9 paradigms in the teaching and learning of literature

First Edition 2008 © YUSOF BOON, HADINA HABIL & FAIZAH MOHD NOR 2008 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, 81310 Johor Darul Tak'zim, Malaysia. Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia

Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

Insight into second language teaching and learning / editor Yusof Boon, Hadina Habil, Faizah Mohd Nor. Includes index ISBN 978-983-52-0516-3 1. English language--study and teaching--Malaysia. 2. Language and languages--study and teaching. 3. Language and education—Malaysia. I. Yusof Boon. II. Hadina Habil. III. Faizah Mohd. Nor. IV. Title. 428.00710595 Pereka Kulit: MOHD ASMAWIDIN BIDIN Diatur huruf oleh / Typeset by YUSOF BOON & RAKAN-RAKAN

Fakulti Pendidikan Universiti Teknologi Malaysia 81310 Skudai Johor Darul Ta'zim, MALAYSIA Diterbitkan di Malaysia oleh / Published in Malaysia by PENERBIT UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

34 – 38, Jalan Kebudayaan 1, Taman Universiti, 81300 Skudai, Johor Darul Ta'zim, MALAYSIA. (PENERBIT UTM anggota PERSATUAN PENERBIT BUKU MALAYSIA/ MALAYSIAN BOOK PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION dengan no. keahlian 9101) Dicetak di Malaysia oleh / Printed in Malaysia by UNIVISION PRESS

Lot 47 & 48, Jalan SR 1/9, Seksyen 9 Jln. Serdang Raya, Tmn Serdang Raya 43300 Seri Kembangan, Selangor Darul Ehsan MALAYSIA

CONTENTS

Preface

vii

Chapter 1

Public Speaking And Speech Anxiety In L1 And L2 Rachel Tan Chin Keok

Chapter 2

Teaching Discussion Skills For Muet Speaking Examination: A Comparison Of Two Approaches Hafiza Aini Hj Hassan & Hadina Habil

25

Chapter 3

Using Triangulation In Research On Oral Instructional Language Of Teacher Trainees In Teaching Science In English Azian Abd Aziz @ Ahmad & Abdul Halim Abdul Raof

35

Chapter 4

Multiple Data-Collection Methods As A Source Of Insights Into Grammar Teaching

47

1

Contents

vi

Fauziah Ismail & Zubaidah Awang Chapter 5

Communication Skills Development (Csd) In The Engineering Curriculum: A Review Of Literature Rohani Othman & Zubaidah Awang

58

Chapter 6

Learning Contracts For Language Learning: An Exploration Normah Ismail & Masdinah Alauyah Md Yusuf

75

Chapter 7

The Effects Of Extensive Reading On Language Proficiency And Motivation To Read Navinder Kaur, Zubaidah Awang & Khairi Izwan Abdullah

98

Chapter 8

Second Language Learning And Motivation: An Overview Yvonne Choong Foong Hiam, Azizah Rajab & Hadina Habil

111

Chapter 9

Paradigms In The Teaching And Learning Of Literature Tina Abdullah & Zaidah Zainal

119

Indexes

135

PREFACE

English language teaching and learning is an important area in education. It is because English, which is long regarded as the second language to Malaysians, might be a foreign language to some learners. Ironically, English is also the language used as the medium of instruction for the teaching of Science and Mathematics in school. Thus, there are many issues on teaching and learning English in the Malaysian education system. Hence, research in second language teaching and learning is vital to help address the said issues. This book compiles research findings and research proposals on second language teaching and learning carried out by researchers. Chapter 1 looks at the causes of anxiety of public speaking on L1 and L2. It is a case study and findings from this case study suggest that students should be given training of both linguistic and para linguistic aspects of public speaking to help them overcome their anxiety. Chapter 2 compares the teaching of discussion skills in the context of MUET speaking examination between the genre analysis approach and the audio lingual method. The comparison in the teaching is proposed in order to find a better way to teach discussion skills to upper secondary students to prepare them for MUET examination. Investigating the oral instruction language of teacher trainees in teaching Science and Mathematics in English is the focus of

Preface

viii

Chapter 3. The researcher proposed that triangulation is used to enhance the quality of a qualitative research in the above research. It is because triangulation allows research findings to be checked against other data and perspectives. Teacher trainee is an important group of people in the education system because these trainees are future teachers who will be responsible teaching the students. Thus, Chapter 4 probes into teacher trainees’ grammar teaching through a qualitative study. Specifically, the research examines the influence of language courses in language teacher education (LTE) by tracking the experience of teacher trainees during their practicum. It was also carried out to evaluate how prior grammar courses influenced teacher trainees’ teaching of grammar in the classrooms. Chapter 5 reviews the literature on Communication Skills Development (CSD) in the engineering curriculum. The research is timely because engineering education has expanded to include emphasis on the development of non-technical skills or soft skills in engineering curriculum. The chapter recommends mapping of the criteria and students to develop a combined curriculum skills development attributes that can be used in an engineering curriculum. Chapter 6 explores the use of learning contracts for language learning - an old concept that is only recently recognized as having potential at the tertiary level education. Learning contract can be used as a way to encourage learners to be more involved in their learning. The writers reported findings from a pilot study which suggested that the learning contract has potential use in language classrooms to develop language learners who are resourceful and independent. Reading is a very important receptive skills in learning any language. Chapter 7 examines the effects of extensive reading on language proficiency and motivation to read. The research found

Preface

ix

that extensive reading by the participants resulted in a higher score in comprehension, cloze and vocabulary tests administered after nine months of study. Therefore, it was suggested that proper management of extensive reading should be part of the curriculum to improve students’ language proficiency. Motivation is crucial in second language learning. Thus, quite a number of researchers have investigated the relationship between language learning and motivation. Is there any difference in motivation to learn a second language? Chapter 8 provides an overview of second language learning and motivation. This chapter reviews the literature available on the subject and outlines a research to investigate the issue. Chapter 9 examines paradigms in the teaching and learning of literature. The writers reviewed the relationship between modern literary theories and literature, the influence of educational theory, the marriage between language and literature instruction and finally put forward a model for literature in language teaching and learning. We hope the chapters in this book would provide some insights on issues in second language learning and teaching.

Yusof Boon Hadina Habil Faizah Mohd Nor Faculty of Education Universiti Teknologi Malaysia 2008

KEPIMPINAN SEKOLAH

HBEM2103

1 PUBLIC SPEAKING AND SPEECH ANXIETY IN L1 AND L2 Rachel Tan Chin Keok

1.0

INTRODUCTION

Research has confirmed that speaking in class creates the most anxiety in second and foreign language learning. This paper investigates the causes of anxiety of public speaking in L1 and L2 and hopes to bring some suggestions to the teaching and training of speech delivery. Two questionnaires are given. An interview is conducted. In this paper, I will use the term “speech anxiety” instead of stage fright, shyness or communication apprehension. As a speaker, I have met different kinds of “anxious speakers”. I agree that speech anxiety is “the unpleasant thoughts and feelings aroused by the anticipation of a real or imagined speech in public.” (P.52). Anxious speakers may “tremble, blush and perspire” (Brydon and Scott, 2006). Young and inexperienced speakers may withdraw from speaking activities (Beatty, 1988).

2.0

CAUSES OF SPEECH ANXIETY

Fear of public speaking has been considered normal for every speaker even in their native language. It is a characteristic which

2

Insights Into Second Language

many people have. In America, the Bruskin Associates conducted a nationwide survey in 1971 and revealed that the number one fear of Americans is the fear of giving a public speech. Even the fear of death came in third. Many researchers have found the reasons for this, which I list below.

2.1

AUDIENCE EXPECTATIONS

Ayres, J. (1986) “the fear of public speaking emerges from a personal assessment that one’s speaking abilities fall short of audience expectations.” (p.276) In this paper, Ayres explains why speakers get their anxiety. He says, “as people’s perceptions of their abilities exceeds audience expectations, the likelihood they will experience some degree of stage fright decreases, and conversely, as their view of their abilities fall below their perceptions of audience expectations, the likelihood they will experience some degree of stage fright increases.” (p.277)

2.2

SOLE ATTENTION

Devito (2006) “Being fearful of giving a public speech is perfectly normal. Everyone experiences some degree of fear in the relatively formal public speaking situation. After all, in public speaking you’re the sole focus of attention and are usually being evaluated for your performance. So experiencing fear or anxiety isn’t strange or unique.” (p.269)

Public Speaking And Speech Anxiety

2.3

3

SOCIAL ANXIETY

Dale & Wolf (2006) “Feeling nervous at the thought of public speaking is perfectly normal. You respond the same way you would to any stressful situation. Your body produces extra adrenaline. This is what makes your heart pound faster and your hands shake.” (p.1) Due to the fact that many L2 learners have lower competence in English than in their native language, anxiety level of public speaking in the second language is expected to be higher than in the first language. Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986) reported that students are very self-conscious when they are required to engage in speaking activities that expose their inadequacies, and these feelings often lead to "fear, or even panic" (p. 128) Krashen (2003) “Ten “anxious” foreign language students interviewed by Price (1991) stated that their greatest source of anxiety “was having to speak the target language in front of their peers” (p.313). “Of great interest here is the finding that another source of stress “was the frustration of not being able to communicate effectively.” (p.105)

4


3.0

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1

PARTICIPANT OF THE RESEARCH

The participant is 14 years old and in Form Two. He started learning English when he was 3 years old. The family is very supportive. They sent him to a public speaking class for 6 months (September 2007 to March 2008). The class took place once a week and every class lasted for 2 hours. The participant scored A in his UPSR English exam. He is studying in a private secondary school in Johor Bahru. This is a decision of the family due to the importance of English. He has to converse in English at school. If not, he will be punished. However, he does not use English outside of school. He knows many English words and can write quite good English compositions with some avoidable grammar mistakes. The participant took an English course which needed him to present speeches. He is opinionated. He likes to debate, in his mother tongue. However, when he started his speech in English, he did not look at his audience which had about 15 students. Besides, his voice trembled and his palms wetted. He blushed. The worst part is only he himself could hear what he was talking. He can be considered as an “anxious” speaker in English. When the participant was asked to give a speech in his mother tongue, he seemed more confident. He seemed to have a lot to tell. When he presented his speech, he felt more comfortable. He was still nervous but he knew he could overcome his anxiety. The participant can be considered as a “non-anxious” speaker in his mother tongue.

3.2

RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

Three research instruments are used to determine the anxiety level of the participants.


5

3,2,1 PRCA-24 QUESTIONNAIRE McCroskey (2006) has a famous questionnaire which is known as the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24). It is an instrument exploring L1 speaking anxiety. There are 24 statements. This questionnaire has been used by many researchers for more than 30 years and proven to be useful. The participant was given a short time of 5 minutes to finish 2 PRCA-24. The first one is to check his feelings on L1 communication. The second one is to check his feelings on L2 communication.

3.2.2 FLCAS QUESTIONNAIRE Another questionnaire, Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), was also conducted. Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) was developed by Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986). It has 33 items. The participant scores on five-point Likert Scale items, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. It was developed to capture the specific essence of foreign language anxiety in a classroom setting and to provide researchers with a standard measure of the respondent’s anxiety level. The FLCAS is based on an analysis of potential sources of anxiety in a language classroom, integrating three related anxieties (communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation) as posited by Horwitz et al. (1986). This scale has been used in many studies of anxiety in foreign language learning and found to be a highly reliable measure (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1989).

6


3.2.3 INTERVIEW The interview is designed on the basis of understanding the participant’s experience, ability and confidence. Questions 2 and 3 examine the ability. Questions 4, 5 and 6 assess the confidence level. Questions 1 and 7 reveal whether the participant benefits from the class. Question 8 determines whether anxiety correlates to negative experience. 1) Do you like your English presentation class? Yes, I do. 2) Please tell me what you like best about your class. Why? I like writing the most. I do not need to speak. 3) Please tell me what you hate the most in your class. Why? Speaking. I cannot speak properly. I stutter. I feel cold, from head to toes then I shake my body. I always feel that. 4) Do you think that your English is good? Are you confident? Yes, I think so but only in writing. When I speak, I am not confident. I cannot think of the words that I want. Then I make a lot of grammar mistakes. I feel stupid. 5) How do you think your classmates will react if you make mistakes? They laugh. I feel I lose face. 6) Do you try to help yourself when you are worried about speaking in your class? I usually talk to myself. I tell myself not to be nervous but it does not help me too much. If I have a choice, I don’t want to speak. I don’t like to be the attention. 7) Does this class help you to lessen your worry? It does. The training helps me. Body gestures and vocal variety help me the most. At least I know my classmates are also not doing the best and I am not the worst. 8) Did you have any negative experience in speaking? Not really. I usually won’t volunteer. I haven’t got any other speaking experience in other places. This is my first class.


7

3.0 FINDINGS OF THE RESEARCH The participant did PRCA-24 (Appendix 1) on February 20. He was asked to record his feelings about his L1 and L2. The computation for his L1 is as follows: 1. Group discussion: 10 2. Meetings: 8 3. Interpersonal conversations: 10 4. Public speaking: 10 Total score: 38 The computation for his L2 is as follows: 1. Group discussion: 25 2. Meetings: 27 3. Interpersonal conversations: 28 4. Public speaking: 27 107

Total score:

The participant’s score on public speaking is 27. It is considered to be highly anxious. Right after the questionnaire, the interview was conducted. The participant expressed his feelings on English speaking. He enjoys the class. He thinks the class can help him. But when a speech task is assigned, he shows the symptoms of an anxious speaker. In the second questionnaire (FLCAS), the participant also strongly agrees to have worries and anxiety when he is called to speak in front of his class.

5.0

PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

Being able to speak good English and having an English-speaking environment are the dreams of many students in this city. The participant should be an example to admire. However, he is still blocked by his problems of public speaking. This has given the

8


researcher an interest to explore some strategies for overcoming public speaking anxiety. The training of skills can be linguistic such as the preparation of scripts, pronunciation, and grammar, and para-linguistic such as breathing exercise, body language and confidence building. The researcher focuses on types of speeches. In Toastmasters International Youth Leadership Program, a set of 8 prepared speeches are as follows: 1. Introduction to chairmanship 2. Introduction to public speaking 3. Impromptu speech 4. Organizing your speech 5. Listening 6. Gestures in speaking 7. Voice and vocabulary 8. Show your skills In the speech training, the students were given three speeches to start. 1. Self-introduction 2. Show-and-tell 3. Story-telling The three assignments are used because they are taken as easier tasks. First, writing is not much involved compared to a persuasive speech like “should handphones be allowed in schools?” Second, these topics are familiar to them. Furthermore, the other speech elements can be introduced to the students through these three. The elements are body gestures, vocal variety and eye contact. On the first day, the participant was given a game as an icebreaker. The class interviewed as many classmates as possible. Then, they summarized the similarities and differences of their friends and introduced some interesting facts about themselves. “Good afternoon, everybody. This is my friend, Jack. He likes orange juice. He does not like noodles. He is studying is SMK


9

Pelangi Indah. He has two sister(s). His father is a boss (selfemployed) and his mother is a housewife.” This is a common example used by the students. The speech is very short. The sentences are also simple and short. They are straight to the point. The pronoun ‘he’ is repeated many times. This could be a symptom of anxiety. However, the participant felt that the game is less threatening. One important finding is he felt that the game implied that the teacher is a friendly person who is also willing to help. Then, the class was required to write down their introduction in their exercise books. The teacher explained the importance of an opening and an ending in speeches. The teacher marked the books and corrected their mistakes. The class was required to do selfintroduction one more time the following week. In the second assignment, the teacher started with a video clip on how to make a salad. The class discussed the language used. Then, they were asked to prepare a speech. They needed to use a visual aid. Speech with visual aids is considered to be “friendly” to inexperienced speakers who sometimes may wonder where to “put their hands”. As Marrs (1992) suggests, “one way to reduce the pressure of speech making is to provide something for the audience to look at.” When the audience look at the visual aids, the speaker usually feels easier to present the speech and anxiety can be reduced. The participant spent a week to prepare a show-and-tell speech. He chose the topic - how to wrap a birthday present. Interestingly, some of the other participants did it with a proper opening and ending. “Good morning (afternoon), Ms Tan and all my friends. Do you know how to wrap a present? Today, I want to show you how to wrap a present. First, you need some ‘ingredients’ (materials). Then, put the present on the wrapper and fold. ………..(pausing)……(folding)……Put a cellophone tape here. Then, it is done.”

10


The participant was required to talk for 3-4 minutes. However, the pausing time was about 1 minute. He was required to try again. When the participant tried the second time, he asked his friend to help him. “Good afternoon, Ms Tan and all my friends. Do you have a good friend? This is my good friend, Jun Xuan. Last week was his birthday. I gave him a present. Look at this. This is the present. Do you want to know how to wrap a present like this? Let me show you. First, you need some ‘ingredients’. A wrapper, a cellophone tape, a scissor (a pair of scissors), a present. Then, put the present on the wrapper and fold….. (pausing)…you must be careful….(pausing)…when you use the scissors. Then, turn to this side. Then, fold here. Put a cellophone tape here. Now, it is done. Do you like the present? I hope so. Thank you.” The participant felt that he could talk a bit more now. However, he still felt very scared. His hands trembled. His palms wetted. He found it exciting. The teacher then asked the students to write down their speech and marked it. The third assignment is story-telling. Jones (2001) advised second language teachers to devote part of their syllabus to the teaching of story-telling skills. The participant was required to tell a story for 3 to 5 minutes. He chose the topic of “The wolf in the sheep skin” because it was short. He memorized it. On the day, the teacher deliberately asked two experienced female story-tellers to start. The two students won in the storytelling competitions before. They were using the same stories which they used in the competitions. They appeared to be more comfortable and willing to be ‘starters’ when asked. They had been trained to use their voices and gestures by their school teachers. Every part of the story was done skillfully. Then, the participant was called upon. He started by saying “Good afternoon, Ms Tan and all my friends. Today, I am going to


11

tell you a story. A wolf was hungry. Suddenly, it saw a flock of sheep in a farm. (See Appendix 4) Again, the participant did not put in any of his own words. He just told all that he memorized. He did not do any gestures for he found them very awkward. When interviewed later, he said that the story was a little old-fashioned and only primary school students did it. He could not change his voice as needed. The two experienced storytellers looked ‘funny’ even though they were good. He said only girls liked it. When asked about ideas, he said he would rather tell a story of a great scientist like Thomas Edison. He did not like storytelling. This could be a result of his voice. His weakness was exposed. He did not feel especially nervous but his resistance did not help him to perform well. In other words, he told the story because he was asked. In this task, the researcher found that all the ‘ed’ sounds in the stories done by every participant were not pronounced. “The wolf continue (continued) to catch the sheep.” “The shepherd did not know what had happen (happened) to his sheep.” “The disguise (disguised) wolf came again.” The teacher took this opportunity to teach the pronunciation especially the linking of sounds. She told the class that words work together with each other and the language will be natural. They should learn how to put words together and sound natural. “The wolf jumped at one of the sheep.” “Before the disguised wolf could eat the sheep, the shepherd came out.” “So, it is you!” “You have been eating my sheep.” Then, the teacher also demonstrated how to use body gestures and vary voices as needed. The assignment went on interestingly. Most of the students felt relaxed because they could all stand up and ‘play’. Then, the students were asked to reread some

12


sentences in the stories and demonstrated the linking of sounds to the class the following week. In all the three starter speeches, the teacher used a ‘sandwich’ evaluation strategy that she learned in the Toastmasters meetings. That is after every speaker, the teacher always said two good points that he/she had, then one suggestion for him/her to improve on his/her next speech. This is to make sure that the speakers feel comfortable being evaluated. As Littlewood (1984) pointed out the importance of the emotional climate of the learning situations. “In the classroom, anxiety can hinder learning and make learners reluctant to express themselves through the second language. We should therefore avoid becoming over-critical of their performance, try to create space for each learner’s individuality to express itself, and work to produce a relaxed classroom atmosphere with co-operative relationships” (p.97-98) For example, “Jimmy, you had a very thorough preparation on your speech. Your eye contact was very good today. You looked at your audience when you spoke. If you can use some hand gestures, your speech will be wonderful. I look forward to your next speech.”

6.0 CONCLUSION All in all, the research has benefited the participant and the researcher. However, this is only a case study with its limitations.


