Is It So Difficult to Increase the TL in Classroom Interactions?

7/18/2019 Is It So Difficult to Increase the TL in Classroom Interactions?

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Running Head: Is it So Difficult to Increase the TL in Classroom Interactions?

Prof. Jonathan Acuña Solano

Is it So Difficult to Increase the TL in

Classroom Interactions?

By Prof. Jonathan Acuña SolanoTuesday, July 7, 2015

Twitter: @jonacusoPost 180

“With the rise of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and a growing

emphasis on oral communication skills, the role of student talk in the language classroom

has become more important than ever ” (Hilliard, 2014). This can be seen across the globe

in ELT settings where language instructors are reluctant to use the target language (TL)

as the means of instruction in the classroom, and Costa Rica is not the exception from

this futile teacher practice. Knop (n.d.), in an article published by Emory University,

stresses the importance the TL has in the cognitive development of students who are

learning a foreign language. “Excessive TTT [Teacher Talking Time] limits the amount of

STT (student talking time). If the teacher talks for half the time in a 60 minute lesson with

15 students, each student gets only 2 minutes to speak” (Darn, 2007). Then, the rhetoricalquestion stays in the air; is it so difficult to increase the TL in classroom interactions?

Knop (n.d.) proposes a series of steps to increase the use of TL use in the

classroom; what are her language practice proposals? Knop’s proposal –though not

necessarily connected to the English Teaching per se- focuses its attention on the



Is it So Difficult to Increase the TL in Classroom Interactions? 2


promotion of student interaction in class along with having learners use the TL; Knop’s

ideas are: a) language ladders, b) day’s lesson plan on board, c) informal pair & S2S

interactions, d) Gouin series, e) amount of “teacher talk,” f) authentic and appropriate

input , and g) class participation in the TL. For Knop (n.d.), these classroom practices can

encrease the amount of student talk, but this will not “happen overnight;” these “strategies

need to be tried out and implemented in a progressive manner over a period o f time”

(Knop, n.d.) to really witness some language use change in classroom settings.

Hilliard (2014), similarly to Knop (n.d.), puts it simply, language teachers have to

“start each class with a speaking activity,” something that is quite close to what Knop

labels as language ladders. A language ladder is a “set of commonly used classroom

expressions focused on classroom function.” And as Hilliard’s (2014) proposal regarding

a speaking activity, Knop (n.d.) suggests using a great array of speaking activities that

can set the mood for the class to start speaking, on the one hand by St2T interactions

(i.e. seeking information, expressing confusion, making excuses, asking persmission,

making small talk, exchanging greetings and leave-takings, giving directions, praising and

encouraging, and disciplining ), and on the other hand, St2St interactions (expressing likes

& dislikes, expressing agreement and disagreement, giving compliments, inviting

someone, and accepting and refusing and invitation). All of these suggested language

ladders can be labeled as possible ways to test learner’s descriptors in the ACTFL

guidelines (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, 2012) or even

traced within the can-do table proposed by ETS for the TOEIC test (Educational Testing

Services, 2000).

Not only Knop (n.d.) but also Hilliard (2014) have similar suggestions regarding TL

use in the classroom. Hilliard (2014) proposes to “let students do the work for you.” In this

line of thought, it is possible to group Knop’s nomenclatures for the steps to follow for

teacher’s lesson plans and her taxonomy for “informal pair” interactions (Knop, n.d.).

Instead of fostering excessive teacher talk, Knops wants to have language students make

use of the language during class interactions. “Another way of helping students

understand and use the target language is to put an outline of the lesson plan” on the





board, says Knop (n.d.). For this very reason, Knop adduces that it is necessary to use

the lesson plan on the board at the start of class, during class, and at the end of class

(n.d.). The use of the outline of the instructor’s plan can help language students to review

material before major tests and quizzes; it can give language trainees a sense of transition

from topic to topic and of closure towards the end of the lesson; and it can provide

students with a sense of accomplishment.

“TTT often means that the teacher is giving the students information that they could

be finding out for themselves, such as grammar rules, the meanings of vocabulary items

and corrections” (Darn, 2007). Bearing in mind Hilliard’s (2014) idea of having learners

do the instructor’s work is to follow Knop’s (n.d.) suggestions for “informal pairs”

interactions. Knop (n.d.) pigeonholes ten different types of language activities in her

taxonomy aiming at having students do the talking themselves: a) warm-ups, b) study of

new verbs, c) learning of a dialogue, d) vocabulary study, e) grammar work , f) dictations,

g) naming, h) expressing references, i) describing and j) sharing information. All these

kinds of activities are great paths to guide learners towards the use of the TL language in

the classroom rather than just listening to the teacher talk. As suggested by Darn (2007),

“a large amount of TTT results in long stretches of time in teacher -to-class (T/class) mode

and a monotonous pace. Student under-involvement inevitably leads to loss of

concentration and reduced learning.” Knop’s (n.d.) thesis combined with Hilliard’s (2014)

proposal can indeed produce another kind of class interaction in which student talk

prevails.

