Communicative. Language Teaching. Situational Language. Teaching .... Harmer, J. The Practice of English Language Teaching (Harlow: Longman, 2001).
Positive Oral Feedback in the English Language Classroom A Research Project for the Trinity College Licenciate Diploma TESOL
Clare Fielder
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Outline Background literature Research procedure Findings Conclusions Recommendations
Outline
Background
Research
Findings
Conclusions
Recommendations 2
Background Literature high number of publications on oral correction Bostrom (1961) - all positive/all negative preformulated statements Young (1974) - categories of feedback Pearson (1976) - gender differences Link et al (2001) - facial expressions & feedback perception, computerised tutors
Outline
Background
Research
Findings
Conclusions
Recommendations 3
Background Literature
Theoretical approaches Reform/Direct Method Communicative Language Teaching Situational Language Teaching Total Physical Response The Silent Way Community Language Learning Audio-Lingual Method
Outline
Background
Research
Findings
Textbooks/Teaching Guides Bolt (1971). Littlewood (1992) Hewings (2004) Brown & Yule (1983) Dunlop (1970) Harmer (2001)
Conclusions
Recommendations 4
Background Literature divergence of opinion on ‘good’ feedback Little attention paid to positive feedback top-down ideas about feedback - Bower (1986) theoretical investigations drift apart from language teaching practice Sheal (1989) teachers find research impractical
Outline
Background
Research
Findings
Conclusions
Recommendations 5
Research Procedure
Aims ◦ bottom-up research ◦ To observe and compare frequencies of positive and negative verbal feedback in teaching advanced-level EFL learners. ◦ To observe and compare relative frequencies of verbal and paralinguistic positive and negative feedback.
Outline
Background
Research
Findings
Conclusions
Recommendations 6
Research Procedure
Observe teachers in natural environment ◦ oral-based or integrated skills classes
Positive and negative feedback Oral comments and gestures frequency table observation instrument
Burden’s (1995) ‘social reinforcers’ Flanders’ Interaction Analysis Categories (1970)
14 x 45 mins, 7 teachers
Outline
Background
Research
Findings
Conclusions
Recommendations 7
Research Procedure ORAL FEEDBACK
“Good“ / “Good work/idea“ “Excellent“ “Nice/thoughtful answer“ “Much better“ “Thank you“ “Yes“ “Well done“ “Right” / “correct” "mmm" / "mm hmm" FEEDBACK GESTURES Smiling (grinning) Nodding Clapping Thumbs up (positive gesture)
Outline
Background
Research
ORAL FEEDBACK "No" / “Not exactly” “Wrong” / “Incorrect” “Hmm” “Are you sure?” “Can anyone help?” “Try again” "errr"
FEEDBACK GESTURES
Shaking head Raising eyebrows Thumbs down (negative gesture) Wagging finger Sad face (mouth turned down) Frowning (puzzled look) Findings
Conclusions
Recommendations 8
Findings Positive
Verbal
Feedback
Combinat TOTAL
Feedback
Gestures
ions
244
198
264
706
113
118
90
321
357
316
354
1027
Feedback Correction / Negative Feedback TOTAL Outline
Background
Research
Findings
Conclusions
Recommendations 9
Findings
Chi-square test hypotheses ◦ i) there is a difference in the frequency of positive and negative feedback given ◦ ii) the difference in the frequency of verbal, gestural and combinations of feedback given is influenced whether feedback positive/negative Chi-square
11.077
Degrees of freedom
2
p-value
0.00393242
Outline
Background
Research
Findings
Conclusions
Recommendations 10
Conclusions
Difference in frequencies of positive and negative feedback given highly significant ◦ positive feedback to reinforce correct utterances more frequent than correction ◦ corrective feedback is not entirely absent
• If teachers = experts selective
correction of serious errors, with positive feedback as reinforcement = most effective combination
Outline
Background
Research
Findings
Conclusions
Recommendations 11
Conclusions
observed frequencies of types of feedback significantly influenced by whether feedback positive/negative ◦ Positive feedback more likely verbal / combo ◦ Negative feedback more likely gestural
If teachers = experts gestures to show error, more emphatic (verbal or combination) praise to show good/correct utterance = most effective
Outline
Background
Research
Findings
Conclusions
Recommendations 12
Recommendations
Research focus on positive feedback
•
Bottom-up educational research realistic, generalisable findings fewer divergent abstract ideas about “good” teaching practice.
•
Peer observation & discussion
Outline
Background
Research
Findings
Conclusions
Recommendations 13
Thank you for your attention! Any questions or comments?
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Works Cited
Bolt, S. The Right Response: Notes on Teaching English in Further Education (London: Hutchinson Educational, 1971) Bostrom, R.N., ‘The effects on speech attitudes of positive and negative evaluative comments on classroom speaking’, Dissertation Abstracts: State University of Iowa, 22 (1961), 27-32. Brophy, J.E. Motivating Students to Learn (Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1998) Brown, G. & Yule, G. Teaching the Spoken Language: An approach based on the analysis of conversational English (Cambridge: Cambridge U.P., 1983) Burden, P. R. Classroom Management and Discipline: Methods to Facilitate Cooperation and Instruction (New York: Longman, 1995) Dunlop, I. Practical Techniques in the Teaching of Oral English (Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1970) Flanders, N., Analysing Teacher Behaviour (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1970) Gainer, G.T. ‘Clozing in on oral errors’, ELT Journal, 43/1 (1989), 45-49. Harmer, J. The Practice of English Language Teaching (Harlow: Longman, 2001) Hewings, M. Pronunciation Practice Activities: A resource book for teaching English pronunciation (Cambridge: Cambridge U.P., 2004) Link, K.E., Kreutz, R.J. & Graesser, A.C., ‘Factors that Influence the Perception of Feedback Delivered by a Pedagogical Agent’, International Journal of Speech Technology, 4 (2001), 145-153. Littlewood, W. Teaching Oral Communication: A Methodological Framework (Oxford: Blackwell, 1992) Pearson, J.C., ‘The effects of sex and sexism on the criticism of classroom speeches’, Dissertation Abstracts; Indiana University, 36 (1976), 4853-6. Sheal, P., ‘Classroom Observation: training the teachers’, ELT Journal, 43/2 (1989), 92-104. Sprague, J., ‘An investigation of the written critique behaviour of college communication instructors’. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Perdue University, 1971. (cited in Preston & Todd-Mancillas, 1985) Williams, M. & Burden, R. Psychology for Language Teachers; A Social Constructivist Approach (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2009) Young, S.L., ‘Student Perceptions of Helpfulness in Classroom Speech Criticism’, Speech Teacher, 23 (1974), 222-234. 15