13

REFERENCES Ayres, Joe (1986). Perceptions of Speaking Ability: An Explanation for Stage Fright. Communication Education vol 35 no 3:275-87 Bryton, S. R. and Scott, M.D. (2006) The Art And Science Of Public Speaking. (5th Ed) McGraw Hill Beatty, Michael J. (1988). Situational and Predispositional Correlates of Public Speaking Anxiety. Communication Education 37:28-39 Dale, P., & Wolf, J. (2006). Speech Communication Made Simple (3rd ed.). Pearson Education, Inc. Devito, J. (2006). Human Communication The Basic Course (10th ed.). Pearson Education Horwitz, E.K., M.E. Hortwitz and J. Cope (1986) Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety. Modern Language Journal 70:125-132 Jones, R. E. (2001) A Consciousness-raising Approaching To The Teaching Of Conversational Storytelling Skills. ELT Journal vol 55 no 2 p155-163 Krashen, S. D. (2003) Explorations in Language Acquisition and Use. Heinemann MacIntyre, P.D., and R.C. Gardner (1989) Anxiety and Language Learning: Towards a Theoretical Clarification. Language Learning 39:251-75 Marrs, C. (1992). The Complete Book Of Speech Communication: A Workbook of Ideas and Activities for Students of Speech and Theatre. Meriwether Publishing Ltd. Colorado. McCroskey, J. C. (2006) An Introduction To Rhetorical Communication: A Western Rhetorical Perspective (9th ed.) Pearson Education.

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Appendix 1

Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24) Directions: This instrument is composed of twenty-four statements concerning feelings about communication with other people. Please indicate the degree to which each statement applies to you by marking whether you (1) strongly agree, (2) agree, (3) are undecided, (4) disagree, or (5) strongly disagree. Work quickly; record your first impression. _____ 1. I dislike participating in group discussions. _____ 2. Generally, I am comfortable while participating in group discussions. _____ 3. I am tense and nervous while participating in group discussions. _____ 4. I like to get involved in group discussions. _____ 5. Engaging in a group discussion with new people makes me tense and nervous. _____ 6. I am calm and relaxed while participating in a group discussion. _____ 7. Generally, I am nervous when I have to participate in a meeting. _____ 8. Usually I am calm and relaxed while participating in a meeting. _____ 9. I am very calm and relaxed when I am called upon to express an opinion at a meeting. _____ 10. I am afraid to express myself at meetings. _____ 11. Communicating at meetings usually makes me feel uncomfortable. _____ 12. I am very relaxed when answering questions at a meeting. _____ 13. While participating in a conversation with a new acquaintance, I feel very nervous. _____ 14. I have no fear of speaking up in conversations.


15

_____ 15. Ordinarily I am very tense and nervous in conversations. _____ 16. Ordinarily I am very calm and relaxed in conversations. _____ 17. While conversing with a new acquaintance, I feel very relaxed. _____ 18. I’m afraid to speak up in conversations. _____ 19. I have no fear of giving a speech. _____ 20. Certain parts of my body feel very tense and rigid while I am giving a speech. _____ 21. I feel relaxed while giving a speech. _____ 22. My thoughts become confused and jumbled when I am giving a speech. _____ 23. I face the prospect of giving a speech with confidence. _____ 24. While giving a speech, I get so nervous I forget facts I really know.

Scoring The PRCA permits computation of one total score and four subscores. The subscores are related to communication apprehension in each of four common communication contexts: group discussions, meetings, interpersonal conversations, and public speaking. To compute your scores, merely add or subtract your scores for each item as indicated below.

Subscores Scoring Formula Group Discussion - 18, plus scores for items 2, 4, and 6 and minus scores for items 1, 3, and 5. Meetings - 18, plus scores for items 8, 9, and 12 and minus scores for items 7, 10, and 11.

16


Interpersonal Conversation - 18, plus scores for items 14, 16, and 17 and minus scores for items 13, 15, and 18. Public Speaking - 18, plus scores for items 19, 21, and 23 and minus scores for items 20, 22, and 24. To obtain your total score for the PRCA, simply add your four subscores together. Your score should range between 24 and 120. If your score is below 24 or above 120, you have made a mistake in computing the score. Scores on the four contexts (groups, meetings, interpersonal conversations, and public speaking) can range from a low of 6 to a high of 30. Any score above 18 indicates some degree of apprehension. If your score is above 18 for the public speaking context, you are like the overwhelming majority of Americans. Norms for PRCA-24: Scores

Mean

Total Score Group Meetings Interpersonal Public Speaking

65.5 15.4 16.4 14.5 19.3

Standard Deviation 15.3 4.8 4.8 4.2 5.1

Source: James C. McCroskey (1993). An introduction to rhetorical communication, 6th ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, Inc., p. 37. Used for Educational Purposes only.


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Appendix 2 FOREIGN (SECOND) LANGUAGE CLASSROOM ANXIETY SCALE Directions: Each of the following statements refers to how you feel about your English language class. Please indicate whether you: • Strongly agree = SA • Agree = A • Neither agree nor disagree = N • Disagree = D • Strongly disagree = SD Indicate your feelings by checking the appropriate box next to each statement. Please give your first reaction to each statement. Please mark an answer for EVERY statement. SA 1.

I never feel quite sure of myself when I am speaking in English.

2.

I DON’T worry about making mistakes in language class.

3.

I tremble when I know that I’m going to be called on in language class.

4.

It frightens me when I don’t understand what the teacher is saying in the English language.

5.

It wouldn’t bother me at all to take more English language classes.

A

N

D

SD

18


6.

During language class, I find myself thinking about things that have nothing to do with the course.

7.

I keep thinking that the other students are better at language than I am.

8.

I am usually at ease (comfortable) during tests in my language class.

9.

I start to panic when I have to speak without preparation in language class.

10. I worry about the consequences of

failing my language class. 11. I don’t understand why some people get so upset over language classe 12. In language class, I can get so nervous I

forget things I know. SA 13. It embarrasses me to volunteer answers

in my language class. 14. I would NOT be nervous speaking the

English language with native speakers. 15. I get upset when I don’t understand

what the teacher is correcting. 16. Even if I am well prepared for language

class, I feel anxious about it. 17. I often feel like not going to my

language class.

A

N

D

SD


18. I feel confident when I speak in English

in my language class. 19. I am afraid that my language teacher is

ready to correct every mistake I make. 20. I can feel my heart pounding when I’m

going to be called on in language class. 21. The more I study for a language test, the

more confused I get. 22. I DON’T feel pressure to prepare very

well for language class. 23. I always feel that the other students

speak the English language better than I do. 24. I feel very self-conscious about

speaking English in front of the other students. 25. Language class moves so quickly I worry about getting left behind. 26. I feel more tense and nervous in my

language class than in my other classes. 27. I get nervous and confused when I am

speaking in my language class. 28. When I’m on my way to language class,

I feel very sure and relaxed. 29. I get nervous when I don’t understand

19

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every word the language teacher says. 30. I feel overwhelmed by the number of

rules you have to learn to speak the English language. 31. I am afraid that the other students in the

class will laugh at me when I speak in English. 32. I would probably feel comfortable

around native speakers of the English language. 33. I get nervous when the language teacher

asks questions which I haven’t prepared in advance.


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Appendix 3 Assignment 2 (3-4 minutes) Demonstration speech. When we learn, we can learn better by seeing it than by telling it only. Speech is also the same. Tell us how you do something. Show us how you do it. We would love to learn from you. Instructions: 1. Choose a topic. 2. List all essentials, ingredients or equipment needed. 3. Show the entire process, step by step. 4. Show the results. 5. Maintain eye contact with your audience.

The topics can be: 1. How to wash dishes 2. How to play a musical instrument 3. How to make a salad 4. How to wrap a birthday present 5. How to fold a paper star 6. How to play a game

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Assignment 3: (3-5 minutes) You have learned so many important lessons about life in stories. Fairy tales and fables have been accompanying us to grow. Do you know they can help us again? They are good choices for a speaker to develop gestures, facial expressions, eye contact and vocal variety.

In this assignment, you need to 1.

Choose a fairy tale or fable.

2.

Recite the story.

3.

Play distinct roles (characters) through movements, facial expressions and vocal changes.

4.

Use eye contact.

5.

Vary rate.

6.

Practice aloud several times.

The topics can be: 1. The three little pigs 2. Lion and Mouse 3. The princess and the pea 4. Cinderella 5. The silly goats 6. Beauty and the beast 7. The tortoise and the hare


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Appendix 4

The Wolf in the Sheep Skin A wolf was hungry. Suddenly, it saw a flock of sheep in a farm. They were eating grass. It wanted to catch those sheep. The wolf was unlucky. There was a shepherd looking after his sheep. He had a rifle with him. “How am I going to catch those sheep?” the wolf asked itself. “The shepherd will shoot me if I go into his farm.” The wolf looked around. Then it saw a sheep’s skin. It had an idea. It stole the skin. The wolf covered itself with the skin. It disguised itself as one of the sheep. “Now, I will get those sheep,” it said happily. Then it walked slowly towards the other sheep. The shepherd did not know that the wolf had disguised itself as a sheep. The wolf quietly caught one of the sheep and ran away. It ate the sheep. The wolf continued to catch the sheep and ate them one by one. It was very happy. The shepherd did not know what had happened to his sheep. After some time, the shepherd began to see that his sheep were getting less. He wanted to find out what had happened to them. One day, the disguised wolf came again. It did not see the shepherd. The wolf jumped at one of the sheep. The shepherd was hiding behind a tree. He saw the disguised wolf. It was catching one of his sheep. Before the disguised wolf could eat the sheep, the shepherd came out. He pulled the sheep skin from the wolf. “So, it is you! You have been eating my sheep!” the shepherd shouted angrily. The wolf could not run away. The shepherd caught the wolf. He was going to punish the bad wolf for eating his sheep.

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The moral of the story is: We may be clever but we may not always be lucky. People who cheat will be caught.

2 TEACHING DISCUSSION SKILLS FOR MUET SPEAKING EXAMINATION: A COMPARISON OF TWO APPROACHES Hafiza Aini Hj Hassan Hadina Habil

1.0

INTRODUCTION

The Malaysian University English Test (MUET) was introduced in 1999, and with its introduction, learners who wish to further their studies after their secondary education have to prepare themselves to sit for four papers – speaking, listening, reading and writing. Among all the papers, the learners are mostly intimidated by the speaking test. This is the paper which tests their speaking skills formally and the result will determine which courses they can pursue in or whether they can carry on with the chosen course. This is because the universities and colleges of higher education have already set the minimal requirements of the bands for the MUET result that the students should attain for them to be allowed to register in the respective courses. Although these students have been exposed to the formal teaching of English Language since primary school up till form 5, they have never been assessed formally in speaking the way they are assessed in MUET examination. The nearest will be their oral assessment in their secondary school which they either choose their own topics, prepare beforehand or done informally during lessons.

26

Insights Into Second Learning

In MUET Speaking test, however the candidates are only given the topic when they are seated in their group of four in the examination room together with two examiners. The test will be in two parts – Task A and Task B. The candidates are only given two minutes to digest the given situation, understand the task that they have to carry out and prepare their points to be presented after the two minutes are up. Usually, the members in the same group are given the same situation but with different points of view. Each member does not know the points of view given to the other members until the presentation of Task A. Each candidate is allocated with two minutes to present their justifications to support the point of view allocated for them pertaining the given situation. During the presentation of Task A, the candidates are also required to understand points of view presented by the other members and make short notes as this will help them in the presentation of Task B. Once Task A is performed, the candidates are given another two minutes to prepare for Task B. In this task, the candidates are required to have a discussion, choosing the best point of view among the four given by comparing an contrasting the points of view which they presented in Task A. During this presentation, the candidates need to show their maturity and ability to manage a discussion, performing the skills which are essential in a discussion. One of the challenging tasks that need to be carried out by the MUET candidates is in the MUET Speaking test whereby they should be able to discuss on the chosen topics given within the limited time allocated among their four group members. The topic of the discussion is only given to them when they are seated in the examination room. The time given is only two minutes for them to digest the situation and prepare their points and notes according to the point of view prepared for them. They have to suit the point of view to the situation given to them and give justification to it. During this time, they do not know the points of view prepared for the other members of the group.

Teaching Discussion Skills

2.0

27

LITERATURE REVIEW

For a language to be understood, the community must have shared knowledge and understanding towards its usage. Carter and McCarthy (1997) explain that a language is in some way preformulated. The idea is that the language forms must be routinised and patterned. This highlights the importance of the language community to have shared knowledge of the forms to understand each other. With this idea in mind, two ways of teaching speaking has been chosen for this study in preparing the learners for their MUET Speaking test. The first is the Genre Analysis Approach, and the second, the Audio-lingual Method. Both ways highlight the form and structure of the language, only the execution of the lessons will differentiate one from another. Genre analysis at first was being applied in the field of communicative, focusing on the structure and language features of particular genres, guiding the students to have a control over the specific genres that they have to produce in professional and academic environment. For example, Swales (1981) being very concerned in helping the students to improve their writing skills came up with a model for writing article introductions. Bhatia (1981) on the other hand looked into the legal materials. From there, Genre Analysis evolved into having the analysis of the genre as social action, looking into how genre works in the different sociocultural settings, achieving various purposes, how genres group together in differing or similar sets, forming systems and networks (Miller 1984; Berkenkotter and Huckin 1995). The relationship between the context and the linguistic features of the genres was developed and highlighted in Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistic (SFL). Inspired by the systematic approach of the Genre Analysis and the flexibility allowing the communication to take place, Hafiza (2007) has developed 12 moves which are essential for the candidates to perform well in responding to Task A MUET Speaking test. From her study, she finds that the Genre Analysis Approach which she adopted has helped her learners to respond to

28


Task A MUET Speaking Test better. She sees that the learners are more aware of the structure of the response that is required to be accepted as a good response. The materials improvised and recordings exposed to the students have helped them to be alert of the steps that they have to follow and perform during their response.

3.0

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Speaking is a complex and challenging activity, especially to those whose English is their second language. This is because the students do not have enough practice in using the language outside their English Language class. The English Language teachers are also faced with the challenge to teach the language to the learners and make the learners practice the language while they are in the classroom and even outside. Despite the phenomena above, MUET expects the learners to be bale to speak in a formal way. However, the informal manner of speaking is already intimidating to the learners, what more the formal style of speaking. Due to the complexity of the characteristics mentioned above, only a small number of students is able to communicate effectively, and the reason for their ability might due to their English speaking family background. With the lack of speaking skills in the candidates, the teaching materials in the market, and the urge to assist the candidates in their performance in the speaking test, the researcher decides to adapt two approaches – Genre Analysis and Audio-lingual Method, and compare the effectiveness of these methods to the candidates.

4.0

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

This study will be carried out to meet the following objectives:


29

4.1 To tailor more effective lessons for oral communication by applying the Genre Analysis Approach, and the Audiolingual Method in instilling the oral skills of managing a discussion in the learners’ response to the tasks similar to task B in the MUET Speaking Test. 4.2. To compare the effectiveness of the Genre Analysis Approach in speaking lessons to the Audio-lingual Method. 4.3 To determine ways in which the use of the Genre Analysis Approach and the Audio-lingual Method help learners to be more aware of the skills of managing a discussion.

5.0

RESEARCH METHODS

This study will focus on two ways of teaching speaking skills – the Genre Analysis Approach and the Audio-lingual Method. The subjects will be form six students who are preparing to sit for the MUET tests. The subjects will be in two different groups, each will experience a different way of teaching – one via the Genre Analysis Approach, while another the Audio-lingual Method. The subjects’ responses will be analysed and compared. Finally in the conclusion, the researcher will be able to make recommendations of the strengths of the two ways and how the language teachers can adapt and adopt them to be utilised in their English Language classes, especially in teaching speaking. In order to carry out the research, first of all, the samples will be identified. By using stratified sampling, the students of lower six will be chosen. Two groups of average achievers and another two groups of low achievers will be identified. Questionnaires will be given to them and they will also be interviewed to get their profile. The students will have to sit for a speaking test, based on the previous MUET Speaking test papers. The responses will be recorded and transcribed. Then the lessons will be tailored to the students’ needs.

30


After sitting for the Speaking test, a pair of average and lower achievers will be exposed to the speaking lessons based on the Genre Analysis Approach while another pair will be taught using the Audio-lingual Method.

5.1

THE GENRE ANALYSIS APPROACH

The Genre Analysis Approach will be adopted from Robert (1997) framework, and it will be as follows: 1. Presentation (Observation and Hypothesis forming) 2. Presentation (Clarification) 3. Practice (Restricted Use) 4. Production (Authentic Use) Before the lessons are carried out, the lesson will be identifying the moves essential to be highlighted to the earners so that they will be able to identify and pick them up during the observations. Once the moves are identified, they will be used as samples of discussion. These samples will be recorded as teaching materials, and the transcriptions will also be prepared.

5.1.1. Presentation (Observation and Hypothesis forming) The students will be exposed to recordings, and they will be guided to identify the moves concerned. The researcher will take a role as a facilitator and guide the students to identify the moves. This will take a while and the teacher will need to repeat playing the recordings to the students. Once the identification is done, the teacher will distribute the transcriptions of the recordings.


31

5.1.2. Presentation (Clarification) Once the moves are established, the learners will be exposed to more recordings of discussions. At this stage they practice recognising the moves orally. This activity will also be followed with the distribution of the transcriptions.

5.1.3. Practice ( Restricted Use) This is the stage where the students are exposed to the transitional verbs needed and other phrases which are essential to the functions that they need to perform in their discussions. They will refer to the transcriptions as they go through each function, e.g. to interrupt, to disagree, etc.

5.1.4

Production (Authentic Use)

At this stage, the learners practice the skills that they have learned in situation similar to the MUET Speaking test. This is important as they need to be able to produce their responses within the limited time, as allocated during the real MUET Speaking test.

5.2

THE AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD

The lessons on the speaking skills based on the Audio-lingual Method will be focusing on the functions that the students will have to carry out during the discussion in the MUET Speaking test. Once the functions are identified, the researcher will categorise them and provide phrases that the students have to produce.

32


Once the phrases are prepared, the drilling and pattern practices are prepared based on the Audio-lingual Method (Richards, J.C. etal. 1986) which are: 1. Repetition 2. Inflection 3. Replacement 4. Restatement

5.2.1

Repetition

At this stage, short utterances are prepared based on a situation similar to the MUET Speaking test. The researcher will utter the phrases aloud and the students will repeat the utterances as soon as they hear it.

5.2.2

Inflection

The second stage, the researcher will prepare utterances and the students will be asked to change them into another form. For example, they will be asked to change the utterances into past tense or future tense, or changing the subjects or objects into singular or plural.

5.2.3

Replacement

The next stage, the students will be asked to change the objects mentioned in the utterances by using pronouns. This will prevent the students from repeating the name of the objects in their responses.


5.2.4

33

Restatement

The last stage here, the students will be required to rephrase utterances that they hear produced by the researcher. Here, the researcher will telling them the function that they have to produce within the given situation, and the students will have to give their responses right after that. After the learners are exposed to the lessons, they will have to sit for another Speaking test, situation taken from the previous MUET Speaking test. Their responses will be recorded and transcribed. The transcription will then be analysed to determine he achievement of the objectives of the research.

6.0

EXPECTED FINDINGS

The researcher would expect to see that the learners who have a better proficiency in the language will find the Genre Analysis Approach really enlighten them to the form and structure of the response that they need to produce. They would feel that the approach really benefits them as they are engaged in exploring the genre thoroughly. However, learners with lower proficiency would feel that they benefit from the Audio-lingual Method as the drilling helps them to produce sentences as needed for them to participate in the discussions better.

7.0

CONCLUSION

This research will basically expose the students with two ways of learning the speaking skills that are the Genre Analysis Approach and the Audio-lingual Method. The former are the recent teaching

34


style which are gaining its popularity while the latter have been practiced for 5 decades. Nevertheless, despite the vast difference in the number of years they have been practiced, there are a lot of advantages which can be gained as both have their strengths which can be exploited in the education world.

REFERENCES Bailey, K.M.Issues in Teaching Speaking Skills to Adult ESOL Learners. National Centre for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy. 2005. Volume 6 – Chapter 5 Berkenkotter, C. and Huckin, T. Genre Knowkedge in Disciplinary Communication: Cognition/Culture/Power. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 1995. Canale, M and M. Swain. Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics 1:1980.1 – 47. Derewianka, B. Trends and Issues in Genre-Based Approaches. RELC Journal. 2003. 34:133 - 154 Fries, C.C. The Structure of English: An Introduction to the Construction of English Sentences. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. 1957. Hafiza Aini Bte Hassan. The Use of Genre Analysis in Developing Speaking Skills in a MUET Classroom Context. Master Dissertation. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia; 2006. Miller, C.R. Genre as social action. Quarterly Journal of Speech. 1984. 70: 151 – 67. Swales J.M. Aspects of Article Introductions (Aston ESP Research Reports, no 1), Language Studies Unit, University of Aston in Birminghan; 1981.

