ELT in a Changing World : Innovative Approaches to New Challenges [1 ed.] 9781443867047, 9781443845694

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ELT in a Changing World

ELT in a Changing World: Innovative Approaches to New Challenges

Edited by

Azra Ahmed, Mehnaz Hanzala, Faiza Saleem and Graeme Cane

ELT in a Changing World: Innovative Approaches to New Challenges, Edited by Azra Ahmed, Mehnaz Hanzala, Faiza Saleem and Graeme Cane This book first published 2013 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 © 2013 by Azra Ahmed, Mehnaz Hanzala, Faiza Saleem and Graeme Cane 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): 1-4438-4569-8, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-4569-4

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Tables.............................................................................................. ix List of Figures............................................................................................. xi Foreword .................................................................................................. xiii Professor Thomas Farrell Preface ....................................................................................................... xv Dr Graeme Cane Acknowledgements .................................................................................. xxi Section One: Global Change and Language Learning Chapter One................................................................................................. 3 The Social Location of Language Teaching: From Zeitgeist to Imperative Andrew Littlejohn Chapter Two .............................................................................................. 17 Knowledge of Language and Its Late Acquisition through Self-Immersion Anjum P. Saleemi Chapter Three ............................................................................................ 41 The Role of Input- and Output-Based Practice in ELT Willy A. Renandya Chapter Four .............................................................................................. 53 Beware! The Yellow Brick Road Lieth in that Which Is NOT What Could Be Mirat Al Fatima Ahsan Chapter Five .............................................................................................. 73 What Is Language Awareness and How Can It Help English Teachers and Learners in the Language Classroom? Graeme Cane

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Table of Contents

Chapter Six ................................................................................................ 87 Towards an Understanding of Teachers’ Resistance to Innovation Fauzia Shamim Section Two: Developments in Second Language Theory and Practice in Pakistan Chapter Seven.......................................................................................... 107 Conceptual, Methodological and Analytical Inadequacies in Language Policy Scholarship in Relation to Pakistan Muhammad Ali Khan Chapter Eight........................................................................................... 127 Language, Migration and Testing: Perspectives from a Country of Origin Tony Capstick Chapter Nine............................................................................................ 139 Better English Better Status: A Perception in Pakistan Aliya Sikandar Chapter Ten ............................................................................................. 155 E-learning in ELT: Potentials and Challenges in the Context of Pakistan Azra Ahmed, Mirat Al Fatima Ahsan, Faiza Saleem and Rubina Sultan Chapter Eleven ........................................................................................ 177 English Language Learning Environment in Government Middle Schools in Pakistan Isbah Mustafa Section Three: Learning Innovations Chapter Twelve ....................................................................................... 203 Advances in Teacher Education and Innovative Professional Development Initiatives to Address Emerging Challenges Noor Amna Malik Chapter Thirteen ...................................................................................... 215 Accelerated Programmes: The Way Forward in Curriculum Development and Innovation Jacqueline Maria Dias, Basnama Ayaz and Rozina Barolia

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Chapter Fourteen ..................................................................................... 225 The Changing English Language Needs and the Unchanging Ways: What Can Be Done? Fatima Shahabuddin Chapter Fifteen ........................................................................................ 243 Social Competence and Language Learning Fatima Dar Abbreviations .......................................................................................... 255 Contributors............................................................................................. 259 Index........................................................................................................ 265

LIST OF TABLES

CHAPTER TEN Table 10.1. Summary of the Study Design Table 10.2. Summary of Mean Marks scored on the Pre-intervention Essay Table 10.3. Students’ Expectations and Needs from the Online Course Table 10.4. Summary of Students’ Views from the Preintervention/Intervention Focus Group Discussion CHAPTER ELEVEN Table 11.1: Reliability of Marking of English Scripts in 2010 Middle School Promotion Table 11.2: Representatives of the Sample Table 11.3: Textbook Description Table 11.4: Text Type in the Textbook Table 11.5: Meaningful Learning Offered in the Textbook Table 11.6: Frequency Table of Positive Classroom Behaviour Table 11.7: Questioning Behaviour of the Teacher Table 11.8: Student Participation in the Classroom Processes Table 11.9: Discussion beyond the Textbook Table 11.10: Meaningful and Rote Learning in the English Paper in 2008 & 2010 Middle School Promotion Examinations Table 11.11: Percentage of Translation in English Examinations Table 11.12: Skill-wise Distribution of Question Types Table 11.13: Student Performance in Middle School Promotion Examinations CHAPTER TWELVE Table 12.1. Details of the Program and Activities Initiated under ELTR Phase-II Table 12.2: Data by Province of Long Term Fellowships under ELTR Phase–I across Pakistan Table 12.3: Data by Province of CPD Trainings under ELTR Phase- I across Pakistan

LIST OF FIGURES

CHAPTER FOUR Figure 4.1: Thinking on Higher Education and Teacher Education in Pakistan Figure 4.2: Participants’ Conceptions of Teaching and Learning in the Data CHAPTER TEN Figure 10.1. Summary of the Mean Marks Scored on the Pre-intervention and Intervention Essays CHAPTER TWELVE Figure 12.1: Graphical Representation of Table 12.2 Figure 12.2: Graphical Representation of Table 12.3

FOREWORD

The changes taking place across the world today as a result of factors such as globalisation, the unstoppable spread of information technology, the instant transmission of ‘breaking news’ from Lahore to Lisbon to Los Angeles, and the emergence of English as a global language, are already having a major impact on the way we live, the way we think, and the way we communicate. Those of us in language education can no longer teach our subjects in a safe, antiseptic ivory tower isolated from the context of the real world. With the fast-paced spread of English as a second or foreign language throughout so many parts of the world, the teaching of English today must also aim to be just as dynamic and vibrant in order to meet the new challenges that have arisen. How do we teach a second language such as English, for example, while preserving the dignity and respect for local languages and cultures? What uses can we make of lifelong learning outside the classroom? How can we motivate and retain the attention of digital natives who regard multi-tasking as an everyday norm? These are some of the questions that the authors of these papers try to come to grips with in this book. On the one hand, a certain level of communicative competence in English has become vital for success for men and women worldwide in many walks of life. On the other hand, acquiring a second language in situations where there are few opportunities for practice or meaningful interaction can be a difficult and stressful task for both teachers and learners. This collection of papers written by experienced practitioners in the field looks at the challenges faced by language educators in Asia and attempts to offer innovative approaches, methods and ways of thinking that can help learners to break through the second language barrier and achieve genuine communicative competence in English. The volume will be a valuable addition to recent work on the theory and practice of ELT in Asia. Many of the papers are written with particular reference to Pakistan, but, in our increasingly inter-connected world, the book will be useful for language teachers and researchers everywhere. —Professor Thomas Farrell Department of Applied Linguistics, Brock University, Canada

PREFACE

The fifteen authors featured in this book were all presenters at a two-day international seminar organized by the Centre of English Language (CEL) at the Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan, in January, 2011. The theme of the seminar was ELT in a Changing World: Innovative Approaches to New Challenges, and, throughout the two days, more than forty scholars, teachers, and researchers from six different countries put forward their views on how English language teaching can best meet the changing needs of ESL/EFL learners in a globalised, digitised, but culturally and educationally diverse world. The event, which was attended by more than 450 participants, showcased speakers from Australia, Indonesia, Oman, Pakistan, Singapore, and the UK. This book is a collection of fifteen of the best papers that were presented at the Centre of English Language’s Karachi seminar. In their own different ways, the fifteen authors discuss changes that have taken place across the world in the last 10 to 15 years and consider how successfully English language teachers, thinkers and researchers have responded to these changes. While some of the authors address changes in syllabus and course design, others offer suggestions for new teaching materials, in-service training, classroom methodology, e-learning and ways of testing language proficiency. The book is divided into three sections: Global Change and Language Learning, Developments in Second Language Theory and Practice in Pakistan, and Learning Innovations. As Andrew Littlejohn points out in the opening chapter, The Social Location of Language Teaching: From Zeitgeist to Imperative, while applied linguists and language teachers tend to see innovations in ELT as coming from research developments within their own discipline, a wider historical perspective may reveal that the changes are actually responses to social events and shifts in the human behaviour of a particular period. In his ground-breaking sociological analysis of past trends in ELT, Littlejohn argues that the Soviet Union’s Sputnik programme of the1950s, the hippie, flower-power, ‘do-your-own-thing’ culture of the 1960s, and the arrival of fast-food burger chains in more recent years have all had their own effects on how we teach languages.

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Section One continues with Anjum Saleemi’s Knowledge of Language and Its Late Acquisition through Self-Immersion. Saleemi states that, while children naturally pair meaning with form in acquiring their mother tongue, this is not generally the case with second language acquisition. Saleemi suggests that an approach he terms ‘self-immersion’ may be useful in helping the learner to bridge the gap between form and meaning in the study and acquisition of a second language. The third paper in this section is Willy Renandya’s The Role of Input- and Output-Based Practice in ELT. Renandya argues that many communicative language programmes today give learners considerable output-based practice but do not give them sufficient opportunities to engage in meaningful input-based practice. The result is that the learners become fluent users of the second language but their speech and writing are filled with errors because they have been exposed to insufficient input to allow their linguistic system to develop adequately. Renandya concludes his discussion by offering some practical suggestions for increasing input-based practice in the language classroom. In her chapter Beware! The Yellow Brick Road Lieth in that Which Is Not What Could Be, Mirat Al Fatima Ahsan accepts that change is a constant factor in life and that educationists need to address the challenges that go hand in hand with changing situations and needs. However, she feels that, rather than seeking out the latest methods and technological gadgets to help us go forward, we might instead concentrate on looking more carefully at what we already have. Ahsan describes a phenomenographic study she conducted with a group of English language teachers to investigate their personal understanding of the relationship between teaching and learning and the factors that have influenced these views. Graeme Cane examines Language Awareness as a potential source of input and instruction in second language acquisition. Cane argues that encouraging learners to become more aware of how English works in real contexts can help increase their knowledge, confidence, enjoyment and motivation to learn the language. After discussing the value of using language awareness activities in general, he offers some practical strategies for raising the phonetic, grammatical and discourse awareness of English learners. In the final chapter of Section One, Fauzia Shamim asks why many teachers are resistant to change and innovation. Is it their natural conservatism or are there other deeper reasons? After analysing a number

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of Pakistan-based case studies, Shamim argues that, rather than blaming teachers for not implementing educational changes, we should consciously help them to manage change in the classroom in their own way. Section Two opens with Conceptual, Methodological and Analytical Inadequacies in Language Policy Scholarship in Relation to Pakistan by Muhammad Ali Khan. He argues that recent literature on Language Policy and Planning has shown a move from large-scale, survey-based research to smaller, more intensive studies of specific communication contexts where even basic terms such as language and mother tongue are debated and deconstructed in line with recent developments in linguistic ethnography. Khan goes on to analyse two works by the well-known Pakistani linguist, Tariq Rahman, and suggests that scholarly work on Language Policy and Planning in Pakistan has been limited by structural functional thinking and now needs to embrace a more modern approach to analysing social communication within the diverse speech communities of Pakistan. In Language, Migration and Testing: Perspectives from a Country of Origin Tony Capstick discusses the gate-keeping role that English is increasingly playing as a means of controlling immigration numbers to English-speaking countries. Since 2010, migrants who wish to enter the UK as the partner of a British citizen have been required to take an English language test, and Capstick’s paper examines findings from a study he conducted in Mirpur, Pakistan, which looked at the influence of his research subjects’ level of English on their opportunities for migration to the UK. In the following chapter, Aliya Sikandar discusses the concept of identity in the Pakistani context and examines the different social meanings expressed when speakers use the pronouns I, we, they, and you. In a research study conducted by the author, the collected data demonstrated that her research subjects associated themselves with particular social groups, roles and identities through their use of language. One of the more obvious changes in the teaching of English in recent years at the university level has been the spread of online or blended learning and the reduction in the time allocated to traditional face-to-face classroom teaching. This change has come about as a result of advances in educational technology, the development of virtual learning environments, the increased costs of face-to-face teaching, and various other factors. However, at present there is still little hard evidence to show that online learning is more or less effective than traditional classroom-based teaching. In their chapter E-learning in ELT: Potentials and Challenges in

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the Context of Pakistan, Azra Ahmed, Mirat Al Fatima Ahsan, Faiza Saleem and Rubina Sultan examine the potential of e-learning and the pedagogical challenges it presents for instructors and students. The authors discuss a study they conducted on the teaching and learning of English for Academic Purposes with a group of nursing students at a private university in Karachi. The paper shares the findings of their study up to the intervention phase of the project and highlights the insights that have been gained so far. In the final chapter of Section Two, Isbah Mustafa shows in English Language Learning Environment in Government Middle Schools in Pakistan , that, despite the importance given to English language in government schools in Pakistan, this emphasis does not seem to translate into an improved level of English language learning in the schools. Mustafa’s study uses recent data from government schools to explore the challenges faced by teachers and students in those areas of Pakistan where English is seldom used in everyday communication and interaction. She then highlights some of the local educational practices that have had some success in these schools and discusses ways to increase their impact on learners. Noor Amna Malik’s paper, Advances in Teacher Education and Professional Development, opens Section Three of the book. Malik points out that teacher education is one of the key pillars of the ‘Strategic Vision’ of Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission (HEC) because it is seen as critical to the country’s development as a moderate and democratic nation. Malik, feels that it is imperative to upgrade the quality of teachers through the continuous learning of innovative skills and techniques. She discusses the bold strategic initiative taken by the HEC to establish the Learning Innovation Division in 2003 with the mandate to conduct and facilitate programmes for Master Trainers and set up Professional Development seminars and workshops throughout Pakistan. Malik highlights the successes and challenges faced by the Learning Innovation Division and maps out the way forward for language teacher education in the country. As faculty members of the School of Nursing at a private university in Pakistan, Jacqueline Maria Dias, Basnama Ayaz and Rozina Barolia have different insights to offer in Accelerated programmes: The Way Forward in Curriculum Development and Innovation from those of most of the other authors featured in the book. They begin by underlining the importance of introducing a system of regular curriculum reviews as a

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safety check to ensure that each part of every educational curriculum is fulfilling its target aims and objectives. They go on to describe an innovation that has taken place in the Post RN B.Sc. nursing curriculum at their university: the introduction of an accelerated programme in nursing. The chapter discusses observations by the programme designers, feedback from the teaching faculty, as well as evaluations by students of the accelerated programme. Dias et al. assess the advantages of accelerated learning and conclude by looking into the possibility of replicating this innovation in other disciplines. Fatima Shahabuddin in her paper The Changing English Language Needs and the Unchanging Ways: What Can Be Done? discusses recent language learner needs which have arisen in the past decade or so in Pakistan. Shahabuddin points out that, in modern Pakistani cities, young people now require a certain level of English to secure a good job, better educational opportunities, and greater access to information. She then investigates how successfully the teaching/learning framework in the country has responded to these new learner needs and asks if it is possible to make the necessary fundamental changes to the system without creating too many unsettling ripples across the educational pool. In the final chapter of Section Three, Fatima Dar’s chapter, Social Competence and Language Learning, reminds us of our responsibility as educators to create a learning environment where learners acquire social as well as academic skills. Dar believes that educational institutions currently give too much emphasis to academic achievement and ignore other important life skills. As a result, we tend to produce individuals who may have the right technical or professional qualifications but lack the essential social and behavioural skills to fit happily and productively into the complexities and competition of modern society. Dar recommends a language curriculum which is both academically and socially driven and advocates using socially appropriate texts and methodologies to support a positive learner-friendly ambience in the language classroom. The editors hope that the fifteen chapters in this volume adequately reflect the ideas, insights, critical debate and lively discussion that filled the lecture rooms of the Aga Khan University in January 2011 during CEL’s Sixth International Seminar. After the two days of plenaries, parallel sessions and panel discussions, speakers and participants came to realise that the world has always been and will always be in a constant state of change, and that education cannot stand aloof and detached in its own

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ivory tower, indifferent to what’s going on elsewhere. Recognising this fact, the seminar participants concluded that all of us, teachers and learners alike, have to respond to the daily changes and challenges we face in the best ways we can. It is hoped that the present book will, in its own small way, offer some useful suggestions on how we might accomplish this complex but crucial task. —The Editors

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The editors are indebted to the Aga Khan University for facilitating the Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development’s Centre of English Language (CEL) in organising the Sixth international seminar titled: ELT in a Changing World: Innovative Approaches to New Challenges, in 2011. The seminar was attended by some of the leading ELT experts who presented and have contributed their papers for this book. We are grateful to all the authors for their willingness to share their knowledge and ideas. We are truly grateful to Professor Thomas Farrell for writing a thoughtprovoking Foreword, which lucidly captures the contents of this book. Our sincere thanks are extended to Cambridge Scholars Publishing. We would especially like to thank Ms Amanda Millar for her enthusiastic and expert editorial guidance, Ms Carol Koulikourdi for her help during the entire process of this publication, and Ms Soucin Yipsou for designing the cover page. We also owe our thanks to the entire CEL faculty for their encouragement and to our students who have contributed in a fundamental way to our understanding of the how, what and why of language teaching and learning. Finally, we wish to acknowledge Mr Ramzan Rajwani’s technical expertise and the kind support he so willingly provides us in this area. —The Editors



SECTION ONE GLOBAL CHANGE AND LANGUAGE LEARNING



CHAPTER ONE THE SOCIAL LOCATION OF LANGUAGE TEACHING: FROM ZEITGEIST TO IMPERATIVE ANDREW LITTLEJOHN

Abstract Drawing on ideas from social theory, this paper argues that the nature of language teaching is intimately related to its social and temporal location. To show the impact of context, the paper first presents a brief overview of the evolution of language teaching from the late 1950s onwards, showing how, in general terms, innovations in language teaching have always resonated in harmony with developments in the wider social context. The argument of the paper, however, is that in recent years the nature of the influence from ‘outside’ has moved from being simply a zeitgeist towards being an imperative–direct determination which shapes the details of what is done in classrooms. The paper focuses on two concepts in particular, McDonaldisation and neoliberalism, to show how these have impinged on language teaching today. Keywords: language Neoliberalism

teaching,

standardisation,

McDonaldisation,

Introduction It is not altogether surprising, of course, that language teaching has almost exclusively been concerned with the dual themes of language, on the one hand, and teaching, on the other. Language teaching, as a field of professional activity, has its origins in linguistics, with the fruits of language analysis long since a cornerstone of the content of classroom work, in the form of listings of grammar, lexical sets, functions, notions,

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The Social Location of Language Teaching

discourse structures and so on. More recently, teaching (and learning), that is, methodology, has taken a particular emphasis in the debate, specifically from the 1950s onwards, with the blossoming of what we now know as second language acquisition theory and moves towards communicative approaches. As language teaching asserts itself as a speciality, as an area of particular academic interest complete with professorships, research grants, journals, conferences and such like, it is comforting to think that we may be getting closer to an understanding of these two themes–that is, what precisely language is and what makes successful teaching (and learning, of course). Our debates aim to reveal and refine, to show that previous visions of our discipline were lacking in some way, even if we do sometimes give a gentle nod of approval to our own history. Yet, the position taken in this paper is that such a view of what we are engaged in misses one fundamental point. That is, that despite an emphasis on an apparently deepening understanding, the specific forms that language teaching takes and the specific foci of language teaching research and thinking are cultural activities, located, just as any other cultural activity, in a particular period of time and in a particular social milieu. As such, despite the internal logic of our discussions, there are likely to be themes, perspectives, concepts, rationales–call them what you will–that resonate in tune with similar themes, perspectives, concepts, and rationales in other areas of social life, often very distant from our own. Just why this should be so has been discussed and examined by a long line of social theorists, who aim to show how our particular modes of thinking are derived from wider social forces. Marx (1852, 1969), for example, most famously argued that Upon different forms of property, upon the social conditions of existences, rises an entire superstructure of distinct and peculiarly formed sentiments, illusions, modes of thought and views of life. The entire class creates and forms them out of its material foundation and out of the corresponding social relations. The single individual, who derives them through tradition and upbringing, may imagine that they form the real motives and starting point of his activity. (p. 421)

Marx’s original formulation of the relationship between historical context and forms of thought is now generally seen as rather mechanical, unable to explain the subtleties in variations of consciousness. The individual is seen as essentially powerless, unable to resist domination from above, a victim

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of a one-way process of contextual indoctrination. Later neo-marxist analyses have offered considerable refinements of this basic formulation and now see ideology–quite literally, meaning ‘ideas’–as woven into our day to day ‘lived experience’, in which a particular view of things appears as ‘common sense’ and as a natural way of thinking and behaving (see, inter alia, the considerable volume of work produced by writers such as Gramsci, Giroux, Bourdieu & Foucault). The process of maintaining ideology is thus seen as a process in which we are all collectively engaged, as our daily actions reaffirm a particular historically and socially located perspective. Ruling elites, in this view, are continually engaged in a struggle for ‘hegemony’, a struggle to naturalise their view of things and to legitimatise their priorities, a struggle which they undertake through institutions such as schools, churches, legal systems, the media, advertising, government regulation, and so on. It is not my purpose in this paper to discuss the various formulations of the relationship between thought and action, on the one hand, and historical and social context, on the other. Drawing on the social theorists I have mentioned, I simply wish to establish a basic proposition: that is, that language teaching is no less a cultural activity than any other form of social practice and will be subject to the direct influences of the ideology of the time, and, in particular, to pressure from ruling elites and social classes, however indistinctly voiced, to direct our thinking in particular directions. In short, ‘common sense’ views, being struggled for in the wider society in matters quite unrelated to language teaching, will have an influence on what happens in classrooms. Language teaching will always be underpinned by ideology (see, on this, Littlejohn, 1997). My contention in this paper is that the nature of this influence has, in recent years, become a lot more defined and a lot more assertive, as standardisation and centralisation have become the hallmarks of advanced industrial societies. I wish to argue that we are moving from a zeitgeist relationship with our social and temporal context, to a much more directive one of imperative, in which specific ways of doing language teaching are being increasingly presented as the only ways to do it, with other views marginalised, presented as wasteful or not fit for purpose. To do this, I want to first offer a brief historical review of recent developments in language teaching to show how language teaching has continually marched in tune with developments way beyond the language classroom.

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The Social Location of Language Teaching

English Language Teaching – A Brief Historical Overview Any account of history is necessarily partial, selective and subjective. This is true in at least two important ways in respect of the overview which I offer here. Firstly, I have chosen to focus mainly on social developments in Britain and the United States and relate these to British and American approaches to language teaching. As the major powerhouses of much contemporary thought in language teaching, this is, I believe, a reasonable and justifiable limitation to my review. Secondly, I recognise that I have been highly selective in what I have cited as important moments in social change, and equally selective in my identification of echoes in classroom work. I am sure it is perfectly possible to identify many occurrences of both social change and classroom practice which appear to have no clear resonance, though, following social theory, it would remain a major theoretical challenge to explain why that should be so. My intention here is to provide a broad sweep, provocative in nature and ambitious in the claims it makes. I will begin first with what I see as the major impetus for ‘modern’ language teaching–political developments in the United States in the 1950s.

The 1950s/60s and the Cold War In many ways, the post war period was one of broad optimism. The horrors of war were behind the West, and economies were now booming, fuelled in part by the Marshall Plan in Europe, with British Prime Minister Harold McMillan declaring in 1957 that Britons “had never had it so good”. A major component in this boom was the rapid development of technology—the war itself had, after all, been finally ended by a major piece of technology in the shape of the atomic bomb. Technology and rationale solutions were very much the flavour of the times. In architecture, we saw designs such as the Guggenheim Museum in New York (1959) and the Sydney Opera House (begun in 1950), with their perfect, geometrical, curved shapes. In the home, this was the era of ‘mod cons’–modern conveniences–which brought technology and efficiency to the kitchen with serving hatches, pull-down work surfaces, cookers with timers, and flush fitted kitchen units (Ferry, 2011). In the air, the first plans for the design of a supersonic aircraft, Concorde, were beginning in the early 1960s, with the first flight in 1969.

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In the period prior to the late 1950s, English language teaching had remained largely free of major innovations. Grammar translation was still the predominant approach, as it had been for hundreds of years (see Howatt, 2004), with the Berlitz Method and the Direct Method the only major pedagogic rivals. All of this changed dramatically, however, with a single event in 1957, when language teaching was kicked abruptly in the technological age. In October, 1957, the USSR launched Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite, thereby heralding the beginning of what we now call the Space Age. The impact of this and further USSR space achievements on the United States was colossal. This was the era of cold war tensions between the two countries, and it seemed that communism had achieved a major scientific, political and propaganda coup, out-pacing American space ambitions, and seriously denting the national psyche. The immediate response in the United States was one of panic, with the inadequacies of American education, science and research blamed for falling behind in the race. A major failing was identified in the abilities of American scientists to keep up with developments in other countries, so ‘emergency measures’ were introduced to pour money into foreign language teaching through the 1958 National Defense Foreign Language Act, with massive grants to strengthen research, materials and methods (Flattau, et al., 2005, 2007). In an atmosphere which emphasised technical, rationale solutions it is perhaps not at all surprising that the lack of foreign language skills was immediately seen as a problem requiring a technical solution. In harmony with the spirit of the times, behaviourism offered just such a technical view, with its conceptualisation of learning as the establishment of habits through technically specified routines. Thus it was that behaviouristic approaches to language teaching became the main beneficiary of the massive injection of funds from the National Defense Act and habitforming routines became cemented into language teaching for all time. Language laboratories, mim-mem exercises, pattern practice drills and dialogue repetition all owe their origins to this period, and still today comprise much of a staple diet for language teaching, exported globally as American language learning technology. It is interesting to speculate what today’s language teaching might have looked like had Chomsky’s eventual rejection of Behaviourism come sooner—or, indeed, if the USSR had delayed their launch of the Sputnik by a decade or so.

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The Social Location of Language Teaching

The Late 1960s to the Late 1970s Through the 1960s a wave of rebellion occupied many Western governments, with outright rejection of authority and ‘The Establishment’ seemingly coming under direct attack. The 1968 Paris riots, the occupation of universities in many Western cities, the mass demonstrations against the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights marches all signalled a change in public mood. The notion of an alternative was predominant, with a break away from a conformist, middle-class lifestyle. ‘Flower power’, ‘dropping out’, ‘psychedelia’ and ‘do your own thing’ were all buzz words from this era. Hippies, yippies, beatniks and the ‘love generation’ seemed to threaten the very foundations of decency. In music, The Beatles posed a major threat with their non-conformist attitudes, and their eventual morphing into hippy-inspired styles. In the context of this rejection of mainstream values and establishment control, it is not difficult to understand why language teaching, too, took a sudden lurch towards ‘alternative’ methodologies. It is in this period we see the popularisation (at least in language teaching writings, if not in actual practice) of ‘fringe’ methodologies such as the Silent Way (Gattegno, 1972) and Suggestopaedia (Lozanov, 1978). It is also in this period that we find the ‘do your own thing’ theme resonating in language teaching in the form of self access centres, individualisation and autonomous learning, already well established in many parts of the world by the beginning of the 1980s (see, for example, de Silva, 1983; Holec, 1980; Littlejohn, 1983; Riley, 1974). It is also interesting to note that, towards the end of this period, we find the emergence of ‘natural’ approaches to language acquisition (Krashen, 1981), in itself a rejection of institutionalised approaches to language development, and a return, much as the hippies had promised, to a simpler, more natural way of living and learning.

The 1970s to the Mid-1980s onwards In contrast to the community-centred movements of the 1960s, the subsequent decade has been characterised by many social commentators as one which emphasised the needs, desires and distinct differences of the individual, summed up in Tom Wolfe’s (1976) coining of the term the ‘Me Decade’. Certainly, the period from the 1970s onwards can be characterised by a focus on the special demands of the individual, particularly members of identifiable social groups, who maintained their

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distinctness from the larger society. Thus, we see in this period the rise of the feminist movements, and the recognition of the rights and status of different cultures and minority groups, with multiculturalism an explicitly adopted policy in many Western countries (Inglis, 1995). Also of significance in this period is the emphasis on increased democratisation, with the lowering of the voting age from 21 to 18 in many countries from 1970 onwards. With the shift towards fulfilling the personal needs of individuals, and the rights of groups to participate in democratic society, it was not long before such themes began to appear within language teaching. Thus, we see from the mid 1970s onwards, the rise of ‘English for Special Purposes’ as recognition that “your needs are different from my needs”, the title of an article (Underhill, 1981) in the first edition of the significantly named journal World Englishes—note the plural. Learners, too, were now being encouraged to take direct control of their own learning, spurred on by Naiman et al’s (1978) seminal study The Good Language Learner and by the development of training in learning strategies. The theme of widening participation in society was also evident in the notable shift away from prescription in language teaching (accuracy in grammar) towards a view that language is what people do with it, with the widespread adoption of Communicative Language Teaching (functions, notions, etc.), and even more explicitly, in arguments for negotiated approaches to syllabus construction (see Breen, 1984; Breen & Candlin 1980, for early arguments for this; see Breen & Littlejohn, 2000, pp. 5-18 for a broader historical perspective)

From Zeitgeist to Imperative: The Mid-1980s onwards Whilst it is possible to identify, as I have done, clear links between the themes and issues of the wider society and the manner in which they have resonated in the contemporary language classroom, it is also clear that the link is a very indirect one, in which the notions of the zeitgeist – the spirit of the times–find their way, I would argue, into the perspectives of those involved in language teaching. My argument in the following section, however, is that the relationship between the social and historical context and the practices of language teaching has become much more defined in recent years–moving from a generalised influence to a much more strongly defined imperative of what has to happen in the classroom. In short, processes of standardisation and the centralisation of decision-making are becoming much more evident. The heyday of imaginative, experimental, if

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The Social Location of Language Teaching

sometimes wacky, approaches to language teaching which was the hallmark of much innovation in language teaching through the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, has given way, I would argue, to a sameness in approach and an emphasis on efficiency which has significant implications for the future of language teaching. Maintaining my emphasis on the impact of wider social forces, I want to now focus on two concepts and show how they relate to classroom practices today. These are the controversial concepts of McDonaldisation and Neo-liberalism.

McDonaldisation The term McDonaldisation owes its origins to Ritzer’s (1993 onwards, with frequent updated editions) provocative work in which he analyses the nature of the working procedures of the well-known global hamburger chain. McDonald’s, Ritzer argues, is characterised by an emphasis on efficiency and total predictability through a number of strategies: a completely standardised product; fixed, deskilled work routines for employees; fixed language scripts for workers’ interactions with customers; and an emphasis on a packaged ‘experience’ for all concerned. Ritzer argues that this leads to a dehumanising environment, homogenised and “caged” as he terms it, by the strictures of the McDonald’s dictates. The significance of Ritzer’s analysis is not, however, in his criticism of McDonald’s but in his argument that similar practices are now ‘colonising’ other areas of social life, with similar standardised products, standardised routines, standardised scripts, total predictability and total control evident in a wide range of seemingly unrelated fields. He thus talks of McUniversity, McCinema, McNews, McTV and so on. For Ritzer, society itself is becoming ‘caged’. Are we now witnessing the emergence of the “caged society” in language teaching? Can we now talk of a ‘McDonaldisation of language teaching’? Clearly, such a claim would require an extensive analysis of contemporary practices in language teaching, which is beyond my scope here. A reasonable place to start such an analysis, however, would be in the nature of teaching materials, published by British and American publishers. Certainly, recent evidence is that the supply of teaching materials, at least, suggests that we are moving ever more towards the provision of “packages” with a plethora of components aiming to structure classroom time in considerable detail (Littlejohn, 2011, pp. 179-180).

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We may also point to the typical nature of these materials. ‘Units’ are typically standardised in length (the familiar two-page spread, often equalling an assumed 50 minute lesson), standardised in structure, so that teachers and students are taken through a fixed plan of action. ‘Warm-up’ exercises, reading or listening texts, comprehension exercises, ‘transfer’ exercises often seem to have a predictable placing in the proposed sequence of classroom work. And, as many commentators have remarked, the educational diet is frequently thin, with bland, uncontroversial content ‘carrying’ the language syllabus, as the materials provide a ‘one stop solution’ to language teaching: tasks generally only require answers supplied by the content of the materials themselves. Detailed teachers’ guides complete the picture, providing as they frequently do, a blow-byblow guide to what to say and do in the classroom. If my analysis of the nature of much published teaching material is correct, then it does not require a major step to make the link between Ritzer’s analysis and what is happening in contemporary language teaching. Much current materials, I would argue, appear to offer scripts for both teachers and learners, packed experiences, predictability and standardisation, in much the same way as the famous hamburger chain does. The analysis could also be extended: do we now have ‘McTeacher Training’ in the form of globally standardised teaching qualifications, in which trainees are ‘trained’ to evoke the standardised routines of ‘McLesson’ through the use of ‘McCoursebook’?

Neo-liberalism While Ritzer’s analysis of McDonaldisation provides an in-depth analysis of procedures in the workplace, the concept and philosophy of neoliberalism has a much broader perspective on the nature of society as a whole, shaped by economic activities. With its origins in classical economics and works such as Adam Smith’s (1776, 2012) Wealth of Nations, neoliberalism is today associated with a rolling back of state intervention, deregulation and privatisation. Economists such as Milton Friedman, politicians such as Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, and policy prescriptions such as those set out in the Washington Consensus (1989) are familiar names associated with Neoliberalism. As a defining movement of our time, Neoliberalism has had a far reaching impact on societies everywhere through the dismantling of state subsidies, the decentralisation of planning, the deregulation of the finance sectors and– importantly for my focus here–the primacy of the market.

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In Neoliberalism, value is determined through the market, as all manner of services are monetised, that is, represented as having a monetary value, which can be accounted for. To aid in this process, activities previously considered holistic in nature–such as aspects of education–are broken down into atomistic parts which can be counted and added up, to show the ‘added value’ which a service brings. Thus, we have the explosion in agencies which rate schools and universities by adding up points allocated to factors of perhaps dubious overall significance (such as a university having Nobel laureate alumni) in order to show that one institution is superior to another–thereby raising its ‘value’ in the scramble to attract the best students and research funds. But even the word ‘student’ becomes questionable in this mindset. ‘Patients’, ‘passengers’, ‘students’, ‘pupils’ ‘teachers’ ‘doctors’–terms such as these reflect an earlier era, as a new vocabulary of ‘consumer’, ‘client’, and ‘provider’ is introduced to reflect the market roles of those involved. What has all this got to do with language teaching? As the logic of the market is introduced into our daily lives, and as we are all recast as either ‘consumers’ or ‘providers’, the impact on language teaching has been very significant indeed. While language instruction has long since been a paidfor service, over recent years we have seen a massive escalation in the number of marketed language teaching ‘products’. As I have already noted, the logic of the neoliberal market requires a breaking down of services into marketable ‘value added’ components, the monetisation of the minutiae of the language teaching process. One of the clearest examples of this is the recent proliferation of standardised examinations. Whereas thirty or so years ago we had a limited range of international examinations available for language students (from the UK, basically only two: Cambridge First Certificate in English and Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency), the number on offer today runs into hundreds, each aimed at specific market segments, for every possible age, background and purposes of the students: legal English, medical English, academic English, business English…young learners, college learners, adult learners, learners with a computer or learners without a computer, learners in schools or language institutes, and so on. We may question why the world needs this–why, for example, do 6 year olds need an international standardised examination (Cambridge Young Learners)? But we have it– and it is promoted, sold and consumed by parents globally.

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While the provision of examinations represents a clear commodification of language learning by publishers and examination bodies who can see the business opportunities this represents, the most significant move towards the packaging of language learning has, however, come from within the language teaching profession itself. Driven by the logic of the times and atomisation of ‘value added’ services which ‘the market’ requires, we now have perhaps the most elaborate device ever to aid in the standardisation of language learning in the shape of the Common European Framework (Council of Europe, 2001). By providing a ‘systematic’ division of competence levels into ever more detailed (and probably mythical) subsets, the CEF has spawned a veritable plethora of commercially packaged lessons, course books (many, ‘CEF’ rebranded), practice tests, portfolios, teacher training modules and such like. Far from being just a European instrument, the influence of the CEF spreads far and wide, as it is now widely adopted in countries all over the world. Through the detailed specification of achievement levels, the authors of the CEF have achieved a standardisation of language teaching content in classrooms all over the world, rendering irrelevant and unnecessary anything that does not match the targeted descriptors. And, while the CEF document itself makes no statements about methodology, it is clear that narrowly specified targets are likely to lead to narrowly specified teaching, and that narrowly specified teaching is likely to produce a limited range of methodological options—and a tendency towards McDonaldised routines. It is, indeed, the language teaching industry’s best ever instrument to achieve the globalisation of one particular prescription of what language, language teaching and language learning mean, and its best ever instrument to achieve the fulfilment of the neoliberalist goal.

So what? My argument through the early part of this paper was that previous innovations in language teaching took inspiration from the zeitgeist of the times, not in a direct way but through a rather remote influence on the line of thinking which language teaching practitioners at the time adopted. Thus, we saw the development of language laboratories during the technology focused 1950s/60s, the explosion of experimental and fringe methodologies during the ‘alternative’ mindset of the late 1960s/70s, and the development of learner-centred approaches during the ‘Me decade’ of the 1970s/80s. With the advent of the mid 1980s, however, I believe we have seen a transition to a much more direct and detailed imperative for language teaching, as the profession marches more and more in tune with

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the global economic paradigm and mindset proposed by neoliberalist thinking and McDonaldised routines. Does this matter? In as much as it implies a uniformity of thinking, a standardisation and homogenisation of language teaching, irrespective of local cultures, students’ personal preferences, personal goals and particular teacher strengths and weaknesses, it does of course matter, and matter deeply. But the force of centralised detailed standardisation also renders as wasteful and irrelevant anything that does not match the specified plans. Thus, the profession is in danger of losing the freedom to experiment and innovate, to renew itself and discover afresh what language teaching can be. Are we, in short, in danger of entering Ritzer’s ‘caged society’–and of throwing away the key? It is, of course, not entirely surprising that I am raising these questions now. Just as writers in the past have resonated with the influence of ideas in the air, so too does the tenor of my argument here. Paradoxically perhaps, we are now seeing global resistance to globalisation, in the form of the Occupy movements which have sprung up around the world in places as far apart as New York, London, Berlin, Hong Kong, Rome, Kuala Lumpur, Mexico City, and other major cities (The Guardian, 2011). My own personal view is that this is precisely what we need to start doing now in language teaching – to resist the manner in which standardisation is being enforced, the process in which curriculum decisions are being removed from those directly involved with their implementation and the erosion of the freedom to imagine a different way of doing things.

References Breen, M. P. (1984). Process syllabuses for the language classroom. In C. J. Brumfit (Ed.), General English syllabus design (pp. 47-60). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Breen, M. P. & Candlin, C. N. (1980). The essentials of the communicative curriculum. Applied Linguistics, 1(2), 89-112. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Breen, M. P., & Littlejohn, A. (2000). Classroom decision-making: Negotiation and process syllabuses in practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Council of Europe. (2001). Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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de Silva, Maria Antonieta Donis. (1983). The self-access box for classroom use. MEXTESOL Journal, 7(3), 63-66. Ferry, K. (2011). The 1950s kitchen. Oxford, UK: Shire Publications. Flattau, P., J. Bracken, R. van Atta, A., Bandeh-Ahmadi, R., de la Cruz, K., Sullivan, K. (2005, 2007). The national defense education act of 1958: Selected outcomes. Washington: Science and Technology Policy Institute. Gattegno, C. (1972). Teaching foreign languages in schools: The silent way (2nd ed.). New York: Educational Solutions Holec, H. (1980). Autonomy and foreign language learning. Strasbourg: Council of Europe. Howatt, A. P. R. (2004). A history of English language teaching (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Inglis, C. (1995). Multiculturalism: New policy responses to diversity. UNESCO Management of Social Transformations Policy Paper No. 4. Retrieved from www.unesco.org/most/pp4.htm Krashen, S. (1981). Second language acquisition and second language learning. Oxford: Pergamon. Littlejohn, A. (1983). Increasing learner involvement in course management. TESOL Quarterly, 17(4), 595-608. —. (1997). Self-access work and curriculum ideologies. In P. Benson & P. Voller (Eds.), Autonomy and independence in language learning (pp.181-191). London: Longman. —. (2011). The analysis of language teaching materials: Inside the Trojan Horse. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Materials development in language teaching (pp. 179-211). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lozanov, G. (1978). Suggestology and outlines of suggestopedy. New York: Gordon & Breach. Marx, K.. (1852, 1969). The eighteenth brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. In K. Marx & F. Engels (Eds.), Selected Works, Volume 1. Moscow: Progress Publishers. McMillan, H. (1957). Speech on 20 July 1957 in Bedford, UK. Naiman, N., Frohlich, M., Stern, H., Todesco, A. (1978). The good language learner. Research into Education Series No 7. Toronto: OISE. Riley. P. (1974). From fact to function: Aspects of the work of the C.R.A.P.E.L. Melanges Pedagogiques. Nancy, France: CRAPEL. Smith, A. (1776, 2012). The wealth of nations. Ware, UK: Wordsworth Editions.

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The Guardian. (2011). Occupy protests around the world. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/oct/17/occupyprotests-world-list-map Underhill, N. (1981). Your needs are different from my needs. World Englishes, 1(1), 15-18 Wolfe, T. (1976). Mauve gloves & madmen, clutter & vine. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

CHAPTER TWO KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGE AND ITS LATE ACQUISITION THROUGH SELF-IMMERSION ANJUM P. SALEEMI

Abstract Knowing a language involves the knowledge of both formally correct expressions of a language and the ability to associate them spontaneously and appropriately with the intended meaningful content or thought. This alignment of form and meaning is what one’s knowledge of a language is all about, whether first or second or (more or less equivalently) acquired early or late. As is well known, the pairing of meaning with form happens rather naturally and speedily in early language acquisition; not so in the case of late or adult acquisition. This paper explores, among other things, the differences and similarities between these two related phenomena, and suggests how the gulf between them could possibly be narrowed by an approach to language learning that is called ‘self-immersion’. This term refers to the language learner’s active and largely self-induced efforts to learn a language after childhood by striving to learn to think in the target language using a method consisting of a number of intensive ‘autodidactic immersion’ techniques. Eventually, such a learner will, it is expected, naturally expand his self-acquired knowledge of the target language to social and interactive use, but without decreasing selfimmersion, which is considered an essential part of knowing a language, not just a disposable technique for learning it. Keywords: Linguistic knowledge, language and thought, inner speech, early and late language acquisition, self-immersion, self-guided instruction, autodidactic learning

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Introduction In the following pages we intend to discuss what it means to know a language and how it is learnt or acquired. (Unlike Krashen, 1981, we use these two terms interchangeably.) To be more explicit, the major purpose of the present study is to explore how linguistic knowledge develops in childhood and early adolescence and thereafter in late adolescence and adulthood, both generally and comparatively. While doing so we postulate that the mediation of thought, conceptual knowledge, knowledge of the world, or meaning (sometimes all of these are collectively referred to as content) is crucial to the language learning process in either case. We then marshal the insights so gained in making some suggestions about late acquisition. The major issues to be discussed are outlined below: (i) The knowledge of language in general and the role of thought or content in its ontogenesis or development; (ii) The nature of the knowledge of a late-acquired (second or foreign) language, typically by an adult, against the background of the knowledge of a language acquired early (i.e., in childhood as a first or native language or mother tongue); and (iii) A self-guided, rather private approach to language learning called ‘self-immersion’ Self-immersion (Setlak, 2009, as cited in Jones, 1998; Murray, 2004; Riabokon’s European Electronic Encyclopaedia on the Web entitled Euroseteola, n.d.: the ‘seteola’ part of the acronym being based on ‘SElfTeaching Other LAnguages’) may be used to learn a language subsequent to childhood, typically at home but also in any out-of-class context (Benson, 2001). Moreover, it is supposed to happen in one’s own time, over a period of unspecified length, and largely by means of a certain type of unassisted, self-guided, extensive and intensive exposure to the target language that is truly meaningful rather than exploitative of meaning as an impersonal, disembodied entity. Moreover, the approach in question is not driven by methods practically geared to teach about the language, or by brute-force techniques such as memorisation or repetition. More importantly, at least in the initial stages, self-immersion in our sense refers primarily to an individual’s immersion in the language, not in a community of its speakers, underscoring the fundamentally private nature of the experience of learning a language.

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As should be obvious, such an approach is distinct from partial or total immersion in an educational or instructional setting; be it state-sponsored, as in the well-known Canadian French-English programmes (Cummins, 1987); or commercial, some immersion methods used in the Berlitz schools perhaps being the most prominent example of this. It may be considered to be an individualised, deinstitutionalised subspecies of what is commonly known as immersion; the latter clearly involves a host of other participants and much institutional paraphernalia. We should mention that, strictly speaking, we do not intend the term ‘selfimmersion’ to be confused with any learner-centred approaches that advocate increasing the learner autonomy within an instructional framework as prescribed by teachers or policy-makers (see Benson, 1981; Dickinson, 1995; Holec, 1981; Little, 2003, and the references cited therein)even if they happen to be liberal enough to argue that the learner should decide “what and how to learn” (see, e.g., Littlejohn, 1985, p. 253: the author’s own italics). Our treatment cannot be equated simply with self-study, self-instruction, and normal autodidactic methods either (see Dickinson, 1987, for a survey of these), except in a very flexible sense, although some aspects of these methods will almost certainly be a part of it one way or another. Further, our viewpoint does not overlap much with the self-study of a language as part of a distance-learning framework (White, 2003), nor indeed do we have in mind the huge variety of methodologically-uninspiring Teach Yourself book series available on the market, which indeed may consist of some useful material but usually without any accompanying instructions as to how to use it effectively. Admittedly, all of the above may be very useful and valuable in their respective contexts, but our intention is to underline an alternative which has been around probably from times immemorial and has consequently benefited countless individuals (Murray, 2004), but whose rationale and techniques have not received the attention they deserve because of its inherently very informal, non-institutional and ‘unofficial’ nature, at best figuring on the fringe of the academic language-teaching establishment (Riabokon, n.d.; Setlak, 2009). This alternative, as should be already evident, is to try to imbibe the target language in self-created conditions of exposure to the language, without any regular teacher intervention, prescribed materials, or organisational support, with the learner trying to make the language a part of his or her thinking self while working on his or her own, i.e., largely if not exclusively outside the classroom. It should be pointed out that much work

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on ‘the good language learner’ includes among the characteristics of such a learner the ability to begin to think in the target language as soon as possible (see, e.g., Naiman, Fröhlich, Stern, & Todesco, 1996/1978). At any rate, our assumption is that there is quite a lot that a learner can accomplish working in this alternative manner without being tied to any institutional network. Let us now return to (i) and (ii), i.e., our conception of the knowledge of language in the broader sense, and how it encompasses both early and late acquisition of language. Intricately intertwined as these two issues happen to be, we shall try to deal with them in an integrated and combined fashion in the following section.

Knowledge of Language and Its Early and Late Emergence Logically speaking, it is not too hard to imagine a scenario, if only as a thought experiment, wherein a language consists merely of form, but of no meaning; the converse of that, i.e., meaning or thought without language, is also not unimaginable either. Thus, language without thought could be mechanically extrinsic, embodied in speech merely consisting of parrotlike articulation of expressions learnt by rote; and nonverbal, subliminal thought of some kind is of course by definition intrinsic and is not an uncommon experience for all of us either. Partially setting aside these two extremes and the differences between the purely formal features of natural language and the nature of human thought, we can safely assert that knowing a language involves the knowledge of both structurally correct words and expressions of a language and the ability to associate them appropriately with intended meaningful content. It is understood that the interface between linguistic form and content is something that any learner has to figure out. Although the structure of such an interface is obviously well beyond the scope of this paper, it should not be too hard to imagine how intricate and complex it must be (see Saleemi, 2009, for a perspective on this interface). One cannot possibly imagine in early language acquisition a first language emerging in a child without the concomitant development of the thinking ability. After all, if a language could not be used to encode, embody and express thought, there would not be much apparent use for it and consequently much less reason to learn it regardless of how innate language learning mechanisms putatively happen to be, as Chomsky

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claims (1977, 1986, 2000, 2003). On the other hand, the subsequent late or adult acquisition of a (second or nth) language occurs only after the primary mechanisms of thought and a (first) language are already in place. An older learner not only has to redeploy thought for the induction of form but also master certain more or less marginal aspects of the form, either idiosyncratic or structurally abstruse, which are not amenable to induction through thought, a task that becomes increasingly difficult in older age. This presupposes that, one way or other, the learner’s age does seem to be the single most important differential factor in language learning: stated in its weakest form. This view of the age factor suggests that early exposure to a language facilitates any subsequent learning of other languages (Mayberry & Lock, 2003). This clearly poses a dilemma for adult language learning, as it has to proceed under the difficult conditions peculiar to it, wherein the fundamental thinking abilities are not likely to be the sole driving force behind the acquisition process. The distinction involved here is that between developing a language by continuously struggling to connect it to thought in a more or less deliberate manner, as opposed to a language emerging almost spontaneously, virtually as a byproduct of developing thought. Given this view, late language acquisition looks like a case of putting the cart before the horse, as it were! In any event, it appears that the gap between thought and a language being acquired late tends to be greater among older learners, and further that the intentional content of their language (i.e., thought) may be less considerably intrinsic in the early stages. Thus, some of the least understood puzzles of late acquisition might be the extent to which it is possible to make late acquisition ‘natural’ (Satterfield & Saleemi, 2009). Clearly, the view advocated by us is that self-immersion is one effective way of reducing this gap. Let us make use of this opportunity to state that in our view even later in life the bulk of the formal system of an unfamiliar language is best acquired inductively, i.e., by trying to use it for the encoding and expression of thought. Although some features of its structure will still require some conscious attention, an older learner can be particularly trusted to be able to identify and isolate these for the purpose of more concerted and focused self-study. The present view is patently premised on the supposition that the convergence between thought and a late-acquired language can and does occur, at least to a reasonable extent. As previously mentioned, early acquisition is naturally and automatically facilitated from within the child by the intrinsic human abilities and propensities which the late or adult learner has to make some special efforts to activate, yet our point is that

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even though the spontaneity of early acquisition is far from the norm in late acquisition, the intrinsic human language learning ability does not quite disappear beyond any fixed point in time: it may become dormant, slow, or, in the worst-case scenario, may even have to be substituted for by a somewhat different but not entirely ineffective set of learning mechanisms; but these too, it is surmised, must possess the essentially subconscious nature of the language acquisition process for it to succeed when it does. Yes, we do know that late language acquisition/learning is slow, painstaking, often limited in terms of the end-state achieved, and is likely to take place under conditions which are not quite natural. However, it is common knowledge that it is possible to achieve nearnative competence in a language acquired relatively late, at least in a limited number of cases. Evidently, much of the preceding discussion is based on the thesis that a good deal of form is autonomous, i.e., is not reducible to content, or derived from it (Chomsky, 1986, and elsewhere). It is independently there so that it can carry meaning and thought, which would not be expressible without it, as already mentioned. In other words, coherent thoughts are best expressed through grammatically and lexically well-formed and appropriate linguistic structures, typically sentences. In addition to Chomsky’s more recent arguments, such a view of the autonomy of language is evident in Vygotsky’s thinking about the very complex relationship between language and thought, especially in respect of their ontogenesis or ontogeny, i.e., the developmental change across a lifespan; in fact Vygotsky’s ontogenetic concerns extend along similar lines to his speculations about their phylogenesis or phylogeny, i.e., their origins and emergence in terms of an evolutionary timescale. That he does not consider that language or speech and thought are one and the same thing is obvious from the following quotation: The most important fact uncovered through the genetic study of thought and speech is that their relationship undergoes many changes. Progress in speech and progress in thought are not parallel. Their two growth curves cross and recross. They may straighten out and run side by side, even merge for a time, but they always diverge again. This applies to both phylogeny and ontogeny. (Vygotsky, 1962, p. 33)

That Vygotsky’s thesis of the mutual independence of and convergence between language and thought is of a piece with the view that we are expressing is further supported by his own summary of the development of the relation between language/speech and thought (for the sake of

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simplicity of argument, we shall ignore Vygotsky’s distinction between speech and language). 1. 2.

3. 4.

