or a story from an unfamiliar source, there will be a lot of new terms and information that make it harder to comprehend compared to a familiar text. The regression analysis results showed that extrinsic motivation has a negative relationship with word-based reading comprehension. This indicates that the more motivated students are by extrinsic things like gifts, rewards, or other things, the less they understand. The implication is that promising the students will receive a gift does not help them comprehend better but decreases their comprehension. This may be due to the fact that when they read, they may be thinking and focusing on the reward they will receive at the end of the task rather than comprehending the text. The effect of extrinsic motivation and content-based reading comprehension is not supported in the results of this study. This study contradicts Mahboobi and Kaur’s (2011) finding that there is a significant relationship between motivation and intensive reading. This could be because it is not enough for the students to comprehend a text for extrinsic reasons alone. There may be some other factors that can interact or associate with this kind of motivation to work. The effects on intrinsic motivation on both word-based and contentbased reading comprehension were not supported. This may be due to the low level of intrinsic motivation of the Iranian university students. These students show higher intrinsic motivation for speaking than reading, since Iranian university students who are majoring in English realize that in future they will work as English teachers either in schools or institutes, so they appear to put more emphasis on the other language skills of listening,

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writing and speaking, thereby neglecting reading (Mahboobi and Kaur, 2012). The results of regression analysis showed that interest is positively related to literal (word-based) reading comprehension. Based on the results, interest affects reading comprehension greatly. This shows that the more students are interested, the more they comprehend. The results support Asher (1980); Cecil (1984); Estes and Vaughan (1973); Williams (1983) who mention that being interested in a topic definitely increases comprehension and interest in reading more about that topic. The implication is that when students like a text or read a topic that is interesting to them, they can understand it better and more easily. The regression results also showed that there is no significant relationship between interest and content-based reading comprehension. This study contradicts Mahboobi and Kaur (2011) who found that there is a significant relationship between interest and intensive reading. This may be because the students are not interested in deep understanding of the content of reading material; they are only interested in knowing and comprehending the meaning of new words. Therefore, in this situation, interest will only improve their word-based reading comprehension and not their content-based reading comprehension.

Implication The schema theory and its important role in reading comprehension indicate that the teaching of reading cannot be confined to language instruction. Students should be equipped the schematic knowledge necessary for English reading. Spires and Donley (1998) stated that “Instruction should facilitate schema building by providing learners with feedback in the form of numerous fully worked out and explained examples or worksheets that explicitly guide learners in building their schemata”. This assumes that when students have no prior knowledge related to reading material to be used, it is necessary for teachers to equip them with sufficient knowledge in order to facilitate their understanding of the material. A teacher might give his or her students some tasks for preview, such as searching for background knowledge on the Internet or in the library. In this way, the background knowledge needed for building schemata is provided by the students themselves instead of by the teacher’s direct instruction. Instructional material designers should incorporate culture-based materials that are familiar to the students and also provide interesting

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materials to stimulate students’ interest to help them in their reading comprehension. Iranian instructional designers should focus on interesting and familiar materials because readers’ interest and text- or topicfamiliarity are positively related to reading comprehension of the students.

Limitations and Future Research There are several limitations in this study and one of them is the small size of the sample. The study focuses on Iranian university students located in Tehran and Karaj. The results of this study can not be generalized to all Iranian universities. The sampling method was another limitation of this study. Convenience sampling was used in order to obtain a large number of completed questionnaires. There are a number of drawbacks to this method. For example, convenience sampling does not represent the entire population, so it is considered biased. Researchers mention that there is great difficulty in generalizing the results of a convenience sample to any population that has practical relevance. Based on the limitations of this study, future research can look for the following information: First, future work can overcome limitations of the present study in terms of number of respondents that includes more Iranian universities so that the findings can be generalized to all Iranian students. Secondly, interest should be measured by more factors instead of by one factor only. These factors can be adopted from other researchers that have used them as more than one factor variable to enhance the results of the study. Thirdly, as shown by the results of this study, among the independent variables, interest was the most influential variable, and the other variables were not very influential. Therefore, future research can look for other independent variables that can affect reading comprehension. Finally, this study was conducted in Iran. The results may not be the same in other countries. Therefore, this study can be done in other geographical areas and also with other more appropriate instruments and measurements.

References Alderson, C. A. (2000). Assessing reading. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Alexander, P. A., Murphy, P. K., Woods, B. S., Duhon, K. E., & Parker, D. (1997). College instruction and concomitant changes in students’ knowledge, interest, and strategy use: A study of domain learning. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 22, 125-146.

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Al-Shumaimeri, Y. (2006). The effects of content familiarity and language ability on reading comprehension performance of low-and high-ability Saudi tertiary students studying English as a foreign language. Educational Sciences & Islamic Studies, 18(2), 1-19. Asher, S. R. (1980). Topic Interest and Children’s Reading Comprehension. In R. J. Spiro, B. C. Bruce and W. F. Brewer (eds), Theoretical Issues in Reading Comprehension. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 525-534. Baldwin, R. S., Peleg-Bruckner, Z., & McClintock, A. H. (1985). Effect of topic interest and prior knowledge on reading.” Reading Research Quarterly 20, 497-504. Bewley, R. K. (1988). The effects of prior knowledge and reader interest on fourth and sixth grade students’ reading comprehension. Dissertation Abstracts International 49: 65A. Carrell, P. L. (1981). Culture-specific schemata in L2 comprehension. In R. Orem & J. Haskell (eds), Selected papers from the Ninth Illinois TESOL/BE Annual Convention, First Midwest TESOL Conference. Chicago: Illinois, 123-132. Carrell, P. L. (1985). Facilitating ESL reading by teaching text structure. TESOL Quarterly, 19, 727-752. Cecil, N.L. (1984). The implications of interest on the literal reading comprehension of early readers. Dissertation Abstracts International 44: 3023A. Deci, E. L. (1992). The relation of interest to the motivation of behavior: A selfdetermination of theory perspective. In K. A. Renninger, S. Hidi, & A. Krapp (eds), The role of interest in learning and development. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 43-70. Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and selfdetermination in human behavior. New York: Plenum. Dreyer, C., & Nel, C. (2003). Teaching reading strategies and reading comprehension within a technology-enhanced learning environment. System, 31, 349–365. Eccles, J. S., Wigfield, A., & Schiefele, U. (1998). Motivation to succeed. In N. Eisenberg (ed.), Handbook of child psychology Vol. IV. 5th ed. New York: John Wiley, 1017–1095. Entin, E. B. and G. R. Klare (1985). Relationships of measures of interest, prior knowledge, and readability to comprehension of expository passages. In B. A. Hutson (ed.), Advances in Reading/Language Research, Vol. 3, 9-38. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

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Eskey, D. E. (2005). Reading in a second language. In Hinkel, E. (ed.), Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum. Estes, T. H. and J. L. Vaughan, Jr. (1973). Reading interest and comprehension: Implications. The Reading Teacher 27, 149-153. Fulcher, G. (1997). Text difficulty and accessibility: Reading formulae and expert judgment. System, 259(4), 497-513. Gardner, R. C., & Lambert, W. (1972). Attitudes and motivation in second language learning. Rowley, MA: Newbury House. Grabe, W. (2002). Second language reading. In Kaplan, R. B. (ed.), The Oxford handbook of applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Guthrie, J. T., & Alvermann, D. (eds). (1999). Engagement in reading: Processes, practices, and policy implications. New York: Teachers College Press. Guthrie, J. G., Van Meter, P., McCann, A., Wigfield, A., Bennett, L., Poundstone, C., Rice, M.E., Faibisch, F., Hunt, B., & Mitchell, A. (1996). Growth in literacy engagement: Changes in Motivations and Strategies During Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction. Reading Research Quarterly, 31(3), 306-332. Guthrie, J. T., & Wigfield, A. (1999). How motivation fits into a science of reading. Scientific Studies of Reading, 3(3), 199–205. Guthrie, J. T., & Wigfield, A. (2000). Engagement and motivation in reading. In M. L. Kamil, P. B. Mosenthal, P. D. Pearson, & R. Barr (eds), Handbook of reading research Vol. 3, 403-420. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Hidi, S. (1990). Interest and its contribution as a mental resource for learning. Review Educational Research 60, 549–571. Hidi, S., & Baird, W. (1986). Interestingness – A neglected variable in discourse processing. Cognitive Science 10, 179–194. Hidi, S., & Harackiewicz, J. M. (2000). Motivating the academically unmotivated: A critical issue for the 21st century. Review of Educational Research, 70(2), 151-180. Jacobson. M. D., & Johnson. J. C. (1967). The relationships of attitudes to reading comprehension in the intermediate grades. US Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Office of Education. Jahangard, A. (2007). The evaluation of the EFL materials taught at Iranian public high schools. Retrieved from http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/bymonth.html Johnson, P. (1982). Effects on reading comprehension of building background knowledge. TESOL Quarterly, 16, 503–516.

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Keshavarz, M. H., Atai, M. R., Ahmadi, H. (2007). Content schemata, linguistic simplification, and EFL readers’ comprehension and recall. Reading in a Foreign Language, 19(1), 19–33. Linse, C. T. (2005). Practical ELT: Young Learners. McGraw-Hill. Mahboobi, M., & Kaur, S. (2011). The role of motivation and interest in intensive reading among Iranian EFL University students. In A. Pandian, S. A. M. M. Ismail & T. C. Hiang (eds), Teaching and learning in diverse contexts: issues and approaches. School of Languages, Literacies, and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Mahboobi, M, & Kaur, S. (2012). A Survey of Iranian EFL University Students’ Motivation and Interest in Intensive Reading. Iranian EFL Journal 7(6), 30-46. Nazari, A. (2007). EFL teachers’ perception of the concept of communicative competence. ELT Journal, 61(3), 202-210. Nishino, T. (2005). Japanese high school student’s L2 learning motivation. Lifelong learning. In Proceedings of the 4th Annual JALT Pan-Sig Conference. Tokyo, Japan: Tokyo Keizai University. Nostrand, H.L. (1989). Authentic texts and cultural authenticity: An editorial. Modern Language Journal, 73, 49-52. Oldfather, P., & Wigfield, A. (1996). Children’s motivations to read. In L. Baker, P. Afflerbach, & D. Reinking (eds), Developing engaged readers in school and home communities, 89-113. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Pintrich, P. R., & Schunk, D. H. (1996). Motivation in education: Theories, research, and application. Engelwood Cliffs, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall. Roberts, J. M. (1987). The effect of interest on achievement on standardized reading tests. Dissertation Abstracts International 47: 3383A. Sacks, J. (1990). The effects of topic interest and prior knowledge on readers’ cognitive processing of text. Dissertation Abstracts International 50: 2376A. Schank, R. C. (1979). Interestingness: Controlling inferences. Artificial Intelligence 12, 273-297. Spires, H. A. and Donley, J. 1998. Prior knowledge activation: Inducing engagement with informational texts. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90, 249-260. Stevens. K. (1980). The effect of topic interest on the reading comprehension of higher ability students. Journal of Educational Research, 73.

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Takase, A. (2007). Japanese high school students’ motivation for extensive L2 reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 19, 1-18. Wigfield, A., Eccles, J. S., & Rodriguez, D. (1998). The development of children’s motivation in school contexts. In P. D. Pearson & A. IranNejad (eds), Review of research in education 23, 73–118. Williams, G. D. (1983). The effects of topical interest upon the reading comprehension of fifth level readers. Dissertation Abstracts International 44: 1746A.

CHAPTER XV IRREGULARITIES IN ENGLISH SPELLING: A CONCISE HISTORICAL ANALYSIS AKBAR SOLATI

A frequent complaint about English spelling is that it does not establish a one-to-one relationship between symbols and phonological segments. The main reason for the irregularity of English spelling lies in the very formation of the English language which has preserved or reintroduced the old historical spellings of the principal languages contributing most to it: Old English, Old French, Latin, and Greek. In other words, English spelling is a product of its history, both political and linguistic. The current study investigates the irregularities in English spelling historically. The investigation includes the influence of Norman French, the Great Vowel Shift, the printing press, loan words, and the etymological respellings.

Introduction The English language has arguably become the most important international language and the most widely studied second language in the world today. It is, therefore, important to be able to express oneself properly and to communicate effectively in English, not only in speech but also in writing. According to Rogers (2005), “writing is one of the most significant cultural accomplishments of human beings. It allows us to record and convey information beyond the immediate moment”. The issue of the English writing system has been brought up by certain researchers in recent years. As Cook (2004) put it: “The English writing system is connected to our lives in many ways, not as something that is an ancillary to other aspects of language but is vitally important to almost everything

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we do, from signing our wills to sending a text message”. “One crucial factor to take into account when discussing writing is spelling” (Ida, 2006). Spelling is important for at least two reasons. First, a writer may not communicate well if he cannot spell, in that a reader must be able to interpret markings on the page as meaningful words and he cannot do this easily when words are misspelled. Secondly, contemporary societies consider misspelling a serious social error, marking a person as, at best, “illiterate”, if not outright “ignorant” (Cronnell, 1979). A frequently expressed complaint about English spelling is that it does not establish a one-to-one relationship between symbols and phonological segments. The main reason for the irregularity of English spelling lies in the very formation of the English language, which has preserved or reintroduced the old historical spellings of the principal languages contributing most to it: Old English, Old French, Latin, and Greek. In other words, English spelling is a product of its history, both political and linguistic. The current study investigates the irregularities in English spelling historically. The investigation includes the influence of Norman French, the Great Vowel Shift, the printing press, loan words, and etymological respelling.

Old English and the Influence of the Norman Conquest An excellent survey of the history of English spelling is provided by Scragg (1974). According to Scragg, the history of English spelling began at the end of the sixth century, when Roman and Irish missionaries converted the Anglo-Saxons in the British Isles to Christianity and introduced the Roman alphabet. The Roman alphabet was much like the Modern English alphabet, except that Old English did not use the letters “j”, “k”, “v”, or “w”, and “q” and “z” were rarely used. This represented the beginning of the era commonly referred to as the Old English period. “As a whole, Old English spelling, as developed in the West Saxon tradition, was much nearer a one-to-one relationship with sounds” (Scragg, 1974). However, in the subsequent period, this one-to-one relationship between spelling and sounds was gradually lost. A change with a greater impact on spelling happened after England had been conquered by William of Normandy in 1066. For over two centuries following the Norman Conquest, large numbers of French-speaking settlements were established in England. This was largely responsible for creating a country with two primary languages, with French being the language of the ruling class and the aristocracy and English the language of the ordinary people. With English ceasing to be the language of the

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administration and, therefore, without a national standard to follow, spelling was very much governed by local dialects and conventions. During these two or three centuries, a large number of French words were adopted into English, with the estimates of French words in modern English being as high as 40 per cent. Thus, the orthography was made to adapt to two spoken systems, English and French, and spelling became suitable to represent neither language (Scragg, 1974; Sampson, 1985; Rogers, 2005). Furthermore, the vagaries of local dialects were responsible for creating additional disjunction between pronunciation and spelling. Generally speaking, loan-words adapted from one language to another were forced to accord with the sound patterns of the recipient language while retaining the borrowed spelling. For example, the words heir, honour, honest, and hour have retained the letter “h” from French, but followed the English pronunciation. Other examples of inconsistencies are mouse and louse, and their irregular plurals mice and lice, which were spelled mus, mys, lus, and lys in Old English (Scragg, 1974). Under the Norman influence, many legal documents were written in Latin which introduced yet another source of divergence between spelling and pronunciation. An example is the bi-consonant “ch”. Under French influence, it is pronounced /sh/ as in chauffeur and machine but under Latin influence, it is pronounced /k/ as in chorus and archive. The settlements of Vikings in England also contributed to the alienation of spelling from pronunciation. For instance, the sound /sk/ is spelled with “sk” as in skate and sketch which are Dutch in origin, but is spelled with “sc” as in scarce and scorn for words that are French in origin. With the dawning of the Renaissance, an increased awareness of Latin became evident and scribes were responsible for Latinizing spellings such as debt, island, and receipt, which could be traced to Latin words such as debitum, insula, and receptum. Even during the pre-Renaissance Middle English period, these words were spelled dette, yland, and receite (Scragg, 1974; Sampson, 1985).

The Great Vowel Shift The most dramatic change in the phonological system affecting spelling was the “Great Vowel Shift” which began in the fifteenth century and lasted until the seventeenth, well over 200 years. A series of changes in the vowels of the English language brought about a significant reorganization of the system. The earlier lengthened vowels produced at the highest tongue position became diphthongs. Thus, an item such as sweet changed

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from /swe:t/ to /swi:t/, spoon from /spo:n/ to /spu:n/, ride from /ri:d/ to /raId/, and so forth. This shift in the pronunciation of vowels was made without a corresponding shift in spelling (Rogers, 2005). The Great Vowel Shift is represented in Figure 2.1 (Barber 1993: 192).

Figure 1: Vowel Chart (Barber 1993: 192)

Crystal (1987: 214) stated that “the great vowel shift of the 15th century was the main reason for the diversity of vowel spellings in such words as name, sweet, ride, way, house. Similarly, letters that were sounded in Anglo-Saxon became silent. For example, the ‘k’ of know and knight, or the final ‘e’ in stone, love.”

The Introduction of the Printing Press The printing press was brought to Britain by William Caxton in 1476. Then, a great diversity of spelling conventions had been in use all over the country, representing the different dialects. People spelled the words however they wanted, based mostly on the type of education they received and temperament. William Caxton was largely responsible for establishing norms of spelling through basing his business in the capital, London (Daniels & Bright, 1996; Baugh, 1965). According to Crystal (1987), the printing process created additional problems for the consolidation of spelling. Many early printers were Dutch, who used their own spelling norms and made several convenient

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additions and deletions to abbreviations to adjust the space in a line. The effects of this could be seen in words such as ghost, which in Old English was spelled gast but which, nowadays has an added after the , just as in the Dutch word gheest.

Loan Words In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, many new loan words were added to English from languages such as French, Latin, Greek, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. As stated by Crystal (1987), loan words are one of the reasons behind the spelling varieties that exist in English today. According to Venezky (1970: 121), “more irregular spellings in English are due to borrowings than to any other cause”. Rogers (2005) also stated that in addition to a change in the phonology and grammar of the language, English had also borrowed a huge number of French words. These were often related to government and warfare (e.g. duke, judge, government, county, general, army) but included very ordinary words (e.g. table, very, single, beef). Moreover, Rogers pointed out that for words borrowed from languages using the Roman alphabet, the original spelling for most words has been kept. For example, “from French there is soufflé, ballet, lingerie, from German there is Kindergarten, Fahrenheit, Umlaut and from Italian, spaghetti, concerto, bologna” (Rogers, 2005: 192). According to Scragg (1974), during these two or three centuries a large number of French words were adopted into English. Thus, the orthography was made to adapt to two spoken systems, English and French, and spelling was adapted to represent either language.

Etymological Respelling Towards the end of the fifteenth century, yet another trend developed; the practice of spelling words in a manner that would reflect their etymological origin. Enduring examples of this influence can be found in the spelling of words such as debt, doubt, receipt, and salmon (formerly spelled dette, doute, receite, and samon), all of which were given a “silent” consonant to make them look more like the Latin words from which they descended (O’Grady et al. 1996: 615). According to Culpeper (1997: 19), a few etymologically altered versions of words have survived. They can be arranged into two groups, with one group comprising words whose etymological respelling did not influence their pronunciation, and the other with words whose pronunciations as well as spellings have been influenced.

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Some examples of words that were altered according to their etymology but retained their former pronunciation include debt and doubt, which had formerly been written as dette and doute. The letter was inserted to indicate that the words had originated from the Latin debitum / dubitare. The same is true for the

in the word receipt and the in indict (from Latin recipere and indictio). The respelled words of the second group were significant as they showed a change in their pronunciation. What was formerly written and pronounced as adventure was after all the etymological respelling, written and pronounced adventure. The same happened with assault (formerly assaut), describe (formerly descrive) and verdict (formerly verdit). (Barber, 1993: 180-181). Today, chatting on the Internet and the use of SMS also affect the spelling of English words. Simplifications and abbreviations were used in order to speed up conversation and one can find spellings like nite instead of night just because it is easier to write the former. “C u ltr” instead of “See you later” is another short form frequently used in chat rooms.

Conclusion The development of Modern English spelling took place over a long period of time. The history of the language provided many reasons for the irregularities found in English spelling. In the above sections, we investigated changes affected by the influence of Norman French, the Great Vowel Shift, the printing press, loan words, and the etymological respelling. These changes resulted in a system that was a mixture of different factors contributing to the irregular and sometimes incredibly inconsistent and confusing spelling of the English language. In short, the complicated English spelling is, to a large extent, due to “the evolution of the spoken language and conservatism in writing” (Rollings, 2004: 43).

References Barber, C. (1993). The English Language: A Historical Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Baugh, A. C. (1965). A History of the English Language. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Cook, V. (2004). The English Writing System. London: Arnold. Cronnell, B. (1979). Spelling English as a second language. In M. CelceMurcia & L. McIntosh (ed.). Teaching English as a Second or Foreign

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Language, pp. 202-208. Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury Housse Publishers. Crystal, D. (1987). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Culpeper, J. (1997). History of English. London and New York: Routledge. Daniels, P. T. & Bright, W. (eds) (1996). The World’s Writing Systems. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ida, F. (2006). English Spelling in Swedish Secondary School: Students’ Attitudes and Performance. Karlstads University. O’Grady, W., Dobrovolsky, M. & Katamba, F. (1996). Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction. London and New York: Longman. Rogers, H. (2005). Writing Systems: A Linguistic Approach. Blackwell Publishing. Rollings, A. G. (2004). The Spelling Patterns of English. Munich: Lincom GmbH. Scragg, D. G. (1974). History of English Spelling. New York: Barnes & Noble. Sampson, G. (1985). Writing systems. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Venezky, R. L. (1970). The Structure of English Orthography. Mouton: University of Michigan.

PART III: NEW DIMENSIONS

CHAPTER XVI TT: TOGETHER EVERYONE ACHIEVES MORE— TEACHING ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN A TEAM SHIRLEY TAY SIEW HONG

This paper describes the efforts of the writer’s school to implement team teaching as a means of successfully teaching Low English Proficiency (LEP) students in the classroom. The introduction of a team teaching approach was an educational breakthrough in this school because, generally, teachers had had a rather fixed mindset when it came to working in their own classrooms and following a preset time schedule. Teachers began team teaching for the LEP students in Form 1 PROBIM (Coaching programme – Malay language and Mathematics) class. This approach was given consent by the English panel and subsequently was adopted by English language teachers teaching the other LEP classes. It has helped to overcome teachers’ problems in teaching large classes and academically weak students. The evaluation was focused on data related to students’ achievement, students’ perception, teachers’ perception, and the writer’s involvement and observations. The 2010 PMR (Lower Secondary Evaluation Examination) English subject results showed a marked improvement. The results were encouraging in most cases, indicating support for team teaching as a means for providing LEP students access to the learning of English language in an unthreatening environment. However, time constraints remained as the biggest challenge. The findings are discussed with respect to both successes and remaining challenges.

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Introduction The issue of teaching and learning English language in a non-English speaking environment in Sabah, particularly in a government school, has always been a matter of concern. Numerous efforts are taken to create an environment conducive to the teaching and learning of the English language. In addition, teachers work hard to create among students a sense of awareness of the need to be serious about learning English. In a challenging school environment, different strategies are needed to address the diversity that exists in classrooms. One of the ways that SMK Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu (SMKBKK) is increasingly using to address the needs of students in the general education classroom is through teamteaching. Why team-teach? This paper investigates team-teaching practices in other parts of the world in comparison with the way team-teaching is being carried out in SMK Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu (SMKBKK). In addition, teachers’ feedback, views, and comments about team-teaching in SMKBKK are collected as information relative to the following questions: i. How do English language teachers perceive their experience in a team-teaching classroom? ii. What are the team-teaching models most frequently used? iii. What are the most critical issues faced by English language teachers? iv. Are the students benefitting from the team-teaching conducted by the teachers? v. Were there any behavioural changes in the students?

Team-teaching (TT) – Concepts Among the numerous terms used to describe teaching conducted by two or more teachers in a classroom are team-teaching, collaborative teaching, co-teaching, cooperative teaching, partnership, and cross-teaching. Some writers or teachers may be concerned about the meaning of the concepts used. For instance, citing the definition by Cook and Friend, Ashton (2003) pointed out that the meaning of “co-teaching” is a process that involves two or more teachers who share equally the amount of teaching workload in the classroom. Goetz (2000) defines “team teaching as a group of two or more teachers working together to plan, conduct and evaluate the learning activities for the same group of learners”. Quinn and Kanter, cited by Goetz (2000), define team teaching as “simply team work

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between two qualified instructors who, together, make presentations to an audience”. However, in some cases the co-teachers in the classroom serve merely as observers, assistants, or aides. The question to be asked is: “If the goal is to meet the needs of all students, how can we, as professional educators, better facilitate this process?” Therefore, the main concern of this paper is to address whether and how the instructional process in the classroom is carried out professionally to ensure that effective learning by students takes place.

Models of Team Teaching (TT) in Schools In the literature, team teaching is mostly carried out in inclusion schools or special schools, or in teaching children with disabilities (Tannock, 2009; Austin, 2001; Anonymous, 1997). In Japan, team teaching is widely practised in ESL (English as Second Language) classrooms (Tonks, 2006) where English-speaking Assistant English Teachers (AETs) or Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) are paired up with local Japanese teachers to teach English language in public-funded schools in Japan. According to Goetz (2000), two broad categories of team teaching are identified: x Category A: Two or more instructors teach the same students at the same time within the same classroom; x Category B: The instructors work together but do not necessarily teach the same groups of students nor necessarily teach at the same time. In this paper, the discussion focuses on Category A. Within Category A there are different instructional models of team-teaching. The following discussion on these models is based on the studies by Maroney (1995), Rosario et al. (undated), and Goetz (2000). In the traditional team teaching model, the teachers actively share the instruction of content and skills to all students. For example, one teacher may present the new material to the students while the other teacher or teachers construct a concept map or write down the important notes on the whiteboard as the students listen to the presenting teacher. The complementary or supportive team-teaching model, however, differs from the traditional team-teaching model wherein one teacher is responsible for teaching the content while the other teacher takes charge of providing follow-up activities on related topics.

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The third model is quite similar to the traditional team-teaching model because the team teachers work together in designing the lesson. Here, the difference lies in the teaching process whereby the class teaching is conducted by both the teachers by exchanging and discussing ideas and theories in front of the learners. Activities such as group learning techniques, small-group work, and student-led discussion are common in a collaborative team-teaching model. The fourth model is the parallel instruction model in which the class is divided into two or more groups depending on the number of teachers teaching in the classroom. Each teacher provides individualized instruction on the same content, material, or skills to their respective group. The fifth model is the differentiated split class model which involves dividing the class into smaller groups according to the learners’ needs. Each teacher provides the respective group with the instruction required based on their learning needs. In the monitoring teacher model, one teacher provides the instruction to the entire class while the other teacher circulates the classroom and monitors students’ understanding and behaviour, maintaining discipline and classroom management. Rosario et al. (undated) call this the “One teach, One assist” model. Teachers may choose to use more than one model of team-teaching in the same class period. What, then, is not team-teaching? The following descriptions explain what should not be practised in team-teaching. • • • • •

Teachers walk into the classroom without prior preparation/ discussion. Teachers stand around while ONE teacher teaches. Teachers go round the class to facilitate group activities according to their own explanation, which may not be consistent with those of other colleagues. Teachers only help to distribute handouts. Teachers walk in and out of the classroom as they wish, leaving the colleague to handle the class.

In short, simply having two teachers in the same classroom is not enough. It is not team teaching. Team teaching requires co-planning, coinstruction, and co-assessment. That may seem like a lot, but when done well, the benefits are clearly evident for learners whether they are struggling learners or not.

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Issues Involved in Team-Teaching (TT) Getting two or more teachers to teach together in the same classroom is not an easy task if the basic issues are not given due consideration. Among the issues identified in the literature are the following: i.

Is team teaching voluntary or imposed by the school administration? It was noted that team teaching worked successfully when teachers teamed up by themselves to teach. Teachers who do not believe in team teaching will feel dissatisfied if the school administrative imposes team teaching as a compulsory practice on them (Goetz, 2000).

ii.

Do the teachers have the freedom to choose their own partners or team members? Usually not many problems will arise when teachers team up with partners or colleagues together with whom they can work. However, if the school administration imposes the rule on teachers to team-teach, such step should be taken with prior consultation with and explanation to the teachers, otherwise it may create a problem to teach together in a classroom (Costin, 2002; Rea & Connell, 2005; Murawski, 2010).

iii.

Are the teachers’ roles explicitly understood? More often than not when the team members do not their specific roles, they may feel awkward in carrying out their duties in front of their students. A team leader will play the role to initiate the planning, teaching, and assessing the students.

iv.

Is there enough time for co-planning? Time is always a hindering factor for teachers to co-plan for a successful lesson, to discuss instruction, and to monitor students’ progress (Anonymous, 1997). Besides expending time in preparation to teach in other classes, teachers are frequently required to attend meetings and other school management activities. In their study on teachers’ co-teaching experiences, Walther-Thomas and Christine (1997) found out that identifying a common time for co-teachers to plan together during school hours is a serious problem for many schools because teachers’ teaching and planning schedules cannot be easily co-ordinated.

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Is the question of interpersonal relationship well-addressed? Every individual teacher has their own philosophy in teaching. Schamber (1999) asserts: “Members of teaching teams can find themselves in a difficult position when their own professional preferences conflict with those of fellow team members”. Hence, the interpersonal relationship amongst the teachers is very crucial. Teachers have to learn to respect each other’s views and ideas in achieving the objectives of the lesson. As Goetz (2000) states, team teachers must foster a trusting and open relationship as well as they need to be clear about their responsibilities and the time requirements involved with their particular form of team teaching.

Prerequisites for Successful Team-Teaching To establish a successful team, teachers should possess good personal qualities as suggested by Maroney (1997). This may require some transformation in terms of their professional and personality traits. As noted by Maroney (1997), to conduct successful team teaching, teachers must be united, not divided and have a true partnership in the classroom; be focused on the students; have an agreed-upon purpose for team teaching; have agreed on class rules and procedures; and agreed up expectations for students and their teaching partner. In much of the literature regarding effective teachers, some common personality characteristics of a good and effective teacher most often cited were: (1) being challenging and having reasonably high expectations, (2) having a sense of humour, (3) being enthusiastic, creative and caring, (4) explaining complicated material well; and (5) having a flexible instructional style (Malikow, 2006). Similarly, Maroney (1995) noted the following traits of successful team teachers: • • • • • • • • •

Being willing and wanting to try team teaching Being positive thinkers Being respectful Being honest Being trusting and trustworthy Being open to another’s point of view Being able to communicate Being flexible Being resourceful

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• Being of the type “I'll try anything once!” • Being those who “Don't take things personally”

Team-Teaching (TT) in SMKBKK – Background Team-teaching in English-language classrooms in SMK Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu began in the later part of 2009. When I assumed the principal’s post here in SMK Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu in January 2009, I knew I had to re-focus the aims of education in this school. I noticed that teachers were struggling to do their level best to teach the majority of the students who were academically weak. In addition, over the recent years there were high demands from the local community as well as from the education sector for academic excellence in schools. However, this demand had a negative effect on the teachers teaching in SMK Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu because they had to face a majority of students who were admitted into the school with low academic grades. Faced with such a situation, teachers who already have a lot of work to do either tried their best to help students attain the required marks, or sadly, gave up doing more for the students. Teachers struggled to teach their students who came from culturally diverse family backgrounds and some of the students’ parents did not realize the importance of academic excellence. For many of the parents, sending their children to school to learn meant that they had done their part, and the rest of their children’s education is the responsibility of the teachers of the school. In addition, the majority of the students came from non English-speaking homes. The Malay language, the Bajau dialect, and the Kadazandusun language are among the common languages spoken in their homes, and they in combination served as the lingua franca of the local community. I introduced team-teaching strategies to my teachers who were teaching low achievers in March 2009. With the help of Miss Tan, one of the Heads of Department, we discussed administrative issues in establishing the teams for teaching Bahasa Malaysia (Malay language) and mathematics. Later in the year, team-teaching strategies extended into English language classrooms. With the support of the English language teachers in the school, the team-teaching strategies were gradually adopted into the other classes. To further enhance team teaching in SMK Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu, I conducted in-house professional development training for the teachers. Some issues were addressed to ensure that teamteaching was carried out successfully and willingly by the teachers. Teachers showed willingness to add on one or two more teaching periods to their time-table because they saw the benefits of team-teaching not only

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for the students but also for themselves. To further emphasize the need for strong teamwork, I introduced a school slogan which all staff and students should internalise and apply as the principles in their daily work: We continue to learn and grow together.