3 USING TRIANGULATION IN RESEARCH ON ORAL INSTRUCTIONAL LANGUAGE OF TEACHER TRAINEES IN TEACHING SCIENCE IN ENGLISH Azian Abd Aziz @ Ahmad Abdul Halim Abdul Raof

1.0

INTRODUCTION

Dornyei (2007) and Richards (2003) list the following as typical characteristics of qualitative research. Firstly, it takes place in a natural setting, devoid of any manipulation. It is also concerned with gaining insights into the lived experiences of the participants and usually focuses on a small number of participants. In addition, it utilises an emergent research design which is flexible in nature and can evolve in tandem with the development of the study. Hence, it generates rather than tests hypotheses. Finally, it is fundamentally interpretive as the data obtained would be subjectively interpreted by the researcher. It is these characteristics that have allowed qualitative research to present a broader point of view through the inclusion of unexpected findings as well as obtain more comprehensive findings through the use of context (Ammenwerth et. al, 2003). Nevertheless, despite the ability of qualitative research in providing invaluable insights into human behaviour, it still has its

36


critics. As pointed out by Decrop (1999), the main criticism against qualitative research is not on the usefulness of qualitative data, but rather, on the criteria by which the trustworthiness of qualitative research is based. One way in which to counter such criticisms and to strengthen the design of a qualitative study is through triangulation.

1.1

TRIANGULATION

Denzin (1978) and Patton (1990) identify four basic types of triangulation that contribute to enhancing the validity of qualitative analysis: 1. Theoretical triangulation – using multiple theoretical perspectives in interpreting a set of data 2. Data triangulation – using data from different sources in investigating a particular phenomenon 3. Method triangulation – using more than one method of data collection, which could either be ‘within-method triangulation’ such as using two different types of questionnaire, or ‘betweenmethod triangulation’ such as using observation and interviews to assess a particular issue. 4. Investigator or analyst triangulation – using more than one researcher either in collecting or analysing data. Triangulation allows research findings to be checked against other data and perspectives. This would ultimately reduce any bias in the data. In view of the benefits offered through the use of triangulation, this research, in investigating the oral instructional language of teacher trainees in teaching science in English has strived to incorporate all four types of triangulation. This paper will illustrate how the four types of triangulation have been incorporated into a qualitative study investigating the oral instructional language of non-native speaker (NNS) teacher trainees in teaching science in English.

Using Triangulation In Research

1.2

37

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The Malaysian government, in 2002 announced that commencing 2003, English would be used as the medium of instruction in the teaching and learning of Mathematics and Science subjects. Studies on needs assessments of practising Mathematics and Science teachers teaching in English, reveal that practising teachers tend to rate oral instructional English language ability as the most crucial in implementing the teaching and learning of Mathematics and Science in English (Noraini Idris et al., 2007; Kamisah Osman, et al., 2006). However, a significant percentage of Mathematics and Science teachers surveyed revealed their reservations of their English language spoken ability in the classroom (Hamidah Ab Rahman et al., 2005) with a high percentage admitting to needing help in spoken English (Noraini Idris et. al., 2007; Kamisah Osman, et al., 2006). To boost the confidence and morale of these teachers, the Ministry of Education launched a large scale and concerted support mechanism to help develop practising Mathematics and Science teachers’ English language competence via the English for the Teaching of Mathematics and Science (ETeMS) in-service training programme. The programme provides opportunities to develop language in three broad areas: i) for accessing information, ii) for teaching Mathematics and Science, and iii) for professional exchange (ETeMS Module, 2003). With so much emphasis given to practising teachers, another equally important group of teachers, namely those training to be Mathematics and Science teachers, have largely been ignored. This group of teachers are not receiving any formalised English language training as enjoyed by their practising counterparts, nor have their English language needs been analysed. Instead, it has been largely up to the respective teacher education institutions which train these teachers to decide and implement any English language training as the institutions deem fit. The current tend employed by teacher education institutions is to focus on three main elements, namely, knowledge of content

38


subject, pedagogical courses and practice and lastly general education courses (Committee on Science and Mathematics Teacher Education, 2000; Faculty of Education UTM Academic Guidelines, 2006/07). However, as argued by Ozgun-Koca and Sen (2006), being good at doing Mathematics or Science does not equate to being good at teaching them. This is because thought processes do not work in isolation as language is needed to reformulate the process (Vygotsky, 1978). Thus, ignoring the English language needs of Mathematics and Science teacher trainees could prove detrimental to the teaching and learning of Mathematics and Science in English because appropriate language is needed to impart knowledge. Thus, the purpose of this study is to determine the language demands faced by non-native speaker (NNS) Science teacher trainees in the second language (L2) Science classrooms. In order to achieve this purpose, it intends to answer the following research questions: 1. What are the characteristics of the oral input that learners receive from their NNS Science teacher trainees in the L2 Science classroom? 2. Which oral instructional language techniques employed by the NNS Science teacher trainees in the L2 Science classroom are perceived by the learners to act as comprehensible input? 3. Which oral instructional language techniques employed by the NNS Science teacher trainees in the L2 Science classroom provide support or scaffolding to the learners?

2.0

DESIGN OF STUDY

In the efforts to obtain insights into the L2 Science classroom, data will be collected as they occur in their natural setting, which in this case, is the L2 Science classroom. This study is thus concerned with conducting an empirical observation in an authentic situation. Neuendorf (2002 : 14) defines empirical


39

observation as “…based on real, apprehendable phenomena.” As language needs to be observed and understood in a natural setting, the qualitative research design therefore offers the best source of illumination (Rossman and Ralis, cited in Creswell, 2003). This section describes the design of the study highlighting the triangulation aspect.

2.1

THEORETICAL TRIANGULATION

The study has been framed against three theoretical perspectives, namely, communicative competence theory, second language acquisition (SLA) theories and sociocultural theory. Communicative competence theory is very much relevant to this study as a speaker needs to know what to say, how to say it and when to say it. On the surface, communicative competence can be perceived to be intrapersonal in nature. However, as noted by Savignon (1983 : 8), “…communicative competence is relative, not absolute, and depends on the cooperation of all the participants involved.” In other words, it is a dynamic interpersonal construct which is manifested during an interaction (Brown, 2000). However, of the four communicative competence components: grammatical, sociolinguistics, discourse and strategic competence (Canale, 1983; Canale and Swain,1980), only discourse and strategic competence will be addressed in the study. This stand is taken in view of English as an International Language context. Thus, taking the communicative competence framework in total would be, “…utopian, unrealistic and constraining…”. (Alptekin, 2002 : 59). In turning to second language acquisition (SLA) theories and research, Krashen’s (1982, 1985) Input Hypothesis offers a plausible explanation of the role of teachers’ oral instructional language in the content classroom. The Input Hypothesis argues that for learners to progress, they need to be provided with comprehensible input which is slightly beyond the L2 learner’s current competence level (i + 1). It is further suggested that

40


language simplification together with contextual and extralinguistic cues can help promote comprehensible input. Krashen’s (1982, 1985) Input Hypothesis is not without its detractors. For instance, although Long (1985, 1996) acknowledges that simplified input and context promote comprehensible input, he argues that interactive input is more important than non-interactive input in facilitating comprehension. This is because interactional adjustments made would allow the learner or less proficient interlocutor to make the connection between input, selective attention and output. Long’s (1985, 1996) Interaction Hypothesis thus postulates that it is interactional modifications such as comprehension checks, clarification requests and paraphrase, which occur in meaning negotiation, that are crucial in making the input comprehensible. Finally, the sociocultural approach asserts that knowledge is acquired first on the social level between people as an interpsychological category and later, on the individual level inside the individual as an intrapsychological category (Vygotsky, 1978). According to the Vygotskian perspective, the teacher or some other knowledgeable person plays a key role in mediating and facilitating learners’ knowledge acquisition. He uses the ‘zone of proximal development’ (ZPD) to conceptualise the developmental potential of a learner where he defined the ZPD as “…the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance…” (Vygotsky, 1978: 86). As argued by Denzin (1989) examining the same data against several theoretical perspectives not only offers a more reliable form of criticism, but also conforms to the scientific method.


2.2

41

DATA TRIANGULATION

Data triangulation in the study involves obtaining data from two different sources. The first source of data would be obtained from Science teacher trainees selected using the purposive sampling method. The second source of data would be collected from learners or pupils attending the L2 Science classrooms, selected using the disproportional stratified random sampling method. In order to make informed decisions pertaining to the oral instructional language needs of Science teacher trainees in the L2 Science classrooms, the target speech community itself would be investigated. This would involve obtaining data directly from the Science teacher trainees themselves. Data would be collected via classroom observation. This would entail a transcription of the Science teacher trainees’ oral instructional language produced in the L2 Science classroom, as well as the context in which the language is produced. The Science teacher trainees would also be interviewed using the stimulated recall technique. Feedback from learners in the L2 Science classroom would also be obtained. As Good and Brophy (1994) point out, learners are not passive recipients in a classroom as they need to construct their own meaning and must make an effort to understand the information that has been imparted to them in order for the knowledge to become useful and meaningful. Allwright (2005:16) corroborated with this view when he argues that, “…teachers and learners co-construct their lessons…in this sense, lessons were jointly managed rather than managed by teacher in full control of everything.” In other words, if the learners were to be left out, there would be a misrepresentation between the relationship of teaching and learning as it would imply that what is important in a classroom is what gets ‘taught’ rather than what gets ‘learned’. Obtaining data from two different sources could enhance the understanding of the phenomenon under investigation.

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2.3


METHOD TRIANGULATION

Method triangulation in the study involves the use of ‘betweenmethod triangulation’ where two different methods of data collection are applied to access information from the same group of participants, namely the Science teacher trainees. All oral instructional language produced by the Science teacher trainees in the L2 Science classroom would be audiotaped and transcribed. The data would then be analysed by the researcher which entails coding and categorising before moving towards interpretation (Miles and Huberman, 1994; Coffey and Atkinson,1996). This is in fact a typical way in which verbal data are analysed, with researchers providing their own interpretation pertaining to what is going on and as to the value of the exchange (see for example Viiri and Saari, 2006; Nassaji and Wells, 2000). However, Hawkins (1985), in using a post-task commentary technique to elicit comments from her respondents, found that respondents were seen to produce correct responses during an interaction, despite not understanding what was being said in the communication. Evidence from Hawkin’s (1985) study suggests that interpretations of verbal language, need to proceed with caution. In view of the shortcomings of merely relying on the researcher to interpret the verbal data produced by the Science teacher trainees, it would be prudent to use another method which could compensate for such a weakness. Thus, the Science teacher trainees would also be interviewed using the stimulated recall method. This would involve the researcher and participant (individual Science teacher trainee) listening to one complete audiotaped lesson. As they listen to the audio recording, either the researcher or participant, would be free to stop the tape and comment on specific oral features. The participant would be required to articulate what he or she was thinking at the particular time when he or she was talking in class. Examining the same thing from two different perspectives could provide a more authentic portrayal of the issue being investigated.


3.0

43

INVESTIGATOR OR ANALYST TRIANGULATION

Having several researchers investigating the same issue could help reduce potential bias which could occur as a result of having only one researcher (Patton, 1990). However, this involves considerable concerted team effort. In a situation such as a PhD research, which involves only one researcher, it would be rather difficult to have multiple investigators, unless it is something which is already built in, such as a research evaluating the teaching practice of Science teacher trainees. Here, it would be possible for the Science teacher trainees or participants of the research to be evaluated not only by the researcher, but also by their practicum supervisors appointed by the respective educational institutions. Nevertheless, in the event of it not being practical to have multiple investigators, a possible alternative would be to have more than one analyst independently examining the same data. Any comments, additional information and disagreements could then be taken into account. Having more than one analyst could help enhance the reliability of the data.

4.0

CONCLUSION

This triangulation of data, which uses a variety of methods, sources and perspectives, tends to balance out the strengths and weaknesses of each method (Neuendorf, 2002). In addition, it provides the framework for a thick description (Geertz, 1973) which gives significance to what is being observed. As Denzin (1994: 505) points out, “A thick description … gives the context of an experience, states the intentions and meanings that organised the experience and reveals the experience as a process.” Thus, the complex facets of Science teacher trainees’ talk in the L2 Science classroom could be better revealed through the varied research instruments used. In short, triangulation allows a comparison of multiple perceptions of the same phenomenon

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which contributes to the trustworthiness of the data (Glesne, 2006) and increases the validity of the qualitative research (Stake, 1994).

REFERENCES

Allwright, D. (2005). From Teaching Points to Learning Opportunities and beyond. TESOL Quarterly. 39 (1). 9-31. Alptekin, C. (2002). Towards Intercultural Communicative Competence in ELT. ELT Journal. 56(1). 57-64. Ammenwerth, E., Iller, C. and Mansmann, U. (2003). Can Evaluation Studies Benefit From Triangulation? A Case Study. International Journal of Medical Informatics. 70. 237248. Brown, H.D. (2000). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (Fourth Edition). New York. Addison-Wesley Longman Inc. Canale, M. (1983). From Communicative Competence to Communicative Language Pedagogy. In J.C. Richards and R.W. Schmidt (Eds). Language and Communication. Singapore. Longman. Canale, M. and Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical Bases of Communicative Approaches to Second Language Teaching and Testing. Applied Linguistics. 1(1). 1-47. Coffey, A. and Atkinson, P. (1996). Making Sense of Qualitative Data: Complementary Research Strategies. United States of America. Sage Publications. Committee on Science and Mathematics Teacher Education. (2000). Educating Teachers of Science, Mathematics and Technology: New Practices for the New Millennium. Washington DC. National Academy Press.


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Creswell, J.W. (2003). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Method Approaches. Thousand Oaks. Sage. Decrop, A.(1999). Triangulation in Qualitative Tourism Research. Tourism Management. 20. 157-161. Denzin, N.K. (1978). The Research Act: A Theoretical Introduction to Sociological Methods. New York. McGraw Hill. Denzin, N.K. (1989). The Research Act: A Theoretical Introduction to Sociological Methods (Third Edition). Prentice Hall. Englewoods Cliffs. Denzin, N.K. (1994). The Art and Politics of Interpretation. In N.K. Denzin and Y.S. Lincoln (Eds). Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks. Sage. Dornyei, Z. (2007). Research Methods in Applied Linguistics: Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Methodologies. Oxford University Press. China. ETeMS Module. (2003 ). English for Teaching Mathematics and Science (ETeMS) – Phase 1: The 5-Day Module. English Language Teaching Centre, Malaysia. Teacher Education Division. Ministry of Education, Malaysia. Faculty of Education, UTM Academic Guidelines, 2006/2007 (2006). Jabatan Multimedia Pendidikan – Fakulti Pendidikan. Skudai. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Geertz, C. (1973) . The Interpretation of Cultures. Thousand Oaks. Sage. Glesne, C. (2006). Becoming Qualitative Researchers – An Introduction (Third Edition). United States of America. Pearson Inc. Good, T.L., Brophy, J.E. (1994). Looking in Classrooms. New York. HarperCollins College Publishers. Hamidah Ab Rahman, Aziz Nordin, Mukheta Isa, Fatimah Puteh, Faruk Muhammad, Norazman Abd Majid, Aminah Ahmad Khalid, Siti Fatimah Bahari, Hj Shufaat Tumin and Zurihanmi Zakariya (2005). Teachers’ Competency in the Teaching of mathematics in English in Malaysian secondary

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Schools. Paper Presented at the Reform, Revolution and Paradigm Shifts in Mathematics Hawkins, B. (1985). Is an “Appropriate Response” Always so Appropriate? In S. Gass and C. Madden (Eds). Input in Second Language Acquisition. Rowley, Massachusetts. Newbury House.

4 MULTIPLE DATA-COLLECTION METHODS AS A SOURCE OF INSIGHTS INTO GRAMMAR TEACHING Fauziah Ismail Zubaidah Awang

1.0

INTRODUCTION

The issue of grammar teaching in Language Teacher Education (LTE) needs to take into account the factors that can influence teacher trainees’ pedagogical choices and decision-making when teaching grammar in the classrooms. Language researchers (Ellis, 1998; Borg, 1998, 1999 & 2006; Burgess, 2002) have investigated how language teachers’ cognition, education experience and second language (L2) competence can influence their teaching of grammar. These researchers explored how language teachers approach the teaching of grammar in their classes and the reasons affecting their decisions. However, few research have been carried out on the factors that influence how teacher trainees approach the teaching of grammar during their practicum. Exploring teacher trainees’ pedagogical systems, grammar teaching and the reasons that underpin their pedagogical choices and decision-making can provide insights into the factors that underlie teacher trainees’ behavior. This kind of research can provide answers to what extent pre-LTE, formal training in LTE and teacher trainees’ cognition,

48


beliefs and values shape their grammar teaching and classroom practices. This paper presents the qualitative approach of data collection on the way teacher trainees conduct grammar teaching in their classrooms and the reasons that underpin their pedagogical choices and decisions in teaching grammar. It discusses how the research is grounded in the realities of classroom practice and highlights the strengths of adopting a qualitative approach in exploring how teacher trainees approach the teaching of grammar in their classrooms. This paper also presents the perspectives of the teacher trainees on the factors affecting their instructional decisions.

2.0

LITERATURE REVIEW

Grammar teaching in LTE has been and continues to be debated. The literature on grammar teaching discusses crucial questions such as whether teaching and learning grammar is necessary in LTE, whether grammar must be explicitly or implicitly taught in LTE and whether teacher trainees must be equipped with extensive or intensive grammar knowledge through their LTE. Issues have also been raised on whether grammar should be taught deductively or inductively, and whether grammar teaching in LTE should focus on meaning or form (Burgess, 2002, Ellis, 1998, Doughty & Williams, 1998). The difficult decision that teacher educators face is how grammar should be taught in LTE. Thus, both issues of the place of grammar in LTE curriculum and the nature of grammar teaching do not only raise many controversial questions but will continue to be hotly debated in the future. Language researchers (Ellis, 1998; Borg, 1998 & 2006); Burgess, 2002) have conducted research into grammar teaching among teachers and teacher trainees. They believe that research on how language teachers and teacher trainees teach grammar will provide teacher educators with insights on whether prior grammar

Multiple Data-Collection Methods

49

coursework on English grammar influences teacher trainees’ teaching of grammar in the classroom. The findings can also indicate to teacher educators where to place grammar in LTE. Besides that, findings from research on teacher trainees’ grammar teaching and classroom practices can help teacher educators to illustrate to teacher trainees, the pedagogical options in grammar teaching. Issues like when, how and why teacher trainees draw upon the options in real classrooms can increase their understanding of the pedagogical choices and instructional decisions that they make.

3.0

METHODOLOGY

3.1

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the research are as follows: a) To study how trainee teachers teach grammar in their classrooms, b) To examine the impact and influence of grammar courses taught in LTE on teacher trainees’ grammar teaching, c) To identify the factors that influence teacher trainees’ grammar teaching in the classrooms, and d) To explore the challenges experienced by teacher trainees in teaching grammar during their classroom practices.

3.2

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The research aims to answer the following research questions. 3.2.1 What actual grammar teaching practices do teacher trainees implement in their classrooms? 3.2.2 Do grammar courses taught in LTE have an impact on teacher trainees’ grammar teaching during their teaching practice?

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3.2.3 What factors influence teacher trainees’ grammar teaching in the classrooms? 3.2.4 What challenges do teacher trainees face in teaching grammar during their classroom practices?

3.3 QUALITATIVE APPROACH IN DATA COLLECTION This research is qualitative in nature and adopts multiple qualitative data collection methods. It is an interactive approach to data collection process which involves discussions between the researcher and teacher trainees, for example in the use of the semistructured interviews conducted in the data collection process. This research also is rather humanistic in its data collection approach because teacher trainees’ actual teaching behaviour in the classrooms are studied and explored. The data collection instruments involve classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, teaching reflection using teaching journal and selfreport inventories as a checklist of teacher trainees’ grammar teaching. Table 1 shows the research instruments employed in the study. Table 1 Research instruments No.

Research Instruments

Sources/References

1.

Self-Report Inventory On Grammar Lesson (SRI)

Adopted from Nunan, 2005

2.

Teaching Journal/Reflection With Guided Questions (TJ)

Richards & Farrell, 2005 Yu, 2000 Halbach, 1999 Woodfield & Lazarus, 1998

3.

Observation Checklist (OC)

Nunan, 2005 Benke & Medgyes, 2005 (cited in Borg, 2006)


4.