In their ontogenetic development, thought and speech have different roots. In speech development of the child, we can with certainty establish a pre-intellectual stage, and in his thought development, a pre-linguistic stage. Upto a certain point in time, the two follow different lines, independently of each other. At a certain point these lines meet, whereupon thought becomes verbal and speech rational. (1962, p. 44)

Thus, what seems to matter is the convergence between these two modules of cognition whose bases are essentially distinct. To reiterate, language and thought, though interrelated, are essentially independent of each other. In fact, language presupposes thought, indeed seems to be parasitic on it, both ontogenetically and phylogenetically. Further, most probably language helps make thought accessible to consciousness within the individual (Carruthers, 1996). Apparently, thought can get expressed through language because natural language is able to encode a good deal (but probably not every aspect and nuance) of some universal ‘language of thought’, possibly in the Fodorian sense (Fodor, 1975; see also Chomsky, 1993; Pinker, 2007). It may sound surprising to many that we have not yet mentioned communication as a major function of language. That is so not because we undervalue the importance of communicative interaction among the members of a linguistic community, but because we assume that communication presupposes thought, and is therefore just one among many of its functions that is often, though not always, deployed through spoken language. Body language is, for example, another major medium of communication. The use of language is by no means limited to its external manifestations as interpersonal speech or a written text of some kind. In fact, it would not be wrong to state that perhaps the most fundamental reason for the existence of language is its capacity to encode thought and to make it accessible to the individual mind experiencing it, that is to say, even when the (immediate) intention is not to express it to other human beings. Thus, as ‘silently’ verbalised thought, language acquires the form of “inner speech”, to use the well-known Vygotskyan term for it (Vygotsky, 1962). In other words, thought without language is

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silent, and language without thought is vacuous. How to make the two develop and work in tandem is the crux of the main problem of language acquisition, clearly taken care of for the child by nature in some mannerthrough the mediation of an innate device such as Universal Grammar (Chomsky, 1977, 1986, 2000) and/or some other relevant cognitive factorsbut as we are all well aware, in late, adult or secondlanguage acquisition the difficulties involved in achieving a credible degree of success are usually considered to be enormous, though one hopes that they are not insurmountable. Of course there is no denying the importance of linguistic communication, which clearly must have evolved as well, as it appears that what the human child is able to ‘learn’ in a rather short span of time in his attempts to harness purely linguistic competence, the system of thought and its interlinking with the linguistic system, and the aspects of communication best performed through language, is too complicated for the child to accomplish within the usual developmental span of just a few years, and which, therefore, must be one of the aspects of cognition the foundations of whose development were pre-empted by biological evolution. Most researchers will more or less agree that language acquisition is inextricably linked with the emergence of thought and the conceptual system, although they might disagree as to whether this linkage is developmental or ontogenetic, or evolutionary or phylogenetic. As even a staunch nativist like Chomsky stresses, functional needs (such as the communicative ones) could be a relevant factor in the phylogeny, or evolution, of language, but most probably not in its ontogeny. Suppose that someone proposes a principle which says: The form of a language is such-and-such because having that form permits a function to be fulfilleda proposal of this sort would be appropriate at the level of evolution (of the species, or of language), not at the level of acquisition of language by an individual. (Chomsky, 1977, pp. 86-87)

To sum up this part of the discussion, communication is a subspecies of externalised thought devoted to the interpersonal exchange of information that is often performed through language. It should be pointed out that, like an older person, the child also has to learn a specific language, although, as mentioned above the effort involved in doing so might be considered relatively negligible. As Fodor (1996) reminded us many years ago (see also Saleemi, 1992):

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A … point that cannot be seriously questioned is that some, at least, of the speaker’s information about his language has to be learned. It is a platitude that no one is born talking, and it seems self-evident that a period of learning is a pre-condition of fluency, whatever maturational processes may also be involved. No child talks without having been exposed to the utterances of fluent speakers, and the language and dialect he eventually speaks are precisely the language and dialect to which he is exposed. (Fodor, 1966, pp. 105-106)

So in principle neither the child nor the adult is spared of the learning effort. The difference between the two cases is that of the extent and degree of the effort involved, which is most probably genetically and biologically predetermined, not just quantitative. We wish to reemphasise, though, the importance of meaning and thought driving the language acquisition process also when the process is occurring late. Thus we compare early and late acquisition as a continuum based on age, with the ability to learn a language under natural conditions declining gradually as the learner gets older, perhaps quite sharply around the time of puberty (Chomsky, 1977, 1986, 2000). It seems unwarranted, however, to posit a cut-off point along the age continuum following which no new language can be learned. The normally expected degree of convergence of language and thought, likewise, may be conceived as another related continuum, where maximal convergence is almost guaranteed if the language learning process begins early rather than late, when the child discovers to use language for the first time as the major means of expressing the conceptual and thinking network presumably already well developed. The child or early learner does not have the choice not to learn the dominant language of his or her community, much as he or she does not have the choice not to develop thinking, the lack of both these choices most probably being rooted in the biology of human nature. An adult or late learner, on the contrary, does have the choice not to learn a new language, at least in principle, even in situations where he is surrounded by and immersed in the speakers of an unfamiliar language and does not have around him a (sizable) group of speakers of his own native language. To put it another way, the child acquiring his or her very first human language must learn it since it is needed for the expression of thought to himself and to other members of his community. In order to develop and emerge into the level of consciousness the child’s thought must get translated into an expressible medium, and the medium typically available for this purpose appears to be verbal articulation or speech, the most externalised manifestation of language. The evolutionary confluence of these two

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capacities is part of the almost countless facets of the miracle of human ontogeny; it is bound to have genetic roots because every child could not possibly bring it about individually and reinvent both thought and language. Of course social input is necessary for many genetically rooted phenomena to get triggered and reach a steady state in their development, as genetics does have phylogenetic social origins and ontogenetic consequences, as the above quote from Chomsky (1977) indicated. The amount of motivation or effort required in achieving success in the process also appears to be another age-related continuum: the child will of course not require any motivation and relatively little effort, whereas an older person will require a lot of both. The likely need and effectiveness of instructional intervention may be safely regarded as related to the age (or early-late) continuum as well, with the child being able to manage to learn the language of his community without any explicit instruction, perhaps unlike an adolescent but certainly very unlike an adult. To these yet another continuum can be added, which is about the number of languages that the learner is exposed to and can therefore learnone or more, single or multiple. In this last case, the relationship with age is far less simple, but clearly any older learner who has already been through establishing the thought-language nexus using a language will not have the same intrinsic desire to undergo the same experience in relation to a second or a third one, as any additional language will most probably increase the complexity not only of the task of its learning, retention, and storage, but also of the overall individual linguistic system and the way the mapping between thought and the new language occurs, since now more than one language is involved in the mapping system. To summarise, at least five continua or clines can be identified along which a particular early or late learner’s potential for acquiring a given language can be located. These are listed below: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e)

The early-late acquisition continuum The thought- language continuum The motivation-effort continuum The instructional-need continuum The single-multiple language continuum

We believe that a framework incorporating these continua, taken together, may help roughly demarcate the possible pre-set limits of the acquisition of a language by a learner and predict the expected (though far from definitive) level of success. We perceive the usefulness of such a frame of

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reference in locating the starting point of a learner, but as to how far a particular learner will be able to go could well be a matter of learner motivation or disposition (Littlejohn, 2008), effort, the resources available to him, and a number of other factors. Much of our discussion presupposes that natural language must be rulegoverned (Chomsky, 1986; Pinker, 1999), and so must the considerably more intricate system of meaning and thought (Chomsky, 1993; Fodor, 1975; Pinker, 2007), though the rules underlying the latter might well be very hard, if not impossible, to fully describe and understand. At any rate, the interaction of these two sets of rules, clearly, is something that the human mind is able to forge systematically and spontaneously. If true, then learning and eventually knowing a language will be successful only if the resulting system of knowledge emerges spontaneously and systematically, i.e., as naturally as is possible. This probably is the most fundamental criterion of success in language acquisition, and if that is the case, and there is no reason to doubt that it is, then in large part grammatical form is best learnt if it is approached through involvement in the desire to express intentional thought, not just through focus on aspects of relatively rudimentary, disembodied meaning, as happens in instructional settings even of the putatively most natural kind (Krashen, 1981, 1985; Krashen & Terrell, 1983). Practising expressions independently of the relevant intentional, social and physical contexts, focusing on certain aspects of meaning and grammar, could still have its limited uses. That alone, however, may not be sufficient to ensure the engine of language to get cranking. It sounds rather presumptuous to claim that some practised, surface-level pairing of the two by means of formal classroom instruction can accomplish this goal, unless the classroom can be turned into a place of self-involvement from the learner’s viewpoint, something that may be very hard, if not impossible, to achieve. Learning a language is a task that a good, highly motivated learner can perhaps accomplish reasonably well if left to his own devices, a task that, given appropriate conditions, he is in principle designed to undertake successfully to varying degrees, depending on his age and the other factors contingent upon it.

So What about Acquisition through Self-Immersion? Way back a classic paper (Newport, Gleitman & Gleitman, 1977) argued that mothers cannot do much to help the child learner in the acquisition process: the paper in question was in part entitled Mother, I’d rather do it myself. Perhaps an older learner could also be imagined to want to say

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something along similar lines, namely: ‘Teacher, I’d rather do it myself’! None of this of course entails that either mothers or teachers should be dispensed with: they do have their extremely important functions, which, however, might not relate directly to language acquisition. Take the case of instruction by a teacher. In this case it is often assumed that some learning has taken place as a result of his or her teaching. The fact of the matter is, language teaching can go on without much or any learning occurring, and learning can take place without much or any language teaching. Learning does not presuppose teaching, and therefore the statement that ‘X has been taught’ does not entail that ‘X has been learnt’. One corollary of what has been stated above is that learning, particularly learning a language, is primarily an individual, intrinsic experience, as already implied before, which is why an older, more self-sufficient and self-contained person does not necessarily need others to provide him the required multifarious variety of input (Saleemi, 1989); in contrast, a child certainly does require such input from caretakers and others that he comes in contact with on a regular basis. Let us explain this point a bit further at the risk of some repetition. While learning the language spoken around him the child is developing and experiencing many things simultaneously, for example, thinking in a basic sense, the manner in which he can relate to the various individuals he interacts with day in and day out, the structure of the world he is a part of, and so forth. An older person, on the other hand, does not have to learn many such things in conjunction with each other: he already has the command of at least one language, has a well-developed system of thought, and possesses a wealth of experiences related to other people and the world at large. In fact, for him the child’s path of learning a language is closed forever. As Cook (1995) so aptly and incisively says, an older learner could become a native speaker only by time-travel back to his date of birth. As a result, his richly stocked imagination can substitute for him many external props required by the child: he can imagine himself having a conversation with someone, as we all do at times though we may no longer be language learners, or he can have a dialogue with himself, or conjure up all sorts of situations and contexts in which he goes through first- or second-hand experiences. In other words, the ‘loneliness’ of the older learner using self-immersion is reasonably compensated by the fact that he carries an internalised society and a shadow world within himself. Further, the initial go-it-alone strategy removes him from the immediate reactions of others at the inevitable instances of his ineptness, inaccuracy and inappropriateness in the use of the new language. Clearly, this is just to highlight some of the advantages

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that self-immersion has for those people for whom the approach in question naturally or incidentally happens to be suitable. The other major advantages a self-immersion learner has include a very flexible time frame of learning and a total lack of anxiety about examinations and assessment. In the case of late acquisition one can also invoke the role of higher level of thinking as a driving factor; namely, the more conscious sort of reasoning ability, which can play the same part in adult language acquisition that basic thinking ability does in early language development. A related point is that an adult has the further advantage of possessing a greater amount of language awareness as a consequence of his more advanced reasoning abilities and his greater linguistic experience. We suggest that late language learning should be informed in both theory and practice by three guiding principles: (i) it should co-opt the previous thinking ability of the learner in getting the process of learning started and in developing it further; (ii) it should recruit the help of specially deployed relatively higher-level thinking in further development of the target language by exploiting the latter as one of the main vehicles of the content of the former; and (iii) some learning about the relevant learning processes and difficulties should be a part of the learning process, as it will enhance the learner’s language awareness, intensity of engagement, and effectiveness of self-guidanceleading to the discovery of many learning strategies which we are only able to hint at or touch upon due to constraints of space. What, at any rate, is the best route to success in late acquisition? Since early or child language acquisition follows a pattern of near-universal success to an extent that essentially sets it apart from the former, let us now ask ourselves what exactly is the best strategy of successful late/adult acquisition that is compatible with early acquisition, a question that naturally arises if one takes the arguable position, as we do in this paper, that the degree of naturalness of the learning process is the key to the answer. However, for us naturalness is a very relative matter, as hinted at previously, and like Krashen (1981, 1985) and Krashen and Terrell (1983), we do not consider naturalness to be a matter of just mimicking the early acquisition environment in some superficial ways. We conjecture that for some, maybe many, the individual learner’s self-immersion might well be the most natural way of approaching a new language. How exactly selfimmersion may work is an issue that we take up in what follows. Having discussed the necessary background information about the knowledge of language and its salient developmental characteristic in both early and late

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acquisition, having described what self-immersion is, and also outlined some theoretical rationale for this approach, we are now in a position to present a relatively more concrete methodical sketch of self-immersion (see also Setlack; 2009; Riabokon, n.d., for some interesting suggestions, keeping in mind that much Web material often tends to be either too sketchy, or more substantial but not well organized, not to mention some of its other shortcomings). The practical learning framework outlined below, we presume, is distinctive enough to be subsumed under the self-immersion approach, and is also sufficiently different from what is prevalent in other approaches. We begin with a brief profile of the kind of learner self-immersion that would suit best, and then go on to discuss the general methodology, the materials to be used, and some of the techniques and strategies that can be used by a learner engaged in an experience of learning a language through the approach in question.

Learner Profile Being engaged in language learning out of class can be a tough call for some, but a welcome opportunity for many. Some learners prefer the classroom environment, continual teacher intervention and the company of other learners. If such learners are successful as a result of the teaching, then one could justifiably say that they have a high aptitude for learning a language: recall that Cook (1991) defines aptitude as the ability to benefit explicitly from teaching in learning a language. The teaching-oriented learners of course may also have a high degree of motivation, comparable to the learners who prefer to learn when they are not in a class and do not have to follow a rigid teaching schedule and study course materials selected by the teacher or the educational establishment. However, most probably motivation is not the best term to encompass what Littlejohn (2008) calls learner’s disposition: a learner most likely to succeed in selfimmersion will have a very high degree of motivation along with the right kind of disposition. In fact, we would like to add that he should be naturally disposed to learn through this approach, and also possess an intense desire to learn a given language. It is the interest factor, rather than the actual or perceived needs, that should matter more to this type of learner. After all, he might find it to be easier to attend to any practical needs, if and when they emerge, once he has managed to internalise the language. Ostensibly, a pre-existing menu of needs (e.g., van Ek 1980/1975, Munby 1978) could not be meant for such a learner, who is

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anticipated as being rather ambitious and internally driven by a strong desire to learn the target language; and this might be the case for a variety of reasons, one or two or severaleven for no reason whatsoever! Perhaps he is interested in the literature in that language which he is not able to find in translation, or it could be that he just wishes to read it in the original. Or it might be that he is interested in the movies, philosophy books, comics, etc., in the language. The desire to learn an international lingua franca like English, in any case, is currently very wide-spread, and the range of materials available in it in various domains is simply astounding. The learner could be naturally disposed towards self-immersion for any number of practical or other reasons: for instance, lack of access to a (good) educational system, paucity of resources required for a year or two abroad in a country where the target language is spoken, time constraints because the learner has a full-time job, a short attention span, a very inward-looking, introverted and unsocial (but not anti-social!) personality, or any combination of these. In any event, it should never be forgotten that, given the right disposition, immersive self-instruction will still require persistence, commitment, concerted effort, almost meditative concentration, and a deep engagement with the language.

General Methodology Obviously self-immersion is not a method that a learner can plunge into right from the very start. The learner is going to have to know some of the language before he can begin to immerse into it. For this reason it is recommended that the methodology involve an initial enabling stage in the course of which something like full self-immersion can at best be an expected goal. The learner’s native language may have to be used during this phase to acquire the rudiments of the language to make it possible for the learner to get into some minimal thinking in it. In most respects this will be the hardest part of the methodology of this pre-self-immersion stage, and the one potentially most discouraging. If the learner is of the sort who is able to persist in the pursuit, as hoped, then he can at least try to make himself think in whatever bits of language he has become familiar with. He can, for example, construct very simply imaginary scenarios wherein he can realistically use the little language that he has already come to know. He may also have to make a lot of use of resource books like a dictionary, a self-teaching text of some sort, a sympathetic companion proficient in the language (if one is available) who is willing to

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help him get ‘kick-started’. It is very likely that more often than not during this phase the learner is going to find himself involved in plain selfinstruction, or at best in pretending to think in the language to the extent that he can, given his limited proficiency. In other words, he will be forcing himself to think for the sake of thinking in the language acquired so far, not thinking in the language by encoding his own thoughts in it. However, it can be hoped that perseverance and slow but gradual progress will gradually make it possible for him to be able to spend an increasingly longer portion of his learning time on being maximally immersed in the language, leading to a sort of partial self-immersion phase, which in turn should evolve into total self-immersion, or self-immersion proper, eventually. The first and foremost step to take while on the verge of full selfimmersion will be to decide to reserve a regular period in which the learner will operate exclusively in the target language, keeping the native language at bay, blocked, suppressed or ‘submersed’: thus total selfimmersion in the target language and the submersion of the learner’s principal or native language will proceed in parallel, with the length of the immersion period getting longer and longer. However, should the learner fail to find the right expression in the target language despite a lot of effort, exploration and wait, he may well fall back upon his native language as a matter of last resort and as a temporary measure. While doing so, the learner must keep in mind that the content-form interfaces of the two languages, namely the native language and the target language, are hardly ever going to be the same or even similar, so mixing the former too much in the process of learning to think afresh through a new linguistic medium is very likely to complicate his ultimate task and obscure his intended goal. Some of the major techniques to be used in this intensive immersion phase will be described in a separate subsection below, but before we embark upon an outline description of some of the core methodology of self-immersion, it is pertinent to reiterate that a point will be reached soon when the learner has achieved a passable command of the target language, and he consequently feels confident enough to begin to use the new language in any available socially interactive contexts, of course without abandoning self-immersion itself. With a good deal of the language being a part of his cognitive system, he is still going to make some mistakes now and then, but so long as his main focus remains on the thought ingredients of each expression, by now as a matter of habit, his command of the language is only going to get better, particularly if he keeps an eye open for the problem areas and makes an effort to sort them

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out in his own time. He can also do so with a little help from those who are willing to give just enough of it at the right time when they are approached. Thus while experiences with the language continue by way of private immersion and study, what lies beyond immersion could well turn out to be a rather exciting phase of the use of the new language of whose scope of expressions the learner already has a good idea, and thus his public use of them does not have to contain a long, awkward period of experimental, trial-and-error use of expressions in the newly acquired language.

Materials There are a few factors significant in determining which materials to use in the particular self-study method under discussion. First, the learner must select materials whose content he has a considerable interest in. If one has to study things which one does not like, the motivation to use it is going to go down quickly, and the effort spent on it wasted to a large extent. Second, regardless of his level of ambition, the learner should be careful as to the level of the difficulty involved. For example, a reading text well beyond your level of competence is not going to work as it will require an unnecessary magnitude of labour. So the learner is advised to start with a simplified reader and go for shorter texts, if that is what is needed. This does not mean fine-tuning the sources of input in an i + 1 manner (Krashen, 1981, 1985), something easier said than done. A commonsensical realism and intuitive choice are all that is required. When the time comes, the learner will automatically know that he is now ready to graduate to higher-level, more complex materials, and then he can proceed accordingly. The third important factor is the kind of material to be used. In this regard, almost anything is grist that comes to the learner’s mill: books, textbooks, magazines, newspapers, audiobooks, movies (preferably with subtitles), television serials, CDs and DVDs, tape-recorded material, learner’s dictionaries, the information and material available on the Web, in short any traditional as well as self-access electronic or digital resources (Tamburini, 1999). As can be readily ascertained, there is no dearth of these latter in today’s multimedia age of globalised information. One can freely choose what one likes, or what is just around and agreeable enough. What counts is the exploitation of any accessible source of input, whose exploitation need not be comprehensive and can therefore be partial or

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bitty; maybe something one just dips into once in a while until one’s patience runs out. To sum up this subsection, the learner should ensure his access to grossly tuned input by exploiting all the possible means of exposure to the target language, involving both print and non-print media. This process may also involve selective tapping of any available resource persons for specific information.

Techniques and Strategies Predictably, the self-immersing learner is supposed to aim at the maximal deployment of personally congenial learning strategies and mechanisms, which is to say, the learner’s likes and dislikes should be the prime concern in the choice of these. Nevertheless, some suggestions are made, which the learner can adopt or adapt in any way that fits in well with his inclinations. In general, the choice of techniques and strategies should aim at striking the right balance between conscious and unconscious processes, with greater use of the latter: switching between the two will further ensure the variety of usable input. Needless to repeat, the primary setting for self-immersion is a stretch of private time set aside for the purpose. On the assumption that by now the learner has mastered a sufficient number of words and combinatorial structure, it is time now for him to begin to bootstrap from these to a more comprehensive knowledge of the target language. This end can be achieved in a number of ways, which are briefly listed and described below. (a) It will be very helpful to overexploit and recycle the study materials. A source of input need not be used just once and then forgotten about; in fact it should not be. A text read once is not likely to be fully understood: the learner is almost certainly going to benefit from rereading it, and that can be done many times, depending on how interesting it happens to be. Each (re)reading is going to yield hitherto missed linguistic and non-linguistic information, insights and nuances, and the learner-reader is going to discover newer levels and layers of the meaning, thereby increasing his in-depth linguistic knowledge. With a little help from imagination, the same sort of treatment can be extended to listening and relistening, speaking about the same topic more than once, and writing and rewriting. In regard to speaking and

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writing, the so-called productive skills, it must be added that an attempt has to be made to avoid repetition as much as possible, allowing considerable variation on the same theme. (b) The learner is encouraged to use the target language, practise inner speech and thinking aloud. Working along the same lines, the learner can have conversations with himself, or enact imaginary dialogues by making himself play the roles of two people, one of them being the learner himself, the sort of dialogues we all have when we are trying to anticipate about how someone we know well will respond to a statement made by us, and how a possible extended conversation with our imagined interlocutor is going to progress and develop. In such internally driven language use, thinking aloud (the externalized version of inner speech, as it were) will clearly have the task of articulation added to the whole exercise, which will have the advantage of explicitly familiarising the learner with the way the language is actually spoken and pronounced. Such exercises will make the learner express his intentional and intended thoughts through the new linguistic medium, so long as he continues to strive hard to speak what he is thinking, as opposed to thinking up what he can say, in which case he will be letting the language do the thinking for him. (c) The learner should develop informal and introspective consciousnessraising and monitoring techniques, aiming at an exploration of how well the various strategies deployed are working. This should provide the “scaffolding” (refer to Vygotsky, 1962) around and within which the more pertinent techniques and strategies can be selected and built upon. The above sample of techniques is merely suggestive and is not meant to be exhaustive. The idea is just to provide a flavour of some of the ways the learner can go about the task he has undertaken. There is no reason for him to hesitate to try any additional techniques and strategies that come to his mind. What must be kept in mind is that the goal is to internalize the modes of thinking in the language, not a surface mastery of its words and sentences.

Conclusions and Implications This work deals with the growth and development of the knowledge of language by taking into account the role of thought in its learning and use. We also try to assemble a framework simultaneously dealing with early

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and late acquisition, leading up to the five continua along which the language learning potential of a particular learner, or a group of learners, can be roughly anticipated. Our main thesis is based on a strong link between language and thought. We postulate that in early acquisition the development of thought and language are nearly inseparably interconnected, whereas the major task of a late acquirer appears to be to re-establish this link with another language. Since we do know that late acquisition is a possibility, there has to be many ways of achieving this goal, since it seems to occur in a wider variety of situations in comparison with early acquisition. The opposite, more cynical viewpoint would be that perhaps there was no simple, easy, and straight path to achieving credible proficiency in late acquisition. True, the deductive methods are very hard to convert to spontaneously internalised proficiency, and the inductive methods often fail to establish the final, vital link between the long chain connecting thought and language, as more often than not they are likely to degenerate into quasior pseudo-naturalistic techniques. However, we take a rather optimistic view, and go on to argue that language acquisition can happen way beyond childhood, i.e., if it has happened at least once in the course of the latter, even in conditions involving a lone, older learner who is determined and disposed to learn a new language by means of self-immersion, which, speaking half-seriously, can be portrayed as reliving one’s linguistic childhood in part in privacy, but with an adult’s mind to monitor oneself! This paper is most probably disproportionately speculative, largely based on intuitive and introspective evidence and argumentation rather than on the more direct kind of empirical research. This should not be a problem, on the assumption that both kinds of research are necessary and are meant to complement each other. The approach we call self-immersion, admittedly, is based on a number of somewhat exploratory suggestions which need to be fleshed out further, well beyond the point to which this approach has historically evolved, or not evolved, over the centuries. However, it is hoped that these suggestions can become the starting point for more structured thinking about this approach, which is more likely to grow as the ideas floated in this paper are made to meet the ground realities of language learning. In the end, though, we would like to stress that an approach like self-immersion is not easy to research, and that whatever non-research-based evidence there exists firmly supports this time-honoured, if not empirically well-tested, approach. Perhaps it is more

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important to recognise that it is there, and then try to refine and develop it further in any way that works. At any rate, caveat emptor!

References Benson, P. (2001). Teaching and researching autonomy in language learning. Harlow: Longman/Pearson Education. Carruthers, P. (1996). Language, thought and consciousness: An essay in philosophical psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chomsky, N. (1977). Reflections on language. New York: Pantheon Books. —. (1986). Knowledge of language: Its nature, origin, and use. New York: Praeger. —. (1993). Language and thought. Moyer Bell: London. —. (2003). On nature and language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. —. (2000). New horizons in the study of language and mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cook, V. J. (1991). Second language learning and teaching. London: Edward Arnold. —. (1995). Multicompetence and the learning of many languages. Language, culture and curriculum, 8(2), 93-98. Cummins, J. (1987). Immersion programs: Current issues and future directions. In L. L. Stewin & S. J. McCann (Eds.), Contemporary educational issues: The Canadian mosaic. Toronto: Copp Clark. Dickinson, L. (1987). Self-instruction in language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. —. (1995). Autonomy and motivation: A literature review. System, 23, 165-174. van Ek, J. (1980/1975). The threshold level. Oxford: Pergamon. (Originally published: The Council of Europe, 1975.) Fodor, J. A. (1966). How to learn to talk: Some simple ways. In F. Smith & J. Miller (Eds.), The genesis of language: A psycholinguistic approach (pp. 105-122). Cambridge, M.A.: The M.I.T Press. —. (1975). The language of thought. New York: Crowell. Holec, H. (1981). Autonomy and foreign language learning. Oxford: Pergamon. Jones, F. 1998. Self-instruction and success: A learner-profile study. Applied Linguistics 19(3), 378-406.

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Krashen, S. (1981).Second language acquisition and second language learning. Oxford: Pergamon. —. (1985). The input hypothesis: Issues and implications. New York: Longman. Krashen, S. & Terrell, T. (1983).The natural approach: Language acquisition in the classroom. London: Prentice Hall Europe. Little, D. (2003, 16 January). Learner autonomy and second/foreign language learning. Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies, University of Southampton. Retrieved from http://www.llas.ac.uk/resources/gpg/1409. Littlejohn, A. (1985). Learner choice in language study. ELT Journal, 39(4), 253-261. —. (2008). Digging deeper: Learners’ disposition and strategy use. In G. Cane (Ed.), Strategies in language learning and teaching (pp. 68-80). Singapore: RELC. Mayberry, R. & Lock, E. (2003). Age constraints on first versus second language acquisition: Evidence for linguistic plasticity and epigenesis. Brain and Language, 87, 369-384. Munby, J. (1978). Communicative syllabus design. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Murray, G. (2004). Two stories of self-directed language learning. In H. Reinders , H. Anderson, M. Hobbs & J. Jones-Parry (Eds.), Supporting independent learning in the 21st century: Proceedings of the inaugural conference of the Independent Learning Association, Melbourne AUS, 13-14 September 2003.Auckland: Independent Learning Association Oceania.Retrieved from http://independentlearning.org/ILA/ila03/ila03_murray.pdf?q=ila03/ila 03_murray.pdf Naiman, N., Fröhlich, M., Stern, H. H., & Todesco, A. (Eds). (1996). The good language learner. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. (Originally published: The Ontario Institute of Education, 1978). Newport, E., Gleitman, H., & Gleitman, H. H. (1977). Mother, I’d rather do it myself: Some effects and non-effects of maternal speech style. In C. Snow & C. Ferguson (Eds.), Talking to children: Language input andacquisition (pp. 101-149). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Pinker, S. (1999). Words and rules: Ingredients of language. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. Pinker, S. (2007). The stuff of thought: Language as a window into human nature. New York: Viking. Riabokon, O. (n.d.). Euroseteola – European Electronic Encyclopaedia on ‘Self-teaching other languages’. Retrieved from

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http://euroseteola.org/about-the-project & http://euroseteola.org/selfteaching-theory/-basic-notions. Saleemi, A. P. (1989). Inputs for L2 acquisition. International Review of Applied Linguistics, XXVII(3), 173-191. —. (1992). Universal grammar and language learnability. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. —. (2009). On the interface(s) between syntax and semantics. In K. Grohmann (Ed.), Explorations of phase theory: Interpretation at the interfaces (pp. 181- Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. Satterfield, T. & Saleemi, A. P. (2009). Mind the gap: Epistemology and development of natural language. Kashmir Journal of Language Research, 12(1), 1-24. Setlak, J.-P. (2009, September 14). Teach yourself a language: Creating a self-immersion program. Ezine @rticles. Retrieved 14 May 2011, from http://ezinearticles.com/?Teach-Yourself-a-Language---Creating-aSelf-immersion Program&id=2922207 Tamburini, F. (1999). A multimedia framework for second language teaching in self-access environments. Computers and Education, 32, 137-149. Vygotsky, L. S. (1962). Thought and language (edited and translated by Eugenia Hanfmann & Gertrude Vakar). Cambridge, MA: The M. I. T. Press. White, C. (2003). Language learning in distance education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

CHAPTER THREE THE ROLE OF INPUT- AND OUTPUT-BASED PRACTICE IN ELT WILLY A. RENANDYA

Abstract The familiar saying ‘practice makes perfect’ resonates well with those of us in the language teaching profession. Rarely, however, do we question this collective wisdom. We seldom ask about the kinds of practice that contribute more directly and critically to language learning. Also, we rarely ask about what is probably the more important question of how much practice is required before a skill is fully acquired. In this chapter, I discuss the role of input and output-based practice in language learning. While the current thinking within SLA is that both types of practice are important, and that each plays a distinct but complementary role in language acquisition, this view is not reflected fully in the language classroom. Many language programmes today give learners a lot of output-based practice but deprive them of the opportunity to engage in meaningful input-based practice. This often results in learners who are fluent users of English but whose linguistic system remains underdeveloped. I argue that language programmes must provide an appropriate amount of balanced input and output practice that L2 learners engage in deliberately and systematically on a sustained basis. A balanced language programme increases the chance of our L2 learners developing language competence that enables them to use the target language not only more fluently and accurately, but also with a higher level of grammatical complexity. Keywords: L2 learning, SLA, input-based learning, output-based learning, extensive reading, extensive listening.

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Introduction The secret of success in art, sport, music, business and science is practice. To be good at music or sport, one needs to spend hundreds of hours of practice. To achieve international stardom, one needs to do even more practice. World-renowned psychologists who specialise in the acquisition and development of expertise and expert performance (e.g., Ericsson, 1996; Sloboda, 1994) now agree that world class musicians, athletes, scientists and business people become masters of their own fields after they have put in at least 10,000 hours of practice. This translates roughly to 3 hours a day over 10 years. The research finding that practice is key to learning seems to support what we have long believed to be one of the most important axioms of learning, i.e., ‘practice makes perfect’. If one puts in enough hours, they will become proficient in whatever they are learning. In language teaching, people also believe that practice is an indispensable part of language learning. Anyone who has had classroom experience teaching a foreign language will whole-heartedly support this axiom. But does practice really make perfect in language learning? We often see students spending hours and hours doing language practice but they don’t seem to make any significant progress in their learning. This is particularly true in EFL contexts, where the majority achieve a less than desirable level of proficiency. Those who manage to get to the lower intermediate or intermediate level of proficiency are usually stuck at this level and are unable to move to the upper-intermediate or advanced level. In addition, it has been observed that there is a high degree of fossilization among these learners, with the majority unable to move beyond their current level of grammatical competence. This is particularly true in language programmes that give a heavy emphasis on authentic communication in the early stages of language learning (Higgs & Clifford, 1982). So if practice is indeed a key variable in language learning, then our students should reach a high level of proficiency after going through a sufficient amount of practice. Since this does not always happen, we need to ask why classroom practice doesn’t seem to produce the desired results. • Is it because we give our students the kinds of practice that do not promote language learning? • Is it because the amount of practice is not sufficient?

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These are questions that I will try to address in this paper. But first, in order for us to understand the role of practice and its impact on language learning, I will discuss two critically important aspects of learning that relate closely to what we normally mean by language competence.

Two Aspects of Language Learning It does not matter whether English is being learned as a second or foreign language, learners are ultimately interested in developing competence in the following areas (Wong & VanPatten, 2003): • Developing an underlying linguistic system This system is very complex and consists of a phonological system, a network of lexical items, a syntactic system that enables us to produce grammatically acceptable sentences, a pragmatic system that enables us to interpret the meanings of utterances, a sociolinguistic system that allows us to produce language that is sociolinguistically appropriate, and a set of rules that allow us to produce a stretch of longer utterances. All learners must develop this linguistic system in order to become successful language learners and users. It is important to note that this system is largely implicit. • Developing the ability to use the linguistic system for communication This refers to the development of skills for language production, i.e., speaking and writing. The goal here is to promote fluency and accuracy, namely the ability to produce language fluently and effortlessly without any noticeable errors in grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. To be considered a competent user of a language, we need to know the underlying system of the language and be able to use this system for communication. But how do we develop these two aspects of learning? Research has shown that different types of practice are needed to develop these two aspects of language learning (DeKayser, 2007). The underlying linguistic system is developed through exposure to language input. In other words, learners need to engage in what is known as input-based practice. The ability to use language fluently, on the other hand, is developed through output-based practice, which I discuss in the following section.

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Output-Based Practice What types of practice are commonly done in the language classrooms? As we shall see below, the majority of practice types in language learning are output-based. Below are three major categories of classroom practice, all of which are output-oriented practice. • Mechanical practice (or drill). This refers to a controlled practice activity where students are required to produce a response without having to understand the language they are using. Repetition drills and substitution drills of particular grammatical items are examples of this kind of practice. • Meaningful practice. This refers to an activity where the language is still controlled, but the students need to understand the language in order to successfully produce a correct response. • Communicative practice. This refers to activities where the focus is on communication and where the students are required to produce language that is appropriate for a particular communicative context. Output-based practice such as drills of various types, information-gap activities and oral communication games enables students to develop fluency in language use. Fluency is indeed an important dimension in language development as it allows our learners: • • • •

To produce language with ease To speak with good but not necessarily perfect command of intonation, vocabulary, syntax and grammar To express their ideas coherently To produce continuous speech without causing comprehension difficulties, with minimum breakdowns and disruptions (Richards, 2010, p. 8)

However, while output-based, production-oriented practice allows learners to use known language forms with ease and accuracy, it is not particularly useful for the development of the linguistic system (but see Swain, 1993). What often happens in communicatively oriented classrooms which provide students with lots of output-based practice is that their communicative skills may increase but their linguistic system remains stagnant and shows features characteristic of those in the lower levels of the proficiency range. Richards aptly describes the key characteristics of learners whose fluency may have developed at the expense of complexity:

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“Learner’s language may be both relatively fluent and accurate but shows little evidence of appropriate grammatical development; Complexity of the learners’ language does not match his or her proficiency level” (2010, p.8).

Input-Based Practice As I pointed out earlier, exposure to language input is largely responsible for the development of learners’ complex linguistic system. There seems to be practically no disagreement among second language researchers regarding the central role of input in the development of learners’ linguistic system. Wong and VanPatten (2003), summarising years of research in SLA, point out that the development of “this complex and implicit linguistic system is not dependent on learner practice of language, but rather is dependent on exposure to what is called input (p.404).” It is worth pointing out here that the word ‘practice’ in the quotation above refers to output-based practice such as speaking and discussion practice and other oral drills. Unlike output-based practice which is popular among ELT professionals, input-based practice does not seem to receive sufficient attention in the classroom. This is understandable since in many language programmes, learners often demand that they be taught how to use English for real communication early in the course. So many communicatively-based programmes engage learners in classroom activities that encourage language production through role-plays, simulations and communication games. Thus fluency in production is given more curriculum time than input-based activities that encourage receptive comprehension. What is input? And in what ways does it promote language acquisition? Input refers to oral or written language that a learner receives. In order for input to benefit the language learning process, it has to meet the following requirements (Renandya, 2011): • • • •

It has to be comprehensible. It has to be abundantly and reliably available. It has to be frequently encountered. It has to contain language features that are slightly beyond the learners current level. • It has to contain language features that engage the learners’ attention. • It has to be meaningful and interesting.

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Extensive exposure to comprehensible language, either through reading or listening, is critical for language acquisition. Some second language researchers (e.g., Krashen, 2004) have even gone so far as to suggest that comprehensible input is the only way in which people learn a second language. Krashen’s view is perhaps a bit too strong and dogmatic and many researchers tend to disagree with him. But to my knowledge, no second language researchers or practitioners would consider large amounts of meaningful language input to be harmful for language acquisition. Empirical evidence supporting the critical role of comprehensible language input in second language learning is now available and well-documented (see www.extensivereading.net). Research studies investigating the impacts of extensive reading on language learning have demonstrated that exposure to comprehensible language can increase students’ knowledge of vocabulary and grammar, which in turn enhances their proficiency in the four skill areas of listening, reading, speaking and writing (Day & Bamford, 1998; Jacobs, Davis & Renandya, 1997). What is notable here is that the students obtain all these benefits by simply doing something that is pleasurable. They just read anything that they find enjoyable. The only condition is that they should choose reading materials that they can understand on their own and that they read a lot of these materials. Elley (2001) after reviewing a large number of book-based (input-based) programmes describes the acquisition process through extensive language exposure thus: When the student repeatedly focuses on the meaning of a large number of interesting messages, he/she incidentally and gradually acquires the form in which they are couched. This is where the learning takes place, not in the conscious, step-by-step direct teaching and applications of rules. (p. 129)

A compelling account of the impact of input-based learning can be found in the numerous case studies of individuals that have been reported in books and journals. One case study is reported by Cohen (1997, as cited in Krashen, 2003) who attended secondary school in Turkey at the age of 12. Turkish was the main language used in school and in the wider community in Turkey. English was taught as a foreign language. Cohen started to read extensively after only two months of study and by the end of the first year in secondary school, she became an avid reader. She would read all sorts of books she could get hold of. She got into a bit of “trouble” in her writing class when she submitted two flawless written

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compositions which her teacher refused to mark. Her teacher suspected that someone must have helped her write the essay, as the quality was way beyond the level of the class. In Cohen’s words (as cited in Krashen, 2003): She wanted to know who had helped me write them [the compositions]. They were my personal work. I had not even used the dictionary. She would not believe me. She pointed at a few underlined sentences and some vocabulary and asked me how I know them; they were well beyond the level of the class. I had not even participated much in class. I was devastated. There and then and many years later I could not explain how I knew them. I just did [emphasis added]. (p. 18)

To use Krashen’s (1982) terminology, Cohen had acquired the complex and implicit linguistic system through input-based learning. She was able to use this knowledge to produce well-written compositions without being able to explain how she did this. In recent years, second language researchers have also looked at how language exposure through extensive listening can benefit second language learners. Evidence is now emerging that simply listening to comprehensible materials through simple and familiar classroom activities such as dictation, repeated listening and frequent teacher read-alouds can improve EFL students’ listening skills (see Renandya & Farrell, 2011). In Renandya and Farrell (2011), for example, I described a classroom-based research study by Zhang (2005) who provided her middle school students in China with extensive listening activities. In her study, the students listened to a large amount of comprehensible and highly interesting stories read aloud by the teacher. During the read-aloud sessions, the teacher made sure that the speed was appropriate to beginner levels of English and that the language was comprehensible so that the students could follow the stories fully. At the end of the six-week long experiment (approximately 42 hours of listening sessions), Zhang’s extensive listening students performed significantly better in the cloze and recall listening tests than the control students who received intensive and systematic listening strategy training. Not only did the extensive listening students outperform the strategy-based students on the receptive measures, they also outscored the control students on the picture story-telling test, a measure that required a productive use of the language. The language learning benefits of extensive listening are many. One of the most important benefits is that it can provide learners with a cognitive

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map, i.e., a network of linguistic information from which learners can “build up the necessary knowledge for using the language” (Nation & Newton, 2009, p. 38). This knowledge, according to Nation and Newton, allows for the development of the other language skills. The importance of listening in language learning is highlighted by Nord (1980, as cited in Nation & Newton, 2009): Some people now believe that learning a language is not just learning to talk, but rather that learning a language is building a map of meaning in the mind. These people believe that talking may indicate that the language was learned, but they do not believe that practice in talking is the best way to build up this “cognitive” map in the mind. To do this, they feel, the best method is to practice meaningful listening. (p. 38)

In the next section, I discuss two types of knowledge that will help explain the need to provide our students with extensive and sustained language practice. It is only through this type of practice that we can increase our students’ chance of success in language learning.

Declarative and Procedural Knowledge Cognitive psychologists make a distinction between declarative knowledge (knowledge about something, also known as knowledge THAT) and procedural knowledge (knowledge about how to do something, also known as knowledge HOW). Knowing about certain grammar rules in English (e.g., the past tense is used to mark past events) is an example of declarative knowledge. Knowing how to use the past tense when describing a past event, for example, is an example of procedural knowledge. While knowing certain facts about how English works can be useful, the goal of learning a second language is ultimately to develop procedural knowledge, i.e., knowing how to use rules of grammar and knowledge of vocabulary for real communication. Knowing how to use the past tense to recount a past event is pretty straightforward. But being able to use this grammatical feature accurately, fluently, and effortlessly in a variety of contexts requires a massive amount of practice. Let’s look at another example. Following a lesson on how to write an academic essay, you may be able to write a decent piece of essay, albeit with difficulty and a high degree of effort. Without further practice, you will find that writing an essay is quite an effortful task and that your essay may contain lots of errors. This is quite normal. In order for you to become skilful in writing, you will need to automatise your

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procedural knowledge. Automatisation “refers to the whole process of knowledge change from initial presentation of the rule in declarative format to the final stage of fully spontaneous, effortless, fast, and errorless use of that rule, often without being aware of it anymore” (DeKeyser, 2007, p. 3). The only way one can develop automaticity is through massive practice. The question then is: how much practice is required in language learning? More specifically, how much input-based practice is needed to develop the underlying linguistic system? No research has been specifically conducted to address this issue, but there seems to be agreement among second language researchers that thousands of hours of input practice are needed. Drawing on years of second language acquisition research, N. Ellis (2002), for example, states that: The real stuff of language acquisition is the slow acquisition of formfunction mappings and the regularities therein. This skill, like others, takes tens of thousands of hours of practice, practice that cannot be substituted for by provision of a few declarative rules. (p. 175)

How about output-based practice? How much practice is required? Anecdotal evidence seems to suggest that it takes years of deliberate and sustained practice to use language fluently, accurately and effortlessly. The more practice one does in using language, the more fluent he/she becomes.

Conclusion It should be clear from the discussion above that both input- and outputbased types of language practice are equally important in language learning. Input-based practice develops learners’ underlying linguistic system, while output-based practice enables learners to develop skilful use of the language. It should also be clear that a huge amount of practice is needed to develop automaticity in both comprehension (through inputbased practice) and production (through output-based practice). I said at the beginning of the paper that classroom practice does not seem to produce the desired results. I will now address the two questions that I raised in the introduction:

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• Is it because we give our students practice that does not promote language learning? This seems to be the case, in my opinion. There is ample evidence to suggest that that ELT professionals tend to give students too much production oriented practice at the expense of input-oriented practice. As a result, learners seem to become fluent early in the course, but their grammatical and lexical development seems to be lagging behind. This is particularly true in language programmes that aggressively promote CLT methodology, with its heavy emphasis on fluency of language use. Because of the pressure to use language for communication and because their underlying linguistic system is still pretty weak, students use whatever limited linguistic resources they have available and whatever communication strategies they have at their disposal to express their meaning in the target language. This is a classic case of fluency progressing at the expense of accuracy and complexity (Richards, 2010). What we need is a more balanced curriculum that provides learners with appropriate input- and output-based practice at different stages of learning. • Is it because the amount of practice is not sufficient? Yes, to this question too. Language acquisition is a long and drawnout process. Thousands of hours of input and output practice are required if learners wish to develop a high level of proficiency in the language. L2 practice in most EFL contexts is generally quite limited. The overall amount of instruction is often limited to six to eight hours per week. Consequently, the quantity and quality of input and output practice are quite impoverished. One solution to this problem is to encourage students to seek greater input and output practice opportunities outside curriculum time. This is not an easy thing to do, but if we can show our students how to engage in input and output practice in a meaningful and fun way, there is a chance that our students may just be willing to spend those extra hours to develop their language knowledge and skills. We often hear people say that practice makes perfect. Does it really? I’d like to quote a legendary football coach, Vince Lombardi, who says that ‘practice does not make perfect’. It is ‘perfect practice that makes perfect’. In the context of our discussion here, perfect practice refers to an appropriate amount of balanced input and output practice that L2 learners engage in deliberately and systematically on a sustained basis.

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References Day, R., & Bamford, J. (1998). Extensive reading in the second language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DeKeyser, R. M. (2007). Introduction: Situating the concept of practice. In R. M. DeKeyser (Ed.), Practice in a second language: Perspective from applied linguistics and cognitive psychology (pp. 1-18). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Elley, W.B. (2001). Guest editor’s introduction. In W.B. Alley (Guest Editor), Book-based approaches to raising literacy in developing countries. International Journal of Educational Research, 35, 127-135. Ellis, N.C. (2002). Frequency effects in language processing. SSLA, 24, 143-188 Ericsson, K.A. (Ed.). (1996). The road to excellence: The acquisition of expert performance in the arts and sciences, sports, and games. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Higgs, T.V. & Clifford. (1982). The push toward communication. T.V. Higgs (Ed.), Curriculum, competence, and the foreign language teacher. Skokie, IL: National Textbook Company. Jacobs, G., Davis, A., & Renandya, W.A. (Eds.). (1997). Successful strategies for extensive reading. Singapore: SEAMEO Regional Language Centre. Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon Press. —. 1993. The power of reading: insights from the research. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited. —. (2004). Free voluntary reading: New research, applications, and controversies. Paper presented at the 39th RELC International Seminar, 19-21 April, Singapore. Nation, I. S. P., & Newton, J. (2009). Teaching ESL/EFL listening and speaking. New York: Routledge. Renandya, W.A. (2007). The power of extensive reading. RELC Journal, 38, 133-149 —. (2011). Extensive listening in the second language classroom. In Widodo, H.P., & Cirocki, A. (Eds.), Innovation and Creativity in ELT Methodology (pp. 28-41). New York: Nova Science Publishers. Renandya, W.A. & Farrell, T. S.C. (2011). Teacher, the tape is too fast: Extensive listening in ELT. ELT Journal, 65, 52-59. Richards, J.C. (2010). Moving beyond the plateau: From intermediate to advanced levels in language learning. Retrieved from:

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http://www.professorjackrichards.com/work.htm Sloboda, J. (1994). What makes a musician? Retrieved from http://www.egta.co.uk/content/sloboda Swain, M. 1993. The output hypothesis: Just speaking and writing aren’t enough. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 50, 158-164. Wong, W., & VanPatten, B. (2003). The evidence is IN: Drills are OUT. Foreign Language Annals, 36(3), 403- 423. Zhang, W. (2005). An investigation of the effects of listening programmes on lower secondary students’ listening comprehension in PRC. Unpublished MA dissertation, SEAMEO Regional Language Centre, Singapore.



CHAPTER FOUR BEWARE! THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD LIETH IN THAT WHICH IS NOT WHAT COULD BE MIRAT AL FATIMA AHSAN

Abstract To claim that the world is changing at the speed of light would be an exaggeration, but amazingly enough not too much of an exaggeration. As change becomes our one constant, we in education have become intrepid explorers of new frontiers–of internationalisation of education, of innovative pedagogy. There appears to be some unspoken understanding that true innovation means moving forward, confronting new challenges, finding new solutions. This paper focuses on offering an alternate perspective of what innovative pedagogy constitutes where teaching and learning are seen as linked organic realities. It draws on data from a smallscale descriptive study which sought to investigate teachers’ understanding of teaching and learning and factors that may influence it. The study had as its centre of focus, six English language teachers working in Pakistan’s higher education sector, and used a Phenomenographic approach to investigate the three research questions. The findings of the study, arrived at through employing a hermeneutic data analysis framework, support the stance being taken in this paper that innovative pedagogy and teaching and learning require understanding how individuals think and the influence of the collective within the individual, and as such have to do with what is rather than what could or should be. Keywords: innovative pedagogy, conceptions about teaching & learning, Phenomenographic study on English Language teachers in Pakistan, culture and context, local versus global solutions, higher education, hermeneutic data analysis framework, empirical research

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Introduction Teaching in the tertiary sector in the current world, where everything is in a continuous state of flux, and change–the one constant–is akin to being Dorothy in the Land of Oz. There is the strange and the wonderful and the dangerous and the hostile. We have the privilege of living in a world which sociologically speaking, can be said to have been re-envisioned to the extent where it borders on being an entirely new world. Advances in technology have allowed nations and individuals to interact on multiple of levels and become interdependent to a degree so as to transform concepts such as global community and global citizenship from rhetoric into a lived reality (Castells, 1996). We live ostensibly in a world where globalisation allows for greater common ground between nations and individuals, but in real terms this shrinking of the world and its recreation also brings a host of challenges (Carnoy, 1994). In this new world, knowledge is no longer just power in intellectual terms but on all levels–political, social and perhaps most significantly in economic terms. Today’s world is global but knowledge is its building block and intellectual capital its currency. Participation in the global community means participating as a member of the knowledge society. This in turn has impacted on higher education in a myriad ways. One of the predominant effects has been higher education’s re-positioning as a global commodity (McSherry, 2001; Naidoo, 2009). Practitioners working in tertiary education now shoulder a burden even weightier than before. In a pre-globalisation era, the compact between society and institutions of higher learning entailed universities being responsible for preparing learners to contribute to knowledge, to serve their respective disciplines with integrity; universities were responsible for ensuring that all those who entered and passed through their portals were held to standards. Higher education then was largely an autonomous undertaking where the only universal expectation was that a university degree was proof of academic quality and endeavour. The creation of a global knowledge society has re-defined this compact (Avis, 1996; Deem, 2001; Marginson & Considine, 2000). Being able to compete is a basic requirement for all those aspiring for membership to this society. This in turn requires that national higher education systems deliver in terms of offering quality education and contributing through producing new knowledge–through research, and through vigorous technology transfer (Bienenstock, 2006). A university degree or higher/professional qualification is not just an assurance of academic quality but also a

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guarantee that its holders possess a certain knowledge and skill-set that conforms to a certain set standard–that is an international standard. For nations and individuals alike, an inability to meet this criteria, means marginalisation and economic hardship. This tight-knit relationship between the market and institutions of higher learning means that those of us who work in the tertiary sectors, must contend with contributing to education systems responding and adjusting to the “banking concept of education” (Freire, 2000, p. 36) as they engage in a ‘do or die’ bid to equip learners to meet a certain kind of standard. What is more, in the wake of this repositioning of higher education as a global commodity, which engages in producing graduates, with the requisite skills to participate in the global knowledge society, enrolment figures for higher education have rocketed world-wide (Albach, Reisberg & Rumbley, 2009). We must then contend with meeting over whelming demands while ensuring that the multitudes that now flock to our classrooms all conform to that set standard. For those of us working in tertiary sectors of developing countries with education systems already buckling under the pressures of catering to a mass population all the while being resource-stricken with ailing primary and secondary education systems, the need to find a “yellow brick road”, a path that sees us safely to our destination, is an acute one. The question is how do we find this fabled yellow brick road? Do we follow the clearly marked road map that educational research has sought to provide through researching, developing and advocating a panoply of innovations–‘pedagogic kits’ such as e-learning, virtual learning, distance learning, (Castells, 2001), problem-based learning (Severiens & Schmidt, 2009), which proponents tout as being the path to better, deeper more meaningful, flexible learning, a means of ensuring that graduates acquire “transferrable skills’ (Barnett, 2003), which transforms them into life-long learners (Aspin & Chapman, 2007)? Do we even have a choice, and if there were a choice, why would we want to choose otherwise? After all why court unnecessary risks when there is a well-plotted route laid out. But considering the high-stake nature of tertiary education and the consequences of failure, can those of us working in tertiary education in developing contexts afford to take as a given that these well-plotted routes are indeed risk-free for all, beneficial for all? Stances such as Ordorika’s (2006): The emergence of a higher education market poses a significant challenge for national research universities: the need to participate in the global realm of colleges and universities on the basis of their own nature and distinctive

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Beware! The Yellow Brick Road character, without diluting these in the face of hegemonic models and dominant international guidelines. We need to be aware of the homogenizing effects of productivity driven policies, their impact on the narrowing of university goals and the detrimental consequences on the social responsibilities of the university… the challenge for peripheral universities is the preservation of diversity of traditions and responsibilities through a broad commitment to society (p.10) .

warn against the dangers of such an acceptance. The truth, I would contend, is that we are in a quandary. The inherent challenge that this reconfiguration of higher education has brought forth and, one which proponents and critics both acknowledge, is finding ways to negotiate the tension between ‘thinking global and acting local’; between identifying local, regional and global solutions while keeping pace with global transformations. The yellow brick road then is not just about a well-plotted route but about using a well-marked map to chalk a path that ensures learners are prepared with the requisite skills but in a way that ensures that their individual potential is fully realised. This paper argues that for under-researched and developing contexts such as Pakistan chalking out such a path requires engaging in empirical and descriptive research, that the solutions can only be found if the question of what actually is, is explored rather than what should be. This argument is illustrated through presenting the findings of an MPhil study on ELT teachers’ conceptions of teaching and learning in the higher education context of Pakistan. To this end the paper will include a brief descriptive narrative on the background of the study and provide a sketch of the study design and methodology. Study findings will then be presented before the argument is brought to a close via elaborating on how the findings of the study substantiate the central proposition of the paper. The closing will also include a brief foray into possible implications and recommendations.

