Lecture 4 dr. cecilia mendiola
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Transcript of Lecture 4 dr. cecilia mendiola
TODAY’S ESL LEARNERS: AN ATTEMPT AT
CHARACTERIZATION
Cecilia M. MendiolaPhilippine Normal
University
Why don’t learners
learn what teachers teach?
Learners/Learning
Language/Culture Teacher/Teaching
Figure 1. Diagram of a Language Teacher’s Task (Larsen-Freeman and Long, 1991)
“Language teachers’ decisions about the
teaching process should, to a large
extent, be informed by knowledge of the
subject matter they are teaching (i.e. the
target language and culture) and by
knowledge of the unique group of
learners with whom they are working and
of the language-learning process.”
“No improvement in language teaching could be expected
unless the characteristics of the
second language learners and the
learning process were better understood.”
-H. H. Stern
Do good learners
tackle the language
learning task differently from poor learners?
Do learners have certain
characteristics which
predispose them to good
or poor learning?
Good language learners are:
1. Willing and able to guess accurately; comfortable with uncertainty
2. Strongly driven to communicate
3. Willing to make mistakes
Good language learners are:
4. Can distinguish relevant from irrelevant clues
5. Eager to seek opportunities to use the language
Good language learners are:
6. Able to process information whether or not being called on to perform
7. Can go beyond surface forms and can consider social factors to get at meaning
“Good language learners take advantage of potentially useful learning situations, and if necessary create them. They develop learning techniques appropriate to their individual needs.”
A successful language learner has to:
1. Find his/her own way.
2. Organize.
3. Be creative.
4. Make opportunities for practice.
5. Learn to live with uncertainty.
6. Use mnemonics.
7. Learn from errors.
8. Use linguistic knowledge.
A successful language learner has to:
A successful language learner has to:
9. Get help from the context.
10. Make intelligent guesses.
11. Learn some word strings as wholes.
A successful language learner has to:
12. Adopt formalized routines.
13. Learn production techniques.
14. Use different styles of speech.
Teach the 10 Commandments
for good language learning.
- H.D. Brown (2001)
Make learners
learn how to learn.
“Ten Commandments” for good language
learning
1. Fear not!
2. Dive in.
3. Believe in yourself.
“You can’t learn without goofin’.”
- Burt and Dulay
“Ten Commandments” for good language
learning
4. Seize the day.
5. Love thy neighbor.
6. Get the BIG picture.
“Ten Commandments” for good language
learning
7. Cope with the chaos.
8. Go with the hunches.
9. Make mistakes work FOR you.
10. Set your own goals.
THE FILIPINO AS A SECOND LANGUAGE
LEARNER
02468
1012141618
Figure 2: Areas covered in the study
TYPES OF DATA
Oral and written L2 production
Self – reports
Test – generated data
Technology – generated data
FILIPINO SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS…
Give short responses and ask factual questions
Perform more and varied communicative acts using L1 in small group discussion
High achievers use more learning strategies than the low achievers.
Less successful learners do not use chaining strategies
Use metacognitive strategies most frequently
Are good comprehenders, interactive readers and risk takers as shown in Think–Aloud protocols
s
FILIPINO SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS…
Use culture–bound strategies, e.g., risk taking, empathy, relying on Divine Providence, grade–consciousness
View reading as meaning–focused and goal-oriented
FILIPINO SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS…
Find difficulties in summarizing - constructing a synthesizing statement, combining/deleting ideas
Are not strategic in processing expository text and in dealing with vocabulary problems
FILIPINO SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS…
Display emerging behavior patterns in reading, e.g., translating,
re–reading, questioning, using prior knowledge, and agreeing
Less proficient readers possess limited repertoire of strategies.
FILIPINO SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS…
Show better comprehension in the familiar text than in the
unfamiliar one
Experience problems in text processing due to lack of prior knowledge and inadequate grasp of English
FILIPINO SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS…
ESL learners compose texts in linear and recursive fashion.
ESL writers display emerging composing patterns -- quick writing of substantive essays, slow starters’ writing pattern, the highly recursive pattern, slow-but- sure writing, unproductive writing pattern and the strategists’ writing pattern.
FILIPINO SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS…
Elementary pupils’ written output is wanting in content, format and grammatical accuracy.
FILIPINO SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS…
Manifest learners’ communicative difficulties in oral production through
gap marks, namely gestures and facial expressions
Bridge oral production gaps by using communication strategies
FILIPINO SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS…
Some computer students experience lathophobic aphasia.
Use Tagalog–English (codeswitch variety) in cognitively oriented academic discussions
Pupils’ English ratings significantly correlate with learning opportunities.
FILIPINO SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS…
Females are better critical thinkers and more language proficient than males.
Highly proficient language learners are better critical thinkers, but not better academic achievers.