Semi-Structured Interview Questions (SSI)

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Benke & Medgyes, 2005 (cited in Borg, 2006) LLurda, 2005

Observation is the primary data collection method used in this research. The classroom observations of the teacher trainees’ teaching are audio taped and the observatory notes are transcribed. At the same time, observation checklists are also used when the researcher is conducting observations. Observations are used as a means of data collection because they can provide direct evidence of teaching behaviours of teachers (Borg, 2006). In this research, observations are considered a valuable strategy in a natural environment because they provide evidence of what happens in the classrooms and the grammar teaching practices that teacher trainees implement in the classrooms. Nunan (1997) claims observations allow researchers to experience direct contact with classroom realities. He argues this data collection strategy can serve as a bridge between the activity of research and the activity of teaching. Richards (2005) and Glesne (2006) state that observation is a data-collecting strategy that has ecological validity because it involves a study of actual classroom practices; not teachers’ perceptions of their classroom practices. Thus, observation permits legitimate claims to be made about the relationship between teacher trainees’ classroom practices and their instructional decisions with reference to grammar teaching (Borg, 2003a). Ellis (1998) has highlighted that observations on language teachers’ grammar teaching will help teacher educators to understand how language teachers transform their technical knowledge about the teaching of grammar through their actions. With a similar concern on the issue, the researcher believes that by observing teacher trainees’ grammar teaching in the classrooms and exploring the reasons that underpin their grammar teaching will shed some light whether the choices made by teacher trainees

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in their individual contexts play a large part in determining the kind of teaching which takes place in their classrooms. Observations and transcripts from the observations will provide evidence on how teacher trainees approach grammar teaching in their classrooms. The observations provide evidence on teacher trainees’ teaching behaviour in terms of their actual approach to grammar teaching and not as claimed or perceived by them. The teacher trainees’ instructional strategies can be identified through the classroom observations. Besides audio taping and transcribing the teacher trainees’ grammar teaching, an observation checklist is also used to identify the teacher trainees’ teaching behaviours. The items in the checklist are used as a guide to identify teacher trainees’ teaching behaviours related to certain aspects of grammar teaching practices such as the methods adopted by teacher trainees and grammar activities used in their lessons. The other qualitative data-collection strategy employed in this research is the semi-structured interview. It has been used in educational research in qualitative studies of educational issues. The interview is used as a data-collection tool in this research in order to obtain the teacher trainees’ inner perspective about their outward teaching behaviours. Patton (1987) argues interviews enable researchers to “enter the other person’s perspective” .The advantage of adopting the semi-structured interview as a means of data collection is to gauge qualitative data that develops in the course of the interviews. Borg (2006), Cohen, Manion & Morrison (cited in Borg, 2006) argue that semi-structured interviews would result in unexpected discoveries by the researcher. Through semistructured interviews, two-way conversations rather than researcher-dominated activities can be established. This datacollection strategy permits flexibility and a degree of freedom in terms of the direction of the interviews but the main issues of concern in the research are still addressed. Questions in the semi-structured interviews are based on a list of topics and issues from the observation transcripts which serve as a checklist in order to ensure that all the interviews conducted seek the same information from the teacher trainees. This type of


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interview “increases the comprehensiveness of the data and makes the data collection technique more systematic as compared to the informal conversational approach” (Puvenesvary et. al, 2008:19). As a result, rich information on the factors that influence teacher trainees’ grammar teaching and the extent grammar courses in their LTE influence the way they teach grammar can be gathered. The issues of whether teacher trainees’ pedagogical choices and decisions shape the way they treat grammar teaching in their classrooms can also be explored through the semi-structured interviews. To triangulate the findings from observations and views expressed by teacher trainees on the way they approach grammar teaching gathered from semi-structured interviews, teaching journals are also utilised in the research. Rich literature on the use of journals in educational research claims that teachers’ thoughts, beliefs and attitudes that underpin their pedagogical choices can be drawn from their written reflections. Borg writes “journals are flexible research tools, enabling researchers to study respondents’ personal accounts of their thinking and practices over a period of time” (2006:256). In this study, the teaching journal is used as a data collection tool that enables teacher trainees to question, explore and analyse how they teach. Besides that, written reflections in teaching journals will help to sensitize teacher trainees to the approach they adopt in their classroom practices and bring to their attention the pedagogical decisions that they make in their classrooms. The teaching journals written by the teacher trainees can provide insights into how teacher trainees teach grammar; document teacher trainees’ classroom events, provide firsthand accounts of teacher trainees’ teaching experience and act as a tool for reflection on teacher trainees’ classroom practices ( Noor Fadhilah, 2008). This method of using teaching journals to collect data is very useful for a qualitative research because it provides a rich source of information from the participants as well as encourages teacher trainees to be actively involved in the data collection process.

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Due to the nature of a qualitative research that employs multiple data collection methods, this study also utilises a self-report inventory on grammar teaching to complement observations, semistructured interviews and teaching journals which are used as datacollection techniques. The self-report inventory is used as a datacollection strategy in this research in order to identify teacher trainees’ theoretical orientations and practices of grammar teaching. It also acts as a checklist on the manner teacher trainees conduct grammar teaching in their classrooms. Nunan (2005) uses the self-report inventory to evaluate how language teachers present grammar points and the frequency they implement inductive and deductive or mixed approach in teaching grammar. With a similar aim, this research adopts the self-report inventory of grammar teaching by Nunan (2005) as a datacollection tool. The inventory allows teacher trainees to identify their grammar teaching practices based on concrete examples of instructions in their classrooms. Even though the responses in selfreport instruments may not reflect what language teachers do in the classrooms as noted by Borg (2006), the observations and observation checklists used in this research can triangulate the data gathered from the self-report inventory. However, Borg (2006) also argues in favour of using self-report instruments like selfreport inventories in collecting data. He claims research participants are provided with stimulus that draws their attention to the aspects that are studied. In the context of this research, the items in the self-report inventory draw teacher trainees’ attention to the grammar practices that they adopt in their classrooms.

4.0 STRENGTHS OF THE RESEARCH The qualitative nature of the research which employs multiple data-collection methods can yield descriptive, exploratory and explanatory data which can be used to generate theory on grammar


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teaching. The data gathered from observations, semi-structured interviews, teaching journals and self-report inventories can provide insights into the issues of how and why on the nature of teacher trainees’ grammar teaching. The findings do not only address the research questions of this research but they can also be put to effective use in language teacher education and development programmes. As suggested by literature in LTE, there is a lack of information on teacher trainees’ practices and cognitions in second language (L2) grammar teaching currently (Burgess, 2002). Therefore, this qualitative study can fill in the gaps in investigating the impact of pre-LTE, LTE and teacher cognitions such as beliefs, attitudes, theories and assumptions on teacher trainees’ classroom practices. The exploratory and interpretative nature of this study focuses on interpreting teacher trainees’ actions in the classrooms by understanding why teacher trainees behave the way they do. This study explores how teacher trainees approach grammar teaching and the data are drawn from actual classroom practices. The data collection techniques used in this study will yield rich descriptive data about what teacher trainees actually do when teaching grammar and clarify the pedagogical choices and decisions they make as well as the processes involved in their grammar teaching.

5.0

CONCLUSION

Data gathered from observations and semi-structured interviews are triangulated with the responses indicated in the teaching journals and self-report inventories. Richards writes “it is common for qualitative project design to include the use of multiple sources of data or views, with aim of bringing many perspectives to bear on the question” (2005:21). With this in mind, this research uses different means of collecting data in order to maximise the possibility of getting credible findings as well as ensuring the issues addressed in the research are looked into from more than

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one standpoint. Glesne points out “the use of multiple data collection methods contributes to the trustworthiness of the data” (2006: 36). She further argues research data drawn from multiple data collection methods will indicate richer data and more believable findings as more sources are sought to tap understanding of the issues investigated. Therefore, the multiple data collection methods of this study can help to increase confidence in the research findings of this qualitative study.

REFERENCES Borg, S. (1998). Teachers’ Pedagogical Systems and Grammar Teaching: A Qualitative Study. TESOL Quarterly, Vol, 32(1): 9-37. Borg, S. (1999). Studying teacher cognition in second language grammar teaching. System, Vol. 27, Issue 1, pp: 19-31. Borg, S. (2003a). “Knowing and Doing: Teaching Grammar in InService Training”. In Liu, D. & Master, P. (eds.). Grammar Teaching in Teacher Education. USA: TESOL Inc. Borg, S. (2006). Teacher Cognition and Language Education. London: Continuum Burgess, J. (2002). Focus on grammatical form: explicit or implicit? System, Vol. 30, Issue 4, pp 433-458. Doughty, C. & Williams, J. (eds.). (1998). Focus on Form in Classroom Second Language Acquisition. USA: Cambridge University Press. Ellis, R. (1998). Teaching and Research: Options in Grammar Teaching. TESOL Quarterly, Vol. 32(1): 39-57. Glesne, C. (2006). Becoming Qualitative Researchers. Boston: Pearson . Halbach, A. (1999). Using trainee diaries to evaluate a teacher training course. ELT Journal,Vol. 53 (3), p 183-189.


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Llurda, E. (ed.). (2005). Non Native Language Teachers. Perceptions, Challenges and Contributuions to the Profession. U.S.A: Springer. Noor Fadhilah Mat Nayan; Puvenesvary, P; Radziah Abdul Rahim; Sivabala Naidu, R.; Mastura Badzis & Noor Hashima Abd Aziz. (2008). Qualitative Research: Data Collection & Data Analysis Techniques. Sintok: Universiti Utara Malaysia Press Nunan, D. (1997). Research, the Teacher and Classrooms of Tomorrow. In Jacobs, G. M. (ed.). Language Classrooms of Tomorrow: Issues and Responses. Singapore: SEAMEO RELC. Nunan, D. (2005). Practical English Language Teaching: Grammar. Singapore: McGraw Hill. Patton, M.Q. (1987). How to use qualitative methods in education. Newbury Park: Sage Publication. Puvenesvary, P; Radziah Abdul Rahim; Sivabala Naidu, R.; Mastura Badzis; Noor Fadhilah Mat Nayan & Noor Hashima Abd Aziz. (2008). Qualitative Research: Data Collection & Data Analysis Techniques. Sintok: Universiti Utara Malaysia Press. Richards, J.C. & Farrell, T.S.C. (2005). Professional Development for Language Teachers. Strategies for Teacher Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Richards, L. (2005). Handling Qualitative Data. A practical Guide. London: Sage Publications Ltd. Woodfield, H. & Lazarus, E. (1998). Diaries: a reflective tool on an INSET language course. ELT Journal, Vol. 52 (4), p 315321. Yu Ren Dong (2000). “Learning to see Diverse students Through Reflective Teaching Portfolios”. In Johnson, K.E. Teacher Education. Illinois: Pantagraph Printing.

5 COMMUNICATION SKILLS DEVELOPMENT (CSD) IN THE ENGINEERING CURRICULUM: A REVIEW OF LITERATURE Rohani Othman Zubaidah Awang

1.0 INTRODUCTION Engineering education has expanded recently to include emphasis on the development of some very specific non-technical attributes that match a strong technical base to produce well-rounded engineering graduates who are flexible and adaptable to suit the constantly developing and changing requirements of the workplace. These non technical skills include communication skills, the ability to function in teams, knowledge of societal and contemporary issues, development of global perspective, and ethics awareness. There may be variations in categorization of the professional skills, but overall the main emphasis is on developing written and verbal communication skills, interpersonal skills, problem-solving skills, numeracy, information technology and in some models selfmanagement and foreign language ability. Many engineering programs are now addressing the issue of communication and it is one skill that can be taught and assessed. Nationwide, industry is

Communication Skills Development

59

requiring a greater number of communication and interpersonal skills for entry-level engineers. These facts signals a need to change the way we teach engineering in order to respond to rapidly escalating technology and its effects on the individual, family, and society, and to be in accord with the increasingly complex nature of life and work in the twenty-first century . Yet, there is ample evidence that graduate engineers lack the required standard of communication skills, particularly when compared to the needs of industry internationally . Communication skills are a regular feature of an engineer’s job in industry; some graduates employed in industry have identified that education in communication skills needs to be improved given the demands encountered in industry. Communication is multifaceted and incorporates various elements, such as oral, written, listening, visual, intercultural, interdisciplinary, etc. and these things need to be considered when examining communication in engineering education . Geppert , contends that the ability of engineers to communicate effectively has always been important to industry and academia but it matters even more today because of the growing complexity of systems and the cross-disciplinary –team approach to engineering. Engineers may be technically competent; however, they often lack good communication skills that are necessary in order to transfer information and reasons. This situation makes excellent technical skills redundant. It is obvious that communication skills are critical tools for success . Illing , in his report on Wanted: skills in communication, stated that employers now seek graduates with skills beyond the standard paper degree; this includes an excellent level of skills in communication, decision making and teamwork.. Other areas identified in the report included competencies in business acumen, marketing and public relations. Having the most knowledge was not as important as getting the work done in the most effective manner. Employers gave considerable value on graduates acquiring a diverse set of skills in differing work environment. With an increasingly global economy, the Malaysian education system must produce graduates who can communicate effectively

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in English. Otherwise, it would lose one of its vital selling points for foreign investors to ensure that skilled labor force are sufficient to support internationally competitive commerce and industry and to provide individuals with opportunities to optimize their potentials In reviewing CSD, the literature that follows will provide examples of how CSD is categorized with great importance alongside the other hard core skills. It cannot be implied that CSD is secondary to or more easily developed than the other “hard” technical expertise . On the contrary, a great importance of this ability to engineering education has emerged over the last decade , and ABET Engineering Criteria has targeted many of these as essential program outcomes in order for engineering programs to be accredited. The National Advisory Council , in its report “Engineering Education for a Changing World.” refer CSD as a professional skill which is a combination of ‘contextual’ and ‘process’ skills, to describe the elements of traditional engineering education, which is seen as critical for the success in the twenty first century.

2.0 CSD IN ENGINEERING ACCREDITATION CRITERIA

2.1

EDUCATION

MALAYSIAN ACCREDITATION STANDARDS

CSD is one of the ten learning outcomes identified in the Board of Engineers’ (BEM) competency manual. It outlines details for an engineering program to be accredited. The Engineering Accreditation Council (EAC) is a delegated body by BEM as the only recognized accrediting body for engineering degree programs offered in all Institution of Higher Learning (IHL) in Malaysia. Members of EAC comprise of five (5) stakeholders namely, the Board of Engineers (BEM) [6


61

representatives], the Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) [6 representatives], Employers [3 representative], National Accreditation Board (LAN) [1 representative] and the Public Service Department (JPA) [1 representative]. EAC has provided leadership and quality assurance in engineering higher education since 2000. EAC accredits programs at 23 IHL . Student achievements are measured by learning outcomes. These learning outcomes distinguish the varying competencies as to what a student will be able to do at the end of a period of study. They are based on ten domains: i.

ability to acquire and apply knowledge of science and engineering fundamentals; ii. acquired in depth technical competence in a specific engineering discipline; iii. ability to undertake problem identification, formulation and solution; iv. ability to utilize systems approach to design and evaluate operational performance; v. understanding of the principles of design for sustainable development; vi. understanding of professional and ethical responsibilities and commitment to them; vii. ability to communicate effectively, not only with engineers but also with the community at large; viii. ability to function effectively as an individual and in a group with the capacity to be a leader or manager ; ix. understanding of the social, cultural, global and environmental responsibilities of a professional engineer; and x. recognizing the need to undertake life long learning, and possessing/acquiring the capacity to do so. One of the institutions of higher learning (IHL) in Malaysia, the Malaysia University of Technology or better known locally as Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), has even drawn up its own set of seven graduate attributes in line with it vision and mission

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statement. UTM is committed to graduating competent, creative and versatile professionals, who are guided by high moral and ethical values in the service of God and mankind. This will require graduates with sound disciplinary and professional knowledge, high self-esteem and effective skills in communication; teamwork; critical thinking and problem solving; lifelong learning and information management; ethics and integrity; entrepreneurship skills; and finally leadership skills . A great importance of these abilities to engineering education has emerged over the last decade even within the international and local scene. Within the Malaysian context, the Engineering Accreditation Council’s (EAC) Engineering Program Accreditation Manual , outlines ten learning outcomes that encompasses both the technical and non technical skills which are considered essential for graduating engineers.

2.2

INTERNATIONAL ACCREDITATION STANDARDS

One of the most established and recognized signatory accreditation bodies of the Washington Accord representing the United States is the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). It has developed its new Engineering Criteria which is included in Criterion 3, a set of eleven outcomes that all engineering graduates should have. ABET challenges colleges of engineering to produce graduates with professional as well as technical skills. Specifically, ABET Criterion 3 outlines the desired attributes for graduate engineers. One of them is an ability to communicate effectively (3g). The attributes are summarised below:


Table 1: ABET Criterion 3 Attributes

i i i i i i i v v v i v i i v i i i i x x x i

An ability to: Apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering (3a); design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data (3b); design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs (3c); function on multi-disciplinary teams (3d); identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems (3e); Show an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility (3f); communicate effectively (3g),

understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context (3h);

show a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning (3i); demonstrate a knowledge of contemporary issues (3j); use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice (3k).

3. DEFINING CSD PROGRAM OUTCOMES The following are descriptions of CSD program outcomes employed by three institutions: 3.1 The Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

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Even though ABET and BEM do not elaborate specifically on the sub components of CSD in its framework, nevertheless, the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Institution of Engineers Australia (IEA), and similarly UTM being one of the established IHL in Malaysia have given a very detailed definition of CSD in its expected program outcomes. The Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) curriculum guideline for undergraduate degree programs in engineering highlighted in Section 5.6, that engineers must be able to communicate effectively with colleagues and clients. Because of the importance of good communication skills in nearly all careers, students must improve on their oral and written skills in a variety of context – both inside and outside of engineering courses. One particular aspect of the activity of an engineer is to pass project requirements to a workshop or to technical support staff, which in an industrial setting may be local or remote. Providing clear and succinct instructions and having a proper regard for the role and purpose of support staff affects the efficiency and the nature of the working environment. This trait is a fundamental communication skill. Considering these issues, students should learn to: i. Communicate ideas effectively in written form; this should include technical writing experiences (e.g. of specifications, requirements, safety cases, documentation) as well as report writing and this should address the use of figures, diagrams and appropriate references; ii. Make effective oral presentations, both formally and informally; iii. Understand and offer constructive critiques of the presentations of others; iv. Argue (politely yet effectively) in defense of a position; v. Extract requirements from a customer by careful and penetrating questions using a disciplined and structured approach; vi. Demonstrate the capabilities of a product.


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To enhance or emphasize the requisite communication skills needed by all students, an engineering curriculum at a minimum should require: i. Course work that emphasizes the mechanics and process of writing; ii. One or more formal written reports; iii. Opportunities to critique a written report; iv. One or more formal oral presentations to a group; v. Opportunities to critique an oral presentation;

3.2

THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA ACCREDITATION BOARD (IEA)

IEA is another strong international signatory accreditation body of the Washington Accord which could be looked upon as a strong representative of the Asia Pacific Region. IEA uses the term Stage 1 competency . Stage 1 competency corresponds to the completion of a 4-year Bachelor of Engineering degree accredited by Engineers Australia. It covers three levels of competencies, knowledge (PE1), competencies (PE2) and attributes (PE3). Graduates must demonstrate at least the substance of each element. Assessment will be made in a holistic way. This is summarised in Table 2. Table 2: IEA 3-level Competency Knowledg e (PE1) PE1 Knowledge Base

Competencies (PE2) PE2 Engineering Ability

Attributes(PE3) PE3 Professional Attributes

PE1.1 Knowledge of science and engineering

PE2.1 Ability to undertake problem identification, formulation, and

PE3.1 Ability to communicate effectively, with the engineering team

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fundamentals;

solution;

PE1.2In-depth technical competence in at least one engineering discipline;

PE2.2

PE1.3 Techniques and resources; PE1.4 General Knowledge.

Understandi ng of social, cultural, global, and environmental responsibilities and the need to employ principles of sustainable development; PE2.3 Ability to utilize a systems approach to complex problems and to design and operational performance; PE2.4 Proficiency in engineering design; PE2.5 Ability to conduct an engineering project; PE2.6 Understanding of the business environment.

and with the community at large; PE3.2 Ability to manage information and documentation; PE3.3 Capacity for creativity and innovation; PE3.4 Understanding of professional and ethical responsibilities, and commitment to them; PE3.5 Ability to function effectively as an individual and in multidisciplinary and multicultural teams, as a team leader or manager as well as an effective team member; PE3.6 Capacity for lifelong learning and professional development; PE3.7Professional attitudes.


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IEA went on to further define CSD in its Stage I competency manual in Section 4.3 – PE 3.1: the ability to communicate effectively, with the engineering team and with the community at large as having: i. high level of competence in written and spoken English; iii. ability to make effective oral and written presentations to technical and non-technical audience; iv. capacity to hear and comprehend others’ viewpoints as well as convey information; v. effectiveness in discussion and negotiation and in presenting arguments clearly and concisely; vi. ability to represent engineering issues and the engineering profession to the broader community.