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Where It All Began: The Background and Context of the Study “World over higher education has experienced extensive reforms during the last two decades. In higher education the role of the teacher has been recognized as transmitting [italics added], and creating knowledge through scholarship and research”1. (Mirza, 2007, p.7) “Education in general and Higher Education in particular occupies a focal position in determining the standing of a country as …developed or undeveloped. [The] Socioeconomic status of a county…depends upon the nature and quality of the HE [higher education] imparted [italics added] to its masses”. (Tariq, 2007, p.12) “…most of the teacher education programmes in Pakistan focus only on pedagogical change without tapping the areas of conceptual and attitudinal changes and underestimating the holistic view of change.” (Siddiqui, 2007, p.37) Figure 4.1: Thinking on Higher Education and Teacher Education in Pakistan

Pakistan can arguably be said to be a personification of what it means to be a “developing nation”. The estimate for Pakistan’s population in the UNESCO Report (2010) was 164.97 million and its annual population growth rate was given as 1.7 per cent. Pakistan’s adult literacy was ranked at 49% on South Asia’s literacy map by the Human Development Report (2006). One of the ways that successive governments have attempted to address the problem of education is to invest in teacher education and development. For example the policy body regulating higher education in Pakistan called the Higher Education Commission (HEC) claims to have spent over 6.5 billion US dollars in the last eight years (Ghazzanfar, 2006). I have, in my capacity as a Second Language teacher and teacher educator been involved in some of these teacher development efforts. Though the

 1

This is an extract from a keynote address published in the conference proceedings of the Conference for Professional Development of Teachers in Higher Education in Pakistan held in Pakistan’s capital city of Islamabad in 2007. The keynote speaker was at the time the Vice-chancellor of a prominent public-sector university in Pakistan. As far I have been able to discover, this conference is the only conference to be held on higher education in Pakistan in the last six years, and this makes the proceedings significant in that they can arguably be said to be representative of the current thinking about higher education in Pakistan.

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university I work for is a private international university, we were asked by the HEC to run sponsored ‘training’ courses for teachers teaching English2 in public-sector tertiary institutions. I coordinated these courses from 2006 to 2008 and during this while we ‘trained’ over three hundred teachers from different parts of the province. What I observed during this time was that, though most course participants were enthusiastic and seemed engaged, there were few reports3 of changes in practice as a result of these courses and it often made me wonder/worry if the courses were making any difference. In 2008, I had occasion to examine ELT (English Language teaching) teacher education in Pakistan more closely because I was asked by my university to design a master’s programme specifically targeting ELT teachers working in the tertiary sector in Pakistan. I began by trying to locate ground data on Second Language teacher education in Pakistan and, when I was unsuccessful in that, I widened my search to looking for data on ELT in Pakistan, and then, finally, looked for studies on teacher education in Pakistan as a whole. Most of the literature I found was prescriptive4. The few empirical studies I was successful in finding on ELT such as a survey study–which was actually an extended needs analysis by Shamim and Tribble (2005) investigating the provision for ELT in higher education in Pakistan–all suggested that ELT and particularly ELT for higher education and teacher development in Pakistan needed to be researched. I was, however, unable to find any empirical studies on teacher education for tertiary teachers. The only studies I did find on teacher education were on primary and secondary school teachers and these were mostly on science education (see Halai & McNicholl, 2004). This then is one of the key issues of the context of the proposed study–the seeming inadequacy of prescribed teacher education models in making an impact on participants and the realisation that it was impossible

 2

The HEC felt this was an acute need because English is the main medium of instruction at the tertiary level and is taught as a compulsory subject in undergraduate programmes in public and private sector institutions throughout the country. 3 I am using this not in terms of it signifying official reports or data from impact studies but in terms of anecdotal accounts as many of the teachers kept in touch even after the course was over. Also the ELT world in Pakistan is small enough for word to get around about what people you know are doing. 4 A thematic analysis of the article titles in the only ELT publication in Pakistan (this is a journal that began as a quarterly published by a voluntary teacher organisation called SPELT) shows that a majority of the publications relate to ‘how-to-do’ and ‘should-do’ themes rather than being research-based (cited from Ahsan, 2010)

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to find any other alternative because of the vastly under-researched state of ELT and teacher education in Pakistan. Driven by a sense of English Language Teacher Education5 in Pakistan, particularly with respect to higher education, being in acute crisis, and upon being unable to find any empirical studies of teacher education in Pakistan, I asked several colleagues leading teacher education programmes in other universities, informally how they had designed their programmes. Their descriptions of the process they followed, with one exception, matched. They looked at one or two or a number of course outlines of programmes run in universities in the UK, US or Australia and then the senior members of the department sat down together and developed a course outline by ‘picking and choosing’ from these based on their experience, understanding and preference. The ‘findings’ of my informal fact-finding seem to bear out Siddiqui’s (2007) claims about teacher education initiatives in Pakistan being based on ‘imposed’ transplanted western models, rather than organic context-sensitive models, developed on the basis of empirical data. He contends teacher education initiatives fail because of this. He does not, however, provide any evidence in support of his analysis other than citing anecdotal and experiential data. This could perhaps be because there is little empirical data to be found. Esch (2009) too makes note of the lack of descriptive data on English in Pakistan. Shamim and Tribble (2005) also underscore another area of concern in their study report when they strongly recommend that teacher-training initiatives should carefully consider students’ language needs for coping with higher education and professional studies. They mention, although only in passing, solutions such as EAP (English for Academic Purposes) and ESP (English for Specific Purposes). EAP and ESP focus on teaching adult learners to strategically use specific skills in English to cope with demands of their target situations. Benesch (2001) identifies that the strength of EAP is its flexibility in allowing for context-dependent language input. However, she also criticises ESP/EAP literature for serving as tools to promote English. In view of this and English’s controversial role in Pakistan6, any inclusion of EAP in teacher education

 5

This is not an actual term but a contextualised variation on the term Second Language Teacher Education (SLTE) 6 Despite, or as others contend, because of Pakistan’s colonial past, English is a high-status language in Pakistan. It has been instituted as an official language and dominates major domains such as education, official correspondence and

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needs to be negotiated carefully and cannot be done without some research. Work done by Norton (1997) on teacher identity and the challenge that teacher development can present, also emphasises the importance of designing teacher education initiatives carefully and this resonates with the concern raised earlier regarding how teachers’ selfperceptions of their proficiency may impact what and how they teach. Esch (2009) draws from Bourdieu’s (1990) constructs on language learning being invested, to argue that English is both a cultural and social capital in Pakistan, and that the individual’s familial educational background and social background are determined by and linked to access to English. I would argue that English serves as a symbolic capital (Bourdieu, 1990) as well. Knowing it–‘possessing’ it gives prestige, and not having it, creates empowerment issues. An analysis of the problems confronting teacher education of tertiary sector English Language teachers also indicated that this linked directly with two other issues: what English is taught and the possible underlying epistemological orientation to teaching and learning. English is taught as a subject in state schools at the primary level and is an optional Medium of Instruction (MI) at the secondary level. It is, however, the MI in higher education in the public and private sectors. In addition to being an MI at the tertiary level, English is also a compulsory subject for all first-year undergraduates. Yet Shamim and Tribble (2005) identified that in a number of cases it was being taught through a literature-based curriculum, following a content-based approach, in tertiary institutions. Brumfit and Carter (1986) highlight that in a content-based approach, literature is generally taught through lecturing and setting essay type examination questions. Mansoor (2005) observes that lecturers of English, particularly in public-sector colleges (in Pakistan, high-secondary

 employment (Mansoor, 2003). Rahman (2003, 2005; also see Shamim, 2008) stigmatises English as a power language, used by the elite to perpetuate the status quo. He argues that the latter is operationalised through perpetuating a dual system of education, which produces two cadres of students with two entirely different schooling backgrounds in terms of fluency in English and curriculum exposure. Esch (2009), considering the viability of the Capability and Human Development approaches for analysing empowerment through English, concludes that English language education cannot be analysed in terms of investment versus returns because access to English in Pakistan is differential. This differential access depends on factors such as using the right variety of English, schooling and affordability, gender (girls are less likely to have access than boys), geographical locations (urbanites have greater access than those living in rural areas).

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education–that is A’ levels or its equivalent–referred to as the intermediate level, is considered to be part of tertiary education. Therefore colleges offer intermediate, under-graduate and in some case post-graduate courses), generally have literature degrees, but teach both language and literature using the lecture method. The pitfalls of this approach in limiting learner engagement with the target language, is pointed out in Mansoor (2005), and Shamim and Tribble (2005). Ahsan’s (2004) small-scale mixed-method study, investigating the interplay between the use of problem-based learning (PBL) methodology and students’ English language facility in a Pakistani medical college, found indications that participants’ English language learning history did influence student performance in PBL group discussions. What makes this entire question of learner engagement more problematic is that, even the linguistic input that does appear to be given to learners at the intermediate level appears to focus on declarative knowledge–knowledge about THAT–that is metalinguistic knowledge (Woods, 1996). I began my career as a lecturer of English at a quasi public-sector college and the English course that I was required to teach consisted of a heavily-weighted literature-based curriculum, leavened by the inclusion of a grammar component which focused on the explicit teaching and assessing of grammar rules. As a consequence, I had students who knew, could parrot the rules and do any number of grammar exercises which assessed for knowledge of the rules but they could not produce/write one correct sentence of their own. This was in 2002. I have, however, recently reviewed the intermediate course and the examination papers for the last five years. And though, the textbooks appear to draw from a more procedural-knowledge (knowing how, Woods, 1996) orientation to language learning by including some grammar-in-context exercises–the majority of the tasks seem to continue to drill for explicit knowledge of rules. This emphasis on declarative knowledge was manifest in the examination questions as well. This focus on declarative knowledge seemed in turn to be rooted in a deeper problem: the problem of pedagogy–of the models of teaching and learning being used in Pakistan and their possible underpinning epistemological frameworks. Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission (HEC) Task Force report (2002) identifies that students have problems coping with the demands of professional education because of the prevalence of a system in which teachers lecture, students absorb, rotememorise and then regurgitate in examinations. Siddiqui (2007) ascribes the use of this teaching model to the examination-oriented education system being followed in Pakistan. Shamim (1996) also ascribes Pakistani learners’ passiveness to transmission-oriented practices conditioning

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learner-dependency. She argues that Pakistan’s patriarchal society contributes to learners being conditioned into a ‘listen and obey’ mode of behaviour. Both Siddiqui and Shamim’s arguments are problematic as neither is empirically supported. This being said, anecdotal data and my own experience of the context aligns with the conditions they describe. I do not, however, agree entirely with their analysis because what does not appear to be considered is the epistemological framework under-pinning this teaching model. Barnes (1979) distinguishes between “knowledge-asan object” and “knowledge-as-transformation” frameworks. When knowledge is seen as an object, it is believed that it can be transferred in its entirety from giver to receiver. In the traditional view of learning, the teacher is omnipotent and bestows knowledge and learners humbly receive it. In Pakistan, it could be argued that this orientation to learning is more than just a tradition; it may have deep cultural and religious roots. In prepartition India, Arabic as the language of the Quran (Muslims’ Holy Book) was accorded a place of pride in language studies. It was learnt through memorisation and repetition. The focus was on enabling recitation of the Quran rather than engaging with Arabic or using it for communicative purposes. This tradition is still prevalent in Pakistan. In SLA (Second Language Acquisition) literature, culture and language are seen as being historically-mediated (Kramsch, 2002). Similarly, in the Socio-cultural theory, developed essentially on Lev Vygotsky’s work on child development, the evolution of human cognition is not just seen as a biological process but as a historical-cultural and socially mediated process (Lantolf, 1999; Werstch, 1985). According to this conception the “properties of the natural, or biologically, specified, brain are organized into a higher, or culturally-shaped, mind through the integration [mediation] of symbolic artifacts” (Lantolf, 1999, p. 4) in the form of language, symbols, signs or concepts passed on from one generation to the next. It could be said then that the South-Asian Muslim tradition of learning Arabic through rotememorisation and the implied concept of knowledge-as-an-object became embedded as a cultural way of seeing–of interacting with knowledge and thus functions as a kind of cultural artefact (Vygotsky, 1934). These issues raised interesting questions for me. If English represented power and teachers saw their access to it and teaching and learning of it in terms of power differentials, if they constructed their identity based on it and at the same time struggled to accommodate their own culture-bound understanding of knowledge while also trying to attend to students’ language needs, what did this mean for their understanding of teaching and learning and by extension their practice?

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The MPhil Study–Design and Implementation In view of my questions I felt that research was needed, taking an exploratory culture-sensitive, context-specific descriptive approach, which began with what teachers think and what they understand, rather than what they do or what they should do. Accordingly, in 2009 as my MPhil project, I designed a small-scale study, with a sample of six participants, which focused on exploring and gathering descriptive data on ELT teachers’ understanding of teaching and learning. The study was driven by three exploratory interlinking questions that followed a part-to-whole pattern with each building on the other. The questions were a) “what are the conceptions of teaching and learning of ELT practitioners working in Pakistan’s Higher Education (HE) sector as reflected in their accounts?”, (b) “What indications are there in ELT practitioners’ accounts that formal teacher education has any impact on HE ELT practitioners’ conceptions of teaching and learning?” and (c) “what is the relationship between culture and context and the possible interplay of HE ELT practitioners’ conceptions of teaching and learning and formal teacher education as reflected in their accounts?”. These questions had emerged from the dialectic between the study’s conceptual orientations and a review of the literature on teacher conceptions in HE and research on teacher cognition and second language (L2) teacher education. The conceptual framework had drawn on work by Gadamer, Vygotsky and Geertz to argue that their positions oriented in three diverse disciplines–all situated human understanding within social and cultural contexts and thus research on thinking required an approach that was responsive to looking at thinking within a collective frame of culture and context. The review of the literature, in both the specified areas, had also shown culture and context as being neglected areas of study. The study used a Phenomenographic design because this is a methodology that allows for a description of participants experiences of a phenomenon and it does so by mapping the experiences as a range rather than the essence of the experience (Marton, 1981). Since my questions focused essentially on looking at the different ways that Pakistani ELT teachers understood teaching and learning in a context-specific, culture-sensitive way, that is, as a collective, this approach aligned with the aims of the study. The study data sets were gathered through using an emergent design as in Grounded Theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Richardson, 1999). The objective was to make the study as exploratory and data-driven as possible. A staged design was employed incorporating three types of interviews: a variation of life history which was followed by individual interviews combining elements of “focused

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interviews” (Merton & Kendall, 1946) and stimulated recall procedures (Lyle, 2003) and then a focus group interview which brought all my six participants together as the final stage. The data collection was designed purposely, so data from each stage built on the other, as it was anticipated that this would allow for a relatively gradual emergence of participants’ experiences, induced naturally through building rapport. The data sets were then analysed using a hermeneutic framework that concentrated on considering the whole-to-part relationship and involved engaging in seven phases of analysis. The final stage of analysis focused on developing the Phenomenographic “outcome space” (Marton & Booth, 1997)–which is a diagrammatic representation of the ways the participants have experienced that phenomenon. In the case of my study, this meant a visual map/model of how ELT teachers in HE thought about/experienced teaching and learning.

The MPhil Study: Findings The findings of the study which have been represented in the diagram below (see Figure 4.2) showed that participants’ experiences of teaching and learning conformed to teacher conception models (see D’Allba, 1991; Gow & Kember, 1993; Kane, Sandretto & Heath, 2002; Kember & Kwan, 2000; Martin & Ramsden, 1993; Murray & MacDonald, 1997; Pratt, 1992; Prosser, Trigwell & Taylor, 1994; Samuelowicz & Bain, 1992) in the research literature but only to a limited degree. As can be seen in Figure 4.2, the participants experienced teaching and learning in five qualitatively different ways, but as the central arrow piercing through the five ovoids in the figure attempts to demonstrate, with one shared conception. This is in contradiction to all existing models to date. For instance Kane et al. (2002) in their meta-analytic paper contend that the gradation between emphasis on the teacher and content and it then leading to a more constructive orientation by focusing on the student and conceptual change, is a consistent finding in teacher conception research. But as can be seen from the outcome space, the central arrow, which represents the shared conception of “teaching as giving and learning as content” and can be argued to be a core conception, does not suggest a shift to a more transformative way of looking at knowledge. Participants’ in the study continuously referred to teaching and learning in such terms as: “giving to the students”, “having full command” and “learning is taking”, “transfer”, “content”, “message” and “absorption”. This seems confusing considering the five other ovoids in the figure, represent conceptions, that graduate towards more sophisticated and complex (see Category VI–“teaching as a

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moral act and learning as life-experience”–the top-most ovoid) notions of teaching and learning than this seemingly simplistic and narrow shared conception of what teaching and learning are. An analysis of this in light of the study data and the literature seems to suggest that this conception is embedded. It seems to draw from, and be linked to, the shared culture and context and in that sense culture and context have been represented as an overall frame in Figure 4.2. In my study I have concluded that “findings...suggest that teacher education has an impact on teacher thinking to a certain degree but core conceptions, possibly because they may be entrenched as ‘cultural artefacts’ remain unchanged” (Ahsan, 2010, p. 69 ).

Figure 4.2: Participants’ Conceptions of Teaching and Learning in the Data

These findings bear out studies done in both general teacher education literature and second language teacher education which indicate that thinking, learning and development are linked to the contextual, the social and the cultural. For instance, Chan and Elliot’s (2004) study in Hong Kong on the relational links between student teachers’ epistemological beliefs and conceptions reveal links between Asian traditional models of learning and their conceptions regarding teaching and learning. Similarly, in Yang’s (2008) study, links were found between Chinese EFL (English

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as a Foreign Language) students’ preference for rote memorisation over constructivist approaches, and their Confucian training. The latter apparently orients them to ‘see’ knowledge given by authority (such as a teacher) as ‘truth’. Research in other sub-fields such as intercultural studies (Scollon & Scollon, 1995), and cross-cultural studies (Canagarajah, 1999; Kramsch, 2002) see language learning and teaching as being historically and socially mediated. Cross-cultural transfer of skills, in Contrastive rhetoric (Connor, 1996) studies language skills such as writing, as a cultural phenomenon. Studies on language politics of English teaching also highlight the role, historical, cultural and social power dimensions (Pennycook, 1990, 1994; Phillipson, 1992, SkutnabbKangas, 1988) play.

Conclusion: What the Findings Explicate and What This Means I would like to close by reiterating the central proposition: that the yellow brick road for developing countries is not to be found in simply adopting pedagogic models of teaching, because the balance between the global and the local requires, that the global be reworked to fully account for the local. By contradicting existing models on teacher conceptions, the findings of this study presented as a case study can arguably be said to support this central premise that it is unlikely that a whole-sale adoption of western pedagogic models drawing on research done on participants from western contexts, can effect an impactful solution. We might be a global society, but within the global is the diverse. For higher education, especially in the developing world, to meet the challenge of producing graduates that can compete in the global market, a balance must be found between the global and the local. One possible way forward then for tertiary sector practitioners, working in developing contexts, is to engage in research, gathering empirical data so that global solutions in the form of innovations can be exploited and adapted to address local challenges in research-informed and thereby more effective ways.

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Martin, E., & Ramsden, P. (1992). An expanding awareness: How lecturers change their understanding of teaching. Research and Development in Higher Education, 15, 148-155. Marton, F. (1981). Phenomenography-describing conceptions of the world around us'. Instructional Science, 10, 177-200. Marton, F., & Booth, S. (1997). Learning and awareness. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Mcsherry, C. (2001). Who owns academic work: Battling for control of intellectual property. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Medgyes, P. (1996). Native or non-native: Who’s worth more? In T. Hedge & N. Whitney (Eds.), Power, pedagogy & practice (pp. 31–42). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Merton, R. K., & Kendall. P. L. (1946) The focused interview. American Journal of Sociology, 51, 541-557. Murray, K., & McDonald, R. (1997). The disjunction between lecturers’ conceptions of teaching and their claimed educational practice. Higher Education, 33, 331-349. Norton, B. (1997). Language, identity, and the ownership of English. [Introduction, Special Issue] TESOL Quarterly, 31(3), 409-429. Ordorika, I. (2006).Commitment to society: Contemporary challenges for public research universities. Paper presented at the Second Colloquium on Research and Higher Education Policy, Universities as Centres of Research and Knowledge Creation: An Endangered Species. UNESCO Forum on Higher Education, Research and Knowledge, Paris, 29 November. Retrieved from UNESCO Database. Parkinson, B., & Reid, H. T. (2001). Teaching literature in a second language. UK: Edinburgh University Press. Pennycook, A. (1994). The cultural politics of English as an international language. Essex: Longman. —. (1990). Critical pedagogy and second language education. System, 18(3), 303-311. Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pratt, D. D. (1992). Conceptions of teaching. Adult Education Quarterly, 42(4), 203-220. Prosser, M., Trigwell, K., & Taylor, P. (1994). A phenomenographic study of academics’ conceptions of science learning and teaching. Learning and Instruction, 4, 217-231. Rahman, T. (2003). English teaching institutions in Pakistan. In S. Mansoor, S. Meraj, A. Tahir (Eds.), Language policy planning and

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Weinshemer, J. (1985). Gadamer’s Hermeneutics: A reading of truth and method. CT: Yale University Press. Woods, D. (1996). Teacher cognition in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Yang, S. (2008). Narrative of a cross-cultural language teaching experience: Conflicts between theory and practice. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24, 1564–1572.



CHAPTER FIVE WHAT IS LANGUAGE AWARENESS AND HOW CAN IT HELP ENGLISH TEACHERS AND LEARNERS IN THE LANGUAGE CLASSROOM? GRAEME CANE

Abstract Van Lier (1995) argues that language is as important to human beings as water is to fish. He says that, just as fish are unaware of the water around them, we are often unaware of the language going on around us. “If the language around us is poisoned,” says van Lier, “we may feel sick without realizing why. If we are pushed in a certain direction without wanting to be, it may be that language is pushing us in that direction” (p. xi). Language Awareness researchers try to look at language as a living thing by noticing and analysing the effects it has when speakers and writers use it to communicate. The Language Awareness movement, which began in the UK in the 1980s, has largely been concerned with the quality and scope of language education in schools where English is a first language. We need to ask, then, if the concept has any relevance for second and foreign language teaching and learning. This paper has three aims: to examine how language researchers have used the term ‘language awareness’, to determine its practical value for ESL learners, and to suggest some hands-on activities that can be introduced into the classroom to help learners develop greater awareness of how English works. Keywords: language awareness, phonetic awareness, grammatical awareness, lexical awareness

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Introduction This paper has three aims: to examine how language researchers have used the term ‘language awareness’, to determine its practical value for ESL learners, and to suggest some hands-on activities that can be introduced into the classroom to help learners develop greater awareness of how English works. The paper is based on a presentation given at the AKU-CEL Seminar in January, 2011. As an introduction to the presentation, I asked people in the audience to think of their favourite English word and to share it with a partner. In a large-scale British Council study conducted in 2004, 7,600 ESL learners in 46 countries were asked to choose what they thought were the most beautiful words in English. According to those who voted in the poll, the ten most beautiful words in English are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Mother Passion Smile Love Eternity Fantastic Destiny Freedom Liberty Tranquility

When native speakers of English from the USA and the UK were asked in a separate online survey conducted by the British Council to list their favourite words, among the most popular were: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Mellow Superfluous Plump Octopus Bazooka Bubble Spatula

After sharing their personal favourite English word with a partner, members of the Karachi audience were then asked to identify any

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differences between the two sets of British Council polled words. Many said that the non-native speakers had chosen their favourite words based on meaning (e.g., mother, freedom), while the native speakers had selected words based on their sounds (e.g., mellow, bazooka). I suggested to the audience that being able to identify this fundamental difference between the two sets of words is a sign of a speaker’s level of language awareness. It is this kind of awareness that is needed for solving ‘odd-one-out’ language puzzles such as the following, which is simple enough to be given to a pre-intermediate EFL class. Instructions: Identify the word that does not belong in the groups of words below: 1. Cell / Bell / Till / Tell 2. Game / Gate / Fate / Rate 3. Hut / Bungalow / Farm / Cottage 4. Sing / Song / Write / Make 5. Funny / Clever / Unhappy / Humour Solving the above requires the learner to discriminate between different sounds (Items 1 and 2), meaning (3), and word classes (4 and 5). Suggested Answers: 1. Till

2. Game

3. Farm 4. Song 5. Humour

What Is Language Awareness (LA)? Before looking at examples of language awareness raising activities for ESL learners, it might be useful to see how language specialists have used the term. An early definition, produced by a Language Awareness Working Party in Birmingham, England in 1982, was the following: “LA is a person’s sensitivity to and conscious awareness of the nature of language and its role in human life” (quoted in van Lier, 1996, p. 79). The Language Awareness movement, which began in the UK in the 1980s, has largely been concerned with the quality and scope of language education in schools. As van Lier points out, Language Awareness (LA) can mean different things to different people. For some, LA relates to understanding how language is manipulated by speakers and writers to deceive or control listeners and readers. An example of this view would be the language of advertising. The following slogans have been used by three different airlines in advertisements: ‘The world’s five-star airline’;

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‘The world’s favourite airline’; ‘The world’s leading airline’. Although the airlines concerned would find it difficult to prove the accuracy of such claims, their advertising agencies know that the average person will accept the slogans uncritically without stopping to consider their meaning or the advertiser’s underlying intention. For other people, LA is concerned with examining the relationship between form, meaning and culture. An example of this view would be the contrasting social evaluations of the non-standard grammatical forms in ‘Them boys don’t know nothing’ versus the standard ‘Those boys don’t know anything’. Although both sentences are regularly produced by native speakers of English and both carry the same meaning, the first sentence would have lower social prestige than the second in most social contexts. Language analysts working on social dialects are interested in finding out why language forms carry their own social values which are apart from their semantic meaning. For still others, LA is seen as a tool for analyzing the language of discrimination and social prejudice. Referring to someone as ‘a spic, a nigger, a spastic, a faggot or a chink’ is a deliberate use of language as a weapon to discriminate against a particular group. Discrimination through language can be less obvious and, unfortunately, more socially acceptable than this kind of blatant name calling, and LA has been effectively used to expose subtler, more camouflaged, forms of discrimination. As we have seen then, Language Awareness can be discussed in a host of different ways for many different purposes. My second aim in this paper is to give ESL/EFL teachers ideas for using awareness-raising exercises to help their students understand, focus on and remember the new pieces of language they come across inside and outside the classroom. Van Lier (1995) argues that language is as important to human beings as water is to fish. He says that, just as fish are unaware of the water around them, we are often unaware of the language going on around us. “If the language around us is poisoned” says van Lier, “we may feel sick without realizing why. If we are pushed in a certain direction without wanting to be, it may be that language is pushing us in that direction” (p. xi). LA researchers try to look at language as a living thing by noticing and analyzing the effects it has when real speakers and writers use it to communicate. A simple example given by van Lier (1995) is of a young

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Mexican tourist called Carla who is touring London with a group of fellow EFL learners from different countries. Carla is impressed with what she sees in London and keeps calling everything ‘stupend’ thinking that the Spanish word estupendo (meaning ‘stupendous’, ‘wonderful’) must be ‘stupend’ in English. Unfortunately, the way she says ‘stupend’ sounds so much like ‘stupid’ that the other tourists think she is being negative and arrogant. If Carla fails to become aware of what her use of language is doing, the others may begin to dislike and avoid her. Neil Postman (as cited in Eschholz, Rosa & Clark, 2005) makes a more serious observation on the importance of being linguistically aware when he points out that all the words uttered in a 30-minute television news bulletin could be printed on one page of a newspaper. “The world cannot be understood in one page” (p. 384) says Postman. Seen in this way, we realize that trying to cover unrelated events such as a war, a plane crash or an earthquake in a few short sound bites can never explain these events comprehensively or even accurately. With regard to news bulletins on TV, we may also note that jumping from one story to the next in the same 20minute bulletin (e.g., from covering famine in East Africa to a fire in Bangkok to a fashion show in Paris, etc.) has the eventual effect of desensitizing human feelings about all the items. Within seconds, the camera goes from pictures of starving African children to a smiling newsreader in the studio telling us about the wedding of a Hollywood actor. The viewer’s attention moves unquestioningly from one item to the next without considering the deeper implications of any of the stories. If we can learn to be more aware of how language is used and misused, we may learn to become more cautious about accepting the things we are told. If a politician or army general says when sending troops to a foreign country, ‘We are going to X to liberate the people, not to conquer them,’ what does he really mean? When some American commentators said after the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington that Americans ‘lost their innocence’ on that day, we might question the speakers’ notion of innocence. Can a nation which has been witness to slavery, a Civil War, hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, and the dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima be called ‘innocent’? Some critical linguists have looked at what language awareness can reveal about power relationships in conversations. Fairclough (1989), for instance, gives an example of a conversation between a police officer (P) and a witness (W) who has just seen an armed robbery. Fairclough’s

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analysis of the interview reveals how the police officer’s use of interruptions, reduced question forms (e.g.,‘Hair?’), and checking what the witness has said (e.g., repeating ‘six foot one’ in turn 7), demonstrate the inequality of the power relationship between the two speakers and the officer’s lack of respect for and gratitude to the witness for her help. Here is the conversation: P: Did you get a look at the one in the car? W: I saw his face, yeah. P: What sort of age was he? W: About 45. He was wearing a… P: (interrupting) And how tall? W: Six foot one. P: Six foot one. Hair? W: Dark and curly. Is this going to take long? I’ve got to collect the kids from school. P: Not much longer, no. What about his clothes? W: He was a bit scruffy looking, blue trousers, black… P: (interrupting) Jeans? W: Yeah. (Fairclough, 1989, p.18)

As we can gather from the above examples, the focus and methods of LA researchers may differ, but their intention is basically the same–to see how language can influence our lives in both positive and negative ways, and to help us see the world of human communication more clearly. The next part of the paper gives some practical activities that can be used by ESL/EFL teachers at different levels and in different contexts to help raise their students’ awareness of language use.

Practical Exercises for Raising Language Awareness Activity One A reporter once sent a telegram to the agent of the legendary Hollywood actor Cary Grant (1904–1986). The reporter wanted to know Cary Grant’s age and wrote to the agent in the telegram: HOW OLD CARY GRANT? Cary Grant found the telegram before his agent and decided to reply himself. In his telegram to the reporter, Grant wrote: OLD CARY GRANT FINE. HOW YOU?

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The key to Cary Grant’s play on words lies, as the teacher can point out, in the position of the verb ‘to be’ within the contracted telegram messages. While the reporter clearly meant, ‘How old IS Cary Grant?’, with the deleted is coming between old and Cary, Grant consciously adopts another possible but much less likely meaning by interpreting the question as, ‘How IS old Cary Grant?’ (with deleted is coming between how and old). This interpretation continues with Grant’s question, ‘How you?’ (i.e., with a deleted are in between how and you). An additional social factor that can be brought out by the teacher here is the reluctance of adults (especially Westerners, perhaps) to reveal their age to strangers. With his reply, Grant is able to avoid giving his age to the reporter. Task: Ask the students to think of another example of a written text where a deleted word can have an ambiguous effect on the overall meaning. Activity Two Read the following joke and then identify the ambiguity found in it. A lady gets onto a bus and anxiously asks the driver, ‘Am I all right for the zoo?’ ‘I should think so, lady,’ he replies. ‘But I’m only a driver, not a zoologist.’

The joke depends, of course, upon the ambiguity of the question, ‘Am I all right for the zoo?’ The bus passenger’s intended meaning is obviously, ‘Am I on the right bus for the zoo?’. The bus driver, however, interprets the question as, ‘Am I a suitable specimen for the zoo?’ If the teacher wants to do more work with students on discovering and disentangling ambiguity, he/she can give them examples such as the following, which are taken from public signs in English seen in different places around the world: In a Zimbabwe tailor’s shop: ‘Order your summer suit now. Because is big rush, we will execute customers in strict rotation.’ Outside a Hong Kong tailor’s: ‘Ladies can have a fit upstairs’ At the entrance to a museum in Madrid: ‘Children Must Enter with Parrots Only.’ Advert for Donkey Rides in Thailand: ‘Would you like to ride on your own ass?’

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Activity Three: Classroom exercises for raising phonetic awareness The teacher begins by asking the students the question: How would you say these words? • • • • • •

Content Lead Minute Tear Object Present

All of the above are homographs (words which have the same spelling but different pronunciations and meanings). After getting the students to give the possible pronunciations and meanings of each homograph, the teacher goes on to point out that, with words such as object, present, record, import, export, contest, the noun form has its stress on the first syllable (e.g, OB-ject), while the verb form has its stress on the second syllable (ob-JECT). The following text, entitled Marital Stress, has been written by me to give English learners more examples of homographs at work: Every evening, Jack would refuse to take the refuse out. Jill could not be content because the contents of the bin would start to smell. The rubbish bin became an object of hate for Jill. She said to Jack, ‘I object.’ Jack replied, ‘Why do you blame me every minute of the day for every minute thing I do?’ ‘I just don’t want that bin or you so close to me,’ said Jill, starting to close the bedroom door…

Another phonetic awareness raising exercise is the following one, which looks at how different intonation patterns can have an effect on the meaning of an utterance. How would you say these sentences? 1. 2.

He gave her dog biscuits. (Nihalani, 2004, p.111) She washed and fed the cat. (Nihalani, p. 113)

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Suggested Answers: 1.

If the speaker pauses after dog and puts the heaviest stress on biscuits, the meaning is ‘he gave some biscuits to her dog’. If the heaviest stress is on dog, the meaning will be ‘he gave some dog biscuits to her’. He gave her dog ‘biscuits. He gave her ‘dog biscuits.

2.

//She washed and fed the ‘cat.// = one tone group, meaning the cat was both washed and fed by her. //She ‘washed / and fed the ‘cat.// = two tone groups, meaning she washed herself and then fed the cat.

Activity Four: More on pronunciation awareness Teachers can also ask the class to do their own research on pronunciation by identifying the pronunciation differences in the words below: finger – anger – longer singer – stinger – wringer Why are the three words in the top line above pronounced with a velar nasal followed by a velar stop (e.g., fing-Ger), while the words in the second line are pronounced with a velar nasal but no velar stop (e.g., singer)? In looking into this question, the students will find that nouns ending in –ger which come from verbs (e.g., singer from the verb sing) do not take the velar stop (the so-called hard g) in their pronunciation. Words ending in -ger which do not come from verbs will, however, take the hard g after the velar nasal. There is no verb ‘to ang’, so anger is pronounced ang-Ger. Activity Five: Raising Grammatical Awareness Teachers can point out that some expressions in English can only be used in the negative: -

I didn’t sleep a wink all night. I didn’t see a soul. He didn’t lift a finger to help us. Don’t move a muscle!

(*I slept a wink all night.) (*I saw a soul.) (*He lifted a finger to help us.) (*Move a muscle.)

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-

She didn’t turn a hair when she saw the gunman. (*She turned a hair when she saw the gunman.)

Task: Ask the students to find other idioms which can be used either only in the negative or only in the positive. Activity Six: A grammar-based activity related to Pakistani English usage -

How do you feel about these sentences? Last chance to avail this offer. Avail our great offer now. (Billboard signs seen in Karachi)

The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (2003, p. 86) gives the following example for the use of avail: (formal) Avail yourself of something–e.g., ‘How many schools avail themselves of this opportunity each year?’ Avail cannot take a direct object in GB or US English. However, the examples show that Pakistani English speakers use avail as a transitive verb taking a direct object. Ask the students to find other examples of avail from written or spoken Pakistani and non-Pakistani texts. Activity Seven: Awareness of preposition usage and meaning Prepositions feature early in any ESL course book. Beginners are exposed to the preposition in, for example, in the first few lessons. They are probably told that in means ‘inside a container or place’ e.g., ‘in the box’ ‘in Afghanistan’, etc. However, the use of in is much more complex than this. Give the following sentences to your students and ask them to work out the meaning of in for each case. -

Ali is in the kitchen. Ali is in the army. Ali is in trouble. Ali is in his twenties. Ali is in love. Ali has written a poem in English.

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Can your students think of other examples where in is used with different meanings? They can then carry out some research on the different uses of other prepositions. Activity Eight: Raising your students’ lexical awareness Ask students to comment on the language misuse (or lexical creativity!) in these statements made by former President George W. Bush. When Mr Bush was the US president, this type of usage was often referred to as Bushisms. - ‘The war on terror has transformationed the US-Russia relationship.’ - ‘We’re here to help Russia securitize the dismantled nuclear warheads.’ - ‘The results will make America a literate country and a hopefuller country.’ - ‘The case has had full analyzation and has been looked at a lot.’ Activity Nine: Everyday Metaphors As Lakoff and Johnson (1980) pointed out many years ago, metaphors are not only found in poetry but are commonly used by ordinary speakers as a living part of everyday language. However, speakers are often unaware of this metaphorical usage as the expressions are so commonly used they have become clichés. Lakoff and Johnson have identified the following everyday metaphors which view life as a container. -

I’ve had a full life. Life is empty for me now. There’s not much left for him in life. Her life contained a great deal of sorrow. Try to get the most out of life.

Task: Ask your students to find examples of metaphors where ideas are related to food and eating. Examples: - What he said left a bad taste in my mouth. - His ideas are half-baked. Activity Ten: Raising Discourse Awareness Ask students to point out what is unusual about the following text:

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What Is Language Awareness? Samuel Barclay Beckett was born in a building in Foxrock, Dublin, on a Friday, the day between Thursday and Saturday, in 1906. Every day, Samuel’s mother, who was somewhat older and taller than her baby son, picked him up in her arms and gave him milk to drink through his mouth and, after a few weeks, food to eat. Samuel continued this practice of eating and drinking virtually every day of the rest of his life. As the years passed by, Samuel grew older and he would get up in the morning and go to bed at night. He used to leave his house every day by opening the front door, stepping through the empty space and then pushing the door closed behind him.

The students are likely to point out that, while the information is probably true, much of it is unnecessary as every reader is already aware that mothers are older than their babies that people drink through their mouth, etc. The teacher can then discuss Grice’s Cooperative Principle and the maxims of relation and quantity (i.e., the idea that in conversation and writing, we generally give the listener/reader only the relevant information that he/she needs). To give lots of redundant information which everyone already knows is considered to be conversationally deviant.

Final Thoughts on LA Here are three statements about language which teachers can give to their students for analysis and discussion: • • •

Without language, no war can be declared and no peace announced. Without language, people cannot marry and babies cannot be named. Without language, we cannot make enemies or friends.

Language Awareness looks at language as it is really used by speakers and writers. LA explores the words and structures that we use, the underlying intentions of speakers/writers, and the cognitive, emotional and psychological effects a piece of language can have on listeners and readers. Introducing simple LA activities into the ESL classroom can unlock a door for both the learner and the teacher which neither may have had the chance to open before.

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References British Council. (2004). 70 most beautiful words. www.britishcouncil.org Fairclough, N. (1989) Language and power. Harlow: Longman. Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. (2003). Harlow: Pearson. Nihalani, P. (2004). Stress and intonation. In V. Bhatia, P. Nihalani & G. Cane (Eds.), Modern English: Description, structure and use (pp. 91120). Singapore: SIM Open University Centre. Postman, N., & Powers, S. (2005). Television news: The language of pictures. In P. Eschholz, A. Rosa & V. Clark (Eds.), Language awareness: Readings for college writers (pp. 383-388). Boston: Bedford. Van Lier, L. (1995) Introducing language awareness. London: Penguin. —. (1996) Interaction in the language curriculum. London: Longman.



CHAPTER SIX TOWARDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF TEACHERS’ RESISTANCE TO INNOVATION FAUZIA SHAMIM Abstract What is resistance to innovation and how is it manifested? Is teachers’ ‘resistance’ to innovation a wilful and deliberate act of subversion or are there deeper issues that require further exploration? The paper seeks to address some of these questions in the context of Pakistani schools and classrooms. More specifically, the paper establishes, through an analysis of case studies of teachers, a rationale for rethinking resistance to innovation. Finally, it argues for shifting the focus from why teachers are unable to implement innovations to how they might be supported in managing change at the classroom and/or institutional level. Keywords: innovation, teachers’ resistance, contextual factors

Introduction “There is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, or more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things” (Machiavelli, as cited in Nisbet, 1975, p. 13). An innovation seeks to do just that, i.e., to initiate a new order of things through a new curriculum, teaching and learning practices and/or changes in the organisational structure of schools and school leadership. Teachers are considered central to the process of initiating change and innovation1. Consequently, a lot of effort and resources are spent on

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The establishment of the Institute for Educational Development of the Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan in 1993 is a testimony to this belief. The institute was set up to arrest the declining quality of education in developing countries

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training of teachers. Despite this it has commonly been observed that often there is no significant or marked change in the teaching and learning practices in the classroom (Waters & Vilches, 2005). Sometimes, this lack of change is attributed to teachers’ resistance to change. However, we as teacher educators spend little time on thinking about questions such as, what is resistance to innovation and how is it manifested? Is teachers’ resistance to innovation a natural response to innovation or a willful and deliberate act of subversion? In other words, what are the determinants of teachers’ resistance to innovations? In order for innovations to be successful it is necessary to identify and address the sources of resistance. For example, if teachers’ resistance is due to their lack of skills for implementing an innovation, to develop these skills, we need to devise ways of supporting teachers, through language teacher education programmes. This chapter seeks to explore the determinants of teachers’ resistance to innovation. More specifically, the chapter will establish, through an analysis of what is involved in innovations and teachers’ problems in implementing innovations, a rationale for rethinking teachers’ resistance to innovation. It will argue for shifting the focus in the discourse of language teacher education from ‘resistance’ to understanding why teachers are unable to implement innovations and, more importantly, how they might be supported for initiating, managing and sustaining change at the classroom and/or institutional level. As teachers play a central role in innovations, both through their decisions and actions, it is important to understand the determinants of teachers’ resistance to change and develop appropriate strategies to address them for implementing successful reforms in varied educational contexts. However, before we begin to analyse teachers’ resistance to innovation, we need to find out what is involved in innovation. The next section will therefore begin by defining and exploring the nature of innovation and its consequences for teachers, which, in turn, shape their response to an innovation. The following section will focus on identifying the determinants of teachers’ resistance to innovation.

 through capacity building of individual teachers. The institute offers a range of teacher education programs at the certificate, diploma and M. Ed level for teachers from 10 developing countries in eastern Africa, and south and central Asia.1 The aim of these programs is to initiate change in schools in these countries through developing teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and their research and inquiry, and leadership skills (Farah & Jaworski, 2005).

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Defining Innovation Chambers (as cited in Duke, 2004) makes a distinction between innovation and change by defining innovation as a scheme and change as the consequence of implementing that scheme or plan. In contrast, Hall and Hord (2001) prefer to use the word “innovation” when discussing change. However, many writers, such as Fullan (2001) consider innovations (or change as the case may be) as encompassing the entire process from initiation, implementation and institutionalisation of an educational reform. Zaltman and Lin (1971) underline the role of perception of an individual or a larger organisation of “newness” as a defining characteristic of an innovation. According to them, innovation is “any idea, practice or material artefact perceived to be new by the relevant unit of adoption” (p.656). For the purpose of this paper, innovation is defined as anything that seeks to bring about a change in teaching and learning. Innovation and change will be used interchangeably throughout the paper as an inclusive of all the three stages of change, i.e., initiation, implementation and institutionalization (Fullan, 2001). Resistance is defined as “any conduct that seems to maintain the status quo in the face of pressure to alter the status quo” (Zaltman & Duncan, as cited in Duke, 2004, p. 63). Often in ELT and Applied Linguistics, a discussion of ‘resistance’ and ‘models/strategies of resistance’ is found in discourses of power, domination and control (e.g., Canagarajah, 1999; Punchi, 2001). In literature on educational change; however, the focus is on identifying sources of resistance to innovations both at the systemic level and that of individual change agents for successful innovations (e.g., Fullan & Hargreaves, 1992; Helsby, 1999). In this chapter, resistance to innovation or change is defined simply as an act of withstanding the action or effect of something2, an innovation, in particular, for bringing about any change in teaching and learning by individual teachers. It is interesting to note that while innovations abound in English language teaching (ELT)–from innovative methods to curriculum, textbooks and assessment practices, literature on exploring the nature of change and its

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Shamim, (2005) also found that a change in curriculum, if accompanied by training and classroom level support for teachers in implementing innovative approaches to methodology and assessment, and a change in the organisational structure to support the change effort (this includes incentives and rewards for teachers at the institutional/systemic level) can lead to the success of a curricular innovation.

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possible effects on innovations is surprisingly scant in ELT and applied linguistics. Similarly, while the focus of second language teacher education is often on introducing new ideas, instructional skills and classroom practices, there is little discussion on the need for identifying and training teachers and other stakeholders in skills required for implementing innovations successfully (e.g., Waters & Vilches, 2005). Thus, there is an urgent need for understanding “what change is, what attributes innovations should possess in order to be adapted, how different kinds of individuals react to innovations, and how various systemic forces–all socio-cultural in nature–interact to affect the implementation of innovation” (Markee, 1997, p. 4). In education, while the literature on change is more extensive (e.g., Duke, 2004; Fullan, 2001; Fullan & Hargreaves,1992; Helsby, 1999), most people in education talk about what will be changed, i.e., an innovation; however, Hall and Hord (2001) believe that most people fail to realise that innovations come in “different sizes”: “Most leaders do not seem to consider that there are ways to characterise innovations, and that they can vary in the amount of time, resources and effort required for implementation” (p. 8).

Nature of Innovations Teachers are often labelled as ‘innovators’ or ‘resistors’ in the process of introducing innovations. This dichotomy gives the impression that resistance to change is a simple and one-dimensional construct. However, in reality resistance to change is both complex and multidimensional (Markee, 1997; Watson, 1971). Zaltman and Lin (1971) outline a comprehensive set of attributes of innovations based on research in different disciplines including education. These include: cost–both financial and social cost and returns on the investment–the extent to which the rewards of adopting an innovation are both immediate and substantial, efficiency of an innovation or the extent to which it is: a) time saving and b) helps in avoidance of discomfort related to the amount of risk and uncertainty associated with innovations3etc. (for details see pp. 351-368).

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Thus it is not surprising that younger teachers are often more enthusiastic about innovations than those who already have an established status due to their knowledge, years of experience etc., as they probably have little to lose by innovating.

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Zaltman and Lin argue that these multiple dimensions of an innovation will affect the acceptance and adoption of an innovation. While some of these dimensions such as the financial cost of an innovation may be obvious at the outset, others such as the social cost of innovation are less tangible and therefore more difficult to predict without understanding the organisational structures, socio-cultural norms and behaviors or ‘informal orders’ in the setting in which the innovation is to be implemented (see Holliday, 1992). For example, on the one hand, the social cost of adopting an innovation may be manifested in ridicule, ostracism, or even exclusion or expulsion from some relevant reference group, on the other, the social position of different people may influence the extent to which they are willing to adopt an innovation (Zaltman & Lin, 1971). Hall and Hord’s analysis of educational innovations published in 2001 identifies at least three ways in which innovations can be complex: first, innovations are often not centred around a single activity but come in ‘bundles’; second, innovations can be characterised in terms of ‘products’ or ‘processes’; third, large-scale innovations may require changes in several areas of work. For example, a curricular innovation may require a radical shift in teacher-learner roles, classroom processes and assessment practices. Thus the sheer effort required on the part of teachers to implement these changes may lead to ‘innovation fatigue’. Whatever the nature or focus of an innovation may be, it seems that all educational innovations seek to change the status quo. This may have major consequences for the teachers, which in turn, may lead them to react in different ways to an innovation.

Teachers’ Response to Innovations Teachers’ response to innovation is manifested in a variety of behaviours ranging from acquiescence, accommodation (Smagorinsky, Lakly & Johnson, 2002) and compliance to resistance and pragmatism4 (Moore, Edwards, Halpin & George, 2002). Thus teachers’ resistance to innovation may be more or less overt and active or passive. Also, it may be general or specific to one or more aspects of the innovation. More important, as the

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Moore et al. (2002) differentiate between “principled pragmatism”and “contingent pragmatism”- the former identified in positive terms as “effectiveness”, linking it strongly to academic performance and outcomes. In contrast, contingent pragmatism is “a state of largely enforced adjustment” (p. 554).

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teachers move through the process of implementing an innovation, the nature of their concerns may change as specified by Hall and Hord’s Stages of Concern model5 (2001). Teachers’ level of resistance to an innovation is likely to differ according to the size of the innovation (Hall & Hord, 2001), innovation type, its radicalness and the adoption process (see Damanpour, 1988) and, consequently, the burden an innovation may place on the teacher. For example, teachers’ perception of the time and effort required to learn new skills and attitudes to implement an innovation often shapes their level of resistance. Additionally, teachers’ resistance to innovation may be determined by a range of individual and contextual factors such as their readiness for change, whether they see the need and relevance of the innovation for their work and other organisational, political, social and cultural factors impacting the work of teachers. For example, several accounts of teachers’ works, notably Jackson’s (1962), underline the need for routines for teachers, often for survival purposes. Hence teachers have little time or energy to expend on innovations that seek to change their routinised behaviours and force them out of their comfort zone. In the next section, teachers’ resistance to innovation will be analysed in terms of individual factors pertaining to teachers’ personal and professional knowledge, skills and attitudes and contextual factors such as organisational conditions in the school and school system, government policies, and socio-cultural norms and practices in the wider community.

Determinants of Teachers’ Resistance to Innovation Individual Factors Resistance to change may spring from many sources. Feelings of lack of self-efficacy and “complacency” with current practices have been identified as two major reasons for teachers’ resistance to innovation (Geijsel, Sleegers, van den Berg & Kelchtermans, 2001). For example, if teachers feel satisfied with the current state of teaching and learning in their classrooms, they are more likely to resist an innovation that seeks to



5 According to this model, in the early stages of implementing an innovation, teachers’ concerns are more personal in nature as they are trying to learn new skills and competencies required by the innovation, while in the later stages of implementation, the nature of their concerns is rather professional, such as the effect of the innovation on student learning.

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change the status quo such as the use of technology. According to Nisbet (1975), there are four “waves of difficulty” teachers face in implementing innovations; first, increase in workload; second, loss in confidence and increase in anxiety; third, a state of chaos or confusion; and finally, backlash or accountability. Nisbet, therefore, argues for three things for innovations to be successful, support involvement and evaluation. In this case technology innovation would require teachers to develop new knowledge, skills and even attitudes towards technology use; hence, this may result in resistance to adopting the innovation. Individual factors that may affect English language teachers’ response to an innovation include at least three things: Knowledge, skills and attitudes, proficiency in the target language, i.e., English, and teachers’ lives (see Huberman, 1993) including status, and economic conditions.

Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes Studies of teacher knowledge (e.g., Grossman, 1990; Shulman, 1987) in general, and knowledge and expertise of English language teachers in particular (Freeman & Richards, 1996; Tsui, 2003) indicate that teachers need content knowledge, language proficiency and instructional skills for initiating and managing an innovation in ELT curriculum, methodology or assessment procedures. Teachers go through a process of “deskilling” whenever an innovation is introduced. They are expected to go through a process of “unfreezing” before they can acquire new knowledge and then “defreeze” for the new knowledge to become part of their normal selves. Therefore, feelings of uncertainty and a personal fear of the loss of all that is comfortable and familiar generates high levels of anxiety, particularly amongst those teachers who have established themselves on the basis of their knowledge or skills that are now “defunct” (Nisbet, 1975).