Method The data source for this report included my own observations, perspective surveys in the form of getting feedback from SMKBKK teachers and students, and record analysis. The observation form (Appendix A) was used to document the team-teaching implementation process in the classroom. The characteristics of the teaching models (traditional teamteaching; complementary or supportive; collaborative; parallel instruction; differentiated split class; and monitoring teacher model) were identified through five dimensions: i. ii. iii. iv. v.

Teachers’ roles Teachers’ nature of interaction in class Teachers’ location inside the classroom Students’ group distribution Students’ behaviour

The following descriptions, based on my observations on the English language classes where teachers conducted team-teaching (in years 2010 and 2011), are tabulated below: No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Form 1 2 2 3 3 5 5 5 3 3

Teachers involved Priscilla, Sabiha, Dyna Priscilla, Sabiha, Sylvannie Priscilla, Shirley Mozes, Shirley Kong Yut Jen, Ragina, Maglin Harjit, Priscilla Harjit, Stella Ho Celestina, Stella Ho, Sylviannie Kong Yut Jen, Dyna, Nancy Sepikit Priscilla, Sylvannie

In all the classes mentioned above, teachers assumed complementary and supportive roles, taking turns to explain the concepts and to conduct the

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activities. The “handing over” or transition process when the next teacher took over happened smoothly. As the next teacher took over to provide the explanation, reference to the previous teacher’s explanation would always be made. After some explanation and discussion, the students were usually asked to work either in pairs or in small groups. Here, the team teaching model was switched to the parallel instruction model. Teachers usually stood by the side or at the back of the classroom while one of the teachers did the explanations. The teachers’ movement in the class did not distract the attention of the students. Instead, teachers standing behind the classroom helped in classroom management, especially when dealing with the weaker and problematic students. The teachers created an interactive classroom environment as the lessons progressed. Students who were too shy to ask questions publicly preferred to ask the teacher who was standing near them. Teachers were also able to mingle with students when they worked in pairs or in small groups, hence making the teaching and learning process more feasible and time-efficient. Students were found to be well-behaved when there was more than one teacher in the classroom. They would focus on the teacher’s teaching and participated in answering the questions posed by the teacher. Whenever there was team-teaching, students were divided into smaller groups to carry out classroom activities. Students were very excited and took part actively in the activities that required the individual groups to work out the answers in the limited time given. The smiles and excitement on their faces showed that learning was fun and meaningful.

Language Activities Carried Out Inside and Outside Classrooms Experts on language learning such as Cummins (1984) and Collier (1995) asserted that learning a foreign language took time and involved a complex and dynamic process. The process evolved through many stages of language learning. Research indicates that it could take up to two years for a second language learner to be able to develop the basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS), which includes interpersonal and social skills (Cummins, 1984). However, it took five to seven years for second language learners to develop and use cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP) because this language was demanding, cognitively. Furthermore, it should be noted that the research was carried out within an English-speaking culture where students spent a lot of time learning the English language from a native speaker.

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Hence, in SMKBKK, the English language subject teachers adopted practical teaching approaches to help students learn the English language in a comfortable and non-threatening environment. Among the language activities conducted were the use of local English language newspapers once a week in their English language classes; providing English language dictionaries in class to enable students to search for the meanings of new words; and having a focused lesson plan to teach according to the learners’ needs and their ability and level of proficiency in the language. For instance, in teaching reading comprehension, comprehension passages, the content of which the students could relate to, would be chosen. Working in teams, the English language teachers would help one other to guide students in answering the comprehension questions. Outside the classrooms, SMKBKK also launched long-term on-going activities in support of the Ministry of Education’s language policy, viz. the “Upholding the Malay Language and Strengthening the English Language” (MBMMBI) programme, as well as the Sabah Education Department’s “Speak It Right” (SIR) programme. English language subject teachers worked together to ensure that students were trained to take turns to read selected poems over the public address system in the school during recess every school day. Additionally, modern English songs were played during recess and everyone in school had to speak in English on Fridays with small gifts given as incentives to those who were found to use the English language to communicate with teachers or friends. In addition, the first school assembly of the month was conducted fully in the English language, including the prayer recital. All these efforts were aimed to create a friendly and comfortable environment for everyone to use the English language without fear or shyness.

Feedback from SMKBKK Teachers (Appendix B1 and Appendix B2) The 11 teachers who have carried out team-teaching were given a feedback form to record their opinions on the task assigned to them. Majority of the teachers expressed positive views and support for teamteaching. Meanwhile, approximately 20% or three of the teachers stated that sometimes they were not so keen on team-teaching because they felt that the work was not equally shared and they felt uncomfortable teaching with their respective partners. This reason could be due to the age gap whereby one young and newly appointed teacher was teamed up with another senior teacher who was near retirement.

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On the whole, the teachers concerned were happy to carry out teamteaching because they realized that students learnt faster when they received more attention from the teachers in class. Class control and class management, which used to be difficult, was no longer a problem for teachers teaching the academically weaker classes. Teachers enjoyed the professional exchange in terms of new and interesting strategies used to help students learn better. Nevertheless, the major issue faced by teachers conducting team teaching was time constraint. They found that they did not have sufficient time for face-to-face discussions with their colleagues. In a big school with 2300 students and 65 classes, teachers not only taught many classes but they were also responsible for other issues pertaining to students’ affairs, such as collecting school fees, issuing letters to parents if the students were absent from school without a valid reason, entering the curricular marks of their students, organizing academic and non-academic programmes for the students, among others. There was insufficient time for the teachers to meet frequently to discuss and to plan in detail. However, in order to overcome this limitation, the teachers held a virtual meeting, communicating with each other through emails. Many online discussions were carried out after school at their respective homes, too. Teachers’ reflective writings (Appendix B3) show support for teamteaching in their respective classrooms. For instance, when there was more than one teacher in a class of 45 students with low English language proficiency, the teachers reflected on how they felt class control less burdensome, and how much easier it was for the teachers to focus on teaching the content.

Feedback from Students (Appendix C1) Twenty students responded to the survey. They noted that they could understand the lesson faster and better when more than one teacher taught in their class. They enjoyed the extra attention given to them by the teachers in the classroom and said that they learnt more, too. A majority of them looked forward to such lessons in their classes. Only a small number said that sometimes they were confused with the different teaching styles. Nonetheless, feedback such as confusion with the way teachers taught will be noted for reflection and steps shall be taken to further improve the teaching process of team teaching.

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Lower Secondary Evaluation Results (PMR) Team teaching in English-language classrooms has produced positive results reflected in the students’ examination results. The English language teachers teaching the lower form teamed up to teach the Form 3 students in year 2010. Some Form 1 and Form 2 teachers who taught in the afternoon session volunteered to come earlier in the morning to team up with the Form 3 teachers to teach these students. The 2010 PMR (Penilaian Menengah Rendah or Lower Secondary Evaluation Examination) English subject results showed a marked improvement. Students who obtained Grade A in the English language subject increased from only five students in 2009 to 28 students in year 2010. There was also a big jump for those who obtained Grade B whereas there was an increase of 15 students obtaining Grade C. Overall, the percentage of passes increased 2.4% despite the large number of students in 2010. (In 2009, the total number of PMR candidates was 307 but in 2010 there were a total number of 454 candidates). The English subject average grade (GPMP) also improved from 4.01 (2009) to 3.87 (2010) (Appendix C2).

Limitations This report was based on my own experiences, observations, and perspective surveys as well as the academic results of some students of my school over just two years. Hence there is a lack of longitudinal information on the students’ academic performance in the co-taught classrooms. Therefore, it is not possible to determine the long-term effects of team-teaching based on the results of the study. My initial aim was to encourage and strengthen the collegial relationship among teachers in my school which would simultaneously promote a positive learning organisation where teachers would help each other to develop professionally in their teaching career. It was hoped that this strategy of working in teams and supporting each other in the challenging task will eventually benefit the students as well. Nonetheless, in spite of the limitations, this report provided information on how team teaching was carried out in SMK Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu, the challenges faced and issues to be addressed in a local context, and the perspectives on team-teaching from teachers and students in this school. Based on the teachers’ and students’ perspectives, positive benefit of team-teaching and students’ behavioural changes, as well as level of participation in classroom activities, were identified.

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Discussion Generally, teachers felt excited and motivated to carry out team teaching with their colleagues. At the initial stage, I was aware of the possibility that teachers might feel awkward to have one or more other people in their classroom while they were teaching. Hence, I took the initiative to approach those teachers who were more receptive to changes and new approaches to carry out team-teaching in their classroom. Their teaching process was video-recorded and many pictures were taken. I shared these teaching strategies with the rest of the teachers in many professional development sessions, thus creating a comfortable environment for everybody to see how team teaching can be conducted without fear or threat. I emphasized that we need to learn from each other and continuously complement each others’ strengths or weaknesses in order to achieve the objectives of the lesson. The critical issue faced by the teachers was time. Teachers basically had their hands full meeting current demands such as preparing for their lessons, counselling and disciplining students, marking books, collecting school fees, checking students’ attendance and issuing reminder letters to parents and calling parents or meeting parents. Team-teaching required teachers to sit down together to plan, discuss and prepare for the lessons. So, how do teachers find time to do so? In SMK Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu, almost all the teachers have been trained to make use of ICT to communicate with each other. For instance, the text in the email (Appendix B4) showed how teachers met and discussed virtually. Lesson notes were only written by the main teacher whereas the other teachers were required to write short notes and reflections of the teaching process. Having to team teach in SMK Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu meant that teachers had to teach an additional one or two teaching periods per week. The teachers’ timetable for team-teaching was based on the master timetable. For example, if a particular subject teacher has less than four periods on a particular day, he/she will be given another extra period to team teach with his/her colleague. Writing lesson notes was only done by the main teacher whereas the other teachers are required to write short notes and reflections of the teaching process. Reflection notes of the teachers would then be shared with others for professional development.

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Conclusion The building of successful teams in the teaching process in SMK Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu was well-received when teachers observed the rewards in terms of students’ academic achievements. Teachers’ job satisfaction increased through learning and sharing their professional works among their colleagues, hence, enriching their professional work. The consequent effort was to sustain teams and to further enhanced the existing teamwork. More professional sharing in the teaching and learning process is needed to attain better performance. In conclusion, in SMK Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu the corporate slogan “We continue to learn and grow together” was aptly applied in the teachers’ effort to achieve the educational objectives of the school.

References Anonymous (1997). Common co-teaching issues. Teaching Exceptional Children 30(2), 8. Ashton, T. M. (2003). What are teachers’ greatest co-teaching concerns? Academic Exchange Quarterly (Fall). Austin, V. L. (2001). Teachers’ beliefs about co-teaching. Remedial and Special Education 22(4), 245-255. Collier, V. (1995). Acquiring a second language for schools. Directions in Language and Education, 1(4), 1-12. Costin, J. M. (2002). [Review of ] Buckley, Francis J. Team Teaching: What, Why, and How? in Religious Education 97(1), 98-99. Cummins, J. (1984). Bilingualism and Special Education: Issues in Assessment and Pedagogy. San Diego, CA: College Hill. Goetz, K. (2000). Perspectives on team teaching. A Semester I Independent Inquiry. EGallery: A Peer Reviewed Journal, 1(4), retrieved from http://people.ucalgary.ca/~egallery/goetz.html on 21 March 2014. Malikow, M. (2006). Effective teacher study. National Forum of Teacher Education Journal – Electronic volume 16(3E). Maroney, S. A. (1995). Some notes on team-teaching. Iowa Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders Newsletter (Winter 4). Retrieved from http://www.wiu.edu/users/mfsam1/TeamTchg.html on 10 May 2010. Murawski, W. W. (2010). The ins and outs of co-teaching. Retrieved from http://www.equityallianceatasu.org/blog/equity-

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alliance/2010/04/19/ins-and-outs-co-teaching-wendy-murawski on 10 May 2010. Rea P. J., & Connell, J. (2005). Minding the fine points of co-teaching. Education Digest, 71(1), 29-35. Rosario, B., Coles, C., Redmon, P. & Strawbridge, J. Presentation in Prince George’s County Public Schools, Region IV. Retrieved from: magonline.org/CoTeachingInTheClassroomREVMAGPresentation.pdf on 14 September 2010. Schamber, S. (1999). Surviving team teaching's good intentions. The Education Digest, 64(8), 18-23. Tamarah, M. A. (2011). What are teachers’ greatest co-teaching concerns? Academic Exchange Quarterly. Tannock, M. T. (2009). Tangible and intangible elements of collaborative teaching. Intervention in School and Clinic, 44(3), 173-178. Tonks, B. (2006). ESL Team teaching in the Japanese context: Possibilities, pitfalls and strategies for success. International TEYL Journal. Walther-Thomas, C. S. (1997). Co-teaching experiences: The benefits and problems that teachers and principals report over time. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 30(4), 395.

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Appendix A Team-Teaching: Teaching Observations No. 1.

TeamTeaching Dimensions Teachers’ roles

Observation Components i.

ii. iii. 2.

Teachers’ nature interaction class

i. of in ii.

iii. iv. 3. 4.

5.

Teachers’ location inside the classroom Students’ group distribution Students’ behaviour

i. ii. iii. i. ii. iii. iv. i. ii.

What roles do teachers perform? - Leader and assistant - Simultaneous teaching - Alternating teaching Are these roles meaningful? Do the teachers have an equalstatus relationship? How often and for how long are teachers interacting with each other? Who is initiating and ending these interactions? What is the nature of these interactions (e.g., cooperative, reciprocal, supportive, complementary, individualistic)? To what extent do teachers coordinate their roles and blend their skills? What factors appear to promote and limit these interactions? Changes between groups Remains with the same group In a single group Two equal-size group Large group with individuals One bigger group and one smaller group No group Which students are the recipients of these interactions? What are the outcomes of these interactions for teachers and their students?

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Appendix B1 March 2011 Smk Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu Team Teaching Teachers’ Feedback Form Dear Teachers, Kindly please read the following two scenarios regarding team teaching/ cooperative teaching and respond to the questions below. Thank you very much. Regards, Dr. Shirley Tay Siew Hong Scenario 1 We get along very well. We are both flexible and have developed similar expectations for students and similar classroom management styles. We feed off each others’ comments and teaching styles. We switch which groups we work with so that we both get to perform a variety of roles with all our students. We work together, develop together, and bounce things off each other. Working as a team makes you feel good. Scenario 2 I don’t think I’d like to work in this type of programme again. She felt like a visitor in my classroom, and we never connected personally. We struggled because of differences in roles, teaching and communication styles, and philosophy. The students also were confused. They felt that I was the teacher and she was my aide. I felt like she was always watching me and judging me. We didn’t know how to do it and received little support from our principal. ____________________________________________________________

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Part I Please give some responses to the following questions. 1. How do you feel about working in a cooperative teaching team? 2. What factors contribute to the success of your cooperative teaching team? 3. What problems has your cooperative teaching team encountered? 4. How has your cooperative teaching team affected your students? 5. Has working in a cooperative team changed your roles? If so, in what ways? 6. What schoolwide and districtwide policies have aided or hindered your cooperative teaching team?

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Appendix B2 Part II Please Indicate by a Tick (9) in the Appropriate Box. No.

Statement

1.

I prefer to work in a cooperative teaching team. I believe that students improve educationally and socially when they are taught by a cooperative teaching team. I feel that our cooperative teaching team shares responsibility for all activities. I feel uncomfortable having another adult in the classroom. I find it easy to communicate with my cooperative teaching partner. I perform a subordinate role in our cooperative teaching team. I feel that I have more work as a result of working in a cooperative teaching team. I could not teach the way that I wish to. I do not agree with my partner’s idea when we teach together. I do not have enough time to discuss with my team teacher/s.

2.

3.

4. 5.

6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

YES

NO

Sometimes

9

1

1

10

1

9

2

2

9

9

2

6

4

3

8

2

7

2

0

10

1

10

1

1

Other comments, please

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Appendix B3 Examples of Teachers’ Reflections Writing 1.

223

224

2.

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3.

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226

4.

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Appendix B4 Examples of Teachers’ E-Mails

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Appendix C1 Team Teaching: Students’ Perspective Survey No.

Items

Yes Ya

No Tidak

1.

I like to learn when teachers do team teaching in our class. Saya suka belajar ketika guruguru mengajar di kelas kami dalam satu pasukan.

20

0

2.

I learn well when teachers do team teaching in our class. Saya belajar dengan baik ketika guru-guru mengajar di kelas kami dalam satu pasukan.

18

2

3.

I am confused to see two or more teachers in the classroom. Saya keliru ketika guru-guru mengajar di kelas kami dalam satu pasukan.

4

16

4.

It is easier to understand the lesson when teachers do team teaching in our class. Mudah saya fahami pelajaran ketika guru-guru mengajar di kelas kami dalam satu pasukan.

13

7

5.

I learn less when teachers do team teaching in our class. Saya kurang belajar ketika guru-guru mengajar di kelas kami dalam satu pasukan.

3

17

Other comments Komen-komen lain

Kadang-kadang saya keliru dengan cara setiap guru mengajar

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6.

I receive more attention when teachers do team teaching in our class. Saya mendapat perhatian lebih ketika guru-guru mengajar di kelas kami dalam satu pasukan.

18

2

7.

I find it harder to focus on the work given when teachers do team teaching in our class. Saya rasa susah untuk menumpukan perhatian ketika guru-guru mengajar di kelas kami dalam satu pasukan.

2

18

8.

I do not like teachers to team teach in our class. Saya tidak suka ketika guruguru mengajar di kelas kami dalam satu pasukan.

5

15

9.

I do not know which teacher I should focus on when teachers do team teaching in our class. Saya tidak pasti mana satu guru yang perlu saya beri tumpuan ketika guru-guru mengajar di kelas kami dalam satu pasukan.

9

11

16

4

10. I look forward to teachers’ team teaching in our class. Saya sentiasa menunggu dan berharap guru-guru mengajar dalam satu pasukan dalam kelas kami.

Berlainan cara

ENGLISH BAHASA INGGERIS

307

451

2009

2010

33

8 484

315

D

40-54

C

55-69

A+B+ C+D

28

5 6.2

1.6

E

42 9.3 72 16.0 126 27.9 268 59.4 183

27 8.8 61 19.9 82 26.7 175 57.0 132

40.6

43.0

%

0-39

BIL % BIL % BIL % BIL % BIL % BIL

TOTAL NO. of SUBJECT ABSENT CANDIDATES A B JUMLAH MATA TIDAK YEAR AMBIL 80 and JUMLAH PELAJARAN TAHUN HADIR (A) above DAFTAR (B) 70-79 80 (A) + (B) KEATAS

GRADE / MARKS GRED / MARKAH

Penilaian Menengah Rendah (Pmr) or Lower Secondary Evaluation Results 2009 & 2010 Smk Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu

Appendix C2

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3.87

4.01

GPMP

AVERAGE GRADE

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CHAPTER XVII AN EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH USING MOVIES IN CLASS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES (MANDARIN, SPANISH, KOREAN) AND BAHASA MALAYSIA AIDA SHUHAIDA BT MUSTAFA, LIDIA RAMÍREZ ARRIAGA, KIM TAEK HOON, KHOR GEK SUAN AND AMBIGAPATHY PANDIAN

This paper describes the effectiveness of using movies in the activity “Fun with Language in Class” in the learning of foreign languages (Mandarin, Spanish and Korean) and Bahasa Malaysia on the development of the language proficiency of students at the Engineering Campus of Universiti Sains Malaysia. The methodology was designed to empower students to develop their skills in language by providing them with an interactive learning environment. Movies were first screened during the activity, which was then followed by carefully planned assessment methods. The results of the assessment were used to gather information on the effectiveness of movie-watching on the acquisition of the students’ language skills. The outcome of the activity indicates that the language learning strategy through watching movies is effective in improving students’ language proficiency and interest in languages. It also indicates that the participation of students in the language learning process is an important factor in effective teaching and learning.

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Introduction Language is a tool for communication. In order to communicate effectively, students must master the basic skills of listening, reading, speaking, and writing. Teaching languages with the use of movies is an effective tool because different aspects of language learning such as vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation can be made clear to students through the visual effects of movies. Many research studies have discussed the potential impact of using movie videos in foreign language study. Herron et al. (2000), for example, offer evidence that showing movie videos in the classroom allowed instructors to expose language learners to authentic cultural information. Katchen et al. (2005) explored the possibility of using video production at the college level to engage the language learners, asking students to produce vocabulary-focused videos. There is also research that supports the use of video for younger foreign language students. For example, Sharp (2005) describes a class video project suitable for middle-school students. Language activities involving students going to foreign film festivals in the targeted foreign language have been mentioned by Oxford (1990: 24-30) as means to help students to become acquainted with language learning strategies. According to Wright (1976), many media and many styles of visual presentation are useful to the language learner. That is to say, audio-visual materials make very positive contributions to language learning as long as they are used at the right time and in the right place. We believe that one important aspect of any language learning is fun. Cook (1997, 2000) referred to this sort of discourse as language play, language used for enjoyment and fun. Yang (2007: 12-13) also mentioned that it is necessary for teachers to create a more relaxed teaching and learning environment, hence minimizing the students’ stress and reducing their anxiety. As a fresh approach of teaching and learning of languages, we have organized “Fun with Language in Class – through movies” as an activity in the learning process of three foreign languages (Mandarin, Spanish, and Korean) and Bahasa Malaysia. During the experimental approach, we planned carefully the assessment methods that could strengthen the development of students’ proficiency in the three foreign languages plus Bahasa Malaysia. Bahasa Malaysia was considered in this study as it is taken by foreign students to whom it is a foreign language. At the same time, we gave opportunity to the students to explore cultural aspects through participation in the activities. Through this experimental approach

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of learning, we believed that students would gain self-confidence and personal satisfaction as they developed language proficiency and cultural understanding. In the following sections, the methodology employed is first described. This is then followed by a section on analysis of the outcome and effect of the teaching approach adopted. Lastly, some concluding remarks are given.

Methodology This study examines the use of a different strategy for learning languages using movie-watching in “Fun with Language in Class” for the development of students’ language proficiency. The experimental teaching and learning approach had been planned based on the ideas shown in Figure 1. Objectives setting

Planning of cultural activities (Methods and Strategies) Exercises to improve the ability of memorizing vocabulary, writing and speaking skill and listening comprehension.

Using Multimedia Interactive whiteboard, computer, sound system, and laboratory

Participation of the students interactive learning

Interpretation and evaluation of students’ response

Improvement of future teaching and learning methodology

Figure 1. Ideas of the experimental approach for teaching

Movie watching during the “Fun with Language in Class” activity was planned and carried out in the month of March during Semester II 2010/2011. This activity had been planned in order for students to totally get involved in the language and culture. A total of 87 Malaysian and foreign students took part in this activity. Teachers of the Spanish, Korean, and Chinese languages and of Bahasa Malaysia screened movies in their respective classes. All movies had been chosen to enable to learn the languages and, at the same time, to have fun. For this activity, teachers had also prepared exercises related to the movies and asked students to answer after watching the movies. Strategies of learning related to the four different languages are described in the following sections.

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Spanish Movie - Tesis This is a suspense movie about a student from a Cinematography Academy who gets involved in a dangerous situation during the writing of her thesis project. At the end of the movie, the following teaching and learning activities were carried out: i. ii. iii. iv. v.

describing the main actors answering exercises about the meaning of words practising a short dialogue taken from the movie analysing the members of the family relating Spanish phrases with the subtitles in English

With the movie, students had fun learning new words and phrases in Spanish. Students were immersed in a complete Spanish environment when watching the movie. The teaching and learning activities after the movie were aimed at improving different skills such as listening, comprehension, speaking, and writing.

Korean Movie – Welcome to Dongmakgol The story is set in Korea during the Korean Wwar in 1950. At the end of the movie, the following teaching and learning activities were carried out: i. Practising a short dialogue taken from the movie (Table 1) ii. Explaining Korean history iii. Discussing the background of the movie.

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Table 1. The contents of learning activity in Korean class Dialogue

Meaning

Practice and learning activity

Stop it.

1.⁎Ⱒ䟊

No! Can’t do.

2.㞞♒

Sit down.

3.㞟㞚

Raise up your hands. Don’t move.

4.㏦ ✺㠊 5.㤖㰗㧊㰖Ⱎ 6.㤆Ⰲ⓪ 䂲ῂ㟒

1. Pronunciation 2. Memorize the meaning of words 3.Making sentences using the words in the dialogue 4. Pair work in the classroom.

We are friends.

Chinese Movie - Fearless This is an action movie about a protagonist called Huo Yuanjia (18 January 1868 – 9 August 1910) who was a Chinese martial artist and cofounder of the Chin Woo Athletic Association, a martial arts school in Shanghai. Students were asked to write down the Chinese characters. They were asked to fill in the blanks with suitable words/phrases in the lyrics of Huo Yuanjia. Furthermore, students were also asked to construct sentences using phrases where each sentence must consist of at least 12 words. At the end of the movie, a forum was held for students to express their feelings about the movie and lesson learned. Figure 2 shows examples of words/phrases taken from the movie.

䷘₏䷘᧨⅏⃗᧨庐䤓᧨㈗楍᧨ 㒠ⅻ᧨⻀᧨㾦᧨⅝᧨⑯᧨摛 Figure 2: Words/phrases taken from the movie

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Bahasa Malaysia – Magika This is the first musical feature movie in Malaysia. It tells the tale of two siblings, Malik and Ayu, as they embark on a journey in a surreal mythical world where good and bad are portrayed in a muted and non-violent manner. Popular Malay legends and myths and numerous characters from Malay folklore such as Orang Bunian, Nenek Kebayan, Jin, Badang, Naga Tasik Chini, Hang Tuah, etc. are featured in the movie. The movie showcases the discovery of the importance of family in overcoming their fears. At the end of the movie, the following teaching and learning activities were carried out: i. Quiz ņ all questions given in the Malay language ii. Slogan – creating an interesting slogan by using the Malay language iii. Interactive session – using facilities SANAKO LAB 300 in the School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia iv. Use of the web translation software in Google – students using the software to translate foreign languages like English, Chinese, Arabic, Japanese, French, etc. directly into Malay, in order to answer questions of the quiz given in Malay. Table 2 shows the details of the experimental approach adopted and the activities carried out during “Fun with Language in Class – through movies” for the four languages mentioned above.

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Table 2. Details of the planning of experimental teaching and learning approach of “Fun with Language in Class – through movies” “FUN WITH LANGUAGE IN CLASS” Language

Movie

Objectives

Spanish

Tesis

1. Recognizing Spanish words that students already learned 2.Learning new Spanish words and phrases 3. Learning correct pronunciation 4. Improving listening comprehension skill 5. Learning Spanish culture

Language tools 1.Vocabulary: nouns, adjectives and verbs 2.Grammar: - Verbs: ser, estar, tener, venir, dar -Sequence of the words for asking questions

Learning activities 1.Identify words and greeting phrases 2.Match verbs with words 3.Choose the correct words 4.Memorize and practise a short dialogue 5.Describe the main actors according to physical appearance and character 6.Select the correct relationship between members in the family (from the movie) 7.Relate Spanish phrases with the subtitles in English 8.Identify Spanish culture 9.Discuss the background of the movie

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Language

Movie

Objectives

Korean

Welcome to Dongmakgol

1.Learning Korean words 2.Learning pronunciation 3. Learning about Korean history

Chinese

Fearless

1. Learning pronunciation 2.Remembering nouns and phrases 3.Listening and speaking 4. Learning about Chinese culture

Language tools 1. Vocabulary: nouns, verbs 2. Grammar: Sentences

1.Vocabulary: nouns 2. Grammar: Phrases

239

Learning activities 1. Memorize the meaning of the words 2. Make sentences using the words 3. Practise a short dialogue taken from the movie 4. Learn about Korean history 5. Discuss on the background of the movie 1. Identify words and phrases from the movie 2. Learn the correct usage of Chinese words in terms of grammar 3. Discuss the correct Chinese pronunciation from the movie and make a comparison with what students have learnt in class 4. Fill the blanks with some of the Chinese characters that students have learned in class

Table 2 (cont.)

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Language

Movie

Objectives

Bahasa Malaysia

Magika

1. Learning Malay culture 2. Reading comprehension and grammar 3.Watching, listening and remembering the words or conversation in the movie 4.Writing and spelling the words in Malay language

Language Tools 1.Vocabulary: nouns, verbs and adjectives

Learning activities 1. Identify words about people, fruits and animals 2. Identify phrases/sentences such as greetings 3. Choose and memorize the correct words 4. Select the correct relationship between members in the family

Table 2 (cont.)

Analysis and Discussion The results of using movies in “Fun with Language in Class –through movies” are judged based on: i. direct students’ feedback and ii. students’ exercises/projects. Discussion on the results are presented separately for each of the four languages.

Spanish Language (a) Direct students’ feedback A survey was conducted at the end of Semester II 2010-2011. The following are the summary of positive comments from students: - Students’ interest in Spanish language was built up. - Methods used were very good in attracting students’ attention - Spanish was made easy to understand - Learning Spanish was interesting - Students were able to learn about Spanish culture - Watching movie helped them to improve their listening and speaking skill. - Learning Spanish was fun and enjoyable

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- Spanish classes were lively and interactive in nature - The teaching method was very educative and impressive (b) Students’ exercise/projects From the submitted exercise and projects, it was found that: - Students were able to prepare interesting projects. They utilized information from the sources during “Fun with Language in Class – through movies”. As an example, a pair of students taking LAE100 prepared a project about the main actors in the movie. In a multimedia presentation, the students described, in fluent Spanish, the characters and physical appearance of the two main actors as well as their hobbies. This excellent student project clearly shows the effectiveness of the learning and teaching strategies adopted through “Fun with Language in Class –through movies” in developing students’ command of Spanish. - Students were able to make questions and provide answers with a high-level speaking skill in the projects. - Students were able to use multiple skills during the presentation of their projects. They participated in a conversational role play where they demonstrated their good command of and fluency in the language. At the same time, some of them showed subtitles in their short video clip in their projects. - Students were able to write coherent essays.

Korean Language An oral survey with three questions was conducted. The response to each of the questions is summarized in Tables 3–5. Table 3. Answer to Q1 (Satisfaction about the activities) of the survey Activity Movie

Very low

Low

Average

High

Very high

6

19

Total number of respondents 25

Note:*Response to the use of the same movie during class is also included

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Table 4. Response to Q2 (What is language ability learned from the activity?) of the survey Choices Number of Total respondents respondents Students learned from 11 the explanation of the 53 teacher Helpful activity 31 Cultural elements in 11 the language Table 5. Response to Q3 (What is the most significant lesson learned?) of the survey Choices Number of Total respondents respondents Practical lesson 7 53 Curiousity about 8 Korean language More understanding 38 about Korean culture Results of the survey show very positive response from the students. Satisfaction of the student about the activities was very high (Table 3). Out of the 53 students, 31 thought that the activity was helpful (Table 4), and 38 responded that they understood more about Korean culture (Table 5). The survey shows that the cultural activity is an effective way for teaching and learning Korean.