3.3.

UNIVERSITY TECHNOLOGY MALAYSIA (UTM)

The communicative skills development aspiration of a UTM graduate is for the students to be able to incorporate the ability to communicate effectively in Bahasa Melayu and English across a range of contexts and audiences and have the: i. ability to present information and express ideas clearly, effectively and confidently through written and oral modes; ii. ability to actively listen and respond to the ideas of other people; iii. ability to negotiate and reach agreement; iv. ability to make clear and confident presentation appropriate to audience; and the v. ability to use technology in presentation.

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4.0 MAPPING OF ACCREDITATION STANDARDS OF CSD Since it is not possible to study the full range of professional skills as mentioned in ABET Criterion 3, it has been decided to concentrate only on Communication skills development as ‘Communication is a very complex process and the focus of this study is primarily on some tools of communication writing, oral presentations, electronics and graphical communication and the process of group or team working .’ The communicative skills development criteria of the three international standards identified earlier in IEEE, IEA as well as the local standards to be achieved by UTM in its graduate attributes are mapped along side each other to achieve congruency in the skills so that they could be used as an assessment indicators for the purpose of future research. Table 1 shows the result of the mapping process and the final outcome of the combined attributes is shown in the right hand column. The final comprehensive list is as follows: 1. Present information and express ideas clearly, effectively and confidently using technology through oral modes; 2. Present information and express ideas clearly, effectively and confidently using technology through written modes; 3. Ability to actively listen and respond to the ideas of other people and offer constructive critiques of the presentations of others; 4. Ability to negotiate and reach agreement politely and effectively; 5. Ability to work as a team and discuss multi disciplinary issues collectively. These attributes will form the basis of the questions used in the closed-form questionnaire for students and faculty members as well as used during the observation and documentation analysis process throughout the investigation on CSD and its implementation in an undergraduate engineering curriculum.


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5.0 FINAL YEAR PROJECT DESIGN Capstone design courses or locally known as the Final Year Project design courses are one of the most effective ways for engineering departments to facilitate the outcomes as prescribed above. It is a major design experience, taken in the senior year of an engineering degree program. Duff & Schildgen , compliments the use of capstone design courses as: ‘The senior project is intended to be a culminating scholastic effort or capstone experience. The objectives are to refine skills in communication, research and information retrieval, critical analysis and criticism, and to demonstrate technical competence in each student’s area of study. The senior project is evidence of potential for outstanding performance at the advanced level and is characterized by experimental, theoretical, or developmental work leading to meaningful results presented as a final paper and oral report at the end of the semester.’ Scales et al. proposed the use of Capstone design courses as it serves to integrate previous course work and it requires students to perform at a professional level, demonstrating technical expertise and communication skills. The capstone design course provides a unique milestone where the combined skills and conceptual attributes of the undergraduate engineering experience can be measured. Numerous facets of the intellectual development of program graduates can be assessed by measuring technical and communication competencies. Here also, an assessment of student confidence in their ability to solve design problems with realistic constraints can be made. Typical quantitative tools for performance assessment include project grades assigned by the course instructor, peer evaluations of team member participation and report quality, and faculty-colleague check sheet evaluations of project reports. Qualitative assessment of capstone design work can be made through reviews of student portfolios and course folders of project work. The structure of capstone design courses can be used to measure student technical performance, and communication and teaming skills which they have developed.

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6.0 CONCLUSION Engineering curriculum should integrate writing and verbal discussion consistently in substantive ways. Institutions should not view communication skills as separate entities; instead, faculty members should incorporate fully such skills into the engineering curriculum and its requirements. They must prepare students for a significant challenge they will face in adopting these significant learning outcomes into their engineering curriculum. At the speed at which technological advances are changing society and the workplace requires students to possess a greater number of personal skills with which they can effectively cope with the increasing demands placed upon them in the workplace. Pappas & Lesko stressed that changes in the nature of work, methods of communication, lifestyle, and demands on time and commitment force us to reconsider how we will live in an increasingly technological society. Individuals need to grow in concert with these technological changes in order to adjust to it, and have some influence on this new social order. The society is at the threshold of yet another period of unparalleled growth and change, and the engineering curricula need to prepare students not simply for the technical work they will do in the workplace, but for the engineering lifestyle they will live.

TABLE 1: Mapping of the criteria and standards to develop a combined CSD attributes to access FYP. IEEE Standards

Institution of Engineering Australia(IEA)

UTM Graduate attributes

Communicate ideas effectively in written form; this should include technical writing experiences (e.g. of specifications, requirements, safety cases, documentation) as well as report writing and this should address the use of figures, diagrams and appropriate references; Make effective oral presentations, both formally and informally;

Ability to communicate effectively, with the engineering team and with the community at large; High level of competence in written and spoken English;

Ability to present information and express ideas clearly, effectively and confidently through written and oral modes

Understand and offer constructive critiques of the presentations of others;

SUMMARY OF COMBINED ARRIBUTES 1. Present information and express ideas clearly, effectively and confidently using technology through oral modes

-

Ability to make effective oral and written presentations to technical and non-technical audience;

Ability to make clear and confident presentation appropriate to audience Ability to use technology in presentation

2. Present information and express ideas clearly, effectively and confidently using technology through written modes

-

Capacity to hear and comprehend others’ viewpoints as well as convey information;

Ability to actively listen and respond to the ideas of other people

3. Ability to actively listen and respond to the ideas of other people and offer constructive critiques of the presentations of others

Continued Table 1 IEEE Standards

Institution of Engineering Australia(IEA)

Argue (politely yet effectively) in defense of a position;

Extract requirements from a customer by careful and penetrating questions using a disciplined and structured approach; Demonstrate the capabilities of a product.

-

-

Effectiveness in discussion and negotiation and in presenting arguments clearly and concisely; Ability to represent engineering issues and the engineering profession to the broader community.

UTM Graduate attributes

Ability to negotiate and reach agreement

Teamwork and Multidisciplinary Skills

SUMMARY OF COMBINED ARRIBUTES 4. Ability to negotiate and reach agreement politely and effectively 5. Ability to work as a team and discuss multi disciplinary issues collectively


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References

ABET. (2000). ABET Engineering Criteria (Publication no. http://www.ele.uri.edu//daly/criteria.2000.html). Retrieved 21 April 2008, from Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc.: ASEE, Project Board. (1994). Engineering Education for a Changing World. ASEE Prism, 20-27. Barrie, S. C. (2004). A research-based approach to generic graduate attributes policy. Higher Education Research & Development, 23(3), 261-275. BEM, Board of Engineers Malaysia. (2007). Engineering Programme Accreditation Manual. Retrieved. from. Duff, J. M., & Schildgen, T. E. (2005). Establishing Outcomes for Senior Capstone Projects In Industrial Technology. Paper presented at the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition. Dulevičius, J., & Naginevičienė, L. (2005). Engineering Communication. Global Journal of Engineering Education, 9(1), 19-25. Further Education Unit, Training Agency (1989). A Guide to Work-based Learning Terms (London, FEU). . London: Further Education Unit. Geppert, L. (1995). Educating the Renaissance Engineer. IEEE Spectrum, 39-43. Grünwald, N. (1999). Engineers of Tomorrow, Quo vadis German engineering education. . Paper presented at the 2nd AsiaPacific Forum on Engineering Technology Education, Sydney, Australia. IEA, The Institution of Engineering Australia. (2005). Engineers Australia national Generic Competency Standards - Stage 1 Competency Standards for professional Engineers. IEEE, Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (2004). Computer Engineering 2004 (Publication. Retrieved 21

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April 2008, from IEEE-CS: http://www.computer.org/portal/cms_docs_ieeecs/ieeecs/ed ucation/cc2001/CCCE-FinalReport-2004Dec12-Final.pdf Illing, D. (2001). Wanted: skills in communication. The Australian, 24 January(23). Jensen, H. P. (2000). Strategic planning for the education process in the next century. . Global Journal of Engineering Education, 4(1), 35-42. Jessup, G. (1991). Outcomes: The emerging model of education and training. London: Falmer Press. Kemp, I. J., & Seagraves, L. (1995). Transferable skills--can higher education deliver? Studies in Higher Education, 20(3), 315. Muhammad Rashid bin Rajuddin, Prof., Dr. . (2006). Keynote Address. Paper presented at the Technical and Vocational Education in Malaysia, Hotel Sofitel, Senai, Johor. . Pappas, E. C., & Lesko, J. (2001). The communications-centered senior design class at Virginia tech. Paper presented at the 2001 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition. Riemer, M. J. (2002). English and Communication Skills for the Global Engineer. Global Journal of Engineering Education, 6(1), 91 - 100. Riemer, M. J. (2007). Communication Skills for the 21st Century Engineer. Global Journal of Engineering Education, 11(1), 1 - 12. Scales, K., Owen, C., Shiohare, S., & Leonard, M. (1998). Preparing for Program Accreditation Review Under ABET Engineering Criteria 2000: Choosing Outcome Indicators. Journal of Engineering Education, 87(3). UTM. (2008). Seven Attributes of UTM Graduates (Publication no. http://web.utm.my/tncap/index.php?option=content&task=v iew&id=32&Itemid=57). Retrieved 21 April 2008: Wilk, R. D., & Anderson, A. M. (2002). Development of Communication Skills Across the Engineering Curriculum. Paper presented at the American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition.

6 LEARNING CONTRACTS FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING: AN EXPLORATION Normah Ismail Masdinah Alauyah Md Yusof

1.0

INTRODUCTION

Although the concept of learning contracts is not new, it is only recently that the potential of this strategy has been recognized at the tertiary level education. It has gained some interest among language educators as a way to encourage learners to be more involved in their learning. What is a learning contract? It is a tool to personalize any learning experience. It is a written agreement between a learner and a teacher, lecturer or adviser that a particular activity will carried out in order to achieve a specific learning goal (Anderson, Boud & Sampson, 1996). The rationale for using learning contracts in this study is based on the view that the learning contract allows the student to structure their own learning and become an active participant in the education process (Codde, 2006). Furthermore, positive outcomes from recent studies reaffirmed that the learning contract was worth investigating as a strategy for promoting autonomy in language learning (see Boyer, 2003; Williams & Williams, 1999; Chan et al, 2003; Sysoyev, 2000; Albon, 2003; Carter, 2005). The paper will examine the relationship between learning contracts, attributes of resourcefulness and independent learning in developing autonomous language learners. Next, it describes the pilot study

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undertaken at a City Campus and finally, discusses the implications of implementing language learning contracts at tertiary level.

1.1

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

To better understand the situation, a description of the context is first given. In the City Campus where the pilot study took place, the medium of instruction is English. The students listen to lectures and seminars, hold discussions and prepare presentations in English. They are required to take Proficiency English for 6 hours a week (for first and second year students). Apart from that, they are strongly encouraged to continue mastering the language through extensive reading, extra exercises and language arts activities like public speaking or drama. However, despite fervent encouragement from their lecturers to look for language learning opportunities outside the classroom, students are not taking on a more significant role in their learning. This is especially disturbing in this university that provides a rich environment for learning English. It seems that while a majority of the undergraduates at this campus acknowledged the benefits of taking more responsibility in their learning, most of them still relied heavily on their lecturers for notes and language practices as they are unsure how to handle learning English when left on their own. How can students be guided to be more open and flexible in the way they learn English? In what way can the students’ capacity to be more resourceful in their learning be increased? To answer these questions, this study will explore the method of using language learning contracts as a way to guide learners to become resourceful, independent learners. The contract emphasizes the facilitating of learning autonomy through greater learner involvement in self-monitoring and self-assessment. Because of this, it offers language educators and learners an alternative

Learning Contracts For Language

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platform for teaching and learning in a learner-centered environment.

2.0 REVIEW OF CURRENT LITERATURE 2.1

AUTONOMY IN LANGUAGE LEARNING

In this study, the learning contract is explored as a method which learners use to facilitate the process of learner autonomy or independent learning. Knowles (1986) defined independent learning as a process in which individuals take the initiative, with or without the help of others, in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating learning goals, identifying human and material resources for learning, choosing and implementing appropriate learning strategies and evaluating learning outcomes. In the context of formal language learning, Little (2007) specifies independent learning as a process of language learning involving deliberate effort and conscious reflection because formal learning itself can happen only on the basis of explicit plans and intentions. Sliogerine (2006) further elaborates that it is a process of learning which the learners have primary responsibility for planning, implementing and even evaluating the effort they make in language learning. In other words, language learners decide on their learning goals, make plans of what to learn, decide on the learning resources, assess their own learning, and plan what to learn next. In summary, an important aim of independent language learning is to give learners more control over the resources they have to learn languages.

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2.2


RESOURCEFULNESS IN AUTONOMOUS LANGUAGE LEARNING

To operationalize the term “autonomous language learning”, this study proposes to focus on resourcefulness, an attribute of learning autonomy. Rosenbaum (1989) first used the term "resourceful" to describe a person who is capable of dealing with problematic situations in learning such as when the learner has to grasp what is being learnt and make decisions concerning which activities to pursue. In other words, a learner who is able to handle these situations in his stride is described as resourceful. Confessore (1992) gave a similar explanation. He says resourcefulness in independent learning as assessing the ability to reason, read and cipher, and assess the availability of human and material resources that is useful to the effort of learning. Carr (1999) described resourcefulness in independent learning as gathering the internal and external resources required for learning. He extended the concept of resourcefulness in autonomous learning by proposing that learner resourcefulness consists of four behaviours: anticipating the future rewards of learning, prioritizing learning over other activities, delaying immediate gratification, and solving problems in one’s learning. The degree to which a learner is deemed resourceful in autonomous learning is related to the degree to which these four behaviors are significant in enabling the learner to actively pursue his/her learning goals. To explain further, the learner is said to be engaged in a resourceful behaviour when he anticipates future rewards (of learning). Because of this, the student will then prioritize learning over other activities even if it involves delaying the immediate gratification that may come from participating in non-learning activities. In addition, the development of learning and planning skills is essential if a student is expected to be actively involved in his/her learning activities because such skills are needed for the students to solve the problems they face when they try to complete a learning activity. To extend this in the context of language


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learning, it can be said that a resourceful language learner has the ability to assess the availability of internal and external resources necessary to accomplish language learning. This means that if learners placed importance on increasing their English Language proficiency, they would seek out for themselves more opportunities to learn English and consciously make well-informed decisions about their language learning. Therefore, resourcefulness would be a critical factor that can lead to successful language learning. Some of the attributes of resourcefulness are mentioned in other studies relating to autonomy in language learning. The process syllabus (Breen & Candlin, 1987) and the learner-centered approach (Nunan, 1988) are some examples where the idea of learner resourcefulness takes a central place in the language learning. Some suggestions of resourcefulness are also found in Holec’s theoretical framework on learner autonomy (Holec, 1981). He defines learner autonomy as the ability to take charge of one’s own learning, showing that learner autonomy is an ability, not an action. This ability refers to the autonomous learner, after assessing the resources available to him, would have capacity to act in a given situation (learning). Little (2000) also mentions a certain amount of awareness or critical reflection involved in the learning. He goes on to say that autonomous learners, apart from detachment and critical reflection, are resourceful through their capacity for decision-making and independent action in their learning. Nunan (2001) gives a similar description of a autonomous language learner as having resourceful behaviours. He said that these learners have reached a point where they are able to define their own goals and create their own learning opportunities. Finally, for Huttunen (1986), resourcefulness plays a role in the act of learning. He explains that a fully autonomous learner, whether he is working individually or in a group, takes responsibility for the planning, monitoring and evaluating of his studies.

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2.3


LEARNING CONTRACT AS A STRATEGY FOR LEARNING AUTONOMY

A good language learner is aware of his learning and the resources available to him. In being resourceful, he is ready to use his capabilities to the fullest and learn language in the most efficient way. One such strategy to help him exercise his potential to become an independent learner is the learning contract . 2.4 LEARNING CONTRACTS IN LANGUAGE LEARNING The use of learning contracts for language learning has gained some ground during the past decade. Schwarzer, Kahn & Smart (2000) used learning contracts as a way to encourage self-directed learning and individual autonomy, while still balancing individual and group learning styles in a university ESL class of grammar and writing. They concluded that students saw their need for English proficiency because they wanted to reach a specific goal outside of the class itself, and English became the means to reach a desired end, rather than the end in itself. Little (2000) in his studies found that when carefully planned, the learning contract can have a transformative effect on learners as it provides a firm framework within which learners can plan, monitor and evaluate learning. In addition, it provides teachers as well as learners with a continuously moving reference point against which to plot the progress of learning. Lewis (2004) used learning contracts to study reading motivation among college students in a reading program. He found that the reading scores of students using the independent learning contracts were significantly higher than those of non contracts students. There was also a significant improvement in motivation level between the two groups. Among Asian learners, Masdinah and Abdul Halim (2004a, 2004b) used contracts to promote autonomous learning among undergraduates through selfaccess language centers. They found that apart from an


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improvement in the students’ overall language proficiency, the students’ perceptions towards autonomous learning language also improved. They concluded, given enough guidance and resources, students can plan to learn on their own. In a four-year study using learning contracts for an English for Special Purposes course, Lai (2007) found that learners’ awareness of language strategies were raised and their use of these strategies were improved. Apart from that, learners are better able to set their own goals as well as evaluate their progress. This in turn enabled them to experience greater overall autonomy in their language learning.

2.5

LIMITATIONS OF LEARNING CONTRACTS

While the learning contracts have reported worthwhile results in promoting learner autonomy, they are not without problems. First, creating and executing the contract requires learner training. This, some educators say, defeats the contract’s original purpose that is to promote learner autonomy. Second, the contracts require long term commitment from the learners. Some learners might find the task tedious or uninteresting and thus, abandon it. Third, the contracts require the learners to write explicit details of their plans in English. For some learners, they may not have mastered the language to express themselves clearly. Finally, the contracts require learners to have some understanding of their own language ability and capacity to learn. This may be difficult for some learners who do not have enough knowledge to do self-evaluation and may not be in the position to judge what they need to learn. These limitations show that developing learner autonomy is not a smooth process. It involves fundamental changes in the learner’s role and learning process. Such development is unlikely to be successful unless it is adequately and effectively supported (Benson, 2006). Therefore, a way to overcome some of the problems in implementing the learning contract is to ensure that it is backed up by language counselling or student conferencing

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where learners have the opportunity to discuss and refine their goals and plans. The steps involved in student conferencing is explained in greater detail later in this paper.

3.0

METHODOLOGY

3.1

INTRODUCTION

The objective of the investigation is to explore the viability of using the learning contracts to help learners become more resourceful language learners. The pilot study serves to test the design of investigation and provide proof of its potential to succeed. The study will be guided by the following questions: 1. What was the language learners’ experience in using learning contracts? 2. Is there evidence of learners’ resourcefulness with the use of learning contracts?

3.2

PARTICIPANTS OF THE STUDY

A total of 38 students participated in the pilot study. All were enrolled in their first year at UiTM Johor Bahru City Campus. 20 out of the 38 students or 52.6 % were from the Faculty of Accountancy. From this number 8 or 40% were males and 12 or 60% were females. The remaining 18 students or 47.3% of the total number of participants were from the Faculty of Business and Management. Out of the 18, 7 or 38.8% were males and 11 or 61.1 % were females. After obtaining score of 7 and below in the UiTM Placement test, they were placed in the BEL 120, Language Consolidation course which is designed to raise the level of English proficiency of students at the lower intermediate level.


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During the course of the study, the students participated in the student conferences, completed the questionnaires and learning contracts as fully informed, consenting volunteers.

3.3

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

This was a preliminary study which investigated a small group of students. Bearing in mind the size and the purposive, rather than random, nature of the sample, the results of the study may not be generalized to other situations. Thus, the findings here should be treated with caution. For the purpose of this paper, only data from the questionnaires and learning contracts were used and analyzed.

3.4

QUESTIONNAIRE

To answer the research questions, a three-part questionnaire was developed for this study. The first part collected some background information from the students concerning their gender, program of study, frequency of learning contract use, as well as, to determine a self-assessment of their English Language ability. The second part of the questionnaire asked the students to indicate the degree to which they agreed or disagreed with fourteen statements about using the contracts for language learning. The statements were adapted from Masdinah (2005). The third part intended to obtain information concerning the students’ ability to be resourceful language learners with the use of learning contracts. The statements were based on Carr’s Inventory of Learner Resourcefulness (1999). Students were asked to give their answers based on a four-point scale ranging from 4 (strongly agree), 3 (agree), 2 (disagree) and 1 (strongly disagree). In order to assist the students in answering the questions, all the instructions and statements in the questionnaire were presented in both English and Bahasa Melayu (BM). The BM translation was back translated to

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ensure consistency in meaning. The responses were tabulated and analyzed using SPSS 14.0 and presented in descriptive statistics.