Language Proficiency Medgyes (1996), in his insightful analysis of perceptions of native and non-native speaker teachers concludes that the non-native English speaker teachers are handicapped only in one aspect, i.e., their language competence. However, the majority of English language teachers in the ever growing “outer circle” (see Kachru, 1982), are not native speakers of English. Therefore, unsurprisingly, in countries where English is used as a foreign or even a second language, a vast majority of teachers lack adequate proficiency in the English language. Thus if an innovative

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methodology such as CLT is introduced, with a focus on “spontaneous natural speech” and developing “communicative competence” amongst the learners, these teachers feel visibly handicapped in implementing this methodology. Recently, Lee (2006) has called for a respecification of communicative competence as “the condition of L2 instruction” before it can become the target outcome of instruction. This respecification may address the issue of non-native speaker teachers’ inadequacy in the English language to some extent. However, the fact remains that the main focus of language teachers’ education has traditionally been on developing innovative classroom methodology without treating inadequacies in teachers’ language ability to implement these innovations. Hence, observation and research in language classrooms in non-native environments such as Pakistan, reveal that few teachers move beyond the rhetoric of pair and group work to achieve the real essence of making their classrooms viable spaces for learning languages “naturally” (see e.g., Shamim, 2009).

Teachers’ Personal and Professional Lives According to Watson (1971), as most social change involves a redistribution of power, people who are anxious and economically deprived, that is, exist at the minimum level of subsistence, are more likely to resist any innovations “which they perceive as reducing the scope of their control, influence or prestige” (p.756). Teachers in many societies, particularly in developing countries, have low salaries and economic status (Reimers & Warwick, 1995). Additionally, they often suffer from a low morale as they have little say in decision-making about curriculum, textbooks etc., particularly in countries where these are centrally decided and mandated by Ministries of Education and similar bodies. Additionally, these teachers have grown up with traditional methodologies (see Lortie’s apprenticeship of observation, 1975). Hence, any innovation that seeks to change their set ways and forces them out of their comfort zone is seen with suspicion. Also their experience and perceptions of the ‘burden’ of innovation such as the time and resources required to use, for example, authentic materials, vis-à-vis the rewards and benefits force them to maintain the status quo. Finally, often there are no extrinsic rewards for innovating. Instead, there is always the fear of reprisal from school inspectors. (Many inspectors in developing countries are not aware of the latest methodology or trends in language teaching as they are made inspectors on the basis of seniority or

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years of service rather than their content knowledge and/or their proven excellence in teaching.) This makes teachers wary of introducing innovative materials or methodology in their classrooms.

Contextual Factors Nature and Dynamics of the Change Process Studies of educational innovations, e.g., curriculum innovations, point attention to the dynamics of the change process, issues of ownership and the capacity of the ‘host’ institution to sustain the changes introduced by external change agents (Holliday, 1991, 1992; Holliday & Cook, 1982). Following are the four questions suggested by Watson (1971) to understand the nature of an innovation: 1 2 3 4

Who brings the change? What kind of change? What are the procedures in instituting change? What is the climate for change? (for details see pp. 751- 762)

Teachers’ perceptions of each of the above factors can shape their responses to an innovation.6 Curriculum and/or methodological innovations are more likely to be successful if teachers have an in-depth understanding and ownership of the change effort, e.g., through their involvement in curriculum development (Ruddock, 1991; Stenhouse, 1975). Thus, an exploration of the above questions in a given context may highlight the structural and cultural factors responsible for teachers’ resistance to change. As mentioned earlier, little attempt has been made by applied linguists and language teacher educators to analyse the reasons “why some new ideas and practices spread when others do not” (Markee, 1997, p. 3). This, according to Markee, “is surprising, since understanding what determines the success or failure of new pedagogical ideas is surely a crucial issue,

 6

It is acknowledged that these perceptions may sometimes be based on lack of adequate information or a misunderstanding of the nature and purpose of change due to ineffective or limited communication, particularly, in top-down approaches to innovation.

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especially for teacher educators” (Markee, 1997, p. 3). He also believes that: the implementation of change in language education occurs within a systemic ecology that either promotes or inhibits innovation. In other words, cultural, economic, political and other factors, always mediate the possibility of change. Thus, whatever the language being taught, the problems of effecting change can be analyzed in terms of a common socio cultural perspective on change. This perspective is valid regardless of the context of implementation in which language teaching professionals operate. (p. 4)

Consequently, Markee argues for undertaking an ecological approach to analysing problems in innovations. Others, such as Bax (2003), Holliday (2004), and Hu (2005), also make a case for an ecological or context-based approach for ELT projects (that are characterised by innovations) as against a technological approach that focuses on the import of westernlanguage teaching methods in varied contexts (Burnaby & Sun, 1989).

Organisational Context and Conditions Thus organisational context and conditions play a major role in the success (or otherwise) of an innovation–particularly in terms of its sustainability and continuous improvement. This can be understood better through an exploration of the projects approach to ELT which is fairly common in developing countries. These ELT projects are often funded by donor aid agencies and led by foreign consultants. In these projects, external change agents introduce the teachers to an innovation (curriculum innovation or a new textbook); the teachers receive some orientation and/or are prepared to introduce the innovation through a short training program. While the project has funding, the teachers get access to resources, both material and human, mainly through the presence of the external change agents, which Holliday and Cooke (1982) refer to as “hothouse” conditions. This motivates the teachers to put in the extra time and effort during the implementation phase. However, soon after the exit of the project, the conditions for the innovation cannot be maintained and, therefore, the teachers are forced to revert to their old ways (Shamim, 2011). The process of introducing change from initiation to implementation and institutionalisation requires both infra-structure and ongoing organisational support (Fullan, 2000; 2001). In my view, Markee (1997) rightly argues for a “diffusion-of-innovations” perspectives with a focus on implementation

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rather than design issues for successful curriculum (and other forms of) innovation (emphasis in original, p.3). In fact, sustainability issues also need to be built into the initial project or innovation plans. As mentioned earlier, innovations are multidimensional thereby making the process of any change effort very complex. Markee (1997) focuses on this complexity of the process of curriculum innovation by highlighting the relationship between what he calls “primary” and “secondary” innovations: the primary goal of any project in curriculum and teacher innovation must be to promote deep, ongoing professional change, which specifically involves engaging teachers in developing new materials, methodological skills and values. However, the implementation of these primary innovations depends on the institutionalization of secondary administrative and academic innovations, which are products of ongoing organization development by the change agent. (p. 172)

Clearly, for an innovation to be successful, we need to consider both primary and secondary innovations.

Socio-cultural Context Innovations also need to take account of the socio-cultural context to succeed (Holliday, 1992). This includes both context-appropriate methodology (Holliday, 2004) and congruence between the innovation and prevalent beliefs and ideas about teaching and learning in the wider community and other societal norms (Shamim, 1996). Studies of methodological innovations such as CLT have repeatedly indicated the central role of context in assessing the usefulness of a methodological approach in different socio-cultural contexts (e.g., Bax, 2003; Burnaby & Sun, 1989; Hu, 2005). In my view, Kumaravadivelu (2006) rightly suggests that “CLT offers perhaps a classic case of a centre-based pedagogy that is out of sync with local linguistic, educational, social, cultural, and political exigencies” (p.64). Is it surprising then that teachers resist using CLT methods in such diverse contexts as China and Pakistan? While the importance of context cannot be ignored, it remains a fact that schools or institutions cannot change unless the individual teachers within them change their behaviours and beliefs. Hall and Hord (2001) focus on the concerns of individual teachers during various stages of implementation and also suggest that the adoption of an innovation is

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facilitated by identifying and addressing the changing concerns of individual teachers addressed at different stages in the implementation process. Helsby’s (1999) conceptual model of structure, culture and agency brings together the role of both individuals and context in changing teachers work. He argues that while the role of structure and culture is important, agency is central to educational reforms as “external imperatives are constantly mediated and moderated through human agency and are incorporated to a greater or lesser extent into existing practice” (p.15). Finally, all three interact with and upon each other and need to be considered in any discussion of innovation and resistance to innovation. In fact, what Watson (1971) said more than three decades ago about the forces of resistance operating both within an individual and in the social system seems to be true today also: This, of course is an arbitrary separation, utilized to facilitate the recognition of factors. In reality, the forces of the social system operate within the individuals, and those attributed to personalities combine to constitute systemic forces. The two work as one. (p. 748)

Relationship between Innovations and Language Teacher Education Often, when innovations cannot be sustained, teachers are blamed for being too complacent, not interested in changing their set ways, etc. While this may be true in some cases, work with teachers from different developing countries at the Aga Khan University’s Institute for Educational Development in Pakistan and elsewhere indicates the range of problems teachers face in implementing innovations or “new learning” from their teacher education programmes (see, e.g., Mohammad, 2005). There is increasing evidence that teachers are professionally motivated (Rizvi & Elliot, 2005) and that teachers who are given opportunities to blend theory and practice in their teacher education programmes over a longer period of time are more able to introduce innovations successfully as they have a stronger knowledge-base and understanding of the innovation than teachers who get a “shot in the arm” kind of in-service training (Halai & Anderson, 2005). Also, the support provided by the tutors during field experiences is helpful in addressing the teething problems in implementation (Muhammad & Kumari, 2009).

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In recent years the focus in teacher education has shifted from training teachers in discrete skills for introducing innovations to developing the whole teachers and the whole school (Fullan & Hargreaves, 1992). The aim is to enable teachers to become reflective practitioners (Schon, 1983) so that they can not only adapt an innovation but also reject it if it does not help them enhance student learning outcomes. It must be noted that this “empowering” discourse introduced by Stenhouse in 1975 as part of the Humanities curriculum project in the UK, and by others working in the critical paradigm tradition such as Friere (1972) and, more recently, the concepts of situated learning and “learning communities” presented by Lave and Wenger (1998) has impacted models of teacher education even in countries of the South (e.g., Farah & Jaworski, 2005). All these models of teacher education aim to empower the teachers. The same needs to find its way in language teachers’ education more explicitly to encourage teachers to use innovations successfully for enhancing student learning outcomes. More importantly, language teacher education should aim to change teachers’ “resisting forces” to “driving forces” (see Quinn, Faerman, Thompson, & McGrath, as cited in Duke, 2004, p. 124). This can be done through an enhanced understanding of both individual and contextual factors that interact with and upon each other to shape teachers’ response to educational reforms.

Conclusion and Recommendations What can we learn from the analysis of teachers’ resistance to innovation? Teachers’ resistance to change is not a deliberate act of subversion; in fact, it could be the result of one or more individual or contextual factors. Hence, a deeper insight is required into factors that lead to teachers’ (and head teachers’) resistance to innovation. This understanding can be gained through undertaking qualitative studies, and developing a sound theoretical basis for analysing the process and consequences of innovations. In this regard, ELT professionals need to learn from theoretical and experiential knowledge of introducing change in other disciplines such as education and management studies. Second, a change in discourse of innovations from blame-shifting to finding ways of supporting teachers and other stakeholders in implementing and managing change would help in reducing teachers’ resistance to innovations. Third, there is a need to separate context or “eco-specific” issues in introducing innovations from those which might be “eco-transferable” or generalisable to a range of contexts. This would, on the one hand, help in using lessons learnt from

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success stories in varied contexts; on the other, it would focus the attention of innovation planners on identifying and addressing context-specific issues for successful implementation and institutionalisation of the innovation. In conclusion, based on the analysis in the paper, I would like to argue for rethinking teachers’ resistance to innovation through a shift in discourse in language teacher education from blame-shifting to developing ways of supporting teachers in initiating and managing change in their schools and classrooms. We need to remember that teachers are the major stakeholders in the change process and that they can shape innovations through their decisions and actions in different ways. Hence, an understanding of the determinants of teachers’ resistance to change is essential for language teacher educators before they can begin to develop the necessary knowledge base and skills in teachers to undertake the challenge of introducing innovations on an ongoing basis, particularly in an era of rapid educational reform and societal and economic change.

References Bax, S. (2003). The end of CLT: A context approach to language teaching. ELT Journal, 57(3), 278-287. Burnaby, B., & Sun, Y. (1989). Chinese teachers’ views of western language teaching: Context informs paradigms. TESOL Quarterly, 23(2), 219-239. Canagarajah, S. (1999). Resisting linguistic imperialism in English teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Damanpour, F. (1988). Innovation type, radicalness, and the adoption process. Communication Research, 15, 545-567. Duke, D. (2004). The challenges of educational change. Boston: Pearson. Farah, I. & Jaworski, B. (2006). Partnerships in educational development. Oxford: Symposium Books. Freeman, D. & Richards, J. C. (Eds.) (1996). Teacher learning in language teaching. New York: Cambridge University Press. Freire, P. (1972). Pedagogy of the oppressed. London: Penguin Books. Fullan, M. (2000). Infra-structure is all. Times Educational Supplement, 23.06.00 —. (2001). The new meaning of educational change. Third edition. New York and London: Teachers College, Columbia University.

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Fullan, M, & Hargreaves, A. (1992). Teacher development & educational change. In M. Fullan & A. Hargreaves (Eds.), Teacher development and educational change (pp. 1-9). London: Falmer Press. Geijsel, F., Sleegers, P., van den Berg, R., & Kelchtermans, G. (2001). Conditions fostering the implementation of large-scale innovation programs in schools: Teachers’ perspectives. Educational Administration Quarterly, 37, 130-166. Grossman, P. (1990). The making of a teacher. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University. Hall, G. E. & Hord, S. M. (2001) Implementing change: Patterns, principles and potholes. Massachusetts: Ally and Bacon. Helsby, G. (1999). Changing teachers’ work. Buckingham: Open University Press. Holliday, A. R., & Cooke, T. (1982). An ecological approach to ESP. In A. Waters (Ed.), Issues in ESP (pp. 124-43), Lancaster Practical Papers in English Language Education, 5. Oxford: Pergamon Press. Holliday, A. R. (1991). Dealing with tissue rejection: The role of an ethnographic means analysis. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Lancaster, University of Lancaster. —. (1992). Tissue rejection and informal orders in ELT projects: Collecting the right information. Applied Linguistics, 13(4), 402-24. —. (2004). Context appropriate methodology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hu, G. (2005). Contextual influences on instructional practices. TESOL Quarterly, 39(4), 635-660. Huberman, M.(1993). The lives of teachers. New York: Teachers College Press. Jackson, P.W. (1962). Understanding life in classrooms. New York: Holt, Rhinehart and Winston. Kachru, B. (1982). The other tongue: English across cultures. Oxford: Pergamon Institute of English. Kumaravadivelu, B. (2006). TESOL methods: Changing tracks, challenging tracks. TESOL Quarterly, 40(1), 59-81. Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lee, Y. (2006). Towards respecification of communicative competence: Condition of L2 instruction or its objective? Applied Linguistics, 27(3), 349-376. Lortie, D. (1975). Schoolteacher. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Markee, N. (1997). Managing curricular innovation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Medgyes, P. (1996). Native or non-native: Who’s worth more? In T. Hedge & N. Whitney (eds.), Power, pedagogy and practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 31-42. Mohammad, R. F. M., & Kumari, R. (2009). Context and conditions for action research. In R. Qureshi & F. Shamim (Eds.) Schools and schooling practices in Pakistan: Lessons for policy and practice (pp. 11-139). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Mohammad, R. F. M. (2005). A study of issues and opportunities of implementing change in a government school. In A. Halai & S. Anderson (Eds.), Case studies of school improvement. Unpublished research report, Karachi: Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development. Moore, A., Edwards, G, Halpin, D., & George, R. (2002). Compliance, resistance and pragmatism. British Educational Research Journal, 28(4), 551-565. Nisbet, J. (1975). Innovation: Bandwagon or hearse? In A. Harris, M. Lawn & W. Prescott (Eds.), Curriculum innovation (pp. 1-14). London: Croom Helm. Punchi, L. (2001). Resistance towards the language of globalisation: The case of Sri Lanka. International Review of Education, 47(3-4), 361378. Quinn, R. E., Faerman, S. R., Thompson, M. P., & McGarth, M. R. (1996). Becoming a master manager (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley. Reimers, F., & Warwick, D. P. (1995). Hope or despair? Learning in Pakistan’s primary schools. Westport, CT, Praeger Publishers. Rizvi, M., & Elliot, B. (2005). Teachers' perceptions of their professionalism in government primary schools in Karachi, Pakistan. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 33(1), pp. 35-52. Ruddock, J. (1991). Innovation and change. Milton Keynes: Open University Press. Shamim, F. (1996). Learner resistance to innovation in classroom methodology. In H. Coleman (Ed.), Society and the classroom: Social explanations for behaviour in the language class (pp. 105-121). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. —. (2005). Great Minds School: A learning community in action. Karachi: Aga Khan University, Institute for Educational development. Research report prepared for the ‘Case studies in school improvement’ research project, 2004-2005, AKU-IED. —. (2009). Capacity building for school improvement and sustainable change in schools in Northern Areas of Pakistan. In R. Qureshi & F. Shamim (Eds.) Schools and schooling practices in Pakistan: Lessons

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for policy and practice (pp. 211-234). Oxford: Oxford University Press. —. (2011). English as the language for development in Pakistan : Issues, challenges and possible solutions. In H. Coleman (Ed.), Dreams and realities: English in development (pp. 291-309). London: The British Council. Schon, D. A. (1983). . The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. New York: Basic Books, Inc. Shulman, L.S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57(1), 1-22. Stenhouse, L. (1975). An introduction to curriculum research and development. London: Heinemann. Smagorinsky, P., Lakly, A., & Johnson, T.S. (2002). Acquiescence, accommodation, and resistance in learning to teach within a prescribed curriculum. English Education, 34(3), 189-213. Tsui, A. M. B. (2003). Understanding expertise in teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Waters, A., & Vilches, M. L. C. (2005). Managing innovation in language education: A course for ELT change agents. RELC Journal, 36, 117136. Watson, G. (1971). Resistance to change. American Behavioural Scientist, 14, 745-763. Zaltman, G., & Lin, N. (1971). On the nature of innovations. American Behavioural Scientist, 14, 651-673.



SECTION TWO DEVELOPMENTS IN SECOND LANGUAGE THEORY AND PRACTICE IN PAKISTAN



CHAPTER SEVEN CONCEPTUAL, METHODOLOGICAL AND ANALYTICAL INADEQUACIES IN LANGUAGE POLICY SCHOLARSHIP IN RELATION TO PAKISTAN MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN

Abstract Recent literature on Language Policy and Planning (Blackledge & Creese, 2010; Bonacina, 2011; Chimbutane, 2010) has moved beyond large scale, survey-based research methods to close study of interactional processes in specific context. The context of communication is not assumed but investigated. Inspired by post-structuralist thought, linguistic ethnography and sociolinguistics, the reified concepts such as language, mother tongue, indigenous/non-indigenous have been deconstructed. One of the major preoccupations of the scholars is to engage with real life discursive practices and to explore its intersection with wider socio-politico and economic arena. However, the scholarship on Language Policy and Planning (LPP) in Pakistan is largely grounded in structural functional thinking with scholars still engaged in blaming imaginary state, ideology, inequality, elites/non-elites, English medium/Urdu medium schools on the basis of invalid research tools and source of information. The article examines two works of Rahman (1997, 2002) to illustrate the limitations of structural functional thinking in grappling with complex issues of languages in institutional settings. Keywords: indigenous language, non-indigenous language, mother tongue, language of wider communication, idealised notion of language and society

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Introduction While reviewing research on language policy, Martin-Jones (2011) notes that: the late 1980s and early 1990s saw a shift away from models of language policy research. These models were formulated in an early sociolinguistic period, grounded in structural functional thinking and based on approaches that tried to take into account the ways in which language policies contributed to the reproduction of asymmetrical power relations in different political and historical contexts. (p. 5)

Martin-Jones (2011) explains that these models were mainly the influence of post-structuralist thought and critical theory which gave importance to the role of discourse and culture in the reproduction of social inequality. While this new theory building contributed to a widening of the nature and scope of the field with a greater historical and ideological concern, the empirical focus remained on the macro-level processes at the level of national and local governments and particular institutions with researchers digging out meanings from policy documents, archival sources and interviews with policy makers in different historical contexts. While scholarly engagement with the ideological and historical processes offer us great opportunities to grasp the current phenomena, they often tend to downplay the agency of social actors in contributing to the policy in complex ways. In a like vein, Hornberger and Johnson (2007) argue that while the historical-structural and critical approaches have made a valuable contribution in exposing the ideological underpinnings of the language policy, they tend to overemphasize the influence of power and ideology. In the words of Hornberger and Johnson (2007) “an (over) emphasis on the hegemonic power of policy obfuscates the potential agentive role of local educators as they interpret and implement the policies” (p. 510).What is worth illustrating here is the assumption that local educators never lose their power to interpret and implement policy. In other words, policy gets implemented and interpreted in complex ways. The social actors should not be assumed to be passive recipients of policy but rather as active shapers of policy. Their critique of language policy scholarship is in line with the earlier critiques (see Canagarajah, 2005; Ricento & Hornberger, 1996). Scholarship of language and policy produced in Pakistan has fervently followed the tradition of historical-structural and critical approaches where scholars have “drawn parallels between present and past” (Khan, 2011),

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without engaging with the real life communication in concrete institutional settings. As a result, we have a scholarship that talks about ideologies, history, politics, and religion but remains silent on the complexity of language policy and policy processes. The actors are shown as passive victims of history and ideology. Their roles, interpretations, contributions, lived experiences are overshadowed by the deterministic interpretation of history and politics by scholars collecting archival documents. This paper attempts to engage with some of the fundamental concepts, methods and analytical approaches adopted by Rahman in his major works (1997, 2002). The purpose of the paper is not to belittle or critique the most significant contribution in the area of language and policy in the last three decades made by Rahman but to move the debate beyond reified concepts, the use of invalid research tools and that of preconceived results. In this paper, I wish to address directly the conceptualisation of language, major/minor language, mother tongue, the role of actors in policy studies, and the questionnaire used by Rahman (2002) for his study to map the linguistic landscape of Pakistan and the issues of language policy in particular.

Idealised Notion of Language and Society The Sociolinguistic profile of Pakistan according to Rahman (1997) is as follows: Pakistan has five major indigenous languages- Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, Sariki and Baluchi-while the national language is Urdu. The language used in the domain of power (like the higher bureaucracy, and the officer corps of the armed forces) is English, as it was during British rule. (p. 145)

The profile above attempts to construct a sociolinguistic reality in which the language names are metonymically used for the totality of language approaches: Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, Baluchi, Urdu and English are constructed as separate objective entities which remain permanent throughout time and space: “as it was during British rule” (p. 145). The languages do not seem to possess internal variation in them. The regional and social dialectology is assumed to be invariable. Major/minor, indigenous/non-indigenous seem to be determined based on the number of speakers taken from invalid census data and out-dated Summer Institute’s Ethnologue.

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The multilingual repertoire and varying degree of proficiencies of speakers in Pakistan has been subsumed under the ancient primordial conception of the language-ethnicity link. (See May, 2000, 2005). Recent scholarship in sociolinguistics informs us that the majority and minority language discourse is principally a rather traditional and uninformed view of languages in society. As May (2000) notes, “the same language may be regarded as both a majority and a minority language or dialect” (p. 367). Similarly, Hornberger (2007) states that majority and minority in the numerical sense might be very different in a societal sense, which means many languages in Pakistan may be considered major languages in a numerical sense only. Punjabi, Sindhi, Baluchi may be regarded as minor languages based on the criteria for such evaluations. Apart from blotting out the regional and social variations as well as the “truncated linguistic repertoires” (see Bloammert’s Plenary at the Ethnography Forum, University of Pennsylvania, 2011), such profiles offer us insights into the scholar’s conceptualisation of language which tended to treat languages as “monolithic, uniform and homogenistic” (Bloammert, 2005, p. 391) objects which are always connected to a community of speakers. It assumes and tries to establish a one-to-one link between that object i.e., language and people treated as subjects. By implication, all speech communities concentrated in rural Sindh are defined by Sindhi. Put simply, the permanent object (i.e., Sindhi) is the sole marker of their ethnic identity irrespective of the variations of Sindhi in rural/urban, male/female, educated/non-educated parameters (see Bughio for variation in Sindhi language between rural and urban Sindh, 2004). The simplistic establishment of one-to-one relationship between language and ethnicity might not stand the test of empirical scrutiny. As Bloammert (2005) notes, The language [is] always connected to a community of speakers–the speech community, or even more simply, the speakers of language X- and the connections [are] both straightforwardly simple one-to-one, one language has one group of speakers. (This is a ) fundamentally flawed set of basic assumptions about language and society, completely at odds with whatever understanding we had of sociolinguistic processes.(p. 391)

The domain of power is conceptualised as an objective permanent reality of the ‘higher bureaucracy and the armed forces’ as opposed to being discursively constructed and deconstructed on everyday experience, depending on a host of socio-economic and political factors impressing on

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the interlocutors. However, this fixed power to use fixed English for all purposes and in all domains and by implication all of them seem to possess homogeneous linguistic repertoires. English is conceptualized as what Bloammert (2005) calls “shorthand for every variety, linguistic, generic, stylistic, channel-related variety” (p.391). While multiple varieties of English have been reported in Pakistan (Rahman, 1991; Baumgardner, 1993; Mahboob, 2009), we are forced to believe that English is spoken in the power corridors of Pakistan. There is also an inexcusable abdication of intellectual responsibility in the fact that Rahman feels no need to invoke any empirical data to support his claim of language use in higher bureaucracy and the officers of the armed forces. Blommaert (2012) explains that in sociolinguistics there is a long tradition in which language, along with other social and cultural features of people, was primarily imagined relatively fixed in time and space. He observes that Gumperz and Hymes (1972) quickly destabilised these assumptions, and they did so with one apparently simple theoretical intervention: they defined social and linguistic features not as separate-but-connected, but as dialectic, i.e., co-constructive and, hence, dynamic. The works of Rahman (1997, 2002) tend to assume language, power, ideology and inequality as fixed in time and space and do not have much to offer in terms of the dialectics between the social constructs and the use of languages. The relationships between language, power and inequality are established based on extralinguistic data.

Indigenous/Non-indigenous Language The discourse of indigenous/non-indigenous, major/minor languages in sociolinguistic literature stems largely from language human rights discourse (Phillipson 1992, Skutnabb-Kangas 1998, 2000, 2008).At the heart of these discourses is the following contradiction: appeals to maintain indigenous languages are linked to maintenance of ‘pre-modern’ values associated with ‘traditional life’ on the land; yet, to make these appeals requires one to discursively adopt a modern, reified notion of ‘language’ and to promote unifying and homogenising kinds of language use. Put simply, the rhetoric of modern nationhood, as built on ‘one language and one people is paradoxically taken up in efforts to resist modern culture and linguistic domination’ (Patrick, 2008, p.12). The scholars of language right movements in sociolinguistics have rarely attended to coming up with linguistic explanations for what constitutes indigenous language and what constitutes non-indigenous. Rather, they

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couch their arguments in human rights discourse imagining it to be unproblematic. There are certain fundamental issues with the version of human rights/linguistic human rights posited by Rahman (1997, 2002) in his work, without taking into account the complexity of the issues. First and foremost, the discourse of linguistic human rights is primarily a confrontational stance couched in human rights discourse in which languages are shown in a battle field. In the context of Pakistani sociolinguistic literature, English and Urdu have been made the killer languages killing the indigenous languages of Pakistan; the explanation of the killing language comes as follows: Since a very powerful section of the bureaucracy (Mohajirs) spoke Urdu as their mother tongue, there was an element of cultural hegemony concerning the special status of Urdu. One major consequence of Urdu’s privileged status has been the ethnic resistance to it. (Rahman, n.d)

A close discourse analysis of the above paragraph will highlight the tacit linguistic assumptions embedded in it. First of all, the phenomena of language diffusion and the centuries-old history of the development of Urdu and English have been reduced to the role of a “powerful section of bureaucracy”. By implication, if there was not a powerful section of bureaucracy, Urdu and English would have not attained the heights they do now in Pakistan. Apart from giving a rather vague and naïve explanation, it misses the role of speakers of other languages in appropriating Urdu and English to serve their interests and purposes. Devoid of any theoretical grounding, the argument rests principally on personal opinion of the author, probably based on the collection of archival reports and the counting of reports/data compiled by the early bureaucracy. (See Aqeel, 2008, for a comprehensive treatment of the stages of Urdu’s growth in South Asia, and Brutt-Griffler, 2002 for a linguistic explanation of the expansion of English in South Asia.) However, the link between a primordial concept of mother tongue and ethnicity has been established, as a powerful section of the bureaucracy spoke Urdu as their mother tongue. They were Mohajirs and that led to cultural hegemony and a resulting ethnic resistance which was the response to it. A lot of claims are being made here. The mother tongue of the bureaucracy, if they had any identical mother tongue, has been made the inevitable feature of their identity which they imposed on others, and others began to fight ethnic wars as a reaction. In other words, the

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powerful bureaucracy was shown to be monolingual speakers of Urdu despite being born into colonial India’s highly multilingual context. The intertextual links of the paragraph with Alavi’s (1975) colonial mode of production in India will further throw light on such assertions. The idea of a powerful bureaucracy (being Mohajirs) is largely drawn from Alavi’s (1989) concept of salariat which Alavi describes as the emergence of a social class in India and her encounter with colonial regimes. He says that the class of people were “new professionals who sought formal qualifications required to entitle them to government jobs at various levels and who either acquired or aspired to such jobs” (Alavi, 2008, p.17). The conversion of the idea of salariat to a monolithic homogenous speech community has been the clever invention of the scholar. Rahman (2002) claims: “The urban world is dominated by the salariat” (p. 533). And the language of this salariat is either English or Urdu and this group has denied speakers of other languages access to the two powerful languages. While such claims may or may not be true, one thing is sure that the linguistic explanations of such phenomena have been overshadowed by social theory. As a result, we do not know how languages are used in the bureaucracy, judiciary, military, academia, education, media, business, commerce and public service. In other words social theory is used as input and conclusions are taken as output. The processes of language change, language contact theories, intersection of language and migration are all missing. Hornberger and Johnson (2007) are right in maintaining that too much emphasis on macro levels obfuscates the potential agentive roles played at the micro levels of policy studies blotting out the complex ways in which people contribute to or contest language policy in their everyday lives. The imagined language-identity link constructed by Rahman is taken up by May (2000, 2005, 2008) from a sociolinguistic view and is based on wider social science literature on language and ethnicity. May (2000) suggests that the Linguistic Human Rights(LHR) assumption of language being the principal indicator of group identity is problematic because there is a widespread consensus in literature that it is at most a contingent factor of one’s identity, whether at individual or collective levels. The primordial view of ethnicity characterising identity through language, ancestry and history is “rejected out of hand as reified and essentialist” (p. 373) and is replaced by a more constructivist and post-modern view of ethnicity. In a constructivist view, ethnicity is largely seen as constructed identity, and the situational account of ethnicity stresses its fluidity and malleability and the fact that both individuals and groups may use their ethnicity

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instrumentally to achieve particular political ends. In other words, situational accounts suggest that there is nothing intrinsic to one’s ethnic identity. By implication, both the accounts of ethnicity do not support primordial accounts of ethnicity to which LHR seem to subscribe. While May (2000, 2005, 2008) de-establishes the primordial account of language-identity links, he stresses the fact that we must take into account the limitation of situational accounts of ethnicity in failing to capture “the degree to which language is experienced as vital by those who speak it” (p. 374). What May stresses here is that what we should not ignore is the way people value their affective ties and affiliation to a particular language and the historic roles these affiliations have played. However, it must be noted that we are not aware of the unscientific nature of the language-identity link. Addressing the practical constraints of LHR, Bloammert (2001) notes that LHR stresses the institutional recognition of all languages. He argues that it is impossible in sociolinguistic terms to develop status varieties. More importantly, the development of status varieties will work against the central premise of linguistic human rights because institutional linguistic rights might contribute to improve the ethnic tension but this does not guarantee social harmony. According to Bloammert (2001) “ethnicities would be appeased but linguistic and social inequalities would be sharpened and more importantly ethnolinguistic minority elites within the group would benefit enormously; the group-at-large would not experience much difference” (p. 137). The central point Bloammert makes here is that developing status varieties is an impossibility and that even if it were made possible, it would not guarantee social harmony as the elites of the minority groups tend to turn such situations to suit their personal interests. The distinction between individual and collective rights is an important one where LHR has been critiqued for simplifying the individualcollective nexus. Drawing largely on Kymlicka (1995), May (2000, 2005) suggests that while the notion of group rights is central to LHR, no attempt has been made to see how they, in fact, constitute a group. He thinks that LHR has adhered to a communitarian view of group rights. He proposes the idea of “group-differentiated rights” in which individual rights are given importance, but at the same time understanding of the importance of wider cultural (and linguistic) membership to such rights is acknowledged. Kymlicka (as cited in May, 2000) rejects the assumption that groupdifferentiated rights are collective rights which stand against individual rights. He argues that group-differentiated rights are not necessarily

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‘collective’ in the sense that they privilege the group over the individual– these rights can be accorded to individual members of a group or to the group as a whole, or to a federal state/province within which the group forms a majority. The group-differentiated rights of Francophones in Canada to use French in federal courts, or to have their children educated in French-medium schools, for example, shows how a minority group in a federal system may exercise group-differentiated rights in a territory (i.e., Quebec) where they form the majority. The second argument Kymlicka (as cited in May, 2000) makes to reject the inevitable association of group-differentiated rights with illiberality is through positing the concepts of ‘internal and external restriction’. Kymlica argues that internal restriction where group members seek to restrict the individual liberty of its members based on maintaining group solidarity may be regarded as illiberal, whereas external protections in which an ethnic and minority group seek to protect its distinctive identity (including a linguistic one) by limiting the impact of the larger society may not lead to any illiberal constraints. What May (2000) suggests in respect of minority language rights is to reframe or articulate their collective rights in a manner that does not seem to jeopardise the individual over the group rights. While May supports group rights, he does not address the problems of the elite among the group who seem to reap the benefits accorded to groups. Bloammaert (2001) notes that “ethno-linguistic minority elites would benefit enormously; the groups-at-large would more likely than not experience little difference (unless one believes that all people are fundamentally democrats)” (p.137). Seen in this way, linguistic rights are claimed on the basis of group rights in a polity. However, the group members do not share the same linguistic repertoires. Their linguistic repertoires differ in every respect, not only in terms of the number of languages but also in terms of bilingualism and biliteracy, register, variety, genre, and competencies. On political grounds, claiming linguistic rights means that they are at the mercy of the national interest, as any laws are. By provoking linguistic human rights, political sedition can easily be achieved but the uneasy linguistic asymmetrical relation continues to exist between the elites of the minority groups and the majority in the minority groups. In the absence of empirically grounded explanations, LHR often resort to non-linguistic explanations of such phenomena. Hence, this is nothing

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more than rhetoric which may convince people with non-linguistic backgrounds.

Mother Tongue/Language of Wider Communication The notion of ‘mother tongue’ is perhaps one of the most sentimentally attached notions in sociolinguistics which has been manipulated by the political elite, scholars and the religious elite to serve their hidden agendas. Although the scholarship on ‘mother tongue’ has moved beyond the prescriptive and purist attitude, it has been seen that scholars largely argue about the mother tongue on the basis of personal whims. The sociolinguistics of mother tongue does not see it only at the level of individual as most often happens to be the case. It also does not see it as one particular variety of linguistic behaviour which possesses “peculiar force and intimacy from being powerfully associated with early childhood” (Le Page & Tabouret-Keller as cited in Sebba, 2000, p.110) but rather it takes a more societal aspect of mother tongue in which it has been seen by researchers that there are many individuals who possess the same force and intimacy for more than one language. Although Skutnabb-Kangas (1981) tries hard to define the term on the basis of parental origin, competence, function and attitude, by each of her possible definitions it is possible to have more than one mother tongue, and for each except ‘origin’ it is possible for a speaker’s mother tongue to change in the course of his/her life. (Sebba, 2000, p. 110)

Sebba (2000) aptly observes that Skutnabb-Kangas quotes anecdotal evidence to show that for many bilingual individuals their second language is colder, more alien, less rich in words, less subtle and on the whole poorer. On the other hand, he argues that a number of investigations in the world have shown that there are many individuals who identify their languages (and culture) and who prefer alternatives which confirm their double identities whenever such alternatives are given. For instance, Romaine (1995) notes that Pakistani speakers of Punjabi in Britain “will claim Urdu, the national language of Pakistan, as their mother tongue, and not Punjabi, which is a spoken language used at home” (p. 21). Pattanayak (as cited in Sebba, 2000) takes a more societal and cultural aspect of mother tongue. He argues that mother tongue: is both a sociolinguistic reality and a product of mythic consciousness of a people. It provides social and emotional identity to an individual with a speech community… one may also be such a perfect co-coordinate

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bilingual or trilingual that one may be said to have two or three mother tongues. Any primacy among these can be established on the basis of parental preference, culture, language, identity, personal emotion associations, attachment and involvement. (p. 54)

Empirically addressing the question of mother tongue, Sebba examines the linguistic production of a 16 year old boy of Jamaican background from South London. This respondent talks about an incident. The researcher observes that the first half of the story is as much in London English as in Creole and the second half is much more consistent in Creole. Overall, the whole story is characterisd by variation in syntax and pronunciation in a way that London English and London Jamaican versions of various constructions and lexical items occur close together and sometimes even in the same sentence. The findings invite one to think whether the respondent’s mother tongue could not be Creole, but London English mixed with Creole. In the words of Sebba (2000), By examining the case of one particular speaker, and one narrative produced by him, I have tried to show that the term ‘mother tongue’ is a problematic one in the context of Caribbean communities in Britain. I would suggest that the most appropriate thing to do is to abandon the term, in favour of a more accurate and research-based description of the actual language competence and practices of speaker. (p. 21)

In case of ‘mother tongue scholarship’ in Pakistan, we find only assertions not examinations or investigations. Rahman (2004) notes, The mother tongue helps the child enjoy the school because it is seen as an extension of the home. A school operating in an alien language is threatening. It makes real learning difficult and leaves rote learning as the only viable alternative. Moreover, one learns to devalue one’s mother tongue and hold one’s group, one’s culture and one’s real self in contempt. Eventually one joins in to kill one’s own mother tongue by not teaching it to one’s children.

Let us do some structure-agency mapping of the above paragraph to understand the concept of mother tongue promoted here. Here, mother tongue is construed as the sole possession of a group, culture and even one’s real self. All three notions, i.e., group, culture and self, are considered to be monolithic, homogenous and unfragmented. The dialectics between language and group, culture and self are not even mentioned, let alone there being any attempt to engage with these notions. In other words, the co-constructive and hence dynamic role of language in the construction of group, culture and self are missing altogether. The

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individual seems to possess no agency in the whole scheme and, as a result, the individual “joins to kill one’s own mother tongue”. An interesting point to note is that the real self is also constituted by the mother tongue which means that the self never changes and the self only possesses the mother tongue. There are other interesting links established by the paragraph: the links between school enjoyment and mother tongue, mother tongue and rote learning and teaching of other languages as ‘alien and threatening’. Everyone seems to have been given one language as ‘mother tongue’ in a multilingual and multicultural Pakistan with people varying in their degree of competency in multiple languages. The home language of more than 190 million people has been assumed as a mother tongue and if that imagined mother tongue is not used in teaching, the individual will become the killer of the imagined language. The political history of South Asia, particularly the post-colonial history, is an excellent example of how such primordial concepts have been used to induce mass sedition among the people of post-independence Pakistan. We know that the 30th session of General Conference of UNESCO in 1999 decided that the organisation would launch and observe an International Mother Language Day on February 21 every year throughout the world and the day has been observed since 2000. The selection of the date, i.e., February 21st, coincides with the killing of four students from Dhaka University in 1952. The victims: Salam, Barkat, Rafiq, Jabbar are widely seen as language martyrs who carried on a violent protest to get Bangla accepted as one of Pakistan’s national languages. As Khan (2012) notes: February is a special month for all Bengalis. Every year, Ekushey February reminds us of the supreme sacrifice that Salam, Barkat, Rafiq and Jabbar and many other unnamed people made for Bangla, our mother tongue on February 21, 1952. (p. 21)

The above quote is just one example where political forces make use of such concepts to attain their implicit/hidden agendas. The ‘supreme sacrifice’ of Salam, Barkat, Rafiq and Jabbar is commemorated by the political forces to further reify the concept of ‘one Bangladesh, one language’ ignoring the sociolinguistic diversity present in Bangladesh where only in one district, Chittagong Hill Tracts, there are many dialects: Bandarbans, Rangamati, Khagrachari, Sylhet, Mymensingh. According to Islam (2012), “In the whole of Bangladesh in fact, different languages or

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dialects have been used by native people” (p. 14). But political interests have often ridden over empirical scrutiny.

Some Problems of the Methods and Data Collection Probably one of the greatest strengths of Rahman’s work is his passionate intensity in collecting and documenting the material from various sources. In this respect, perhaps, his work stands out. The researcher collects the material from different libraries, archival sources, examination results from different boards of examination operating in the country, conducting large scale surveys through administering questionnaires and interviewing different stakeholders. I will focus on one central tool that the researcher has employed in many of his studies i.e., the Questionnaire (see Rahman, 2002). In his 2002 study, lack of discussion on the key issue such as the respondents’ interpretation of the questionnaire items has not been addressed and neither has its use been theorised. In addition, the tool has been used without discussing its reliability. Let us focus on the issue of the respondents’ interpretation of one of the questionnaires that was used for language teaching and ideology (see Appendix). The tool is designed and structured in two parts. Part One comprises 12 close-ended items with Yes/No options given to the respondent. Part Two has 12 open-ended items with a Likert scale rating with 1 as ‘strongly agree’ through to 5 as ‘strongly disagree’. While Yes/No items are friendly to statistical procedures, they pose a fundamental problem of restricting the respondents’ interpretation of the phenomenon by closing up the spaces for expressing them. In other words, it is the writers’ interpretation of phenomena manifested in the questionnaire item which has to be either approved or disapproved. Block (1998) puts it this way, While I cannot possibly know what the original designers of this particular questionnaire meant when they worded items as they did, I do know that their interpretation would surely be more narrow than the collection of multi-dimensional interpretations provided by the respondents involved in this study. (p. 424)

Let me be more precise with the gap between the writer’s and the respondent’s interpretation with reference to the first item of the questionnaire: What is the medium of instruction in your school? The

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writer interprets the medium of instruction in black and white i.e., the use of one language for teaching and learning purposes across the curriculum, and hence he gives two options either ‘yes’ or ‘no’. In other words, the respondent is forced to select either of them. The respondent’s experience of the medium of instruction might differ along the curriculum, topics, personal teachers’ language preferences, whether on task, off task, in the classroom, or out of the classroom. It is most probable that teachers and students code-switch frequently for different purposes. The examination of the discursive practices in school might reveal that it may not be interpreted as purely English or Urdu or any other medium in totality but a mixture of multiple languages depending upon the demands of the situation, the nature of task, the interlocutor(s), and formal or informal use of the language. Apart from giving a very restricted space for interpretation, the yes/no questions do not allow the respondents to give an explanation of why they ticked either of them and what they mean by them. For instance, items 4, 5, 6, and 12 (Appendix) seek the respondent’s judgement without giving them space to explain why they think so. The most glaring weakness of such a tool is the use of ambiguous wording which offers contested interpretations. Note the use of such words on the part one of the questionnaires: ‘ideological lesson’, nationalism’, ‘democracy’. We all know how contested the meanings of these lexical items are; however, by using such items, the writer has assumed his own meanings to be imposed on the respondents. Part two of the questionnaire uses a Likert scale in which the verbal description of the points on the scale is used: 1= strongly agree, through to 5= strongly disagree. In between are agree= 2, don’t care = 3, disagree =4. The central problem of the use of such a scale is that “the respondent may not mean the same thing as does the question writer” (Alderson, 1992). Let us focus on item (a) in the questionnaire (see Appendix, question 14 a) which seeks the respondents’ opinion on Pakistan’s priority with respect to conquering Kashmir. Suppose two respondents select 2 as their response to the item. While they select the same points, they may have different meanings of ‘agree’. Similarly while two respondents may use two different points, they may mean the same things. In another example, item (h) in the questionnaire (same question as above) asks the respondents: Establish democracy fully? Respondent X may select point 4 which means

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‘disagree’ and respondent Y selects point 5 which means ‘strongly disagree’, yet they might mean the same thing. Apart from these inconsistencies, the respondents often contradict themselves when they are given the same questionnaire to complete. The point I am making here is that intra-rater and inter-rater inconsistencies have not been thought about by the researcher while using the tools. While the rater may mean different things by selecting the same numbers and/or different numbers on this scale, the researcher assumes that similar responses mean the same. As the issues of the validity of the tool have not been discussed by the researcher, i.e., with regards to the issue of interpretation of items by the respondents, the readers remain out of the research processes throughout and only get to read the manufactured results. Block (1998) advises researchers to write questionnaires from the mind-set of the respondents to minimise the problems of interpretation. One wonders how many school teachers in Pakistan understand the lexical items such as ‘democracy’, ‘Shariah law’, ‘equality’ of provinces/ethnic groups of Pakistan, ‘ideological lessons’, ‘nationalism’ let alone the students who were the target respondents of this tool. To sum up, the sociolinguistic scholarship under examination has tended to reproduce/replicate the discourse of linguistic human rights; Alavi’s (1989) theory of peripheral capitalism draws a conclusion on the basis of tools whose validity is a question mark. The scholarship has tended to give macro political explanations of language diffusion, culture, identity with primordial notions and concepts which are treated as essentialised, prescriptive and puristic. The notion of mother tongue, alien languages, ‘killer language’, ‘indigenous language’, ‘ native speaker’ are given out as they were copied without what Pennycook (2001) says “a philosophical questioning of many of the foundationalist concepts of received canons of knowledge” (p. 134). As a result, one may conclude that Rahman’s work primarily rests on a questionable set of assumptions about language. As a result, the methods employed and the conclusions drawn do not contribute to any new and original insights into language in society. Acknowledgements: I am grateful to my teachers, Professor Moinuddin Aqeel and Professor Syed Munir Wasti, for their valuable suggestions to improve the initial drafts of this paper. I am also thankful to my friends, Ms Alia Amir, Ms Isbah Mustafa and the editors for their close reading of my paper and suggestions to make the draft more readable. While I acknowledge the encouragement of my teachers and colleagues, I take full

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responsibility for the content in this piece and any and all shortcomings are entirely mine. I would like to hear your comments. I can be contacted at [email protected]

References Alderson, J. C.(1992). Validating questionnaires, CRILE Working Papers 15, Lancaster: LAMEL, Lancaster University. Retrieved from http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/groups/crile/docs/crile15alderson.pdf Alavi, H. (1989). Formation of the social structure of South Asia under the impact of colonialism. In H. Alavi & J. Harriss (Eds.), Sociology of developing societies: South Asia (pp. 5-19)..Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire and London. Macmillan. Aqeel, M. (2008). Tehreek-e-Azadi Mein Urdu Ka Hissa 2nd ed. (The Role of Urdu language in Freedom Movement). Lahore. Majlis-e-Tarraqi-eAdab. Block, D. (1998) Exploring interpretation of questionnaire items. System, 26(3), 403-425. Blommaert, J. (2001). The Asmara declaration as a sociolinguistic problem: Reflections on scholarship and linguistic rights. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 5(1), 131-155. —. (February 24, 2011). Globalized repertoires: Toward a new notion of linguistic subject. Plenary at 33rd Annual Ethnography in Education Research Forum, Graduate School of Education. University of PennsylvaniaUSA. —. (2005). Situating language rights: English and Swahili in Tanzania revisited. Journal of Sociolinguistics,9(3), 390-417. —. (2012) Chronicles of complexity: Ethnography, superdiversity and linguistic landscape. Tilburg Papers in Culture Studies. 29. Retrieved from http://www.tilburguniversity.edu/research/institutes-and-researchgroup/babylon/tpcs/ Blackledge, A. and Creese, A. (2010) Multilingualism. London: Continuum. Bonacina, F. (2011) Ideology and the issue of access in multilingual school ethnography: a French example. In S. Gardner and M. MartinJones (eds) Multilingualism, Discourse and Ethnography. London: Routledge. Brutt-Griffler, J. (2002).World English: A study of its development. Sydney: Multilingual Matters. Bughio, Q. (2001).A comparative sociolinguistic study of rural and urban Sindhi.LINCOMEUROPA. Germany.

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Canagarajah, S. (2005).Reclaiming the local in language policy and practice. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Coleman, H, &Capstick, T. (2012).Language in education in Pakistan: Recommendation for policy and practice. British Council Pakistan. Chimbutane, F. (2009) The purpose and value of bilingual education: A critical linguistic ethnographic study of two rural primary in Mozambique. Unpublished Phd thesis, University of Birmingham, UK. Hornberger, N. H., &Johnson, D.C. (2007) Slicing the onion ethnographically: Layers and spaces in multilingual language education policy and practice. TESOL Quarterly, 41(3), 509-532. Retrieved from htttp://www.gse.upenn.edu/cue/forum Islam, M. S. (February 21, 2012).Conservation of language.The Daily Star, p.14. Khan, A. H. (February 21, 2012).Ekushey and freedom of speech.OP-ED. NEW AGE.P. 9. Khan, M. A. (2011, July 1). Tyranny of Poverty.Language on the Move. Retrieved from http://www.languageonthemove.com/languagelearning-gender-identity/tyranny-of-poverty Lewis, M. P. (Ed). (2009). Ethnologue: Languages of the world. 16th edition. Dallas: SIL International. Retrieved from http://www.ethnologue.com/ Martin-Jones, M. (2011). Language policies, multilingual classrooms: Resonances across continents. In F. Hult& K. King(Eds.),Educational linguistics in practice: Applying the local globally and global locally (pp. 3-15). Bristol, Buffalo, Toronto: Multilingual Matters. May, S. (2000). Uncommon languages: The challenges and possibilities of minority language rights. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. 21(5), 366-385. —. (2003). Rearticulating the case for minority langauge rights. Current issues in language planning. 4 (2), 95-125. —. (2005). Language rights: moving the debate forward. Journal of Sociolinguistics.9 (3), 319-347. Pattanayak, D. P. (1981).Multilingualism and mother tongue education. Delhi. Oxford University Press. Pennycook, A. (1989) The concept of method, interested knowledge, and the politics of language teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 23, 589-618. —. (2001). Critical applied linguistics: A critical introduction. New Jersey, USA: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Philipson, R. (1992) Linguistic imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Rahman, T. (1997).The medium of instruction controversy in Pakistan. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 18(2), 145154. —. (2002).Language, ideology and power: Language-learning among the Muslims of Pakistan and North India. Karachi. Oxford University Press. —. (no date) World mother tongue day. Retrieved from http://www.tariqrahman.net/newspaper/World%20Mother%20Tongue %20Day.htm —. (no date) Language policy, multilingualism and language vitality in Pakistan.Academy of the Punjab in North America. Retrieved from http://www.apnaorg.com/book-chapters/tariq/ Ricento, T.L., &Hornberger, N. H. (1996). Unpeeling the onion: Language planning and policy and ELT profession. TESOL Quarterly,30(3), 401428. Romaine, S. (1995). (2nded). Bilingualism. Oxford. Blackwell. Sebba, M. (2000). What is mother tongue? Some problems posed by London Jamaican. In T. Acton& M. Dalphinis (Eds.), Language blacks and gypsies, language without a written tradition and their role in education (pp. 109-121).London, Whiting & Birch. Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (1998). Human rights and language wrongs: A future for diversity? Language Science.20, 5-27. —. (2000).Linguistic Genocide in Education-or Worldwide Diversity and Human Rights? Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum. Skutnabb- Kangas, T., &Phillipson, R. (1995).Linguistic human rights, past and present. In T. Skutnabb-Kangas& R. Phillipson (Eds.), Linguistichuman rights: Overcoming linguistic discrimination(pp. 71110). Berlin, Germany: Mouton de Gruyter. Tollefson, J. (1991).Planning language, planning inequality. London: Longman

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Appendix Questionnaire on Language-teaching and Ideology Name (Optional) ________Male__________Female_____________ Age________ Class (grade in School) ________________________ Mother Tongue _________________________________________ 1. What is the medium of instruction in your school? Is it your mother tongue? Yes______No______ 2. What should be the medium of instruction in schools? ____________ 3. Which language or languages out of the following should be taught in schools (you can tick more than one language if you wish): (a) English____(b) Urdu____(c) Arabic____(d) Persian___(e) Pashto ____ (f) Sindhi___(g) Baluchi___ (h) Brahvi___ (i) Punjabi___ j) Any other name ___ 4. Should your mother tongue be used as a medium of instruction in schools (if it is not being used)? Yes_____No______ 5. Do you think higher jobs in Pakistan should be available in English? Yes__________No________ 6. Do you think jobs should be available in your province in (a) English____ (b) Urdu___ (c) The mother tongue of the majority of the people of your province____(d) Any other language, please specify._____ 7. Should English-medium schools be abolished? Yes_____No______ 8. Have you become aware of Pakistan's strengths and problems because of these types of lessons in textbooks, such as Pakistan Studies, Social Studies' and Islamic Studies, etc.? Yes_______No______ 9. Have you become more aware of Pakistan’s strengths and problems because of these types of lessons in language-teaching textbooks? Yes _____ No _______ 10. Which language do you READ most at school?________________ 11. Which language textbooks have the largest number of ideological lessons (i.e. on nationalism, the military, and Islam)? 12. Do you think the lessons you read about Pakistan’s wars or history are correct? Yes ______No _____

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13. Please circle the reply with which you agree most: 1= strongly agree, 2 = agree, 3 = don't care, 4= disagree, 5 = strongly disagree. 14. What should be the most important priorities for Pakistan in your opinion? a) Conquer Kashmir. l___________2__________3_________4_________5________ b) Develop nuclear weapons. l___________2_________3___________4________5_________ c) Develop a strong army. l___________2_________3___________4________5_________ d) Reduce defense budget and spend on development. l___________2_________3___________4_________5_________ e) Implement the Sharia'h (Islamic Law). l___________2_________3___________4_________5_________ f) Make the press completely free. l___________2_________3___________4_________5_________ g) Make the TV / Radio completely free. l___________2_________3___________4_________5_________ h) Establish democracy fully. l___________2_________3___________4_________5__________ i) Give equal rights to women. l___________2_________3___________4_________5__________ j) Give Ahmedis (or Mirzais) the same rights (ob, opportunities, etc.) as others in Pakistan (please note that at the moment they do not have the same rights as others). l___________2_________3___________4_________5__________ k) Give Hindus and Christians the same rights as others in Pakistan. l___________2___ _____3___________4__________5__________ l) Establish the equality of provinces/ethnic groups in Pakistan. l___________2_________3___________4__________5__________



CHAPTER EIGHT LANGUAGE, MIGRATION AND TESTING: PERSPECTIVES FROM A COUNTRY OF ORIGIN TONY CAPSTICK

Abstract This paper outlines the findings of a small scale study which investigates the role of English language learning and schooling when legislating for language testing for migrants from the perspective of a country of origin: Pakistan. From November 2010, migrants who want to enter the UK as the partner of a British citizen need to show that they can speak and understand English by having taken an English language test. This paper draws on research carried out in Mirpur, Azad Kashmir, which looks at language tests, visa procedures, and ethnographic interviews carried out in Mirpur over a three-month period in 2010. The aim of the paper is to identify how education and access to English language learning influence opportunities for migration. Qualitative data are used to answer questions such as ‘Who migrates to the UK from Mirpur?’ and ‘What is their English language ability before migrating?’ as well as more fundamental questions about the gatekeeping role of English in increasingly stricter immigration controls. Keywords: English language testing, immigration; Pakistan, Azad Kashmir.