Chinese Language The exercise, filling in the blanks during “Fun with Language in Class – through movies”, can be used to train the students to understand the meaning of the vocabulary. It also helped to serve as a revision of what the students had learned from the class. The discussion forum at the end of the movie was to train the students’ speaking and listening skills. From the movie, they also learned the correct usage of Chinese words in terms of grammar and pronunciation. This activity helped to expose the students to the actual usage of the Chinese language in real society. Through the exercise of making a complete sentence using the words that they knew in

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the movie, students’ skills in making good and correct sentences were improved. Furthermore, through this activity, students were exposed to the history of China in the early nineteenth century and the challenges faced by Chinese martial arts heroes.

Bahasa Malaysia (a) Survey Results from Students of LKM 100 A survey of students of LKM 100 who attended “Fun wqith Language in Class –through movies” was also been conducted at the end of Semester II 2010/2011. Table 6 summarizes the results of the survey. Table 6. Survey of “Fun with Language in Class –through movies” No

Items

1.

You have more fun learning Malay Language through movie. You learned Malay culture through movie. You acquire Malay Language when you recognize the vocabulary and sentence/phrase structure. You can speak and practise Malay words. You can understand Malay words. You can memorize Malay words. You can communicate with local people in simple Malay Language. You did not learn anything about Malay Language from the movie. You know Malay traditional costume. You can practise simple greetings in Malay Language with people surrounding you.

2. 3.

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Very low

Low

Average

High

Very high

40%

60%

35

20%

35

Total no. of respondents

20%

20%

40%

20%

20%

60%

35

20%

60%

20%

35

80%

20%

35

60%

40%

35

40%

60%

35

40%

35 60%

40%

35 60%

40%

35

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The results in Table 6 contain the satisfactory percentile of students from the “Fun with Language in Class –through movies”. Ten questions were asked in the survey. The results show that the overall feedback from the respondents was good. (b) Exercise and Assessment from Students of LKM 100 After watching the movie Magika screened during “Fun with Language in Class –through movies”, foreign students were found to be able to communicate by using simple greeting words and to speak in basic Bahasa Malaysia because they had adopted the conversation from the actor and the actress in the movie.

Conclusion From the analysis of the responses of students, the following conclusions about the effectiveness of the experimental approach on students’ learning can be drawn: i. The students’ interest in learning the four languages was found to be very positive. ii. With cultural activities, the participation of students in the class increased highly. iii. Student-centred learning is important for teaching and learning of languages. iv. The student’s desire to learn foreign languages increased as a result of the impact of cultural activities. v. Watching the movies was found to be effective as part of the instructional process in order to develop the language proficiency of students. vi. Awareness and knowledge of students about Spanish, Korean, Chinese and Malay cultures increased. Although this is a first attempt by teachers of Spanish, Korean, Chinese and Bahasa Malaysia to try out different strategies in the teaching and learning of language, the positive feedback received from students has given the teachers confidence and motivation to continue using the experimental approach in order to achieve excellence in teaching. The success of the activities has made us realize the importance of: (a) adopting a flexible teaching style, (b) creating a good environment during

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the learning process, and (c) using a variety of approaches according to the needs of the students, in order to improve student’s language proficiency.

References Byram, M. (1989). Cultural studies in foreign language education. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Byram, M., Morgan, C. and colleagues (1994). Teaching-and-Learning Language-and-Culture. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Cook, G. (1997). Language play, language learning. ELT Journal, 51, 224231. Cook, G. (2000). Language play, language learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Herron, C., Dubreil, S., Cole, S.P. & Corrie, C. (2000). Using instructional video to teach culture to beginning foreign language students. CALICO, 7(3), 395-427. Katchen, J., Morris, B. & Savova, L. (2005). Do-it-Yourself video role models. Essential Teacher, 2(1), 40-43. Oxford, R. L. (1990). Language Learning Strategies: What Every Teacher Should Know. New York and London: Newbury House. Sharp, S. K. (2005). A blueprint for successful video projects. Essential Teacher, 2(1), 36-37. Wright, A. (1976). Visual Materials for the Language Teacher. London: Longman. Yang H. (2007). Theory and Practice of Classroom Teaching. Beijing: Beijing Language and Culture University Press.

CHAPTER XVIII THEATRE PLAYS IN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOM AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING SITI WALTRAUD BRIGITTE MAYR

This paper describes a project on language acquisition. Taking an interdisciplinary perspective from within the field of theatre pedagogy and language education, it presents a path that enables students to develop key competencies for self-directed learning. Based on Joan Rubin’s research on skills and strategies applied by language learners in 1975 and on Feldhendler’s Playback Theatre in 2005, the media ‘theatre’ represents an intensive and holistic form of communication which provides verbal and non-verbal communication tools. It is applied to cultivating the skills which are crucial in language learning and intercultural learning. Learners experience the foreign language as an international medium of communication and are equipped with the necessary tools to function successfully in an international setting. Therefore, the main emphasis of the paper is to look at the different aspects of promoting self-directed learning through theatre and of theatretraining sessions in order to facilitate students’ activities and to equip students with the necessary tools. Training sessions are proposed to practise various language learning competencies. An empirical investigation shows how theatre plays can support selfdirected learning.

Introduction Self-directedness is an important objective (Häcker, 2007) in discussing the improvement of the quality of learning. This is indeed a special challenge for Malaysia, which puts all efforts into becoming a developed

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country by 2020. In 2006, the Malaysian government brought to life the “Development of Human Capital” initiative. To achieve this objective and to catch up with the industrial nations, it required a continuing education which is to be undertaken especially by adults independently for professional reasons and regardless of educational institutions. With this, interest in self-directed learning was initiated. The project, described in this paper, followed the higher-ranking learning objective (in foreign language lessons) “to transfer learners to capable actors (in the target language)”. In the past years, the subject of Pedagogical Quality Management (PQM) had been discussed in this context internationally. The purpose was to break the rigid structure of traditional teaching and learning procedures and to allow the acquisition of basic competencies besides imparting expert knowledge. Experience shows that foreign language teaching in Malaysia still largely follows the traditional teaching and learning patterns. That means that, most of the time, teacher-centred lessons are in the foreground. In order to achieve a sustainable quality improvement and to support the learner’s personal development, innovative teaching and learning methods need to be introduced. Based on an overview of theatre and role play in the foreign language classroom, this paper focused on a project which dealt with the transfer of language and cultural values from teacher to student. It helped the students to avail themselves to several aspects of the German language, culture, and teaching processes. Through these plays, students as well as teachers were encouraged to change the traditional teaching and learning methods. The main emphasis of the study was to look at different possibilities of promoting self-directed learning. An empiric investigation shows how theatre plays could support self-directed learning. Finally, the experiences of the author are also described.

Background of the Project Self-directed learning is one of the methods that can change the traditional way of teaching and learning. Häcker (2007) declared self-directed learning to be one of the most important criteria in the debate about quality improvement in teaching and learning. Thissen (1999) stated that selfdirected learning is the key competence for the third millennium. The literature review shows different and partly opposing term definitions. In order to give a short overview, some positions are summarized below.

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Consensus is to be found in the opinion that self-directed learning is a complex form of learning in which the learner makes decisions on whether, what, when, how, and towards which goal he is learning (Weinert 1982). This means that the learner influences decisions regarding learning objectives, learning strategies, learning venue, time and learning aids as well as the learning content (Breuer, 2001). Nevertheless, the high degree of the learner’s own self-directed learning process does not mean that the teacher’s control (Fremdsteuerung) will be totally unnecessary. Fremdsteuerung will especially appear in the setup of learning objectives, methods, or resources (Reinmann-Rothmeier & Mandl, 1995; Noß & Achtenhagen, 2000; Konrad & Taub, 1999). Tough (1989) warned that the extreme of self-directedness can also have negative effects especially when the learner is not equipped with necessary competencies. The teacher, as a coach, is an important component which must remain relevant in the teaching and learning process. The learning process depends on the learner’s own activity and the teacher’s instructions (Friedrich 2002). Dreer (2008) mentioned that in this context it cannot be assumed that learners are automatically able to learn by self-directed learning. “Self-learn competencies” have to be developed first. Students of German as a foreign language in the School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia can be categorized into three groups: the analytical learner, the communicative-cooperative learner, and the visually oriented learner. All are used in teacher-centred teaching and learning. The use of role play, drama and theatre in language learning is not new. In the 90s, Ladousse (1987), Scarcella and Crookall (1990), and Skehan (1998) mentioned the positive effect of role play on language learning and proposed role play-based activities for the classroom. Although there has been ample evidence for the use of theatre as an educational tool, there is, on the other hand, little research on this topic (Schewe & Shaw 1993). This paper explores how theatre gives the opportunity to function as an educational tool in the self-directed learning process of language acquisition. It “values the subjective experience, self-determination and interdependency of all participants” (Yotis 2006).

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Learner Characteristics x The analytical learner x The communicative-cooperative learner x The visually oriented learner x Used to teacher-centred teaching &learning

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Self-directed Learning x “…is an active appropriation process with comprehensive possibilities for own adjustment (need, definition, objectives, etc.) for the support use (learning resources, etc.) as well as for the examination in the learning process” (Arnold/Gomez Tutor 2007) [Translated]

THEATRE as Educational Tool

Conceptual Framework Theatre was started in schools in 1937 when Bertha Waddell took performances into primary schools in Britain. The conceptual framework of Theatre in Education (TIE) was established. In the course of the following development of TIE, Brian Way’s aim was “to assist teachers in all types of schools with methods of approach to drama in education” (Aita 2009). In the late 1960s, the Plowden Report for the Central Advisory Council for Education in England supported this approach and focused on child-centred learning. Subsequently, in 1965, the first full-time professional TIE company, the Belgrade Theatre Coventry, was founded and from there TIE became well-known. In 2000, 23 nations participated in a conference of the International Centre for Theatre-in-Education in Jordan (Attell, 2002). Blakey and Pullen (1991) and Perry et al. (2002) also demonstrated the positive effect of TIE in teaching and learning, and Sykes (2005) indicated that it could “influence young people’s attitudes”. Moreover, Daniel Feldhendler (2005) has extensively developed Playback Theatre as a teaching method in foreign language learning. One of the most important objectives of the use of theatre in language learning is to increase the motivation of the students to learn and maintain an interest in foreign language. Peter Griffiths, Artistic Director of the White Horse Theatre Company, stated that: “[t]he plays boost pupils’ motivation by letting them discover that they can enjoy an hour of English, and strengthen their confidence as they

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experience English as a means of communication rather than as a dry classroom exercise.” (http://www.whitehorse.de)

Many studies have been carried out on motivation in foreign language learning. The social-psychological and social-educational theories of student motivation (Gardner & Lambert, 1959; Gardner, 1982; Gardner, 2001) and the concepts of integrative motivation characterized by a positive attitude towards the speakers and culture of the target language were re-oriented in the 1990s to cognitive and affective models which place greater emphasis on learning styles (Dörnyei, 1994). Hence, the concept of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is vital in relation to theatre in language learning as intrinsic motivation is “founded in deep-rooted personal interests and positive attitudes and feelings” (Ushioda, 1996). Ushioda (2001) subsequently identified eight descriptive dimensions for the analysis of L2 learner motivation, viz.: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Academic interest Language-related enjoyment/liking Desired levels of L2 competence Personal goals

5. 6.

Positive learning history Personal satisfaction

7.

Feelings about Germanspeaking countries or people Eternal pressures/incentives (Quoted in Aita 2009)

8.

The two items, (2) Language related enjoyment and (7) Feelings about German-speaking countries or people, seem to have the most relevance to theatre in language learning (TiLL) and are referred to in this article.

The TiLL Model The TiLL model is an applied theatre model which was created by the founder of Vienna’s English Theatre, Austrian Theatre Director, Dr Franz Shafranek, and his wife, American actress Ruth Brinkmann. In 1970, a programme of educational theatre was created with the title Englisches Theater geht in die Schulen. The core learning outcomes of this model are making the study of English “fun” and building cross-cultural understanding by professional theatre performances as acted by native English speakers. For the project described in this paper, this model was modified to Deutsches Theater (German Theatre) and amateur performances by German language students.

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Application of the TiLL Model This section explains how the TiLL Model could help to develop selfdirected learning by Malaysian students at Universiti Sains Malaysia in foreign language learning. According to the principles of self-directed learning, the learning process in the course of self-directed learning is described in Figure 1. The guidance to self-directed learning had to follow these steps and lead the students carefully to a higher degree of independent learning.

Figure 1. Levels of the learning process in the course of self-directed learning

It was impossible for the target group described above to adopt selfdirected learning completely. Therefore, the lessons allowed guidance to self-directed learning where the learners received free space for their own decision-making and which also led to the takeover of responsibility as demanded from them. Therefore, the learners were encouraged to gradually take over their learning independently, at first by indicating the

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possible learning support – materials, learning venues, learning partners, etc. With it, their curiosity was woken to look for possibilities, to make learning easier by themselves, and to let it become more effective. Furthermore, they were offered a list of learning strategies (to which they could also add their own learning strategies). The appropriation of suggested learning strategies alone was not enough. In order for that to happen, the learner not only solved a task and applied a learning strategy but he/she was also aware of how he/she made it. He/she was asked to identify and verbalize how he/she proceeded. The deeper the learners’ insight into how they learnt German and into their objectives, the greater was the chance that they also saw the sense of the respective learning activities. This could lead to increased learning motivation and also promote active participation in the lessons, building self-confidence and trust in their own abilities, finally leading to independent learning (cf. 4: Description of the target group). At the same time, the social learning of the communicative-cooperative learner type was incorporated and the learners were taught to perceive the “manager” function independently since learning is most effective if the learners acquire the content to be learnt actively and are able to continue their learning independently. The use of extracurricular activities also played a role in developing selfdetermination. The aim was to promote a gradual transference of the responsibility for the learning from the teacher to the learners. This transfer was achieved by increasing the frequency of the options in relation to the learning activity. In the course of time, more and more freedom of choice was left to the learners. The following section gives an overview of the guidance to selfdirected learning as the example of the Theatre in German Language Learning (TiGLL) project. It follows the steps of the learning process of self-directed learning as indicated in Figure 2.

Directed/Self-directed Learning The teacher’s input was the choice of text genre, which was “Fairy Tale”. The students took this and searched for a suitable story on the Internet. In doing so, learners practised the skills of reading, listening, and speaking.

Reading Skill Learners investigated potential scripts on the Internet, in story books, audio books, etc. While they were reading for themselves at home, they

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applied their own learning strategies in order to understand the vocabulary and to grasp the content. They also learnt the target language through analysing sentences and working at grammar exercises. More importantly, introverted students could find a niche to learn on their own and at their own pace. They developed learning strategies and methodology competence. Strategies that they might particularly use were as follows: x Elaborative learning strategies (activating of knowledge and connecting it with new information) x Reductive organizing strategies (summarizing texts in a few of their own words and/or in mind maps, etc.) x Strategies which in the beginning were especially important: - Indirect strategies - Affective strategies Reading aloud helped the learner to practise pronunciation, fluent reading, the understanding of the script set in an emotional and social context, and finally, the right intonation.

Listening and Speaking Skills Through the EXTRA video by the publisher Hueber, Germany offers excellent opportunities for learners to start up/warm up and to practise pronunciation and intonation using the karaoke function of EXTRA. In groups, they concentrated on their pronunciation and recorded their own voice. They found their own strategies, overcame shyness, and used their computer skills. This combination might result in high motivation, and learning German became a form of entertainment. Students gained selfconfidence that encouraged them to perform role play. Students needed suitable speaking tools for the use in different situations. To provide them with those speaking tools in a reasonable time-frame, the following steps were useful: x Students chose a speaking situation. x They selected speaking tools that were useful in that particular situation. x They repeated this procedure until they could create a catalogue of speaking tools for various situations. x They created a dialogue. x They memorized the text and practised the pronunciation of the dialogue using the skills they had learnt in the karaoke sessions.

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x They practised body language and movement on stage using the skills they had learnt in the karaoke sessions. x They performed freely in the plenary session. The next step in guiding students to promote natural and free speaking in the target language was the introduction of Playback Theatre. An everyday story, anything which happened to the students that they would like to share with their classmates, was told by one student in a monologue. Other students, after they had understood the story, tried to transfer this monologue into spontaneous dialogues. To do this, they needed to select roles and use the speaking tool catalogue which they had created previously. This trained students to get used to create stories and find the suitable vocabulary for expressing their ideas. The next step would be spontaneous speaking and role play. Students, now equipped with the necessary skills, were confident enough to create a theatre piece. In order to do so, they would write a script using their speech repertoire and practise their pronunciation. They would also act on stage.

Control through the Learner Control strategies for planning, observing, and regulating of the learning process were necessary. More importantly, students had to be equipped with those strategies. If they were not, they would be overwhelmed and would be unable to cope. They would face a high level of frustration, resulting in quarrelling among themselves, questioning the teacher and the whole project. The section on Managing the learner crisis would further elaborate on the methods to overcome learner crisis. If students were confident in these competencies, the performance of the theatre pieces would show their ability to control the whole process at its best. They would know how to control their performance in terms of the target language, phrases, intonation, and the natural setting. They would also know how to control their performance from the aspects of cultural learning, reactions, habits, and behaviour in the target culture.

Control through the Teacher Depending on the teacher’s intention, he/she could control the language skills and/or the overall target language/culture skills in the theatre performance. The language skills and materials could be provided, and the objectives could be tested, in the following ways:

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x Training in vocabulary (Affective and cognitive objectives), x Training in writing (Cognitive objectives), x Training in grammar (Cognitive objectives), x Training in reading comprehension (Cognitive objectives).

Reaction and Reflection Where the teacher’s preparation and coaching was sufficient, the result of the theatre project could be very useful for the students. As shown in the following table, students benefited in several aspects in their lifelong learning process. Teacher x Teacher briefs students on the different aspects of Theatre in teaching and learning x Teacher prepares the material according to the needs and the learners’ language proficiency x The teacher is a technical and linguistic adviser

Learner o “I didn’t believe that I would be able to do this.” o “The arrangement of the groups was nice because we come to know classmates we normally wouldn’t work with.” o “I learnt a lot while writing the text for the script.” o “In future projects I will know better how to work on my own.” o “I was very skeptical at the beginning, now I feel great. Thank you, teacher, for giving me the opportunity to perform on stage in a foreign language.” o “I gained more self-confidence which will help me to overcome problems, especially while on work later on.”

When the teacher’s preparation and coaching was inadequate and the students were not equipped with the necessary competencies, learners would face a learner crisis.

The Learner Crisis The accumulation of responsibility and duties could cause a learner crisis. Some learners felt insecure and/or felt that they had failed, and eventually

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felt frustrated. They might blame the teacher and complain about the whole project and its organization. The teacher had to think of the possibility of a learner crisis in advance, depending on how familiar the students were with self-directed learning. In this phase, it was crucial for the students to be equipped with the necessary competencies and duties involved in self-directed learning. In order to solve this problem, the teacher had to consider this phase as very important in the whole learning process. Gradual learning of skills and the takeover of duties and responsibility were important.

Managing the Learner Crisis It was advisable to organize a workshop in which students learnt and practised the basic skills necessary if they were to take the following steps in the learning process. Basic knowledge of acting and speaking on stage and body language had to be provided to avoid a breakdown in the learners’ attempt to self-directed learning and motivation. In the workshop, learners got the point, resulting in high motivation to reach the goal. Having fun while playing and encouraging one another to improve their acting resulted in a strong team spirit. Rehearsals two to three times a week in addition to the normal teaching time and the request for practices, even on a Sunday, were indications of the learners’ high motivation. A kind of competitive spirit was noticeable among the groups.

Theatre Training Aims The aims of theatre training were achieved, as attested below. x Based on multilingualism, the theatre method motivated students to take the initiative on their own to learn German in various communication situations within and outside the classroom setting. x The sense of language and the communicative tools which were conveyed through these exercises enabled learners to act independently on the multilingual international floor. The theatre and communication exercises helped to create contact and conversational relations. They prepared the students to learn German independently in an everyday setting while communicating with people.

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x According to various principles of executed play, communication training, body language, and personal development, the German language lesson was designed to be livelier, more fun-filled, and more effective. Learners received verbal and non-verbal communicational tools which enabled them to communicate impartially on all channels of their senses.

Theatre Training for Language Learning In 1975, Rubins investigated the processes of language learning on immigrants’ children in the USA. In her comprehensive report, she pointed out the characteristics of good language learners. The most important characteristics are listed below: 1. Good language learners organize their learning process on their own and include their knowledge and their personality comprehensively – in the same way that children learn a language. 2. Elements of consciously learning a language (vocabulary, grammatical structures) are interwoven with elements of unconscious language learning (intuitive, precise guessing). 3. Social and communicative competencies support the self-learning process of language. Based on this, the theatre approach is suitable to learn a language because it is an intensive and holistic form of communication. The use of the theatre approach will develop and cultivate the abilities and skills for language learning that are mentioned by Rubin (1975). In these various exercises, learners experimented in a fun and exciting way with interactions and gestures that are not usually encouraged in the conventional lesson or foreign language environment.

Various Exercises The various exercises are as follows: Impulse exercise:

Initiating contacts through precise addressing of a partner with body language and language (linguistic media). Transferring the impulse energy adequately and acting bravely in conversational situations.

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Partner exercise:

Opening up towards the conversation partner and “reading” his/her gestures and body language. The partner’s reaction and the audience’s feedback provided learners with information on how their own body language and verbal expressions affected the partner. Improvization exercise: Dealing creatively with limited language tools. Choir exercises: Using body language to make students understand better, avoiding language boundaries. Relax exercises: Solving blockades and communicating on all channels of the senses – opening up for optical, acoustic, and haptic impressions as well as expressions. In other words, body and mind were set on receiver mode for a new language input. Rhythm exercise: Surrendering to the flow of the language and making use of the body memory while learning by heart. Observing and giving feedback trained students to become good at guessing. They learnt to read the subtext of verbal expressions which were combined with sound and gesture. They learnt to conclude from the behavior of communication partners to the content of their dialogues. In the creative group, the process of trying out – presenting, evaluating and giving constructive criticism, new trying out – were key competencies for exploring in a team being developed. This benefited students not merely in language lessons.

Some Exercise Examples Rhythm Exercise (Samba Circle) Language learning competencies training included: x Presenting oneself / Communicating x Becoming involved with all senses / Developing a holistic feeling for the language x Training structures / Applying grammar

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x All students form a circle. x Teacher claps a 4/4 beat: 1-2-3-4 x Students listen to the beat and clap it with their hands. x Now they step the beat with their feet, concentratng on their right foot. x On 1 they will put the right foot to the right. x On 2 they will put the right foot back beside the left foot. x On 3 they will put the left foot to the left. x On 4 they will put the left foot back beside the right foot. x They step on the beat: Right – middle – left – middle.

The Samba Circle was a good exercise to focus the students’ attention on the lesson. Many people learnt better while moving around. Another point was that students experienced how the common beat they were following united them as a group/team. The exercise also had the advantage that short dialogues could be directly introduced in the rhythm. So, it was easier to be “absorbed in the body”. First, the teacher practised the beat of the samba circle together with the students. Then, the students verbalized the text to be learnt in the rhythm. This could be short dialogues, passages from the textbook, or little poems. The common beat encouraged the soloists to speak and pronounce clearly and be more relaxed in the group. The mind was occupied with both the right steps of the feet and the correct speaking of phrases. They had to overcome the moment of doubt whether their answer was right or wrong. Thus it was easier for the students to get into the language flow and their speaking became more natural than when speaking while sitting on the chairs in a conventional classroom setting. Speaking in this setting most of the time sounded like reading from the textbook instead of the kind of speech spoken in a natural manner according to the situation. The following are some examples for the Samba Circle:

.

A. Samba Circle with Introduction x Student A starts on beat 1 and says: “Ich bin Siti.” x All students step on the beat and on the next beat 1 or 3 they say: “Hallo, Siti.” x Then it’s A’s neighbour, student B’s turn. He/she will say on the next beat 1: “Ich bin Hui Ling.” x All students will repeat on the next beat 1 or 3: “Hallo, Hui Ling.” x The other students always look at the person speaking and say “Hallo”.

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B. Samba Circle with ABC or Numbers The group is stepping the samba circle. When all students are in the same rhythm, they will say either a letter of the alphabet, a letter of a long word spelled or a number sequence (e.g. 1, 2, 3 … ; 2, 4, 6 … ; 5, 10, 15 … ; 3495, 3496, 3497 … etc.).

Partner Exercise (Mirror with Language) Language learning competencies training included: x Acting as if one spoke the language x Opening up to the sound of a foreign language x Guessing precisely x Learning from failed communication situations Mirror with Language x Students create pairs and stand opposite their partner. They focus on their partner’s mouth. x Student A speaks slowly and clearly a phrase in a language unknown to student B. x Student B joins in immediately and speaks simultaneously what A says. x Students do not stick on particular vowels or consonants, because usually B can speak faster than A can think. x B is observing A’s mouth movement and concentrates on what A is saying without understanding what is being said. x After that, the students swap roles. x Finally, all students look at and listen to the other pairs of students and discuss what they have observed. x Students swap their experiences while “speaking a foreign language”.

With Mirror with Language, the student was trained in the ability to “feel like the conversation partner” in the latter’s movements and language. Beyond the understanding of the meaning, the focus of this exercise was to open up to a foreign language and “let it flow through the body”. While doing so, important aspects and competencies for communicative language learning on the student’s own responsibility were addressed. x They were trained to control whether the said speaker had reached the partner. In the feedback, the speaker immediately experienced how his body language and acoustic expressions had reached the partner. x The imitating partner could concentrate on the sound details and on the sentence tone because he might not understand the meaning of

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what was being said. With this exercise, he became sensitive towards the target foreign language. x It was important for the various learner types to experience this acoustic-mime version when approaching a foreign language. x It was motivating for students when they could be “experts” in their language or dialects. In this way they experienced recognition of their multilingualism. x Although the target language was another foreign language to be learnt, the recognition of each language considered all elements available in these languages as valuable. The students were respected as individuals.

Choir Exercise (Four-Body Parts-Rap) Language learning competencies training included: x Trusting the partner of the conversation x Overcoming the fear to lose face x Being curious x Developing fantasy Four – Body parts – Rap x Students form groups (5–8 students per group). x Each group should create a Rap on the basis of four body parts. x a) Teacher provides the terms of four body parts, or b) Students draw four body parts via draw tickets. x Students create a rhythm, in which they mention “their” four body parts in a special sequence. Each student hits the body part mentioned with his/her hand, e.g.: Tummy – shoulder – head – knee. Naming the body parts twice or three times together is allowed, e.g.: Shoulder – head – head – tummy – knee. x Then, students include a little melody and practise their Rap. Touching the body parts with their hands becomes a kind of choreography. x When the group are able to sing and dance their Rap well together, it should be combined with solo by single group members. Create half a circle. While the group is rapping, one after the other soloist will step forward and improvise on top of the group rap. x The soloists will create their own rhythm, while including additional body parts. x Students put all the elements (group rap – solos – finale) into place and practice for the presentation. x Students perform their Rap.

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By using simple media, the groups were able to work out a presentation on their own. While doing so, they memorized the names for the body parts in the foreign language. Students were able to invent a Rap creatively. Experiencing their success in creating a presentable dancing performance, using only their own body and a few words from the vocabulary, empowered and motivated them for further projects.

Improvization Exercise (Association Round) Language learning competencies training included: x Perceiving the conversation partner x Initiating contacts x Including their own personality comprehensively x Touching authentic topics x Guessing accurately x Evaluating a communication situation Association Round x Students sit in a circle. x Teacher provides a topic, a situation or a question from the students’ experiences. Which picture or terms do you associate with it? Imagine the situation, the area of life, the venue, the phase. x Each student in the circle mentions a term matching to the topic. This can be a feeling, an object, a detail, a person, a colour, a movement, a verb, a song, etc. x Students find a common rhythm, in which the words are mentioned one by one: They click like clockwork. x If the students do not know the word in the foreign language, they will say it in another language and/or the classmates will translate it. x Everything that is associated is relevant and acceptable. There will not be any correction regarding the content by the teacher or the students. x The terms used by the students will be listed on a poster. x The association round is finished when no more new terms are mentioned. x The poster will be set up in the classroom. x Whenever there is a new idea, it will be added later on.

The Association Round created an atmosphere that was full of attention. Every participant had to listen carefully in order to recall the knowledge and to verbalize it. At the same time, the attention must be partly directed into the circle in order to understand the contribution of the classmates. The Association Round was a suitable exercise to introduce or to revise vocabulary. In this case, with the aim of working on specific topics

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together and going deeper into the topic, authentic experiences of the participants could be gathered. The self-organized recalling of knowledge and vocabulary in the memorized items was an important element of autonomous learning. Association escaped from the categories true or false. Hence, the associated contents of the students might not be corrected or commented on. The students learnt to trust their retentiveness – they came to know their own memory reservoir and learnt how to use it. Especially, those participants who seldom participated actively because they were afraid of making o mistakes would be encouraged through positive feedback and would take part in the association process. Furthermore, the association process, in which acquired knowledge was recalled, was good practice for “precise guessing” of meanings and the deduction of words from the context. The teacher could pick up the inner pictures which students were collecting in free association for scenic work in the lesson. The topic was selected by the teacher with regard to the unit taught. It could be a wide social topic (environment, HIV/AIDS, poverty, etc.) or simple terms from different lessons (family, occupation, traffic, food, travelling, etc.). There could be also very personal questions (What do you think when you hear the word “future”? What are you afraid of?). As for the association round, questions on actual matters of interest and concrete students’ experiences were suitable because students could easily relate to them. The students would contribute by giving their own opinions and sharing their experiences based on the topic discussed. (What did you experience on your journey to the university?)

Impulse Exercise (Quick Surveys) Language learning competencies training included: x Initiating contacts x Surveying authentic topics x Evaluating conversational and communicative situations

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Quick Survey Preparation of questions and answers x Teacher sets a topic. x Students elaborate in groups (4–5 members per group) what is interesting in that topic and what they would like to know from their classmates. They create questions with 2–4 answers/options. (For example: Topic: What do you want to do after your first degree?; Options: 1. to further my studies, 2. to work and earn money, 3. to open my own business in another professional field, 4. to join my father’s business) Field of play x A chair is standing in the middle of the rear boundary. x Four areas are separated in front of the chair using adhesive tape. Quick Survey x Each group selects a quizmaster who will present the questions and options. x Students stand in the play field and pay attention to the quizmaster. x The quizmaster stands on the chair and asks the question: What do you want to do after your first degree? Then he will introduce the four options and show the option areas: to further my studies = at the back left; to work and earn money = in front on the left; to open my own business in another professional field = in front on the right; to join my father’s business = at the back right x Then the quizmaster will start the survey. All students will move to the option area of their choice. The teacher will take the record. x The teacher can interview the participants based on their decisions. x The quizmaster will be acting in the same way as the first one using the question and options created by his group.

Quick Surveys not only created fun but they were also the ideal form to determine and negotiate opinions and ideas of the group. The preparation of the questions and options was as important as the survey itself. First, the students directed their interest to topics which were important and interesting for themselves. Secondly, they practised the investigation and make-up of questions and answers. Quick Surveys could be created regarding all topics. For example in introducing rounds: 1. Which part of Malaysia are you from? West coast, East coast, South or East Malaysia? 2. How many languages do you speak? 1, 2, 3, 4? Quick Surveys could also be an ideal start into plenary discussions. They were also suitable instruments while working with young people. The latter were not tied down to their opinions. They were allowed to decide differently in a similar situation. They were still in the process of finding their own identity, and Quick Surveys provided them with a means to become clear about their personal position and to represent

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their own point of view. They also might experience defending their decision.