3.5

CONTRACTS

The class meetings during the first week were used to brief the students on the course syllabus. They were asked to think about their needs for learning English and their expectations from that course. Then they were given an explanation on language learning contracts and how these contracts can be used in conjunction with their syllabus to fulfill their learning needs. The researchers together with the students discussed the different resources available for language learning like novels in the library, websites on the Internet, newspapers in the reading room and even their friends to engage in a simple conversation in English. To assist the students in completing it, a form, based on Knowles’ contract (1986), was used and given out to each student (Table 1). Table 1 Components of the students’ learning contract Specific language learning objectives What am I going to learn?

Resources and strategies How am I going to learn it?

Materials used

Comments

To help the students write out their contracts, the researcher drew guidance from Dam’s work on self-directed learning (Dam, 1995; 2004). The students were guided by the researcher in creating one language learning objective of their own based on the sample given. To start, the students were asked to complete the first three sections of the contracts: learning objectives, learning strategies and resources and materials used. Dam (1995) advocates that learners set their own goals and choose their own activities. Thus to assist the students in writing their learning goals, the


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following questions were used to prompt them: “What am I going to learn? How am I going to learn? What am I going to use?” The contracts were written in English, following another principle advocated by Dam (1995) that asked students and teachers to keep communication in the target language. The contracts were submitted during the second week of class meeting. The completed contracts then were read thoroughly and analyzed.

3.6

STUDENT CONFERENCING

In this study, student conferencing is conducted in conjunction with the use of the learning contracts. Student conferencing is where the student meets the teacher to get language learning advice or consultation. The rationale of having the student conference is to build a rapport between the teacher and the learner so that they can communicate better in discussing how learner can use the contracts to improve language learning. Research into language advising consistently showed that increasing the involvement of learners’ interactions with teachers when carrying out learning activities enhanced not only student academic achievement, but also developed better long-term learning attitudes towards language learning (Mozzon-McPherson, 2007; Karlsson et al, 2007; Carter, 2005). These serve as powerful evidences for employing the idea of student conferencing in language learning in this study.

3.7

PROCEDURE

Student conferences were conducted throughout the semester. Each conference lasted between fifteen minutes to one hour. Each student attended at least one conference. Notes were taken during each conference. Students’ written objectives planned learning strategies and resources from their learning contracts as well as a transcription of the conferences would be scrutinized and analyzed

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for recurring themes. The students were called for a conference each time they submitted the contracts. The conferences were conducted in an informal atmosphere, so students were comfortable to talk about themselves. They were asked to bring along with them evidence of their completed work based on what they had planned in their contracts. During the conference, they were asked to share what they had done, the problems they faced in completing their work and their evaluation of their learning progress. During the ninth week, the students completed the questionnaires, administered during class time by the researcher. 38 questionnaires were given out. All 38 were returned to the researcher.

4.0

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

4.1

SELF-RATE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE ABILITY

To learn about the learners’ self-perception of their language ability, the students were asked what they thought about own their English Language skills. Questions 4 to 7 in the questionnaire asked them to self-rate their ability as excellent, good, average or poor in the following language skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. Table 2 summarizes their responses. Table 2 Self assessment of English Language proficiency Language skills Reading

Writing

Self-rating N Excellent Good 4 Average 3 Poor Excellent Good Average 6 Poor

% 6 3.4 4.0 0 0 1.1 8.4 3.3

Min*

Max*

Mean 2.74

SD* .554

2.11

.559

2

1

3

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Excellent 2 Good 20 Average 16 Poor 0 0 Excellent Speaking 3 Good 27 Average 8 Poor 38 Overall ability *min – minimum * max – maximum Listening

5.0 52.6 2 4 42.1 0.0 0.0 7.9 1 3 71.0 21.1 1.50 3.25 * SD – standard deviation

2.63

.589

1.89

.606

2.34

From the results of the self-rate ability in English, many students were confident about their abilities in reading and listening skills but perceived that their weaknesses lay in the areas of writing and speaking skills. This is not surprising because writing and speaking require them to do constant practice. Furthermore, these skills offer results which the students see as tangible and measurable, unlike reading and listening, which students perceive to be less attributable to their success in language learning. The results of the self-rate ability will be referred to again later in the paper when the discussion turns to what the students’ contracts reveal.

4.2

EXPERIENCE IN USING LEARNING CONTRACTS

THE

LANGUAGE

To answer the research question: What was the learners’ experience in using the contracts for language learning; the following questions were formulated and incorporated in the survey. Question 8 asked the students how frequently they used the learning contracts. The frequency ranged from one to two times, three to four times, five to six times and more than six times. 71% of the students answered “once to two times” and 29% answered “three to four times”. 66.7% of males said they used it once or twice while 91.4% of females said they used it once or twice.

.391

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Questions 9 to 22 are statements referring to the students’ experience in using learning contracts for language learning. The students’ responses are shown in Table 3. The results showed an overall mean of 3.16. The students’ responses indicated that overall they had a positive encounter using the contracts to learn English. Many of them saw the contracts as a potentially useful tool for organizing their learning as well as monitoring and measuring their progress in language learning. Apart from that, their responses also revealed that they felt the contracts helped them in getting consistent feedback relating to their learning. On the other hand, about a third of the students did not feel that the learning contracts pressured them in achieving their learning goals. Neither do they feel that the contracts helped them work better in groups. Table 3 Responses to statements associated with the use of language learning contracts (Statements 9 to 22)

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Statements Using the language learning contract… enables me to meet my individual language needs makes me feel accepted makes me feel respected gives me consistent feedback makes my learning more organized makes me more positive makes my lecturer interested to help me lets me select appealing topics makes me motivated to learn helps me learn in groups better makes me feel successful helps me monitor and measure progress

*SA %

*A %

*DA %

*SDA %

10.5

89.5

0

0

18.4 18.4 39.5 44.7

68.4 71.1 60.5 50

13.2 7.9 0 5.3

0 0 0 0

23.7 34.2

71.1 65.8

5.3 0

0 0

47.4

50

2.6

0

39.5 21.1

52.6 63.2

7.9 15.8

0 0

28.9 42.1

71.1 57.9

0 0

0 0

Mean

**SD

3.11

.311

3.05 3.11 3.39

.567 .516 .495

3.39

.595

3.18

.512

3.34

.481

3.45

.555

3.32

.620

3.05

.613

3.29

.460

3.42

.500

89


21 22

gives me the chance for self- 31.6 63.2 5.3 0 directed learning makes me feel pressured to 2.6 10.5 63.2 23.7 achieve goals *(SA – strongly agree A- Agree DA – Disagree – Strongly disagree) ** Standard deviation

3.26

.554

1.92

.673

SDA

4.3 ABILITY TO BE RESOURCEFUL LANGUAGE LEARNERS To answer the research question, “Is there evidence of learner resourcefulness with the use of learner contracts?”, the following statements were formulated. Questions 23 to 56 are statements concerning the students’ ability to be resourceful language learners through the use of learning contracts. Based on Carr’s (1999) description of resourcefulness behaviour, language learners who are resourceful would give priority to independent language learning, show preference to learn language over other activities, look forward to benefits of learning language, prepare ahead when they start language learning, have a set of alternatives for language learning problems they face and set language learning goals. Table 4 Responses to statements associated with students’ ability to be resourceful

N Priority 38 Preference 38 Planning 38 Anticipating benefits 38 Alternatives 38 Goals 38 *min – minimum * max – deviation

Min* Max* Mean SD* 1.8 4.00 2.70 .464 2.20 3.80 2.93 .337 2.50 4.00 3.17 .476 2.43 3.43 2.83 .303 2.67 4.00 3.29 .359 2.71 4.00 3.16 .335 maximum * SD – standard

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Table 4 summarizes the responses given by the students regarding their ability to be resourceful in learning English. Student responses to statements about priority yielded a mean of 2.70 (SD .464). For preference, the mean response was 2.93. (SD .337). In response to statements that are associated with anticipating the benefits the mean was 2.83. (SD .303). Next, the mean for planning was 3.17 (SD .476) while the mean for goals was 3.16 (SD .335). The highest mean of these categories was alternatives, 3.29 (SD .359). Kennet (1994) has argued that high achievers are very academically resourceful. The analysis of the responses revealed a group of students with potential abilities to be resourceful language learners but do not yet have the belief that such learning endeavors would lead them to success in language learning. 4.4 WHAT THE CONTENTS OF THE CONTRACTS REVEALED To examine evidence of resourcefulness, the contents of the contracts were thoroughly read and compared to the attributes of resourcefulness, as mentioned by Carr (1999). The following summarizes the contents of the contracts: Many of the students included plans to learn writing, vocabulary and speaking. These were among the activities that were frequently mentioned in the contracts. The students’ plans reflected their efforts to overcome weaknesses in their language skills, which they had identified earlier in the self-rated assessment. Therefore, in general, they appeared to be able to plan and focus on priority areas in their language learning. The most popular learning resources seemed to be their text books or work books for learning grammar. In addition newspaper and magazine articles were mentioned as resources for learning vocabulary or reading. As for learning strategies, many of the students wrote that reading and understanding as the important methods to learn English. They were especially concerned with vocabulary and thus, included plans to check meanings of words to help them in their activities.


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Other learning strategies included collaboration with friends. They specified that they planned to work with their friends to complete the activity together, to check answers or to understand the meanings of words. A few mentioned they would refer to their lecturers or family members for help in their activities. As for learning materials, the students planned to use a range of things from newspapers, song lyrics and text books. The learning material that was mentioned in all the contracts was the dictionary. Many also mentioned the use of the Malay-English Dictonary ‘Kamus Dwibahasa’. Overall the entries in the contracts showed that the students, given enough support and training, were able to plan activities for themselves. However, the analysis also revealed some shortcomings. Some contracts were incomplete or written with contradictory objectives and resources. Some contracts were also copied from another contract. Other contracts had many interesting but ambitious activities which were not executed because of time management. In many ways this proves what Little (2005) had pointed out before, that learners do not become self-directed learners by simply being told that they were now in charge of learning.

5.0

IMPLICATIONS

This pilot study was conducted to find out more about the viability of using learning contracts for language learning. It also aimed to find out if the students’ ability to develop themselves as resourceful learners is reflected through the use of the contracts. Since the results of the study are based wholly on self-reports, the findings and interpretations should be treated as suggestive rather than conclusive. In comparing the student profiles in this study with some studies mentioned earlier, there appeared to be some similarities in the students’ responses regarding their experience in carrying out learner-directed activities. Two similarities emerged from the findings. First, the students in the present study felt positive about carrying out more learner-directed activities with the

92


contracts. Similarly, other studies have shown that students generally supported the idea of taking more responsibility in their language learning (see Thang, 2004; Carter, 2005; Lai, 2007). Another finding from this study is that the students did not appear to be quite ready for autonomous learning. To put it simply, their beliefs and resulting actions with the contracts do not generate resourceful learning behaviours that are exhibited with learning autonomy. While many of the students in the present study acknowledged that learning English with the contracts benefited them in some ways, they appeared to be less willing to make learning decisions themselves. There were indications in the study that the contract enabled the students to make certain language task-related choices on their own but they generally held the lecturer to be more responsible for most of their areas of learning. This suggested a strong preference for a dominant lecturer role and a less autonomous student role. The results of other studies echoed this finding. (see Littlewood, 2001; Thang, 2001; Thang & Azarina, 2006; Chan et al, 2002; Sert, 2006; Seung, 2007; Junaidah, 2007). It appears that even though there was indication of learners’ positive perceptions about the effectiveness of the contracts for successful language learning, this did not translate into the expected behaviour of resourceful language learners. Therefore, no conclusive claims could be made about their capability to accept full responsibility for their language learning. There are some reasons for this behaviour. The first is that the students seemed motivated to adopt the learning contract for the ultimate purpose of passing their English course only. This may explain why some of them appeared less interested to carry on with the contracts to the next stage. Second, their heavy academic load of 20 hours a week demanded much of their time. This precluded any form of proactive language activities that the learning contract planned for. Despite the complexity of the findings, learning contracts remain as a useful method for language learning. In fact, the results of the study serve to raise awareness of the myriad of perceptions that learners bring to the classroom that could affect the learners’ ability to develop their full potential as autonomous


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language learners. In studies mentioned earlier, learning contracts have been shown to increase students’ awareness about their language learning while in the classroom or beyond the classroom. This is part of the training that educators stressed as an important step in preparing students to become independent learners.

6.0

RECOMMENDATIONS

The preliminary findings from the pilot study suggest that the learning contract has potential use in the language classroom to develop language learners who are resourceful and independent. The outcomes were based on the responses of first year students. More needs to be learnt about the effects of the contracts among students in their later years of study. Equally important is that these results cannot be attributed only to the learning contract alone. The lecturers or teacher in charge had a role in how effective the contract would be. It is worthy to find out how their motivation and perseverance throughout the implementation influenced the students towards the contracts and language learning. Lastly, further research is needed to learn how learning contracts can be integrated seamlessly in a university language learning programme where its suitability to Asian language learners, who are used to teacher-led activities, remains little known. REFERENCES Albon, R. (2003) Contract-based learning : Is it effective? In Partners in Learning. Proceeding of the 12th Annual Teaching Learning Forum 11-12 February 2003 Perth Edith Cowan University Retrieved at http://lsn.curtin.edu.au on 27 January 2008 Anderson G., Boud D., & Sampson J. (1996) Learning Contracts. London:

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Kogan Page, Benson, P. (2006) Autonomy in language teaching and learning . Language Teaching. 40, 21-40 Breen, M. P. and C. N. Candlin (1987). Which materials? A consumer's and designer's guide. In ELT textbook and materials: Problems in evaluation and development, ed. L. E. Sheldon. London: British Council. ELT Document 126. Boyer, N. R. (2003). The learning contract process, scaffolds for building socials, self-directed learning. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education. 4 (4) 369-383 Carr, P.B. (1999). The measurement of resourcefulness intentions in the adult autonomous learner. Doctoral Dissertation submitted to The George Washington University. Washington, D.C. Carter, B. (2005) Reconceptualizing roles and responsibilities in language learning in higher education. Teaching in Higher Education. 10(4) 461-473 Chan, V., Spratt, M., Humphreys, G. (2002) Autonomous language learning : Hong Kong tertiary students attitudes and behaviours. Evaluation and Research Education. 16 (1) 1-18 Confessore, G.J. (1992). An introduction to the study of selfdirected learning. In G.J. Confessore & S.J. Confessore (Eds.), Guideposts to self-directed learning: Expert commentary on essential concepts (pp. 1-6). King of Prussia, PA: Organization Design and Development, Inc. Dam, L. (1995) Learner autonomy : From theory to classroom practice. Dublin : Authentik Holec, H. (1981). Autonomy in Foreign Language Learning. Oxford: Pergamon. Huttunen, I (1986) Towards learner autonomy in foreign language learning in Senior Secondary School. Department of Teacher Education, University of Oulu, Finland. Junaidah, J.(2007) Exploring readiness for language learning autonomy among distance learners in Sabah Malaysia. The


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Asian Society of Open and Distance Education. 5(1). pp1626 Johnstone, J.W.C. & Rivera, R.J. (1965). Volunteers for learning. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company. Karlsson, L., Kjisik F., Nordlund, J. (2007) Language counselling : A critical and integral component in promoting an autonomous community of learning. System 35, pp46-65 Kennet, D. (1994) Academic self-management counselling : preliminary evidence foe the importance of learned resourcefulness. Studies in Higher Education .19, 3, 295 307 Knowles, M. S. (1986). Using learning contracts. Practical approaches to individualizing and structuring learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Lai, C. (2007). The Influence of Learner Motivation on Developing Autonomous Learning in an English-forSpecific-Purposes Course. Asian Journal of English Language Teaching, 8 Lewis, J (2004) The independent learning contract system : motivating students enrolled in college reading courses. Reading Improvement, 4, (3) pp188 Little, D. (1991). Learner autonomy 1: definition, issues and problems. Dublin: Authentik. Little, D. (2005) The Common European Framework and the European Language Portfolio: Involving learners and their judgements in the assessment process. Language Testing 22 (3),pp 321-336 Little, D. (2000). Learner autonomy and human interdependence: some theoretical and practical consequences of a socialinteractive view of cognition, learning and language. In B. Sinclair & I. McGrath & T. Lamb (Eds.), Learner Autonomy, Teacher Autonomy: Future Directions (pp. 1523). Harlow: Longman Little, D. (2000). Learner autonomy: why foreign languages should occupy a central role in the curriculum. In S. Green (ed.),

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New Perspectives on Teaching and Learning Modern Languages, 24-45. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Little, D.(2007) Language learner autonomy and the European Language Portfolio: two ESL case studies “Learner autonomy in language learning: widening the circle”, IATEFL Learner Autonomy SIG, CELTE,University of Warwick retrieved at www.warwick.ac.uk/go/circal/12mayevent/david_little Littlewood, W. (2001). Students' attitudes to classroom English learning: a cross-cultural study. Language Teaching Research 5(1),pp 3-28. Masdinah A. M. Y. & Abdul Halim A. R. (2004a) Autonomous Learning : Some Considerations. Paper presentation at Autonomy and Language Learning Maintainng Control 2004 HKUST & Zhejiang University Masdinah A. M. Y. & Abdul Halim A. R. (2004b) Training students to be autonomous learners Paper presentation at the 1st International Language Learning Conference Universiti Sains Malaysia 16-18 December 2004 Masdinah A.M.Y (2005) The viability of learning contract in promoting independent learning Paper presentation at the Second Conference of Independent Learning Association of Oceania, Auckland, New Zealand, September 9-12, 2005 Merriam, S.B. and Cafarella, R.S. (1991). Learning in adulthood. San Francisco, CA: Jossey- Bass Publishers. Mozzon-Mcpherson, M.(2007). Supporting independent learning environments : An analysis of structures and roles of language learning advisers. System 35, pp 66-92 Nunan, D. (1988). Learner-centered curriculum design. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Rosenbaum, M. (1989). Self-control under stress: The role of learned resourcefulness. Adverse Behavioral Therapy, 11, pp 249-258. Schwarzer D., Kahn, R.E., & Smart K., (2000) Learning Contracts and Team Teaching in a University ESL Writing Class. The Internet TESL Journal. 6(10)


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Seung, Y. C. (2007) Invisible motivation of online adult learners during contract learning The Journal of Educators Online .4(1) Sert, N. (2006) EFL student teachers’ learning autonomy. Asian EFL Journal. 8(2) Šliogerienė, J. (2006). Learning contracts in Second Language Acquistion Santalka. Filologija. Edukologija. 14, (2). Sysoyev, P.V. (2000) Developing an English for specific purposes using learner centered approach: a Russian experience. The Internet TESL Journal VI (3) Retrieved at http : iteslj.org/techniques/sysoyev-esp.html on 22 august 2008 Thang, S.M. & Alias, A. (2006) Investigating readiness for autonomy : a comparison of Malaysian ESL undergraduates of three public universities. Reflections on English Language Teaching, 6 (1), pp. 1-18 Thang, S.M. (2001). Malaysian learners’ conceptions of their learning processes and their perceptions of their English as a Second Language courses in a tertiary distance learning context. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Nottingham, Nottingham. Williams, A. & Williams, P. J. (1999) The effects of the use of learning contracts on student performance in technology teacher training. Research in Science & Technological Education. 17 (20), pp193-201

7 THE EFFECTS OF EXTENSIVE READING ON LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY AND MOTIVATION TO READ Navinder Kaur Zubaidah Awang Khairi Izwan Abdullah

1.0

INTRODUCTION

Extensive reading (ER) programmes involve students silently reading large quantities of materials. These materials are usually at a level that permits students to gain at least a fair understanding of what they are reading without outside help (Jacobs and Gallo, 2002). The benefits of such programmes for first and second language (L1 and L2) learners are well documented (Coady, 1997; Day and Bamford, 2005; Elley, 1996; Krashen, 1993; McQuillan, 1994; Nagy, Anderson and Herman, 1987; Ng, 1988, 1994; Yu, 1993, 1999). There is overwhelming evidence that students engaging in free reading progress in language and literacy development. Studies thus far have shown that students involved in in-class free reading where class-time is set aside for free reading typically do well on tests of reading comprehension and

The Effects Of Extensive Reading

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vocabulary, a result that holds for first language acquisition and foreign language development (Krashen, 2004). This shows that an extensive reading programme must be a student-centred activity and an integral part of reading instruction in the second language classroom. The second language reading lesson that incorporates extensive reading addresses two aims of students reading a great deal and enjoying reading. It is simplistic but nevertheless true that the more students read, the better they become at it. “Reading… must be developed, and can only be developed, by means of extensive and continual practice. People learn to read, and to read better, by reading” (Eskey, 2002).