Introduction This paper examines one English language learner’s opportunities to learn English in order to migrate to the UK as seen alongside the larger sociopolitical context in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), a state which is administered by but is not formally part of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. This paper constitutes part of a wider study of language testing

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for migrants, published in Dreams and Realities: Developing Countries and the English Language, which examines the social and economic benefits of learning English in developing countries. The aim here is to situate the role of English proficiency in wider processes of migration from AJK as part of an investigation of the social and economic history of immigration from the region. Migration continues to be responsible for not only dramatic social changes in Mirpur but also some of the most striking economic changes in the contemporary world (Ballard, 2008). This is revealed through an analysis of the impact of remittances on the local Mirpuri economy throughout the various stages of migration from the area. Whereas Ballard was concerned with the migration of peasant farmers from northern Pakistan who migrated to Britain and the Middle East during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, this paper investigates the increasing role which English language proficiency plays in chain migration at the end of the first decade of the 21st century. By tracing access to English language courses and tests, this study demonstrates how English contributes to transnational family life at a time when the West is experiencing a tightening of the relationship between language, immigration, citizenship and national security (Cooke & Simpson, 2008). Interviews carried out in Mirpur weeks before the introduction of language testing legislation for migrants wishing to settle in the UK highlight the current dilemma: The response to post-colonialism and globalisation by governments–in the UK and elsewhere–is sometimes contradictory: they must attract inward investment by offering skilled low-wage labour while also appealing to certain sections of the electorate by being seen to be ‘tough’ on asylum and immigration. (Cooke & Simpson, 2008, p. 8)

The introduction of language testing legislation for migrants is a result of this contradiction and has begun to represent the kind of immigration controls which Werbner has argued: strike at the very roots of British Pakistanis’ deepest loyalties: to close kinsmen, dependents and in relation to unquestionable family obligations (2008, p.6) thereby denying members of transnational families the right to marry by choice. Government limits on immigration from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and investment in the training and recruitment of UK workers have led to English language proficiency being linked to issues of employment, welfare, cohesion and ‘integration’.

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Relationship between Migration and the Development of Local and National Economies In his study of migration and the local economy in Mirpur, Ballard has argued that it is migrants’ remittances that have had the greatest impact on Mirpuri society given the many millions of pounds that have been remitted to the area over the last 60 years. However, remittances have not led to significant economic development of what is a predominantly an agricultural area. Rather, Ballard argues that after the building boom of prestigious houses in Mirpur by migrants in the UK in the 1970s, there was little interest in investing in agriculture due to the lack of status associated with the sector, low prices and little development of infrastructure by the state. The result has been that Mirpur is now heavily dependent on the remittances, a condition which Ballard argues: is primarily a consequence of the way in which Pakistan’s whole economy is structured. It is no fault of the Mirpuris themselves that agriculture has been rendered completely unprofitable as a result of central pricing policies, nor that the Government of Pakistan has done next to nothing to mobilise local resources, nor even to provide the infrastructural facilities around which migrants could more profitably and productively invest savings. (2008, p.3)

The remittances, however, are not only of great importance in Mirpur but also contribute significantly to the national economy. Gazdar (2003) found that remittances from international Pakistani migrants constitute the single largest source of foreign exchange earnings for the country, where an estimated USD2.4 billion (GBP1.54 billion) – four per cent of the country’s GNP – is currently remitted annually by international migrants (Mansuri, 2006). On a global scale, these contributions sent home by the 70 million migrant workers from developing countries around the world have been estimated at USD192 billion (GBP123 billion) in 2007 – the equivalent to four times the total amount of official aid received by developing countries (UNDP 2009, as cited in Coleman, 2010a).

The UK Economy and Its Reliance on Migrant Labour The UK’s economy became increasingly reliant on migrant labour from the 1950s onwards. Mike Raco (2007) argues that government policy focused on the promotion of international immigration as a means of balancing immigration with emigration from the UK, thereby providing

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the foundations for the modernisation of the British economy. Shortages were particularly acute in ‘essential’ sectors such as agriculture, coal mining, textiles, construction, foundry work, health services and international domestic service. To meet the labour shortage which the country was facing and to encourage immigration from the Commonwealth, the UK government passed the 1948 British Nationality Act, which essentially established an open borders policy between the UK and Commonwealth countries (Raco, 2007). However, following the introduction of micro-chip technology in the 1980s, a large manual labour force was no longer a prerequisite of industrial production; hence there was a reduction in migratory flows, particularly under the Conservative governments of the 1970s and 1980s and a shift in the kinds of migrants looking to settle in Britain. It is these current flows of migration that this chapter seeks to investigate given that the effects of earlier movements will remain with us (Ballard, 2008). The stricter controls of the 1980s gave way to what became known as managed migration from 1997 onwards under the Labour governments of Tony Blair. Layton-Henry (2004) argues that the strong economy that Labour inherited from the Conservatives in 1997 allowed for a reevaluation of immigration policy which saw skilled and unskilled workers welcomed to the UK as part of New Labour’s initial commitment to more open borders. However, this government became increasingly inclined towards immigration controls and was planning to introduce language testing for migrants in 2011. The new Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government then brought forward the language testing of migrants to 2010 soon after its election in May of that year. This shift in immigration policy sees the welcoming of skilled workers from inside the European Economic Area, rather than low-skilled workers and their spouses from poor areas of the Commonwealth who were once encouraged to settle.

History of Mirpuri Migration to the UK Azad Kashmiris are often subsumed within the label Pakistanis in the migration literature, although they are in fact numerically dominant among people of Pakistani origin in the UK (Kalra, 2008). Harris and Shaw (2008) have defined three phases of migration from Pakistan: male labour migration, family reunion and marriage migration. The initial migrants in the chain were linked by family membership and consisted mainly of single men looking for the promise of higher wages. The ‘pioneer’ male

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labour migrants later married or called over their wives and children to the UK; this represented: a shift in orientation towards Britain as a place of temporary residence, where they would work and earn money for their families back home, to one in which they are sufficiently rooted to settle (Harris & Shaw, 2008). As a result of immigration controls in the 1970s, this second phase gave way to a third phase–known as marriage migration–in which spouses and dependent children became some of the few remaining groups eligible for entry to the UK. This phase remains in force today, although with some modifications. The largest component of migration from Pakistan during the third phase has been young second- or third-generation British Pakistanis who marry ‘back home’–i.e., in Mirpur–and who, on their return to Britain, bring brides or bridegrooms, particularly cousins, with them (Shaw, 2000).

Recent UK Government Policy Regarding Language and Immigration The period of managed migration overseen by the UK’s Labour government was dramatically cut short within weeks of the election of the Conservative–Liberal coalition government in May 2010. Immigration was clearly put back at the top of the political agenda by the new Home Secretary in an early interview with the BBC: I believe being able to speak English should be a prerequisite for anyone who wants to settle here. The new English requirement for spouses will help promote integration, remove cultural barriers and protect public services (Casciani, 2010).

Here the Home Secretary refers to legislation that was eventually introduced in November, 2010 that requires spouses of UK citizens to be able to demonstrate English proficiency by having passed an approved English language test before applying for their visa. The argument about the protection of public services is not new and can be traced back to similar arguments over competition for scarce resources such as those Ballard (1996) identified behind the racial polarisation of the 1980s, then, as now, often most acute during periods of economic recession. However, Home Office figures collected over the previous ten years reveal that the pressure put on public services by ‘ethnic minorities’ continues to be something of a myth in the UK. Between 1999 and 2000, migrants

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contributed approximately GBP31.2 billion (USD48.30 billion) in taxes and consumed an estimated GBP28.2 billion (USD43.6 billion) in benefits. The result is a net contribution of GBP2.4 billion [USD3.72 billion] to the economy (Layton-Henry 2004). In August 2010 the United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) announced that, from 29 November that year, partners of migrants would be required to take and pass an English language test: The minimum standard that applicants will need to meet is in speaking and listening at level A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference1. The list of approved tests and providers includes some tests above A1 level–this is because we will also accept tests in speaking and listening, or in speaking and listening with additional skills such as reading or writing, that are taken at a higher level with an approved test provider. (UKBA, 2010)

However, in Pakistan – as in many other countries – speaking and listening are rarely practised or assessed in state sector schooling. In response to the move towards English language testing for non-EU migrants applying under the UKBA Points-based System, Dr Nick Saville, Director of Research at Cambridge ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) identified two measures as prerequisites for testing for migrants. Firstly, he emphasised the importance of procedures for monitoring test outcomes which ensure that the test does not lead to discrimination; and secondly, he identified the need for a clear purpose for the test with clarity on how the purpose influences the level, content, administration and use of results (Saville, 2009). At the time of writing, neither of these is in place for the UKBA list of approved tests. Given that there is still a distinct lack of empirical evidence to back up the appropriate use of the UKBA tests for the purpose of migration (Charles Alderson, email communication, July 9, 2010), it would seem that there is still a great deal of basic validation work to be carried out.

Case Study: Usman It is within this context that the respondent in this study was preparing for his visa application and would, if successful, migrate to the UK to join his wife and son. His narrative illustrates one learner’s perspective on how his English language learning has been influenced by his families’ messages about marriage and migration, as well as UK immigration policies and language planning.

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Usman’s father was a member of the Pakistan armed forces and so Usman himself had been educated through the medium of English in schools operated by the military; this was the case in each of the three cities in which his family had lived as he was growing up. As a result, Usman was fluent in English and the interviews with him were all in English. Earlier 2 in 2010 Usman had passed the IELTS test with a score of Band 6 . Although IELTS Band 6 is well above the Council of Europe’s A1 level, as required by UKBA, Usman was rather disappointed with his result. He attributed this to the fact that he had been entered for the ‘academic’ version of IELTS rather than the ‘general training’ version. Usman had recently married a ‘British girl’ whom he speaks to in English. His brother-in-law had already explained to him the forthcoming legislation on language testing for spouses wanting to enter the UK. Usman demonstrated a clear sense of agency when he described how he had found out more about the language requirements for migration and the visa application procedure by checking a blog on the internet. Usman was planning to leave for the UK before mid-January 2011 (two months after my last interview with him), which was when his wife was due to give birth to their first child. It was during this final interview that Usman described his desire to become a police officer in the UK. This decision was probably influenced by his father’s role in the military; Usman himself had tried to join the Pakistani military but had been rejected. Usman also reported that he had been doing well at university in Mirpur but had dropped out in order to migrate to the UK. Usman will face far fewer of the challenges that other respondents in the wider study of language testing for migrants who do not speak English will face, as he already knows English well and is confident that this will help him to achieve his plans to become a policeman. English quite clearly offers opportunities for social mobility in his case. Usman’s education background is markedly different from the other respondents who have not had access to English and is representative of not only military families in Pakistan but also the majority of middle class families who choose private English medium schooling for their children. Usman’s case reveals the huge disparity in Pakistan between those families (or their employers) who can afford this type of schooling and the majority who have no option but to send their children to Urdu medium schools. Graduates of English medium schools will gain access to a range of job opportunities in Pakistan, including the civil service and most white collar jobs. Not only

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does the gate-keeping role of English provide Usman with access to higher education in Pakistan but it will possibly also provide him with employment opportunities in the police force in the UK should his visa application be successful.

Migration to the UK and Family Responsibilities in Mirpur As we saw, for Usman migration to the UK is the alternative to a career in the Pakistan military. We also noted that Usman had left his BSc programme in IT during the fifth semester to marry and migrate to the UK where his new wife lives. Rather than look at Usman’s English language education, this final sub-section investigates the way in which Usman understands his forthcoming migration in terms of family responsibilities and the employment opportunities that English provides him with outside of Mirpur. Usman met his fiancée for the first time in Mirpur in April 2010 when she arrived from the UK to marry him. The nikah was held five days after her arrival in AJK and she returned to the UK a month later. Usman planned to join his wife in the UK before she was due to give birth to their first child in January 2011. This case neatly illustrates the process of arranging transnational marriages through what Mooney (2006) calls ‘transmigrant kin networks’ which continue to offer a means to economic migration and citizenship abroad. Usman’s account also demonstrates an ideology of responsibility felt towards his family. He explained how, once settled in the UK, he would need to help support his family back in Mirpur. His family in Mirpur consisted of two brothers and one sister while his father, who ran a shop, was not doing very well financially. Usman felt that, after putting aside funds for his living expenses and savings in the UK, he would be able to send some money to his family in Mirpur each month. He added: They are not totally expecting me to send something but I am, will, ’cause they are doing good for their, you can say, for their own sake, their own livelihood, but there are some things, you know, my dad took some er, er, credit from the bank so we have to pay in your language we can say 200 pounds [USD311, PKR27,000] every month, it’s due so we have to pay it, we have to find that money every month, so at least I’m gonna help with that one, at least.

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When asked whether his siblings would migrate, Usman revealed a great deal about the economic reasons behind migrating to the UK. He suggested first that his brother who plans to become a doctor would not need to migrate whereas he felt the need to arrange a marriage in the UK for his second brother: one of my younger brothers he is, er, he will become a doctor because he is, you know, very bright, very bright, and he’s choose the biology subjects and he’s gonna be a doctor so obviously he’s not gonna go over there but, er, one of my, the brother who is next to me, so he’s a … I think I’m gonna find him a, I’m gonna find a girl, somebody to, you know, somebody you know to marry her and he will inshallah [God willing] come there.

It is clear that for Usman there was no need for the ‘bright’ brother to migrate because working as a doctor in Pakistan guarantees financial security. Given that Usman had dropped out of university in order to migrate, it seems that the family in general and Usman in particular perceived there to be greater economic benefits–and possibly greater social standing–in migration rather than graduation. Usman’s IELTS Band 6 score will be crucial for him, not only in obtaining a visa but also in enhancing his opportunities to join the police in the UK. This seems to indicate that it will be men from urban areas in AJK who have already had substantial access to English and who have enjoyed good educational opportunities who will find it easier to join their spouses in the UK, in comparison with poorer candidates and particularly female candidates from rural areas.

Conclusions The unprecedented gate-keeping role that English has acquired in the UK’s immigration controls assumes that English can be fairly and reliably tested in contexts such as Mirpur. As we have seen, ideologies of obligation and responsibility towards kin “emerge as utterly central to the experience of migration between Britain and Pakistan” (Harris & Shaw, 2008, p.106). The extended kinship networks which have been identified in this study demonstrate how overseas communities must find the means with which to study English and also gain access to certain approved tests, so that those family obligations can be fulfilled. The same challenges face transnational communities who merely wish to choose whom to marry and where to live. Simpson (2010) describes this as linguicism, discrimination against people on grounds of the language they speak or do not speak. He

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argues that this type of discrimination contravenes Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states: Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other national or social origin, property, birth or other status. (UN, 1948)

Furthermore, Simpson suggests that the home language is also protected by Article 16(3) which recognises the family as ‘the natural and fundamental unit of society’ which is entitled to protection by society and the State’ (UN, 1948). In addition to this threat to family life, language is also an organising principle in national life. In 1971, when East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) broke away from West Pakistan, language was a central component of the unrest which divided the different political interests in the country. Today, language continues to play a significant role in the construction of a national identity in Pakistan, where the official language of Urdu, spoken as a mother tongue by approximately seven per cent of the country, is used as the medium of instruction in government schools (Rahman, 2002). A growing body of evidence suggests that in linguistically diverse countries such as Pakistan, where a national or international language is used for schooling, a significant proportion of children are out of school owing to the mismatch between the language of the home and the language of school. Pinnock (2009) has argued that the ‘high linguistic fractionalisation’ in Pakistan leads to long-term political, social and economic instability and divisions along linguistic and ethnic lines. The challenges of access to English and international tests that prospective migrants face must be seen, then, within a context of broader threats that national language policy poses to the social and economic prosperity of an increasingly unstable part of the world. Note: This paper is an abridged version of the chapter ‘Language and migration: the social and economic benefits of learning English in Pakistan’ taken from the British Council publication Dreams and Realities: Developing Countries and the English Language which is available online.

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References Ballard, J. (1996). Desh Pardesh: The South Asian presence in Britain. Delhi: DK Publishers. Ballard, R. (2008). The political economy of migration: Pakistan, Britain and the Middle East. In V.S. Kalra (Ed.), Pakistani diasporas: Culture, conflict and change (pp. 19-42). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Casciani, D. (2010). English rules tightened for immigrant partners. BBC News UK, 9th June 2010. Retrieved from www.bbc.co.uk/news/10270797 Coleman, H. (2010a). English and development. London: British Council. Retrieved from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/transform/books/ english-language-development Cooke, M., & Simpson, J. (2008). ESOL: A critical guide. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Harris, K., & Shaw, A. (2008). Kinship obligations, gender and the life course: Re-writing migration from Pakistan to Britain. In V. S. Kalra (Ed.), Pakistani diasporas: Culture, conflict and change (pp. 105-128). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kalra, V.S. (Ed.). (2008). Pakistani diasporas: Culture, conflict and change. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Layton-Henry, Z. (2004). Britain: From immigration control to managed migration. In W. A. Cornelius, T. Tsuda, P. L. Martin & J. F. Hollifield (Eds), Controlling immigration: A global perspective (pp. 297-333). (2nd ed.). Stanford: Stanford University Press. Mansuri, G. (2006). Migration, school attainment and child labor: Evidence from rural Pakistan. (Mimeo.) Washington DC: Development Research Group, World Bank. Retrieved from www.iza.org/conference_files/worldb2008/mansuri_g3386.pdf Pinnock, H. (2009). Language and education: The missing link. Reading: CfBT Education Trust and Save the Children. Raco, M. (2007). Building sustainable communities: Spatial policy and labour mobility in post-war Britain. Bristol: Policy Press. Rahman, T. (2002). Language, ideology and power. Karachi: Oxford University Press. Saville, N. (2009). Immigration: The test case. The Guardian Online 12th December 2009. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/12/immigrationuk-border-agency-english-test Shaw, A. (2000). Kinship and continuity: Pakistani families in Britain. Amsterdam: Harwood.

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Simpson, J. (2010). Language testing for prospective migrants. Message to [email protected], posted 14 June 2010. UKBA (United Kingdom Border Agency). 2010. New language requirement for partners. London: United Kingdom Border Agency, Home Office. Retrieved from http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/newsfragments/26english-language-partners UN (United Nations). (1948). Universal declaration of human rights. New York: General Assembly of the United Nations. Retrieved from http:// www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml Werbner, P. (2008). Chains of migrants: Culture, value and the housing market. In V. S. Kalra (Ed.), Pakistani diasporas: Culture, conflict and change (pp.189-211). Oxford: Oxford University Press.





CHAPTER NINE BETTER ENGLISH BETTER STATUS: A PERCEPTION IN PAKISTAN ALIYA SIKANDAR

Abstract This paper reports on a qualitative-interpretive study of language attitudes among the employees of an international university of Karachi, the capital of the province of Sindh, Pakistan. The province’s history is unique with diverse ethno-linguistic groups living and thriving together within its boundaries. The study looks at the various language ideologies built around the three languages spoken in the region, i.e., English, Urdu and Sindhi. An unequal distribution of languages in the domains of power resulted in some languages regarded as prestigious and dominating, while others as inferior and used in informal domains. This led to the formation of complex and layered attitudes of the people of Sindh towards languages and language communities. The situation calls for an inquiry into the role and effects of socio-cultural, historical and political forces contributing in the formulation of language policies, and the resulting perceptions and attitudes of communities which are of immediate relevance to learners, language planners and practitioners. Keywords: language ideologies, entextualisation, indexicalities, remigration, re-location

The Background This paper presents a sociolinguistic study of language-related attitudes of employees at different levels of management at an international university in Karachi, in the province of Sindh in Pakistan. Sindh, with its multilingual setting, is a unique representation of how language can become a

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sensitive issue: languages may unite or divide people; languages form attitudes; languages are carriers or the mode of expression which mirrors people’s perception and beliefs–that is, the ideologies related to languages. These attitudes are double-faced: people may be defensive as well as offensive towards certain languages. They may even be ready to denounce their mother tongue. This study tries to bring an insider’s perspective to the issue of language attitudes in Sindh. In the wake of language clashes in Sindh, critical analyses of these attitudes become a necessity for language planners and educationists to get a comprehensive understanding of the aspirations and ideologies of language communities in the setting of Pakistan.

The Language Situation in Pakistan Pakistan, with its four provinces, is ethnically, linguistically and culturally a typical pluralistic society as no less than 24 languages and a number of dialects are spoken here. Urdu is the declared national language, and English is the official language, and as such these are the dominant languages of the country, used in domains of power such as offices, the press, the media, education, and employment. Regional languages are used in some areas, but are not used in the higher domains of power, for instance the government and the judiciary.

Urdu, English and Sindhi Languages in the Multilingual Context of Sindh The sub-continent (in undivided India) came under the British rule in 1818, and by 1865 English was firmly established as the medium of instruction and administration. Even after Pakistan became an independent state, English continued to be the language of the elite and acquired power and prestige as the language of power and control, used in the domains of education, government, international business, and the workplace. Yet, it bears some emblems of cultural and ideological assertions; English is resented as an embodiment of western culture by certain religious and nationalistic groups. It is also held responsible for creating classes in the society: the elites who can afford the expensive English education, and the common people who cannot. However, the general attitude of the society and that of parents can be seen from the fact that English medium schools continue to multiply in numbers in Pakistan.

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Urdu was the mark of identity and the consolidation of Muslims and their religious, ethnic and cultural ideologies in the sub-continent before the divide in 1947, and is the language spoken by the majority of the speakers. With the migration of Urdu-speaking Mohajirs of India to Sindh in 1947, the privileged position of Sindhi was challenged. Rahman (2002) cites the 1952 Census, (Section 2 & 3 and District Census Reports) according to which the Mohajirs constituted about 57% of the population of Karachi and dominated other Sindhi cities too: Hyderabad (66.08%); Sukkur (54.26%); Mirpurkhas (68.42%) and Nawabshah (54.79%). This changed the regional situation linguistically. The cities became pre-dominantly Urdu speaking while rural areas remained Sindhi speaking. Because of this geo-political settlement Sindhis got socially and economically disadvantaged as their competition was with the Urdu speaking population whose mother tongue had become the language of power. The Mohajirs of India had all along seen Urdu as the language of unification of the Muslims of the sub-continent. Therefore they resisted learning the Sindhi language more so as education, employment, and government was run in Urdu or English. Conversely, Sindhis had to study Urdu as a compulsory subject. It also became the medium of instruction in many institutions. Such a situation “imposes inequality of burdens, inequality of opportunity, and social and cultural inferiority on the Sindhispeaking children, and is grossest discrimination against a free people in a free country” (Publicist 1967, p.19). At the birth of Pakistan, Sindhi was the only indigenous language (besides Bengali, in former East Pakistan) that was the medium of instruction in the provinces. The position of the Sindhi language was strong as the official language at the lower level of administration, judiciary and journalism. Thus, there was resistance against Urdu as the national language and the medium of instruction. To date Sindh strives for its identity in a relentless linguistic and cultural struggle. The results of the current study reveal an interesting paradox in the attitudes of senior, middle and junior management as well as nonmanagement members of the employment sector towards the official, national and regional languages. Data collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews was analysed for the exploration of the possible causes of these attitudes among the group of participants in the light of socio-cultural, historical, geo-political and ethno-linguistic realities.

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Status of English in Pakistan At the level of the senior management, English has been reported to be used predominantly. It could be because of the group’s own proficiency as well as the presence of international and high official counterparts in their field of communication. Senior management is the centre institution or main actors who set the norms of communication. This, according to Blommaert (2006), is the “meta-pragmatic layer” which becomes the source of institutional socio-cultural stratification and creates classes and distances between cadres of employees. At the middle-management level, however, the nature of work gets localised, limiting to national and inter-institutional levels where a more bilingual approach is followed. It is at the junior and non-management level, by contrast, that the status of English is explicitly expressed. If I can speak English it means that I am ‘super’. That is, there is a lot of fear of English; we have made it an obsession, a phobia. If you speak English you will always be regarded correct…. as long as you speak English you will but be regarded good. Your image will be good. I think that the image speaker of English carries is that he has got high status, respect, education and wealth. English is one indicator of your environment. You can’t speak English among those who only speak Punjabi or Sindhi. So I think that the person who speaks English will always be regarded as belonging to high status.

There was a joint orientation towards identities and communities as employees at different management levels created one hierarchal community where language became a part of the prestigious image of the organisation–all the employees at the work place were expected to communicate in English–as if it was the structured norm. Wodak and Michael (2010) explain that organisations try to affect the ideology of a community and try to model it to become or come closer to what they want it to be. The Whorfian insight brings out the complexity of the context–we flag social and cultural ideological meanings which are indexical. A person’s self-image also comes into play; there is a strong desire to be someone (Blommaert, 2006) and it may be assumed that this identity is created by acquiring English and becoming identified (socially) as a prestigious member of an institution’s community.

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The quality of the languages was repeatedly referred to by the senior management respondents using qualifying words such as: great Urdu; great English; English speakers have a much greater impact. This is the power of centring institutions or main actors who according to Blommaert (2006) create an ideology of language with “better” or “worse” forms of usage. These beliefs transfer to the lower levels of community and create classes in a society. English has become one strong indicator of membership in the lower, middle or upper class strata of the Pakistani society. It also helps people in operational matters: Once I went to the bank and showed them my slip. They told me to sit on one side and wait. After me a person came and spoke in English. He was entertained right away and his work was done in the first go. Only because he spoke in English.

While a low proficiency in English is associated with low socio-economic levels and poor education standards, belonging to a higher socio-economic group is associated with having a better standard and an elegant style of living, an education from elite institutions (one strong indicator is English medium institutions), sophistication and refinement in mannerism and behavior, and so on. A member of the middle management revealed in an interview that he tried to follow his superiors, because: historically, English has been the language of the elite for the last 100-200 years. When we want to excel emotionally, or get excited we want to behave like our higher ups, like kings, queens or professors. One manifestation of this is to speak in English.

A non-management staff reported that English was the most effective parameter or indicator that exhibits status because it reflects one’s schooling: an ability to speak English competently means that that person must be from an elite school. On the contrary; if a person can’t speak English fluently/competently, it is an indicator of ordinary schooling. Thus the English language, the most obvious indicator of status, may become an exploitative tool to express power, authority and control–the political history of the country narrates how English has been controlled by political agencies, by allowing the access to English education to few

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and denying it to others. As a case in point, the speech repertoires at different levels form language trajectories as rich or plain, identifying people and allocating benchmarks as educated, elite, coming from a high socio-economic stratum. In one of the study interviews, a member of the senior management was able to exert his individuality because of his position and authority. His voice was distinct because of his background; the same cannot be expected from other levels of management. He frequently used ‘you’ which indexes at a deeper level, differing constructions of the self. This is a conflict between two ideological systems: collectivism and individualism. In using both these indexes the senior and middle management members were trying to show their individuality and at the same time, were trying to generalise the issues at the junior and non-management levels, which then become part of beliefs and discourses of the larger community. The spread of English in the wider community seems to have reached the informal domains also. The fact that the members of the senior management said that they encouraged their children to watch Urdu programmes and speak Urdu also, indicates that English is usually the language of communication in the home domain. This indexes the construction of hierarchy at their level–the general world view that at the elite level English was the norm in informal domains also. Frequent use of English could be explained in terms of habit, which indicates the structured view at this level. An adherence towards an increased role of English in informal domains of English was also found among the middle management level. In everyday communication English words are usually used at the very grass root levels. Strong Urdu oriented words index low socio-cultural identity; people are classified as middle class or upper class on the basis of the language they use, since each language utterance is indexed, which becomes a source of inclusion or elimination in a social group (Blommaert, 2006). However, junior and non-management staff believed that the use of English with friends or on the streets was the sign of showing off and manifestations of an inferiority complex. There could be contradictory perceptions at play: envy for those who ‘possess’ English (like an expensive commodity or market good), while at the same time, resentment for not getting this privilege that resulted in such derogatory expressions of mis-belief and mistrust.

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An increased use of English in informal domains explains the spread of English along with western culture and traditions. Customs like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s/Father’s Day, Baby shower, and so on, are being assimilated in the Pakistani culture, which is giving a different temperament to the Pakistani society. Someone not participating in the group may be branded as: not belonging, mullahish (Islamic religious membership), backward, orthodox, extremist or even fundamentalist. This malleability of new identities and world view reflects the structured change in the cultural, and consequently the language ideologies. The English lexicon and discourses are essentially the new structured expressions used by everyone belonging to the upper class group. Overall, the role of English in Pakistan’s economic progress is realised by all the groups. English, in this sense, is like a gateway to better socioeconomic opportunities at the national level. There is also a realisation that quality education is possible through elite institutions that pave the way to future prosperity and better socio-economic positions. This general assumption reflects the practical ideational concepts; the belief that acquiring English will lead them to a prosperous life and a better future for themselves and their children. Another emerging structured ideology is the importance of good schooling. It was believed by all the respondents, at all the levels, that early English education was perhaps the most important factor to attain a good professional and personal life. Although explicitly people may express sentiments of nationalism by showing their loyalty towards the national language, they repeatedly showed a strong favour towards having English as the medium of education. Because of internationalisation of trade and business, multinational companies in Pakistan are keen to employ candidates competent in the English language. Therefore, people from Urdu medium educational backgrounds are finding it increasingly difficult, to get employment in the first place and then to survive in the employment market as the national language (Urdu) or regional languages cannot empower candidates as much as the official language (English) can. Candidates even with an outstanding proficiency in the national and regional languages are not able to get jobs in accordance with their true calibre. The socio-economic level seems responsible in determining the educational backgrounds for future generations: the group of economically strong people who can afford expensive English-medium private schools

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and colleges; and the group belonging to the lower income bracket that can only afford education from government institutions for their children.

The Status and Role of Urdu Karachi is a mega city where because of economic reasons large numbers of people from all the provinces live. Therefore, as the link language, the usefulness of Urdu is even more realised though it continues as the national language everywhere in Pakistan. The political and educational history of Pakistan, however, bears evidence that Urdu as the national language has not been supported by all the regions, and the linguistic and ethnic riots in the nation’s history are a clear proof of that. Urdu has mostly been resented and resisted in Sindh. At the official level, Urdu does not enjoy the prestige English does. A member from the senior management, who also taught at the institution, stated that Urdu has had a set-back since nowadays students are keener about learning English: Sometimes we do speak in Urdu in the class, a sentence or two, but what is happening is that now the kind of doctors being produced is such that if you recite one verse from Urdu poetry in front of them they will not understand it. I’m very fond of reciting verses in the class and I enjoy doing it.

But then he added that it was because of his long experience of teaching that he could take such chances in the class: “at this post I can take such risks with no harm to my image but I don’t think young doctors can do like that. Young doctors fear that their impression will be damaged if they speak in Urdu”. At the ideological level the use of Urdu, or the inappropriate use of English in offices may ‘spoil’ the image of a person, may identify a person as not belonging to the elite class, or label him as mediocre, and so on. Members belonging to the senior management felt that Urdu did not enjoy equal status with English which was why it could not be used in formal educational and professional forums. The attitude of the people towards the national language was found to be paradoxical. On the one hand, participants of the study all along supported Urdu as it had the status of the mother tongue and they wanted to identify with it, while on the other, Urdu was shown to be a weak language: those from the Urdu-medium backgrounds could not achieve their goals in their educational and professional careers because of the hurdle created by

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English. This learned experience may have led people to be more inclined towards English, and therefore to make minimum efforts to learn their national language. Language ideologies are transferred from the macro to the micro levels of community, marked by such indexical framing. Moreover people place languages according to the hierarchies of importance: English is higher than Urdu and Urdu is higher than the regional languages. Such beliefs are expressed as a collective perception. In the discourse of the senior management there was sufficient entextualisation; it seemed as if chunks of the discourses had been picked up from some other text and reframed. It reflected certain structured cultural views. One respondent indexed the talk as collectivism: Religion could not stop East Pakistan; the major entry is through the national language. But then he tried to add from the repertoire of his own: and I find…; So I think…. This illustrates how beliefs are picked up from texts used at the social levels and transferred further, spreading as collective beliefs. These unwritten policies seem to have far greater impact on the people of a community or group than the prescribed rules.

Status and Role of Sindhi What was interesting in these findings was that the Urdu speaking people promoted and supported the learning and use of Sindhi, while the respondents whose mother tongue was Sindhi expressed that it was of little value. An Urdu speaking respondent said that we should include “folks in the national set-up” and that “languages promote diversity and a means of reaching out”. The first term ‘folks’ for the Sindhis carries loads of meanings in Karachi’s geo-political background. Sindh, which was historically a rich trade centre, with its rich and developed language since very old times, seems to have had a turnabout in the level of participation in the nation’s development. In the language-ideological sense this tends to reflect a historical and political expression. Branding every Sindhi as ‘folk’ or rustic speaks of the ethnic-linguistic riots in the history of Sindh by way of which Sindhis were pushed back in the rural areas and Mohajirs got the upper hand as they settled in urban areas, especially Karachi. These beliefs seem to be picked from their original text and transmitted here by the act of entextualisation. For example, the following extract

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seems to be very political and revolutionary: “let us join hands in bringing up regional languages. The speaker is creating another set of realities here. Implicit political beliefs are felt in this expression. This text seems to be re-structured in the speaker’s own discourse, and transferred on to this situation. It may be a popular slogan, a general trend to create harmony and peace among diverse identities. The trend that has emerged most interestingly here is that respondents are limited to the here and now issues; there is no mention of colonialism or historical division. The re-migration and re-location of the people in Sindh raises issues concerning the recent past. Implicit however, is the conflict of ethnicity, culture, and language, in the historical background. People who have built on older identities and have reacted on this theme belong to specific language communities. However, a more volatile community is the speech community in which, according to Blommaert (2006), speakers display joint or shared orientations towards indexical values, that is, multiple belonging. Therefore, when a member of the senior management said that he encouraged his children to speak good Urdu, he seemed more of a nationalist. When talking about mohajir-Sindhi controversy his language indexed a judgmental tone in favour of mohajirs. But when he talked about the inequality and the set back the Sindhis bore historically, he sounded more of a social scientist; when he talked about mohajirs and their good luck to have settled in the urban areas of Sindh, he sounded more like an ethnicist; and, when he complained about the media’s increasing use of Hindi lexicon, his identity integrated into a Pakistani citizen. The discourse of the participant belonging to the senior management position was rich, as he took references from history, sociology, anthropology and politics: we don’t tolerate each other; we tend to generalise; we say all Sindhis. Simultaneously, stylistic shifts index a change in the set of meanings. There could be a desire to show oneness with Sindhis by stating that had Mohajirs not settled in cities, they would have been dehaati or paindu as the people of this land. The deliberate use of light expressions is indicative of the speaker’s aim to keep the discussion light and lively. Here, again it is the perception of the quality and prestige of a language that is hinted upon. Such inherent beliefs narrate the socio-cultural story of domination and conflicts.

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The participants of the study appeared to be mentally located in the recent history of the province of Sindh and its related issues. As the native inhabitants or as the settlers, their beliefs were generally based on the changing situations in the region. However, these views were expressed in thick layers of complexity due to various reasons: at the level of the elites it is not desirable to indulge in loud expressions; education itself may have created a flexibility of views at that level; it is not socially desirable to give politically sensitive views; people may be inhibited to give their views on ethnically and culturally sensitive issues, and so on. The uniqueness of the data is evidenced in the various chunks of discourses that are specifically related to the province of Sindh. Mainly, the political aspects of Sindhi-Mohajir ethno-linguistic controversy itself are limited to this region. This issue has turned into an ethnic-political strife originating from the socio-cultural aspects of domination, disenfranchisement, and non-assimilation by either of the ethnic groups. Respondents have mainly regarded this as the political manipulation of the situation by the government and the politicians. The history indexes the hybridity of the context which becomes a real issue in a multi-lingual setting where identities take different dimensions: inhabited identities that we ourselves construct and ascribed identities that other people attribute to us–these were unpacked in responses of the participants in the study. The concept of othering guides towards a reorientation of identities of Sindhis and Mohajirs. Educational background is therefore also a source of social stratification; it affects the language repertoires of the people, as well as their world view formed out of their exposure at different educational and socio-cultural levels. The theme of the quality of English is the meta-pragmatic layer that describes how the social structure impacts upon language form and vice versa, so a particular variety will denote a membership to a particular level of society, as such processes are imbued with political-economic values (Blommaert, 2006). Such a view is based on assumptions: American English equals a high society reach, whereas it is the aspiration of the middle class level, while the lower classes are struggling at the basic acquisition level. This is the case of political and economic stratification, projecting values like power, authority and domination.

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Any one variety of a language is deliberately chosen by the ruling class, which Rahman (1999) regards as standardisation of a language. This act in this sense becomes a political act, whereby creating inequality and devaluation of other varieties of the language. At the social level, using a variety of the language in power domains makes one variety the language of the elites, a mark of superiority and privilege (Kroch, 1978). According to Rahman (1999) because the elite justify the use of the variety of a language, it is “in the interest of elites to promote’ them ‘as the single model of correctness” (Cooper, 1989, p. 135). This according to Milroy and Milroy (1985) is the ‘ideology of standardization’ which is the main agent which confers power to the elites, and makes them superior to the other members of the society. The respondents seem to associate themselves with a particular group, following the indexicalities, the norms or values of that group, to be identified among the members of a particular group or community which is distinct from other groups. However, the centering feature may overlap, creating hybrid identities or multiple belongings. Notably, every centre is stratified with different level, scope and depth (Blommaert, 2006). Thus a senior management participant would have a different level and depth than the middle management representative, and this is how stratification is created. The speakers in their discourses on various aspects related to language to deploy diverse social identities; various voices of different roles or social actors emerge in a person’s discourse. Thus, the findings illustrate how a person may express perspectives in different social roles, which are volatile: from the senior management to an Urdu-speaking representative, to an educationist and academician, to nationalists, to a social scientist and so on. Language and identity have become a hypocritical issue in Pakistan. There is a lot of dichotomy between what is professed in the public and what is practised in the private lives. It is generally observed that double standards are usually followed in the society: western way of living, a noticeable change in values from eastern/Islamic to western and more progressive idealisms, adherence towards western dress, food (McDonalds’s burgers, pizza, and fast food, etc.), but when it comes to language, nationalistic currents surge forth.

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Likewise, most political and religious leaders follow double standards: there is a complete changeover from what is preached to what is practised. Recently, a new trend that has emerged on the media is the adherence of the religious leaders towards increased use of English. The image that they strive for is of an educated, sophisticated person who is well-aware of the ways of the new world order in terms of technological progress, visions and social and educational aspirations. Religious image was usually tied with dress and language. But now that image is being denounced. Ullemahs may be wearing a cap but with it full suit and tie in the western style. The ground realities are that English language is aspired for and practised in every aspect. Religious sermons on the media are adhering fast to the medium of English language. The usual justification given for such practices is that it is one way of attracting people towards themselves and to reach out to more and more people and preach them. Similarly, companies are looking for candidates who are fluent in verbal and written English. In government services also such as the Civil Superior Services English is one vital criterion to pass. Similarly, in the public sector most of the application forms or official documentation is in English. On the signboards, placards, boards on the shops, signboards, and road signs English is extensively used. In thanking or aplogising very few people are found to be using Urdu. Even rickshaw and taxi drivers use expressions like thank you and sorry. The informants of the study reported different reasons for switching from Urdu to English, code-switching in interactions. Firstly, it could be because of the fact that one may want to be associated with the English speaking group. Secondly, people also tend to switch to English when they want to distance themselves from the others. Thirdly, it may be to hide feelings or sensitive sentiments which may become loud or dangerous when discussed in society. It could also be to show the class difference, to show that one does not belong to the group which may be operating in a different code. People may switch codes also to show off, or to highlight their high status. This study has tried to unfold the layers of complexity and beliefs that run inherently along with explicit and expressed beliefs. The ideologies of communities thrive in the socio-cultural vitality of diverse groups. Dismissed as having little value, these ideologies keep surging beneath the societal level, and have been a major cause of fierce ethno-linguistic strife of the province.

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This study makes recommendations based on the findings of the research. Firstly, the study recommends that English should be taught to all, as it is the language of international education, mobility and employment. Quality of language has always led to inequality, and forming of classes on matters like variety of English (American or British or more precisely New York’s or Michigan’s variety, and so on). The situation, calls for more respect and acceptability of one’s own language–the Pakistani variety. This could be possible by media representation and popularisation of the Pakistani variety of English. In order to put an end to the rivalry between Urdu and regional languages, the study also recommends a policy of three-language formula, (as is in India), according to which English, Urdu and a regional language should be taught. It necessitates the teaching of Sindhi in Sindh, for example, where the maintenance and promotion of Sindhi will be a very positive step towards building solidarity between diverse ethno-linguistic groups. The study agrees with Mansoor’s (2005) perception of ‘cultural pluralism’, which re-energises cultural and social diversity of different ethnic groups, and seeks to create a political and economic unity among them. Finally, the findings recommend a unified Pakistani culture, where the nation’s values and traditions are maintained as cultural legacies and symbols of national identity. Therefore, English education with minimal cultural impact should be imparted to the new generation. Language policies focusing on English language skills related to academic and professional needs should be formulated. Curricula should consist of minimum foreign literature education and study of literary texts as these are strongly oriented to foreign cultures and values. Such steps, it is hoped, would lead to equal opportunities for quality education. This would lead to the eradication of the classes as upper or lower, and it would be instrumental in creating socio-cultural parity in the Pakistani society. The situation necessitates a re-organisation of ideologies from more than half a century old perceptions and aspirations, towards a re-unification of an independent, consolidated nation. 

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Operational Definitions: • • • • • • • •

English Medium: Where medium of instruction is English Intermediate: Grade 11 & 12 Local (Pakistani) Concepts Matriculation: Grade 10 Nai Roshni Schools: School project started around 1987 for the young and old who had never attended school Private: Autonomous Public: Usually state-run Urdu medium: Where medium of instruction is Urdu

References Blommaert. J (2006). Language ideology. In K. Brown (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, (2nd ed.), Vol.6, pp. 510522, Oxford: Elsevier. Cameron, D. (2001). Working with spoken discourse. London: SAGE Publications. Cooper, R. L. (1989). Language planning and social change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kroch, A. S. (1978). Grammatical ideology and its effect on speech. Academic Press Mansoor, S. (2005). Language planning in higher education. Oxford: Oxford University Press Milroy, J., & Milroy, L.(1985). Authority in language: Investigating language prescription and standardization. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Publicist. (1967). Problem of languages in West Pakistan. Khairpur Mirs: Saleem Ahmed. Rahman, T. (1999). Language, education and culture, Oxford: Oxford University Press. —. (2002). Language, ideology and power. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Wodak, R.,& Michael, M.(2010). Methods of critical discourse analysis. SAGE: London



CHAPTER TEN E-LEARNING IN ELT: POTENTIALS AND CHALLENGES IN THE CONTEXT OF PAKISTAN AZRA AHMED, MIRAT AL FATIMA AHSAN, FAIZA SALEEM AND RUBINA SULTAN

Abstract E-learning is generally seen as offering solutions to several challenges currently being faced by higher education. The challenge for educators, however, is to make learning accessible, relevant, and of high quality. This requires innovation which involves a change that can occur at various levels. Therefore a study was initiated to explore the impact of e-learning on the teaching and learning of English for Specific Academic Purposes with nursing students who had an intermediate level of language proficiency and were from a private university in Karachi, Pakistan. The two-year longitudinal study provided data to develop and design elearning courses specifically for English and generally for other teaching/learning initiatives for institutions working in similar contexts. Data was collected in three phases: pre-intervention, intervention and post intervention. This paper shares the findings of this exploration up to the intervention stage. It focuses essentially on providing a reflexive critique of the study, in terms of its design, implementation, and lessons learned thus far. The objective of the paper is to share the insights gained, regarding both the design and implementation of such projects in a developing context such as Pakistan, with other practitioners facing similar challenges. Keywords: e-learning. Academic English, Teaching, learning, innovation, Pakistan

156 E-learning in ELT: Potentials and Challenges in the Context of Pakistan Language is the armoury of the human mind; and at once contains the trophies of the past and the weapons of the future. —Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Background and Rationale Often e-learning1 is regarded as the panacea for the challenges faced by higher education. However, the challenge for educators is to use e-learning to make education not only accessible but relevant and of high quality. This is especially relevant for developing countries such as Pakistan. One of Pakistan’s biggest challenges is the quality of education being provided at various levels. With English as the national official language of Pakistan, improving quality standards requires raising the quality of teaching and learning of English. The question is: Can electronic teaching and learning of English realise that goal for learners in Pakistan? Theoretically e-learning offers learning opportunities to people anywhere the technology can reach, at any time. Information technology enables global communication much of which takes place in English, and opens avenues for innovative thinking by English language teachers. However no empirical data was available to support or refute these claims in the context of Pakistan. According to Ravencroft (2001) “the pace of change of educational technology is unlikely to slow down, the need for relatively more stable and theoretically founded interaction models is becoming increasingly important” (as cited in Nicholas, 2003). Therefore, before investing both time and resources in an e-learning initiative, it is necessary to have field data which allows for context-based models to be developed, which are innovative in terms of design, materials, content and mode of delivery. Therefore a group of researchers piloted an e-learning project, using Moodle2 to deliver an Academic English writing course for their learners in 2008. The participants were nursing students at a multi-campus university, with one of its campuses located in Karachi, Pakistan. The project was a four-week module for third year nursing students. Based on their oral feedback, their reflections, and perceptions of the faculty teaching the course, the initiative seemed to be a success. In addition, the

 1

e-Learning is defined by the Open and Distance Learning Quality Council in the UK as “the effective learning process created by combining digitally delivered content with (learning) support and services." 2 Moodle: is a free and open source e-learning software platform, also known as a Course Management System, Learning Management System, or Virtual Learning Environment.

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immediate impact at the university level was that over seventy courses from other entities at the same university uploaded their course work online to make it accessible for their students. This paper focuses on the two-year longitudinal study that was conducted as a follow-up of the pilot. At the time of writing this paper, however the study had reached a midway point. Hence, though the results in this paper cannot be considered to be conclusive, they offer insight into the challenges and strengths of the programme and therein reflect the potential of e-learning at the higher education level in developing contexts such as Pakistan.

Literature Review English language learning and teaching is a highly complex and volatile issue in Pakistan. English is one of our official languages (Mansoor, 2003), and has also been designated as the main medium of instruction for tertiary education, particularly professional education (Isani & Virk, 2005). However, access to English has been diagnosed to be differential (Esch, 2009) and is linked with social and economic status. It has been denounced by one of Pakistan’s pre-eminent linguists, Dr Tariq Rehman as being the prestige language, which serves as a gate-keeper (Pennycook, 1995) and ensures that the status quo is preserved. This means that proficiency in English is a social and symbolic capital (Bourdieu, 1990) and is linked to social identity and acceptance. Therefore, English language teachers and practitioners in Pakistan cope not only with the challenges of teaching English as a second or foreign language (Richards, 2007) but also with the psychological pressures that are concomitant because of English’s status. Moreover, the majority of students come from examination-based, educational systems where the focus is on content knowledge generally and with respect to language learning, on declarative knowledge-meta-linguistic knowledge (Woods, 1996) specifically. This encourages use of surface learning strategies and rote-memorisation techniques (Ramsden, 1992). Therefore as language practitioners we must find a way not only to have learners acquire procedural knowledge (Woods, 1996)–that is knowledge of how to use English but also build their critical thinking and self-directed learning capacity, all the while being mindful of skating carefully and gently around the issue of learner language confidence. E-learning represents once such path.

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The 2006 Guild Research report on e-learning claims that “e-learning remains a rapidly growing practice with a bright future in the vast majority of…organizations” (Pulchino, p.1). Proponents of e-learning argue that the driving force of e-learning draws directly from the awareness of the fact that there are many different types of knowledge and many different ways of learning and that learning is a life-long process (Attwell, 2007). Nicholas (2003) asserts that research should “establish theory not evaluation, principles not practices, pedagogies not applications” (para. 2) to produce literature that is applicable across multiple educational settings. This is especially important when there is a “philosophical tension about how best to acquire English without complicating the process with difficult computer oriented tasks” (Coryell & Chlup, 2007, p. 264). According to adult education and e-learning theorists, learning is an active process in which the learner constructs new knowledge based on “arbitrated and self-organized input” (Coryell & Chlup, 2007, p. 264). Coryell and Chlup support this notion and emphasise that language learners require comprehensible input in order to make sense of new knowledge in the target language as discussed by Krashen (1981). Therefore, adding e-learning to instructional components of “building on and steering the positive aspects of those behaviours such as experimentation, collaboration and teamwork” (Higher Education in a Web 2.0 World, 2009, Conclusion, para.4), could help build language confidence of the learners in the context of Pakistan, more so because the comprehensible input they receive in English is generally restricted to the classrooms. Moreover, the “advantages of an online or e-learning method are that it is self-pacing, interactive, and customised, providing a perfect fit of learner motivation and target language environment anytime and anywhere” (Dracopoulos, 2003, A Framework for Implementation). The “flexible access to students” (Petty, Johnston, & Shafer as cited in Coryell & Chlup, 2007, p. 264) allows part-time and self-paced learning to “schedule their study around work and family commitments” (Taking the Next Step, 2004, p.6). Such affordances of e-learning need to be investigated against the local context as it is imperative that future advancements in e-learning “come from a better understanding of the dynamics of teaching and learning and not from more improved or functional technology” (Nicholas, 2003, Hypothesis 3, para. 2). Nicholas reiterates that e-learning practice is unlikely to evolve unless the “theoretical underpinnings of eLearning are explored and debated, providing a wider platform and a common

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philosophy for eLearning development” (2003). This is especially true as e-learning is not just about “taking traditional teaching materials and making them available electronically” (Bonk, 2003; Bonk & Cunningham, 1998; Jochems et al., 2003; Westra, 2004 as cited in Connolly, 2007, p. 44); e-learning involves more than that; it “must be driven by sound pedagogy, not simply by advances in technology” (Taking the Next Step, 2004, p. 4). However, theorists believe that “the medium is the pedagogy….technologies work dynamically with pedagogies, not for them, and in the process they become mutually determining” (Cousin, 2005). However, virtual instruction is not always the preferred mode of instruction for all students because they may find it more demanding than participating in a traditional setting. Therefore to motivate and retain students’ interest, Web 2.0 tools could have a positive affective impact on young adults in education as it is considered their “medium and metier” (Higher Education in a Web 2.0 World, 2009, Conclusion, para. 1).