Conclusion Each of the theatre training sessions described here are complete and can be adopted independently in line with a foreign language course wherever they fit in. Many additional exercises could be created. The exercises discussed in this paper support the development of key competencies in self-directed foreign language learning. For this purpose, it needs the investigation of the own language identity, the development of language consciousness, and the practice of basic communicative skills. Besides these crucial competencies, drama promotes positive experiences of German culture. This supports Ushioda’s (2001) motivation factors of “Feeling for German speaking countries and/or people” and “Having fun in the foreign language”. Theatre plays also provide the opportunity for interaction with the audience through communication via backdrop or through interaction of the actors with the audience. This could be put into action when the actors leave the stage and go back to the audience or when the audience is involved on stage. Additional advantages of theatre involvement in foreign language learning are as follows: x x x x x x

Active use of the foreign language, The opportunity to listen to others while using a foreign language (Playback Theatre), The opportunity to successfully finish a theatre project in a foreign language, The opportunity to practise a foreign language and take risks in a relaxed atmosphere, The opportunity to use body language, The opportunity to develop character.

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References and Further Reading Aita, S. (2009). The theatre in language learning (TiLL) model: Exploring theatre pedagogy in the L2 environment, ISSN1649-8526, Retrieved on 23 February 2010 from http://publish.ucc.ie/scenario/2009/01/aita/06/en Attel, Lina (2002). The utilization of theatre in education for social development changes. Lecture. Children and the City Conference. Jordan.11/10/02 Araburban. Retrieved on 4 November 2010 from http://www.araburban.org/ChildCity/Papers/English/LinaAttel.pd Blakey, V. & Pullen, E. (1991). You don’t have to say you love me: An evaluation of a drama-based sex education project in schools. Health Education Journal, 50(4), 161-165. Breuer, J. (2001). Selbstgesteuertes Lernen, kooperatives Lernen und komplexe Lehr-/Lernmethoden – Analyse der Formen im herkömmlichen Präsenzlernen sowie deren Unterstützung durch das Internet. Retrieved on 4 November 2010 from http://www.fbh-mercur.de/team/breuer/Downloads/Lernmethoden.PDF. Clément, R. (1980). Ethnicity, contact and communicative competence in a second language. In H. Giles, W. P. Robinson & P. M. Smith (eds). Language: Social Psychological Perspective. Toronto: Pergamon Press. Crookes, G. & Schmidt R. W. (1991). Motivation: Reopening the research agenda. Language Learning, 41(4), 469-512. Czerwionka, T., Knutzen, S., & Bieler, D. (2010). Mit ePortfolios selbstgesteuert lernen, Ein Ansatz zur Reflexionsförderung im Rahmen eines hochschulweiten ePortfoliosystems. Zeitschrift für Theorie und Praxis der Medienbildung, ISSN 1424-3636, 26.03.2010. Retrieved on 4 November 2010 from http://www.medienpaed.com/18/czerwionka1003.pdf Dörnyei, Z. (1990). Conceptualizing motivation in foreign-language learning. Language Learning, 40, 45-78. —. (1994a). Motivation and motivating in the foreign language classroom. Modern Language Journal, 78, 273-284. —. (1994b). Understanding L2 motivation: On with the challenge. Modern Language Journal, 78, 515–523. —. (1998). Motivation in second and foreign language teaching. Language Teaching, 31,117-135 —. (2001). Teaching and Researching Motivation, 85-100. London: Longman.

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Dörnyei, Z. & Schmidt, R. (2001). Motivation and Second Language Acquisition. Manoa, HI: University of Hawaii Press. Dörnyei, Z. & Ushioda, E. (2009). Motivation, Language Identity and the L2 Self. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Dreer, S. (2008). E-Learning als Möglichkeit zur Unterstützung des selbstgesteuerten Lernens an Berufsschulen. Zeitschrift für Theorie und Praxis der Medienbildung, ISSN 1424-3636, 12.6.2008. Retrieved on 4 November 2010 from http://www.medienpaed.com/2008/dreer0806.pdf. Extra auf Deutsch (2006). Distributed by Channel 4 Learning UK. Copyright 4 Ventures, ISBN 9783193010018. Feldhendler, D. (2005). Théâtre en Miroirs: l’Histoire de Vie en scène. Paris: Téraèdre. Friedrich, H. F. (2002). Selbstgesteuertes Lernen – sechs Fragen, sechs Antworten. Retrieved 4 November 2010 from http://www.learnline.nrw.de/angebote/selma/medio/ grundlegendes/vortraegeaufsaetze-friedrich.pdf. Gardner, R. C. & Lambert, R. C. (1959). Motivational variables in secondlanguage acquisition. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 13, 266-272. Gardner, R. C. & Lambert, W. E. (1972). Attitudes and Motivation in Second Language Learning. Rowley, MA: Newbury. Gardner, R. C. (1982). Language attitudes and language learning. In E.B. Ryan & H. Giles, Attitudes towards Language Variation, 132-147. London: Edward Arnold. —. (1985). Social Psychology and Second Language Learning. London: Arnold. —. (1988). Attitudes and motivation. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 9, 135-148. Gardner, R. C. & MacIntyre, P. D. (1991). An instrumental motivation in language study: Who says it isn’t effective? Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 13, 57-72. Gardner, R. C. & Tremblay, P. F. (1994). On motivation, research agendas, and theoretical perspectives. Modern Language Journal, 79, 359-368. Gardner, R. C. (2001). Language learning motivation: The student, the teacher, and the researcher. Texas Papers in Foreign Language Education, 6, 1-18. Retrieved on 16 June 2011 from http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED464495.pdf Häcker, T. (2007). Portfolio: Ein Entwicklungsinstrument für selbstbestimmtes Lernen. Eine explorative Studie zur Arbeit mit

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Portfolios in der Sekundarsatufe 1, Baltmannsweiler: Schneider Verlag Hohengehren GmbH. Holl, E. (2011). Sprach-Fluss. Ismaning, Germany: Hueber Verlag. Hudson, G. (2000). Essential Introductory Linguistics. Blackwell Publishers. Konrad, K. & Traub, S. (1999). Selbstgesteuertes Lernen in Theorie und Praxis. München: Oldenbourg. Ladousse, G. P. (1987). Role Play. Oxford: Oxford University Press. MacIntyre, P. D., Clément, R., Dörnyei, Z. & Noels, K. A. (1998). Conceptualizing willingness to communicate in an L2: A situational model of L2 confidence and affiliation. Modern Language Journal, 82(4), 545-562. Noß, M. & Achtenhagen, F. (2000). Förderungsmöglichkeiten selbstgesteuerten Lernens am Arbeitsplatz – Untersuchungen zur Ausbildung von Bank- und Sparkassenkaufleuten. Wirtschaft und Erziehung, 6, 235-237. Perry, C., Zauner, M., Oakes, M., Taylor, G. & Bishop, D. (2002). Evaluation of Theatre Production about Eating Behaviour of Children. Journal of School Health, 72(6), 256-261. Plowden, B. (1967). Children and Their Primary Schools: A Report of the Central Advisory Council for Education, England. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. Reinmann-Rothmeier, G. & Mandl, H. (1995). Kooperation: Lernen im Team. Grundlagen der Weiterbildung, 6, 65-68. Rubin, J. (1975). What the good language learner’ can teach us. TESOL Quarterly, 9, 41-51. Scarcella, R. & Crookall, D. (1990). Simulation/gaming and language acquisition. In D. Crookall & R. L. Oxford (eds), Simulation, Gaming, and Language Learning, 223-230. New York: Newbury House. Schewe, M. (2002). Teaching Foreign Language Literature: Tapping the Students’ Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence. In: Gerd Bräuer (ed.). Body and Language. Intercultural Learning Through Drama, 73-93. Westport, Connecticut & London. Schewe, M., & Shaw, P. (ed.). (1993). Towards Drama as a Method in the Foreign Language Classroom. Frankfurt: Peter Lang. Schmidt, T. (2005). Selbstgesteuertes Lernen mit Neuen Medien im Fremdsprachenunterricht: Eine Bestandsaufnahme. Zeitschrift für Interkulturellen Fremdsprachenunterricht. [Online], 10(1), 27 f. Retrieved on 4 November 2010 from http://www.ualberta.ca/~german/ejournal/TorbenSchmidt.htm

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Shafranek, J. (ed.) (2001). Vienna’s English Theatre: Against All Odds. Vienna: Deuticke. Skehan, P. (1998). Task based instruction. In Grahe, W. (ed.), Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 268-286. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Sykes, S. (2005). Review of Literature Relating to Theatre in Education as a Tool in Alcohol Education. Report for the Alcohol Education and Research Council. Retrieved on 5 November 2010 from http://www.aerc.org.uk/documents/pdfs/finalReports/AERC_Final Report_0026.pdf. Thissen, F. (1999). Selbstgesteuertes Lernen – Forum für Bibliothek und Information BuB, 12 (Dez.), 722 f. Tompkin, P. (1998). Role Playing/Simulation. The Internet TESL Journal, 4(8), Retrieved on 14 March 2011 from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Tompkins-RolePlaying.html Tough, A. M. (1989). Self-planned learning. In Michael Eraut (ed.), The International Encyclopedia of Educational Technology, 432-436. Oxford: Pergamon Press. Tremblay, P. F. & Gardner, R. C. (1995). Expanding the Motivation Construct in language learning. Modern Language Journal, 79(4), 505520. Ushioda, E. (1996). Learner Autonomy. Dublin, Ireland: Authentik. —. (2001). Language learning at university: Exploring the role of motivational thinking. In D. Dörnyei & R. Schmidt (ed.). Motivation and Second Language Acquisition, 93-125. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press. —. (2003). Motivation as a socially mediated process. In D. Little, J. Ridley, & E. Ushioda, E. (eds). Learner Autonomy in the Foreign Language Classroom: Teacher, Learner, Curriculum and Assessment, 90-102. Dublin: Authentik. Weinert, F. E. (1982). Selbstgesteuertes Lernen als Voraussetzung, Methode und Ziel des Unterrichts [Self-regulated learning as prerequisite, method and objective of instruction]. Unterrichtswissenschaft, 10(2), 99110. White Horse Theatre Company website. Available at http://www.whitehorse.de Yotis, L. (2006). A review of dramatherapy research in schizophrenia: Methodologies and outcomes. Psychotherapy Research, 16(2), 90-200.

CHAPTER XIX PROMOTING INTEREST IN SPANISH LANGUAGE LEARNING THROUGH THE CUSTOMIZED ‘THE AMAZING RACE’ KHONG HOU-KEAT AND UMMU SALMAH RAHAMATULLAH

A challenge foreign language teachers have always faced is finding ways to ensure learning takes place. This can be translated into arousing and sustaining the learners’ curiosity and attention in the learning process. Conventional classrooms pale in comparison with cyber cafés. To prevent teachers from “killing the interest” among learners, it is essential for teachers to provide learners with opportunities where they are willingly engaged. “Learners gain from being mentally active during the learning process and from investing energy affectively and cognitively in the language experience” (Tomlinson & Masuhara, 2009). To develop a multidimensional approach which allows students to engage mentally and physically in a non-threatening environment, inspiration is drawn from the popular reality television game show, The Amazing Race. This study suggested The Amazing Spanish Fun Race as a teaching innovation, infusing the affective elements from games with educational outcomes. Moreover, this race attempted to draw learners out of their inhibition by challenging them to speak up, learn, and work in a team. In this workshop, we aimed to share as well as generate more ideas on how The Amazing Race can be an effective tool to promote interest in Spanish language learning among Malaysian students.

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Introduction At Universiti Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Spanish Institute, students demonstrate a lack of interest in language studies compared with the hands-on tasks at the workshop in their major courses. Though various efforts have been put in to attract and sustain students’ attention in class, their achievements in languages, especially Spanish, are unsatisfactory. The quotation from Confucius – “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” – makes it necessary for an innovative way of fuelling Spanish learning to be fashioned. Despite the widespread availability of references on games and language learning from major databases, most of them revolve around constantly evolving digital game-based learning and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning in classrooms. The relationship between reality games and Spanish language acquisition is relatively immature. Although initial integrations of games into language development are already in place, there is, in general, a lack of practical models supporting these integrations. In this research, we suggested that the Adapted Version of The Amazing Race (AVOTAR), a popular reality television game show, can promote Spanish language learning in the Malaysian context. AVOTAR is a meticulously designed approach, assimilating educational outcomes into games to function as an innovative teaching tool to promote the learning of foreign languages, herein the Spanish language among local students. The competitive nature of the race is instrumental in eliciting learners out of their inhibition by challenging them to speak up, learn and, work in a team. This research would hopefully shed new insights on innovations in teaching to cope with the evolving learning trend nowadays. The overarching research question addressed in this novel study is: Does the Adapted Version of TAR benefit the Spanish Language Learning among Malaysian students? To attempt answering this question, areas investigated were: (a) whether AVOTAR can significantly promote Spanish language learning and acquisition, (b) whether AVOTAR can help reinforce knowledge and skills previously acquired, and (c) whether the AVOTAR effect varies with students from different backgrounds.

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Literature Review Current trends in tertiary education such as global education, internationalization of the curriculum, foreign languages across the curriculum, business language programmes, diversification of the student body, and increasing technical literacy in students have given rise to opportunities for a variety of language programmes in higher education (Paulsen, 2001). In Malaysia, a multicultural and plurilingual society, foreign language studies have gained its importance in the scope of higher learning over the past few decades. Among the many foreign languages which flourish in Malaysia, the Spanish language is one of the very first introduced in Malaysia. In 1972, Malaysia first offered Spanish through Universiti Malaya (Martínez-Vellón, 2006). To date, 12 local public universities, not including the growing number of private institutions, offer Spanish courses. According to the Instituto Cervantes Yearbook (2006), 14 million students took Spanish as a foreign language worldwide, making Spanish the second most studied language of the world, closely trailing behind the English language. This situation reflects the vast market value and demand of Spanish spoken by more than 450 million people across all continents. Language learning is a tedious process. It requires a lot of hard work and effort which must be maintained over a long period of time (Wright, Betteridge & Buckby, 1984). This becomes a pertinent challenge that language teachers have to face to ensure that meaningful learning takes place. Pérez-Paredes and Martínez-Sánchez (2001) concluded that among the various affective variables which influence foreign language learning, foreign language, anxiety (FLA) is the most outstanding. Hence, starting from late 70s, games were gradually introduced pedagogically into the education framework to reduce anxiety in the language classrooms. Since then, many experienced foreign language teachers and practitioners have shifted their focus from conventional instruction-based teaching to a more mentally engaging learning strategy (Chen, 2005; Tomlinson & Masuhara, 2009). The affective and cognitive advantages and effectiveness of games were elaborated substantially over the past two decades. Now, games are part of the modern culture and are proven to be able to facilitate language learning (Oblinger, 2006); and are often, with proper planning, able to provide learning experiences or “comprehensible input” that lead to effective language acquisition (Krashen, 1981). In addition, a game environment creates immersive learning experiences and intrinsic motivation, which in turn lead to effective learning (Paras & Bizzocchi, 2005).

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Apart from being outstandingly constructive in the educational field, games are arriving at the forefront of media to become an important device to engage generations of people (Games: Tools for Mass Communication, n.d.). Reality television game shows saw an explosion of global popularity in 2000, and various studies on electronic media also reported reality shows rendered gratification and entertainment to viewers (Hall, 2006; Papacharissi & Mendelson, 2007). The famous reality game show The Amazing Race (TAR) has made a global impact and has been successfully aired in dozens of countries. According to Amazon.com, TAR ranked in top DVDs sold along with Project Runway and America’s Next Top Model. Moreover, TAR obtained a rate of 7.9 out of 10 from the Internet Movie Database (IMDB). This further affirms the close relevance or engagement of such shows to the current generation of viewers who contribute largely to the students in our classrooms. Innovation is not a new phenomenon. Universities are now in the midst of genuine revolution of teaching, experimenting with alternative teaching strategies that focus on the needs of students to promote quality learning. In an attempt to develop an approach which allows students to be hands-on in a language learning context, inspiration is drawn from The Amazing Race (TAR). This Adapted Version of TAR (AVOTAR) intends to inspire, educate, and, at the same time, reduce anxiety (FLA as mentioned above) among students in a spectrum of skills and subject matters. AVOTAR is a systematic attempt to investigate the effects of an educational initiative and an experiment on student learning. Innovation nourishes more innovation, a hybrid of reality game and foreign language learning will hopefully become a viable instrument in rejuvenating and sustaining the foreign language learning among new generations.

Research Methodology Figure 1 illustrates the research methodology intended for this research study which consists of three main sections.

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Start

Literature reviews, planning and discussions

Development of research framework

Section 1: Identification of research targets Repetition for at least three replicates

Section 2: Implementation of research

Section 3: Result analyses

ƒSystematic sampling ƒParticipants from different backgrounds (UniKL MSI and USM students)

ƒTeaching & learning ƒAVOTAR intervention ƒAssessment ƒExperimental design analysis – ANOVA ƒPair tests

Report writing and preparation for journal publication

End Figure 1: Flowchart of the research methodology

Section 1: Identification of Research Dargets We intended to elicit the participation of a minimum of 60 students drawn from the introductory-level Spanish classes at Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Spanish Institute (UniKL MSI) as well as at Universiti Sains

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Malaysia (USM), using a systematic sampling technique. These 60 students were divided equally into two groups, a control group and an experimental group. A sample of 30 students was drawn from three divisions which included Diploma and Bachelor programmes at UniKL MSI; and Spanish LAE100 at School of Languages, Literacies & Translation, USM, to facilitate the study regarding its effect across different backgrounds. The control group receive only normal classroom instructions as outlined in the subject syllabi whilst the experimental group received the same instructions with the addition of the AVOTAR fun game. This study was repeated at least three times over the course of 24 months. The overall grouping of participants for each replicate is shown in Table 1. Table 1. Grouping of participants for each replicate

Control Experimental

UniKL MSI Diploma 30 30

UniKL MSI Baccalaureate 30 30

USM LAE 100 30 30

Section 2: Implementation of Research The instruments used in this study included a pre- and a post-test to test the Spanish language proficiency of the participants before and after the AVOTAR fun game. The participants were exposed to the normal classroom instructions as scheduled. The pre-test was administered two weeks before the AVOTAR intervention, and the post-test was scheduled two weeks after. A questionnaire survey was carried out to collect feedback from the participants, including their written comments right after the post-test.

Section 3: Result Analyses Results collected were analysed statistically using ANOVA, and comparative studies on different backgrounds were done using paired tests.

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Anticipated Results The expected outcomes from this study would contribute to the area of foreign language acquisition in three domains: x An attempt to establish links between theories/principles of language acquisition and language learning with reference to the Spanish language, particularly in the Malaysian context. x Development of a pedagogical innovation: AVOTAR (adapted version of The Amazing Race) would be an unprecedented and tailor-made innovation that would suit the needs of Malaysian students in enhancing their Spanish Language learning and acquisition. x Publication of research findings in academic journals that would illuminate areas of improvisations for related subject matters. This research was a promising pioneer study nationally and internationally. Connsidering the absence of prepoer reports documenting adapted versions of any reality game in Spanish language-learning, members of this research team had already undertaken efforts to present papers and workshops on this area in national and international conferences, e.g. the 19th MELTA International Conference and the 2010 MELTA National Literacies Day. The research team pulled together dedicated individuals with expertise of different backgrounds and hence were holistically equipped to embark on the proposed research. In this workshop, we wished to share some successful ideas on how AVOTAR can be an effective tool not only in promoting interest in Spanish language learning but in other subject matters as they deem fit. Ideas for AVOTAR together with the learning objectives and outcomes compiled during the 19th MELTA International Conference 2010 are listed in Table 2.

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Table 2. Ideas for AVOTAR compiled from the workshop at the 19th MELTA International Conference 2010 1.

a. b. c. d.

2.

a. b. c.

3.

Speaking Ordering food at a restaurant Able to order food plus some simple greetings Engage students in reading and identifying texts Reading Identify items from text-cum-photo session (fun element) Able to identify certain vocabularies

Learning Outcome

a.

Learning Objective Skill Game Learning Outcome

Listening to a particular song Fill in the blanks e.g.: Able to identify the simple past tense

Learning Objective Skill Game Learning Outcome

Recognizing the significance of nonverbal gestures in communication Body language Charade Able to demonstrate feelings and ideas without inhibitions

Learning Objective Skill Game Learning Outcome

Giving and receiving instructions

a. b. c. d.

5.

Learning Objective Skill Game

Make and control simple conversation

d.

b. c. d. 4.

Learning Objective Skill Game Learning Outcome

a. b. c. d.

Grammar learning (any)

Teamwork Bed making Able to give and receive information from others

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6.

a. b. c. d.

7.

a. b. c. d.

8.

a. b. c. d.

9.

a. b. c. d.

10.

a. b. c. d.

Learning Objective Skill Game Learning Outcome

Proverbs / Idioms Interaction with others Charade Able to interpret gestures to improve interaction skill

Learning Objective Skill Game Learning Outcome

Proverbs / Idioms

Learning Objective Skill Game Learning Outcome

Make use of the pronunciation learnt

Learning Objective Skill Game Learning Outcome Learning Objective Skill Game Learning Outcome

Interaction with others Win, lose or draw Able to interpret drawings to improve interaction skill

Pronunciation Singing Able to pronounce correctly (selfmonitoring) Make use of the pronunciation learnt Pronunciation Read the lyrics & guess the titles Able to pronounce correctly (selfmonitoring) Vocabulary Drill Memory & listening Spelling Bee Able to spell certain vocabularies correctly

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a. b. c. d.

12.

a. b. c. d.

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Learning Objective Skill Game Learning Outcome

Exploring language variation and development Identifying and retrieving information Crossword puzzle Able to appreciate the differences of another language and culture

Learning Objective Skill Game Learning Outcome

Develop interest and independent learning IT Internet games (eg: FreeRice) Demonstrate ability to obtain information from online resources

References Chen, I. J. (2005). Using games to promote communicative skills in language learning. The Internet TESL Journal, 11(2). Retrieved from The Internet TESL Journal database. Games: Tools for mass communication (n.d.) Retrieved from http://schedule.sxsw.com/events/event_IAP7437 Hall, A. (2006). Viewers perceptions of reality programs. Communication Quarterly, 54(2), 191-211. Instituto Cervantes (2006). Enciclopedia del español en el mundo, Anuario del Instituto Cervantes 2006-2007. Retrieved from http://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/anuario/anuario_06-07/default.htm Krashen, S. D. (1981). Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. Oxford: Pergamon Press. Martínez-Vellón, S. (July 2006). El español en Malasia. Barataria, Apuntes de la cultura española en Malasia. pps 6-9. Oblinger, D. (2006) Simulations, games, and larning. EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative. ID: ELI3004. Retrieved from EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative database. Papacharissi, Z. & Mendelson, A. L. (2007). An exploratory study of reality appeal: uses and gratifications of reality TV shows. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 51(2), 355-370.

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Paras, B. & Bizzocchi, J. (2005). Game, motivation, and effective learning: An integrated model for educational game design. Paper presented at the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA): Changing Views – Worlds in Play. Vancouver, BC, 16–20 June. Paulsen, J. B. (2001). New era trends and technologies in foreign language learning: An annotated bibliography. IMEJ, 3(1). Retrieved from Wake Forest University, http://imej.wfu.edu/articles/2001/1/05/index.asp Perez-Paredes, P. & Martinez-Sanchez, F. (2001). A Spanish version of the foreign language classroom anxiety scale: Revisiting Aida’s factor analysis. RESLA, 14, 337-352. Tomlinson, B. & Masuhara, H. (2009). Playing to learn: A review of physical games in second language acquisition. Simulation & Gaming, 40(5), 645-668. Wright, A., Betteridge, D. & Buckby, M. (1984). Games for language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

PART IV: NEW INTERVENTIONS

CHAPTER XX CREATIVE VOCABULARY ACTIVITIES IN AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSROOM MANESHA KAUR RAJENDRA SINGH AND MANJET KAUR MEHAR SINGH

This study assessed Malaysian secondary school students’ level of vocabulary. Based on the researchers’ observation, evaluation of students’ class work, test results, and interviews with students, it was established that the students did not have enough vocabulary to use English as their second language although they had had formal exposure to the language for more than six years. This paper discusses the intervention by the researchers to expand the students’ vocabulary. Interventions involved creative vocabulary classroom activities such as language games, a spelling bee, vocabulary testing, and creation of a student dictionary. Findings from the study revealed that a variety of intervention has not only had a positive impact on students’ vocabulary acquisition in their comprehension, literature component and writing but also increased students’ enthusiasm in learning English.

Introduction In learning a language, vocabulary is the focal point of acquisition. As McCarthy (1992) put it, “without words to express a wider range of meanings, communication in L2 just cannot happen in any meaningful way”. Vocabulary has been gradually recognized as crucial to language use in which insufficient vocabulary knowledge of the learners leads to difficulties in the second language learning. Furthermore, vocabulary knowledge is critical to reading development as expansion of a student’s vocabulary is important to comprehension. By acquiring vocabulary knowledge, students are able to understand the meaning of the word.

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Vocabulary gives students a boost in their language and literacy development, helping them to enhance their creativity and imagination. A student’s mind is a fascinating place, and if it is powered by a constantly growing brain, there is no end in sight. Language empowerment through having high count of vocabulary allows students to develop their language skills and fully utilize it. As a direct result, students are privileged in having a litany of words at their disposal.

Statement of Problem The Form 1 students in one particular school had been found to lack adequate vocabulary based on their performance in classroom activities and lessons as well as standardized evaluations at school level. The majority of these students are attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) students in the classroom. Most of them also failed to pay close attention to details, made careless mistakes in schoolwork, had difficulty paying attention for a long period during tasks or play, and did not seem to listen when spoken to directly.

Purpose of Study The purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of creative vocabulary activities in an English language classroom to improve students’ English language proficiency as well as to increase their vocabulary use. Therefore, the study attempted to explore the use of creative vocabulary activities in an English language classroom.

Research Questions The study aims to answer the following questions: 1. To what extent can vocabulary acquisition be increased through educational interventions? 2. Are the students able to demonstrate improvement in their English language proficiency after the implementation of creative vocabulary activities in the English language classroom?

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Literature Review One of the most crucial challenges that learners face during the process of second language learning is learning vocabulary, as insufficient vocabulary knowledge of the learners leads to difficulties in second language learning (Asgari & Mustapha, 2011). The key to successful vocabulary instruction builds upon students’ background knowledge and makes explicit the connections between new vocabulary and what they already know. By building connections between “old” vocabulary and new words found in their reading, students begin to understand relationships among words they encounter. When instruction is based on building connections, students are not just asked to supply words, but rather to describe how words fit in the stories and informational text that they read (Logan, Nichols & Rupley, 1999). The increasing awareness of the influence of prior knowledge in the reading process has given even greater importance to vocabulary development. A reader’s vocabulary serves as a means of labelling the ideas (or schemata) that already exist in the mind (Heimlich & Pittelman, 1986). If a word is well integrated with other knowledge, accessing that particular word is likely to result in accessing other ideas (Mezynski, 1983). Students need to be entering word meanings with their existing knowledge to build conceptual representations of vocabulary in multiple contextual situations (Logan, Nichols & Rupley, 1999). Words that are semantically related allow exercises to probe the relationships among the instructed words and also to integrate those words with students’ prior knowledge about the concepts (Mezynski, 1983). Semantic analysis has many different names such as mapping, webbing, and feature analysis. All these procedures help students place new words in their existing schema when we make connections among the words they already know about a specific topic or concept (Manning, 1999). Word memorization is important in language learning, and memorization is helped when words are recycled regularly. Vocabulary development is a continuous process, where learners meet the words many times in their learning to increase and deepen their knowledge and their use of words in the foreign language (Cameron, 2001). It is also facilitated through using meaningful activities to practise vocabulary, as it provides the learners with opportunities to memorize the words effectively, more than if they just practise them orally by drilling or by using flashcards. Activities which involve learners in thinking about the words and making decisions about them allow learners to remember the words effectively. As Thornbury (2002) states, “To ensure long-term recall and retention, new

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knowledge should be integrated to old/existing knowledge, i.e. they need to be placed into working memory, e.g. being compared, combined, matched, sorted, visualized and re-shuffled, as well as being repeatedly filed away and recalled”. Therefore, students need exposure to a variety of activities that challenge their thinking and promote their decision-making. Duke and Moses (2003) also pointed to the effectiveness of raising word consciousness by playing with words through games, songs, and humour, and encouraging children to recognize when they have encountered new words and noticed special characteristics of words. Students who do not reveal interest in learning will not achieve optimally. Purposeful learning in vocabulary development means that students perceive reasons for achieving. The goal of purposeful learning is for students to perceive the values inherent in vocabulary activities (Ediger, 1999). Cooperative learning also provides second language learners with contexts (Jacob et al., 1996). In order to create contexts, some teachers design backgrounds for a story using beautiful pictures presented via PowerPoint for each group. The teacher asks each group to play different roles to make up a dialogue using the vocabulary words they have already learned and based on the content of the picture. The role of the learner in vocabulary instruction is of significance – students need to generate meaning. When students work to process stimuli (by constructing a relationship rather than by memorizing a given one), the better their retention will be. The length of the programme is also important so students have time to develop target content and skills and students have opportunities to encounter new words in many contexts. Repeated exposure to vocabulary provides students with the chance to experience vocabulary words in a variety of context. Practice in context is an essential aspect of skill and content development (Blachowicz, 1985). In addition, the study by Brett, Hurley, and Rothlein (1996) showed that reading aloud, as well as repeated reading aloud of stories, encouraged incidental learning of vocabulary. The number of times a word occurred in a story was positively related to the likelihood that a student would learn that word. Those students with smaller vocabularies prior to hearing the story learned as much as students with greater word knowledge and those students remembered the words that they had learned after three months. On the teaching skills of vocabulary items, Frisby (1957: 98) commented that “While the teacher himself is not concerned with the actual selection of vocabulary for textbook purposes since practically all the books we use are based on limited vocabularies, it is important that the teacher should know the principles which underlie vocabulary selection”. Thus, it signifies that a language teacher should be innovative and

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proficient in the application of methodologies pertaining to teaching vocabulary items in a classroom situation.

Methodology This action research-based study was part of an ongoing research in a rural area school in the state of Kedah, Malaysia. The respondents were a group of Form 1 students aged 13. The number of students who took part in this is study was 25 (N = 25). The school is located at a remote area known as Sanglang in the district of Kubang Pasu, Kedah. From document search from the school authority, it was found that most of the students in this school came from poor family backgrounds. They had very little interest in English language. Within the heterogeneous classroom of 25 students, there are three students who are not able to read a single word in English.

Figure 1. Simple Action Research Model

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The action research model used for this study was a simple model of a cyclical nature. Stephen Kemmis had developed a simple model of the cyclical nature of the typical action research process, as depicted in Figure 1 (MacIsaac, 1995). Each cycle had four steps: plan, act, observe, and reflect. In tandem with the steps in this model, the researchers planned their study to measure the success of the creative vocabulary activities intervention by selecting suitable vocabulary activities for the students. Then, the activities were carried out during the English language lesson in the classroom. The researchers also conducted evaluations to measure the effectiveness of the creative vocabulary activities. Lastly, one of the researchers, who was also the teacher teaching the respondents, reflected on her research process and findings. The researchers also invited the students to reflect on their learning process in the acquisition and retention of new vocabulary.