2.0

RESEARCH PROBLEM

Despite strong, widely disseminated evidence supporting ER, implementation of some extensive reading programmes have been less than a complete success. Greaney (1996) notes that in many lower-income countries, ER programmes grapple with problems such as lack of reading materials and inadequate preparation of teachers. Additional constraints on the implementation of ER exist even in countries with more favourable financial conditions. One of these constraints flows from pressure brought by administrators, students and parents to cover the entire syllabus and to complete every page in the textbook and every exercise in the workbook. Such pressure leaves little or no time for ER, which is relegated to the status of "luxury" or "optional extra" (Yu, 1993). There are many other challenges in encouraging students to read. Table 1 shows the reasons reading among primary and secondary students was still at a low level in Malaysia.

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Table 1 Reasons for low reading levels (NILAM Programme, 1997) N 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1

3.0

Reaso No Readi Prefer Books Not Prefer Tired Unco No No

% 7 4 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The theory which underpins the effectiveness of ER in terms of enhancing comprehension is Krashen’s (2003) ‘Comprehension Hypothesis’ which stresses that acquisition of a second language is facilitated if students are given enough comprehensible input, and when learning is conducted in a tension-free environment. The Input Hypothesis states that “we acquire language in one way: by understanding messages and we acquire language when we obtain comprehensible input”. In extensive reading programmes, students will be saturated or immersed with reading materials which provide a great deal of comprehensible input. Besides reading materials, the environment for reading is equally important. Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis (1993) states that in anxiety-producing situations, there is an affective filter which acts as a mental block preventing acquirers from fully utilizing the input they receive. But when the filter is low or down, the acquirer can fully comprehend the message and use the input to enhance their language competence. This hypothesis states that in a low-


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anxiety environment, that is, an environment where students feel relaxed and at ease, students learn better. Extensive reading creates this environment since students read books of their own choice i.e. according to their interest and they read them at their own pace and level. They do not make a conscious effort in reading since they are not required to take tests. They only read for pleasure and for enjoyment. Day and Bamford (1998), two strong advocates of ER, suggested that an extensive reading programme if set up and carried out appropriately, not only helps students learn to read in the second language, but also helps them to enjoy reading. This encourages them to continue reading long after formal study of the second language is over. ER, at the very least, consolidates students’ learning of the second language and at best, increases their language proficiency. The vicious and virtuous reading circles (Nuttall, 1996:127) highlight the importance of reading for pleasure. Vicious and virtuous circles (Nuttall, 1996:127)

Don’t under stand

Read slowly

Enjoys readin

Virtuous circle

Vicious circle Don’t read much

4.0

Reads faster

Don’t enjoy readin

Under stands better

Reads more

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

Based on the limitations in the implementation of the current NILAM programme and successful ER programmes in other

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countries, this research carried out an ER programme called Pleasure Reading. The objectives will be to compare monitored and unmonitored environments for ER and their effect on enhancing students’ language proficiency and students’ motivation to read on their own. This research will address having comprehensible and a variety of reading materials in a tension-free environment. It would highlight the role of teachers and compare the ER programme that is monitored (scheduled into the school timetable) and unmonitored.

5.0

METHODOLOGY OF RESEARCH

This research investigated the effects of ER on students’ English Language proficiency and motivation to read.

5.1

PARTICIPANTS OF RESEARCH

This research focused on 14 year old students in Sultan Ibrahim Girls’ School, Johor Bahru. This is because these 14 year old students have adjusted to a new environment after being in secondary school for a year and they do not have any public examinations in the year. Before the research was conducted, the population was tested for normality of distribution. 248 Form Two students sat for an exam that comprised the comprehension, cloze and vocabulary sections. A normal curve plotted on the students’ results showed that it is reasonably symmetrical and bell-shaped. The participants involved in this research were from a normal population as shown in Figure 1.


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Figure 4.1 Distribution of scores 50

Frequency

40

30

20

10

Std. Dev = 11.77 Mean = 70.1 N = 248.00

0 35.0

45.0 40.0

55.0 50.0

65.0 60.0

75.0 70.0

85.0 80.0

95.0 90.0

Scores

Figure 1

Distribution of scores

There were 248 fourteen year old students enrolled in this school and they were divided into seven classes. These students were not divided according to academic qualifications but were based on the subjects that they were taking. 120 of them, who were from four randomly selected classes, participated in this research. They represent 48.39% of the total fourteen year old student population. The two English Language teachers in charge of the four classes were qualified and with minimum three years experience. The groups were randomly selected. Group I, which was the monitored group, had 59 students. Group II, with 61 students, is the unmonitored group with no scheduled time for reading. The

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treatment for Group I and Group II was carried out and monitored by the researcher.

5.2 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS During the nine-month treatment period of this research, the participants were required to complete pre and post tests. Randomly selected students were also interviewed to elicit feedback on the programme. Article Reports and Reaction reports that were distributed were also collected and analysed. Besides these, the following research instruments were also used: a) Comprehension test b) Cloze test c) Vocabulary test d) Affective questionnaire

5.3

RELIABILITY OF RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

The reliability and sources of the research instruments are summarised in Table 2.


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Table 2 Reliability and Sources of Research Instruments Research Instruments Comprehension test

Alpha Reliability 0.804

Cloze test

0.795

Vocabulary test Affective questionnaire

0.826 0.813

5.4

Source of Research Instruments Australia International Competitions for Form 2 students in Malaysia, University of New South Wales. ‘Penilaian Menengah Rendah’ examinations Revision books Adapted from Hisougi and Day (2004) and Mori (2002) affective questionnaire

METHODS FOR DATA ANALYSIS

The research hypothesis were analysed using the quantitative approach. The t-test for paired and independent samples were employed to examine the significant differences between the mean scores of the pre and post-test results of the participants. However, the interviews from the students were analysed using the qualitative method through in-depth open ended interviews. The article reports and reaction reports were analysed using descriptive statistics.

6.0

RESEARCH FINDINGS

The quantitative results for the four instruments can be summarized in Table 3.

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Table 3 Quantitative results for language proficiency Quantitative Test

ER Programme t-test paired samples 0.024

Non ER Programme t-test paired results 0.356

0.000

0.546

Vocabulary test

0.002

0.691

Affective questionnaire

0.371

0.398

Comprehension test Cloze test

α =0.05

Independent samples Pre-test Posttest 0.197 0.000 0.220 0.000

0.215 0.000 0.228 0.323

The analysis above shows that students in the ER programme had a significant difference in their comprehension, cloze and vocabulary results. However, there was no significant difference for the affective questionnaire. A further comparison was carried out to examine the impact of ER on students with low English proficiency (LEP) and high English proficiency (HEP) in the ER programme group. To analyse the students’ English language ability, the total marks from the three tests were computed, which meant that the comprehension, cloze and vocabulary results were totalled. LEP students were identified as students who scored below 45% in their pre-total scores. HEP students were students who scored above 80% in their pre-total marks. Table 4 lists the pre-total percentage and the post-total percentage of LEP and HEP students from the monitored group.


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Table 4 Low English proficiency and high English proficiency students’ pre and post-total percentage Students Low English Proficiency (LEP) (80%)

Pre-total percentage 34 41 42 44 40 41 81 81 82 84 85 91

Post-total percentage 59 55 78 72 59 72 95 90 91 93 95 93

Percentage Gain 25 14 36 28 19 31 14 9 9 9 10 2

The results highlighted in Table 4 shows that the ER programme has a positive impact on students, regardless of their proficiency levels. In the interviews carried out on the students, they all agreed that they enjoyed reading the simple and interesting single page articles. The ER group read a total of 3343 articles and the non ER group only managed to read 29 articles. 7.0 DISCUSSIONS The prominent roles that policy makers and school administrators, teachers and students play in incorporating an ER programme in an English Language classroom is important for ER to benefit students.

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7.1 POLICY MAKERS AND SCHOOL ADMINISTRATIONS They can provide moral support by providing insightful and careful orientation to ER for both teachers and students. In addition, administrators provide the different genres of comprehensible single-page reading materials.

7.2

TEACHERS

Teachers are the facilitators and role models in the ER classroom. The following are guidelines that teachers can give to students when they engage in extensive reading. a) Read, read, and read more b) Read easy books c) Read interesting materials d) Reread books you found particularly interesting e) Read for general understanding f) Ignore unknown or difficult words. Skip them and continue reading g) Avoid using dictionaries h) Expand your reading comfort zone i) Set reading goals and keep a reading log j) Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy!

7.3

STUDENTS

ER empowers students in the teaching-learning process. It encourages them to explore, evaluate and make their own decisions on what to read. This self-directed learning approach is studentcentred and provides greater autonomy to students.


8.0

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CONCLUSION

This research has shown the effects of extensive reading on fourteen year old students in Malaysia after a 9-month experiment. It suggests that extensive reading should be implemented carefully in schools as a core part of the curriculum and be part of the reading pedagogy in the classrooms. The results reinforce the same conclusion of other researchers that extensive reading can contribute positively to language proficiency.

REFERENCES

Coady, J. (1997). L2 vocabulary acquisition through extensive reading. In J. Coady & T. Huckin (Eds.), Second language vocabulary acquisition (pp. 225-237). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Day, R. R., and Bamford, J., (2005). “Extensive Reading in the Second Language Classroom”. New York: Cambridge University Press. Elley, W. (1996). Using book floods to raise literacy levels in developing countries. In V. Greaney (Ed.), Promoting reading in developing countries: Views on making reading materials accessible to increase literacy levels (pp. 148163). Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Eskey, D.E. (2002). Reading and the teaching of L2 reading. TESOL Journal, 11, 1, pp. 5-9. Greaney, V., (Ed.) (1996). “Promoting Reading in Developing Countries” : Views on making reading materials accessible to increase literacy levels (pp 148-163). Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Krashen, S. (1993). The power of reading. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.

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Krashen, S. (2004). The power of reading. Portsmouth, NH:Heinemann and Westport, CONN: Libraries Unlimited. McQuillan, J. (1994). Reading versus grammar: What students think is pleasurable for language acquisition. Applied Language Learning, 5(2), 95-100. Nagy, W.E., Anderson, R.C., & Herman, P.A. (1987). Learning word meanings from context during normal reading. American Educational Research Journal, 24, 237-270. Ng, S.M. (1988). Research into children’s language and reading development. Singapore: Singapore Institute of Education. Ng, S.M. (1994). Changing the English language curriculum in Brunei Darussalam. International Journal of Educational Development, 14(4), 361-370. Nuttall, C., (1996). “Teaching Reading Skills In A Foreign Language”. (2nd ed.). Oxford: Heinemann. Program Nilam, (1997). “Konsep Dan Panduan Pelaksanaan di Sekolah”. Bahagian Teknologi Pendidikan, Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia. Yu, V.W.S. (1993). Extensive reading programs -- How can they best benefit the teaching and learning of English? TESL Reporter, 26(1), 1-9. Yu, V.W.S. (1999). Promoting second language development and reading habits through an extensive reading scheme. In Y.M. Cheah & S.M. Ng (Eds.), Language instructional issues in Asian classrooms (pp.5974). Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Jacobs, G., & Gallo, P. (2002, February). Reading alone together: Enhancing extensive reading via student-student cooperation in second-language instruction. Reading Online, 5(6). http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF =jacobs/index.html

8 SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING AND MOTIVATION: AN OVERVIEW Yvonne Choong Foong Hiam Azizah Rajab Hadina Habil

1.0

INTRODUCTION

The growing importance of English in Malaysia has been shown through the changes in its education policy since English plays a vital role in realising Vision 2020, set by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, to help transform our country into an Information Technology (IT)-based scientific society where English is necessary for assimilating IT in developing our country. Due to the emphasis of the language usage itself, our government has put in efforts to upgrade students’ English proficiency level; yet students have not been performing well. According to Lin and Warden’s research (1998), students’ shyness as well as afraid of losing faces are the main hindrance that influences their willingness to participate in any English activities in the classroom. Besides, students also experience unpleasant environment in terms of English learning where they will be punished physically (like being canned) or mentally (such as being given more homework). Gaudart (1997:34) in his study mentioned that English to most students is a “necessary devil.”

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Again in their research (1998), Lin and Warden pointed out that in order to ease the learners in terms of their English learning process, there is a need of understanding the learners’ weaknesses and strengths. Hussin,et al. (2001) further supported it by mentioning in their research that a conducive environment has to be created in relation to successful language learning. Also, the positive attitudes of both the teacher and learners are inter-relevant in terms of cultivating motivation of language learning. Thus, this study is to find out: the reasons and the hindrances of learners’ language learning (as in Research Questions 1 & 2 below), that is, to find out the actual purposes why learners learn the language, and why they cannot master this language even if the importance of it has been so emphasized. Besides, the research is also to investigate the motivational level in language classroom (as in Research Question 3 below). From there, conclusions may be drawn to decide how one learns better. Apart from that, teachers or policy-makers can then help learners set appropriate targets in order to command and master the language according to different needs. Educators can therefore implement certain modifications or remedies upon current teaching methodologies and motivational strategies for English teaching and learning. Due to complicated colonisation historical background of Malaysia, the findings of this research which is related to language learning and motivation may be varied from previous researches done abroad. However, through further detailed study of motivation, it may help educators in the implementations or modifications of certain education policies within the Malaysian context in accordance with Vision 2020.

1.1

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This study was directed by the following research questions: 1) What are the purposes of learning English?

Second Language Learning and Motivation

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2) What difficulties do learners face when learning a second language? 3) How are learners motivated (in terms of enhancing their language learning) in a classroom? The answers to the questions would provide reasons and hindrances of learning a second language as well as the ways that motivate students to learn English as a second language.

2.0

LITERATURE REVIEW

Most researches that are relevant to language learning and motivation are conducted in European countries where English has been used mainly as a second language or a foreign language; yet, not many studies have been conducted in Southeast Asia since the geographical and historical factors are much more complicated. Undoubtedly, English has been an international language used world widely including in Malaysia; nevertheless, the role of English in our country is so insignificant that on one hand, it can be viewed as a ‘second language’ as in most big cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Ipoh, George Town, etc. where English has been used in most business sectors; on the other hand, it serves as a ‘foreign language’ as in most rural areas where English is not used at all in daily life (Davison, 2005). Figure 1 shows the theoretical framework of this study which is based on Gardner and Lambert’s (1982) theories on motivation of language learning. In his socio-educational model, Gardner identified a number of factors which are related closely to language learning. Among, he highlighted the relationship between language achievement and motivation. That is, if one has strong motivation in learning, then his/her language achievement will be high. The motivation here refers to that of intrinsic one, not of extrinsic. According to Gardner, his prior concern is on integrative motivation, only those who have greater desire to integrate themselves into the community that speaks the target language and

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maintain a positive attitude to possess strong motivation, will enable them to enjoy higher language achievement.

Integrativeness

Other factors

Motivation

Attitudes toward the learning situation

Language Achievement

Language Aptitude

Figure 1: The Basic Integrative Motivation Model in Second Language Learning (Gardner and Lambert, 1982)

2.1

PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF BEHAVIOURISM, COGNITIVISM AND INTERACTIONISM IN SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING

Audiolingualism was the dominant language teaching method of the fifties and sixties which is derived from the behaviorist theory


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of learning. It was a method of teaching that derived from the structural approach developed by a number of American linguists such as Fries. The behaviorists do not see any differences in learning language from other behavior as it is ‘learning’. Therefore, it is said that learning could be affected by manipulating the external environment such as giving positive or negative reinforcement, a major focus of classroom activity, to provide the required experiences. All learners should not engage in meaningful communication before they are ready to do so. Learners should therefore be provided with sufficient ‘learned’ language--awareness of language rules and principles-- before they can apply appropriately (Brown, 2000; Chanstain, 1988). Under this methodology, learners are required to act or follow as they are told so as to minimize their errors while learning a second or foreign language. The emphasis is on the accuracy. Mistakes are immediately criticized and correct usages are immediately praised. ‘Language habit’ is formed by constant repetition and the reinforcement of the teachers. This objective is to be achieved by conditioning students to give automatic, nonthoughtful responses during mimicry-memorization of dialogues and practices with pattern drills. Students memorize the pattern prior to receiving an explanation of the grammatical structures involved. It is a teacher-centered mode of learning where the students’ role is to respond orally, or occasionally in writing, to language stimuli. Unlike behaviorists, the cognitivists allow errors during learning process. Since learners acquire language, mistakes are expected. But they do believe that with more practices, errors can be reduced or minimized through comprehensible input. Here, the cognitivists provide chances for learners to express themselves with the competence they possess. What matters more is their fluency in expressing ideas or opinions than accuracy. Cognitivists also expect differences between competence and performance. The language learners activate their competence to create the language needed in particular communicative situations (Krashen, 1983). In language learning, the learners are the problem-solvers

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who take part actively and highly during learning process. The teachers are considered as helpers and assist only when necessary. The learners can acquire not only at school, in the classroom, but also everywhere as long as there is enough input provided. The interactionist’s view of learning is on interaction, groupwork as well as information-exchange tasks which provide good effects on language learning. (Stevick, 1982:104) has encountered two quite different approaches to language learning that consisting of the interactionist views: Community Language Learning (CLL) and Silent Way. CLL provides a strong incentive for learners to communicate in order to belong to the ‘community’ of the learners in the same group (Robinett, 1978). It is a non-threatening classroom situation so that students will drop their defenses and enter freely into the second/foreign language learning situation; Silent Way demanding at times quite complex uses of language without the oral intervention of the teacher, who remains silent except for the initial modeling of new words (Robinett, 1978). Students are to use their own powers of mental perception and understanding to formulate their own interpretations of how the language functions and examine their own work instead of expecting the teacher to make corrections for them.


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Table 1: The Summary for the Three Schools and Pedagogical Implications School Theory

Behaviourism Stimulus Response Reinforcement

Pedagogical Implication

Language habit is formed by constant repetition and reinforcement

3.0

Cognitivism Language acquisition and learning hypotheses Learners are spontaneous to acquire/learn a language if comprehensible input is there

Interactionism Interaction and communication

Language is mainly for communication therefore, language functions have to be emphasized

CONCLUSION

The ultimate goal for students in a learning environment is the ability to gain knowledge and comprehend the knowledge purposefully as well as meaningfully so that it would be useful to them for the rest of their lives. In relevance to this, Behaviorist, Cognitivist and Interactionist theories on motivation are believed to have a great impact on students’ learning ability and process; as learning would procure when the motivation is at its high; likewise when the motivation is low, learning would deem ineffective. In schools, in order for teachers and educators to maximize the effectiveness of the teaching programs and techniques, it is vital for them to consider the students’ needs, their strengths and weaknesses. (Benson,N., Crosier,S., and Parker,L., 2004). This research will help reshape some possible new insights upon English language learning in the Malaysian context. Furthermore, it aims to find out the reasons why learners learn a language and what factors hinder learners’ language learning. Besides, the impact of motivation takes place in a classroom upon

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learners’ language learning will be discussed. The findings of this study nevertheless may be different from previous or other research conducted overseas due to its research setting and limitations.

REFERENCES Benson, N., Crosier, S., and Parker, L (2004). “Maslow's Motivation Theory And It's Application to Education”, 12 February. http://facultyweb.cortland.edu/andersmd/MASLOW/HOMEPAGE.HT ML

Brown, H.D. (2000). Principles of Language Teaching and Learning. 4th ed. San Francisco: Longman. Chastain, K. (1998). Developing Second Language Skills. 3rd ed. Florida: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Gardner, R.C. and Lambert, W.E. (1982). “The Role of the Integrative Motive on Students' Participation in the French Classroom.” Canadian Modern Language Review, 38, 625647. Gaudart, H. (1997). “Creative Ideas for Teaching English.” Reaching Out to Learners. Shah Alam: Fajar Bakti. Hussin, et al. (2001). “Sustaining an Interest in Learning English and Increasing the Motivation to Learn English: An Enrichment Program.” The Internet TESL Journal, 7, 5. Krashen, S.D. (1983). The Natural Approach: Language Acquisition in the Classroom. Oxford: Pergamon. Lin, H.J. and Warden, C.A. (1998). “Different Attitudes Among Non-English Major EFL Students.” The Internet TESL Journal, 4,10. Robinett, B.W. (1978). Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Minnesota: UMP. Stevick, E.W. (1982). Teaching and Learning Languages. Cambridge: CUP.