Though the term Gouin Series Method is not a new term in language learning, it

derives its name from its inventor, François Gouin, a French Latin teacher. The approach

advocated by Gouin is “to have ‘themes’ such as The Plant and to have students

memorize sentences in sequence relating to the theme” (Martin, 2009). For Knop (n.d.),

Gouin Series are “organized in a logical sequence and students are usually directed to

say the sentences while acting them out.” As pointed out by the author herself, Gouin

Series do use “several meaning reinforcers” (Knop, n.d.), allowing students to review

language and use it fully attached to meaning and use. Gouin Series will “appeal to





various senses” and will “help teach appropriate behavior in a cultural activity” (Knop,

n.d.). At a cognitive level, language students are motivated to be using the “three-

dimensional grammar framework” endorsed by Larsen-Freeman (n.d.), where students

not only exercise how a stucture is constructed, but how it is used properly within a social

context and what it means for the native speakers when such a structure is built and used

to convey meaning. By means of the “ three-dimensional grammar framework,” which

must be borne in mind by language instructors at all times, students can discover cultural

information about the language, which is only encased in exercises where a critical,

mental chronology of events can be sequenced. And aside from the cultural component

attributed to Gouin Series, language instructors can also “engage students in active

practice of the sentences and actions” (Knop, n.d.), connected in form, meaning, and use.

Hilliard (2014) recommends implementing “more authentic, communicative

classroom activities.” However, though Gouin Series are a good first attempt to provoke

communication in the classroom, they do not necessarily yield the expected outcome at

all times. “Anything from pair work and group work, to discussions and debates, to task-

based activities and games can be utilized within a CLT framework” (Hilliard, 2014). But

all these intances mentioned here must be nurtured by the provision of authentic “input”

in classroom interaction (Knop, n.d.). “Considering to the concept of authentic language

input, Gilmore (2007) defined authentic language input as the language carrying a real

message which is created by a real speaker or writer for a real audience” (Bahrani &

Soltani, 2012). So how can authentic input be provided to students so they can get to use

the language in class?

“Bearing in mind the nature of the communicative classroom, teachers should

perhaps be aware of the quality of their TTT and how it is used rather than trying to reduce

it to a bare minimum” (Darn, 2007). But still, are we providing input that is varied,

authentic, and appropriate? If we are not meeting the standards set by Bahrani & Soltani

(2012), we are bound to be providing inauthentic input, bound to be directing classroom

activities inappropriately, or bound to exert some more control over the input that we are

giving (Knop, n.d.). Authentic input/material can be imported into the classroom from





various sources, and it can help studends develop the target language if used properly;

otherwise, we will be responsible for its failure.

Knop’s (n.d.) unique most significant addition to the use of the TL in the classroom

is not linked to authenticity in the input, but the surpassing importance of keeping track of

students’ participation. “A record participation is important since in-class performance is

considered an integral part of a student’s grade” (Knop, n.d.). By doing so, the instructor

can know –even as backwash- where his/her attention is focused when practicing the TL

in the classroom. “An ‘oral participation grade’ might be given out to students, based on

the summary of point or grades earned for the frequency of their contributions and their

use of the TL” (Knop, n.d.). This can be indeed used as a way to make language trainees

aware of their active role or chosen passivity in the classroom. In other words, learners

have to be aware of the implications of activity or inactivity in class and how it may affect

their performance grade and, why not, language development, learning, and acquisition.

As neatly stated by Knop (n.d.), the increase TL use in class will not happen

overnight. “Strategies need to be tried out and implemented in a progressive manner over

a period of time” (Knop, n.d.). Pesce (n.d.) subscribes “to the theory that in the case of

beginners, the ratio of TTT vs. STT should be 50-50, and this percentage should

progressively change till you achieve a 30% TTT vs. 70% STT. ” But Pesce (n.d.) points

out, as suggested by Knop (n.d.), that the teacher needs to identify what really works for

his/her class, but class attention, talk, and participation must be fixed upon the learner.

Once these three elements are fixed on the student, the strategies proposed here can

help educators increase the use of the target language in all classroom interactions.

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. (2012). ACTFL ProficiencyGuidelines 2012. Alexandria, VA, USA: ACTFL.ORG.

Bahrani, T., & Soltani, R. (2012, February 2). An Overview on How to Utilize Authentic

Language Input for Language Teaching. (P. M. S. Thirumalai, Ed.) LANGUAGE

IN INDIA, 12 , 800-807. Retrieved June 20, 2015





Darn, S. (2007, August 15). Teaching English. Retrieved June 20, 2015, from BBC

British Broadcasting Corporation:

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/teacher-talking-time

Educational Testing Services. (2000). TOEIC Can-Do Guide. New Jersey, New Jersey,

USA: The Chauncey Group.Hilliard, A. (2014, February). TESOL Connections. Retrieved June 20, 2015, from

TESOL Connections:

http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/tesolc/issues/2014-02-01/3.html

Knop, C. (n.d.). Language Center. Retrieved June 17, 2015, from Emory College of Arts

and Science:

http://languagecenter.emory.edu/home/documents/constanceknop.pdf

Larsen-Freeman, D. (n.d.). Institut für Anglistik. Retrieved June 20, 2015, from

Universität Innsbruck: http://www.uibk.ac.at/anglistik/staff/freeman/course-

documents/tesfl_-_teaching_grammar.pdf

Martin, J. (2009, February 18). The Language Nest . Retrieved June 20, 2015, from The

Language Nest: http://languagenest.blogspot.com/2009/02/designing-gouin-

series.html

Pesce, C. (n.d.). Busy Teacher. Retrieved June 20, 2015, from Busy Teacher:

http://busyteacher.org/13959-how-to-increase-student-talking-time-7-

techniques.html

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