Design The creative vocabulary learning tools used in the English lesson were cue cards, fun English games, pictures, and pronunciation of words. Independent variables were teacher-selected vocabulary. The dependent variable is the number of correct definitions or examples given for assigned vocabulary words. The tools used for vocabulary learning were as follows: Cue cards. The teacher used cue cards in the classroom. Cards of size 3 x 5 had a term written on one side and either a definition of it or a description of its significance on the other. Flash cards provided students strategies to use when they encountered difficult words. Example: the teacher wrote “eat” on the cue card, and pasted the cue card on the whiteboard so that students were able to look at it when the teacher explained. When the teacher had completed explaining, students were asked to copy all those words in their vocabulary book. Fun English games. The teacher carried out authentic activities like playing games in the class. Games such as jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles, wheel-of-fortune, and other exciting games were used during the English language lesson. These games helped to boost students’ interest in participating in the English language lesson. Teachers also played games like wheel-of-fortune in the classroom. Students were divided into two groups, and they worked in groups to answer the questions. As a reward, the groups would be rewarded different kinds of prize. Pictures. Teaching vocabulary could become easier with the use of cards with pictures. In this way, words were remembered by their colour

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or position on a page or their association with other words, pictures, or phrases. Images would link to a word, and words could also be linked to other words. For example, a student might link the word “car”’ with “garage” and with “mechanic”. Students enjoyed looking at pictures. They tended to get excited with pictures. Using pictures was an easy way to teach them. Some of my students were able to construct simple sentences by using pictures. Previously, it was difficult for these students to construct sentences in the writing class. Later, the students were able to construct simple and clear sentences using pictures. Pronunciation of words. The teacher presented seven vocabulary words (and students read them out loud). The students re-read the seven words and wrote the meaning of the words. The teacher discussed the meanings of the words with the students who took turns to look up each word in the dictionary to see if the meaning of the word was correct. Students wrote the correct meaning into the vocabulary section of their book. The teacher-made vocabulary quiz was given at the end of the week. In a way, by reading aloud, the students tended to memorize faster. They tended to remember faster the words that they spelled out.

Findings The students were found to have improved their spelling ability. They were able to easily spell words which they had learned in the classroom. Initially, these students used to make a number of spelling mistakes. For a 10-word spelling evaluation, they used to get only three or four words correct. After a few months of creative vocabulary activities intervention, the students improved. Out of 10 words, the majority of students got six or seven words correctly spelled. Table 1. Improvement in Spelling Spelling Let Told King Thief Giant Tiny

4 April 2011 Lat Tall Geng Tift Jygod Tyny

22 June 2011 Let Told King Thief Giant Tiny

The above is a part of the data analysis from the research in the classroom with the students. After less than three months, the students had improved

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in their spelling. They could even construct simple sentences. On the basis of such improvement, the method of enhancing the students’ vocabulary can be relied upon.

Discussion Teacher’s Reflection The results showed that out of 25 students, 22 students had improved their vocabulary knowledge in the classroom. These students could now even use the new words that they had learned to communicate in English lessons. However, the three students who were identified as being unable to read a single word in English were still struggling very hard. These three students were not able to read, understand, or even write in English. Hence, the teacher worked on providing remedial activities for these three students – teaching them to read from the very basic level. Overall, 88% students showed the success by improving their vocabulary knowledge, while 12% showed lack of interest in the classroom. Teachers in the school, which was the research site, have to work harder on these 12% students. The teacher-researcher actually took a few steps to get closer to these students, approaching them as their friend. For these three students, different kinds of task were prepared, which were on a par with vocabulary learning activities suited to primary level. Latterly, these students started showing initial interest in English after seeing their friends being able to communicate in the English language.

Students’ Reflection One of the more significant findings to emerge from this study was that students had shown improvement in the classroom. Most (88%) of the students had improved their knowledge and use of vocabulary. It is interesting to note that these students can now communicate with each other using the new words they had learned. They feel happy and excited to learn new words in the English classroom. On the other hand, 12% of the students are still struggling in the English lesson. According to them, English language is hard to learn and they do not have any interest in learning it. These students always find reasons not to learn and participate in the class activities. They also like to distract the learning process of the other students. As for the three students, they are at the moment keen to learn English but they are shy and they do not have the courage because they were not

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exposed to English language before this. Previously, these students did not value the importance of English language. Now, they, at times will bring their workbooks to school. They will also participate in the class activities but at the same time disrupt the learning process in the classroom by making noise. Vocabulary knowledge is one of the necessary skills for proficient reading. Students can communicate more effectively if their vocabulary knowledge is good. Now, these students in the school have expanded the word count in their vocabulary bank. This has encouraged them to increase their self-confidence as well as their self-esteem.

Conclusion Based on the creative vocabulary research which is still ongoing in this school, it is found that the students have very poor knowledge and practical application of vocabulary in English Language. First, they are not keen to learn the language. Teachers have a role to play to boost their interest by carrying out a few authentic activities to attract their interest in the English language. There are many other authentic methods that English teachers could apply in English classroom to help these students to improve their vocabulary size. At the same time, steps should also be taken to improve vocabulary instruction among teachers also.

References Asgari, A., & Mustapha, G. (2011). Type of Vocabulary Learning Strategies Used by ESL Students in University Putra Malaysia. http://www/ccsenet.org/elt 4(2). Blachowicz, L. Z. (1985). Vocabulary development and reading: From research to instruction. The Reading Teacher, 5, 877-881. Brett, A., Hurley, M. & Rothlein (1996). Vocabulary acquisition from listening to stories and explanations of target words. The Elementary School Journal, 96, 415-422. Cameron, L. (2001). Teaching Languages to Young Learners. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Duke, N. & Moses, A. (2003). 10 Research Tested Ways to Build Children’s Vocabulary. New York, NY: Scholastic. Ediger, M. (1999). Reading and vocabulary development. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 26, 7-16. Frisby, A.W. (1957). Teaching English. The English Language Book Society and Longmans Green.

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Heimlich, J. E., & Pittelman, S. D. (1986). Semantic Mapping: Classroom Applications. Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Jacob, E., Rottenberg, L., Patrick, S. & Wheeler, E. (1996). Cooperative Learning: Context and Opportunities for Acquiring Academic English. TESOL Quarterly, 30(9), 253-280. Johnson, D., Pittelman, S. & Heimlich, J. (1986). Semantic mapping. The Reading Teacher, 39, 778-783. Logan, W. H., Nichols, W. D. & Rupley, W. H. (1999). Vocabulary Instruction in a Balanced Reading Program. The Reading Teacher, 52, 336-347. McCarthy, M. (1992). Vocabulary (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. MacIsaac, D. (1995). An Introduction to Action Research. http://www.phy.nau.edu/~danmac/actionrsch.html (22/03/1998). Manning, M. (1999). Helping words grow. Teaching Pre-K, 29, 103-106. Mezynski, K. (1983). Issues Concerning the Acquisition of Knowledge: Effects of Vocabulary Training on Reading Comprehension. Review of Educational Research, 53, 253-279. Thornbury, S. (2002). How to Teach Vocabulary. Harlow: Longman. http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/articles/vocabulary-autonomy http://is.muni.cz/th/123676/pedf_b/Bachelor_ThesisUsing_pictures_in_teaching_vocabulary.pdf http://www.academon.com/Research-Paper-Vocabulary-andComprehension/97808 http://www.bridgew.edu/library/cags_projects/mmorgan/web%20page/lite rature%20review.htm http://buddies.org/articles/Vocabulary.doc http://buddies.org/articles/Voc1.html http://webb.nmu.edu/Departments/Education/SiteSections/Students/GradP apers/Projects/Hansen_Kristina_MP.pdf http://marifa.hct.ac.ae/files/2011/07/The-Effects-of-Using-Games-toReinforce-Vocabulary-Learning.pdf https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/TEV_A4. pdf http://www.bridgew.edu/library/cags_projects/mmorgan/web%20page/lite rature%20review.htm

CHAPTER XXI MEETING LEARNERS’ NEEDS: THE EFFECT OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCESBASED ACTIVITIES ON LISTENING PROFICIENCY MA’SSOUMEH BEMANI NAEINI, ZAHRA ZOHOORIAN VAHID BAGHBAN AND AMBIGAPATHY PANDIAN

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory (MIT) has been found to provide for meeting learners’ individual differences. However, there is not much investigation in the implementation of the theory focusing on listening proficiency in an EFL setting. This study aims to examine the potential effects of MI-based activities on Iranian TEFL university students. Based on the two assumptions derived from MIT, the subjects were divided into two intact groups, with 30 subjects in each. The subjects were randomly assigned to Experimental Group 1 and Experimental Group 2. McKenzie’s (1999) MI Inventory was used to identify the subjects’ preferred intelligences. Also, the participants’ listening proficiency was measured by administrating listening sections of a retired TOEFL test before and after the intervention of MI-based activities. Data analysis using paired sample t-test suggests a significant difference between pre- and post-listening scores as well as between the two experimental groups. The findings indicate that better results are obtained once teaching methodology accommodates activities across intelligences rather than considering just the preferred intellectual strengths on the part of learners.

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Literature Review In the realm of language acquisition, Krashen and Terrell (1983) focused on a non-threatening environment in which the learners communicate through receiving and giving messages. In such an environment, the challenge for teachers of English as a Second Language/English as a Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) is to use teaching strategies that effectively promote development of English in all four skills. Teachers can facilitate the acquisition of English even more effectively if they use multiple strategies that elicit active involvement (Terrell, 1982). One way for teachers to help EFL students to be more successful in learning English is to broaden their teaching approaches and methods. In support of this fact, Christison (1998) reported that in ESL/EFL courses, instructors tended to focus on linguistic and visual clues to teach language, which may not reach students who do not respond to those clues. Then, there is a need to develop a model for using Multiple Intelligences (MI) and to develop the content that reflects those principles. Christison (1998) considered learning to use the intelligences in problem situations as the first step which will lead to discovering that using different intelligences creates a richer and more varied approach to learning. Such an approach is beneficial to the students in that they become aware of their own and their fellow students’ strengths, and examine through cooperative group work the contributions those differences could make. Teachers, in turn, structure activities that rely on the strengths of several intelligence areas. Finally, teacher-training programmes will get to upgrade their curriculum by providing trainees with the kind of training relevant to their own instructional situations in three areas: identifying students’ current MI, hence their learning strategies through surveys, interviews, or other means; helping individual students discern which strategies are most relevant to their intelligences and learning styles; and aiding students in developing orchestrated strategy use rather than a scattered approach. From another perspective, listening has been considered as the cornerstone of language development. For instance, it has been estimated to be the most frequently used language skill. Of the time most individuals devote to communicating, 45% is spent on listening, 30% on speaking, 16% on reading, and approximately 9% on writing (Nichols & Stevens, 1957). Asher calculated that “by the time a child reaches age 6, he or she has listened to his or her native language for a minimum of 17,520 hours, equivalent to more than 50 years of college instruction” (1982: 2). Also, owing to the development of communicative and proficiency approaches

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to language teaching over the past decades, listening in the second/foreign language classroom is not regarded as a “passive” or “receptive” skill any more (Richards, 1983; Morley, 1990; Feyten, 1991; Joiner, 1991; Murphy, 1991; Field, 2000; Wong, 2001). The term “passive” was inappropriate; it suggests that the listener is a mere bystander or recipient of input during language classroom hours. Many researchers and theorists (e.g. Joiner, 1991; Murphy, 1991; Thompson & Rubin, 1996; O’Malley, et al., 1989; Purdy, 1997; Vandergrift, 2006) have realized that listening is an active process in a way that meaning is constructed from a stream of sounds. It is not a process of just hearing or perceiving the sounds, but it also involves the listeners to attempt to comprehend what message is being delivered by the speaker. According to Purdy (1997), listeners actively try to comprehend the information and feelings in what they hear by paying attention to not only what the speaker says, but also to how it is said, and in what context the language is used. Moreover, literature reveals that listening has an important role in students’ academic success (e.g. Feyten, 1991; Field, 2002, 2003). In this respect, listening has been regarded as an enabling skill, helping students with other skills. For instance, the key to achieving proficiency in speaking is the proficiency developed in listening comprehension (Dunkel (1991). Nord (1981) noted that proficiency in listening comprehension is “readily transferable to other language skills, (including speaking and reading”. It is, therefore, the responsibility of EFL and L2 teachers to explore innovative ways to help students improve their listening comprehension skills. Nevertheless, in spite of a good deal of emphasis on the importance of listening skills in current textbooks, listening still remains a source of difficulty for language learners. Much remains to be explored about how best to teach listening. The Problem. In order to deal with the problem of poor language proficiency, listening comprehension in particular, EFL teachers need to seek ways that really work in their English classrooms. They also need to find out what educational theories underpin effective practices and what EFL research says about effective ways of learning by English language learners. Since the time when the importance of listening was realized, the number of listening activities began to increase in English textbooks (Rubin, 1994). Nevertheless, in spite of all the importance given to it, listening has not received the due attention in ESL/EFL instruction. For example, Ferris (1998) conducted a survey on the most emphasized skills in ESL settings. According to a number of ESL students in the survey, the primary focus of their classes was on reading and writing.

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The neglect of teaching listening is especially the case of EFL settings where English is taught as a school subject and is used only inside the classroom. EFL students have practically very little exposure to the real target language as experienced by native speakers. Consequently, these students face great difficulties in understanding English when they have to communicate in English. For instance, the average Iranian EFL learner completes one year of English instruction based on a system of two semesters with 16 weeks of instruction and three hours of classroom hours of English per week. Thus, this learner hears English for only about 96 classroom hours, with perhaps an additional 50 to 100 hours of language lab exercises or other voluntary listening practices. Listening comprehension in Iranian EFL classes is not aimed primarily as a reading skill is (Sedaghat, 2001; Askarzadeh, 2007; Jahangard, 2007; Mahdavy, 2008; Rahimi & Abedini, 2009). As a matter of fact, there is a lack of success in meeting the expectations of the learners, teachers, and experts involved in developing the EFL curriculum (Sadeghi Bennis, 2003; Zare, 2004; Gorjian, 2005; Hayati, 2009). As noted by Jahangard (2007), such shortcomings can be attributed to a number of factors involved in the various stages of curriculum planning including the stage of means/ends specification. Thus, it is high time listening proficiency received due attention in the Iranian context. In today’s globalized society, where there is nearly universal exposure to television, radio, the Internet, and satellite broadcasts, there is an increasing need for them to develop their listening ability so that they can receive and process information through listening, more than ever before (Zare, 2004; Ahmadi, 2007).

Background of the Study Although there are a number of advocates of Multiple Intelligences Theory (MIT) who have described and realized the beneficial contribution of the theory to English learners’ academic achievement (e.g. Campbell, Campbell & Dickinson, 1996; Lazear, 1999; Armstrong, 2000; Kallenbach & Viens, 2002), there is no reference to the role of MI in the higher achievement of listening comprehension and the strategies and tasks involved. There is a general agreement, however, that listening competence could well be associated with linguistic intelligence. For instance, as described by Gardner (1983, 1993), linguistic intelligence is a domain which encompasses a variety of specific abilities like verbal comprehension (the ability to understand the meanings of both individual words and passages, either written or spoken). Such a relationship has also

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been justified and supported by Teele (2004), who stated that “students with a high level of linguistic intelligence have highly developed auditory skills and process information through listening”. On the other hand, based on the definition of listening by Rost (2002), listening involves different processes such as receiving input, constructing meaning, negotiating meaning through interaction, and responding through involvement, imagination, and empathy. In addition, listening is defined as “the active and dynamic process of attending, perceiving, interpreting, remembering and responding to the expressed (verbal and nonverbal) needs, concerns and information offered by other human beings” (Purdy, 1997). Therefore it can be hypothesized that the above-mentioned processes involved in listening can be associated with different MI. For instance, visual intelligence and abilities are needed for remembering and interpreting the context, topic, background knowledge, or schematic knowledge. Interpersonal intelligence and skills are needed for responding through interaction. Linguistic abilities can facilitate verbal processes involved in listening while kinesthetic intelligence can contribute to the process of non-verbal interaction. Musical intelligence can contribute to the process of perceiving the sound system of the language. Intrapersonal intelligence is needed for self-perception which is, in turn, needed for responding. Logical intelligence can facilitate analysing information about semantic and structural elements of the input and naturalist intelligence is needed for perceiving, interpreting and remembering patterns of speech in the incoming input. Relevant Studies. In spite of the emphasis on the superiority of listening by innovative methods, the dominant teaching methodologies being practised in Iran are mainly the Grammar Translation Method (GTM) and Audio-Lingual Methods (ALM) (Kamyab, 2004; Sadeghi Bennis, 2005; Jahangard, 2007; Hayati, 2009). These methods overemphasize grammar, vocabulary, and reading in teaching at the neglect of writing, listening, and speaking. In fact, de-emphasizing such skills means de-emphasizing communicative skills which are now highly requisite (Brown, 1994; Richards & Rodgers, 2003). As pointed out by Hayati (2009), most of the Iranian university students’ needs are not met. They take English classes just because they need to pass the exams, knowing that they are not able to gain mastery in English during their English courses. In sum, from a methodological standpoint, most Iranian EAP instructors merely emphasize the linguistic aspects of language like doing exercizes and memorizing words. In other words, there is little practice in providing communicative settings in the classroom.

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Regarding the existing problems of teaching English at the tertiary level, the evidence suggests that the initial and continuing focus is given to reading at the expense of other skills. This is happening while a more recent trend in the field calls for attending to all other skills and sub-skills as well. For example, EAP students need to develop their listening skills for lecture comprehension when they attend international conferences or pursue their higher education in foreign countries where the language of instruction is English (Hayati, 2009). By reviewing some of the Iranian studies done on different aspects of listening, one may well realize that the focus of most of those studies is mainly on the factors involved, such as the variation of techniques or the different types of texts. However, although a number of studies have paid attention to learner variables and the listening strategies employed by the learners, very few Iranian studies have explored the role of individual differences like MI on listening comprehension. In spite of the approval for MIT in EFL/ESL teaching situations (e.g. Christison, 1996, 1998; Campbell, 1997; Christison & Kennedy, 1999; Lazear, 1999; Armstrong, 2000), it has barely been used, much less in Iran, and there are still some aspects of language learning, like listening comprehension, which need to be explored. Although the studies carried out so far are very rare indeed, it has inspired some research studies like those conducted by Littlewood (1984), Russell (1996), and Borek (2003), who offered some activities that take into consideration the different multiple intelligences. Such research findings support the implementation of MIT in learning situations, arriving at the conclusion that it is very effective in improving test scores, the mastery of core knowledge, student motivation and attitudes, teacher enthusiasm, and learning for students with learning disabilities. Literature informs us that EFL teachers should play an important role in personalizing learning. “Learning must become personalised for all students” (Teele, 1996). To do so, teachers can provide an opportunity for their students to understand how they think by identifying their dominant intelligence. They may enhance their teaching by adapting their teaching strategies to the learners’ strength in multiple intelligences because, as recommended by Gardner (1993), the use of different educational approaches and a variety of activities like games, images, stories, music, and so on in an integrated system of education would take individual differences into account. Thus, teachers would successfully use the students’ natural talents, enhancing their motivation and attitudes towards their learning task. (For further information on the implementation of MIT

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in EFL teaching and learning settings, especially in Iran, see Bemani Naeini & Pandian, 2010.) It is in this respect, then, that the present study sought to find out whether MI plays a role in developing listening. If so, how can EFL instructors enhance listening instruction by considering students’ diverse intelligences? Research Objectives and Questions. In order to find out whether developments in instructional design through incorporating individual differences like MI can have a positive impact on learning outcomes, mainly of listening proficiency, it was necessary to consider: • • •

the intellectual aspects of individual differences like MI profiles the manner in which a change of instruction can accommodate individual differences through the use of the learners’ MI profiles such implications as might have positive impact on listening.

Addressing the above mentioned points, this study sought answers to the following research questions: 1. Is there any change in the participants’ listening proficiency scores as a result of the intervention of MI-based activities for each of the two experimental groups? 2. To what extent is there a difference between Iranian TEFL students’ listening proficiency scores before and after the intervention of MI-based activities for all the subjects, regardless of their MI profiles? 3. Is there a difference between Iranian TEFL students’ pre-listening and post-listening scores across different MI profiles?

Methodology Procedure Participants. The whole group (about 300) of Iranian university students majoring in TEFL at Mashhad Islamic Azad University (MIAU) was chosen as the statistical population, from which a total of 60 students were randomly selected based on their year of enrolment in the university. The subjects of this study, then, comprised a total of 60 Iranian TEFL university students consisting of 50 females and 10 males, with an age range of 19 to 26 years old. They were sophomore students who were

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attending Conversation 2 classes (for four credit units) upon their successful completion of Conversation 1. The subjects (N = 60) were equally divided into two groups randomly assigned as Experimental Group 1 (EG1) and Experimental Group 2 (EG2) with a number of 30 students in each group. Since she had to adhere to the protocol of the university regarding the appointing of students to classes, the main researcher had no control over deciding the number of participants. Thus, the intact group of the study was randomly assigned to the experiment by the decisions made by the university administration. Here, it should be admitted that due to the restriction of sample size, the extent to which one may make generalizations will be limited. However, as Hatch and Farhady (1982) suggested, a sample size of at least 30 subjects is needed to meet the requirement for a normal distribution. The two groups were assumed to be homogeneous since they were all in the same grade at the same learning situation. Also, the participants’ scores on the listening proficiency test at the beginning of the programme showed no significant difference between the two groups of the study, indicating that they were almost at the same level of proficiency. Besides, care was taken to ensure all the subjects received the same teaching materials and tests throughout the semester. All the subjects had studied English as a compulsory course for an average of 4–6 hours per week over a period of seven years at high school level. Instruments. One of the instruments used in this study was McKenzie’s (1999) MI inventory which was downloaded from http://surfaquarium.com/MI/inventory.htm. This inventory is a 90-item survey which has been developed to measure nine distinct dimensions of intelligence as proposed by Gardner. Each of the sections or subscales contains 10 items. The respondents are instructed to place a “1” next to each item they feel they identify with. If they feel the statement does not accurately describe them, they are advised to leave blank the space provided. The scores measured each subscale range from 0 to 10. A total score for each section would indicate the participant’s rate of tendency toward that particular type of intelligence. Thus, the respondents’ MI profile would be identified according to the highest score they gained in any section. A total sum of their scores in all different sections would indicate their total MI score. The content validity of the inventory was verified by a panel of experts consisting of three academic members of the English Department in MIAU with an average of 15 years of teaching and research in the field of Applied Linguistics. It was not necessary to make

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any alterations. Also, the internal consistency was measured as 0.76 Cronbach Alpha (CA) to assure reliability. In addition, two standard published tests of listening proficiency were used, i.e., the 1986 TOEFL. Each of the tests contained 50 questions of the type of PBT to measure the participants’ listening proficiency. The test had been reported to have a reliability rate of 0.86 as measured by the method of CA. There were two separate listening tests which were found in the third unit of the book. More information about the test can be obtained from http//:www.TOEFL.org. There was a time limit of 30 minutes for the test takers to complete. Thus, the subjects of the study were rated for their listening proficiency by taking two different versions of this test which were administered twice in the study – at the beginning as a pre-test and at the end, as a post-test. Data Analysis. One of the main concepts congruent with MIT is the possibility of making progress once the individual dominant intelligence is accounted for. Students may make progress in learning by exhibiting their potentials either across all intelligences or within only selected intelligences (Maker, Nielson & Rogers, 1994). The present study aimed at investigating which one of these two conditions provide ground for the students’ making progress in listening. Also, as Chapman (1993) maintains, there are two facets regarding the implications of MIT: (1) accommodating the different range of strengths on the part of students, while trying to strengthen the weaknesses; and (2) accommodating the particular strength of students, while recognizing students’ specific preferences. It was based on this rationale that the participants were divided into two groups, randomly assigned to Experimental Group 1 (EG1) and Experimental Group 2 (EG2). EG1 was intended to practise activities across all intelligences while EG2 was formed based on selected designated intelligences. EG1 received the treatment in the form of random assignments of the activities across MI profiles. The grouping was formed by the students’ own selection so that each group consisted of a variety of MI. However, for EG2, the students were divided into MI groups according to their MI profiles. This class worked on the activities which were related to each particular MI group. The approach is shown in the diagram below: EG1O1 ĺX1 ĺO2 EG2O1 ĺX2 ĺO2

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As seen above, O1 was the pre-test data and O2 the post-test data; and X1 and X2 were two different programmes. Both study groups were informed about MIT through class discussion and examples. McKenzie’s (1999) MI Inventory was adopted and distributed among the participants. The participants were given the MI Inventory to identify their MI profiles based on the type of intelligence for which they obtained the highest score. Care was taken throughout the research procedure to clarify every item for the students. For example, all the difficult words were explained in either English or Persian in cases where the participants had difficulty in understanding the items. They were also assured that the information would be kept confidential and used for research purposes only. The way each group; i.e. EG1 or EG2, was instructed differed from each other. EG1 was instructed based on the regular procedure suggested by the design of their course book (Richards, Hull & Proctor, 2005). The approach adopted for the book was based on Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). As stated by the authors, the book has been designed based on the philosophy that “learning a second or foreign language is more rewarding, meaningful, and effective when the language is used for authentic communication”. The teaching procedure used in the study groups was adopted from the teaching manual of the series of Interchange books. The instructional design for teaching listening aimed at bridging the gap between the classroom and the world outside. However, for EG2, the activities of the same teaching materials, for both the classroom and English laboratory, were selectively assigned to the MI groups in relation to the profile they fell in. In cases where there were no activities in the book to be matched with some of the MI groups, the researcher either alternated some of them or developed new ones. Lesson plans for the whole semester were accordingly designed for both groups. Because of having two groups of subjects to investigate the research problem and because it was not feasible to randomly assign individuals to each of the groups and use a true experimental design, as recommended in the literature (e.g. Cook & Campbell, 1979; Creswell, 2003; Best & Kahn, 2006; Gay, Mills & Airasian, 2009), a quasi-experimental design model, of the kind of “pre test-post test non-equivalent control group design”, as an “intervention” design, seemed to be best applicable to this study. In other words, it was an intact group who was randomly assigned to the treatment, not a random assignment of the individuals to each group. In order to provide answers to the research questions, the collected data was first analysed descriptively using measures of central tendency.

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Besides, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to explore the impact of MI on the participants’ listening proficiency. Finally, a paired sample t-test revealed the differences between the two sets of scores; i.e. those obtained from pre- and post-listening proficiency tests to determine if the intervention had any impact on the participants’ listening proficiency.

Results and Discussion Of all nine intelligence profiles, the participants were divided into eight groups at different rates. The only intelligence profile which was excluded from the study was “Existential intelligence” since there was only one participant who gained the highest score in that intelligence and thus could not be considered as a group. This particular participant was added to the Visual group due to her second highest score which was obtained for that intelligence. Then, the distribution of the subjects in intelligence profiles was identified for each study group. Table 1 summarizes the results. Table 1. Distribution of MI Groups for EG1 and EG2

Linguistic

Visual

Kinesthetic

Logical

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal

Musical

Naturalist

MI

EG1

4

5

4

3

5

3

2

4

EG2

5

5

4

4

5

7

---

---

Study Groups

To be highlighted are the information about each group’s number of participants, mean scores on listening, standard deviation (SD), and maximum and minimum scores for both pre- and post-tests, which are presented in Table 2.

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Table 2. Descriptive Statistics of Pre- and Post-Listening Scores Stage PreListening PostListening

Group

N

Minimum

Maximum

Mean

SD

EG1

30

16.00

39.00

27.03

5.933

EG2

30

17.00

40.00

26.63

6.122

EG1

27

22.00

45.00

31.77

5.713

EG2

29

20.00

41.00

30.51

6.080

By looking at the descriptives in Table 2, we can see that EG1 (30) scored a mean of 27.03 (out of a total of 50) with the SD of 5.933 for the prelistening test. Their scores ranged from a minimum of 16 to a maximum of 39. The mean score for EG2 was recorded as 26.63 (out of 50) with the SD of 6.122 ranging from 17 to 40 for the pre-listening test. On the other hand, for the post-listening test, EG1 (27) obtained a mean score of 32.77 (out of 50) with SD of 5.71, a minimum score of 22 and a maximum of 45. The mean score obtained by EG2 (29) was 30.51 with SD of 6.08 ranging from 20 to 41. In order to find out whether there was a change in the experimental groups’ listening proficiency from the beginning of the semester (pre-test) to the end of the semester (post-test), we can compare the results as shown in Table 3. Thus, having conducted a paired-samples t-test, the impact of the intervention on the participants’ listening proficiency scores could be determined. There was a statistically significant difference in EG1’s listening proficiency scores from pre-intervention (mean = 27.03, SD = 5.933) to post-intervention (mean = 31.77, SD = 5.713), t(26) = 4.982, p < 0.0005 (two-tailed). The mean increase in listening proficiency score was 4.37 with a 95% confidence interval ranging from 2.56 to 6.17. The eta squared statistics (0.48) indicated a large effect size.

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Table 3. Statistical Results of Paired-Sample T-test for the Study Groups Paired Differences

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

Gp Mean

SD

Std. Error Mean

Lower

Upper

T

df

Sig. (2tailed)

EG1

Pre-Post Listening

-4.370

4.55

.877

-6.173

-2.567

-4.98

26

.000

EG2

Pre-Post Listening

-3.758

4.87

.905

-5.612

-1.94

-4.15

28

.000

Similarly, the impact of the intervention was evaluated for EG2. The results show a significant difference in their listening proficiency scores from pre-intervention (mean = 26.76, SD = 6.191) to post-intervention (mean = 30.51, SD = 6.08), t(28) = 4.152, p < 0.0005 (two-tailed). The mean increase in listening proficiency was 3.75 with a 95% confidence interval ranging from 1.90 to 5.61. The eta squared statistics (0.38) shows a large effect size. To answer the second question of the study, a comparison should be made between the results of the paired-samples t-test for all the subjects. According to the results of the t-test, there was a significant difference in the listening scores of both study groups from the beginning of the study to the end, indicating the positive effects of the interventions, whether or not the participants’ particular MI profile was touched upon. Table 4 presents the difference.

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Table 4. Descriptive Statistics for Both Pre- and Post-Listening Scores for All Subjects

Pair 1

Mean

N

Std. Std. Error Deviation Mean

Pre-listening

27.07

56

6.111

0.817

Post-listening

31.12

56

5.88700

0.78668

By looking at the results of the t-test, we can see that the number of cases was reduced from 60 (at the time of pre-test) to 56 (post-test). The missing data was automatically excluded from the analysis. As tabulated in Table 4, the mean score on the listening test before the intervention (Time 1) was 27.07 and the mean score at Time 2 was 31.12. Therefore, it can be concluded that there was a significant increase in listening proficiency from Time 1 (prior the intervention) to Time 2 (after the intervention). Table 5 summarises the result of t-test for all the subjects. Table 5. Results of Paired-Samples T-Test for Pre- and Post-listening

Mean Pre-Post Listening

-4.053

Paired Differences 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference SD Std. Lower Upper Error Mean 4.69 .627 -5.310 -2.797

T

Df

-6.46

55

Sig. (2tailed) 0.000

Based on the results of the paired-samples T-test presented above, the probability value (Sig., 2-tailed)) of 0.000 is less than the specified alpha value of 0.05, indicating a significant difference between the two scores obtained from the pre- and post-listening tests. The results also show the tvalue of -6.46 and the degree of freedom of 55. Besides, the mean increase was 4.053, with a 95% confidence interval stretching from a lower bound of 2.97 to an upper bound of 5.310. The value of eta-squared obtained for this test was 0.4314 which indicates a large effect size.

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Hence, it can be concluded that there was a large effect size of the intervention with a substantial difference in the listening scores which were obtained before and after the interventions, regardless of the type of intervention; i.e. whether the tasks were given to the MI strengths or across the MI. As for the third question, a one-way between-groups analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the mean scores of more than two groups. In this study, the independent variable, which was also referred to as a “factor”, was MI with eight different levels, corresponding to eight different MI profiles. It is “between-groups” because there are different participants or cases in each of the groups (Pallant, 2007). Also, the general assumption of equal variances was met for this test by running Levene’s test, with the results shown in Table 6. Table 6. Test of Homogeneity of Variances Levene Statistic

df1

Df2

Sig.

Pre-listening

1.604

7

52

.155

Post-listening

1.749

7

48

.120

Based on the results of Levene’s test of homogeneity, the significance value (Sig.) for Levene’s test was 0.155 and 0.120 for pre-listening and post-listening respectively. Since the obtained values were greater than 0.05, we can conclude that the variances are homogenous. The subsequent tables (Tables 7 and 8) present both between-groups and within-groups sums of squares, degrees of freedom, mean squares, etc. for both pre-listening and post-listening.