9 PARADIGMS IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF LITERATURE Tina Abdullah Zaidah Zainal

1.0

INTRODUCTION

Rosenblatt (1938: 24) claimed that when it comes to reading a literary text “there is no such thing as a generic reader or a generic literary work.” She argued that “no one can read a poem for us. If there is indeed to be a poem and not simply a literal statement, the reader must have the experience, must ‘live through’ what is being created during the reading.” (1938: 33) She asserted that when a reader reads a literary text in search for factual information than he would adopt the ‘efferent stance.’ This stance which originates from a Latin word ‘effere’ means ‘to carry away.’ It is ‘predominantly nonliterary’ and is also used to assist a reader in making sense of a literary text based on its ‘public meaning’ (Rosenblatt, 1938: 292). Apart from that, it would normally be adopted when a reader chooses to read a literary text “primarily for the information provided” (Beach, 1993: 163). On the other hand, when reading a literary text, the reader may also choose to adopt the ‘aesthetic stance’ that would enable him to engage himself in a more personal meaning making level.

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Meanwhile, the aesthetic stance would permit focus on ‘private meaning making’ of the text. This is when the reader would be able to live through the meaning making process by relating it to personal associations, feelings and ideas. To her it is possible for a reader to choose the efferent or aesthetic stance or to employ both interchangeably as one reads a literary text. However, she believed that it would be possible to ask anyone to read the newspaper or any academic text and to summarize or rephrase the original text into something more comprehensible for the layman to understand. In fact, she asserted that if the same text is summarised by different readers, then all the summaries would generally contain similar information that has been lifted or taken from the original text read. To extend this concept of information transfer into literary text, she believed that when a reader decides to adopt the efferent stance in reading a literary text, he would be reading in search for the overall idea of what the text is all about or in search for specific information which he may be able to use in describing his understanding of the plot, for example, in a summary. The situation is however different when the reader chooses to adopt the aesthetic stance in reading a literary text. Every transaction that takes place between the reader and the literary text will be unique. In other words, the same reader may enter a lived through experience differently each time he reads the text and this may be due to the state of mind that he is in, purpose of reading or even the time of the day that the reading activity is done. The circumstance described so far is one of the factors that have instigated complex issues that surround the literature instruction and how it is generally viewed and taught across different curricula. For that matter, the following section will elaborate on three fundamental factors that have influenced the shaping of paradigms within the teaching and learning of literature for a very long time. The exploration and discovery of these fundamental factors would generate a deeper understanding of challenges that have become apparent as a consequence.

Paradigms In The Teaching

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2.0 FACTORS INFLUENCING THE SHAPING OF PARADIGMS IN LITERATURE INSTRUCTION The choice of stance that has been introduced by Rosenblatt (1938) may be one of the contributing factors that have influenced how literary texts are explicated which may also lead to how literature instruction is shaped. However, there are other powerful factors that have influenced the general pedagogical development as well as the meaning making process of literary texts. Among them, three major factors that have played a profound role in the way literature is understood and interpreted are the development in modern literary theories, the marriage between literature and language teaching and learning and how the evolution in educational theories and practices have influenced the pedagogical development in the general literature instruction. In her final publication, Rosenblatt (2005: 68) stated that It is much easier in the classroom to deal with ideas and information about literature than it is with literature itself, as it resides in the myriad transactions between individuals and books. To help a young reader to reflect critically on his own response is indeed challenging to him and to the teacher. Naturally, the tendency is to concentrate on the easily checked “facts” of the story or play, or to present information about literary history, or to discuss the often entertaining items about the life of the author. Hence it is that in many classrooms pupils learn to ignore or even distrust their own responses to literature. They may therefore reject literature altogether as irrelevant to themselves. Or they may divert their original interest in literature to studies around and about literature. The student comes to substitute these for the kind of reflection on his response that would enable him to approach the text work in a sounder way.

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Generally what has been described here is a common occurrence in classrooms that attempt to study or read a piece of literary work whether a short story, novel, play or even a poem. In fact, Langer (1990: 812) believed that, “The teaching of literature is often misunderstood.” Most of the time lessons will focus on information gathered about the text to enable them to discover the ‘correct answer’ rather than their own perception or personal response to the text. For example, lessons in literature would most likely evolve around matters that require students to recall or state information read, to give a general précis of the student’s understanding of the text or to identify and discuss literary devices or elements used. The most that would be expected of the student is his ability to argue or criticise about the text or its relationship to its author or other works based on various theories of modern literary criticisms. These activities demand students to read the text in search for information rather than to enjoy or savour the reading experience or the transaction that should naturally take place between the reader and the text. The free association into the aesthetics will be overshadowed by an in depth explication analysis of literature either using literary criticisms or by analysing the stylistic features of the texts. The situation described may very much be the repercussion of different contributing factors. Among them, three compelling factors mentioned earlier namely the development in modern literary theories (Probst, 1992; Seldon, 1989; Beach, 1993), the evolving relationship between literature and language teaching and learning and the advancement of theories and practices in the educational area have certainly influenced the way literature is explicated and taught which ultimately have an effect on the meaning making process. 3.0 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MODERN LITERARY THEORIES AND LITERATURE


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Figure 1 below shows the well-known ‘triangle’ of author, work and reader introduced by M.H. Abrams. It illustrates the characterization of the development in modern literary theories that has transpired in three distinct stages namely the Romantics, The New Critics and the Reader Response (Beach, 1993). Traditionally, during the Romantics period, when reading a literary text, it was customary for readers to be expected to focus on the writer and to find the meaning of the text based on the message that the writer desires to convey. Seldon (1989: 4) explained that the “romantic theories emphasise the writer’s mind and life.” In other words, the focus of meaning lies in the hands of the writer of the text. TEXT The New Critics

WRITER The Romantics

READER The Reader

Figure 1: “Triangle” of Author, Work and Reader

Readers are supposed to read and speculate the intentions that the writer tries to communicate through the text written. Readers are not supposed to rely on their own thoughts, feelings or personal experience when making sense or responding to the text read. Understanding, meaning making as well as critical analysis of the literary work would normally centre on who the writer was, what sort of educational training and background experiences did he

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have and the particular issues, themes or style of writing that the writer would usually employ in his work. The practice would be expanded to include a comparison or/and contrast of other literary works written by the same author or an exploration of other kinds of meaning that was common to literary works of the certain period, genre or tradition. In comparison to the Romantics, the New Critics have a different set of views about how literary texts should be understood and valued. Instead of searching for the true meaning or message that the writer wishes to express, they believe that meaning and message are subjected to be based on the text itself and is influenced by different modern literary theories such as the Marxists, the Formalists and the Structuralists. According to Seldon (1989: 4), “Formalist theories concentrate on the nature of writing itself in isolation; Marxist criticism regards the social and historical context as fundamental…and the Structuralist poetics draws attention to the codes we used to construct meaning.” As claimed by Beach (1993: 1), “While literary criticism is equally concerned with making meaning, the focus is generally more on extracting meaning from the text rather than making explicit the processes by which readers, or the critic, make meaning.” In other words, the New Critics suggest an extension to the way readers should make meaning by not only focusing on the writer’s message but also using theories in criticism to explain or make meaning out of the text read. Both the Romantics and the New Critics prioritise tangible evidence that is either based on the writer’s intensions and lives or information presented in the literary text when explicating or analysing the meaning rather then allowing the reader to express and rely on his or her own personal reasoning or presuppositions about the text. For that matter when the reader oriented or phenomenological criticism that emerged when the Reader Response Theory (Rosenblatt, 1938) was popularised, readers’ viewpoint has since become a significant part of the meaning making process (Beach, 1993). This has further been reinforced when the Transactional Theory (Rosenblatt, 1978) was later established. Based on these


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reader oriented theories, meaning resides within the transaction between the reader and the literary work. The reader plays a vital role in shaping meaning where background knowledge and experiences are central in making sense of the text. Chitravellu (2005) described the transaction as a process that is illustrated in Figure 2. Like Rosenblatt (1938, 1978), she believed that meaning making will take place while the reader is engaged in reading a literary text. The transactional process that engages the reader in meaning making will lure the reader into an imaginary world that would depend on various factors such as the state of mind or the mood that the reader is in, his or her background knowledge and previous experiences and his or her familiarity with the culture of the text, the purpose of reading the literary text, time and interest in reading. In other words, in reading literary texts, meaning would reside on many factors that would originate from who the reader is and when he is reading the literary text. Each time a reader engages in reading a literary text, the creation of meaning will be unique to that particular situation in time. Literary Text IMAGINARY WORLD

The Reader

Figure 2: The Transactional Process in Reading Literary Texts

Based on the discussion presented so far, literature has indeed been read and explicated differently according to the different focus disclosed. At the beginning, emphasis was given to the role

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of the writer by the Romantics. Later, the development in modern literary criticism has influenced the way people read, judge or analyse any literary text. The focus on meaning making which once resided on the writer and the message that he wishes to convey through his work of art, has been shifted by the New Critics to the meaning that is readily presented in the literary text. This has been done with the help of different modern literary theories that have emerged after the 1920’s. However, the later period has been slowly influenced by the significant role of the reader to project meaning in the imagined world through the transactional process that takes place when the reader is engaged with the text. Obviously based on the evidence presented literature has indeed been read and viewed differently across time and this is very much the outcome of the general development of the modern literary theories. Meanwhile, the strong influence in the development of modern literary movements could also be observed in the relationship that has been established between literature and language teaching and learning. The situation described earlier by Rosenblatt (2005) about how learners and instructors thought literature should be taught and learned may have also been as a consequence of the transformations in the relationship betweenlanguage and literature.

4.0 THE MARRIAGE BETWEEN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE INSTRUCTION Figure 3 discloses the overall evolution in the relationship between literature and language teaching and learning. Evidently, the relationship between the two related but distinct areas have gone through considerable transformations (Delanoy, 1997). At the beginning, under the influence of the Formalists and the Structuralists, much attention was given to the use of literature in language teaching. According to Thakur (2003), before the world war, the teaching of the English language was synonymous with


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the teaching of literature. It was treated as a source of high moral value and a model of excellent language use that emphasized on the study of literary canon of the target language. In this situation, literature was taught as the body of knowledge or the subject matter that dominated the language syllabus (Carroli, 2002). The situation however, changed after the British colonization period ended (Thakur, 2003). This was due the fact that the status of the English language in many of the colonized countries changed to become a second or a foreign language. As a result of the change of the English language status, literature which was once treated as a source of high moral value no longer held its special status. Meanwhile, literature became more divorced from language teaching when advocators of the Functional Approach argued to eliminate literature from language teaching (Delanoy, 1997). They disputed that the use of literature in language teaching was a long way from meeting the needs of the language learners. The trend to disengage and at the same time to unite literature with language teaching and learning continued when the Communicative Approach to language teaching was established in the 1970s. Although initially through the Communicative language teaching method, authentic literary texts were regarded to supply learners with ‘representational uses of the language’ (Carter, 2007: 6), many materials and textbooks that are designed using the method focused on specific language features and functions minimally make use of the authenticity of literary language in the teaching and learning of a language (Liddicoat & Crozet, 2000; Newman & Pujol, 1996).

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Formalist/ Structuralists

Functional Approach

Communicative Approach

-much attention on literature in language teaching -in the case of teaching English language, English synonymous with literature (Thakur,2003) -special status -source of high moral value -model of excellent language usage -taught as body of knowledge or a subject matter and dominated the language instruction (Delanoy,1997; Carroli,2002)

-trend changed to eliminate literature from language instruction (Delanoy,1997)

-Liddicoat & Crozet (2000) claimed that literature became more divorced from language teaching and learning when the Communicative Approach to language teaching was established

-they dispute that the study of literature in language learning is a long way from meeting the need of the learners

Applied Linguistics & Literary Theory -in the area of Applied Linguistics, through experts in stylistics and discourse analysis, a new move has been identified that emphasizes on the need to use learning materials that can present emotionally engaging and intellectually stimulating experience for the language learners (Delanoy, 1997) -the literary critics also contributed to the reawakening of interest in the use of literature in language instruction by focusing on the reader and the interaction between the reader and the text (Rosenblatt, 21978)

Figure 3: Transformation in the Relationship between Literature and Language Learning

Nevertheless, starting in the 1980s, literature has slowly reestablished its grounds in the language teaching and learning environment (Carter, 2007) through the new evolution of Applied Linguistics and Literary Theory (Thakur, 2003). From then on, literature has once again made its way into the language instruction. This time however, it does not dominate the language instruction, instead its function has changed to become a resource for language teaching and learning. Thus far, the progress in the marriage between literature and language instruction has indeed played its unique role within the


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actual teaching and learning processes of literature. Since literature has once again become a significant resource for language teaching and learning, the meaning making process of literary texts has been extended not only to include focus on either the writer or the reader but detailed stylistics analysis of the text structures, style of writing and choice of words that are employed to bring meaning to literary texts. The current development in the relationship between literature and language instruction has resulted in the formation of three teaching models designed especially when using literature within any general language instruction. The models will be described and discussed in detail in the section on the effects of the factors discussed on the overall pedagogical practices in the literature instruction.

5.0

THE INFLUENCE OF EDUCATIONAL THEORY

The discussion on paradigms in literature instruction started with how developments in the modern literary theories and the progress in the relationship between literature and language instruction have affected the way meaning is explicated in literary texts. Following that, it should also be noted that theories within the area of education such as constructivism and active learning have also lent their hand in varying the paradigms of the overall literature instruction. For example, in 1990, a revolution in literature instruction was established in American educational institutions. The revolt was as a consequence of the influence of the constructivism theory in education. In the meantime, ample empirical evidence has also shown that many literature lessons have often been taught and tested in a nonliterary manner. Learners are normally expected to arrive at the correct interpretation or adopt a particular right answer (Langer, 1992; Rosenblatt, 1938, 1978 & 2005) especially for assessment purposes. Apart from that, researchers in the area of education, discourse analysis and literature instruction such as

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Tharp & Gallimore (1988) ), Cazden(2000) and Nystrand(1997) found that highly scripted lessons of recitation, where teacher controls the discourse and there is minimal interaction in the class is the predominant mode in many literature classrooms. In other words, the growing concern about the pedagogical tradition within the literature instruction together with the growing influence of theories that support learner centered learning environment have facilitated the establishment of learning through where According to Langer(1992: 35), The need to reexamine the role of literature in the educational experience of young people is particularly acute at this time, when the nation as a whole is attempting to redefine its educational goals and objectives…educators have turned to generic problem-solving approaches as the focus of reform, with identified “critical thinking” strategies applied in similar ways across the different academic subjects. For that matter, Applebee (1992) mentioned that the language arts has adopted the constructivism theory for the teaching and learning of literature where emphasis has shifted from content knowledge to process of understanding. In other words, if the focus of literature instruction has been on dealing with ideas and information about literature (Rosenblatt, 2005), the revolution is suppose to alter literature instruction to centre on the process of understanding literature itself. Through constructivism, learners are given the opportunity to become active participants in the learning process where they are encouraged to use prior knowledge, personal and cultural experiences in their attempt to make meaning of the literary texts read together through group work. Generally, the factors described have indeed greatly influenced the overall literature pedagogical trends. As a consequence, a couple of examples of how these factors have contributed to the different faces of the literature instruction are discussed in the following section.


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THE EFFECTS ON PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICES

The influence of the theory of constructivism together with evidence from empirical findings have pointed to the need to replace the traditional recitation patterns of discourse in most literature classrooms with those that actively engage students in meaning making processes. As a consequence, some educationists such as Daniels (2004) through his Literature Circles Model have developed frameworks for promising instructional ideas that would enhance the use of literature using theories within the educational area. With regards to the evolutions in the literary movements, obviously the current perception of the role of literature in language teaching and learning has also been influenced by the evolution of the movement. For example, Applebee (1992) discussed how the movements in literary theories have affected the teaching of the English language arts in the United States in the 1970s. As a result of the movement, a report which was published by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Commission, presented three teaching models (Mandel, 1980) that could be applied for the teaching of literature in the English language arts curriculum. According to Applebee (1992: 10) The three models represent long-standing traditions in the English language arts: one was student centered, emphasizing ‘personal growth’; one was content centered, emphasizing the preservation of a cultural heritage; and one was skill centered, emphasizing the development of language competencies. The same model has been used as a basis for a book entitled Literature and Language Teaching: A Guide for Teachers and Trainers written by Lazar (1993 & 2005). Taking a closer look at the three models, it can be seen that they are directly influenced by the literary criticism movement discussed earlier.

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LANGUAGE BASED MODEL

CULTURAL MODEL

PERSONAL ENRICHMENT MODEL

Figure 4: Models for Literature in Language Teaching and Learning

7.0

CONCLUSION

In short, development in modern literary theories, the relationship between literature and language teaching and learning, and also the evolution of literature instruction within the area of education in general have indeed affected the way literature is explicated and also taught. Since the present scenario has shown favorable attention in the incorporation of literature across curricula, more research efforts that lead to the discoveries and understanding of practices as well as real challenges in the teaching of literature would enhance future pedagogical development within the literature instruction.


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REFERENCES

Alexander, K.J., Miller, P.J., & Sapient. (2002). Young Children’s Emotional Attachments to Stories. Social Development. 10, 3, 174-398. Applebee, A.N. (1992). The Background for Reform. Literature Instruction: A Focus on Student Response. Albany: National Council of Teachers of English. Beach, R. (1993). A teacher’s introduction to reader-response theories. Urabana, IL: NTCE. Carroli, Piera. (2002). Perceptions of Literature: A Comparison of Students’ and Educators’ Views. ELT Journal. 37,1, 30-35. Carter. R. (2007). Literature and Language Teaching 1986-2006: A Review. International Journal of Applied Linguistics.17, 1, 3-13. Cazden, C. (2001). Classroom Discourse: The Language of Teaching and Learning (2nd.Ed.) Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Chitravelu, N., Sithamparan, S. Teh Soo Choon (2005) ELT Methodology Principles and Practice (2nd Ed) Shah Alam : Fajar Bakti Daniels, H. (2004). Literature Circles: Getting Them Started and Keeping Them Going. In Nancy Steineke (Ed.) Reading & Writing Together: Collaborative Literacy in Action. Portsmouth: Heinemann. 130-190. Delanoy, Werner. (1997). Teacher Mediation and Literature Learning in the Language Classroom. LCS. 14, {Online} Available:http://www.wilstapley.com/LCS/articles/wd.htm Langer, J. (1990). The process of understanding: Reading for literary and informative purposes. Research in the Teaching of English, 24, 3, 229-257. Langer, Judith. (1992). Rethinking Literature Instruction. Literature Instruction: A Focus on Student Response. Albany: National Council of Teachers of English.

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Lazar, G. (1993 & 2005). Literature and Language Teaching: A Guide for Teachers and Trainers. Cambridge: CUP Liddicoat, A.J. and Crozet, C. (2000). Teaching Languages, Teaching Cultures. Melbourne: Language Australia. Mandel, Barrett J. (1980). Three Language Arts Curriculum Models. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. Newman, M. & Pujol, M. (1996). Towards an ESOL Literature. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language Electronic Journal (TESL-EJ). 2, 1, 1-14. Nystrand, M. (1997). Opening dialogue: understanding the dynamics of language and learning in the English classroom. New York: Teacher college press. Probst, R.E. (1992). Five Kinds of Literary Knowing in Literature. Literature Instruction: A Focus on Student Response. Albany: National Council of Teachers of English. Seldon, R. (1989). A Reader’s Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory. Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. Rosenblatt, L. (1938). Literature as Exploration. New York: Modern Language Association. Rosenblatt, L. (1978). The Reader, the Text, the Poem: The Transactional Theory of the Literary Work. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. Rosenblatt, L. (2005). Making Meaning with Texts: Louise Rosenblatt Selected Essays. Portsmouth: Heinemann. Thakur, Damodar. (2003). Teaching Language through Literature: Problems and Principes (Part 1-5). Yemen Times, 642, 13. {Online}. Available:http://www.yementimes.com/articles.shtml?i=642 &p=education&a=2 Tharp, R. & Gallimore, R. (1988). Rousing Minds to Life: Teaching, Learning, and Schooling in Social Context. New York: Cambridge University Press.

INDEXES

Achievements,52 Antonomous, 65 Anxiety, 1, 4, 5 Audio-Lingua Method, 26, 27 Behaviour, 44 Behavioursim, 96 Candidates, 25 Cognitivsm, 96 Communication, 50 Contracts, 63 Curriculum, 50

Motivation, 84, 94 Observation, 44, 45 Paradigms, 100 Pedagogical, 110 Proficiency, 84 Qualitative, 30 Reading, 84 Requirements, 23 Resource fulness, 65

Development, 50 Effects, 84 Exploration, 63 Extensive, 84 Grammar, 40 Interactionism, 96

Samples, 26 Skills, 50 Sociocultural Teaching, 23 Triangulation, 30, 31, 35, 36, 37 Written, 45

Learners, 25 Learning, 94, 100