Aim and Significance of the Study The study attempts to explore the qualitative impact of e-learning on the teaching and learning of reading and writing skills in an academic English course on students with an intermediate level of language proficiency at a private university in Pakistan. It seeks to understand whether working within communities of practice could lead to any positive affective changes. In addition, at the end of the two year period, the study will ascertain whether using a Learning Management System (LMS) and Web 2.0 (Social Web technologies) tools help in making a significant improvement in the English language proficiency of the participants at the tertiary level. The study aims to provide data in developing and designing e-learning courses specifically for English and generally for other teaching/learning initiatives at the university the researchers teach at and other institutions working in similar contexts. E-learning is an innovation in education which has cross, trans and interdisciplinary value. It can also be resource-intensive both in terms of the infrastructure it requires and for the teachers and learners as well. It is because of its potential value that implementers need data to be able to evaluate and design models that allow for optimisation of resources and of learning gains. This study is innovative in that it would be the first time that the content and delivery of an academic English [reading and writing] course would be done through an LMS and Web 2.0 tools at this university in Pakistan. The results will

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provide insights and valuable data into the how of developing and designing e-learning programmes specifically for English and generally for all online teaching/learning initiatives in institutions such as ours and educational settings in similar contexts.

Methodology Project Design The objective of the project, as we have explained earlier, is to explore the potential contribution of embedding e-learning tools within our pedagogic approach to facilitate our participants’ interaction with the target language, that is, English. Hence, we needed a design that allowed for exploring dynamics between innovations in pedagogy and student-learning in a way that was responsive and flexible. Since the Action Research approach aims at improving current “strategies, practices, and knowledge of the environments within which they [teachers] practice” (O’Brien, 2001) it was seen as a good fit. Advocates of action research (Cohen & Manion, 2003; Kemmis & McTaggert, 1982; Richards & Nunan, 1990) underline that the strength of action research lies in the fact that it is situational, context-based, collaborative, participatory and self-evaluative. Kemmis and McTaggert (as cited in Richards & Nunan, 1990) point out that it is a “means of improvement and a ... means of increasing knowledge about curriculum, teaching and learning …. Action research provides a way of working which links theory and practice into the one whole: ideas-inaction” (p.5). Moreover, one of its strengths lies in the fact that it can be an effective means for not only improving teaching and learning but also for bringing in innovation. There was close alignment between the concept of praxis underpinning the action research framework and our orientation as educators and researchers. It was anticipated that engaging in an iterative action and reflection spiral and spreading the study over a two-year period, would provide the opportunity to both engage students with the target language and learning objectives as well as to capture the dynamics of the participants’ interaction with the target language. To this end, a staged design was adopted, which incorporated strands from Mill’s (2003) dialectical action research spiral and Ebbutt’s (1985) action research model and included three main phases: Pre-intervention, Intervention and Post-intervention.

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Since the ultimate objective is to explore and understand the phenomenon, the study aimed at achieving depth and some breadth, hence a combination of qualitative and quantitative tools continue to be used to collect data. This was seen as one additional advantage of opting for this approach because action research allows for a study to be oriented within the paradigm of pragmatism, therein allowing for the use of mixed methods (Cresswell, 2005). Since the project was designed so that formal and informal input for writing and reading in English would be delivered through Moodle and interaction with English supplemented through the use of Web 2.03 tools, an action research design was considered a good fit because it allowed for both the data collection and the intervention tools to be embedded within the design. Purposive and convenience-sampling strands were used to determine which classes would be involved in the project. The size of the sample was determined by the strength of the classes involved; the number of students in BScN III4 who have been participating in the project over the two years average thirty per year. A summary of the study design, methods, data analysis procedure and timelines is presented in Table 10.1. Table 10.1. Summary of the Study Design Aim

Improving Education Practice

Approach

Action Research

Design

Exploratory, staged & flexible – 3 Phases

Methods

Qualitative and Quantitative: Focus Groups Discussions (FGDs), Pre and Post-intervention tests, Survey/Questionnaires

Data Analysis

Multiple Data sources, a priori coding, running of Statistical tests – Content/Thematic analysis used as an overarching frame

Timelines

2008 trialing using the VLE- Moodle 2010-2012- Designing & Implementing Study- Blended Course

 3

Web 2.0 or Social Web technologies are technologies that enable communication, collaboration, participation and sharing. These technologies have certain boundaries in webspace, for example personal space (e-mails), publishing space (blogs, wikis) and group space (social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace). 4 Bachelor of Science in Nursing Year III

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Pre-intervention Phase The Pre-intervention phase had a dual aim. It was primarily designed to elicit the baseline data needed to assess the effectiveness and impact of the planned intervention. The data was also analysed to sensitise us (the researchers) to the research context generally, and the participant student group specifically. The data gathering process in this phase was also staged and entailed the use of quantitative and qualitative tools. The first stage involved briefing the sample group about the study and securing their verbal consent. Once verbal consent was obtained, a pre-test was designed and then administered. This entailed having students write an argumentative essay in examination conditions. Since writing an argumentative essay was one of the target curricular objectives, the essay scores were used to establish baseline data on their initial writing ability. This particular pre-test was designed to gather data to address one of the subsidiary research questions, that is, the improvement in writing skills. The third stage entailed conducting a forty to fifty-minute focus group discussion (FGD) with student participants. The sampling for selecting members for the focus group discussion was done using convenience sampling in the sense that participation in focus group discussion was kept voluntary. (Curiously though post-discussion analysis of this FGD group shows that the group was representative of the class in that it included high, average and low scorers). Questionnaires, attitudinal surveys (designed to elicit opinion-related information regarding technology and the use of technology) were then administered online as the final stage of Phase I. Intervention Phase Phase two or the intervention phase entailed designing and developing an academic English course at the intermediate level of language proficiency for BScN III and BScN IV students (the participating group) so that their progress could be tracked from the beginning of their BSCN Year III academic year to the end of their academic year as BSCN IV students. This phase of the study was designed to include two distinct cycles. These cycles were to represent the changes made to the study design and the intervention in response to the researchers’ ongoing reflection and analysis of soft and formal feedback from students. Initially, the intervention involved delivering language curriculum to the participant student group entirely online via Moodle, the Virtual Learning Environment. The participants were engaged with the prescribed content and exposed to the

Azra Ahmed, Mirat Al Fatima Ahsan, Faiza Saleem and Rubina Sultan 163 

target language through uploaded tasks/assignments and discussion forums. These forums are formal, that is dedicated to the discussion of a specific objective, and informal such as a student café which serves as a students’ virtual lounge. This online phase of the intervention also engaged students with the target language and learning objectives through using a panoply of other Web 2.0 tools such as Webquests, online reflective journals, interactive podcasts such as voice threads, opinion polls, wikis and jigsaw puzzles. Resources in the form of print materials, web-links and videos have also been uploaded. The objective was to immerse the students in an online learning environment and explore whether it allows them to engage with the target language and with learning in more intensive and meaningful ways. But the researchers, particularly the principal investigator, who not only has a fair amount of experience with an e-learning embedded pedagogy but is also completing a graduate degree in e-learning from a prestigious international university, were aware that online learning represents a difficult transition and hence were careful to create as supportive and as facilitative online learning conditions as they could. However, despite this care mid-way through Year I of the programme, after a review of the feedback from participants and facilitators’ reflexive analyses, it was decided that the more responsive approach would be to redesign the intervention and incorporate a larger face-to-face (f2f) component in it. This would constitute the second cycle of the intervention and entail specific topics being taught in a traditional f2f classroom setting. In addition all feedback on writing submitted by the participants would be given f2f, on a one-to-one teacher-student conferencing basis. In effect, the structure of the intervention has evolved into a distinctly blended approach of online and traditional modes of delivery with 40% of the course being delivered through a traditional mode as opposed to the earlier cycle where 25% of the course was to be delivered f2f. This alteration in structure represents our stance as educators on how we see elearning as contributing to learning. The focus of using e-learning and Web 2.0 tools is to enhance learning–that is, it is the “curriculum, not their [the participants’] use of technology, [that] is the standard” (Nicholas, 2003, Hypothesis 9, para. 2). As we write this paper, the intervention stage is midway and there may be yet more ‘tweaks’ as study design continues to evolve in response to the data.

164 E-learning in ELT: Potentials and Challenges in the Context of Pakistan

Post-Intervention Phase As the study is still in progress this phase has yet to be implemented. However the design includes the following steps: 1. An effort will be made to ensure that the post-intervention phase mirrors the pre-intervention phase as closely as possible. 2. The survey forms will be re-administered at the end of the second year followed by administering of an additional online survey, 3. A Student Assessment of Learning of their Gains [SALG] survey, which is a web-based instrument used to grade levels of achievement, which students perceive they have made in aspects of the class performance. 4. Semi-structured individual interviews will be conducted with key stakeholders together with a FGD with the student participants. 5. The final stage of this phase will entail asking students to write the same argumentative essay. The criteria used to assess the pre-intervention test essay will be used to score the post-intervention argumentative essay. This will provide a quantitative data to determine students’ improvement or a lack of it in their writing skills.

Data Analysis Data analysis is being done in stages. The initial stage of data management involved assigning all study participants an individual code. In the second stage, the data sets from the pre- and post-tests, questionnaires and surveys will be categorised, tabulated and then a comparative analysis will be done through running various statistical tests. This will then be followed by a content analysis (Bryman, 2004) of the qualitative data sets from the two focus group discussions and the individual interviews. In content analysis “there is an emphasis on allowing categories to emerge out of data and on recognizing the significance for understanding the meaning of the context in which an item being analyzed (and the categories derived from it) appeared" (Bryman, 2004, p. 542). Accordingly this will involve initially doing a priori coding to develop inductive categories (Mayring, 2000) and then doing a thematic analysis to identify broad themes. Final data interpretation will be done through triangulating qualitative and quantitative data sets, to determine the convergence between evidence from the multiple tools and then using content analysis as an over-arching analytic frame (Mayring, 2002) to identify the final emerging themes.

Azra Ahmed, Mirat Al Fatima Ahsan, Faiza Saleem and Rubina Sultan 165 

These themes are critical in figuring out what is “noteworthy and meaningful in the data” (Coryell & Chlup, 2007, p. 266).

Limitations/Constraints The limitation of this study is the generalisability factor in terms of the student population. However, it is in keeping with action research where the main focus is on exploring and trialling solutions. In addition, a lack of computers at the university is a known constraint. Finally, power outages create problems for students to do the tasks asynchronously; hence time slots and computers had to be booked during university time, which negates the philosophy of e-learning. However, it was and is our job to persevere, to keep on trying, to see what can be done in spite of the constraints.

Ethical Considerations All ethical protocols pertinent to the principles of autonomy, confidentiality, and protection from harm were observed. A proposal of the study was submitted to and approved by the university’s Ethics Review Committee. Both verbal and written consent were obtained from the stakeholders before the commencement of the study. Informed written consent was also taken from the participants. Participants were clearly briefed verbally and in writing about their right to refuse and withdraw from the study without explanation. Confidentiality measures to ensure anonymity of participants included assigning participants codes during the data analysis process. Care will also be taken during dissemination of the study to maintain this confidentiality by using pseudonyms for the participants.

Result and Discussion of Study Midway in the Intervention Stage In accordance with the research protocol the four tools used to get the data at the Pre-intervention and Intervention stages were: the Pre-course argumentative essay, the Attitudinal Form, the Online Survey, and the Focus Group Discussion. These have been discussed in the sequence they were administered/conducted.

166 E-learning in ELT: Potentials and Challenges in the Context of Pakistan

Pre-course Argumentative Essay Students were given a choice of topics to write an argumentative essay of approximately 400 to 500 words; marks were given for cohesion, coherence and language. In the Pre-course essay result the mean marks scored by the students were 7.5278 (37% of the total) out of 20. The highest mark scored was 13 (maximum) and the lowest 3. There is little difference between the mean and the 5% trimmed mean showing that the extreme values have not contributed to the mean and the mean is the average of all the students' marks (see Table 10.2). But the standard deviation shows that a vast majority of the participants did not score marks near the mean. The positive skewness, on the other hand, shows that the majority of the participants did poorly. Therefore most students would have scored below 7.5278, with no student attaining an exceptionally high score. When the extreme values are eliminated the range of marks is 3.38 (IQR) which is relatively low in terms of the range of marks with extreme values. The marks indicated that the participants required intensive input and practice to work on the organisation of the content, structure of the argumentative essay format as recognised internationally, and the language required to write an effective argument. Table 10.2. Summary of Mean Marks Scored on the Pre-intervention Essay No. of students

Mean (standard deviation)

Min

Max

Skewness (Std. error)

Standard Error

Kurtosis

Range

Pre Course

18

7.5 (2.37)

3

13

0.217 (0.536)

0.55

0.53

10

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At the intervention stage the participants were given access to reading material: offline and online, and they were given formative feedback to reflect on the structure of their essay writing techniques. Although it would be premature to comment on the participants’ overall improvement on their writing skills, the results of the expository essays they were taught show an improvement in their scores (see Figure 10.1).

Figure 10.1. Summary of the Mean Marks Scored on the Pre-intervention and Intervention Essays

168 E-learning in ELT: Potentials and Challenges in the Context of Pakistan

The mean scores increased to 15 in the Process Analysis essay which they appeared to have found the easiest to write. The results showed an improvement in the Compare and Contrast and Cause and Effect essays as well; though interestingly the scores show a gradual decline (see Figure 10.1). One reason for this phenomenon could be because the assessors/tutors may have subconsciously set the bar higher because of having higher expectations from the students as they progressed through the course. A comparative analysis of the evaluation criteria for the essays shows a similar pattern with each evaluation criteria becoming progressively more exacting than the last. It will be interesting to see how the participants fare by the end of the study and what their scores indicate when the argumentative essay is re-administered.

Pre-course Attitude towards Online English Language Learning Students were asked to complete a questionnaire [with 11 questions] to explore their attitude towards online English language learning, focusing on personal traits, learning styles, academic skills and attitude towards online learning and technology. Quantitative analysis of the personal traits of the 27 respondents (questions 1, 6, 7) showed that half of them welcomed new opportunities for learning. Almost half of the participants thought that they were self-motivated to learn but needed help in time management. Responses to the learning styles (questions 2, 9) indicated that the majority considered classroom discussion and face-to-face communication as extremely important. The analysis of participants’ academic skills (questions 3, 4, 8) revealed that the majority did not consider themselves to be adequately proficient in reading, writing and critical thinking skills. The participants’ attitude towards online learning/technology (question 5, 10, 11) showed that less than half could devote 5 to 10 hours per week for an online English class and an equal number said they would be able to devote less than 5 hours per week. However, only 40% had a computer, internet access and their own e-mail account at home. While almost a similar percentage had computer access but did not have accessibility to internet every day.

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Online Survey: Expectations and Needs from an Online Programme This survey form had ten questions, four of which required qualitative responses. The qualitative data analysis shows that although the participants were quite aware that the focus of the BScN III and IV courses was on developing the reading and writing skills, the students’ expectation from the online programme was to improve their speaking skills. With regard to the suitability of online learning, most participants seemed positively inclined especially because it was not time-bound. However, a few were concerned about issues relating to: using technology, power outages and their engagement in other academic assignments and the consequent time constraint. A few were anxious about the virtual class participation marks, the grading system and how it would impact their overall GPA. The quantitative data indicates that the students were not frequent users of the online environment. At the Pre-intervention stage they were most comfortable with emailing, which showed that they had little or no experience of using Web 2.0 tools. This could be the reason why they suggested having more f2f classes or a blended format. Moreover, most of them had dial-up connections, which was perhaps one reason for disruptions in connectivity issues while working online. Table 10.3. Students’ Expectations and Needs from the Online Course Description

Frequency

Percentage

2. Students used the computer twice a week 3. They had dial up/modem

16

59.3

19

70.4

4. They considered themselves average users 5. They felt most comfortable using email

21

77.8

27

100

6. They had Word processing program installed 7. They had Windows 97 installed

27

100

15

55.6

170 E-learning in ELT: Potentials and Challenges in the Context of Pakistan

Focus Group Discussion The Focus Group Discussion was conducted six weeks after the online programme commenced for BScN III. The qualitative data from the FGD can be divided into four distinct areas: the benefits as perceived by the participants, their issues with online teaching and learning, barriers they faced up to the intervention stage, and some recommendations they made. The participants’ felt that there had been an improvement in their reading and writing skills. They reported that the extensive reading involved in completing the writing assignments seemed to have enhanced their reading comprehension and vocabulary and also enabled them to write better (see Figure 10.2). In fact, a belief expressed by participants was that they would be able to improve all four skills as a result. Another benefit that was mentioned was that the online provision/availability of resources and learning material gave participants the time to reflect and respond. Tutor support and availability were also identified as being facilitative for learning. Participants also reacted positively towards using Web 2.0 tools, for example, ‘Voice Thread’ used for interactive online communication among tutors and students and student to student. Additionally, participants also reported that when they had initially started the online course they used to first check their e-mail accounts, next browse through Facebook and finally go on Moodle. However, apparently the course had impacted on them to such a degree that they had set Moodle as their home page. The participants also identified a number of issues that they had to face because of the online nature of the course. They felt that the design of the group tasks did not determine equal distribution of assigned work for each group member. That caused resentment vis-à-vis marks they received for group work. Moreover, they reported that students tend to copy paste from postings made on the discussion forums; hence no real learning takes place. Besides that they felt tutors could not monitor whether the assignments were being done by the students themselves, which was demotivating for students who actually worked hard on the online tasks themselves. The comment regarding online learning being an impediment for students with weak eye-sight had not been considered by the researchers at all. The software being used at this point in the study did not cater for special needs. However this issue was raised as a general concern rather than a specific one, hence the authenticity of this problem could not be ascertained. The most significant change suggested by the students was to increase the f2f class contact.

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A summary of the students’ views regarding online learning is presented in Table 10.4. Table 10.4. Summary of Students’ Views from the Pre-intervention/ Intervention Focus Group Discussion Benefits

Issues

Barriers

Recommendations

Improved reading and writing skills

Collaborative tasks: design, monitoring of group work, formation of groups Copy paste, edit responses posted by peers

Power outages, non-availability of internet and high-speed connectivity at home One computer per family at home, lack of computers at the university Social issues: Family’s concern: doing “assignments” or “chatting” with friends?

Tutors should develop “mechanism” to monitor effort made by group members

Availability of resources and learning materials 24/7 Had constant online teacher support

Saved time for students who were good

Learned social networking techniques

Possibility of taking help from “outside”– friends or family Sitting in front of the PC for long hours; especially for students with weak eyesight

More f2f classes – and less online

More individual tasks instead of group

Better monitoring and design of groups tasks/work

High stake evaluations should be f2f while formative assessment should be online

172 E-learning in ELT: Potentials and Challenges in the Context of Pakistan

Implications and Conclusion “The moment we invent a significant device for communication–talking, drums, papyrus…we partially reconstruct the self and its world, creating new opportunities (and new traps) for thought, perception and social experience” (Davis, as cited in Cousin, 2005).

Even though the data shared in this chapter represents the findings midway at the intervention stage, the learning has been invaluable for us as tutors and researchers. While the results of the study are promising, the size of the sample means that any interpretations of the outcomes should be seen as suggestive of trends and tendencies, rather than as conclusive evidence of relationships, especially because the study is still in progress. Bearing that in mind, there are a number of implications for thinking about student learning, teaching and further research. Much has been made of the benefits of online collaborative tasks and group work affordances (Garrison, 2005). Despite the known pedagogical advantages of collaborative learning, our online learners perceived collaborative learning activities as frustrating experiences. Clearly the design of the learning tasks/activities must impact on the design of the assessment, which seems to be a determining factor for the presence, and the quality of interactivity in online courses (Knight, 1995). In addition, the course instructor’s pedagogical framework, knowledge of online teaching and learning, andragogy (Knowles, 1984), and building students’ confidence in the assessment framework seems to be a critical factor in this process as well. Interacting effectively with others in an online setting does not come naturally; it therefore becomes imperative to help students understand how to successfully interact and learn with others in an online environment (Zygouris-Coe, 2012), especially when they are all on-campus. Finally though it is difficult to determine an optimal size for online courses, instructor-student interaction does get significantly and negatively impacted by class size (Drago & Peltier, 2004). That usually compromises the quality of teaching and learning, especially while responding to students on the discussion forums and in giving feedback to them individually. This then impacts motivation of both the tutors and students. However, as class size may not be a factor that tutors have control over, more work needs to go into developing techniques for more efficient ways of mentoring/feedback, designing group work activities, assessing written

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assignments, and in the deployment of technology in the service of online learning as it affects the educational goals and practices for learning (Macleod, 2012). In conclusion then, data analysis of the data sets collected thus far seem to endorse the potential value of using e-learning for the teaching and learning of English, especially for developing reading and writing skills in online learning contexts. However, as we continue to respond to the data and continue to tweak our design we are made increasingly aware of the need to carefully negotiate the line between e-learning being a means to enhance and contribute to our learners’ engagement with the target language and e-learning being an end in itself by virtue of it being vaunted as the current panacea of all educational ills. Moreover, a realisation that strikes home most forcibly, as we stand at this mid-way point in our journey and take stock, is that we are fortunate as practitioners to be working in a university that is progressive and encouraging of innovation. In a context such as Pakistan, where there is a tradition of passive learning (Shamim, 1996), it is extremely difficult for teachers to help students to make the transition to a less teacher-centred learning environment. Practitioners need to be prepared to face the initial resentment and resistance and move beyond that. This cannot be done without the support of the administration, and we urge all practitioners working in developing contexts to consider these factors when designing e-learning projects. On the whole though, our foray into online teaching and learning has been a very enjoyable and rewarding experience thus far and one we would recommend to others.

References Attwell, G. (2007). Personal learning environments: The future of learning? eLearning Papers, 2(1). Retrieved from www.elearningpapers.eu Bourdieu, P. (1990). Social space and symbolic power. In P. Bourdieu (Ed.), In other words: Essays towards a reflexive sociology (M. Adamson, Trans.) (pp. 123-139). Cambridge, U.K.: Polity Press. (Original work published 1987). Bryman, A. (2004). Triangulation. In M. Lewis-Beck, A. Bryman, & T. F. Liao (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. R. B. (2003). Research methods in education. London: Routledge.

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Coryell, J. E., & Chlup, D. T. (2007). Implementing e-learning components with adult English language learners; vital factors and lessons learned. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 20(3), 263278. Cousin, G. (2005). Learning from cyberspace. In R. Land & S. Bayne (Eds), Education in cyberspace (pp. 117-129). London: Routledge Falmer. Creswell, J. W. (2005). Educational research: Planning, conducting and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Columbus, OH: Pearson. Dracopoulos, E. (2003). E-learning ESL: Bringing the world together. In T. Varis, T Utsumi & W.R. Klemm (Eds), Global peace through the global university system. Retrieved from http://www.friendspartners.org/utsumi/Global_University/Global%20University%20S...... Drago, W & Peltier, J. (2004). The effects of class size on effectiveness of online courses. Management Research News, 27(10), 27 – 41. Retrieved from http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/01409170410784310 Ebbutt, D. (1985) Educational action research: Some general concerns and specific quibbles. In R. Burgess (Ed.), Issues in Educational research: Qualitative methods. Lewes: Falmer. Esch, E. (2009). English and empowerment: Potential, issues, way forward. In N. Hussain, A. Ahmed & M. Zafar (Eds.), English and empowerment in the developing world (pp 2-26). London: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Garrison, D. R., (2005). Learning collaboration principles. Sloan-C Summer Workshop. Victoria, BC, Canada. Hughes, A. (2009). Higher education in a Web 2.0 world. Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/documents/heweb2.aspx Isani, U. A. G., Virk, M. L. (2003). Higher education in Pakistan: A historical futuristic perspective. Islamabad: Roohani Art Process. Kemmis, S., & McTaggart, R. (1982). The action research planner. Victoria: Deakin University Press. Knight, P. (1995). Assessment for learning in Higher Education. London: Kogan Page. Knowles, M. (1984). Andragogy in action. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Krashen, S. (1981). Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. Oxford: Pergamon Press.

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Macleod, H (2012). Position Paper on Distributed Cognition. Understanding learning in the Online Environment. Masters Programme in E-Learning, The University of Edinburgh. Mansoor, S. (2003). The medium of instruction dilemma: Implications for language planning in higher education. In S. Mansoor, S. Meraj & A.Tahir (Eds.), Language planning, policy and practice: A South Asian Perspective (pp. 8-24). Karachi, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Mayring, P. (2002). Qualitative content analysis - research instrument or mode of interpretation? In M. Kriegelmann (Ed), The role of the researcher in qualitative psychology, (pp 139-148). Huber, Tubingen. Ministry of Education. (2004). Taking the next step: The interim tertiary elearning framework. Retrieved from http://www.wlearn.govt.nz Mills, G. E. (2003). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall. Ministry of Education. (2006). Enabling the 21st century learner: An elearning action plan for schools 2006-2010. Retrieved from www.digitalstrategy.govt.nz Nichols, M. (2003). A theory of e-learning. International Forum of Educational Technology & Society (IFETS). Retrieved 2009, from http://ifets.ieee.org/discussions/discuss_march2003.html O'Brien, R. (2001). An overview of the methodological approach of action research. In R. Richardson (Ed.), Theory and practice of action research. Retrieved from http://www.web.ca/~robrien/papers/arfinal.html Pennycook, A. (1994). The cultural politics of English as an international language. Essex: Longman. Pulchino, J. (2006). Future directions in e-learning research: Report 20006. The Learning Guild. Retrieved from http://www.eLearningGuild.com Rahman, T. (2003). English teaching institutions in Pakistan. In S. Mansoor, S. Meraj, A. Tahir (Eds.), Language policy planning and practice: A South Asian perspective (pp. 44-52). Karachi: Oxford University Press. Richards, J. (2006). Forty years of language teaching. Language Teaching, 40(1), 1-15. Richards, J. C., & Nunan, D. (1990). Second language teacher education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Shamim, F. (1996). Learner resistance to innovation in classroom methodology. In H. Coleman, Society and the language classroom (pp. 105- 121). New York: Cambridge University Press.

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Woods, D. (1996). Teacher cognition in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Zygouris-Coe, V. (2012). Collaborative learning in an online teacher education course: Lessons learned. ICICTE 2012Proceedings (pp. 332342). Retrieved from http://www.icicte.org/Proceedings2012/Papers/08-4-Zygouris-Coe.pdf



CHAPTER ELEVEN ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT IN GOVERNMENT MIDDLE SCHOOLS IN PAKISTAN ISBAH MUSTAFA

Abstract The paper looks into the English language learning environment in government middle schools (Grade VI, VII and VIII) in Pakistan. A study done in 375 such schools investigated the use of textbooks in the classroom, classroom assessment, student interactions in the class and promotion examinations. The study found that textbooks and promotion examinations did not offer room for critical thinking; the classroom assessment was not used formatively; the use of meta-cognitive skills was not encouraged; and the teachers and exam paper setters were reluctant to trust students to make academic decisions and think critically. This resulted in the environment not being conducive to learning. The study recommends investment in classroom practices, in having multiple learning resources and in the middle school promotion examinations which would ultimately improve the English language learning environment in these schools. Keywords: English as a Foreign Language, learning environment, government middle schools, promotion exams, meaningful learning, classroom assessment, textbook.

Introduction English is a skills based subject. Therefore, knowledge of the rules governing the language as well as the practice of those rules is required to develop proficiency. To arrive there a stimulating learning environment

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Government Middle Schools in Pakistan

becomes more important for learning of the English language as compared to one in content-based subjects. English is taught as a foreign language (EFL) in countries like Pakistan where it is not a primary language. As students do not have much exposure to native speakers of English, the classroom becomes the most important and often the only point of access to English for these students (Wu, 2008). Thus, this study focused on the English language learning environment because (a) English is a skills-based subject, (b) English is taught as a Foreign Language in government middle schools in Pakistan, and (c) the context of the study was a developing country. According to Smith (as cited in Wu, 2008b), the learning environment of schools in developing countries is a far better predictor of the students’ academic achievement than is their socioeconomic status. The focus of the study was on government middle schools (Grades VI, VII and VIII). The environment in these schools differs from that in the private schools both in the characteristics of the learners and in the learning environment in the schools. The students in private schools usually come from more affluent economic backgrounds and they converse in either fluent English or in Urdu and English with frequent code switching. Their recreational places such as the cinema, theme parks and sports clubs offer exposure to informal English (Mustafa, 2011). Private schools in Pakistan typically use English as the medium of instruction and the medium of interaction (Ali & Babar, 2010). These schools offer English as a second language (ESL) as opposed to EFL. On the other hand, the students in government schools generally come from a lower economic bracket (Rahman, 2004b). In Pakistan the level of education of an individual is directly proportional to his socioeconomic status (The World Bank, 2007). Therefore, parents of very few of these students are proficient in the English language. The government schools use either a local language or the national language as the medium of instruction, even in the English classroom (Mustafa, 2012) where it is taught as a foreign language (Rahman, 2004). As a result, exposure to the English language inside and outside the classroom in government schools is limited. Because of such a learning environment, students of government schools tend to face real-life challenges once they graduate from schools especially because “English is the medium of instruction at higher levels of

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179

education”, and because “the job market welcomes workers with good communication skills in English” (Mansoor, 2004, p.66). These real life challenges can be tackled more effectively if the schools are able to work on the learning outcomes, which are naturally influenced by the learning process, while the process is affected by the learners’ personal characteristics and the learning conditions (Stern, 1983). The study therefore focused on the latter.

Literature Review Exploring the Process of Learning The study used Bloom’s Taxonomy of educational objectives to explain the learning process as this taxonomy is considered the first classification system of educational objectives (De Kock, Sledges & Voeten, 2004). It explains the cognitive processes learners were engaged in while working on a task (Reddy, 2008). In Bloom’s taxonomy, knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation are categories of learning skills. Recall, which falls under the knowledge category, does not involve creativity nor does it require a personal contribution by the learner. The study will later discuss the stress on recall, also referred to as remembering and retention, with reference to teaching and assessment in the government middle schools. When learners understand and/or apply knowledge, or solve a problem then it is believed that they are actively engaged; they can generally contextualise the information and benefit from it as well (Bloom, 1956). Using Bloom’s Taxonomy, the study categorises the cognitive processes involved in learning in two major streams. The first is remembering and retention and it is restricted to the knowledge domain (Nasser, 2011). For the sake of convenience, the study will refer to remembering and retention as rote learning. The second major stream includes the comprehension of knowledge, its alignment with the surroundings and its use for problem solving. The study will refer to this phenomenon as meaningful learning. The issue arises when a learning environment considers the learning journey to be complete at the rote learning milestone or ignores the building blocks required for comprehension and application of knowledge. An example of rote learning was identified in the EFL classes in China in the 1990s. The result was that the students were unable to communicate effectively with native speakers of English (Rao, 1996).

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Components of a Learning Environment A White Paper on Education in Pakistan identifies five pillars of the education system: the textbook, the teachers, the curriculum, assessment and the physical environment (Hassan, 2008). The same pillars compose the learning environment in schools as well. However, this paper will focus on the first four of these components of education. The reason for not including physical environment is because although I did investigate that aspect, no significant impact was visible in the study. In Pakistan teaching and assessment are based purely on the prescribed textbooks (Hassan, 2007). It is generally held that the textbook is the master rather than a tool in the government school classrooms. The study I conducted checked the validity of this statement, especially in light of these books containing pedagogical, conceptual and printing errors (Mansoor, 2004). The study also analysed whether the English textbooks used in the schools contributed in offering meaningful EFL learning to the students. By investigating the classroom practices, the textbooks and the promotion examinations the study attempted to explore the learning environment in government middle schools in terms of their support towards meaningful EFL learning. Teachers are one of the important components of the learning environment in schools. Improvement in the students’ learning relies on improved instruction (Barber & Mourshed, 2007). The combination of teacher’s intention to improve student-learning and the selection of the right strategy sets the ground to motivate learners toward meaningful learning (Trigwell, 1991). Therefore, the teacher’s role becomes more significant in a teachercentred learning environment where s/he decides what should be studied in the class and how. This teacher-centred classroom environment is common in most government schools in Pakistan; hence, the teacher was identified by the parents as the most important determinant of student achievement in those schools (Anderabi et al., 2008). Assessment has a significant impact on learning as well (Gavin, 2008)– “what gets tested is what gets learnt, and how much it is tested determines how it is learnt”’ (Barber & Mourshed, 2007, p.65). Teachers assess students every day in their classrooms. This is commonly referred to as continuous assessment, classroom assessment or formative assessment. The purpose of continuous assessment is to ensure and assist learning as it helps in re-strategising the teaching and learning (OECD, 2005). Formative

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assessment responds to students’ work or assignments with the aim of giving feedback in order to help them improve their learning (Sadler, 1989). According to these two definitions a classroom without feedback and re-strategising does not offer formative or continuous assessment. The study later traces these two elements in classroom assessment in government middle schools. Shafa (2010) reports that the parents of children studying in government schools in Pakistan are generally less interested in their offsprings’ education. As a result, parent-teacher meetings and frequent assessments and reporting are not very common in these schools. The student performance report in promotion examinations becomes the major source of information for these parents. These examinations provide the most visible evidence of success to the students as well. For these two reasons, the promotion examinations are high stakes for the students.

Methodology Data for the Study The study used the data from 10 government schools from less developed districts in Sindh (one of the four provinces in Pakistan). Eleven districts each in Sindh and Balochistan were selected in the EDLINKS Project by USAID (2007-2012) as they lagged behind the other districts of these two provinces in education. However data could only be collected from 10 districts because of certain administrative reasons. The following data sets were used in the study: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Student achievement data from the English examinations in middle school promotion examinations in 2010 Classroom processes with a focus on students’ involvement, beyond textbook discussions and the questioning behaviour of 307 classrooms Sixty examination papers, used in 2008 and 2010 in the middle school promotion examinations in the 10 districts of Sindh The textbook prescribed for government middle schools in Sindh

The classroom environment data was collected from January to March, 2010. This was done by 10 field staff of the EDLINKS Project. The student scripts in the promotion examinations were marked by the teachers at centralised marking centres in their districts and the data was processed at the Aga Khan University-Examination Board (AKU-EB). The textbook

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analysis was done by the author, who is a linguist. The analysis was then reviewed by another linguist. Data cleaning involved the following measures: 1.

2.

3.

Initially English scores of some 90,025 students, who took the promotion examinations in 2010 from 375 schools, were examined. The number of students dropped to 72,026 after data cleaning. The data was cleaned for mismatch in the bar codes on the students’ score record sheets with those of the school codes. The study started reviewing data from 386 schools. Out of that initial list, bar codes of students from 11 schools did not match hence they were not included. In 237 schools, the classroom observations and student scores in the promotion examinations came from the same classrooms so they were used to correlate different factors of a learning environment and student performance in the promotion examinations. Classroom processes were captured in 386 classrooms in the 10 districts, which reduced to 307 after selection of the classrooms where the students’ scores in the promotion examinations were available.

Data Analysis The activities in the textbooks were categorised into either meaningful or rote learning practices. The meaningful activities were those which offered students room to combine different pieces of information and develop a response, express an observation, use their imagination, extend the given information or form an opinion. The rote learning activities required selective recall, and/or rewriting or rehearsing a particular piece of text. The reading texts, instructions and the structure of the units in the textbook were also evaluated. To understand the quality of the text book, the study made qualitative and quantitative comparisons with two textbooks used in Pakistan to teach English to students in the same grades. Classroom observations assisted in portraying how the textbooks were used, how the teachers gave instructions and what their interaction was like with the students. To evaluate the question papers, the author first used Bloom’s Taxonomy to categorise the questions. The command words in the questions were taken as indicators of the category. The author discovered that even the essay questions, under the application domain, had a repetitive pattern,

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which therefore required a model response from the students rather than expecting any creativity from them. Although there were reading comprehension questions with command words at the understanding level, the requirement from the students was merely to do a selective recall of a particular text from the prescribed textbook. This showed that there was a clash between the learning process indicated by the command word and the one needed to rewrite a piece of text. This dilemma in deciding the desired mental processes is well established by Bloom (1956) and Jolliffe, (2006). Realising this challenge, the reviewer recommended abandoning Bloom’s Taxonomy to classify the questions. Instead he suggested that the questions should be characterised as: new learning, requires model response, question copied from the textbook, response from a particular text from the textbook, question with items from multiple places in the textbook (Table 10). Except for the first category, all the questions fell within the rote learning domain as they merely demanded selective recall. Using figures, percentages, averages and ratios the study investigated the examination papers as well. Students’ performance on those papers was analysed through the use of descriptives. To maintain objectivity three measures were taken. First, the categories of rote and meaningful activities in the prescribed textbook used to teach English were defined and reviewed and the book was compared with other textbooks used in Pakistan with students in the same grades. Second, item classification of the promotion examination papers was reviewed to minimise errors in the assignment of the cognitive demand of each item and question. Third, the internal consistency and reliability of the 2010 examination was calculated using Cronbach Alpha. The reliability was found to be 0.80 and above in all but one of the 30 English tests. The reliability was within the acceptable range for decisions on individual students (Table 1).

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Table 1. Reliability of Marking of English Scripts in 2010 Middle School Promotion Exams District

Grade VI

Grade VII

Grade VIII

Dadu

0.85

0.83

0.83

Jacobabad

0.82

0.81

0.83

Jamshoro

0.87

0.86

0.83

Kashmore

0.84

0.75

0.82

Shikarpur

0.9

0.86

0.87

SBA

0.86

0.87

0.83

Tharparkar

0.92

0.84

0.9

MirpurKhas

0.85

0.87

0.84

Sanghar

0.95

0.94

0.93

Sukkur

0.95

0.92

0.93

Source: Student score data 2010 middle school promotion examinations

In 307 classrooms in the 237 schools (out of 375 schools initially selected) in the sample both the students’ results and the classroom observations were available. Thus they were used in the study. To be sure about the representativeness of the sample of the 307 classrooms, the study used the t-test. The difference between the control group (the group whose classes were not observed by the field officer) and the treatment group of the 307 classes (the group whose classroom observation data existed) was not significant (Table 2). The equal variance existed at 99% confidence level. It is therefore safe to assume that achievement-related aspects of the classroom environment were applicable to the entire population. Table 2. Representativeness of the Sample Grade

School Group

N

VI

Control Group Treatment Group Control Group Treatment Group Control Group

Treatment Group

VII VIII

7978 19399 6049 17160 5493

Mean score 38.67 39.55 36.83 37.81 40.05

Std. Deviation 22.581 23.74 20.195 22.024 20.944

15944

43.69

22.909

Not significant Not significant Not significant

Source: Student score data of 2010 middle school promotion examinations

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Limitation of the Study Teachers in government schools have permanent jobs and their promotions are linked to their seniority [not their performance] and the prescribed textbook is the master in the classroom. These two factors distinguish government schools from most private schools in Pakistan. As a result, the findings in this study cannot be generalised to private schools. The study used secondary data which was collected in the EDLINKS Project. The author was managing the interventions in the assessment component of that Project but did not collect the data specifically for this study. For this reason, the information about the classrooms is assessmentdriven. The study did not investigate the internal characteristics of the students in the government middle schools. The students belonged to lower to middle income economic backgrounds. It is assumed that families from this economic bracket are generally conservative and religious (Mirza, as cited in Rahman, 2004b). And as rote learning is one of the strategies used to memorise verses from the Holy Quran, which is taught to Muslim children, the government schools follow the religious school pattern of chorus, repetition and mnemonics (Rahman, 2004b). These two factors, which have not been covered in the study, might play a role in the orientation of the teachers and the students of the government schools in relation to rotememorising texts/learning material.

Results The first investigation was about the textbook, Everyday English, a textbook series prescribed by the Sindh textbook Board for the government middle schools in the province. The Everyday English series was compared to Stepping Forward 1 and Oxford Progressive English 6, two books recommended for Grade VI by the Aga Khan University Examination Board (the only university examination board in Pakistan). Everyday English is printed by a private publisher; while Stepping Forward is printed by a publisher in Singapore and Oxford Progressive English 6 by a publishing house in Pakistan. Typically in a textbook the number of pages in a unit indicates the level of elaboration given to a particular topic. More space generally means more activities would be designed around the topic and often would have longer

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reading texts. Everyday English has units built around themes and each unit is divided into lessons. The length of a lesson is approximately 3-4 pages (Table 3). On the other hand, Stepping Forward is divided into 16 theme based units, with approximately 19 pages to elaborate each theme. While in Oxford Progressive English the length of a unit is around 25 pages. Table 3. Textbook Description Gra de VI

Page

Unit

Lesson

Activity 171

Activity/ Page 2.3

Meaningful Activity per page 1.2

75

12

26

VII

83

13

25

177

2.1

1.2

VIII

82

12

23

170

2.1

1.3

Source: Everyday English for Grades VI, VII and VIII

Often two activities appear on an A3 page in Everyday English. The activities have brief instructions and they lack elaboration. The other two books offer definitions and examples, especially for grammar and text types. The instructions in Everyday English for Grade VI students are not to a single addressee–they shift between direct speech and the third person narrative. For instance the instruction says: a. in description form; ‘Two students act as father and Saad. They read out the following dialogue:’ Activity 7.2.2, page 42. b. addressed to the students; ‘Practice the given conversation with your teacher;’ Activity 7.2.3, page 42. c. only describes the role of the teacher; ‘Teacher asks the students to listen to him/her and read out their part.’ Activity 7.2.6 page 43. The same confusion continues in the titles given to the activities. They don’t match the target language skill in those activities. Activity 9.3.5 on page 56 in the Grade VI book is about changing the form of the verb; the title reads: Read and Write. The next activity is about word families and the title reads: Read, Think and Write. Another activity is about arranging jumbled letters to form a word and the title reads: Read and Write. In Everyday English one lesson contains one text for either reading or speaking practice. Table 4 reflects the stress on dialogue in this series. In contrast, both Stepping Forward and Oxford Progressive English offer a

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variety of text types including newspaper reports, articles, letters, biographies, brochures and literary texts. This variety is missing in Everyday English. Table 4. Text Type in the Textbook Grade

Text type Dialogue

Poem

Descriptive text

Other

VI

24

2

0

0

VII

22

2

1

0

VIII

16

2

3

2

Total

62

6

4

2

% of total texts

84

8

6

2

Source: Everyday English for Grade VI, VII, VIII

In the Everyday English series more than half of the activities require rote learning. The ratio of meaningful activities was the highest in the writing exercises. Most of the listening/speaking activities used drill exercises (Table 5). The second investigation was about the classroom processes. The study attempted to capture interactions between the teachers and students, and among the students and the material used in the classroom. The investigation revealed that the teachers and the learners were restricted to the textbook in one third of the classrooms and both referred to any other material or the real life in only 4% of the classrooms. In 13% of the classes questioning was not part of classroom processes. In addition, the concept of assessment did not exist in one third of the classrooms (Table 6).

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Government Middle Schools in Pakistan

Table 5. Meaningful Learning Offered in the Textbook Grade VIII

40

114

42

64

20

42

31

22

18

128

23

Reading

49

41

66

32

72

26

187

32

Writing

29

76

24

100

34

94

87

90

No language skill identified Total

0

NA

2

NA

0

NA

2

NA

171

44

177

33

170

45

516

41

ML Activities as % of total

42

Activities

47

ML Activities as % of total

43

Activities

38

Lexical and formal aspects of language Listening/ Speaking

ML Activities as % of total

29

Activities

ML Activities as % of total

Grade VII

Total

Grade VI

Source: Everyday English for Grades VI, VII and VIII

In the rest of the classrooms, questions were frequently asked but the teachers did not give adequate response time to students to formulate their answers (Table 7). Half of the teachers did not check if their points had been understood by the students (Table 8). This indicates that the students did not have a say in what and how they learn or learned.





 



Source: Classroom observation records



 NA

3

4

 

 







0

 

Frequency

Percent

Frequency

1

NA

NA

4

2

The students get a chance to describe personal experiences

The checking of work involves peer assisted assessment or self assessment

3

Cumulative Percent

The teacher gives elaborations beyond the textbook

The teacher focuses on a selected group of learners

2

NA

 







 







Percent



  

  



Cumulative Percent

Frequency Table (n: 307 classrooms)

The lesson is introduced with reference to textbook or previous lesson

The teacher checks for understanding of the topic

Indicators of positive behaviour

Beyond Textbook Discussion

1

Student Involvement

Table 6. Frequency Table of Positive Classroom Behaviour

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Percent



 





Frequency



 

 



 

Cumulative Percent

The teacher gives explanatory comments

The teacher gives adequate response time

The teacher asks open-ended question

The teachers asks more than two questions

Questioning Behaviour

189

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Government Middle Schools in Pakistan

Table 7. Questioning Behaviour of the Teacher Observation

Yes (in %)

The teacher asks more than two questions

77

The teacher asks open-ended question

57

The teacher gives adequate response time

38

The teacher gives explanatory comments

37

Source: 307 Classroom observation records

Table 8. Student Participation in the Classroom Processes Observation

Yes (in %)

The teacher checks for understanding of the topic

51

The teacher focuses on a selected group of learners

21

The checking of work involves a. Student self-assessment

9

b. Peer-assisted assessment

18

c. Teacher doing the assessment

72

Source: 307 Classroom observation records

In the majority of cases the lessons started with a reference to the textbook and less than half managed a real life reference during the lesson. Teacher-led practice was followed by the students and in even fewer classes the students associated classroom learning to their real life. Thus the association was missing in two thirds of the classes (Table 9). Table 9. Discussion beyond the Textbook Observation

Yes (in %)

The introduction of lesson is with reference to textbook or previous lesson The teacher gives elaborations beyond the textbook

72

The students get a chance to describe personal experiences

35

41

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The third investigation was about the question papers used in the promotion examinations. The study analysed the question papers for their capacity to offer meaningful learning. Three fourths of the questions in the papers required recalling of information (Table 10). Table 10. Meaningful and Rote Learning in English Paper in 2008 & 2010 Middle School Promotion Examinations Question Level

Marks In each Grade

% of Total Marks

VI

VII

VIII

Meaningful Learning (new learning)

336

323

500

23%

Rote Learning (question from the textbook , requires model response, items from multiple places in the textbook, response from a particular text from the textbook)

1385

1294

1262

77%

Total

1721

1617

1762

100%

Source: 2008, 2010 Middle School Promotion Examination Papers of English

New learning was limited and half of the marks given were for questions using the Grammar-Translation method (Table 11). Table 11. Percentage of Translation in English Examination Papers Question Level

Marks in each Grade

Marks

VI

VII

VIII

Total

Meaningful learning (new learning)

336

323

495

1154

% of Translation in New Learning

185

149

185

519

Source: 2008, 2010 Middle School Promotion Examination Papers of English

Most of the reading comprehension questions were copied from the textbook (Table 12). The formal/lexical questions included grammar and vocabulary questions. The grammar and vocabulary items were few, repeated frequently and were common across the districts, grades and academic years. A translation question in the examination paper was common across the grades and districts. The writing skill was tested

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Government Middle Schools in Pakistan

through paragraph writing and letter writing. Each of these questions usually carried marks within the range of 7-15 marks. Table 12. Skill-wise distribution of Question Type Question Level

Marks In each Grade Not defined

Writing

Reading

Formal/lexic al aspects of Language

Meaningful Learning (new learning)

855

32

85

0

Requires a model response

838

56

761

2

Question copied from the textbook

322

861

2

5

Items from multiple places in the textbook

419

165

113

17

Response from a particular text from the textbook

40

330

10

0

2474

1444

971

24

Total

Source: 2008, 2010 Middle School Promotion Examination Papers of English

In the examinations, the students were asked to write a paragraph on one of the three to four given choices that covered around 40 topics. The question appeared in 50 out of 60 English examinations. This question did not invite creativity in the students’ writing because of three features. The first feature was the repetition of topics in the middle school grades and academic years. In 2008 and 2010 a topic appeared 15 times in the same grade and in the same district. There were 20 instances when a topic appeared in the English paper of two grades in the same year in a particular district. The second feature was the frequency of using certain topics. The cow, Our school and My best friend are the most frequently used topics, which appeared 27, 20 and 16 times in the examinations, respectively. In 40 out of the 50 examinations one of these topics was given as an option.

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The third feature of the writing section of the examination paper was that of selecting topics from the textbook. Fifteen out of the 40 topics were also titles of the reading texts in the textbook. The ten papers which did not contain any one of the three favourite topics used one of the reading text titles as the topic for writing the paragraph. The second question in this section related to letter writing. This appeared in 43 out of the 60 examination papers analysed. Thirty-four times in the 43 papers the topic given was ‘a leave application to the Headmaster’. This question appeared in all but one of the papers developed for Grade VII students. The response to such a letter in 80% of the papers could have been written simply by memorising the content for that one topic. This illustrates that the responses to the questions in the writing section could be answered by rote memorisation of four selected texts: the cow, our school, my best friend and the leave application to the head teacher. Table 13 shows the overall performance of the students in the English promotion examinations in 2010. More than one third of the students failed. The result was not very different from that of Math and Science (Farooqui, Mustafa & Christie, 2012). Table 13. Student Performance in Middle School Promotion Exams Grade

N

% Pass

% fail

Mean

Std. Deviation

Skewness

VI

27378

58.1

41.9

39.29

23.41

.33

VII

23210

58.5

41.5

37.55

21.57

.33

VIII

21438

66.4

33.6

42.76

22.48

.18

Source: Students’ scores in Middle School Promotion Exams 2010

Discussion The findings indicate that there was a lot of emphasis on the textbook in the teaching and in the assessment (Table 9 & 10). The study also reveals the limitation of the textbook in terms of it not offering a variety of English language usage (Table 4). Flaws in giving incorrect titles to the activities, confusion in the addressees and insufficient instructions must have had a negative influence on the students’ understanding of the tasks. It is therefore

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Government Middle Schools in Pakistan

apparent that the EFL teaching world in this particular context is limited to textbooks and those textbooks offer limited learning opportunities. Most of the exercises in the textbook used offered rote memorisation of the content which was burdensome for the students and offered little support towards developing their language skills. In fact it demanded mechanical responses from them and provided little opportunity to express themselves. Thus feelings of progression, expression and pride were ignored. The few activities in the textbook which were meaningful, especially in the writing section, usually did not appear in the annual examinations. Hence in an assessment driven environment they are of little significance for the students. The promotion examinations were traditional in terms of the language skills they tested and in terms of their encouragement of rote learning instead of critical thinking and creativity. Three fourths of the total marks of the question papers could be gained through rote learning. Fifty percent of the questions assessing new learning were testing translation skills. These questions were remnants of the Grammar-Translation Approach to ELT which requires students to understand in one language and to produce in another. That technique has been discarded in the modern ELT world. Interestingly translation activities did not exist in the textbook but the papers managed to keep the primitive approach alive in those schools. As the questions in the writing section could be answered by memorisation of four pieces of text, it nullified the effort made in the textbook for some sort of creativity and contextualisation by the students. Because the reading comprehension questions did not include a reading text in the 2008 promotion examination paper, in 2010, the EDLINKS Project recommended the use of reading texts to the paper setters. The paper setters responded by using two reading texts from the textbook which offered post reading questions. The same questions were retained in the paper as well. This response of the paper setters reflects their lack of confidence in the students’ ability to comprehend, while the repetition of the topics in the writing questions showed their lack of confidence in students’ ability to write creatively. The English tests examined in the study required rote learning. To prepare the students for those examinations, the teachers needed to convey knowledge instead of engaging students in a dialogue. Also, rote memorisation is a simpler process than understanding and application.

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Consequently, the teachers did not feel the need to check if their students had understood the topic (Table 8). The classroom procedure perpetuated by the promotion examination required an authoritative role of the teacher. That role was confirmed in the classroom observation (Table 8). In such a scenario there is little space for student independence. Collaborative learning has been found to be an effective technique in trying to improve students’ learning as it provides them a chance to share mistakes, rectify them, and to arrive at answers collectively (Black, 2003). Like peer assessment, self-assessment is an effective tool to improve learning. Self-assessment involves active participation of the learners, which develops critical thinking and understanding of their own learning (Dann, 2002). Students in less than one fourth of the classrooms were offered such opportunities through self and peer assessment. This again showed a lack of confidence on the part of the teachers to allow students to make decisions about achievement and performance. Assessment in the classrooms is generally designed to help learners learn how to learn. That can be done if the teachers give sufficient time to the students to respond. The students are supposed to use that time to understand the task, link the information, create logical connections, form judgments, and prepare a response. Sixty-two percent of the teachers in the study did not offer that facility (Table 7). Hence, the important role of formative assessments to develop meta-cognitive skills was missing. The examination papers also did not demand planning and drafting of a response; most of the questions could have been answered by using the recall method. An OECD report identifies the following three components with regard to having formative assessment in the classrooms; a. Frequent interactive assessments b. Teacher identifying learning needs c. Teacher adjusting the teaching accordingly (OECD, 2005) The first component was partially present in most of the classrooms as the teachers did ask some questions (Table 7). Fifty percent of the teachers included the second component in their teaching practices (Table 8). However, in very few classrooms were all the three components of formative assessment present where the teacher started with questioning and reached the adjustment stage in their teaching (Table 6).