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Table 7. Results of ANOVA for Listening Scores before the Intervention Sum of Squares

Df

Mean Square

F

Sig.

Between Groups

157.069

7

22.438

0.597

0.755

Within Groups

1953.264

52

37.563

Total

2110.333

59

Table 8. Results of ANOVA for Listening Scores after the Intervention Sum of Squares

Df

Mean Square

F

Sig.

Between Groups

17.609

7

25.16

0.064

1.000

Within Groups

1888.516

48

39.344

Total

1906.125

55

Based on the statistical information tabulated in the tables above, there was no significant difference in pre-listening and post-listening tests among the eight MI groups. For the pre-listening test, the test of one-way between groups analysis of variance (ANOVA) reveals F(7, 52) = 0.597, p = 0.755 > 0.05. For the post-listening test, the results of ANOVA are: F (7, 48) = 0.064, p = 1.000 > 0.05. In sum, no significant difference was found in pre- and post-listening mean scores either in the overall ANOVA, or anywhere among MI groups.

Conclusion The results demonstrate that the participants possessed all nine intelligences to some degree, providing support for Gardner’s hypothesis. Gardner (1993) believes that each individual from any culture possesses

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“core abilities in each of the intelligences” but the level these intelligences function in people varies from one person to another. Generally, in most individuals, there are only one or two intelligences which function at a very high level and a couple functioning at a moderate level, the rest being relatively underdeveloped. However, through appropriate training, everyone has the potential to develop their intelligences to a higher level. The subjects’ responses to the MI inventory items suggest that MI was prevalent in their lives. Since, to the researcher’s knowledge, no other similar study has ever been carried out to investigate the impact of the incorporation of MI-based activities on listening comprehension in an EFL/ESL context, it is not feasible to make any comparison. One of the reasons why there are so few studies on the implementation of MIT in ESL/EFL settings might be attributed to the fact that the theory does not prescribe any particular teaching methodology. However, as Christison (1998) once put it, “It takes patience, time, imagination, and creativity to bring a new theory into one’s teaching”. Nonetheless, the findings here support the hypothesis that the incorporation of MI-based activities by touching upon a combination of MI is more effective than when they are only assigned to the students’ intellectual strengths. Thus, the findings testify to one of the important aspects of MIT which focuses on the interaction of Multiple Intelligences. An aspect of MIT proposes that individuals should be perceived as “a collection of aptitudes” (Gardner, 1993) rather than being identified with only one intelligence. In every culture, these intelligences should interact with each other to present a cultural role. Language learning, like any other skills, is a complex interaction of a number of intelligences, not just “linguistic” (Gardner, 1983, 1993, 1999; Campbell, 1994). The findings of this study suggest that a combination of different intelligences, not just one single intelligence, should be accommodated to provide for better improvement of listening proficiency in Iranian EFL context. Since the ultimate objective of this study was to explore the potential ways to help with the problem of listening deficiency, it can be concluded that one effective way is to encourage active participation in oral courses. Students should learn not to rely on their teacher’s instruction but to use their own strategies to learn to listen. They should realize that they themselves should be active in listening tasks (Vandergrift, 2003; Goh & Taib, 2006). From the findings, it can be concluded that the most apparent teaching method that raises students’ motivation to be active in the classroom would be that of cooperative learning. According to Gardner (1983, 1993), social interaction facilitates students’ development. So,

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teachers should take advantage and let students perform shared tasks. They can make learning more meaningful through collaborative learning. The findings for the third research question suggest that there is no significant relationship of listening proficiency with either a combination of MI or any of the MI profiles (see Bemani Naeini & Pandian, 2010). Although there was a positive effect of the MI-based activities on the listening proficiency of both study groups, such an impact is not indicative of any differences between the MI profiles. Thus, it can only be plausibly interpreted that learners benefit from using their MI profiles as orientations to learning (Gardner, 1999). Although the literature does not tell us much about the theory at the tertiary level, especially for English major students, it does not mean that MIT is not applicable to adult learners. As a matter of fact, the results of this study indicate that, since there are a number of components common in both MIT and andragogy, the theory could be incorporated into an adult learning setting too. However, because the theory has not introduced a pedagogical framework, educators can use the concepts of the theory in various ways until an approach is justified to be practised in a particular pedagogical setting (Campbell, Campbell & Dickinson, 1996). Through an interaction between the learning context, university instructors and students, Iranian TEFL students can be empowered to improve their listening proficiency. To this end, the learning context can provide for the success in two dimensions: the collaborative environment of the classroom by designating a variety of activities to be practised in groups of MI and a personalised atmosphere of the language laboratory focusing on particular activities like linguistic aspects of listening. Instructors, as “reflective practitioners”, are required to be familiar with the nature of MI and the way they can be related to different processes of listening. Thus, they can use their knowledge to awaken students’ strengths and preferences through selected activities. Then, by making informed choices about their teaching strategies, teachers should use a broad range of techniques to accommodate those individual differences. Teachers should also help their students to not only rely on their own strengths but also try to extend the use of more intelligences to solve problems. Finally, university instructors can contribute to reflective learning by encouraging the students to reflect on their preferred MI and use them in real life situations. Students, as “reflective partners”, are allowed to make choices about learning activities, thereby deciding on the right activities for developing listening proficiency.

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References Ahmadi, P. (2007). An appraisal of foreign language teaching in Iran: The present state of the art. Foreign Language Teaching Journal, 22(84), 25-33. Armstrong, T.A. (2000). Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom. (2nd ed.). Arlington, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Asher, J. J. (1982). Learning Another Language through Actions. Los Gatos, CA: Sky Oaks Productions. Askarzadeh, T. R. (2007). EIL, variations and the native speaker’s model. Asian EFL Journal, 9 (article 5). Retrieved from www.asian_efl_journal.com. Bemani Naeini, M., & Pandian, A. (2010). On the relationship of Multiple Intelligences with listening proficiency and attitudes among Iranian TEFL university students. TESL Canada Journal, 28(1), 97-114. Best, J. W. & Kahn, J. V. (2006). Research in Education. (10th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education. Borek, J. (2003). Inclusion and the Multiple Intelligences: Creating a student-centered curriculum. The Quarterly, 25(4), 24-28. Retrieved from http://www.csun.edu/~krowlands/Content/Academic_Resources/Diver sity_Multiple%20Intelligences/Multiple%20Intelligences/BorekInclusion.pdf Brown, H. D. (1994). Teaching by Principles. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Agents. Campbell, B. (1994). The Multiple Intelligences Handbook. Stanwood, WA: Campell & Associates. Campbell, L. (1997). Variations on a theme: How teachers interpret MI theory. Educational Leadership, 55(1). Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/pubs/sept97/campbell.html Campbell, L., Campbell, B., & Dickinson, D. (1996). Teaching and Learning through Multiple Intelligences. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Chapman, C. (1993). If the Shoes Fit: How to Develop Multiple Intelligences in the classroom. Palatine, IL: IRI/Skylight. Christison, M. A. (1996). Teaching and learning language through Multiple Intelligences. TESOL Journal, 6(1), 10-14. —. (1998). An introduction to multiple intelligence theory and second language learning. In J. M. Reid (ed.), Understanding Learning Styles in Second Language Classrooms. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents.

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Christison, M. A., & Kennedy, D. (1999). Multiple intelligences: Theory and practice in adult ESL. Retrieved from http://www/cal.org/ncle/digest/MI.htm Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (1979). Quasi-Experimentation: Design & analysis issues for field settings. Chicago: Rand McNally College Publishing. Creswell, J. (2003). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches. London: Sage Publications. Dunkel, P. (1991). Listening in the native and second/foreign language: Toward an integration of research and practice. TESOL Quarterly, 25, 431-457. Ferris, D. (1998). Students’ views of academic aural/oral skills: A comparative needs analysis. TESOL Quarterly, 32, 289-318. Feyten, C. M. (1991). The power of listening ability: An overlooked dimension in language acquisition. Modern Language Journal, 5(4), 173-180. Field, J. (2000). Finding one’s way in the fog: Listening strategies and second language learners. Modern English Teacher, 9(1), 29-34. —. (2002). The changing face of listening. In J. C. Richards & W. A. Renandya (ed.), Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice, 242-247. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. —. (2003). Promoting perception: lexical segmentation in second language listening. ELT Journal, 57(4), 325-333. Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. New York: Basic Books. —. (1993). Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice. New York: Basic Books. —. (1999). Are there additional intelligences? The case for Naturalist, Spiritual, and Existential intelligences. In J. Kane (ed.), Education, Information, and Transformation. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Gay, L. R., Mills, G., & Airasian, P. (2009). Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Applications. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Goh, C. & Taib, Y. (2006). Metacognitive instruction in listening for young learners. ELT Journal, 60(3), 222-232. doi:10.1093/elt/ccl002 Gorjian, B. R. (2005). The effects of teacher characteristics on TEFL among Iranian first year university students. Retrieved from http://www.article-hangout.com Hatch, E., & Farhady, H. (1982). Research Design and Statistics for Applied Linguistics. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.

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Nichols, R. G., & Stevens, L. A. (1957). Are You Listening? New York: McGraw-Hill. Nord, J. R. (1981). Three steps leading to fluency: A beginning. In H. Winitz (ed.), The Comprehension Approach to Foreign Language Instruction. Rowley, MA: Newbury House. O’Malley, J. M., Chamot, A. U., & Küpper, L. (1989). Listening comprehension strategies in second language acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 10(4), 418-437. Pallant, J. (2007). SPSS Survival Manual (3rd ed.). New York: Open University Press. Purdy, M. (1997). What is listening? In M. Purdy & D. Borisoff (ed.), Listening in Everyday Life: A Personal and Professional Approach (2nd ed.), 1-20. Lanham, MD: University Press of America. Rahimi, A., & Abedini, A. (2009). The interface between EFL learners’ self-efficacy concerning listening comprehension and listening proficiency. Novitas-ROYAL, 3(1), 14-28. Richards, J. C. (1983). Listening comprehension: Approach, design and procedure. TESOL Quarterly, 17(2), 219-240. Richards, J. C., Hull, J., & Proctor, S. (2005). Interchange 2. (3rd ed). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (2003). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Rost, M. (ed.). (2002). Teaching and Researching Listening. London: Longman. Rubin, J. (1994). A review of second language listening comprehension research. Modern Language Journal, 78(2), 199-221. Russell, A. L. (1996). Applying Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory to university teaching and learning. Different approaches: Theory and practice in higher education. Proceedings of the HERDSA Conference 1996. Perth, Western Australia, 8-12 July. http://www.herdsa.org.au/confs/1996/russell.html Sadeghi Bennis, A. R. (2003). The problems of English subjects at Semnan guidance and high schools. Paper presented at the The First Asia TEFL International Conference. Sadeghi Bennis, A. R. (2005). ESP in Iran: A transition from present state. Paper presented at the First National ESP/EAP Conference. Sedaghat, M. (2001). The Effects of Attitudes, Motivation (Instrumental and Integrative) and Proficiency Level on the Use of Listening Comprehension Strategies by Iranian Female EFL Students. Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.

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CHAPTER XXII THE USE OF WORD-GUESSING STRATEGY IN DEVELOPING READING PROFICIENCY ALI ZAHABI AND AMBIGAPATHY PANDIAN

Reading in a foreign language needs fast, automatic worddecoding and access to the mental lexicon. Learners will read better if they know about text characteristics and if they learn how to use a variety of strategies for getting meaning from the text. For many years, reading textbooks for ESL students was promoting one main approach to the learning of vocabulary, viz. guessing the meaning of an unknown word from the surrounding context. When students encounter an unfamiliar word in reading, they make use of context clues, that is, information from pictures or from sentences surrounding the unknown word. The present study aims at investigating the effect of a group of word-guessing strategies on developing the reading proficiency of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. Seventy-four Iranian learners of English were selected as the participants of this study and divided into two groups of control and experimental. In 15 treatment sessions, the participants in the experimental group worked on a list of word-guessing strategies presented by the teacher, while in the control group, the same material of their course book was taught by using the traditional method of teaching reading comprehension. Results of statistical analysis reveal a significant difference between the two groups. Accordingly, it can be concluded that the use of word-guessing strategy had a positive effect on developing the reading proficiency of the participants.

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Introduction All reading depends on reading ability, and reading is a cognitive process. It starts with perception. It requires perceptual learning of many things and it ends up as a conceptual process. This means that reading is more than reconstruction of the author’s meanings. It is the perception of those meanings within the total context of the relevant experiences of the reader, which is a much more active and demanding process. Reading is also a psycho-linguistic guessing game. It involves an interaction between thought and language. Efficient reading does not result from precise perception and identification of all elements but from skills in selecting the fewest, most productive cues necessary to produce guesses that are right the first time. The ability to anticipate what has not been seen is vital in reading, just as the ability to anticipate what has not been heard in listening (Goodman, 1970). It is, therefore, generally acknowledged that using context to determine the meaning of unknown words is inherent in the skill of reading foreign languages, yet little attention has been paid to the nature of this relationship.

Review of Literature Reading Strategies Research in second language reading suggests that learners use a variety of strategies to assist them with the acquisition, storage, and retrieval of information (Rigney, 1978). Strategies are defined as learning techniques, behaviours, problem-solving, or study skills which make learning more effective and efficient (Oxford & Crookall, 1999). In the context of second language learning, a distinction can be made between strategies that make learning more effective, versus strategies that improve comprehension. The former are generally referred to as learning strategies in the second language literature. Comprehension or reading strategies, on the other hand, indicate how readers conceive of a task, how they make sense of what they read, and what they do when they do not understand. In short, such strategies are processes used by the learner to enhance reading comprehension and overcome comprehension failures. Since the early 70s, for the most part, research in this area has concentrated on teaching second-language students to use a variety of language strategies in order to read better. These strategies consist of a whole range of strategies including skimming and scanning, contextual guessing, reading for meaning, utilizing background knowledge,

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recognizing text structure, and others. Less common, however, have been empirical investigations into reading strategies used by successful and unsuccessful second-language learners.

Guessing Strategy According to Haynes (1993), for many years, “reading textbooks for ESL students was promoting one main approach to the learning of vocabulary: guessing the meaning of an unknown word from the surrounding context”. The most important vocabulary strategy to teach is to “guess unknown words from context”. When you learned your first language, most of the words were not taught to you, you picked them up from books, from the TV, and from conversations. There is not enough time to teach thousands of words one by one in class, so language learners must also know how to guess unknown words successfully. Sadly, many teachers just expect learners to know how to guess well, but there are thousands of learners who could be helped to be more successful at guessing. The first thing to do when a leaner meets a new word is to ignore it. If it is important it will come again. If they meet the word a second time and communication breaks down, then they should try to guess its meaning. Initially, it is important to make them realize its part of speech, and then they should look for clues around the word to help with the meaning. If they have an idea, they should try to substitute their guess into the sentence to see if the meaning of the sentence is clear. They will soon realize if they have the wrong part of speech, or the wrong meaning. Finally, they can use wordaffixation knowledge to confirm the guess. However, it is vital to understand that learners will not be able to guess successfully until they know about 95-98% of the other words in the text. If the text is too difficult, then the large number of unknown words will make successful guessing much less likely.

Justification for Guessing Strategy The fact that the guessing strategy is often encouraged is not surprising considering the enormous number of words in the English language, the size of the average adult’s working vocabulary, and the number of words one needs to know to recognize a reasonably high percentage of words on the average written page. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, for example, contains 460,000 words, and this number does not include plural forms of nouns, different present and past tenses of verbs, neologisms, and some technical terms (Denning & Leben, 1995: 3). Of

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course, the average person’s actual vocabulary (both passive and active) is much smaller, but still considerable. Although estimates of the size of the working vocabulary of the average English-speaker vary widely, commonly accepted figures hover around 20,000 words (Nation, 1990: 11). Word frequency counts indicate that this number is more than sufficient for understanding the vocabulary of most non-technical texts, although estimates again vary. According to one, for example, the 25 most common words account for one-third of the words on a page, and 135 words take one up to 50%. After that, the number of words needed increases in lognormal distribution. So, while it takes 2500 words to cover 78% of the page, vocabulary size has to be doubled to 5000 to reach 86%, and doubled again to 10,000 to cover 92% of the text. One would need to know another 200,000 to cover the low frequency words that make up the remaining 8% (Diller, 1978). However, Nation’s (1990: 16) claim that the 2000 most frequently occurring words account for 87% of the average text, and that 2800 will account for 95%, is widely accepted today. Regardless of the range of a native speaker’s vocabulary, it is clear that the average second or foreign language learner faces a major challenge in trying to match it. Therefore, it is not surprising that the main reason given for encouraging the use of the guessing strategy is the perception that it is the only reasonable way for L2 learners to learn enough words to form suitably large active and passive vocabularies. Support also comes from experimental word-recognition studies with L1 subjects, which have consistently shown that context plays a role in the identification of words in the text (Gough, 1984). Studies of context effects have established, among other things that words are recognized better in context than out of context, and that simple word association enhances word recognition. For example, experiments show that lexical decision latency for a word is significantly reduced if it is preceded by a semantically related word (such as the word “wife” being displayed, then followed by “husband”). Appropriate sentential context has also been shown to improve the speed of lexical decision. Such results and their implications have been used to support the use of the guessing strategy for L2 readers.

Contextual Guessing vs. Dictionary Use It has been shown that students who use a bilingual dictionary learn more vocabulary than students who read without a dictionary (Luppescu & Day, 1993). However, when they turn to a dictionary for every word they do not understand, students lose sight of the meanings within the text as a whole.

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Teachers and textbook designers have come to understand this, and the result has been a movement toward the explicit instruction of fluencyoriented learning strategies such as guessing from context. Researchers such as David Nunan (1991) have commented that this movement may have gone too far, and the implication in much of the literature today is that good language learners rely on dictionaries less than poor language learners, and are more successful at employing contextual guessing strategies. This implication may not be accurate, however, according to a recent large-scale study on strategy use carried out in China by Wen and Johnson (1997). The abovementioned researchers found that dictionaries were used equally by both high and low English achievers. There was, however, a notable difference in how the students used their dictionaries. Dictionary use by high achievers involved a series of questions: “Was it necessary to consult the dictionary? What information in the dictionary was relevant? Was the information worth copying down, and if so, in Chinese or in English?” (Wen & Johnson, 1997: 36). Low achievers, on the other hand, followed “a relatively inflexible set of procedures for dictionary use rather than a decision-making process”. It was also found that while all learners consistently used guessing as a strategy, it was the high achievers who tended to guess according to the reading context. When reading for pleasure, high achievers often guessed word meaning without consulting a dictionary. During intensive reading, guesses “were consistently checked against the dictionary” (Wen & Johnson, 1997: 37). In contrast, lower level readers tended to rely more heavily on guessing from context in all situations. These findings were supported by qualitative results which showed that the highest achievers were those most sceptical of guessing strategies, as opposed to low achievers, who approved strongly of guessing in all contexts. The results of Wen and Johnson’s study demonstrate that the issue of dictionary use versus contextual guessing is not really an issue at all. Good language learners do, in fact, rely quite heavily on dictionaries, but they use their dictionaries in ways which are significantly different from those used by less successful learners. The answer, then, is to help less successful students develop a greater metacognitive awareness of the reading and learning process. Students can be taught, for example, to employ dictionaries differentially according to whether they are reading for pleasure, or whether they are reading intensively, with the intention of focusing on specific grammar points and vocabulary within the text. At the same time, students can benefit from specific instruction in recognising which words are most fundamental to understanding the overall meaning

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of the text. Students can be taught to look up content words “that are introduced in a leading sentence and then thematised by repetition,” (Parry, 1991: 650) or words which are printed in boldface or italics.

How to Promote Guessing As Oxford (1990) puts it, we should build guessing skills systematically by leading students step by step through different stages of guessing: start with global comprehension, and, in order to stimulate guessing, ask students some preview questions before they start reading or listening or interrupt a story in the middle to ask for predictions about what will happen, or give just the ending and ask for guesses about the beginning. It is better to ask which picture corresponds to what they are hearing or reading. Alternatively, we should give students a sentence in the new language and ask them to complete it. Whenever we use activities like these, we should be sure to give students feedback immediately (or soon) about the correctness or appropriateness of their answers. If we discuss the source of the guesses, students can learn from each other and so we can know whether learners are using all possible sources of clues (Oxford, 1990).

Methodology Participants in the Study In this study, 170 EFL students from Islamic Azad University of Gorgan were selected. In order to homogenize the subjects and to ascertain their level of general proficiency, a CELT test was administered to the subjects. After analysing the data, those subjects who were located one standard deviation above and below the mean were considered to participate in this study. Then they were divided into two groups of 37 students. One group was considered as a control group and the other one as an experimental group. The age range of students was between 18 and 25 years.

Instrumentation To probe the null hypothesis, the following instruments for gathering the data were employed:

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Language Proficiency Test First, a CELT proficiency test was administered on these 170 students, and then those who were located one standard deviation above and below the mean were selected to participate in this study. This group of subjects was divided into two groups of control and experimental. The CELT test was piloted with a group of subjects similar to the original sample. It consisted of three parts: reading comprehension, structure, and vocabulary tests. All parts were in the form of multiple-choice questions. There were in total 200 items and the time allocated was around two hours. The reliability of the test, calculated through Cronbach’s Alpha formula, turned out to be 0.72. Pre-Test and Post-Test Pre-Test As the pre-test, a reading comprehension multiple-choice test was selected from the Interchange Placement and Evaluation book. The title of the test was Placement Tests 1 and 2 which consisted of 60 items. To pilot the test, the researcher administered the test on 30 subjects at the same level, and after obtaining the data, the process of item analysis was carried out. Item facilities, item discriminations, and choice distributions of the items were calculated. Finally, some of the items which were very difficult or easy were discarded, and some were modified. The new test eventually contained 40 out of 60 items. The reliability of the test, also estimated through Cronbach’s Alpha formula, was 0.82. Post-Test The same pre-test was administered on the subjects as a post-test, since the time interval between the pre-test and post-test was long enough (45 days). Subsequently, a t-test was run to see whether there was a significant difference between the two means or not.

Procedure As the first step, a CELT proficiency test was administered to four university classes that included 170 female and male participants to be sure of the homogeneity of the participants. Then the participants in both

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groups had a pre-test consisting of a multiple-choice test which showed the reading proficiency of the participants. Via 15 sessions of treatment, the participants in the experimental group worked on a list of wordguessing strategies which were presented by the teacher, while in the control group, the same material of their course book was taught by using the traditional method of teaching reading comprehension. After the treatment phase, the participants in both groups sat for the post-test. After that, the scores on the pre-test and the post-test were used for the purpose of validation. As the present study was of a trueexperimental nature, the correlation between the scores of the pre-test and post-test was estimated through the t-test. Finally, due to the importance of the scoring procedure and its impact on the reliability and validity of the study, more attention was paid to the scoring procedure.

Design This study had an intact group, pre-test, post-test design. The participants were already assigned in groups by the university. Four classes were selected for this study and two were randomly assigned as experimental and the other two as control groups. The independent variable in this study was word-guessing strategy and the dependent variable was reading comprehension proficiency. The homogeneity of the two groups in terms of reading comprehension and language proficiency was checked using a CELT proficiency test.

Data Analysis Pilot Study First of all, in order to examine the reliability and validity of the pre-test (reading comprehension test), a pilot study was planned and conducted and a reading comprehension test was given to a group of 30 students concurrently with the TOEFL test. Then the researcher studied the reliability of the reading comprehension test using the Pearson productmoment correlation coefficient, which is a measure of the strength of the relationship between two sets of data.

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Table 1. Statistics for the Results of Pilot Study

Test

Reliability

DF

Correlation Coefficient btw Reading Comprehension Test & TOEFL

Reading Comprehension Test

0.8257

29

0.8471

0.88

TOEFL

P = 0.000 As the table shows, the reliability of the TOEFL test which was downloaded from the Internet is 0.88 while the reliability of the reading comprehension test is 0.82 and the correlation between the TOEFL and reading comprehension test is 0. 8471, which is close to +1 and the P value is 0.000 which is smaller than 0.05. As the P value is 0.000 which is smaller then 0.05, we can conclude that there is a meaningful relationship between the TOEFL and reading comprehension test.

Determining the Homogeneity of Groups The homogeneity of the two groups in terms of reading comprehension and language proficiency is checked using a CELT proficiency test. Table 2. Group Statistics for CELT

Variables

Number of Cases

Mean

Std. Dev.

Std. Error

Experimental

37

30.9143

6.18999

1.04630

Control

37

29.8000

6.5256

1.10218

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Table 2 shows the features of CELT for both experimental and control groups. There is no significant difference between the mean scores of both groups.

The Pre-Test To ensure the homogeneity of subjects in terms of reading comprehension prior to the study, a piloted test of reading comprehension was conducted. The result is as follows: Table 3. Descriptive Statistics for the Pre-Test Std. Error Mean 0.67837 0.70977

Std. Deviation

Mean

N

4.12638 4.31736

16.9730 17.1622

37 37

Experimental Control

As Table 3 shows, the mean of the scores in reading comprehension for the experimental group is 16.973 and for the control group is 17.162. Thus, it seems that there is no significant difference between the means of these two groups.

The Post-Test After 15 sessions of treatment, in which participants in the experimental group had been taught a group of word-guessing strategies represented by the teacher, while in the control group the same material of their course book was taught by using the traditional method of teaching reading comprehension, all the students participated in the Post-Test. The results are as follows: Table 4. Descriptive statistics for the Post-Test Std. Error Mean 0.853 0.702

Std. Deviation 5.187 4.270

Mean 20.38 26.65

N 37 37

Groups Control group Experimental group

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As this table shows, the mean of the scores in reading comprehension after 15 sessions of treatment for the experimental group is 26.65 and for the control group is 20.38. Hence, it seems that there is a significant difference between the means of these two groups. The t-test also shows that the mean difference of the two groups is significant and the significant value is 0.000, which is smaller than 0.05. This illustrates a positive result. Therefore, we can conclude that the means between the two groups are not equal and there is a significant difference between them. Accordingly, we can reject the null hypothesis at the 0.05 level of significance. As the significant value = 0.000 < 0.05, this rejects the hypothesis (null hypothesis H0: The group of word-guessing strategies does not have any effect on developing the reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners).

Conclusion The basic concern of this study was to investigate the effect of a group of word-guessing strategies on developing the reading proficiency of Iranian Intermediate EFL learners. This study reveals that teachers’ views are helpful in that word-guessing has a suitable place in education although it takes time to implement; it requires teachers to have enough knowledge and training, as the past research studies stated; and it is difficult to specify the degree to which learners have progressed. The suggested point for teachers in language centres and institutions is that they change the way they teach reading comprehension (which very much depends on the use of the dictionary) and instruct the students, and move towards a more independent learning strategy which involves guessing. When students turn to a dictionary for every word they do not understand, they lose sight of the meanings within the text as a whole. Teachers and textbook designers have come to understand this, and the result has been a movement toward the explicit instruction of fluencyoriented learning strategies such as guessing from context. It was also found that while all learners consistently used guessing as a strategy, it was the high achievers who tended to guess according to the reading context. When reading for pleasure, high achievers often guessed word meaning without consulting a dictionary. During intensive reading, guesses were consistently checked against the dictionary. In contrast, lower level readers tended to rely more heavily on guessing from context in all situations. These findings were supported by qualitative results which showed that the highest achievers were those most skeptical of guessing strategies, as opposed to low achievers, who approved strongly of guessing in all contexts.

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Good language learners do, in fact, rely quite heavily on dictionaries, but they use their dictionaries in ways which are significantly different from those used by less successful learners. The answer, then, is to help less successful students develop a greater metacognitive awareness of the reading and learning process. Students can be taught, for example, to employ dictionaries differentially according to whether they are reading for pleasure, or whether they are reading intensively, with the intention of focusing on specific grammar points and vocabulary within the text. At the same time, students can benefit from specific instruction in recognising which words are most fundamental to understanding the overall meaning of the text.

References and Further Reading Anderson, N. J. (1991). Individual differences in strategy use in second language reading and testing. Modern Language Journal, 75(4), 460472. Asher, J. (1994). Learning Another Language Through Actions. www.sdkrashen.com/articles/fever/09.html Barnett, M. (1989). More than Meets the Eye. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall Regents. Bensoussan, M., & Laufer, B. (1984). Lexical guessing in context in EFL reading comprehension. Journal of Research in Reading, 7, 15-32. Bowen, J. D., Madsen, H., & Hiferty, A. (1985). TESOL: Techniques and Procedures. Rowley, MA: Newbury House. Brown, A. L. (2001). Teaching by Principle: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy (2nd ed.). Harlow: Longman. Brown, D. (2000). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (4th ed). Harlow: Longman. Cele-Murcia, M. (1991). Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language (2nd ed.). Heinle and Heinle Publishers. Chamot, A. U. (1999). Learning strategy instruction in the English classroom. Retrieved 7 January 2007 from http://www.Jalt-publications.org/tlt/article/1999/Chamot/ —. (2001). The role of learning strategies in second language acquisition. In M. P. Breen (ed.), Learner Contributions to Language Learning, 2444. Harlow: Pearson Education. Clarke, D. & Nation, I. S. P. (1980). Guessing the meanings of words from context: Strategy and techniques. System, 8, 211-220.

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Coady, J. (1991). Rapid recognition of vocabulary in reading: Bottom-up automaticity ensures top down comprehension. Paper Presented at the Twenty-fifth Annual TESOL Conference, New York. Coady, J. (1997). L2 vocabulary acquisition through extensive reading. In J. Coady & T. Huckin (eds), Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition, 225-237. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cohen, A. D. (1998). Strategies in Learning and Using a Second Language. London: Longman. —. (2001). The Learner’s Side of Foreign Language Learning: Where Do Styles, Strategies, and Tasks Meet? Unpublished manuscript, University of Minnesota. Day, R., Omura, C. & Hiramatsu, M. (1991). Incidental EFL vocabulary learning and reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 7, 541-551. Denning, K. & Leben, W. (1995). English Vocabulary Elements. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Dycus, D. (2001). Guessing word meaning from context: Should we encourage it? Literacy Across Cultures. Ferris, D. (1988). Reading and Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Linguistics, University of Southern California. Fukkink, R. G. & de Glopper, K. (1998). Effects of instruction in deriving word meaning from context: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 68, 450-469. Goodman, K. (1970). The Reading Process: Interactive Approaches to Second Language Reading. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. —. (1997). Reading: A psycholinguistic guessing game. Journal of the Reading Specialist, 6(1), 126-135. Grabe, W. (1991). Current developments in second language reading research. TESOL Quarterly, 25, 376-406. Hatch, E. & Brown, J.D. (1983). Psycholinguistics: a Second Language Perspective. Rowley, MA: Newbury House. Haynes, M. (1993). Patterns and perils of guessing in second language reading. In Handscome, J., Orem, R., & Taylor, B. (eds), On TESOL ’83: The Question of Control, 163-177. Washington, DC: TESOL. Hismanoglu, M. (2000). Language Learning Strategies in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching. Huckins, T., Haynes, M. & Coady, J. (1993). Second Language Reading and Vocabulary Learning. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Hulstijn, J. (1997). When do foreign language readers look up the meaning of unfamiliar words? The influence of task and learner variables. Modern Language Journal, 77, 139-147.

