Week 5 Hall, Kuma Capter 4 and 5

Week 5 Hall Chapter 4 and 5

Since there are a lot of definition and concepts in SectionⅠ, it was very difficult to understand the contents. However, in SectionⅡ, it is better to imagine the situation, because some example of learning and teaching are indicated. In both chapters, Hall appeals to us to think much of learners’ sociocultural world and enhance their competence socially and culturally. First, I would like to take a look at some approaches in the relationship between outside learner’s school and inside the schools in chapter 4.

It is very difficult to acquire the second language all over the world. What is the effective way? I agree with the idea that the compatibility is very important at home education and in school learning. What learners had learned at home reflects the learning in school. Therefore, I am interested in Kamehameha Early Education Program (KEEP). It is very reasonable way of teaching. If the way of learning is compatible at home and in school, it is much better to acquire the second language. Teachers paid attentions to what learners’ life are like. They found that learners’ learning style was peer-based learning centers, not one-person-at-a-time like a school. And they changed the way of teaching to apply for learners. I am wondering how I can teach English to Japanese students. Average Japanese students do not have many chances to speak English at home. Even if they cannot speak English, they are not getting in trouble so much. Then, I could find some clues to this answer in chapter 5.

In chapter 5, Hall states that teaching is fun and it helps learning regarded as internal and individual process. The two roles of classroom discourse such as IRE and IRF (p.89 p.92) are taken up. IRE is criticized because it limits the opportunity for participation. However, I think IRE is a good way for Japanese students as a first step. It can useful for even high school students. If students learn some phases from recitation script or journal entries, they can speak something else. Then IRF is a very helpful approach. By asking them to expand their thinking, they motivate their learning. However, is it difficult to follow up students? What way should we do? It is true that community of learners and competent of cooperative learning practices are very clear, but actually can we do like that?

Week5 Kuma chapter 4 and 5

I am impressed with Kuma’s attitude toward SLA theory. He has much knowledge and attractive analysis. I am interested in two prominent theories in applied linguistics:(a)Kaplan’s cultural thought patterns in intercultural education and (b) Schumann’s acculturation model of second language acquisition.(p.84) I heard Kaplan’s Thought Patterns in Japan. Kaplan’s theories are criticized, but I think it is some true in a second language writing. In our high school, some teachers teach English writing in such a way. It is very helpful to K-12 students. However, this theory is imperfect, I agree. Each leaner has each background like culture or history. We should always pay attention to their context and help learners enhance their second language ability. I want to read Kuma’s theories more to find the useful way in SLA.

Social Identity, Investment, and Language Learning by Bonny Norton Peirce

I am very interested in and empathize with each example which is taken up in this article. I have never thought much of the word of “social” or “society”. However, as I read some articles in Introduction to TESOL, I am getting known the importance and the depth of “social” or “society”. According to Bonny Norton, “SLA theorists have struggled to conceptualize the relationship between the language learner and the social world because they have not developed a comprehensive theory of social identity.”(p.9) At first, I am wondering what “social identity” is. I think identity means post history, in other words , who I am. On the other hand, social identity is related with our society, I wonder. It depends on society. For me, in IUP I am a just student, while I am an English teacher in Japan. In addition, social identity gets involved in investment deeply. It is necessary for us to have investment as well as motivation in order to develop a target language competence. It is true of the language learners like me. Therefore, I would like to talk about the example of Martina, who had given up a surveyor’s job to come to Canada “for the children.”

Martina has great investment as well as high motivation. Her investment in English is “largely structured by an identity as primary caregiver in the family.”(p.21) Also, Martina’s identity is formed by “immigrant, a mother, a language learner, a worker, a wife.”(p.21) Such identities bring her great investment in English and a high affective filter. Like Martina, I think I have high motivation and great investment, too. My investment is structured by an identity as an English teacher in Japan. I am a just a student in IUP, but when I go back to Japan, I have to teach English in senior high school. I have a strong desire to speak English fluently. However, unlikely Martina, I don’t force myself to the situation like her. I have to read and think in English every day, but either can do only by myself. I am not connected with society or native speakers very much. I hesitate to speak to a native speaker, because my English is not good. Then, I was impressed with her change on the phone and at work. It is also important to have the ability to claim the right to speak so as to develop the language competence.

My question is the following; what do you figure out in order to develop your English competence? And what will you do if there is a student who has a low affective filter in your classroom?

Toward a Postmethod Pedagogy

I really impressed on yesterday’s two presentations. They were well organized and helped me to understand each article deeper. However, “The concept of Method, Interested Knowledge, and the Politics of Language Teaching” (Alastair Pennycook) and “Toward a Postmethod pedagogy”(Kumaravadivelu) are still challenging for me. Kumaravadivelu states that postmethod pedagogy consists of three parameters of “particularity, practicality, and possibility.” Each parameters are connected with and influenced each other. Moreover, there parameters are based on how to treat learners, teachers and teacher educators. However, such pedagogies in Second Language Acquisition(SLA) still have many issues, including classroom strategies, instructional materials and curricular objectives. However, we reconsider the content of these pedagogies, and we will find the solutions to these issues and can educate learners, teachers and teacher educators more appropriately.