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Government Middle Schools in Pakistan

Conclusion and Recommendations The study reported that the use of meta-cognitive skills was neither encouraged by the teaching nor through the assessments. Teachers and the paper setters had little confidence in the students’ ability to gain from activities that required meaningful learning. Classroom assessment was common but was not used formatively. As a result, although the students responded to a lot of questions given in the examination papers, the textbook and those asked by their teachers, they were unable to use this technique to develop their English language skills. As mentioned in the introduction, there are certain challenges students face because of their lack of proficiency in the English language, especially when they want to apply for higher education and in the job market. The findings in the study suggest that the government middle schools did not prepare the students for those challenges. It also confirms that the contribution of the textbooks to the teaching, assessment and to learning was unmatched by any other learning or teaching resource. It was also found that although the teachers employed assessment in the classroom, they had little expertise in using it as a tool to enhance meaningful learning. It seems that guidance to the EFL teachers in classroom assessment could make a huge difference in the students’ performance. The policy of using a single textbook in class seemed to hinder learning as the teachers and the paper setters restricted themselves to the book. The study recommends the use of multiple learning resources in the classroom; a practice common not only across the ELT and EFL teaching world, but now also prevalent in private schools affiliated with AKU-EB, so a local example is also available. Clearly, efforts to improve classroom assessment and to encourage linking of learning with real life cannot be fruitful unless the promotion examinations are also improved. Realising their strong backwash effect, the study recommends setting promotion examinations as the first target for change. Acknowledgement: I am grateful to Dr Thomas Christie, Director-Aga Khan University Examination Board, for his review and valuable input in

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the paper. The data used in the study was gathered by the Aga Khan University Examination Board in the USAID funded EDLINKS Project.

References Andrabi, T., Das, J., Khwaja, A. I., Vishwanath, T., & Zajonc, T. (2008). Pakistan: Learning and educational achievements in Punjab schools (LEAPS): Insights to inform the education policy debate. The World Bank. Retrieved from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/ PAKISTAN EXTN/Resources/Publications-and-Reports/367132-1208398596098/ 2008LEAPS.pdf Barber, M., & Mourshed, M. (2007) How the world’s best performing school systems come out on top. New York: McKensey and Company. Black, P., Harrison, C. Marshell, B., & William, D. (2003). Assessment for learning putting it into practice. Poland: Open University Press. Bloom, B. S. S. (Ed.) (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives; the classification of educational goals. Retrieved from http://www.similima.com/books/taxonomy-edu-objectives.pdf Brown, G. T. L., & Hirschfeld, G. H. F. (2008). Students conceptions of assessment: Links to outcomes. Journal of Assessment in Education Principles Policy and Practice, 15(1), 3-18. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09695940701876003 Dann, R. (2002). Pupil self assessment: A case study. In R. Dann (Ed.), Promoting assessment as learning (pp.73-110). Routledge Falmer. Retrieved from http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=L0CEPE9uja 8C&pg=PA73&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false De, Kock., Slegers, P., & Voeten, J. M. (2004) New learning and the classification of learning environment in secondary education. Review of Educational Research, 74, 141-170. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3516054 Farooqui, T., Mustafa, I., & Christie, T. (2012). Outliers in educational achievement data: Their potential for the improvement of performance. Lahore: 9th International Conference on Statistical Sciences by National College of Business Administration and Economics and Islamic Countries Society of Statistical Sciences. Hassan, A. H. (2007). Green paper national education policy review. Islamabad: Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan. Retrieved from http://planipolis.iiep.unesco.org/upload/Pakistan/Pakistan%20 Education%20Green%20Papers.pdf —. (2008). Education in Pakistan: A white paper. Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan. Retrieved from

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http://planipolis.iiep.unesco.org/upload/Pakistan/Pakistan%20National %20Education%20Policy%20Review%20WhitePaper.pdf Jolliffe, F., & Ponsford, R. A. (2006). Classification and comparison of mathematics examinations: Methods based on Bloom's taxonomy. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 20(5), 677-688. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/ doi/pdf/10.1080/0020739890200505 Klein, F. M. (1972) Reviewed use of taxonomy of educational objectives (Cognitive Domain) in constructing tests for primary school pupils. The Journal of Experimental Education, 40(3),38-50 Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/20157277.pdf Mansoor, S. (2004) The medium of instruction dilemma: Implications for language planning in higher education. In S. Mansoor, S. Meraj & A. Tahir (Eds.), Language policy, planning and practice: A south Asian perspective (pp. 53-78). Karachi: The Aga Khan University and Oxford University Press. Mustafa, I. (2011). Does space matter? Equity in English listening examinations. In A. Ahmed, G. Cane & M. Hanzala (Eds.), Teaching English in multilingual contexts: Current challenges, future directions (pp. 153-168). Karachi: Cambridge Scholars Press. —. (2012). EDIP Baseline II Analysis Report. EB-0003-AR-AKF. Karachi: The Aga Khan University Examination Board. Nasser, R., & Ahmad, O. (2011) A survey on Iranian EFL learners' beliefs on the role of rote memorization in learning vocabulary and its effect on vocabulary achievement. Journal of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics 15.1 pp. 139-161. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=785f7caf29bd-4482-b8d3-ccb7f54d7558%40sessionmgr13&vid=1&hid=18 OECD. (2005). Formative assessment: Improving learning in secondary classrooms. Centre of Educational Research and Innovation: OECD Publication. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/ 34/63/ 33989414.pdf Rahman, T. (2004) English teaching institutions in Pakistan. In S. Mansoor, S. Meraj & A. Tahir (Eds.), Language policy, planning and practice: A south Asian perspective (pp.27-52). Karachi: The Aga Khan University and Oxford University Press. —. (2004b) Denizens of alien worlds. A study of education, inequality and polarization in Pakistan. Karachi: Oxford University Press. Rao, Z. (1996) Reconciling communicative approaches to the teaching of English with traditional Chinese methods. Research in the Teaching of

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English, 30(4), 458-469. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/ stable/ 40171552 Reddy, R. (2005). The assessment of instructional objectives in secondary school education and examination board. Retrieved from http://www.azimpremjifoundation.org/pdf/SecondaryExamsTotalreport .pdf Sadler, D. R. (1989) Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems. Instructional Science, 18, 119-144. Retrieved from http://www.springerlink.com/content/x7l185036h762m45/fulltext.pdf Shafa, M.D. (2010) Challenges of school improvement: A study of a head teacher from the northern areas of Pakistan. In J. A. Khaki & Q. Safdar (Eds.), Educational leadership in Pakistan (pp. 80-103). Karachi: Oxford University Press. Stern, H. (1983) Fundamental concepts of language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Trigwell, K., & Prosser, M. (1991) Improving the quality of student learning: The influence of learning context and student approaches to learning on learning outcomes. Higher Education, 22(3), 251-266. Retrieved from http:// www.jestore.org/stable/3447175 The World Bank. (2007). First Sindh education sector development policy credit. Report No. 38709-PK. Retrieved from http://www-wds. worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2007/05 /17/000020953_20070517085648/Rendered/PDF/38709.pdf Wu, W. (2011) Criteria for establishing an authentic EFL learning environment in Taiwan. Asian EFL Journal, 11(3), 156-189. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid= 79627 688-2460 Wu, W. V., & Wu Pin-hsiang, N. (2011) Creating an authentic EFL learning environment to enhance student motivation to study English. Asian EFL Journal, 10(4), Conference Proceedings http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=7efef9154c8c-40f2-9561-0b5afddac365%40sessionmgr4&vid=1&hid=10



SECTION THREE LEARNING INNOVATIONS



CHAPTER TWELVE ADVANCES IN TEACHER EDUCATION AND INNOVATIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES TO ADDRESS EMERGING CHALLENGES NOOR AMNA MALIK

Abstract Teacher Education is one of the key pillars of the Strategic Vision of the Higher Education Commission (HEC). The quality of education is highly dependent on the quality of teachers and education managers. Teacher education is critical to Pakistan’s development as a moderate and democratic nation, as well as in improving the country’s economy by channelling its youth to become productive citizens. It is, therefore, imperative to improve the quality of teachers through continuous learning of innovative skills and requisite professional teaching tools and techniques. Keeping this in mind, HEC took a strategic initiative of establishing the Learning Innovation Division in 2003 with the purview to conduct and facilitate professionally customised generic and subject specified Master Trainers, academic programmes, as well as Continuous Professional Development Orientation Seminars and Workshops through its three units comprising one core LI Division and two development projects, the National Academy of Higher Education and English Language Teaching Reforms, for building a qualitative pool of academics and administrators for enhancing quality in the education system in the area of pedagogy, research, testing, communication, academic planning and management, learners’ psychology and teaching practicum/micro teaching. Keywords: teacher education, English Language teaching reforms, Higher Education Commission

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Introduction English is considered to be the medium of international communication, information, and knowledge exchange throughout the world. Global trends in economics, technology, and culture suggest that English as a world language will play a significant role in the twenty-first century (Graddol, 2000). In order to address this need for English and to incorporate innovative approaches in English language teaching, the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan launched its first phase of language-based English Language Teaching Reforms (ELTR) in July 2004.1 The Higher Education Commission was established in September 2002 by the Government of Pakistan to facilitate the development of indigenous universities to be world-class centres of education, research and development. The Commission has been entrusted with a broad mandate to evaluate, improve and promote the higher education and research sectors in Pakistan.2

The Strategic Vision of HEC The strategic vision of HEC acknowledges the fact that: • Faculty are the heart and soul of the university, and only with well-qualified faculty will it be possible to have meaningful development in this sector. • Faculty growth and development must be considered together with the development of the Institutional eco-system conducive to academics, as well as research and development in the universities. • The worldwide paradigm shift from ‘Teaching’ to ‘Learning’, programs of study will focus on ensuring maximal absorption of subject matter by the students.3 The ELTR Project in its Phase-II has developed new revolutionary objectives to meet international standards of English education. The number of people who speak English as a second language across the world has now exceeded the number of native speakers. This change has serious implications for all developing countries in the world, including Pakistan. Our mission was to enhance the learning and research capacity

 1

www.pakobserver.net devdesks.com 3 www.moe.gov.pk 2

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of English teachers so that this learning would eventually enhance the proficiency of students in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). In many countries of the world, English is the language of Science and technology, learning and knowledge sharing, as well as business development. In Pakistan also, English as a symbol of power and as a tool for economic and social upward mobility, remains important (Mansoor, 2003; Rahman, 2002). The recent growth of English language centres all over Pakistan is evidence of the positive attitudes of learners and their high motivation to be fluent in English. Similarly, study in foreign universities, scholarship grants and research grants are also linked to proficiency in language. The introduction of the distance-learning concept in education and the rise in information technology, especially with social networking sites like facebook, twitter, and linkedin, have led to a greater demand for English education in Pakistan.4 The National Committee on English (NCE) constituted in 2003 was kept intact but the structure of the committee was strategically revised. The National Committee on English (NCE) with its new members has already geared up for new policy making and providing guidance in all the key areas of ELT and in the implementation of the Project Phase-II. The NCE will advise on all issues relevant to the development of English Language Teaching in HEIs.5 This was kept strictly in mind while re-structuring the NCE and an equal representation of both literature and linguistics was taken on board. Moreover, the NCE included representatives from all provinces of the country. The ELTR Project took strategic measures to meet its goals. It initiated new programs for ELT faculty in collaboration with the National Committee on English (NCE), implemented the policies devised by NCE, and suggested measures for the improvement of English Language Teaching (ELT) facilities in the universities and colleges.6

Challenges for the ELTR project •

The rightful implementation of all policies

 4

www.pakobserver.net ELTR project: 1st meeting of the National Committee on English held at HEC 6 “Education (HEC forms National Committee on English)”, PPI – Pakistan Press 5

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• • •

Sensitising and alleviating the divide between the literature and language communities The cascading formula - One to Many; Cascading of ELT programs in colleges and HEI’s Nomination issues with the universities – Faculty discouraged by universities to attend CPD programs – No incentives (pre-post training stage)

Development Initiatives to Address the Challenges The performance of ELTR initiatives reflects the achievements that the project has made in the span of six years of Phase-I (2004-10). Later, based on the basis of success of Phase-I, the Higher Education Commission launched ELTR Phase-II in April 2011. ELTR Phase-I trained 1,424 teachers through its CPD and indigenous programs conducted by its six subcommittees working strategically catering to the continuous capacity building needs of ELT teachers in HEIs across Pakistan. For ELTR Phase-II, an initial target was set to train 1,400 teachers from the English teaching community. Many teachers with Master’s degrees in English Literature never get the opportunity to come into the mainstream of Linguistics because of a perceived divide between the English Language & Literature teaching communities. To make the ELTR Project more effective and vibrant, Phase-II is working very aggressively towards bridging the critical gap between the faculties of English Language & Literature and both will be very strategically grouped together in the course of professional development with the initial target of professionally training 1,400 ELT Teachers through its Indigenous scholarships and continuous professional development courses. Apart from this faculty development program, many other initiatives have been taken such as training projects by International Resource Persons, funding of research journals to enhance ELT research in Pakistan, and financial support for ELT researchers for various research projects. Moreover, support is also being extended to the public sector universities to establish Self Access Centers as well as strengthening the existing English departments and research centers. The ELTR Project provides support to the universities for the establishment of Self Access Centres (SAC) with computers, internet and audio-visual aids to facilitate online

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language learning. In ELTR Phase-I, seed money of Rs. 2.0 million was given to Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) and Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) Multan, for establishing Self Access Centres (SAC) in their Departments of English. The ELTR caters to the teaching faculty of undergraduate and postgraduate colleges along with universities in their respective HEIs across Pakistan. In this regard a huge emphasis is laid on the college sector teachers who actually prepare students for university education. Unless the college teachers are fully equipped with the latest methods for teaching English, it is hardly possible to produce dynamic learners for the university environment. The Project has the following mandate: • • •

•

Impart professional development training to English Language and Literature teaching faculty in higher education institutions Enhance the research capacity of English faculty by providing support through research training programs so as to equip faculty with the necessary research skills Help integrate information technology with ELT by training English faculty to develop expertise in Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and setting up of Self Access Centers (SAC) in public sector universities7 Train English faculty to meet the demands of on-going assessments in semester systems by developing their expertise in designing and conducting the latest testing techniques

Aspiring for improvement in the quality of English Language Teaching in higher education, faculty development is the prime area that needs to be focused on. With its task of professional development and capacity building of the college/university English community, the ELTR project offers Indigenous Long Term Fellowships/Programs; and Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Courses/Workshops. During Phase-I, 1,298 teachers benefited through short and long term training programs conducted by six subcommittees of the National Committee on English to meet continuous capacity-building needs of ELT teachers at HEIs across Pakistan. One hundred and twenty-six long term indigenous fellowships and three international fellowships were awarded to the public sector



7 Karim, Asim and Shaikh, Shehla. “EFL in Higher Education in Pakistan: Organizational Practices and Recommendations

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universities and college faculty. Most of the beneficiaries of the fellowship program were from the college sector. The project had the mandate to award 150 indigenous Scholarships in its Phase-II and a meeting of the Fellowship Criteria Committee (FCC) was called on May 11, 2010 to finalise the selection criteria for the indigenous fellowships in ELTR Project, Phase-II. Table 12.1. Details of the Program and Activities Initiated under ELTR Phase-II Activity Long and Short term Continuous Professional Development (CPD)

Details a.

Long Term Fellowships/Scholarships

¾

The project funds Long Term Fellowship programs. The Indigenous long term fellowships are offered for: • MS in Applied Linguistics and related disciplines. • Masters in Applied Linguistics, TEFL, TESL, ELT. • PGD, ADP in TEFL, TESL, ELT (open for Public/Private sector institutions) b. Short Term CPD Courses/ Fellowships i. Short Term CPD Fellowships (up to 4 weeks) ii. • • • • •

Short Term CPD Courses (up to one week) Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) Testing & Evaluation Research Methodology & Skills Andragogical/Pedagogical Skills (Teaching Practicum, Communication Skills) Open & Customized Programs in ELT related areas: o English for Academic purposes (EAP) o English for Specific Purposes (ESP) o English as a Second Language (ESL) o English Language Teaching (ELT) etc.

Self-Access Centres (SAC) Funding for Conferences/Seminars

Establishment of SACs in four public sector universities

Funding for Research Journals

For launching new research journals in ELT

Funding of Research Projects International Consultant Trainings

Providing ELT Scholars with research grants for small scale research projects International Resource Persons are invited to Pakistan to conduct one-month training workshops in collaboration with the British Council and US Embassy

Organising/funding National & International Conferences and Seminars on themes of English Language Teaching and related issues

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The self-explanatory tables given below show the number of faculty members who benefited through ELTR Long Term Fellowships & Short term CPD programs across all provinces of Pakistan. Table 12.2 shows that in Long Term Fellowships there are provinces where no fellowship was taken up. This was due to a lukewarm response by the universities; in general, they showed a lack of interest in offering fellowships. However, this issue was resolved in ELTR Phase-II which provided the opportunity to all fellowship candidates to apply for fellowships on the basis of their admission in accredited ELT programs offered at any HEC recognized University/HEI in Pakistan. Table 12.2. Data by province of Long Term Fellowships under ELTR Phase-I across Pakistan Region

No. of Participants Trained 200405

200506

200607

200708

TOTA L 200809

AJK

0

Balochistan

03

Federal Area

0

Gilgit-Baltistan

0

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

TOTAL

0

20

12

13

23

49

22

15

16

3

54

22

28

29

47

126

Punjab Sindh

19

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Figure 12.1. Graphical Representation of Table 12.2

Table 12.3. Data by province of CPD Trainings under ELTR Phase-I across Pakistan Region

TOTAL

No. of Participants Trained 200405

200506

200607

200708

200809

Balochistan

20

0

0

33

53

Federal Area/AJK

51

65

20

34

170

0

GilgitBaltistan

0

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

19

82

86

22

61

270

Punjab

63

132

100

59

88

442

Sindh

84

109

133

11

26

363

TOTAL

237

388

339

159

175

1298

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Figure 12.2. Graphical Representation of Table 12.3

In Phase-II, the ELTR Project is collaborating with the US Embassy and the British Council to train college and university English teaching faculty. It organised the first-ever International Resource Person (IRP) training on TESOL. Dave Hopkins, an English Language Fellow from the United States, was the IRP for this workshop. This was the first IRP workshop held under ELTR Phase-II. This course introduced the teachers to the theory and practice of participative or ‘communicative’ language teaching. In order to materialise the IRP training and specifically benefit the college teachers as promised in the ELTR Phase-I, the ELTR Phase-II launched a 6-week training course on ‘Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages’ (TESOL) in collaboration with the US Embassy, Islamabad.8 It was arranged solely for teachers of public sector colleges in Rawalpindi/Islamabad. In order to streamline the Continuous Development Courses (CPDs), the ELTR planned to develop standardized module outlines for one-month and

 8

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one-week courses.9 A series of consultancy meetings for the development of modules were organized to finalize the course outlines, pre-test, posttest and evaluation forms of the short term courses under ELTR Project. ELT experts in the areas of Research Methodology and Skills, Andragogical and Pedagogical Skills, Testing and Assessment, Open and Customized Courses in English for Academic Purposes (EAP), English for Specific Purposes (ESP), and Computer Assisted Language Learning were involved in developing the outlines. The modules provide a standard for the ELTR Courses with minor variations on the basis of needs assessment. If we examine the above-mentioned courses, we will see they cover the main areas of language teacher training. Since no incentives/promotions for the successful completion of the courses were offered to teachers, they did not respond very positively to these courses. It has been common practice that, in the absence of pre/inservice mechanisms for HE teachers’ professional development, once a person secures a job, he/she does not bother to go for professional training/capacity building courses. To improve matters, such in-service training should be made mandatory and be linked to some internal promotion or financial benefit. There are many other problems such as a lack of coordination in educational agencies, lack of initiative from universities and other HEIs, too much dependence on HEC, incompetent leadership, dearth of vision and resistance to change. The major issue our training programs are facing is a lack of interest from the universities and the teaching community. In Phase I, many problems were faced but they played an important role in the planning and execution of Phase II and revitalising the efforts towards the holistic improvement of teachers’ proficiency in English.

Conclusion The progress made by the ELTR Project in the last six years is a testimony to the fact that the ELT reforms are underway and moving in the right direction. Nonetheless, there is a need to recognise all the challenges and come up with a sustainable strategy to address the problems. There is no denying the fact that interest in ELT is increasing but the Higher Education Sector lacks the appropriate vision to develop genuine language

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Khattak, Zafar Iqbal. ‘Selection Procedure for English Language Teachers’ Professional Development Courses of HEC Pakistan–A Case Study. (www.languageinindia.com)

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competency and learning. In order to avoid all these efforts being made in vain, it is mandatory to ensure continuous academic input, and involvement of the actual stakeholders in the policy-making process. The language-literature divide has created a wide gulf in the English teaching community and sensitisation to this unfortunate divide is required. Due to this bifurcation, the reform efforts are challenging and call for a general overhaul of the system. The exclusive feature of the project, the contextualization of ELT programs in colleges and HEIs, is highly commendable. Successful professional-development experiences have left a noticeable impact on teachers’ work; both in and out of the classroom, and this success would suggest that the ELT reformation mission be expanded into an even wider spectrum.

Another major milestone in the FY 2009-10 was that the English Language Teaching Reforms (ELTR) Project was reported in the “Guardian Weekly” Tuesday 15 June, 2010 14.00 BST. Max de Lotbinière; the editor, Learning English, Guardian Weekly reported the major achievements of the ELTR Project and the challenges the project faced during Phase-I. The details of the article can be seen on the Guardian's website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/ jun/15/pakistan-struggles-to-reverse-falling-university-language-skills



References Graddol, D. (2000). The Future of English. London: British Council. Higher Education Commission Annual Report. (2009-10). Islamabad, Pakistan. Higher Education Medium Term Development Framework II, 2010-15. (2010). http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/jun/15/pakistanstruggles-to-reverse-falling-university-language-skills Malik, N. (2010). English Language Teaching Reforms Project, Phase II PC I Phase II, HEC. Mansoor, S. (2003). Language Planning in Higher Education: A Case Study of Pakistan Karachi, Oxford University Press.



CHAPTER THIRTEEN ACCELERATED PROGRAMMES: THE WAY FORWARD IN CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION JACQUELINE MARIA DIAS, BASNAMA AYAZ AND ROZINA BAROLIA

Abstract Curriculum review and revision ensures that the curriculum is delivering what it promises it is delivering (Chappy, 2004). Curriculum reviews ensure that the curriculum is meeting the needs of the students, the population of clients, the clinical agencies and the accrediting organizations. This paper will describe a curriculum innovation which is under progress for the delivery of the Post RN BScN programme at the Aga Khan University School of Nursing by way of development of an accelerated programme. The paper is based on the observations of the authors, feedback given by the faculty at departmental meetings, and student evaluations. Through this paper the authors will demonstrate the strengths, limitations, and value of an accelerated programme which they envision would be replicated in other disciplines as well. It is hoped that this accelerated BScN programme, a significant academic endeavour of the Aga Khan University, will reach out to nurses all over Pakistan, and in doing so will fulfill the university’s mandate of setting new trends in nursing education in order to promote nursing locally and regionally. Keywords: curriculum, innovation, accelerated programmes, nursing, developing world, baccalaureate education

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Background Today health care organizations face the challenge of nursing shortage worldwide. The scenario is no different in Pakistan where this shortcoming has implications for educational institutions to induct more students in nursing programmes, review the curricula and speed up courses, so that nurses graduate faster in order to build and sustain a nursing workforce to ensure that the healthcare needs of the society are duly met (Wetzel & McCahon, 2008). Nursing schools/colleges have taken several initiatives to address these needs and the introduction of an accelerated programme is one such initiative in this regard. The introduction of accelerated programmes is not a recent development in the field of nursing education, as literature cites many examples of introduction of such programmes in nursing. It was in the 1970s that the documentation of the first accelerated baccalaureate programme took place in the United States, and over the past two decades, there has been a significant increase in such programme offerings (Ouellet, Maclntosh, Gibson & Jefferson, 2008). In 2010, there were 231 accelerated BScN programmes in the United States (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2011). There are different types of accelerated programmes used at the BScN level; the most prevalent is the one which is aimed for individuals who hold a baccalaureate degree in a field other than nursing (AACN, 2011; D’Antonio et al., 2010; Raines & Sipes, 2007). However, in Pakistan this curriculum would be used by nurses who have completed their Diploma in General Nursing and have at least 3-5 years’ experience of bedside nursing. The purpose of this programme therefore, was to help all the diploma-holding nurses retain their position in the workforce by making them fulfil the requirement of a baccalaureate degree in order to practise in 2020. Simultaneously it is hoped that this pragmatic venture would motivate the registered nurses to upgrade their qualifications in the nursing profession (Neill, 2011). Keeping in mind the average time duration of accelerated programmes which ranges between 12 to 18 months (Raines, 2010), the proposed accelerated programme is designed to be completed within 15 months.

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To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no such programme has been developed in Pakistan in the past, but there is sufficient feedback both from faculty and students which calls for a review of the existing courses being offered in the currently running Post RN BScN programmes, as there is a lot of overlap in many courses. Such programmes provide the impetus for change in accordance with the needs of the learners. Literature also suggests that students pursuing higher education now assess programmes from a consumers’ point of view. Not only do they examine the adequacy of the programme in terms of meeting their educational and professional goals but also the level of flexibility and recognition of their past experiences. Literature suggests that these programmes tend to attract highly motivated, and goal-directed learners who are valued by faculty and employers (Domrose, 2001 & Shiber, 2003 as cited by Ouellet, Maclntosh, Gibson, & Jefferson, 2008). This paper will describe a curriculum innovation which is being planned for the delivery of the Post RN BScN programme at the Aga Khan University School of Nursing by way of development of an accelerated programme. It is based on the observations of the authors, feedback given by the faculty at departmental and institutional meetings and student evaluations. Based on the directives from Pakistan Nursing Council, the present requirement of a Diploma in nursing, in order to practise will be replaced by a minimum statutory requirement of BScN. Through this chapter the authors will demonstrate the value of an accelerated programme in the light of relevant literature and elucidate how it is expected to have a long term impact. In addition, it will also highlight the preparation that is needed to launch an accelerated programme.

Purpose An in-depth review of literature reveals that accelerated programmes were initiated with the objective of reducing the shortage of nurses by increasing the recruitment (Ouellet et al., 2008). In addition, in difficult times of recession and declining economy of the country most of the prospective students are a source of income to their families, and therefore giving up their jobs is not an option for them. Furthermore, many institutions at both national and international level now consider BScN as an essential pre-requisite for professional practice in order to respond to changing health care practices which demand advanced professional and academic qualifications (Cook et al., 2004; Rogerson & Harden, 1999). Therefore, a shorter programme would put lesser burden on the

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prospective students. Also, employers and funding agencies are more willing to fund one year programmes. Another reason is the availability of scholarships for nurses in Higher Education Commission (HEC) for one year programmes. With this premise the authors believe that an accelerated BScN programme would be of immense value and prove to be an innovative way of offering Post RN BScN programme to the nurses of Pakistan. This would not only lead a majority of diploma-holding nurses to upgrade their professional qualification to baccalaureate level but also facilitate employers in increasing the strength of graduate nurses in their workforce, thereby ultimately improving the quality of nursing care. On a personal level these graduates will be able to better support their families with a higher financial income and a broader range of career opportunities available to them. Additionally, BScN graduates are paid higher i.e., Rs 17200 ($200) per month, than the graduates of the RN Programme who are paid Rs 16000 ($188) per month (AKU Nursing Task Force, 2011). Moreover, since the minimum requirement for promotion to a leadership position is BScN in Pakistan’s health care settings, by opting for the accelerated programme nurses will get a better opportunity to cultivate their personal and professional growth (AKU Nursing Task Force, 2011). Thus accelerated programmes are the mainstay of motivation and challenge for students, as these programmes encourage student diversity in terms of culture, gender and race (Cangelosi & Whitt, 2005).

Impact on the Employers Research studies done in the recent past indicate that employers are quick to hire graduates as these graduates have demonstrated improvements in teaching patients, caring for patients with complex problems, as well as in participating during rounds and evaluation of care. In addition, the graduates from the accelerated baccalaureate programmes are valued by their employers as they are the ones who question the physicians and respond to situations with maturity and adaptability (Supplee & Glasgow, 2008). Raines and Sipes (2007) identified workforce retention as an important outcome of the accelerated programmes in addition to graduates’ satisfaction. Also, employers who availed the services of the graduates from accelerated programmes report that these graduates are mature, competent and are likely to understand quickly (AACN, 2011). Therefore, these graduates are expected to play an instrumental role in addressing the emerging needs of the society. This would result in better quality of care

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for patients, which in turn would have a good impact on the benefitting institutions as well as the nursing profession at large.

National Context Nursing education is high on the agenda of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) in Pakistan these days. The authors feel that the fact that there is support from the Ministry of Health to move nurses to a higher level through education is indeed encouraging. This movement was supported by the timely Islamabad Declaration on Strengthening Nursing and Midwifery (2007) in which a nationwide commitment was made to scale up nursing and midwifery capacity by strengthening a broad range of strategies that address workforce planning, education, skill-mix, maximum utilization of roles and career frameworks, work environments and regulatory frameworks to ensure efficient, effective and safe health care systems. The AKU Nursing Task Force report indicated that 31% of the staff nurses holding a diploma in nursing left their jobs in order to enrol in a Post RN baccalaureate programme in 2010. In order to comply with statutory requirement of PNC, the AKU Nursing Task force has chalked out a plan along with a budget for training of their diploma nurses over the next ten years while keeping them on job.

Planning of the Accelerated Programme This pilot project requires several approaches including re-sequencing of the courses, ensuring consecutiveness of the courses, compression of time and introduction of blended learning options. This will be achieved by creation of a summer option to replace the last semester to allow students to complete the Post RN BScN in 15 months as compared to the regular stream of students who complete the programme in two years. According to the literature, there is a heavy reliance on the Tylerian model in nursing. This means that the approach to curriculum development is routed in behavioural objectives and evaluation methods that assess whether each objective is met or not. Consequently, students express their disapproval at being experimented upon by curriculum committees and teachers. In Pakistan, the teacher-centred curriculum is very much prevalent and has remained subject based with the student expected to recall facts and concepts. Nurse educators in Pakistan will have to modify

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their approach and teach the curriculum differently in order to combat the challenges the health care sector faces. Critical thinking and problem solving are very important skills to be learned very early in the programme. Tanner (1990) identifies this period as a time when nurse educators must embrace a new world view of educational practices. As a result, the new paradigm that emerges is reflective of major social changes in health care and its arising needs. Kern, Thomas, Howard and Bass (1998) remind curriculum developers that time, effort and resources are needed for needs assessment. If too little time and effort are utilized in designing a curriculum, it runs the risk of becoming ineffective. On the other hand, if too much time and effort is devoted to it, it can significantly reduce the resources needed for later use in the curriculum development process.

Teaching Methodology Innovative strategies will be required to capture the interest of the new learners as they are born in a digital world. There is reasonable evidence in literature that supports the fact that students of accelerated programmes prefer self-directed learning methodologies (Koch, Salamonson, Rolley & Davidson, 2010). Therefore, the planning of the accelerated programme will require tailoring the curriculum with respect to students needs and learning preferences. This will become the driving force to encourage new approaches to teaching and learning based on a philosophy consistent with modern demands and modern teaching pedagogies and a flexible learning programme. Therefore, the pedagogic interventions must be more flexible, outcome based, and learner centred. As these students are older and mature, the teaching methodologies can be focused on self-directed learning approaches including a blended approach to maximise learning. The blended approach will be utilized using the existing Moodle as an eLearning teaching methodology. There will be face to face sessions in order to facilitate the sharing of conceptual knowledge which will be followed by a discussion forum on Moodle. As nursing is a practice discipline and requires a practical component in its curriculum, the learnt concepts would be integrated through clinical practicums. Therefore, in designing the practical/clinical experiences for the accelerated programme curriculum, a trio model of nurse learner (student), facilitator (faculty) and nurse expert (unit-based nurse/preceptor) will be implemented. This would allow students to conceptualize and integrate the knowledge in the real/practical world.

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Faculty Preparation Faculty preparation needs to go hand in hand with curriculum design. Miklancie and Davies (2005) have reported that educators do not have the requisite expertise to teach the accelerated learners. Facilitators have to learn how to deal with mature older students who would challenge their thinking. The idea is also supported by Supplee and Glasgow (2008) who describe the students as challenging, assertive and tipping towards aggressiveness. In addition, as students in accelerated programmes are mature learners they require practical application of concepts (Seldomridge & DiBartolo, 2007). The challenge for the educator teaching in the accelerated programme is to transform learning into a collaborative venture. Therefore to facilitate their preparedness, training of the faculty members to familiarize them with the latest teaching methodologies is an area that needs to be focused upon in the planning phase of the programme.

Comparison of Accelerated Programme versus Traditional Programmes A research study carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of an accelerated programme reveals that graduates of this programme are well prepared with all the competencies needed to enter the work force and meet the demands of today’s employers (Ouellet, Maclntosh, Gibson & Jafferson, 2008). In addition, several studies comparing the accelerated programmes with traditional programmes have found either no difference or higher passing rates among graduates of accelerated programmes on the certifying examinations like NCLEX-RN and CRNE; also, they report no differences in grade point average (GPA), critical thinking abilities, affective abilities (professional socialization), graduates’ perception of preparedness and performance, and supervisors’ appraisals of graduates’ performance in terms of planning, evaluation and interpersonal communication (O’Mara, Byrne & Down, 1996; Ouellet, Maclntosh, Gibson & Jafferson, 2008; Youssef & Goodrich, 1996). Therefore, based on these findings, it is believed that the accelerated programme will exhibit similar, if not enhanced, competencies in the graduates.

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Challenges and Recommendations Hegge and Larson (2008) in their study identified moderate to higher level of stress among students in accelerated programmes. Major stressors were related to studying a lot within a short period of time. In addition, students have also identified social support as a favourable coping mechanism. Feelings of fear and anxiety by the students are significant findings identified by the faculty members of an accelerated nursing programme (D’Antonio et al., 2010). This may be due to existing incongruence in expectations between the learners and teachers; therefore, the authors suggest the promotion of congruency between expectations of the learners and faculty members in order to maximise the educational experience’s effectiveness. Considering our particular context, it can be suggested that stress can be minimised by proactiveness on the part of faculty members in identifying the factors that lead to it. Useful strategies like time management and priority setting could be offered to the students in order to cope with the demands of the programme. Furthermore, ongoing counselling and timely referral to an inbuilt structured support system such as a counsellor or advisor is also recommended. In addition, thoughtful planning must be done so as to avoid clustering of multiple deadlines at a given time.

Conclusion Accelerated programmes are the way forward for nursing education. They require bringing together of resources, innovative faculty/teaching practices, and novelty in curriculum design. Considering the time and effort that is needed for the planning of an accelerated programme, it is envisioned that by proposing and eventually delivering the accelerated BScN programme, the Aga Khan University will not only become a trendsetter in nursing education but will also make a significant contribution towards elevating the status of nursing profession locally, thereby facilitating the overall advancement of the nursing profession regionally.

References Accelerated Baccalaureate and Master's Degrees in Nursing (2011). American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Retrieved from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/media-relations/fact-sheets/acceleratedprograms

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AKU Nursing Task Force 2011. (nd). Aga Khan University. Unpublished document. Chappy, S. L., & Stewart, S. (2004). Curricular practices in baccalaureate nursing education: Results of a national survey. Journal of Professional Nursing, 20 (369-373). Cook, G., Thynne, E., Weatherhead, E., Glenn, S., Mitchell, A. & Bailey, P. (2004). Distance learning in post-qualifying nurse education. Nurse Education Today, 24, 269–276. Cangelosi, P. R., & Whitt, K. J. (2005). Accelerated nursing programs: what do we know? Nursing Education Perspective, 26 (2), 113-116. D’Antonio, P., Beal, M.W., Underwood, P. W., Ward, F. R., McKelvey, M., Guthrie, B., & Lindell, D. (2010). Great Expectations: Points of Congruencies and Discrepancies Between Incoming Accelerated Second-Degree Nursing Students and Faculty. Journal of Nursing Education, 49 (12), 713-717. Hegge, M. L., & Larson, S. V. (2008). Stressors and coping strategies of students in accelerated baccalaureate nursing programs. Nurse Educator, 33(1), 26-30. Islamabad Declaration on Strengthening Nursing and Midwifery 4-6 March 2007. Retrieved from http://www.searo.who.int/LinkFiles/ Nursing_and_Midwifery_Islamabad_Declaration_2007.pdf Kern, D. E., Thomas, P. A., Howard, D. M., & Bass, E. B. (1998). Curriculum development for medical education: A six step approach, John Hopkins University Press: Baltimore. Koch, J., Salamonson, Y., Rolley, J.X., & Davidson, P. M. (2010). Learning preference as a predictor of academic performance in first year accelerated graduate entry nursing students: A prospective followup study. Nurse Education Today, doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2010.10.019 Miklancie, M. & Davis, T. (2005), The second degree accelerated program as an innovative educational strategy: New century, new chapter, new challenge. Nursing Education Perspectives, 26, 291- 293 Neill, M. A. (2011). Graduate-entry nursing students’ experiences of an accelerated nursing degree-A literature review. Nurse Education in Practice, 11, 81-85. O’Mara, L., Byrne, C., & Down, W. (1996). Fast-tracking in baccalaureate nursing education: one Canadian response to students with advanced standing. Nurse Education Today, 16, 108-114. Ouellet, L. L., Maclntosh, J., Gibson, C.H., & Jefferson, S. (2008). Evaluation of selected outcomes of an accelerated nursing degree program. Nurse Education Today, 28, 194-201.

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Raines, D.A. (2010). Nursing practice competency of Accelerated Bachelor of Science in nursing program students. Journal of Professional Nursing, 26, (3), 162–167. Raines, D.A., & Sipes, A. (2007). One year later: Reflections and work activities of accelerated second-degree bachelor of Science in nursing graduates. Journal of Professional Nursing, 23 (6) 329–334. Rogerson, E, C., & Harden, R. O. (1999). Seven years on: Distance learning courses for first level registered nurses and midwives. Nurse Education Today, 19, 286-294. Suplee, P. D., & Glasgow, M. E. (2000). Curriculum innovation in an accelerated baccalaureate nursing program: The ACE model, International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 5 (1), 1-13 Seldomridge, L., & DiBartolo, M. C. (2007). The changing face of accelerated second bachelor’s degree students. Nurse Educator, 32(6), 240- 245. Tanner, C. (1990). Reflections on the curriculum revolution. Journal of Nursing Education, 29, 295-299 Weitzel, M.L., & McCahon, C.P. (2008). Stressors and supports for baccalaureate nursing students completing an accelerated program. Journal of Professional Nursing, 24(2), 85-89. Youssef, F.A., & Goodrich, N. (1996). Accelerated versus traditional nursing students: A comparison of stress, critical thinking ability and performance. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 33 (1), 76-82.



CHAPTER FOURTEEN THE CHANGING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEEDS AND THE UNCHANGING WAYS: WHAT CAN BE DONE? FATIMA SHAHABUDDIN

Abstract English is, today, the international lingua franca. Moreover, young people need it increasingly for educational, professional, business, and socialising purposes. This paper aims to provide a brief overview of the English language teaching and learning situation in Pakistan and what can be done to meet these changing needs. There are many factors that influence the teaching/learning of English in Pakistan. However, only some key areas will be briefly reviewed. The paper begins by giving a brief background about the role of English and the need for change in how it is taught; a brief overview of government policies; and the current English language needs of learners in Pakistan. This will be followed by a slightly detailed review of the current trends vis-à-vis English language teaching and teacher education, curriculum, textbooks, and assessment practices. Some innovative baby steps that can be undertaken in some of the above mentioned areas, without causing too many ripples, and some long term measures that can be considered have been discussed next. However, while the need for change has been raised, caution has also been advised in view of contextual realities and the universal fact that change is a slow process. Keywords: English language teaching and learning, teacher education, curriculum, textbooks, assessment practices, change

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Introduction Today, English has acquired the status of an international lingua franca. It is the language that is widely used for roaming the world physically and virtually. It is increasingly becoming the language of communication, trade, and education. It also has a big role in media and entertainment. Hence, in many parts of the world the teaching and learning of English has acquired the proportion of an industry. The story is not much different in Pakistan. However, how much has the teaching/learning situation of English changed to respond to the current needs of learners, and with what degree of success, is a million dollar question. This paper aims to explore some of the needs of young people with respect to English and the policies of the government of Pakistan to address these needs. It will also take a cursory look at the current trends and practices in English language teaching and teacher education, curriculum and textbooks, and assessment practices, and see how these are impacting the teaching and learning of English in the context of Pakistan. Finally, some possible measures that can realistically be adopted within the given circumstances will be examined, so that English is taught in a manner whereby it meets the students’ English language needs today, without creating too many ripples in the status quo.

Background: What Has Changed? Up until twenty-five years ago, in Pakistan, one would commonly hear people saying that students needed English to access higher education, or that English was essential for upward social mobility, that unless one could speak good English one would not find acceptance in upper class society, neither would one be able to get a well paying job. As stated by Shareef (2010), “During my college years, I became particularly interested in improving my English language skills, knowing that it would define a path for my future.” She further states, “Learning English had a great impact on my education and my career. It enabled me to meet the challenges of higher education with considerable ease and confidence” (p. 41). English enabled Shareef to attain higher education which, in turn, led to the pursuance of a fulfilling career and a well paying job. The question is: Is this still the case? The answer is very likely to be an unequivocal yes; however, with the addition of a ‘but’. Many people would say that while there is no doubt that English is needed for these

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purposes but with the widespread usage of e-technology for education, commerce, socialising, and accessing information, the need for English has multiplied manifold. Not only that, e-communication has raised the need for a content and paradigm shift in the teaching and learning of English, necessitating a move from the traditional genres and registers to new vocabulary and structures. In other words, times have changed; access to and availability of resources have changed; means for acquiring higher education have changed; and purposes for which English is now required have changed, as English is now viewed as the golden key that can unlock the doors to accessibility and economic gains. As Shamim (2011) states, “The huge promise of English as a ‘world language’ for economic and personal development seems to be a major driving force for the younger generation’s desire to learn English in Pakistan” (p. 301). This view is also supported by Meganathan (2011), who states: Throughout India there is an extraordinary belief, among all castes and classes, in both rural and urban areas, in the transformative power of English. English is seen not just as a useful skill but as a symbol of a better life, a pathway out of poverty and oppression. (p. 59)

Policies and Politics In Pakistan’s case, although Urdu is stated to be the official national language and is the national lingua franca, it is very obvious to the young people that there is very little chance of progress, be it in the private or the public sector, without some command over the English language. As Mansoor (2002) states: “English...enjoys a high status and plays an important role in all the major domains of power” (p. 31). She then goes on to list the civil administration and bureaucracy, the country’s legal system, the military, media, and education, all requiring a comprehensive use of the English language in conducting their everyday business. Her list, however, does not mention the huge private sector that offers better opportunities to those who have good English language skills. This includes banking, financial institutions, multi-national companies, health sector, educational institutions, non-governmental organisations, the emerging call centres, and many others. In this scenario, one would expect the government of Pakistan to allocate sufficient human, financial, and material resources for the promotion of English language teaching and learning.

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However, “Pakistan’s language in education policy has been fraught with problems” (Mansoor, 2002, p. 23). This is not to say that those in power in Pakistan are not aware of the needs of the people or that they do not realize the importance of English. As mentioned by Shamim (2011), The decision to start teaching English from grade I is taken by all elected governments soon after they come to power [but this is done] as a political gesture rather than as an expression of their political will to provide opportunities for growing widespread literacy in English (Shamim, 2008). This decision is taken without any feasibility study or a well-researched and coherent implementation plan. (p. 305)

The result is, therefore, similar to that reported by Giri (2009): English in Nepal.... in theory ... has been available to anyone and everyone through public education since the 1950s. In practice however, no rigorous planning of resources and pedagogic mechanism have been worked out for its effective delivery to the average people. For most of the six million school goers, therefore, proficiency in the language remains underachieved. (p. 33)

Moreover, a country like Pakistan, which allocates a bare minimum of its GDP to the social sector (1% to 1.5% to education), allocating resources for language development, including English, is not an easy task. Where the governments need resources to meet the basic needs of life, where resources are badly needed for developmental work, where the survival of the country is at stake being under constant threat of foreign invasion or internal revolutions, where economies are in a shambles, it is not difficult to understand why education as a whole, including the teaching/learning of English, falls at such low levels of priority. (Shahabuddin, 1992, p. 2)

Hence, even if the will were there, the government of Pakistan might have difficulties “in planning the allocation of resources for language development (particularly English) in a manner which supports national development objectives, maximises economic benefits, is transparent, is equitable and, crucially, empowers citizens to make of their lives what they will” (Coleman, 2011, p. 107).

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English Needs of Students in Pakistan Policies of the government aside, the question that needs attention is: How have the learners’ needs related to English language changed in Pakistan? To begin with, the purposes why English is needed for higher education have changed and increased considerably. Those going for education beyond the school level particularly, but also many of those studying in schools today need more English to meet their educational requirements. Simplistically put, they need English in order to access information needed for writing their assignments and doing project work; for sharing materials, thoughts, and ideas while doing group tasks; and for submitting their work online to their teachers. Another important reason why they need English more is that, increasingly, universities all over the world are offering distance learning programmes and students are opting for these programmes mainly for economic reasons. For one, these programmes are more within their range of affordability. For another, these programmes provide them the liberty to pursue higher education in their own time, at their own pace, while pursuing their jobs and careers. Moreover, since most of these programmes are offered by universities outside Pakistan, they provide the students an opportunity to strive for, and attain, international qualifications and accreditations, thereby increasing their market value. Moreover, to find out about these programmes, to understand what they are offering, and to explore choices, students need to access various websites, which generally use English as a medium of communication. Yet another reason is that young people today are roaming the world virtually. Through twitter, facebook, etc., they are constantly in touch with a wide variety of people across the globe. Through emails they are accomplishing plenty of tasks and by surfing the net they are obtaining most of the information that they need for meeting their personal, professional, academic and other needs. Online submission of forms and applications is also becoming an everyday requirement. E-commerce is fast becoming the norm; a lot of transactions and product/skills promotions are conducted through the internet. One could go on and on but suffice to say that young people no longer need English only to pass exams or merely for acquisition of higher education and upward social mobility; it is a means for getting the needed information and for meeting a number of basic needs; needs like remaining in touch with friends, family, and colleagues, and for business and professional reasons.

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Parents are also beginning to realise the importance of English. In Pakistan, about 25 odd years ago, parents’ prime concern was that their children should acquire education as this would mean good jobs and economic support for the family. Today, parents are often willing to sacrifice many of their needs and comforts in order to send their children to English medium schools because they feel that studying in such schools would provide their children with advantage when going for higher education and, later, for jobs. As Shamim (2011) states, “English medium education is widely assumed to be synonymous with higher quality education. Is it, therefore, surprising that parents prefer an English medium education for their children?” (p. 301).

Current Trends and Practices The changing needs of the learners and the expectations of parents have implications for the teaching of English. This means that teachers need to change and teacher education programmes need to be redesigned. It also means that the curriculum, the textbooks, and the modes of assessment need to be revisited. Change is also needed in how heads of teaching and teacher training institutions, examination boards, parents, and many other stakeholders, including the students themselves, view the educational input and output process. This paper, however, will focus only on some of the areas. A bird’s eye view of the current scenario with respect to these areas is presented below.

Teaching and Teacher Education Let us begin by looking at how teachers teach. In many classes that I have observed teachers are, by and large, mainly in the public sector, still using the grammar translation approach. However, things have changed in many private and some public sector schools where teachers are making an effort to use activities and role plays and songs and stories while teaching English, the way they have learnt in workshops and training programmes. But are they utilising all these techniques to achieve specific learning outcomes or are these being used because this is now considered the right way to teach English, just as the grammar-translation method was once considered to be the best way to achieve these results. In other words, are teachers just using these techniques because they have been told that students learn English better through a communicative approach than through the grammar-translation approach and, hence, they have decided

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to discard the latter in favour of the former without really learning how to achieve better results through this approach? The English language teacher education programmes in Pakistan, by and large, expose teachers to various theories and strategies for implementing in their classrooms. However, what seems to be missing in these ELT teacher education programmes is a recognition of the fact that their implementation in the classroom requires a teacher “to be a facilitator and initiator of activities, sometimes manager of the classroom tasks, promoter of communication, advisor, monitor, co-communicator and needs analyst for the learners” (Hassan & Akhand, 2009, p. 46). Are these programmes taking these important and intrinsic aspects into consideration? Are they equipping the teachers with skills needed for the effective implementation of the theories and strategies being taught? Many training programmes in Pakistan while increasingly exposing teachers to a plethora of teaching theories and strategies rarely seem to be showing them how to take on the various roles for effectively achieving set language targets. Where is all this leading to? In a study, Bhuiyan, Rahman and Haque (2004) found that: Some teachers appeared to be using brainstorming to elicit very selective answers from the students rather than accepting all responses....There also appeared to be a tendency among some teachers to fix labels on teaching and learning strategies without due consideration of the principles and practice underpinning their strategies. (p. 60)

Reporting on teachers’ practices in Tajikistan, Elnazarov (2004) states, Using group work has become a popular method or a trend, which each credible teacher was supposed to apply. The dynamics of group work, the skills of organising and monitoring the group work were not reflected in teachers’ actions and practices. It was more disturbing to observe the types of questions and tasks which teachers gave to their students to perform in the groups. Most of the questions were close ended. (p. 116)

This clearly indicates a big gap between theory and practice. In my experience as an English language teacher educator, and through my interactions with fellow colleagues, it appears that the situation in Pakistan is very similar to the ones mentioned in the two studies above. Let us briefly examine some of the factors that have probably contributed to this state of affairs. One such factor is the emphasis in teacher education

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programmes on the use of the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach in a context like Pakistan, for which it was apparently not meant, at least not without considerable adaptations. As Hirani (2010) expostulates, [CLT] was started in Britain, Australasia and North America (BANA) for adult learners of English studying in relatively small groups whose aim for learning the language was to be able to use it mostly verbally in their regular lives. What went wrong was that this same form was later imposed on to other countries, on much younger learners and in much larger school settings which had completely different perceptions about learning and no access to authentic learning material outside the classroom (Holliday, 1993). In these countries the aim of learning English was also very different. (p. 43)

Today, in Pakistan, as in Bangladesh, the prevalent viewpoint is that the “traditional method has failed and is wrong whereas CLT will succeed and is right. Nowadays, it is difficult to imagine any practitioner, anywhere, arguing against this” (Hassan & Akhand, 2009, p. 45). Getting on the bandwagon is always easy so practitioners in Pakistan quickly got on to it and started promoting it. However, what we probably did not ponder over were crucial matters like the proficiency and readiness of the teachers for such an approach. Another very crucial aspect that has not been considered is the learners’ needs. As Shahabuddin (1992) points out, Many lament the failure of English teaching/learning programmes... Either the lack of facilities or resources, or the constraints of class size or textbooks, or the administrative or examination policies are blamed for the failure.... The factor that is responsible the most for the failure of most programmes hardly ever gets mentioned, i.e., that most of these programmes fail because they do not recognise the vital fact that written, not spoken English is the need of the learners. (p. 6)

In addition to writing, the other vital area that is useful for learners is reading. Learners need the reading and writing skills for passing exams, and once they enter the job market for reading and writing reports, proposals, memos, etc. This by no means indicates that young people in Pakistan do not need spoken English. What it indicates is that for getting the all important good grades in exams and for working in Pakistan the need for spoken English is actually quite limited. In view of teachers’ limitations in English, the limited resources available for education, and the needs of learners being what they are, it might be worth revamping our

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priorities with respect to English language teaching and directing our teacher training programmes accordingly.