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Joffe, I. L. (1997). Opportunity for Successful Reading. (8th ed). Belmont: Wadsworth. Kelly, P. (1990). Guessing: No substitute for systematic learning of lexis. System, 18, 199-207. Kletzien, S. B. (1991). Strategy use by good and poor comprehenders reading expository text of differing levels. Reading Research Quarterly, 16(1), 67-85. Krashen, S. (1989). We acquire vocabulary and spelling by reading. additional evidence for the input hypothesis. Modern Language Journal, 73(4), 440-464. Kuhn, M. & Stahl, S. (1998). Teaching children to learn word meanings from context: A synthesis and some questions. Journal of Literacy Research, 30, 119-138. Lau, K. L. & Chan, D. W. (2003). Reading strategy use and motivation among Chinese good and poor readers in Hong Kong. Journal of Research in Reading, 26(2), 177-190. Laufer, B. (1996). The lexical plight in second language reading. In Coady, J., & Huckin, T. (eds), Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition, 20-34. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Laufer, B. & Hulstijn, J. (2001). Incidental vocabulary acquisition in a second language: The construct of task-induced involvement. Applied Linguistics, 22, 1-26. Levine, A., & Reves, T. (1990). Does the method of vocabulary presentation make a difference? TESOL Canada Journal, 8, 37-51. Luppescu, S. & Day, R. R. (1993). Reading, dictionaries, and vocabulary learning. Language Learning, 43, 263-287. Mackay, R. (1955). Language Teaching Analysis. London: Longman. Mousavi, A. (1999). A Dictionary of Language Testing (2nd ed). Tehran: Rahnama Publications. Nation, I. S. P. (1990a). Factors affecting guessing vocabulary in context. RELC Journal, 16(1). —. (1990b). Teaching and Learning Vocabulary. New York: Newbury House. Nation, P. & Coady, J. (1988). Vocabulary and reading. In Carter, R., & McCarthy, M. (eds), Vocabulary and Language Teaching, 97-110. London & New York: Longman. Nunan, D. (1991). Language Teaching Methodology: A Textbook for Teachers. Hertfordshire, UK: Prentice Hall. —. (1997). Strategy training in the language classroom: An empirical investigation. RELC Journal, 28(2), 56-81. Oxford, R. (1990). Language Learning Strategies. Newbury House.

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Oxford, R. & Crookall, D. (1999). Research on language learning strategies: Methods, findings, and instructional issues. Modern Language Journal, 73, 404-419. Paribakh & Weche, M. (1999). Incidental L2 Vocabulary Acquisition: Theory, Current Research and instructional Implications. Studies in Second Language Acquisition. Special Issue. Pulido, D. (2004). The relationship between text comprehension and second language incidental vocabulary acquisition: A matter of topic familiarity. Language Learning, 3, 469–523. Rigney, J. W. (1978). Learning strategies a theoretical perspective. In H. F. O’Neil (ed.), Learning Strategies. New York: Academic Press. Richards, J. (1985). The Context of Language Teaching. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Salataci, R., & Akyel, A. (2002). Possible effects of strategy instruction on L1 and L2 reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 14(1). Seliger, H., & Shohamy, E. (1989). Second Language Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Stern, H. (1992). Issues and Options in Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Stoller & Grabe, W. (1993). Assumptions about content, language and learning strategies. www.carla.umn.edu. Thompson, L. & Rubin, J. (1993). Improving Listening Comprehension in Russian. Washington, DC: Department of Education, International Research and Studies Program. Walter, H. C. (2003). Reading in a second language. Journal of Literacy Research, 30, 119-138. Wen, Q., & Johnson, R. K. (1997). L2 learner variables and English achievement: A study of tertiary-level English majors in China. Applied Linguistics, 18, 27-48. Yongqi Gu, P. (2003). Vocabulary Learning in a second language: Person, task, context and strategies. TESL-EJ, 7(2).

CHAPTER XXIII MAKING SENSE OF NON-SENSE YEOH PHAIK KIN

Good readers activate their schemata and employ strategies for textual comprehension. This study seeks to investigate the respondents’ level of comprehension and the extent the respondents use their schemata and employ strategies to overcome comprehension problems encountered in reading two text types: a local-oriented text and a foreign-oriented text. Quantitative methods were employed in this study which involved TESOL/TESL/TEYL teacher trainees. Data emerging from the analysis revealed a significant difference in the respondents’ reading comprehension scores for both text types according to their programme of study. The overall mean scores also indicated a slightly better performance for the local-oriented text over the foreign-oriented text. The findings showed that while the respondents’ use of schemata registered a higher frequency when reading the foreign-oriented text, their use of reading strategies similarly registered a higher frequency when reading the localoriented text. Informal interviews conducted further confirmed that the respondents’ degree of receptiveness towards both text types was similar. However, the study revealed that these future teachers did not use much of their higher order thinking and/or reading skills.

Introduction Preamble Reading is a complex, engaging, but demanding activity. In order to arrive at text comprehension, readers consciously or unconsciously make connections between new information in the text with their background

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knowledge, the latter being existing knowledge from another text, life experiences or “known information” and one’s knowledge of the world (Anderson et al. (1977) as cited in Carrell & Eisterhold, 1998; Rumelhart (1977) as cited in Carrell, 1998; Pardo, 2004;). The more similar the reader’s experiences are to the character(s), setting(s), and situation(s) in the text, and the more abundant his knowledge about a specific context or content area, the more likely he is to take cognizance of the information that is presented. The greater the connection, the more likely the reader is able to make sense of what initially makes no sense and is confusing to him. Hansen and Pearson (1983, as cited in Wright, 2009) believed that “… recalling … prior experiences (their own life) can help … understand the content of … reading – because new facts make sense only when we connect them to what we already know”. Therefore, a good reader constantly makes use of his schemata and uses appropriate strategies to interact with the text to make sense of the non-sense found in the sea of words (Costantino, 1999; Meena, 2001; Sousa, 2005).

Background of the Study Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (2001-2010), English teachers were entrusted with the responsibility of promoting students’ interest in and enhancing their students’ mastery of English Language. A mastery of English was viewed as vital to the national development of skilled and knowledgeable human capital (Ministry of Education, 2006). Academic reading materials in English fell under four categories: (i) local-oriented texts produced by local Malaysian writers; (ii) local-oriented texts produced by native English-speaking writers; (iii) foreign-oriented texts written by second language (L2) or foreign language learners of English; and (iv) foreign-oriented texts written by native English-speaking writers. The ESL teacher trainees, like all other ESL readers, vary in the linguistic and cultural knowledge and experiences, perception, skills, motivation, attitude, purpose, and cognitive development that they bring to the texts they read. As comprehension is linked to local text-meaning and an “essentially unobservable” process (Meena, 1998), it is unclear as to the extent the teacher trainees activate their schemata in their reading comprehension, as well as the strategies that they employ to overcome breakdowns in comprehension. This study was conducted to lend insights into the extent of and the success in the use of schemata and strategies by the TESOL/TESL/TEYL teacher trainees of the Institute of Teacher Education, Penang Campus, Penang, Malaysia to overcome comprehension

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failures and enhance their reading comprehension of two academic texts: a local-oriented L2 text produced by a Malaysian writer, and a foreignoriented L2 text produced by a native English-speaking writer. The study basically focused on investigating whether the trainees’ comprehension of the information in the texts measured differently according to the reader variables of programme of study, gender, race, preferred spoken language, and preferred reading language. In brief, were our ESL teacher trainees as good and effective readers in English as they were expected and assumed to be? This issue of possessing the minimum reading competence and reading performance is of utmost importance considering that these teachers-to-be of English are expected to meet challenging goals in equipping their future charges with the necessary skills and strategies for continuous appreciation and fluency in reading (Goodman, 1998).

Objective of the Study The overall objective of the study was to examine the use of schemata and strategies in reading comprehension by ESL teacher trainees. More specifically, the analyses sought to answer the following research questions: i. Are there significant differences between the ESL teacher trainees’ reading comprehension score for the MUET text and that for the IELTS text according to the following reader variables: (a) programme of study, (b) gender, (c) race, (d) preferred spoken language, and (e) preferred reading language? ii. Is there a significant difference between the ESL teacher trainees’ use of schemata in reading the two texts? iii. Is there a significant difference in the reading strategies adopted by the ESL teacher trainees in comprehending the two texts?

Operational Definitions In the context of this study, the term comprehension, or rather reading comprehension, refers to the reader being able to get meaning out of the text or make (reasonable) sense of the text within the ambit of its context. The term schema, and its plural forms schemata or schemas, refer to the whole gamut of one’s prior knowledge or background knowledge, past experiences of language, culture and the world, emotions, opinions, views,

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and known information stored in the long-term (permanent) memory. The term reading strategies refers to ways used by the learner to enhance reading comprehension and overcome comprehension failures. It encompasses what learners do with cognitive strategies, memory strategies, compensation strategies, and metacognitive strategies.

Research Methodology Subjects This study involved 216 teacher trainees of the Institute of Teacher Education, Penang Campus, Penang, Malaysia majoring in English and pursuing one of the three strands of Bachelor in Education programmes offered, namely, B.Ed. TESOL, an overseas-linked programme with Macquarie University, Australia; B. Ed. TEYL, a twinning programme with a local university, Universiti Utara Malaysia; and B. Ed. TESL, a locally-awarded degree programme.

Instruments The instruments used in the study to gather data included a survey questionnaire–cum-informed consent form, two L2 academic reading texts, a schemata and reading strategies inventory (SRSI) as well as an interview protocol. The reading texts used were: MUET Text which was extracted from the October 2004 Paper 800/3 of the Malaysian University English Test (MUET) examination, and IELTS Text which was extracted from a past-year IELTS examination paper conducted by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES) with 10 comprehension questions each. The selection of the two texts for the purpose of the study was based on the following criteria: (i) validity of instrument and content, (ii) subject matter, content orientation and topic variety, (iii) authorship, (iv) level of linguistic difficulty, and (v) text length and suitability. The SRSI is a 23-item instrument bearing two constructs: schemata (content schema and linguistic schema), and reading strategies. There are seven items under the “schemata” construct and 16 items under the “reading strategies” construct. Subjects were required to read and attempt the questions for the two texts in subsequent order and alternate with their responses to the statements in the SRSI. In other words, after reading the MUET Text and answering the comprehension questions, subjects were to give their responses to the items in the SRSI for the MUET Text after

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which they would do the same for the IELTS Text in the same manner. The response to each statement was rated according to a five-point numerical Likert scale ranging from 1 to 5. The value of 1 was assigned to a “strongly disagree” rating, 2 to a “disagree” rating, 3 to a “somewhat agree” rating, 4 to an “agree” rating, and 5 to a “strongly agree” rating.

Data Collection Procedures Data collection procedures undertaken in this study involved the pilot testing of the instrument on 30 B. Ed. TESL trainees at the Institute of Teacher Education, International Languages Campus before it was administered to the 216 respondents of the Institute of Teacher Education, Penang Campus. The subjects’ reading comprehension scores for both the MUET Text and IELTS Text were derived by manually marking every answer script, that is, one mark per correct answer for each of the respective 10-mark reading comprehension exercises. Subsequently the scores were weighted at 100 per centum (%). Data collected were analysed using SPSS. Scores were computed and interpreted in the quantitative mode of frequencies. Subjects’ ratings of the items in the SRSI were interpreted in frequencies and the mean scores were compared. Two initial tests were run prior to any rigorous data analysis: data reliability analysis, and data normality test using Skewness and Kurtosis statistics as well as histograms for statistical inferencing. Two types of parametric testing were used, viz. independent-samples ttest and one-way ANOVA test. Whilst the latter test was used to determine the difference between the comprehension scores of both MUET and IELTS texts according to the Programme of Study variable with its three types of nominal data, the former was used on the other reader variables each with two nominal values to compare the means. Fifteen subjects or 7% of the 216 subjects, with five from each programme of study, were interviewed either immediately after the instrument was administered or within a period of three days thereafter (male = 7, female = 8). The interviewees’ responses to the structured questions in the interview protocol were interpreted qualitatively to allow for triangulation of the quantitative data collected.

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Data Analysis and Findings Data Reliability and Data Normality Tests Reliability coefficients revealed a Cronbach alpha of 0.856. The validity of the SRSI instrument was judgmental based on the scrutiny, review, and evaluation by a panel of four English Language experts with doctoral accreditations. Skewness and Kurtosis statistics in the test of normality indicated normally distributed research data with values for comprehension scores for both texts were between the (-2) and (+2) range. The histograms indicated a leptokurtic distribution. All the study samples obtained almost the same text comprehension scores with a narrow standard deviation.

Data Findings (i) Findings on Reader Variables and Text Comprehension The study revealed that comprehension scores for the local-oriented MUET text were higher than those for the foreign-oriented IELTS text (MUET Text: M = 63.24; IELTS Text: M = 57.59). Mode scores for MUET Text were higher than those for IELTS Text with frequencies of 70 and 60 respectively. Analysis on reader variables and readers’ comprehension of MUET and IELTS texts were according to (a) programme of study, (b) gender, (c) race, (d) preferred spoken language, and (e) preferred reading language. The one-way ANOVA test showed that there was a significant difference in the ESL teacher trainees’ reading comprehension scores for MUET and IELTS Texts according to the reader’s programme of study. For the purpose of this study, the mean difference was significant at the 0.05 level. The mean score for both MUET and IELTS texts for the B.Ed. TESOL trainees was significantly higher than their counterparts in the B.Ed. TEYL or B.Ed. TESL programmes. Subsequent analysis of the Post Hoc Multiple Comparisons Tukey HSD test showed that there were significant differences in the mean scores with p < 0.05 for MUET and IELTS Texts between those in B.Ed. TESL programme and those in B.Ed. TESOL as well as B.Ed. TEYL programmes. This significant difference was evident in the Tukey HSD Homogeneous Subsets as well as Mean Plots whereby the mean score for B.Ed. TESL was far lower than the mean scores of the other two programmes of study.

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The independent-samples t-test revealed that there was no significant difference in the ESL teacher trainees’ reading comprehension scores for both MUET and IELTS texts according to reader variables of gender, race, preferred spoken language, and preferred reading language. Moreover, Levene’s Test for Equality of Variances indicated that the differences in all the mean scores of the respective reader variables for both texts were insignificant at a p > 0.05 level, hence none was homogeneous. Those insignificant differences were verified by the t-test for Equality of Means with equal variances assumed. This suggests that the level of comprehension of all respondents in reading the two texts was almost on a par with each another. (a) Programme of Study Variable For the MUET Text, it was found that though a small number of B.Ed. TESOL and B.Ed. TEYL respondents obtained the maximum score of 100%, the minimum scores obtained were 20% and 30% respectively. The mean scores for these two groups were higher than the overall mean score of 63.24. The two groups performed comparatively better than the B.Ed. TESL respondents whose scores fell within the range of 20-70%. The between-groups variance for MUET Text differ significantly, sum of squares = 6683.70. The reading comprehension scores of the three programmes of study differ significantly, F-critical (df = 2, 213, p = 0.000) = 13.41. For the IELTS Text, it was noted that none of the B.Ed. TEYL and B.Ed. TESL respondents managed to obtain more than the 80% score. The B.Ed. TESOL respondents obtained a minimum score of 20% and a maximum score of 100%. Once again, both the B.Ed. TESOL and B.Ed. TEYL respondents performed relatively better than the B.Ed. TESL respondents who obtained scores within the range of 10-70%. The latter group’s scores were not as good as their comprehension scores for the MUET Text either (IELTS Text: M = 44.55; MUET Text: M = 50.30). The between-groups variance for the IELTS Text differ significantly, sum of squares = 6896.77. The reading comprehension scores of the three programmes of study differ significantly, F-critical (df = 2, 213, p = .000) = 14.85. (b) Gender Variable The male subjects performed better than their female counterparts (MUET Text: male M = 67.06, female M = 62.06; IELTS Text: male M = 59.02, female M = 57.15). The male trainees not only did better for both texts, their mean scores were also higher than the overall mean scores.

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(c) Race Variable Findings revealed that the mean score for Malay subjects was lower than that for the non-Malay respondents (MUET Text: Malay M = 62.68, nonMalay M = 65.95; IELTS Text: Malay M = 56.87, non-Malay M = 61.08). Not only did the non-Malay subjects do slightly better than their Malay counterparts but their mean scores were also higher than the overall mean scores. (d) Preferred Spoken Language Variable Results of this survey indicated that a dismal number of 19 out of 216 subjects preferred English as a spoken language. Although their mean scores for the MUET Text was higher than those for those subjects where other languages were the preferred spoken language, and higher than the overall mean score as well, they did not fare equally well for the IELTS Text (MUET Text: speaking in English M = 63.68, speaking in other languages M = 63.20; IELTS Text: speaking in English M = 55.79, speaking in other languages M = 57.77). Furthermore, their IELTS mean score was also lower than the overall mean score. (e) Preferred Reading Language Variable The study further revealed that the preferred reading language of the 146 subjects was English. Their mean scores for both texts were not only higher than for those subjects where the preferred reading language was other languages, but were also higher than the overall mean scores (MUET Text: reading in English M = 64.18, reading in other languages M = 61.29; IELTS Text: reading in English M = 57.67, reading in other languages M = 57.43). (ii) Findings on Subjects’ Responses to the SRSI A higher mean score for the MUET Text over the IELTS Text implied that the study samples found the foreign-oriented text more difficult. Although they ought to be culturally familiar with the topic content of the MUET text, the subjects did not perform as well as expected. The study revealed that more than half of them agreed that they found the IELTS Text more familiar than the MUET Text. Nevertheless, performance for the IELTS text was somewhat equivalent. The respondents somewhat agreed to have activated and used their schemata in attempting the two texts, especially for the IELTS Text. Many agreed to have adopted several and multiple strategies to overcome comprehension failure.

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(a) Readers’ Use of Schemata in Reading Comprehension The subjects’ poorer performance for the IELTS Text (MUET Text: M = 63.24; IELTS Text: M = 57.59) justified the higher frequency registered in the use of schemata when reading the text (IELTS Text: M = 3.10, average median = 3, average mode = 3; MUET Text: M = 2.94, average median = 2.86, average mode = 2.86). Nonetheless, in their effort to comprehend both texts, subjects showed mixed responses to the activation and use of their schemata ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”. It would be reasonable to assume this higher inclination to activate and use their schemata to comprehend the IELTS Text to have a halo effect as the mean, the median, and the mode for the use of schemata while reading both reading texts could be rounded to an integer, the value being 3 for “somewhat agree”. The survey results also showed that the subjects were agreeable on five of the seven items under the construct “Schemata” to indicate their use of schemata in relation to reading. Many of them “somewhat agree” that what they read on the page fitted the ideas, pictures, or images in their minds, while the rest “agree” to that inclination. A third of the subjects, or 32.4%, “somewhat agree” that they associated the unfamiliar words or phrases in the text with something that sounded similar or resembled the new words or phrases in their native language while a slightly lower number “agree”. However, they concurred that “strongly disagree” or “disagree” with the practice of mentally translating the text into their native language when they did not understand the text as they were reading it. As many as 34% “somewhat agree” and another 27% “agree” that as the respective texts contained many difficult words and phrases, they skimmed, scanned, and read the text several times. More subjects “agree” that they could understand the words and sentences in reading the texts as compared with those who “somewhat agree” though they did not find the text easy to understand. Interestingly, 29.2% of these Malaysian subjects “disagree” that the MUET text content was familiar to them. To them, the context was not present and/or unrelated to their own culture, or present in the world where they live. It was even more surprising to note that 75 or 34.7% of them ‘disagree” that this same MUET text content was familiar to them as they had not read nor heard of it before. This was a rather shocking finding where local Malaysians seemed to feel alienated when the topic was within the Malaysian context. Meanwhile 31% “somewhat agree” that the MUET text content was familiar to them as it was present and/or related to their own culture, or present in the world where they lived. Therefore, it was plausible to expect a similar number of subjects of hairline difference,

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in this case 30.1%, to “somewhat agree” that the text content was familiar to them as they had read or heard of it before. Conversely, many subjects “agree” (n = 37%) with a fewer number “somewhat agree” (n = 26.9%) that they found the IELTS text content familiar to them as it was present and/or related to their own culture, or present in the world where they lived. This contradicted with the finding that almost a quarter of the subjects (n = 25.9%) “disagree” that the text content was familiar to them as they had not read or heard of it before. Only 27.3% “agree” that this same text was familiar to them as they had read or heard of it before. Based on the subjects’ topmost rating, it was found that the subjects generally “somewhat agree” with the use of schemata in reading both texts as evident in four of the seven item ratings. (b) Readers’ Use of Strategies in Reading Comprehension The lower mean score for the IELTS Text implied that the subjects had found it to be more difficult than the MUET Text. The findings revealed that not only did the subjects “somewhat agree”’ with the use of schemata but they also “agree” with the use of strategies (IELTS Text: mode = 4 for “agree” rating; MUET Text: mode = 3.25 for “somewhat agree” rating). However, it was noted that the subjects, while reading the IELTS with the use of strategies, registered a slightly lower frequency than when they read MUET Text (IELTS Text: M = 3.56; MUET Text: M = 3.59). Nevertheless, the mean difference of 0.03 indicated an insignificant difference in the use of reading strategies to comprehend both texts. Survey results also showed that in comprehending the MUET Text, nearly 50% of the subjects “agree” that they consciously adopted the following strategies: (a) focus on the important ideas of the text, separating the main ideas from the supporting details (n = 48.6%), (b) link information in one sentence with information from the preceding one (n = 48.6%), (c) make sense of the concepts and ideas in the text by visualizing and forming pictures in their minds (n = 48.1%), and (d) continue reading when blocked by a comprehension difficulty and possibly go back to the problem later (n = 48.1%). Likewise, in order to better comprehend the IELTS Text, almost 50% of the subjects “agree” that they checked against what they already knew; what they were familiar with and was present in the world and culture they lived in (n = 46.8%); and looked out for repeated descriptions, words, phrases, and consistent ways of characterising people or events typical of the culture in context (n = 46.3%). Many of them, almost in equal numbers, “agree” on employing similar strategies as they read the texts: (a) they looked for key words in the text

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(MUET Text: n = 95; IELTS Text: n = 96), (b) asked themselves questions to clear doubts or to understand the text better (MUET Text: n = 89; IELTS Text: n = 84), and (c) skimmed the text first to get the main idea and then went back to read it more carefully (MUET Text: n = 88; IELTS Text: n = 85). Although the majority of the subjects “agree”, there were instances of more cases “agreeing” with the adoption of certain strategies when reading the IELTS Text. For instance, in attempting to understand the perspectives, opinions, and events of another culture in the text, the subjects “agree” and “somewhat agree” that they set aside their own cultural values and beliefs. Moreover, they used their knowledge of the topic and of what they knew from personal experience to make predictions of what they were reading or about to read. Polarized ratings for two reading strategies were noted. In comprehending the MUET Text, subjects “agree” or “strongly agree” over the practice of continuing to read when blocked by a comprehension difficulty and possibly going back to the problem later (MUET Text: “agree” = 104; “strongly agree” = 50) and skimming the text first to get the main idea and then going back to read it more carefully (MUET Text: “agree” = 88, “strongly agree” = 51). On the contrary, in comprehending the IELTS Text, subjects generally chose to “somewhat agree” or “agree” on those items (IELTS Text: “somewhat agree” = 56; “agree” = 96). Subjects’ responses ranged from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” for 21 items in the SRSI. The only two reading strategies that the subjects refrained from “strongly disagree” were (a) the strategy of focusing on the important ideas, separating them from the supporting details, and (b) the strategy of thinking in English as they read the text to form a mental notion or idea of the topic. The researcher re-categorized the item response ratings into two distinct groups: (a) positive response rating which included “agree” and “strongly agree”, and (b) negative response rating which included “disagree” and “strongly disagree”. It was found that subjects did adopt reading strategies in one or more ways to overcome the difficulties that they faced in reading comprehension. Ten reading strategies employed when reading the MUET Text received positive response rating. These strategies included: (a) looking for key words, title, sub-headings, and pictures in the text; (b) asking oneself questions to clear doubts or to understand the text better; (c) paying close attention to the words and details in the text and reformulating one’s own predictions; (d) focusing on the important ideas of the text and separating the main ideas from the supporting details; (e) continuing to read when blocked by a comprehension difficulty and possibly going back to the problem later; (f)

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trying to find answers to given questions based on the text before reading the text thoroughly; (g) correcting any point or changing ideas that had been formed earlier; (h) skimming the text first to get the main idea and then going back to read it more carefully; (i) consciously linking information in one sentence with information from the preceding one; and (j) making sense of the concepts and ideas in the text by visualizing and forming pictures in one’s mind. Survey results also indicated that the majority of the subjects gave positive response rating for the use of the following four reading strategies when reading the IELTS Text: (a) planning how one will read the text, monitoring to see how one is doing, and checking to see how much one has understood: (b) setting aside one’s own cultural values and beliefs in trying to understand the text containing perspectives, opinions, and events of another culture:, (c) using one’s own knowledge of the topic and of what one knew from personal experience to make predictions of what one was reading or about to read: and (d) checking against what one already knew and what one was familiar with and was present in the world and culture one lived in. It was further noted that almost the same number of subjects gave positive response rating for the adoption of the following two reading strategies while reading both texts: (a) looking out for repeated descriptions, words and phrases, consistent ways of characterising people or events typical of the culture in context, and (b) thinking in English while reading the text to form a mental notion/idea of the topic. (iii) Findings on Subjects’ Responses to the Interview Protocol Subjects from B.Ed. TESOL and B.Ed. TESL programmes were products of ETeMS (English in the Teaching of Mathematics and Science subjects) whilst the older subjects pursuing the B.Ed. TEYL programme did their Mathematics and Science in the national language. Unlike the Chinese and Indians, Malay subjects agreed that they tended to translate, think, and reason in their own mother tongue when they encountered difficulty in reading. Generally, the respondents’ degree of receptiveness towards both text types was similar. They claimed they were open to all text types and were not in any way prejudiced towards the material writer’s identity or nationality, as ultimately it was the subject matter that mattered most. They were inclined to be drawn to content that is interesting and without technical jargon. As the subjects were required to answer some comprehension questions after reading the texts within a time frame, it was found that all

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the seven male subjects strategized their reading by doing a quick scan of the questions before reading the passages. That guided them in their reading and they paid closer attention to those portions where questions were asked. The females adopted a linear method by reading the passage, reading the question and then re-reading the text several times, if necessary, to understand and/or look for contextual clues so as to answer the questions. All subjects readily admitted that they read academic materials in English to complete their assignments or as they had been directed to read during independent student learning (ISL) slots, and for that, they preferred digital texts downloaded from the Internet.

Conclusion The analyses revealed that there were significant differences in the reading comprehension scores of the teacher trainees according to their programme of study for both reading texts: a MUET text, a local-oriented text produced by a Malaysian writer, and an IELTS text, a foreign-oriented text produced by a native English-speaking writer. However, there was no significant difference according to other reader variables of gender, race, one’s preferred spoken language, and one’s preferred reading language. There were seven items under the “Schemata” construct and 16 items under the “Reading Strategies” construct. The researcher found that the subjects had to activate and use their schemata more dynamically in trying to comprehend the foreign-oriented text. However, there was no significant difference in the use of schemata in reading the two texts. Likewise, there was no significant difference in the use of reading strategies to comprehend both texts. The reading competence of these future ESL teachers was of average level. The mean reading comprehension scores for the MUET and IELTS texts was six and five out of ten marks respectively. Only 67.6% of the 216 respondents preferred reading in English whilst a mere 8.79% preferred speaking in English. Factors such as language preference for English or having the added advantage of learning Mathematics and Science subjects in English (ETeMS) as well as taking English for Science and Technology (EST) did not reflect a higher level of comprehension. The B.Ed. TESL trainees did not perform as well as those in B.Ed. TESOL and B.Ed. TEYL programmes. The difference in age could be a factor as this group of trainees aged 19-20 was younger than the others. Harvey (2006) identified the age variable of readers as one important factor that makes reading in a second language difficult. Yet, the B.Ed. TEYL trainees aged 24-25 did not perform very well either despite being older

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than the B.Ed. TESOL trainees aged 20-21 and after having undergone five-and-a half-years of teacher training.

Implications The findings have three implications. First, only a small number of these future English teachers were highly proficient in the language. The teacher trainees’ level of comprehension in reading the two different text types was moderately high. Secondly, the trainees generally did not use much of their higher order thinking skills or higher order reading skills such as making predictions, drawing conclusions, and making inferences. Not many of them monitor their comprehension. Pre-reading strategies such as skimming and scanning the text before reading it carefully and in detail, looking at the title and key words were adopted to kindle interest to read further. Thirdly, the study samples did not appear to comprehend the foreignoriented text better than they did for the local-oriented text although they seemed to be more receptive towards the foreign-oriented text; the content of which they claimed was familiar to them. The slightly better scores obtained for the MUET text attested that the respondents might be more receptive and familiar with the context. Moreover, the language used in this text was easier to understand as there were not many idiomatic expressions and the sentences were shorter. The trainees activated and used their schemata when reading both texts to a moderate extent. They also used similar reading strategies in trying to comprehend the texts when they encountered problems in the reading process.

Recommendations Below are the salient observations made by the researcher during the study and the corresponding recommendations for the consideration of policy makers and/or any prospective teacher trainer who wishes to replicate the study. (i) Subjects were seated close to their friends in the auditorium. Responses to structured questions were noted to be similar in some cases. Wholesale copying was also noted in a few cases. Subjects were also noted to give their responses in the SRSI for both texts simultaneously. In replicating this study, the future researcher might consider running the survey in smaller batches and spacing

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out the subjects at reasonable distance to avoid or reduce contact, or putting them in an “examination environment”. (ii) The study focused on the activation and use schemata and the adoption of reading strategies in reading comprehension. Research on the use of reading strategies on schemata-related problems in comprehension would be useful so as to map out what specific reading strategies could be adopted to address specific schematarelated problems in reading. (iii)The B.Ed. TEYL teacher trainees exhibited moderate performance in their reading comprehension even after five-and-a-half-years’ of training and in spite of being senior to the B.Ed. TESOL and B.Ed. TESL trainees. It is recommended that a monitoring and more concerted supervision programme be initiated to look into the effectiveness of English courses that are being conducted in institutes of teacher education. It is hoped that the quality of ESL teachers is assured in terms of competence, performance, aptitude, and attitude in due course with effective monitoring as well as follow-up and follow-through programmes. (iv) Some of the teacher trainees preferred not to speak in English nor to read materials in English. It is recommended that stringent procedures be adopted to ensure that future intakes of TESOL/TESL/TEYL trainees are interviewed and tested to show proof of oral and written fluency in English in place of the aptitude test.

References Carrell, P. L. (1998). Some causes of text-boundedness and schema interference in ESL reading. In Carrell, P. L., Devine, J., & Eskey, D. E. (eds), Interactive Approaches to Second Language Reading, 101222. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Carrell, P. L., & Eisterhold, J. C. (1998). Schema theory and ESL reading pedagogy. In Carrell, P. L., Devine, J., & Eskey, D. E. (eds), Interactive Approaches to Second Language Reading, 73-89. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Costantino, M. (1999). Reading and second language learners. Retrieved 17 July 2009 from http://ecei.evergreen.edu/docs/2ndLangLrners.pdf

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Goodman, K. (1998). The reading process. In Carrell, P. L., Devine, J., & Eskey, D. E. (eds), Interactive Approaches to Second Language Reading, 11-21. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Harvey, P. (2006). What makes reading in a second language difficult? In MET 15(1), 37-41. Inventory of strategies – reading strategies. Slide share from http://www.slideshare.net/Izaham/ reading-strategiesinventory Meena, S. (1998). A comparison of L1 and L2 reading: cultural differences and schema. The Internet TESL Journal for Teachers of English as a Second Language, 4(10). Retrieved from http://iteslj.org/Articles/ Singhal-Reading L1L2.html —. (2001). Reading proficiency, reading strategies, metacognitive awareness and L2 readers. The Reading Matrix 1(1). Retrieved from http://www.readingmatrix.com/articles/singhal Ministry Of Education. (2006). Rancangan Malaysia ke-9: Pelan Induk Pembangunan Pendidikan: 2006-2010 (Edisi Pelancaran) [Ninth Malaysia Plan: Core Plan for Educational Development: 2006-2010 (Launching Edition)]. Kuala Lumpur: Ministry Of Education, Malaysia. Pardo, L. S. (2004). What every teacher needs to know about comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 58(3), 272-279. Sousa, D. A. (2005). How the Brain Learns to Read. California: Corwin Press. Taillefer, G. F. (2005). Foreign language reading and study abroad: crosscultural and cross-linguistic questions. Modern Language Journal, 89. Wright, J. (2009). School-wide strategies for managing reading. Retrieved from http://www.jimwrightonline.com/php/interventionista/interventionista_ intv_list.php ?prob_type=reading

CHAPTER XXIV LOOKING INTO ACCURACY, COMPLEXITY AND FLUENCY OF EFL LEARNERS’ WRITTEN TASK PRODUCTION AND THE POTENCY OF UNGUIDED PLANNING REZA KHORASANI, AMBIGAPATHY PANDIAN, SHAIK ABDUL MALIK MOHAMED ISMAIL AND SABER ALAVI

Planning has been argued to have positive effects on learners’ task production regarding complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF), yet the debate is still hot and the findings are controversial especially regarding written task production which has been partially overlooked. This study seeks to find out the impact of unguided pretask planning on learners’ written task production. To do this, an Oxford placement test was administered. Based on the scores, the 68 Iranian undergraduates majoring in English were randomly divided into two groups of control no-planners (NP) and experimental unguided pre-task planners (UPP). They watched an episode of Mr Bean’s film and were required to write their account of watching in planned and unplanned conditions. The written narratives were measured for the CAF and the result of the study revealed that although unguided planners outperformed noplanners regarding all aspects of CAF, the result, however, was only significant regarding the number of dysfluency as a component of fluency.