Motivational behavior remains learner’s significant determinant of achievement.
FILIPINO SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS…
Learners’ motivational behavior is influenced by goal setting, valence, and self-efficacy.
Learners’ communicative competence may be influenced by language facility, vocabulary and communicative practice.
FILIPINO SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS…
Learners respond positively to intervention programs.
Show improved performance using computer-assisted grammar materials
FILIPINO SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS…
Demonstrate improved composition through process writing
Display improved attitudes toward technical writing using computer-assisted
materials
FILIPINO SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS…
‘ONLINE’ PROCESSING OF IDIOMS
Emergent Pattern (Familiar Idiom)
Idiom: “Our cornicks are selling like hotcakes. We don’t ever have to advertise.
TAP: So ‘selling like hotcakes’ So hotcakes are, the nature of hotcakes, very popular.It’s ahh… tawag dun, masyadong
mabenta.Masyadong sikat na hindi na kailangan ng advertisement.So selling like hotcakes means ‘popular.’It is very well known.So parang there is a trademark.
Identifies idiom
Focuses on key word (hotcakes)
Gives meaning in Tagalog (mabenta)
Paraphrases idiom 3x
Strategy Loop
Emergent Pattern (Unfamiliar Idiom)Idiom: Guingona was plagued by a problem that he is a politician
and was virtually a babe in the woods in the foreign office. He bungled his job and blundered his way early in his term.
TAP: So pa’no ba ito?Siguro, kung titingnan natin in Filipino translation, ahm,
‘sanggol sa kakahuyan’So alam naman natin ano yung characteristic ng isang
sanggolKumbaga, walang kapasidad na gawin ang isang bagayWalang kakayahanSalat sa karanasanKumbaga lacks experienceAhm, is an expert of nothingKung ilalapat dito sa ano sa sentence ditoKumbaga na si Guingona umano has less experience or lacks experience in handling ah the said office or position or
job.Siguro I’m quite certain about sa ibinigay kong definition.Kumbaga, lacks experience or expertise about a position or a work or a job
Translates key word to Filipino
Characterizes key word 5x
Relates key word to context
Reiterates meaning
Quizzes oneself on what to do
Evaluates given meaning
Strategy Loop
TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION OF ESL LEARNERS
RESPONDENTS’ DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE
Number of participants
50%
50%
English majors
Literature majors
RESPONDENTS’ DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE
46
7 7
0
10
20
30
40
50
Frequency
Regular Science Private
Type of School
RESPONDENTS’ DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE
9
15
20
16
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Frequency
First year Second year Third year Fourth year
Year level taught
RESPONDENTS’ DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE
Respondents by gender12%
88% Male
Female
TODAY’S ESL LEARNERS…
Enjoy doing tasks/activities in dyads, triads or small groups
Code switch from English to Filipino or vice – versa when reciting in an English class
(Always Observed)
Use technology, mostly the computer and the Internet in accomplishing reports, projects, etc.
Show interest in and drive to learn English
Use strategies, e.g., oral reading, using the dictionary/references, note-taking, highlighting
TODAY’S ESL LEARNERS…(Often
Observed)
Are willing to take risks, don’t mind being corrected, don’t worry about making mistakes
Seek teacher’s and/or classmates’ help when faced with difficulties
Remain silent when asked to recite
TODAY’S ESL LEARNERS…
(Often Observed)
Make time for language–related activities inside and outside of the classroom
Display good study habits
TODAY’S ESL LEARNERS…(Rarely
Observed)
Monitor (self–edit) themselves in grammar, pronunciation, spelling or when speaking or writing in English
Use language terms such as relative clauses, verbals, prepositional phrases, etc. when describing/analyzing sentences
TODAY’S ESL LEARNERS…(Rarely Observed)
POINTS TO REFLECT ON…
Are you willing to adjust your teaching style/methods to differences in the learning styles/strategies and personality characteristics of your students?
Will you ‘teach learners how to learn’ so they will become autonomous learners?
POINTS TO REFLECT ON…
Are you going to sensitize yourself to differences in predispositions with which different learners will approach language learning?
Will you be more tolerant of students’ code–switching behavior?
POINTS TO REFLECT ON…
Will you heighten your technology skills to enhance learning?
Will you encourage your students to take a more active role in their own learning?
POINTS TO REFLECT ON…
Will you encourage, build and sustain effective language learning strategies in your students?
Do you realize that learning a second language is such a complex process that knowing who the learners are is only one of its facets?
When I began the interview,
I was hoping to find out what the successful language
learners did alike. If we could teach their secrets to our
students, I thought that every one else would become as
successful as the people I had talked with. It soon became
apparent, however, that learners are even more
different from one another than I had expected. Success with
foreign language, I found, does not come by one single
formula.” - E. Stevick, 1989