Curriculum Malik (as cited by Mansoor, 2002) observed that “[the] teaching of language through literature by employment of a curriculum divorced from the environment, has resulted in the present generation of graduates who know English or rather the content of their texts but cannot speak the language” (p. 42). I would like to add writing and amend it by saying ‘speak and write the language’. Moreover, while the curriculum has been reviewed since 1996, it is difficult to see how the new curriculum is expected to yield any better results. A look at the national English curriculum that was revised in 2006 shows that it has all the trappings of a result oriented curriculum: the language targets have been set for all levels and the student learning outcomes (SLOs) have been defined. However, other factors aside, what is difficult to see in this curriculum is how the scaffolding, that is so important for achieving a degree of command in any language, is supposed to be achieved. The various language items are laid out in a compartmentalised manner, same as in the grammar-translation method, with no clear indication of how these various items are supposed to achieve holistic language development. In grammar, the students are supposed to be able to do certain things at a certain level; the same goes for reading, writing, and speaking. But it is difficult to see how the teacher is supposed to ensure that what is learnt under one head is effectively utilised in all other areas of language use. It is more like learning five different content areas, rather than acquiring sub skills that contribute to the mastery of a major skill. In other words, the curriculum does not indicate how these different threads can be woven as per a set plan or design to result in a harmonious tapestry. Hence, though the curriculum talks of SLOs, the teachers focus on what they should teach at a certain level rather than on the proficiency that students should achieve before moving on to the next level. As mentioned by some students, teachers, and school administrators, “the English course is just another subject in the curriculum to be studied, and is not seen as an opportunity to bring these students at par to access their higher education in English or to secure good jobs through fluency in English” (Mansoor, 2002, p. 294).

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Textbooks As for the text books written for the various levels, all they seem to ensure is that all items related to the teaching/learning of the four skills and grammar mentioned in the curriculum are meticulously covered. And this, again, I am stating on the basis of my experience of writing text books and teachers’ guide books, both for the government and the private sector. On their part, the teachers then ensure that all these items are taught and tested, and the students have to ensure that they learn all these various items in order to get good grades in their exams. And while the literary texts, in terms of classical literature, have been replaced with articles related to present day life situations, and exercises have been replaced with activities for teaching the various components, one finds it difficult to see the steps that can lead to holistic language development. Hence, acquisition of the required language skills that will enable young people to use the language effectively to meet their everyday needs remains an elusive target.

Assessment Practices Assessment practices, more than any other factor, undermine any efforts that are made towards enhancement of learners’ language skills. As Sauvignon (2002) states, “many a curricular innovation has been undone by failure to make corresponding changes in evaluation” (p. 3). I remember that the Karachi University twice introduced new English books, between 1985 and 2005 at the undergraduate level, in order to prepare students for meeting their English needs but the examination system did not undergo any change. Hence, the teaching approaches and methods continued; new books were taught in very much the same manner that the previous books were being taught and the students merrily continued passing their English exams and getting their degrees without having acquired adequate English language skills. One of the major problems in Pakistan is that the prime concern of most learners, teachers, parents, and school administrators is not what the students learn but the grades that they achieve. Hence, all the energies of the learners and teachers are devoted to achieving good grades in the exams and little is done to achieve better language proficiency. Until there is a shift in the manner in which students are examined, i.e., from being assessed in English just as in any other content based subject, the students will memorise formulaic phrases and structures, even whole pieces of

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compositions, and pass the exams with flying colours, but they will not learn the language.

Need for Change The above overview of some key areas impacting the teaching/learning of English in Pakistan provides us with a glimpse of the unchanging ways and highlights the need for change. While teachers are being trained, books are being changed, and the curriculum is being revised, the ways in which English is being taught and assessed have not changed. In other words, the forms are being paid due attention but the essence or the substance is not being addressed. This is where innovation is needed; this is where we need to ask, not whether anything can be done but, what can be done to help learners meet their changing English language needs. This, however, needs to be asked keeping in mind the fact that education is a slow process, that things cannot change overnight, that baby steps need to be taken cautiously and prudently, keeping the contextual realities and needs in mind.

Teaching and Teacher Education Having said that, what are some of the innovations that can help improve the English language teaching/learning situation in Pakistan? Many may strongly propose that better, more innovative approaches, better books, or a modern curriculum can help achieve this improvement. However, I think that teachers have to be at the centre of the change process. This, to me, means bringing about a change in the teaching education programmes by integrating theory with practice. One pre-service model that I have successfully experimented with did just that, with amazing results. This programme was conceptualised as an economic endeavour to enable young educated women become earning members of their family. Twenty young girls holding a bachelor’s degree were trained as teachers of English, Maths, and Science at the primary level, where Maths and Science were also taught in English. A partnership was struck up with a community school in Karachi to allow these trainee teachers to sit and observe the teaching of English, Maths, and Science in their school for four days a week, during the morning hours. In the afternoons, input sessions, by different resource persons, provided them with content knowledge and pedagogy. The remaining two days the trainees worked on assigned tasks or spent time on strengthening their

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theory base by reading articles and books. The language of instruction throughout was mainly English and the duration of the programme was six months. The trainees observed, and sometimes even participated in, all cocurricular activities, parent-teacher meetings, and some staff meetings. They were also exposed to the modes of assessment and the examination procedures. An important aspect of this approach was that the trainees were exposed to the classroom dynamics. Additionally, they were also provided alternate exposure, for which collaboration was sought with an elite school of Karachi, where these teachers spent three days observing teaching in an environment where the learners had a fair command over the English language. The success rate, in terms of these women becoming economically active was 70%, with 60% going into full time teaching or part-time tutoring. There was also a marked improvement in their English language skills and in their confidence level. This kind of a model is not difficult to replicate. It needs detailed planning and properly thought through partnership roles, but the advantage is that the translation from theory to practice is gradual and constant. More than that, the trainees are constantly exposed to instructional and classroom management language and thus have an excellent opportunity for internalising the language while acquiring the pedagogy. Additionally, during the latter part of the programme, these teachers did team teaching with the experienced teachers which gave them practice in teaching in a real classroom environment where they were familiar with the students and had a good understanding of the school norms. This helped boost their confidence as, instead of a simulated situation; they had a familiar environment, which added to their level of comfort. Teachers also need to understand that teaching English is different from teaching content based subjects. Language is a skill, the construction of which requires ensuring that each brick is solidly laid before the next one is placed. Unless this is done, the construction will be weak and the structure will not be able to withstand any pressure. Hence, it is important to ensure that students have acquired command over using the structures and techniques taught, in varying contexts, before moving on to teaching anything new. This highlights the need for incorporating material in the teacher education programmes that enables teachers to understand the correct concept and purpose of SLOs, and the means through which these can be assessed or measured.

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Some innovation is also needed in transforming English language teaching and learning from the current content based, grammar-translation mode to a skills-based mode. This is not going to be easy as all stakeholders are likely to be reluctant to move out of their comfort zones. Amongst other factors, an important one is that the current approach does not require any of the stakeholders to venture into unchartered waters, i.e., a set number of items need to be learnt by the learners, taught by the teachers, and reinforced at home, and the all-important results will depend on knowing these set items, rather than knowing the language with all its complexities and variations. One way of bringing about a silent revolution in this sphere is by introducing the skills-based approach in conjunction with the current approach, for a select number of students, and letting the teachers and learners realise which approach yields better results; actions speak louder than words. However, such innovation requires, first of all, commitment of extra time by all key stake holders: students, teachers, parents, and school administration. How this extra time is mobilised will depend on many contextual factors. Ideally, students could be asked to stay back a couple of hours after school, two days a week, for skill-based language classes. This can be possible if all the interested students live within close proximity of the school and are not dependent on group transport. Alternatively, other possible options will have to be explored. Next, the success of such a programme is highly dependent on how well it is structured, how clearly the learning outcomes are determined, what assessment mechanisms are put in place, and, most important of all, how committed and capable the teachers are to ensure the successful delivery of the programme. But one thing positive about such a programme is that exams and completion of course do not have any place in it. It is purely a skills based programme, aimed at enhancing the language skills of learners in an interesting and interactive manner, where the only goal is language improvement and enhancement. At the early stages of one such programme the head of a school mentioned that students who had opted for the programme were already producing better results in their exams in all subjects being taught in English.

Curriculum The English language curriculum, as it stands today, appears to be too idealistic and compartmentalised. It does not seem to take into

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consideration the capacity of the teachers, the time constraints within which the teachers have to work, the assessment and evaluation procedures and their requirements, the needs of the learners, the large class sizes, and, more importantly, the need for imparting language in a holistic and meaningful manner. Moreover, the curriculum seems to focus on quantity rather than quality. It seems to consider that students need to learn the maximum aspects of language without any consideration as to when and how these are to be used and what is needed to make an average learner proficient in the language. If enhancement of students’ English language skills is the aim to be achieved, the curriculum definitely needs to be revisited and made more realistic. Another important aspect is that teacher education programmes need to incorporate the understanding of the requirements of an SLO focused curriculum. The teachers need to understand the difference between how much is taught and how much has been understood and internalised by the students to enable them to learn the language in a holistic manner. Only then can curriculum targets be achieved in a meaningful way.

Textbooks So long as textbooks require, and reinforce, compartmentalised learning and do not focus on scaffolding there is little chance of students building their language skills for real communicative purposes. Moreover, language targets, more than knowledge about different things, should be the prime consideration while selecting material for English textbooks. If anything, the content should not be so unfamiliar or so challenging that understanding of alien concepts and unknown scenarios hinders the acquisition of language; the line between idealism and realism should be tread realistically.

Assessment Practices This brings us to the issue of examination, which is a tricky area to deal with, especially with regard to public exams. Several factors impede the introduction of a skills-based assessment system, the most important, in my view, being the comfort zone that the current mode of exams provides. Since many teachers lack the confidence or the capacity, or both, with regard to their own language competency, the rote memorisation approach, to which the present mode of examinations subscribes, is popular with them as it does not stretch their language skills, while a skills-based

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assessment would demand a higher proficiency level. Hence, this is a difficult nut to crack. However, while change in public examination systems does not seem likely in the foreseeable future, bringing about a change, slow though it may be, is possible, at least where exams fall within the schools’ domain. If teachers are appropriately equipped, they can go for alternate and more purposeful assessment modes that can contribute towards language skills enhancement. Again, this has implications for the teacher education programmes, i.e., these programmes need to incorporate alternate assessment strategies, keeping the contextual realities of Pakistan in mind.

Bringing About Change The need for change in how English is taught, teachers educated, the curriculum designed and textbooks written, and students assessed, is there. Yet, the reality of the low priority given to education and the limited resources available for the social sector is also there. In this scenario one cannot expect a total revamp of the system, but this also does not mean allowing the status quo to persist. One way in which change can be initiated is through efforts at the grassroots level. As Tajik (2010) found from one of his study participants, what is needed is “a ‘bottom up’ approach to educational change, which attempts to move any change from classroom to school to community... change should be started from and by teachers in the classroom” (p. 176). However, bringing about change from the classroom level will require “not only authority and a professional knowledge base, but also an increasing level of commitment to act as agents of change” (Tajik, p. 175). It will also mean bringing about a change in a slow and steady manner, without creating too many ripples in the status quo. Teachers will also need to remember that bringing about a change is not easy; it is a slow and arduous process, particularly in a field like education where results take a long time to appear on the horizon. Taking the change to the next level will, of course, require commitment from the school administration and an understanding of the fact that “for most teachers in most situations learning to put new ideas and practices into place is an incremental process....efforts to put them into practice will normally proceed in bits and steps” (Anderson, 2004, p. 3). So while teachers are provided support and opportunities for growth and development for bringing about a positive change that enhances students’ English language skills, the school administration should keep in mind that “the incremental nature of change” requires being “open to evidence of

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progress towards full understanding and implementation of desired practices, and not simply hold teachers accountable for having reached the ideal or not” (Anderson, p. 5). Once change is successfully implemented at the school level, efforts can then be made to move it to the next level–the wider community.

Conclusion Today, the learners’ needs with regard to English language learning have changed considerably. They now need English to enhance their access to the global community, information, better job prospects, and better educational opportunities. Parents are also realising the importance of the language and are often willing to sacrifice many of their needs and comforts to ensure that their children are able to go to English medium schools. In order to meet the changing needs of learners and to respond to parents’ expectations, a multi-pronged change process, spanning teaching and teacher education, curriculum and textbooks, and assessment processes, is required. It also requires out of box thinking, like not waiting for change to be brought from the top but initiating change at the classroom level and systematically moving up towards change at the national level. The innovations and changes mentioned above are just tips of the iceberg. Many more such innovations can be implemented to ensure that the changing needs of learners are met to enable them to survive and to excel in their respective fields through better English language skills. Moreover, some of the suggested innovations are possible to implement without creating too many ripples in the status quo. They are not resource intensive and require minor adjustments in the prevalent programmes. However, what they require is commitment and a will to change. 

References Anderson, S.E. (2004). In search of impact: Teacher development for school improvement. In A. Halai & J. Rarieya (Eds.), Impact making a difference (pp. 1-19). Karachi, Pakistan: Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development. Bhuiyan, S. M., Rahman, K., & Haque, K. (2004). The certificate in education-Dhaka model: A study of teachers’ perceptions. In A. Halai & J. Rarieya (Eds.), Impact making a difference (pp. 51-73). Karachi, Pakistan: Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development.

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Coleman, H. (2011). Allocating resources for English: The case of Indonesia’s English medium International Standard Schools. In H. Coleman (Ed.), Dreams and realities: Developing countries and the English language (pp. 89-113). London, UK: British Council. Doyle, D., & Reid, M. (2004). China in our hands. In A. Pulverness (Ed.), IATEFL 2004 Liverpool Conference selections (pp. 124-125). Canterbury, UK: IATEFL. Elnazarov, H. (2004). Teachers’ perspectives on educational changes in MBAP of Tajikistan: Implications for professional development. In A. Halai & J. Rarieya (Eds.), Impact making a difference (pp. 109-126). Karachi, Pakistan: Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development. Giri, A.G. (2009). The politics of unplanning of languages in Nepal. Journal of NELTA, 14 (1-2), 32-44. Hassan, M.K.,. & Akhand, M.M. (2009). Challenges of TEFL at the college level in the Bangladeshi context. Journal of NELTA, 14 (1-2), 45-54. Hirani, R. (2010). Comments on Stephan Bax’s The End of CLT: A context approach to language teaching. SPELT Quarterly Journal, XXV (III), 42-43. Mansoor, S. (2002). The role of English in higher education in Pakistan. Report based on the PhD dissertation submitted to the Aga Khan University, Centre of English Language, Karachi, Pakistan. Meganathan, R. (2011). Language policy in education and the role of English in India: From library language to language of empowerment. In H. Coleman (Ed.), Dreams and realities: Developing countries and the English language (pp. 59-87). London, UK: British Council. Sauvignon, S.J. (2002). Communicative curriculum design for the 21st Century. Forum, 40 (1), 2-7. Shahabuddin, F. (1992). The role of English in the developing world. Unpublished award winning article submitted in an essay competition organised by the English Speaking Union of the Commonwealth, London, UK. Shamim, F. (2011). English as the language for development in Pakistan: Issues, challenges and possible solutions. In H. Coleman (Ed.), Dreams and realities: Developing countries and the English language (pp. 297315). London, UK: British Council. Shareef, R.O. (2010). Journey of a female pedagogical leader in a traditional community context in Pakistan. In J. Khaki & Q. Safdar (Eds.), Educational leadership in Pakistan (pp. 39-56). Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford University Press.

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Tajik, M.A. (2010). Leaders as agents of change and their change strategies. In J. Khaki & Q. Safdar (Eds.), Educational leadership in Pakistan (pp. 169-192). Karachi: Oxford University Press.



CHAPTER FIFTEEN SOCIAL COMPETENCE AND LANGUAGE LEARNING FATIMA DAR

Abstract Academic institutions share a vital responsibility to create safe, orderly and effective learning environments where learners acquire social as well as academic skills. Social skills are imperative for mutually positive interactions and durable interpersonal relationships. Preparing socially competent learners via the curriculum is an important need in an age where the institutional curricula are inclined to lean profoundly toward academics, with little or no emphasis on other life skills. The result is an outpouring of individuals who may be academically viable and competent but lack the essential social and behavioural skills to have a well-poised existence in society. This paper addresses this crucial gap and proposes a language curriculum which is both academically and socially driven. The choice of socially feasible texts with appropriate methodologies to support them, appropriate classroom interaction among learners and teachers that focuses on positive social etiquettes and language and an overall learner friendly environment are some of the areas/aspects discussed in the paper. Keywords: affective development, social competence, academic competence, curriculum, language development

Introduction Academic institutions share the responsibility to prepare individuals who are academically competent, emotionally secure and socially capable. The major aim that educational institutions strive towards is to help in the development of wholesome human personalities so that the individuals

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adjust smoothly in society at large. While academic competence gives individuals the impetus to earn a better livelihood and gain financial security, social competence prepares them to run the daily affairs of life in an amicable and just manner. Adams and Baronberg (2005) define social competence as the ability to recognize, interpret, and respond appropriately in social situations. It aids in decision making, resolving conflicts, developing self-control, self-assertion, empathy and pro-social behaviours. However, it has been observed that academic institutions do not adequately attend to this very important life skill. The major emphasis is on academic development and seeking intellectual prowess. The institutional curricula do not prepare children to be socially competent. Sometimes a lean presence is felt through some project work or an occasional activity in schools. But these are not enough to make the required impact on the students. The result seen is that students are generally good in academic skills but are deficient in social skills. They lack empathy, appropriate social skills and compassion. This could mean that the school curricula, textbooks and culture do not promote the same, hence an unbalanced curriculum. The need, therefore, is to try to achieve a fine balance between the social and cognitive domains to help students develop wholesome human personalities.

The Development of Social Competence Social competence does develop over time as human beings are naturally bestowed with the capacity for social interaction. Even infants feel the need to interact socially. According to Oden (1987) even new-borns are quite perceptive, active, and responsive during physical and social interaction. The need continues to grow as children interact with family, peers and others in their environment. This ability to develop social skills continuously moulds and reshapes itself as adults continue to practice authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive categories of social control over their children. This strong action and interplay of social skill categories lead the children to smoothly transcend from egocentric to social beings and appropriately cope with the social conditions around them. Consequently, it is important to give them pleasant and note worthy social experiences at this stage so that they find the occurrences worthwhile to adopt and assimilate. Childhood, therefore, becomes a strong determiner of social or anti-social tendencies as to how children interact as adults depends a lot on their early social experiences. On the contrary, social deprivation in childhood tends to cause major personality

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imperfections when these children reach adulthood. Clarke-Stewart and Koch (1983) are of the view that babies who lack human interaction may fail to thrive. Such infants fail to gain sufficient weight and become indifferent, listless, withdrawn or depressed, and in some cases do not survive. Sociologists (Ladd, 2000; Parker & Asher, 1987) share the same worry and add that unless children achieve minimal social competence by around the age of 6 years, there is a high probability of their being at risk in several ways as they come close to adulthood.

Peer Influence One of the factors that hugely influences the development of social skills in children is peer influence. Piaget (l932) identified peer interaction as a major source of cognitive as well as social development, particularly for the development of role-taking and empathy. Children learn to establish social values, interact amicably in groups, take turns, help others in need, and feel compassionate about others through close bonding and interaction with peers. Eisenberg, Fabes, and Spinard (2006) are of the view that children who spend time with very pro-social classmates are likely to become more prosocial themselves over time; they come to adopt the more helpful, caring norms of their peers. Teachers can capitalize on this tendency of children and create opportunities in the class for healthy social interaction. On the contrary, children who are unable to maintain a healthy relationship with peers are at risk. They are bound to face difficulty in academic and social adjustment and are at the periphery of social isolation. Hartup (1992) notes that peer relationships in particular contribute a great deal to both social and cognitive development and to the effectiveness with which people function as adults. He states that: The single best childhood predictor of adult adaptation is not school grades, and not classroom behaviour, but rather, the adequacy with which the child gets along with other children. Children who are generally disliked, who are aggressive and disruptive, who are unable to sustain close relationships with other children, and who cannot establish a place for themselves in the peer culture are seriously at risk. (p.1)

Peer influence is, therefore, a vital component in establishing social tendencies. Cohen (1994) states that when groups engage in cooperative tasks, they are more likely to form friendly ties, trust and influence each other. According to Hamburg (2004) peers offer a unique viewpoint–the

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perspective of equals. They affect the development of a child in many of the same ways as parents; namely, through modeling behaviour, social comparison, reinforcement of behaviours, and frequent opportunities for social learning. Moreover, Hartup (1983) points out that mixed-age peer interaction also contributes towards the social-cognitive and language development of younger children while enhancing the instructive abilities of the older children.

Social Competence and the School Curriculum As academic institutions strive to develop key academic skills in students, one component that needs to be attended to is social competence. The merger of social competence in the regular school curriculum is a viable option to bridge the cognitive-affective divide. Through the inter dependence of cognitive and affective frameworks, the curriculum can highlight the importance of both, hence provide an opportunity to children to learn key academic and other social skills in seamless unison. Gresham (1998) and Sugai and Lewis (in press) claim that the success of teachers and administrators in helping students develop social competence depends on their ability to develop a school-wide culture of social competence, to infuse the curriculum with situation-specific social skills lessons that target key behaviours, and their ability to match the level and intensity of instruction to students' social skills deficits. Thus, the classrooms and the curricula, must act as active agents to ensure healthy social developments. Elias et al. (1997) also support the notion that essentially reflective educators adopt a consistent framework to foster the development of social and emotional skills, rather than having a fragmented focus on isolated issues. Driscoll and Pianta (2010) think that teachers should respond sensitively to children’s everyday needs, interact in emotionally supportive ways and listen and converse with sincere attention. Moreover, making classrooms active forums through social programmes can foster these necessary skills among children. Blake (2007) suggests measures that encourage positive personal and social development. They are: • • • •

a provision of contexts that foster positive relationships; a whole school commitment to achieving social competence; an early start of social development plan in the school; an inclusion of acquisition of information, development of skills;

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and exploration of emotions, feelings, attitudes and values in the curricula; • a provision of a safe and supportive learning environment; and • reinforcement of positive values. Other important factors towards the preparation of a cognitive-social curriculum are the modelling of desired social behaviour by teachers and the social expectations set by them in the classrooms. Teachers can influence children by modelling and teaching key social behaviours. According to Jere (1996) modelling pro-social behaviour is the most basic element for enhancing student socialisation, because teachers are unlikely to be successful socialisers unless they practice what they preach. Similarly, social expectations need to be set in classrooms for their successful adoption. Hyson and Taylor (2011) report the same and say that children are most likely to develop empathy and pro-social skills if adults make it clear that they expect them to do so. Jere reiterates the same and opines that consistent projection of positive expectations, attributes, and social labels to students may have a significant impact on fostering selfesteem and increasing motivation towards exhibiting a pro-social behaviour. Students who are consistently treated as if they are wellintentioned individuals who respect themselves and others and who desire to act responsibly, morally, and pro-socially are more likely to develop these qualities.

Social Competence and Language Development Social competence also augments and nurtures cognitive and language development during childhood. As children are afforded opportunities for social interaction, the cognitive and language processes necessarily come into use and the consequential development is a combination of all three. Bruner (1978) has proposed that these social interaction processes, which continually undergo development, also constitute a "fine tuning" system for the child's language and cognitive development. Lu (1998) further adds to this developmental cycle and claims that language learning is a sociocultural process. To fully function in a particular language, human beings not only need to understand the mechanics, such as the grammar, but to also apply that language across various contexts, audiences, and purposes. Heath (1983) confirms the same and adds that children learn language, be it spoken or written, through the process of socializing in the specific society they are in. It is through meaningful interaction with others as well as functional use in daily life that children develop competence, fluency,

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and creativity in language. Through the process of active socialisation children learn to use and practice the structures of language and constantly refine them as they grow. What is vital in language development, therefore, is human interaction. Hartup (1983) regards mixed-age peer interaction as another vital contributory factor towards the social-cognitive and language development of the younger child. As children interact with elder peers, they learn and internalize new language structures. This further adds to the importance of having able peer relationships which act as sound learning ground for growing children. Newman (1985) further states that in the process of acquiring oral language, young children are active agents. They not only receive language input from others but also generate hypotheses about rules of language use through social engagement with other more competent language users.

Social Competence and Language Teaching Classrooms and the curricula can act as active and strong agents to ensure healthy social developments in English language classrooms. Here teachers are the main sources who present the curricula in a way so as to bridge the gap between cognitive and affective domains. Making classrooms active forums through social and pro-social programmes can foster these necessary skills among children. According to Hyson et al. (2011) teachers can re-examine everyday routines and activities to see if the pro-social content of activities is being fully tapped. Moreover, teachers can use specialized curricula and other resources that target prosocial behaviour. Some of the ways in which social competence can be taught through language are listed below:

1. Newspapers as a Rich Source for Developing Social Competence Newspapers can emerge as a solid medium through which social competence can be taught. With reading and speaking skills as targets, teachers can give students cut outs of headlines from various articles, with contemporary social issues as subjects. Students could be asked to read stories and then match the headlines with those stories. Teachers are in a position to try to sensitize students towards certain social issues by building classroom activities around the themes discussed in the articles. Moreover, teachers can encourage students to follow social issues

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published as news items over a period of time, and then discuss the happenings in class. Students could also be asked to read articles that describe social problems and later discuss the problem's cause and effect. The purpose of the entire exercise should be to highlight contemporary social issues and channelize students’ attention and sensitivity towards them. This can safely be achieved through the interplay of the four language skills where students study social competence while learning the language.

2. Teaching Social Stories and Literature Another way to enhance students’ social competence is to teach them social stories. Such stories invoke the inherent social tendencies of children and make them react empathetically, compassionately and sympathetically towards story characters. Louie (2005) contends that when students develop personal connection with literature, empathy may be a specific form of such aesthetic responses. Galda and Beach (2001) are of the view that texts, readers, and contexts are inseparable from one another. When readers generally respond to texts, they tend to associate themselves with the characters, themes, and the culture projected in the texts. Feelings of empathy are invoked through this process. Teachers can, therefore, capitalize on this sensitivity and bring in texts which are based on empathetic and social themes. Students are happier to read texts which are closer to real life and ones which they can associate with. Moreover, during this social interaction with textual characters they also get exposed to the richness of language and their learning of the social context occurs together with the learning of language. The onus rests on the teacher to develop language activities which also target social competence and vice versa.

3. Project work on Pro-social Themes Students engage in several projects on diversified themes during the course of a year. If a few themes take a social route and focus on the issues of empathy, compassion and the development of pro-social behaviour then social competence can get a good hearing in the institutional curriculum. Baron, Branscombe, Byrne, and Bhardwaj (2010) refer to the following project themes for development of social competence: • Empathy-altruism. The project runs around the spirit that it feels good to help others.

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• Negative-state relief. The project is based on the reduction of unpleasant feelings through helping others. • Empathic joy. The project focuses on the theme that helping others is rewarding. • Competitive altruism approach. The project masterminds the concept that helping others boosts one’s own status and reputation. The purpose of initiating such projects is to make students develop a more caring and helpful attitude towards others. They learn those affective needs that are vital for survival and adjustment in society at large. During the course of such projects students learn the key language and certain social skills in unison. Both should complement each other.

4. Jigsaw Grouping Another valuable means to engage students in an intense yet productive social networking is through jigsaw grouping. Students are divided into groups and are given topics to research on. Students do extensive research on the given topics. After they complete the study, they are again divided into ‘expert’ groups where each member shares his/her expertise on the researched topic with other members. The completion of the task is done once each member has shared the assigned part in the group. The groups then share their knowledge with the class in general. This kind of grouping attempts to engage students in an extended social activity, where group cooperation and interaction are vital ingredients for success. At the same time the students are actively engaged in the academic task where they investigate core areas of the subject under study. Hamburg (2004) claims the same and suggests that jigsaw classrooms, and intergroup dialogue programmes teach empathetic and pro-social skills to students. Such tasks, therefore, not only help in the development of social competence but also augment key areas of language which are under study.

5. Pro-social Vocabulary Words and Collages The display of social and pro-social vocabulary words in the classroom can act as a driving force to create social awareness among students. Words having social connotations can be isolated from texts after reading and displayed on a bulletin board for easy reference. The visual awareness and continuous presence of such words in the students’ environment can achieve the desired impact. Teachers may refer to the words if students do not display the desired social behaviour and should remember to

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compliment those who do so. Through this effort the students would be made to realize the value and worth of such words. Teachers can also encourage students to display a variety of emotions and feelings through creating collages of the social words on display in the classrooms. Different themes that invoke happiness, sadness, love, hate, anger or compassion can be exhibited through newspaper cuttings or headlines, pictures, colours etc. According to Blake (2007) this can be a trigger for discussion about how people feel and how they behave as a result of their feelings. The ultimate effort, therefore, is to help students develop social competence through a realization of the meaning that such words generate.

6. Role plays Role plays are strong mediums through which feelings and emotions can be enacted. Students can role play feelings in general and also role play imaginary interactions with characters they are studying. Such activities can help them to examine and study emotions and feelings more deeply and enable them to reflect on the different conflicts that arise in the characters’ lives. By stepping in the shoes of different characters that are victims of conflicts, emotional instability or social victimization, students are better able to perceive these phenomena. Otten (2002) remarks that: “Role-playing a character's conflict and resolution can be effective 'practice' for times when students actually become involved in personal conflict” (p.82). Furthermore, role plays can be done on anti-social and social behaviours. Again themes can be extracted from stories and texts that students study in class. During the course of role-play enactment, students learn key vocabulary and language structures in alliance with key issues with respect to social development. Consequently language and social skills development act as a combined force to refine and instruct student behaviour.

Conclusion The aim of schooling is to prepare individuals for society. If necessary life skills like empathy and social development are dealt with efficiency in academic institutions then emotionally competent and socially responsible adults become members of the community. Elias et al. (1997) report that when schools attend to students’ social and emotional skills, the academic

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achievement of children increases, the incidence of problem behaviour decreases, and the quality of the relationship surrounding each child improves. Students become productive, responsible, and contributing members of society. Development of social competence, therefore, is vital and efforts should be made for its active propagation in schools through integration with the language curricula, careful use of activities and texts. Language curricula afford a better possibility for the successful inclusion and teaching of social themes and traits because of their larger scope and direct connection with culture. Language represents culture and socially viable traits are needed to thrive in the culture. Academic institutions need to build on this natural template and adapt a language curriculum which takes into its fold the desired social behaviours and themes. This attempt will definitely afford better academic, social and linguistically rich learning possibilities for the students.

References Adams, S.K., Baronberg, J. (2005). Promoting positive behavior: Guidance strategies for early childhood settings. New York: Pearson Education. Baron, R. A., Branscombe, N. R., Byrne, D., Bhardwaj, G. (2010). Social psychology. New Delhi: Pearson. Blake, S., Bird, J.,Gerlach, L. (2007) Promoting emotional and social development in schools. London: Paul Chapman Publishing. Bruner, J. S. (1978). From cognition to language: A psychological perspective. In I. Markova (Ed.), The social context of language . New York: Wiley & Sons, Clarke-Stewart, A., Koch, J. B. (1983). Children: Development through adolescence. New York: Wiley & Sons. Cohen, E. (1994). Designing group work: Strategies for heterogeneous classroom. New York: Teachers College Press. Driscoll, K. C., Pianta, R.C. (2010). Banking time in Head Start: Early efficacy of an intervention designed to promote supportive teacherchild relationship. Early Education and Development,.21(1), 38-64. Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R.A. & Spinard, T. L. (2006). Pro-social development. In N. Eisenberg, W. Damon, R.M. Lerner (Eds.) Handbook of child psychology: Vol.3,Social emotional and personality development (6th ed.,(pp. 616-718). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

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Elias, M. J., Zins, J. E., Weissberg, R. P., Frey, K. S., Greenberg, M. T., Haynes, N. M., …, & Shriver, T. P. (1997). Promoting social and emotional learning: Guidelines for educators. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Galda, L. & Beach, R. (2001). Theory and research into practice: Response to literature as a cultural activity. Reading Research Quarterly, 36, 64-73. Hartup, W. W. (1983) Peer Relations. In handbook of child psychology. In E.M. Hetherington (Ed.), Socialization, personality, and social development (pp. 103-196 ). New York: Wiley & Sons. Hartup, W. W., & Moore, S. G. (1990). Early peer relations: Developmental significance and prognostic implications. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 5(1), 1-18. Hartup, W. W. (1992). Having friends, making friends, and keeping friends: Relationships as educational contexts. ERIC Digest. Champaign, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education. ED 345 854. Hamburg, David., Hamburg, B.A. (2004) Learning to live together: Preventing hatred and violence in child and adolescent development. New York: Oxford University Press. Jere, Brophy (1996). Enhancing students’ socialization. ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education Urbana IL. ED395713. Heath, S. B. (1983). Ways with words: Language, life, and work in communities and classrooms. New York: Cambridge University Press. Kinsey, S. J. (2000). The relationship between pro-social behaviors and academic achievement in the primary multiage classroom. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Chicago: Loyola University. Ladd, G. W. (2000). The fourth R: Relationships as risks and resources following children's transition to school. American Educational Research Association Division E Newsletter, 19(1), 9-11. Louie, Belinda (2005). Development of empathetic responses with multicultural literature. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 48(7), 566-578. Lu, Mei-Yu. (1998). Language learning in social and cultural contexts. ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading English and Communication Bloomington. Retrieved from http://www.ericdigests.org/19992/language.htm Newman, J. M. (1985). Insight from recent reading and writing research and their implications for developing whole language curriculum. In J.

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M. Newman (Ed.), Whole language: Theory in use (pp. 17-36). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Oden, S. (1987). The development of social competence in children. ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education Urbana IL. ERIC Identifier: ED281610 Otten, E. H. (2002). Developing character through literature. Bloomington, IN: ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English and Communication and The Family Learning Association. Parker, J. G., & Asher, S. R. (1987). Peer relations and later personal adjustment: Are low-accepted children at risk? Psychological Bulletin, 102(3), 357-389. Piaget, J (1932). Moral judgment of the child. London: Kegan Paul. Sugai, G., & Lewis, T. (in press). Social skills instruction in the classroom. In E. J. Kame'enui & C. Darch (Eds.). Instructional classroom management (2nd ed.). White Plains, NY: Longman.



ABBREVIATIONS

AACN – American Association of College of Nurses ADP – Advanced Diploma Programme AIOU – Allama Iqbal Open University AJK- Azad Jammu Kashmir AKU- Aga Khan University AKU CEL – Aga Khan University Centre of English Language AKU EB – Aga Khan University Examination Board AKU IED – Aga Khan University Institute for Education Development BANA - Britain, Australasia and North America

BBC – British Broadcasting Corporation BSc – Bachelor of Science BScN – Bachelor of Science in Nursing BZU – Bahauddin Zakriya University CALL – Computer Assisted Language Learning CD – Compact Disc CEF – Common European Framework CLT - Communicative Language Teaching CLT – Communicative Language Teaching CLT – Communicative Language Teaching CPD – Continuous Professional Development CRNE – Canadian Registered Nurse Examination DVD – Digital Versatile Disc EAP – English for Academic Purposes ED-LINKS – Links to Learning EEA – European Economic Area EFL – English as a Foreign Language ELT - English Language Teaching ELTR – English Language Teaching Reforms ESL- English as a Second Language ESOL – English for Speakers of Other Languages ESP – English for Specific Purposes EU – European Union F2F – face-to-face FCC- Fellowship Criteria Committee FGD – Focus Group Discussion

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Abbreviations

GB- Great Britain GBP –Pound Sterling GDP – Gross Domestic Product GNP – Gross National Product GPA – Grade Point Average HDR – Human Development Report HE – Higher Education HE ELT – Higher Education English Language Teacher HEC- Higher Education Commission HEI – Higher Education Institutions IELTS –International English Language Testing System IQR – Interquartile Range IRP- International Resource Person IT – Information Technology L1 – First language L2 – Second language LA – Language Acquisition LHR – Linguistic Human Rights LID – Learning Innovation Division LMS – Learning Management System LPP – Language Policy and Planning MI- Medium of Instruction NCE – National Committee on English NCLEX-RN – National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses OECD – Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development PBL – Problem Based Learning PGD – Post Graduate Diploma PNC- Pakistan Nursing Council RN BScN – Registered Bachelors in Science SAC- Self Access Centre SLA – Second Language Acquisition SLOs – Student Learning Outcomes SLTE – Second Language Teacher Education TEFL – Teaching of English as a Foreign Language TESL – Teaching of English as a Foreign Language TESOL – Teaching of English as a Second or Other Language UK – United Kingdom UKBA – United Kingdom Border Agency UN – United Nations UNDP – United Nations Development Programme

ELT in a Changing World: Innovative Approaches to New Challenges

UNESCO – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization USAID - Unites States Agency for International Development USA – United States of America USD – United States Dollar USSR – Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

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CONTRIBUTORS

Dr Andrew Littlejohn is an author, teacher trainer, and academic. He previously taught at Lancaster University (UK) and the Institute of Education at the University of London, and is now at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman. He is three times the winner of English Speaking Union awards (presented at Buckingham Palace) for his writings in ELT methodology. He has published numerous articles in Language Teaching journals and edited collections and is the author and co-editor of many texts such as Classroom Decision-Making, Company to Company, Cambridge English for Schools, Primary Colours, and four books on Writing (all published by Cambridge University Press). Dr Anjum P. Saleemi, holds an MA and a PhD in Linguistics (University of Essex, United Kingdom). He has additional major interests in the Philosophy of Language and Mind, theories of the evolution of life and consciousness, Cognitive Sciences in general, spirituality and mysticism, and a variety of socio-political, literary and artistic matters. He is the author of Universal Grammar and Language Learnability (CUP, 1992/2009) as well as of a large number of research articles, besides being the first editor (with Ocke-Schwen Bohn and Albert Gjedde) of a collection of papers entitled In Search of a Language for the Mind-Brain (Aarhus University Press, Denmark, 2005). With previous affiliations with the Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad, National University of Singapore, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California at Berkeley, University of Aarhus (Denmark), National Chi Nan University (Taiwan), Lahore University of Management Sciences, GCULahore, and Karakorum International University in Gilgit (Pakistan), Dr Saleemi is currently on leave from the University of Management and Technology, Lahore, and is working as Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He is an elected member of the New York Academy of Sciences and a couple of other similar learned societies.

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Contributors

Dr Willy Renandya is a language teacher educator with extensive teaching experience in Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Vietnam. He currently teaches applied linguistics courses at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, where he also serves as Head of the Teachers’ Language Development Centre. Prior to his current position, he taught at SEAMEO RELC, Singapore, where he also served as Head of the Department of Language Education and Research. He has published articles and books on various topics, including an edited book entitled Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice with Jack C. Richards, published by Cambridge University Press (2002, 2008). He is also coeditor (with Jack C. Richards) of a language teacher resource series, called the RELC Portfolio Series, which has been translated into Portuguese and Spanish. His latest publication “Teacher, the tape is too fast – Extensive listening in ELT” (co-edited with Thomas S.C. Farrell) appeared in the ELT Journal (Oxford University Press, 2011). He is currently working on an edited volume entitled Principles and Practices for Teaching English as an International Language, to be published by Routledge International. Ms Mirat Al Fatima Ahsan, an Assistant Professor at the Aga Khan University Centre of English Language, is currently completing a doctorate in education from the University of Oxford. She has an MPhil in Educational Research from the University of Cambridge, holds a master’s degree in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) from Warwick University, UK along with a master’s and BA honours in English Literature from the University of Karachi. Ms Ahsan has taught at secondary and tertiary levels and her divergent experiences as a teacher, teacher educator, researcher, textbook writer, editor and copywriter have made her a zealous advocate of innovative and creative language classrooms. Dr Graeme Cane is currently Deputy Director for Training, Research, Assessment and Consultancy at the SEAMEO Regional Language Centre in Singapore. He was formerly Head of the Centre of English Language at the Aga Khan University in Karachi and has taught linguistics and literature at universities in a number of developing countries across the world. Dr Cane has written on English linguistics and language in international journals and is currently interested in ways of developing ESL learners’ language awareness. Dr Fauzia Shamim is Professor of Applied Linguistics and Chairperson, Department of English, University of Karachi, Pakistan. Earlier, she was a faculty member at the Aga Khan University’s Institute for Educational

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Development. Dr. Shamim has vast experience of teaching English and teacher education in a variety of settings. She has presented papers as invited speaker at a number of national and international conferences both in Pakistan and abroad. Mr Muhammad Ali Khan is a Senior Instructor at the Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development, Centre of English Language. He works at the interface of language policy, textbook research, critical discourse analysis, globalization and English language teaching in Pakistan. He is a member of the Language, Ideology and Power Research Group run by Professor Norman Fairclough and Professor Ruth Wodak at Lancaster University, the National Council of Academics, Irtiqa Institute for Social Sciences, Pakistan, the South Place Ethical Society, London and Linguistic Ethnography Forum King's College London. Mr Anthony Capstick has been teaching and researching in Pakistan for four years. While working as the British Council’s English language adviser in Islamabad he ran a nation-wide research project looking at language in education across the country and published the findings in a report with Hywel Coleman from Leeds University titled: ‘Language in education in Pakistan: recommendations for policy and practice’. He presented the findings from this research at conferences in Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Prior to this, Tony worked on teacher development projects in Cambodia, Indonesia, North Korea and Romania. Ms Aliya Sikandar is an Assistant Professor at the Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development, Centre of English Language. She has an MA (TESOL), from the Institute of Education, University of London, UK, an MA in English Literature from the University of Karachi and a COTE (RSA) from Cambridge University, UK. She has been involved in teacher education, and also has national and international publications to her credit. Her interests include sociolinguistics, spoken discourse and educational research. Ms Azra Ahmed is an Assistant Professor at the Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development, Centre of English Language. She holds a Masters in TEFL from Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad, and has a COTE (RSA) from Cambridge University. Her online trainings are from the IoE, University of London, Consultants-E and Trinity College. She is currently enrolled in MSc in e-learning from the University of Edinburgh. She has co-edited English and Empowerment in the

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Contributors

Developing World and Teaching English in Multi-lingual Contexts: Current Challenges ’—„Ž‹•Š‡† „›  ‹ ʹͲͲͻ, Future Directions ’—„Ž‹•Š‡† „›  ‹ ʹͲͳͳ. Her area of specialisation is e-learning for English in the context of Pakistan. Ms Faiza Saleem, a Senior Instructor at the Aga Khan University Centre of English Language, holds a Master’s degree in English Linguistics and English Literature from the University of Karachi. Ms Saleem has done her online training from Trinity College – UK and Consultants’-E, Spain. Currently she is Co-investigator in an e-learning project. Her areas of interest include elearning, and ELT materials development. Ms. Rubina Sultan, an Instructor at the Aga Khan University Center of English Language, has a Masters in Mass Communication from the University of Karachi and an Advanced Diploma in TEFL from AKUCEL, Karachi. Currently she is doing her MA-TESOL-Educational Technology as a distant learner from the University of Manchester. Her areas of interest are contextualized materials design for Listening and Speaking skills, and using e-learning as a tool for academic writing skills especially for Nursing students. Ms Isbah Mustafa works in Aga Khan University Examination Board. Her present job as Manager Assessment-EDLINKS Project involves working with public examination boards on their capacity building and with the government in trying to improve classroom assessment and annual examinations in selected middle schools. She has a Masters from the University of London in Educational Planning, Economics and International Development and a double master in English. She received the Endeavour Executive Award in 2007 and the Common Wealth Distance Learning Scholarship in 2008. Ms Jacqueline Maria Dias is a Nurudin Jivraj Assistant Professor and Director of the BScN and Post RN Degree Programmes at the Aga Khan University School of Nursing. She holds a joint appointment with the Department of Medical Education, at AKU and teaches in the Masters in Health Professions Education. She has a BScN from McMaster University, Canada and an MEd from the University of Wales. Currently she is a PhD student at Ambrosiana University, Italy. In addition, she has an Advanced Diploma in Health Professions Education. She has extensive experience in Curriculum Development and has been the chair of the Curriculum Committee of the undergraduate nursing curriculum at AKU-SONAM for

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many years. She initiated the Higher Education/Pakistan Nursing Curriculum at Aga Khan University School of Nursing. She led the revision of the first National curriculum on BSc Nursing in 2011. She has pioneered the Examination Cell and MCQ Bank at the School of Nursing. Her expertise is sought at the national level in Programme Evaluation, Curriculum Evaluation, Assessment, Examination and Testing. Ms Basnama Ayaz is a Senior Instructor at Aga Khan University School of Nursing and Midwifery (AKU-SONAM). She has a BScN and MScN degree from AKU-SONAM Karachi, Pakistan. She has completed her MScN thesis titled “BScN Students’ Perceptions about Teaching and Learning Strategies of Clinical Education at Shifa College of Nursing Islamabad, Pakistan”. She is currently in Afghanistan and is working in Policy Development. She is a member of the Curriculum Committee of the undergraduate nursing programs at AKU-SON. Her areas of interest are Curriculum Development, Application and Evaluation. Ms Rozina Barolia is a Senior Instructor at the Aga Khan University School of Nursing and Midwifery, Karachi, Pakistan. She is a BScN graduate of AKU-SONAM of 2002 after which she worked in Cardiac Intensive Care Unit for four years in different capacities including Clinical Nurse Instructor. She returned to school for her MScN in 2006 and graduated as an MScN graduate in 2008. Rozina has also worked as the Vice Principal Ziauddin College of Nursing and has played a significant role in starting the BScN program and moving the school of nursing into a university based education model. Her interest areas are clinical education and research. Professor Noor Amna Malik is currently serving the Government of Pakistan as Director General and Head of the Learning Innovation Division (LID) at the Higher Education Commission, Islamabad, Pakistan. Prior to joining HEC she worked as Assistant Professor at NUST and Hamdard University and served as Lecturer at the National University of Modern Languages and Islamabad College for Girls. She has also served as an Academic Tutor at the University of Canberra Australia. She gained intensive experience as an HRD specialist and as Principal Consultant at Specialised Executive Education and Development since March 2001. Professor Malik is a member of the HEC Senior Management Committee and the Accreditation Council for Teachers’ Education. She represents HEC at different national and international fora and is HEC’s focal person to liaise with the National Commission on the status of women. She is also

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Contributors

a member of the Task Force for ‘Policy against Sexual Harassment in Institutions of Higher Learning’. Ms Fatima Shahabuddin is a freelance English language consultant involved in teaching, teacher training, materials design, curriculum development, textbook writing, editing, conducting studies, and development of English language teaching and teacher training programmes. Currently she is working part time at AKU-SONAM and part time with the Dean, AKU Medical College. She is a life member of the Society of Pakistan English Language Teachers (SPELT) and its current Programme Coordinator. Ms Fatima Dar is a PhD scholar at the School of Education and Cognitive Science, Asia e University, Malaysia. She has a Master’s in Curriculum and Teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University, and an MA in English Language and Literature from Government College, Lahore. Fatima has served as Teacher Educator, consultant and faculty at Ali Institute of Education, Lahore, Lahore Grammar School, Society for the Advancement of Higher Education (SAHE), Centre of English Language, Aga Khan University, Karachi. She has worked with ESRAUSAID as a consultant for the Professional Development component on Action Research. She is member of Provincial Review Committee, Punjab Textbook Board, Lahore, and is an author for the Grade 9 English textbook. She has been a visiting tutor at the Institute of Education, University of London and University of Warwick. She was awarded the Charles Wallace Trust visiting fellowship for the year 2000 for which she went to the Institute of Education, University of London. She has presented papers both nationally and internationally. Currently she works as an Assistant Professor at the School of Education, Beacon House National University, Lahore.



INDEX

academic English, 12, 159, 162 accelerated programmes, 215, 216, 217, 218, 220, 221, 222 affective development, 243 assessment practices, 89, 91, 225, 226 autodidactic learning, 17 Azad Kashmir, 127, 130 behaviourism, 7 case study, 46, 66, 69, 197 classroom assessment, 177, 180, 196, 262 cognitive domains, 244 collaborative learning, 172 communicative approach, 4, 198, 230 communicatively-based programmes, 45 comprehensible input, 46, 158 conceptions about teaching & learning, 53 contextual factors, 87, 92, 99, 237 critical thinking, 157, 168, 177, 194, 195, 221, 224 culture & context, 53 curriculum, 14, 15, 37, 45, 50, 60, 67, 85, 87, 89, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 99, 103, 120, 160, 162, 163, 180, 215, 216, 217, 219, 220, 221, 222, 224, 225, 226, 230, 233, 234, 235, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 243, 244, 246, 247, 249, 252, 253, 262, 264 declarative knowledge, 48, 61, 157 democratisation, 9 deregulation, 11

developing world, 66, 68, 174, 215, 241 distance learning programmes, 229 EDLINKS, 181, 185, 194, 197, 262 e-learning, 55, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 163, 165, 173, 174, 175, 262 ELTR project, 205, 207 empirical research, 36, 53 English as a Second Language, 208 English Language teachers in Pakistan, 53 English language testing, 127, 132 extensive listening, 41, 47 extensive reading, 41, 46, 51, 169 focus group discussion, 162, 164 grammar-translation method, 230, 233 grammatical awareness, 73 hegemony, 5, 112 hermeneutic data analysis framework, 53 Higher education, 54, 67, 69, 71, 174 Higher Education Commission, 57, 61, 71, 203, 204, 206, 213, 218, 219, 256, 263 Higher Education Institutions, 205, 256 idealised notion of language and society, 107 immigration, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 135, 137 indexicalities, 139, 150

266 indigenous language, 109, 111, 112, 121, 141 inner speech, 17, 23, 35 innovation, 10, 53, 71, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 155, 159, 160, 173, 175, 215, 217, 224, 234, 235, 237, 256 innovative pedagogy, 53 input, 26, 28, 33, 34, 38, 41, 43, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 59, 61, 113, 158, 161, 166, 196, 213, 230, 235, 248 input-based practice, 41, 43, 45, 49 L2 learning, 41 language acquisition, 8, 15, 17, 20, 22, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 36, 38, 41, 45, 46, 49 language and thought, 17, 22, 23, 25, 36 language awareness, 29, 73, 74, 75, 77, 85 language development, 8, 29, 44, 228, 233, 234, 243, 246, 247, 248 language ideologies, 139, 145 language of wider Communication, 107 language teaching, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 28, 39, 41, 42, 67, 69, 71, 72, 73, 89, 94, 96, 100, 119, 123, 175, 176, 199, 204, 211, 225, 226, 227, 233, 235, 237, 241, 261, 264 learning environment, 163, 173, 177, 178, 179, 180, 182, 197, 199, 243, 247 lexical awareness, 73, 83 lingua franca, 31, 225, 226, 227 linguistic knowledge, 18, 34, 157 local versus global solutions, 53 meaningful learning, 177, 179, 180, 191, 196 migrant labour, 129

Index migration, 113, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 141 Moodle, 156, 161, 162, 170, 220 mother tongue, 18, 107, 109, 112, 116, 117, 118, 121, 123, 124, 125, 136, 140, 141, 146, 147 neoliberalism, 3, 11 non-indigenous language, 107 Nursing, 161, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 222, 223, 224, 255, 256, 262, 263 OECD, 180, 195, 198, 256 online English language learning, 168 online survey, 74, 164 organisational context and conditions, 96 output-based practice, 41, 43, 44, 45, 49, 50 Pakistan, 53, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 63, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 87, 94, 97, 98, 102, 103, 105, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 116, 117, 118, 120, 121, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 139, 140, 141, 142, 145, 146, 147, 150, 153, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 173, 174, 175, 177, 178, 180, 181, 182, 183, 185, 197, 198, 199, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 213, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 234, 235, 239, 240, 241, 242, 256, 259, 260, 261, 263, 264 peer influence, 245 perfect practice, 50 Phenomenographic study, 53 phonetic awareness, 73, 80 privatisation, 11

ELT in a Changing World: Innovative Approaches to New Challenges procedural knowledge, 48, 49, 157 process of learning, 29, 32 production-oriented practice, 44 project work, 229, 244 promotion examination, 177, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 191, 193, 194, 195, 196 read-aloud, 47 re-location, 139, 148 re-migration, 139, 148 role plays, 230, 251 rote learning, 117, 118, 179, 182, 183, 185, 187, 194 second language acquisition, 4, 38, 49, 51 secondary education system, 55 self-guided instruction, 17 Sindhi, 109, 110, 122, 125, 139, 140, 141, 142, 147, 148, 149, 152

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social competence, 243, 244, 245, 246, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 254 social stories, 249 socio-cultural context, 97 strategic vision, 204 teacher education, 56, 57, 59, 60, 63, 65, 88, 90, 98, 99, 100, 175, 176, 203, 225, 226, 230, 231, 236, 238, 239, 240, 261 textbook, 96, 177, 180, 181, 182, 183, 185, 187, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 196, 260, 261, 264 traditional programmes, 221 USAID, 181, 197, 257, 264 Web 2.0, 158, 159, 161, 163, 169, 170, 174 Zeitgeist, 3, 9