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Introduction “All spoken and written language use, even that which appears effortless and automatic, involves planning. That is speakers and writers have to decide what to say/write and how to say/write it” (Ellis, 2005: 3). The need for employing planning time as a methodological option that can make a balance between form (accuracy) and meaning (fluency) was proposed by Skehan (1996). According to his model of limited processing capacity which is based on the information processing theory, learners cannot attend to all aspects of language at the same time, that is to say, they do not have sufficient mental capacity to allocate their attention to both form and meaning simultaneously. This processing greatly increases while learners are engaged in producing a foreign language which needs a lot of mental processing compared with first language learning. Learners, especially those with low proficiency who are involved in the processes of language production, i.e. conceptualization, formulation, and articulation (Levelt, 1989), face a big mental challenge while producing language in real time, and this leads to producing dysfluent or inaccurate language with pauses and hesitations (Skehan & Foster, 1999). Skehan calls this the trade-off effect by which he means paying attention to one aspect of language at the expense of the other; and within this competition, Van Patten (1990) calls it fluency winning over accuracy. However, Skehan believes that if learners are given time to play, they will be able to pay attention to both the content and form of their output at the same time, and as a result the quality of their production will increase.

Classification of Planning In his studies, Wendel (1997) distinguishes two kinds of planning: (1) strategic or off-line planning that occurs when learners are given time prior to their production which is also called pre-task planning, and (2) online planning that occurs when learners are performing the task. Schmidt (2001) calls strategic planning a preparatory attention that helps learners to accomplish the activity with more accuracy and speed. Based on Levelt (1989), there are three language production processes: (1) conceptualisation in which the message is encoded to a preverbal message, (2) formulation that involves applying the grammatical and phonological coding to the pre-verbal message, and (3) articulation in which utterances are phonetically shaped and articulated. Yuan and Ellis (2003: 6) claim that “on-line planning is the process by which speakers attend carefully to the formulation stage during speech planning and engage in pre-production

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and post-production monitoring of their speech acts.” To them pre-task planning is in the conceptualisation stage and on-line planning is close to the formulation stage. Thus, pre-task planning is in contrast with on-line planning. The first one occurs prior to task performance and might include the provision of linguistic forms, while on-line planning happens during task performance (ibid.). According to Wendel (1997), planning is a process that entails the retrieval and organisation of language production, helps the allocation of attention between aspects of language, and regulates our cognitive processes within the central processing stage of information processing theory. In his model, Levelt (1989) divides planning into macro- and micro-planning. In macro-planning, the speaker selects and employs the specific information to express his idea and in micro-planning he is engaged with the configuration of linguistic forms to the intended speech. Ellis (2005) identifies two kinds of planning: pre-task planning and within-task planning. Ellis further divides pre-task planning into rehearsal and strategic planning. He defines rehearsal as opportunities provided for learners to practise and re-do the task prior to main performance and strategic planning as an opportunity to consider how to focus on the content of the performance. Ellis (2003) believes that when learners repeat a task that they have easy access to its content, they will concentrate on finding the appropriate form. This, he claims, decreases the competing demand of accuracy, fluency, and complexity. Strategic or pre-task planning is a time given to learners prior to their performance to think about their productions. To make sure that they have spent their time for task preparation, some sort of note-sheets can be given to learners to write their notes during the planning phase (Skehan & Foster, 2005). For Ellis, task planning is distinguished by whether the task is performed under real-time pressure or not, i.e. in providing learners with planning time, the teacher can allow learners to perform the task in their own time without setting any time limitation, or under real-time pressure in which the learners are required to perform the task with a specific time limitation. This choice is significant and can affect the nature of the language that learners produce (Rouhi & Saeedakhtar, 2008). Ellis (1987) also refers to modality and the distinction between productive skills of speaking/writing and receptive skills of listening/reading. He believes that speaking is under more pressure than writing, and listening than reading, respectively. As Yuan (2001) claims, modality of the task can modify the effects of planning time. For him, on-line planning is more beneficial for oral rather than written production.

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Skehan (1996) suggests that the amount of time given for learners to complete the task is very important. He states that if learners are provided with unlimited time to perform the task, it will be unspeeded; and this will be easier for learners than a task which should be performed in limited time, which he called speeded. The results of the study by Yuan and Ellis (2003) also revealed that participants who were given unlimited time to perform the task produced a more accurate and complex language in comparison with the group that performed it under real-time pressure. That is to say, the participants used their time to monitor and reformulate their output. Their findings also verified that if the emphasis is on accuracy of the task, learners should perform the task in their own time; however, if they encourage fluency, there must be a time limit. Skehan and Foster (1999) used two types of pre-task planning in their studies: undetailed and detailed. By detailed or guided planning is meant providing learners with some metacognitive advice on how to attend to content, form, or content and form simultaneously. Sangarun (2001) studied the effects of three types of guided pre-task planning, i.e. contentfocused, language- focused, and content-and-language-focused planning on learners’ oral production. Skehan (1996) suggests that learners should be made explicitly aware of what they are focusing their attention whether on fluency, complexity, or accuracy. Skehan and Foster (1999) also made a distinction between individual and group-based planning and studied their effects on learners’ performance. This study focuses on the effects of guided pre-task planning under real-time pressure on learners’ aspects of production. The effects of planning on learners’ accuracy, fluency, and complexity of production have been widely discussed in second language acquisition (SLA) literature (Ellis, 1987; Foster & Skehan, 1999; Wendel, 1998; Ortega, 1999; Sangarun, 2001; Tajima, 2003; Yuan & Ellis, 2003; Ellis & Yuan, 2004; Rouhi, 2006). In his study Crookes (1989) required Japanese learners of English to produce two oral tasks under two planning conditions: no-planning and 10 minutes of pre-task planning. Each group had to produce two tasks in two forms of no-planning and 10 minutes of pre-task planning conditions. Unlike the no-planning condition in which participants immediately performed the task, whereas in the pre-task condition they were instructed to focus on the content and organization of their speech. They were also allowed to take notes while planning. Unlike Ellis (1987), Crookes (1989) took into consideration a broader effect of planning on speech performance. He did not find a statistically significant difference regarding accuracy, but planning groups were shown to be more complex than unplanned ones.

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Wigglesworth (1997) studied the effects of pre-task planning on both low and high proficient learners’ oral performance in a language testing context. Participants were given one-minute planning time before performing an oral test. She found that there was an interaction between the effects of planning time and other variables like proficiency and task type. The results of her study also showed the positive effects of planning time on all aspects of production in high proficient and cognitively demanding tasks in a pre-task planning situation. Unlike some of the earlier studies that found little or no effects of planning time on accuracy (Crookes, 1989; Skehan & Foster, 1999; Ortega, 1999), in Wigglesworth’s study, the results revealed more target-like use of verb forms. Also, she found that cognitively demanding tasks promoted accuracy in high proficient learners but this was not the same for low proficient learners. Tajima (2003) studied the effects of 10-minute planning time on Japanese foreign language learners’ aspects of production as well as their subjective impressions of whether planning affects their output. She required participants to produce a narrative oral task. She asked learners to produce a monologue kind of production. The results indicated a positive correlation between the effects of planning time and the performance of those who believed that planning will be beneficial. Regarding measuring aspects of production, planning time was significantly beneficial for fluency but for accuracy and complexity there was only a partial improvement. In their study, Yuan and Ellis (2003) investigated the effects of pretask planning and on-line planning on three aspects of production in an oral narrative task. They did not provide detailed guidance for planning groups, but participants were required to pay a close attention to the content, organisation, and language of their productions. They held the belief that, in on-line planning, subjects do not have a limited time span and that this condition helped them to formulate, monitor, and re-plan their content and language without the constraints of real-time pressure. The participants were required to orally narrate a story based on a set of pictures. The pre-task and no-planners were given five minutes to look at the pictures. Then the no-planners began speaking but pre-task planners had 10 minutes to plan and then narrate. On-line planners had no time limit for task completion. They measured accuracy by calculating the percentage of error-free clauses and correctly used verb forms, fluency by the number of syllables per minute, and complexity according to syntactic complexity and lexical variety. The results of this study showed that pretask planning had positive effects on grammatical complexity and on-line planning led to more accuracy and grammatical complexity but neither had

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any advantage on fluency and lexical variety. They claimed that there was a trade-off between accuracy, fluency, and complexity. They argued that learners, if given pre-task planning, prioritised content over form and as a result fluency would benefit, but if they were given on-line planning time they would attend to grammatical features. Righettini (2009) examined the effects of pre-task planning and language levels on English language learners’ proficiency through accuracy, complexity, and fluency on children. He had four groups of learners: two of them in high and two in low levels. Within each group, there was a no-planned and a planned group. His findings suggested that language level was more effective on aspects of production than planning.

Research Question This study is an attempt to find out the effects of unguided pre-task planning on English language learners’ written task production and aims to answer the following research question: What is the effect of unguided pre-task planning on the accuracy, fluency and complexity of written task production?

Method Participants The participants of this study were 68 undergraduates majoring in English. They were selected randomly from the Islamic Azad University and Payame-Nour University of Ardabil, the two important universities within the area. Being in a foreign language environment, the participants had learned English in a classroom setting, and they had not had the chance to be in an English-speaking country. They were given an Oxford Placement Test (OPT) and, based on their scores in the test, they were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. A one-way analysis of ANOVA was run to ensure the homogeneity of the groups.

Task In this study, planning time was operationalized in two levels of noplanning (NP) and unguided planning (UPP). The no-planned group was required to watch an episode of Mr Bean’s show as the source of the task. The participants were told to write their account of watching immediately

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the episode ended. The second group was unguided planners. They watched the same film, with the difference that they were given 10 minutes to think about their language prior to their production. They were allowed to take notes during planning time, but they were told that their notes will be taken away at the time of production. After 10 minutes, they started to write their account of watching the movie. The participants in both groups were given 14 minutes to write. This time-frame was used based on the findings of the pilot study conducted earlier to determine real-time pressure while writing and to prevent online planning

Measures The data were coded to measure the accuracy, fluency and complexity of the productions. To make the data comparable with the results of other planning studies, a set of measures used in earlier studies was also employed in this study. Accuracy was measured by calculating the number of error-free clauses (EFC) as a percentage of the total number of clauses. Fluency was measured by the number of dysfluencies (ND), i.e. the total number of words each participant reformulated (crossed out and changed) divided by the total number of words produced. Syntactic complexity (SC) was measured by dividing the total number of clauses by the number of Tunits.

Results Data Analysis for the Placement Test An Oxford Placement Test was administered to all 68 participants and based on their scores, they were randomly divided into two equal groups. In order to be assured of the homogeneity of the groups, their test scores were calculated and the result of the one-way ANOVA revealed that there is no statistically significant difference among the groups at alpha level set at 1.16; that is to say, they have produced more complex sentences than the NP group.

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Mean of SC

1.22

1.20

1.18

1.16 NP

UGP

Planned groups

Figure 1. SC across the groups

Regarding accuracy, the UPP group produced more EFC than the NP group (M=51.34)> (M=49.61). 51.50

Mean of EFC

51.00

50.50

50.00

49.50 NP

UGP

Planned groups

Figure 2. EFC across the groups

For fluency, UPP is smaller than NP and that means the UPP group has had few crossed and changed words and as a result produced more fluent language than the NP group (M = 0.29) < (M = 0.73).

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0.08

0.07

Mean of ND

0.06

0.05

0.04

0.03

0.02 NP

UGP

Planned groups

Figure 3. ND across the groups

The results of the ANOVA test run reveal that the difference between the two groups, except for ND (F = 8.204, P= 0.006), is not statistically significant; that is to say, although the mean for the variables in UPP is higher than that in NP in most cases. Even though there is a tendency towards producing a more accurate and syntactically complex language, the data do not show any statistically significant differences between the two groups (Table 4).

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Table 4. Series of one-way ANOVA results for CAF measures Sum of Squares SC

EFC

ND

Between Groups Within Groups Total Between Groups Within Groups Total Between Groups Within Groups Total

Mean Square

df

0.063

1

0.063

1.513

66

0.023

1.576

67

50.672

1

50.672

40025.640

66

606.449

40076.312

67

0.033

1

0.033

0.268

66

0.004

0.302

67

F

Sig.

2.749

0.102

.084

0.773

8.204

0.006

Discussion and Conclusion The research question in this article addressed the effects of unguided planning on accuracy, fluency, and complexity of foreign language learners’ written task production. Previous studies investigating the effects of planning on learners’ accuracy have led to mixed results. Yuan and Ellis (2003) claim that planning has positive effects on learners’ grammatical complexity but without affecting accuracy. They believe that it is the on-line planning that causes greater accuracy in L2 learners’ language production. They also claim that on-line planning provides learners with the opportunity to have access to their explicit knowledge, resulting in advantaged accuracy. The findings of the present study show that unguided planning does not have much effect on learners’ accuracy and complexity, though there is a tendency toward producing more accurate and complex language. It is generally believed that due to the limited attention capacity that human beings possess, for learners, especially those with limited proficiency, there is always a trade-off between one aspect of the language and the other while performing the task. Wendel (1997) sees this trade-off between accuracy and fluency. If learners focus on the content, fluency

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will increase and accuracy will remain unchanged. On the other hand, if learners pay attention to the form rather than the content, accuracy will improve. Skehan (1998) distinguishes the different effects of planning conditions on learners’ accuracy. According to his dual-processing model, in contrast to lexical items that are easily accessible, a rule-based system takes much time to be accessed. As a result, planning time is not sufficient to increase the accuracy of the learners especially when it is under real time pressure. It is safe to argue that during planning time, learners are focusing on the propositional content of their speech rather than the form. And even if they happen to focus on some forms, they forget to observe them when they come under the real-time pressure of L2 production. This, in turn, leads to high fluency during task performance and the trade-off would benefit the content rather than the form. Wendel (1997) contends there are no significant effects on learners’ accuracy as a result of unguided planning. Given the findings of this study, it can be concluded that unguided planning favours Levelt’s (1989) conceptualisation stage that claims pretask planning leads to higher degrees of fluency, and on-line planning promotes the monitoring ability of learners and results in more accurate L2 production. The question that can be addressed here is what aspects of language learners focus on during planning time. Of course the researcher did not take this issue into account in this study because he thought this would be more demanding on the part of the participants. Nonetheless, this could be elicited by asking the learners to self-report the processes they engaged in during planning time. But it is obvious that, even if participants concentrate on form during planning time, when producing the task the trade-off occurred and the conveyance of the message which seemed more important than form was prioritised. Even though the learners focused on some forms of their speech during planning time, when it came to language production, they were not able to remember that structure under real time pressure and the content would be preferred. On the other hand, this study supports the findings of Ortega (1999) and Yuan and Ellis (2003) who concluded that unguided planning cannot lead to increase in accuracy. Statistical analyses ran demonstrated that unguided planning did not exert significant effects on L2 learners’ syntactic complexity too. The findings can be justified by taking into account the design of the task. Unlike interactive tasks which are demanding on the part of the learners and might urge them to produce more complex L2, because of their need for reasoning, monologic tasks like cartoon narratives, especially when they include a straightforward structure of events, are not supposed to

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bring about embeddings or subordinations. It can be deduced from the arguments made that given the limited attention capacity of L2 learners and its constraints on learners’ production and the learners’ proficiency level, even when learners want to spend their time to plan their language complexity, it is the task design that should have the potential to place demands on learners’ attention to attend to complexity. The results of the study indicate that fluency is affected by planning time significantly, which supports the findings of Crookes (1989), Foster and Skehan (1996), Wendel (1997), and Yuan and Ellis (2003). When learners are given time before their narration, they think more about the content rather than form, drawing a mind map so that they can narrate the story in tandem. They get involved in narrating the story and put emphasis on fluency at the expense of accuracy due to their limited attention span. Hence, since the content becomes ready-made as a result of the planning time on the part of the planners, the learners produce language with a fewer number of dysfluency indices.

References Crookes, G. (1989). Planning and interlanguage variation. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 11, 367-383. Ellis, R. (1987). Interlanguage variability in narrative discourse: Style shifting in the use of past tense. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 9, 1-20. —. (2003). Task-based Language Learning and Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. —. (2005). Planning and task-based performance: Theory and research. In R. Ellis (ed.), Planning and Task Performance in a Second Language, 3í34. Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Ellis, R., & Yuan, F. (2003). The influence of planning and task type on second language performance. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 18, 299–323. Ellis, R. & Yuan, F. (2004). The effects of planning on fluency, complexity, and accuracy in second language narrative writing. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 20, 83–108. Levelt, W. (1989). Speaking: From Intention to Articulation. Cambridge MA: MIT Press. Ortega, L. (1999). Planning and focus on form in L2 oral performance. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21, 109–148. Righettini, M. (2009). The Effects of Planning Time and Language Levels on Task Performance of English Language Learners (Doctoral

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dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertation and theses database. (UMI No. 3387819). Rouhi, A. (2006). Striking an Effective Balance between Accuracy and Fluency in Task-based Teaching. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Tehran University, Tehran. Rouhi, A. & Saeed-Akhtar, A. (2008). Planning time: A mediating technique between fluency and accuracy in task-based teaching. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1, 103–133. Sangarun, J. (2001). The Effects of Pre-task Planning on Foreign Language Performance (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest dissertation and theses database. (UMI No. NQ 63632). Schmidt, R. (2001). Attention. In Robinson, P. (ed.), Cognition and Second Language Instruction, 3–32. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Skehan, P. (1996). A frame work for the implementation of task-based instruction. Applied Linguistics, 17, 37–62. Skehan, P. & Foster, P. (1999). The influence of task structure and processing conditions on narrative retellings. Language Learning, 49, 93–117. Skehan, P. & Foster, P. (2005). Strategic and on-line planning: The influence of surprise information and task time on second language performance. In Ellis, R. (ed.) Planning and Task Performance in a Second Language, 193–219. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Tajima, M. (2003). Examination of accuracy indicators: Basic research on the analysis of oral production. Paper presented at the ATJ seminar 2003, New York, NY. Van Patten, B. (1990). Attending to form and content in the input: An experiment in consciousness. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 12, 287–301. Wendel, J. (1997). Planning and Second Language Narrative Production. (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest dissertation and theses database. (UMI No. 9813575). Wigglesworth, G. (1997). An investigation of planning time and proficiency level on oral test discourse. Language Testing, 14, 85–106. Yuan, F. (2001). The Effects of Planning on Language Production in Taskbased Language Teaching. (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (UMI No. 9997306). Yuan, F. & Ellis, R. (2003). The effect of pre-task planning and on-line planning on fluency, complexity, and accuracy in L2 monologic oral production. Applied Linguistics, 24, 1-27.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Aida Shuhaida Mustafa graduated in 2006 from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). She has been a Malay Language teacher at the School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, USM, since 2008. She has a keen interest in teaching and doing research on Malay Language teaching and learning. In 2011, she received an award for excellent performance from USM. Akbar Solati is an Assistant Professor at the English Department, North Khorasan, University of Medical Science, Bojnurd, Iran. He obtained his BA in TEFL from Azad University, Iran; MA in Linguistics from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran; and PhD in ESP from Universiti Sains Malaysia. His areas of specialization include ESP, Psycholinguistics, Contrastive Analysis, Error Analysis and Interlanguage and his research interests include Applied Linguistics and Psycholinguistics. Ali Abdullah Alghail graduated with an MA in Linguistics and English Language Studies from USM in 2009. He is currently pursuing his doctoral studies in Applied Linguistics at the School of Humanities, USM. His research interests include international students’ education and academic literacy skills. Ali Zahabi is a PhD candidate in the field of Applied Linguistics at the School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia. He has been a lecturer at Islamic Azad University for four years and is currently a Graduate Assistant at Universiti Sains Malaysia. He has published three articles in International refereed journals and his areas of research are Reading Proficiency, Task-based Instruction and Eassessment. Ambigapathy Pandian is a Professor of English and Literacy at the School of Languages, Literacies and Translation and Chairman of the International Literacy Research Unit of Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang (Malaysia). He also serves as a Research Fellow at the National Higher Education Research Institute of the Ministry of Higher Education in Malaysia. His wide-ranging research interests include language and

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literacy education, TESL, TESOL, sociolinguistics, multilingualism, multiculturalism and, more recently, higher education. Athriyana Pattiwael is an academic staff member in the English Education Department in Satya Wacana Christian University. She is interested in investigating the topics of EIL, Extensive Reading, and Classroom Discourse and shares the results in various journals, seminars, and conferences. Chanitsara Thaveeprayoon has worked for the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives as a Human Resources Officer from November, 2005 to March, 2012. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from Chiang Mai University and a Master’s Degree in Communicative English from Ramkhamhaeng University. She currently resides in Finland. Christine Liew Ching Ling holds a BA and MA in English Literature from Universiti Malaya (UM) and is a freelance Language Instructor at various language centres in Selangor, Malaysia. Her research interests involve linking literacy to literary studies, and social and cultural aspects of language learning and teaching. Chuah Hong Hoon has a BA (Hons) in Mass Communications from Universiti Sains Malyasia and DipEd (TESL) from Universiti Malaya. She has teaching experience in both Malaysia and Australia. Currently, she teaches Proficiency English at the School of Languages, Literacies and Translation in Universiti Sains Malaysia. Debbita Tan Ai Lin has been teaching English since 2004 at the School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Her vast experience includes developing educational modules, presenting papers at international conferences, and academic publishing. Her research interests are in communication and education with particular emphasis on media-based interventions for literacy. She is currently pursuing her PhD and is also a freelance feature writer. G. K. Marriappen is a full-time PhD student at the School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia. His research interests are Teaching English as a Second Language, ICT in Education, Social Networking in Education and Educational Technology. He is attached to Politeknik Seberang Perai in Penang, Malaysia

362

About the Authors

Jayagowri Muniandy holds a BComm (Hons) from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) with a major in Persuasive Communication and minor in English Language Studies. She has both industrial and academic experiences since her graduation in 2000. She joined the School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, USM as a language instructor in 2005. Her research interests, apart from ELT, include multiliteracies, media studies, and materials development. Jinan A. Khaleel is an instructor in the English Department/College of Education for Women/ University of Baghdad. Her MA specialization is English linguistics awarded by the College of Arts, Baghdad University in 1988. She has lectured at the Institute for Developing English Language Teaching, Institute for Teacher Training, and higher studies. Kasthuri Veratharaju was a fulltime student at the School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Her research interests are Educational Technology, Teaching English as Second Language, Teacher Development and Adult Learning Approaches. She was also rewarded a USM PhD Fellowship by the School of Educational Studies, USM for the Years 2010–2012. Currently she is a teacher educator and lecturer at the Language Department, Penang Teacher Training College, Penang, Malaysia. Khong Hou-Keat is currently a Spanish Language Instructor with the Foundation & General Studies Section, Malaysian Spanish Institute, Universiti Kuala Lumpur. Hou-Keat is passionate in foreign language learning and teaching, especially the Spanish language, and has vast experience in organizing camps, workshops, and education based on the Amazing Race in relation to language enhancement. Khor Gek Suan is a Chinese Language teacher at the School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia. She obtained her MA (Chinese Studies) and BA (Hons) degrees from the University of Malaya. Her research interests include teaching and learning of Chinese Language, Chinese Literature and Philosophy of China. Kim Taek Hoon graduated from Hanyang University in Korea and has been teaching Korean language at USM since 2009. He has presented papers related to teaching and learning of foreign language at conferences in University of Alberta, Canada, University of Malaya Conference on Discourse and Society, and LITCON Conference 2011.

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Lee Bee Choo holds a BA and a Diploma in Education (TESL) from Universiti Malaya. She has more than 15 years’ teaching experience and is currently attached to the School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Her expertise includes developing educational modules and providing training to administrative and managerial staff at the corporate and academic sectors. Her areas of interests are literacy development and interventions for literacy. Lidia Ramírez Arriaga teaches the Spanish language at USM. She is Mexican and holds a BSc degree from UNAM, Mexico. She has taught the Spanish language at foreign language institutes, high school, and university in Japan. Her research focuses on the use of multimedia tools for effective teaching and learning of the Spanish language. Mahboobeh Mahboobi completed her bachelor’s degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language in Iran. She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in English Language Studies at the School of Languages, Literacies, and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia. She has published papers in international journal and also presented papers at international conferences. Manesha Kaur d/o Rajendra Singh currently teaches English at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sanglang, a rural school located in Kubang Pasu, Kedah. Her research areas include effective learning and teaching methodology to improve weak students’ English language proficiency. Manjet Kaur Mehar Singh is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Languages, Literacies and Translation in Universiti Sains Malaysia with 16 years of teaching experience. Her research areas include multiculturalism, English for specific purposes, literacy issues, learner engagement, and higher education. Marcia Jane Ganasan is a PhD candidate at the School of Languages, Literacies and Translation at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and is fully supported by the USM Fellowship programme. Her research interests include English Language Teaching (ELT), Literacy Practices, and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA).

364

About the Authors

Ma‘ssoumeh Bemani Naeini holds an MA degree in TESL from Arizona State University, USA and a PhD degree in Applied Linguistics from Universiti Sains Malaysia. She has been a faculty member of the English department at Islamic Azad University, Mashhad Branch since 1994. She is the author of university course books and articles in her research areas of interest such as Multiple Intelligences and individual differences, listening comprehension, teaching English and Technology. Muhammad Kamarul Kabilan Abdullah is an Associate Professor. Dr Muhammad’s research interests include ICT and English Language Education, Teacher Development, and Critical Practices. He has published widely in these areas in journals such TESOL Quarterly, British Journal of Educational Technology, and Computers and Education. Noordin Mohd. Noor obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Malay/Indonesia Language & Literature Studies from Universitas Sumatera Utara, Indonesia in 1993. He obtained his MA from Universiti Sains Malaysia in 1999 for his thesis entitled “Arabic Loanwords in Malay Language: A Semantic Study”. He has written and published journal articles at national and international levels. He is teaching proficiency Malay Language at the School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, USM. Pei-Ling Lee is a postgraduate student in Universiti Malaysia Sabah. She holds a Master of Education Degree specializing in Evaluation in Education. She is also a government high school teacher in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Praneet Thongpan is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology, Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya. She graduated from the University of Sydney. Her special interests are curriculum development, language testing, and discourse analysis. Reza Khorasani is a PhD candidate in Applied Linguistics at USM, Penang Malaysia. His research interests are task-based language teaching and focus on form. He has attended several international conferences and also has published some articles in journals. Saber Alavi is a PhD candidate in Applied Linguistics at the School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia. His areas of interest are second language acquisition and task-based language teaching and learning.

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Sachithanantham Tachina Moorthi is an English Language lecturer in a Malaysian teacher training institute. He has been involved in the teaching of English for almost 35 years. He has presented many research papers both locally and overseas. His area of interest includes English language teaching in teacher-training institutions. Sarjit Kaur is Associate Professor and Programme Chairperson of the English Language Studies Section at the School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Widely published, her research areas include Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), workplace literacies, multiliteracies approach, postgraduate education, and policy research in higher education. Shaik Abdul Malik Mohamed Ismail, PhD, obtained his Masters and PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA in Curriculum and Instruction. He is currently the Deputy Dean at the School of Educational Studies, USM. His areas of specialization are Curriculum and Instruction, English Language Studies, Educational Administration, and Primary School Education. His research areas are Reading Benchmarking, Reading Assessment, Innovative Reading Program, School Restructuring, and Curriculum of the Home. Shanthi Balraj, Associate Professor, is with the School of Arts, Universiti Sains Malaysia. She teaches New Media Theory and Appreciation, Creative Media, and Research Methodology. Her research interests are related to communication and learning in a digital world. She is currently working on two research projects on social media, young people, and media literacy. Shirley Tay Siew Hong, PhD, is the Excellent Principal of SMK Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Her interests include curriculum development and innovation. She has written a number of scholarly articles and presented papers at international, national as well as state conferences on instructional matters. She also conducts workshops at the state, district, and school level. Siti Waltraud Brigitte Mayr obtained her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Science from University of Cologne (Germany). She later obtained a postgraduate Diploma in Teaching German-as-a-ForeignLanguage through a long-distance study programme with the Goethe Institute and the University of Kassel in Germany. Currently, she

366

About the Authors

is attached to the School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Syed Zainal Ariff Syed Jamaluddin joined the teaching profession on completing the teacher training program in TESOL in Maktab Perguruan Persekutuan, Penang. After some years of teaching, he continued his studies at Universiti Pertanian Malaysia and obtained a Bachelor of Education (Teaching Malay as a First Language). He completed his Master’s degree in Linguistics at the University of Leeds in 1996 and PhD in Linguistics at University of Manchester in 2001. Toh Chwee Hiang holds a BA (Hons.) and postgraduate Diploma in Education (TESL) from Universiti Malaya and an MSc (Information Technology) from Universiti Sains Malaysia. She has been teaching and lecturing for more than 20 years at the School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, USM. Her research areas include TESL, developing reading skills, CALL, ICT in ELT, and materials design and development. Ummu Salmah Rahamatullah is currently a Spanish Language Teacher at the School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Translation and Interpretation from USM and her Master’s degree in Translation Studies from the same university. She has been actively involved in promoting language learning and teaching, especially the Spanish language, among the students through cultural activities outside the classroom. Uthai Piromruen, PhD, adjunct Associate Professor, has served as administrator of two universities (Ramkhamhaeng and Sripatum) from 1971 to 2005. He started teaching since 1950, and still gives lectures in English and Linguistics courses. He holds various degrees such as MA (Educ.), MA (Ling.), and PhD in Education & English (Honorary). Vikrom Chantarangkul is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology, Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya. He graduated from the National University of Singapore. His main interests are language testing and translation.

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Vincent Pang is a professor of education and the Dean of Centre for the Promotion of Knowledge and Language Learning, Universiti Malaysia Sabah. He is also an Editor of The Malaysian Journal of Learning and Instruction, and an Associate Research Fellow of the National Higher Education Research Institute (IPPTN). Yeoh Phaik Kin is a Lecturer-cum-Teacher Trainer with the Institute of Teacher Education Penang Campus, Penang, Malaysia. Her areas of interest include the teaching of reading (and writing), linguistics, language description, English Language teaching, and the use of technology in the classroom. Zahra Zohoorian is a PhD candidate at the School of Languages, Literacies, and Translation at USM. She is also a full-time faculty member at the Department of Languages, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad Branch, Mashhad, Iran. Her research areas of interest include ESP/EAP, syllabus design, material development, learners’ motivation, and adult English literacy. Zuraidah Ali is currently a Senior Lecturer at Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia. She teaches English and communication subjects to students at various levels of education. She promotes the use of academic blogging in her classes, a platform that she exploits as a research niche to develop learners’ potential. Her research interests include ESL speaking, persuasive communication, and organizational communication.