In my thought, “particularity” means that society such as school or individuals has each different level and policy. “Practicality” refers to the meaning that practitioners do their theories again and again by trial and error, balancing between theorist’s theory and teacher’s theory. Then they adjust their theories to their learners. “Possibility” accepts the different backgrounds of individuals such as nationality and culture. When I taught English in Japan, I have never seen my students from such a point of view. Most students had similar background and there was not a great gap between them like USA or other countries. According to Kumaravadivelu, he provides two interrelated aspects for learners; “academic autonomous” and “social autonomous.”(p.545) Academic autonomous is intrapersonal, while social autonomous is interpersonal. In related to academic autonomous, Kumaravadivelu requires that we, teachers, should have opportunities “ with a view to identifying learners’ learning strategies, stretching their strategies, evaluating their results, and reaching out for opportunities for additional language production.”(p.546) Also, according to social autonomous, learners should attempt “seeking their teachers’ intervention to get adequate feedback on areas, collaborating with other learners to pool information, and talking advantage of opportunities to communicate with competent speakers of the language.”(p.546-p.547) These are very agreeable and reasonable. If we, teachers, and learners try to do these attempts, it is much easier to acquire second language.

Japanese teachers evaluate students’ understanding by a lot of questionnaires and exams. They cannot give adequate feedback to students. When I teach English in Japan again, I want to communicate with students more and know what they really need. By doing so, I would like to educate students’ social autonomous attitude more.

My question is what we should do in order to develop learners’ social autonomous attitude. And is it possible that we share the ideas with our colleagues at work? If possible, how or what extend can we share our ideas?

Toward a Postmethod Pedagogy

I really impressed on yesterday’s two presentations. They were well organized and helped me to understand each article deeper. However, “The concept of Method, Interested Knowledge, and the Politics of Language Teaching” (Alastair Pennycook) and “Toward a Postmethod pedagogy”(Kumaravadivelu) are still challenging for me. Kumaravadivelu states that postmethod pedagogy consists of three parameters of “particularity, practicality, and possibility.” Each parameters are connected with and influenced each other. Moreover, there parameters are based on how to treat learners, teachers and teacher educators. However, such pedagogies in Second Language Acquisition(SLA) still have many issues, including classroom strategies, instructional materials and curricular objectives. However, we reconsider the content of these pedagogies, and we will find the solutions to these issues and can educate learners, teachers and teacher educators more appropriately.

In my thought, “particularity” means that society such as school or individuals has each different level and policy. “Practicality” refers to the meaning that practitioners do their theories again and again by trial and error, balancing between theorist’s theory and teacher’s theory. Then they adjust their theories to their learners. “Possibility” accepts the different backgrounds of individuals such as nationality and culture. When I taught English in Japan, I have never seen my students from such a point of view. Most students had similar background and there was not a great gap between them like USA or other countries. According to Kumaravadivelu, he provides two interrelated aspects for learners; “academic autonomous” and “social autonomous.”(p.545) Academic autonomous is intrapersonal, while social autonomous is interpersonal. In related to academic autonomous, Kumaravadivelu requires that we, teachers, should have opportunities “ with a view to identifying learners’ learning strategies, stretching their strategies, evaluating their results, and reaching out for opportunities for additional language production.”(p.546) Also, according to social autonomous, learners should attempt “seeking their teachers’ intervention to get adequate feedback on areas, collaborating with other learners to pool information, and talking advantage of opportunities to communicate with competent speakers of the language.”(p.546-p.547) These are very agreeable and reasonable. If we, teachers, and learners try to do these attempts, it is much easier to acquire second language.

Japanese teachers evaluate students’ understanding by a lot of questionnaires and exams. They cannot give adequate feedback to students. When I teach English in Japan again, I want to communicate with students more and know what they really need. By doing so, I would like to educate students’ social autonomous attitude more.

My question is what we should do in order to develop learners’ social autonomous attitude. And is it possible that we share the ideas with our colleagues at work? If possible, how or what extend can we share our ideas?

Hiromi ( Introduction to TESOL 001)

September, 5th Blog Discussion

On Discourse, Communication, and (Some) Fundamental

Concepts in SLA Research

It would be happy that you read my blog. My English is not good, but I did my best. Please give some comments to me.

I am confused about this journal article because I do not have much knowledge of TESOL and Linguistics. However, I think it is important to focus on equally both “cognitive and mentalistic orientation” and “social and contextual orientations to language” in SLA (p.285). What do you think about it? I agree with the idea that this journal article tries to dissolve an imbalance between them. I am not sure about the exact meaning of contextual orientations, but I imagine that contextual orientation is the influence that our backgrounds have on our language use. We, foreign language speakers, are eager to master English as our native language. We have many problems speaking or writing in English and cannot find effective ways to solve. As mentioned in this article, the author, Alan Firth, states that language is not only a “cognitive phenomenon in our brain”(p.296). Language is also a “social phenomenon”(p.296). We can learn and teach English more effectively by such an idea.

I would like to talk about more specific example. I am interested in Farch and Kasper’s “communication strategies”(p.288). This is a conversation between a Native Speaker of English (NSE) and a Danish learner (L). NS asked L what she read at home. She answered ‘historie’, meaning ‘stories’ in Danish. N was trying to understand what L said. Then it caused misunderstanding. Then, N misunderstood that L answered a school subject, history. After all, they negotiated and made effort to understand each other. We tend to regard this conversation as a problem, but it gives many clues to us in communication. Through communication, they can also understand what they really want to say and how necessary it is to keep talking each other. The misunderstanding is not a problem. We can also understand what cultural and language background we have. This process is very important for non-native speakers in their second language acquisition.

Is this example useful to our future class? In Japan, we mainly focus on grammatical exercises. Our methodologies have an imbalance between “cognitive and mentalistic orientation” and “social and contextual orientations to language”. If we take in more contextual and communicative activities, our language acquisition will enlarge and deepen more. I would like to learn the field of SLA and make it helpful to improve my English and to teach English to my future students.

Thank you for your reading.