Summary Applied Linguistics Resa Yulita 1103747 Prof. Dr. M. Zaim M.

Hum Documenting Curricular Reform: Innovative Foreign Language Education in Elementary School
This writing is a research report on innovative foreign language education in Elementary school which was conducted in the state of Pennsylvania for two years long with a group of elementary school Spanish teacher as the participants. By reporting this research, the three researchers-Rodriguez, Tucker and Donato- tries to describe partially several of the key elements involved in the development of successful education innovation. They also want to show that innovative projects are affected, positively or negatively by complex socio cultural variables such as cultural beliefs, political climate, historical and economical conditions, administrative attitudes, institutional support, and technological, sociolinguistic, and language planning factors. The background of this research is that FLES (Foreign Language Elementary School) curricula does not receive the same amount of curricular attention in the form of commercially-published book as their middle and secondary school counterparts. As the consequence, instructors are left alone to develop curricula, articulate objectives and set standards to meet. In addition, the lack of literacy instruction in FLES makes it even worse since language literacy is assumed to be parallel with access to printed materials, and opportunities to create texts with invented spellings. Data of the research is taken from multiple sources such as documents, various perspectives on curricular innovation by the teachers and classroom observations. The aim of data finding is to see if there are any changes in Spanish curricula. From the first year of the project, data collected revealed that there are four challenges faced by Spanish teachers in developing Spanish literacy in grades 3 and 4. They are: There is no explicit objectives for Spanish literacy in the curriculum

 There is no activities to enhance creative writing in Spanish Lack of literacy in grades 3-4 led students to difficulty in higher level in this case in grade 5 Focus in teaching grammar features is not parallel with teaching FL in context There are two procedures to be followed by Spanish teachers in this research namely discussion on curricular innovation and reform and discussion on determining goals for Spanish literacy in grade K-5 and how to implement these goals. As the result of discussion, one of the teachers suggested the use of PACE model (Presentation, Attention, Co-construction and Extension). Developed by Adair Hauck and Donato, the model which was grounded on Vygotskyan psycholinguistics and story-telling approach was supported because: PACE is consistent with latest findings in the research on FL teaching The method promotes literacy development The method is appropriate for content-based instruction The initiative came from within the Spanish program

Findings of this research shows that: 1. In terms of reading, teachers would shift gradually from reading to students to let students read what they like with teachers assistance. 2. In terms of writing, instead of having fill in the blank exercises, teachers will apply creative writing. 3. Feasibility is another important component in innovating curricula. 4. Teachers have a positive respond toward the implementation of PACE model and it will probably be continued to the next school year term.

Summary Applied Linguistics Resa Yulita 1103747 Prof. Dr. M. Zaim M.Hum

Research Perspectives on Non-Native English-Speaking Educators

A dichotomy between non native and native terms is something

unavoidable albeit its useless. Since Non-native English speaking teachers constitute up to 80 % in the world, it is important to know if their perception toward themselves and others attitude toward them affect their instructional practices and give contribution toward their success or their failure. This writing is trying to discuss four issues: *native and non-native labels *research on those labels *research on their perception about themselves and other ELT professionals perception toward them *future research directions The assumption that native speaker of English (NES) is the ideal teacher was a tenet firstly formulated by Commonwealth Conference on the Teaching of English as Second Language held in Makerere, Uganda in 1961. Although some reasons underlying this assumption such as NES are: 1. 2. 3. 4. Better linguistic model Use language more fluently and idiomatically Aware of the cultural connotations of the language Can rely on intuition to make accurate linguistic judgments

however, great majority of experts such as Philipson, Canagarajah, Kaplan and Thomas questioned this tenet from their own perspectives. The literature on NNES presents many different perspectives on the dichotomy of native and non-native. One position views the dichotomy as useful since it reflects the idea that native and non native speakers are two different species and Liu labeled it as noninterface position. This view is supported by Cook who believed that native and nonnative is different in terms of their knowledge

in second language, first language and their cognitive processes. Another position is advanced by Davies who argues that the NES construct is a myth, and we need a myth as a model and as a goal. He also believes that though with difficulty, an L2 learner can become a native speaker of the target language. The third position sees this dichotomy as problematic since the emphasis is on biological factor rather than social factors that affect L2 learning process. The advocates of this notion also think that these labels is a kind of social identification which have no relevance with multilingual and multicultural society. Teachers' self-perceptions and beliefs play an important role in influencing their instructional practices. There has been substantial research dealing with NNES educators and their self-image, with emphasis on the relationship between educator' self perceptions about their language skills and their instructional practices. Discussions of NNES educators have been heavily influenced by two views regarding the extent to which NNES educator's perceptions of their language proficiency and their non-native status affect their instructional practices. The first view posits that NNES teachers suffer from an 'inferiority complex' that results from a 'linguistic deficit'. It makes differences between teachers instructional practices logical. The second view holds that while NNES educators were aware of their language difficulties, they did not perceive their instructional practices as being negatively affected by such difficulties and instead perceived themselves to be successful teachers. There are four areas of interest related to the self-perceptions of NNES educators. First, focus on the self-perceptions of NNES teachers-in-preparation. Second, focus on the role that these educators play in L2 classroom. There are two views related to this area of interest. First, educators should leave behind their L1 behavior and act as someone else. Second, educators act as a mediator between languages and cultures. The third area of interest concerns the relationship between English proficiency and professionalism. The last area of interest focuses on the role of race and language status in relation to issues of credibility. Result of the research shows that the status of educators affect the students acceptance and the reactions of teachers are varied from the more pessimistic one to the more self confidence one.

Aside from their self perception toward themselves, other perceptions such as learners and administrator is also necessary to be noticed. Research on students' perceptions about NNES educators has focused on two areas: teacher accentedness and pedagogical skills. Studies that have explored how teacher accentedness in English affect students' perceptions about teachers lead to three conclusions. First, familiarity with a particular variety of English led them to have more positive perceptions of the teachers who spoke that variety. Second, the stronger the teachers' accent in English, the less positive are the students' perceptions about those teachers' professional qualities. Third, language learners do not necessarily perceive accentedness to be a criterion for the 'ideal' English teacher. In terms of students perceptions of NNESs pedagogical skill, there are five generalizations as the result of the research conducted. First, both NES and NNES educators are perceived to be good teachers. Second, ESL and EFL students prefer to study listening, pronunciation, and speaking with NES rather than NNES teachers. Third, ESL and EFL learners perceive NES teachers as being ore knowledgeable than their NNES counterparts in the area of the target language culture. Fourth, ESL and EFL students favor NNES educators in the area of grammar teaching. Fifth, both teachers are favored as reading and writing teachers. Regarding the attitudes of administrator toward NES and NNES teachers, research shows that 60% of administrators are still considering NES status as the important component in hiring a teacher. In future studies, there are two factors that should be paid attention to. First, it is useless to treat NES and NNES as two different individuals with distinctive characteristics. Second, future research should move beyond issues of self-perceptions of language proficiency and deal with NNES educators' levels of English language competence in relation to curriculum delivery.