WhereIStand LinaShehu LING8630:SecondLanguageAcquisition Dr.HeekeyongLee,Ph.

D May16th,2013 Title:WhereIStand

WhereIStand Myfriendandclassmate,David,toldmerecentlyaboutarewardingexperience

teachingadultimmigrantsatthePeaceResourceCenterinSeaside,buthesitatedto describethestudentsasgratefulforhisvolunteerteaching.Wearebothcarefultonot essentializetheimmigrantexperienceasthatofadowntroddenindividual,butmust remainaware,however,thatasteachersofthelinguafrancaofglobalization,weareina sensegatekeeperstowhatBourdieu(1977)coinedassymboliccapital;i.e.iflearners investinEnglishtheywouldinturnacquireawiderangeofsymbolicandmaterial resources,whichwouldincreaselearnersculturalcapital.(CitedinNorton,B.p.353). Investmentinthetargetlanguage(TL)isaconceptintroducedbyNorton,(1995)andone, whichalongwithBourdieusrepresentationoflanguageassymbolicpower,should,I believe,informeveryESLteacherspedagogy.Forwhereasinvestmentconsidersthe complexrelationshipoflanguagelearnerstothetargetlanguageandtheirsometimes ambivalentdesiretospeakittheoriesofmotivationtendtoviewthelanguagelearneras ahistoricalandunidimensional.(Norton,2010,p.9) Drawingonmyownexperienceasasecondlanguagelearner,Iproposethat

learningandteachingcannottakeplaceunlessweconsiderstudentspossiblecomplex relationshiptotheTL,andtheirindividuallifehistories.Here,IargueforUshiodas(2009) viewofapersonincontextrelationalviewoflanguagemotivation,whichfocusesonreal personsratherthanlanguagelearnersastheoreticalabstractions.Furthermore,Iargue thatempathyisateachersmostvaluableasset.Wecannotpossiblyknowallthevariables, thedifferencesandchallengesthatcomewitheveryclassroom.Empathyfostersasafe

WhereIStand spaceforindividualpreferencesandculturaldifferencestofindexpression,while promotingcoexistenceandmutualunderstandinginglobalizedcommunities. Mypositionpaperwillbedividedintothreesections:thefirstwilldefinelanguage

anditsfunctions;thesecondwillbededicatedtothelanguagelearningprocessguidedby Swains(2000,2006)proposalthatinteractionandlanguagingarecentraltoL2 acquisition.Thethirdsectionwilldiscussmylanguageteachingphilosophyinfluencedby Ellis(2006)taskbasedlanguageteaching. Languageanditsfunctions Therearemanydefinitionsoflanguage.Somesayitisaninstinctpresentinall

humans,othersthatitisasocialpractice.Gee(2011)arguesthat,languageinuseisabout saying,doing,andbeingandthatthroughlanguagewesustainculturalpracticesand institutions.(p.16)ForPinker,(1994)languageisaninstincttoacquireanArt,andthat everyoneofuspossessesthisremarkableability.Indeed,hewrites,languageissotightly wovenintohumanexperiencethatitisscarcelypossibletoimaginelifewithoutit.(p.3) Languageisalsodeeplypoliticalusedinequalmeasureforartisticexpressionandfor dominancebyaprivilegedgroupoverotherslessfortunate.Norton(2010)writes, languageistheorizednotonlyasalinguisticsystem,butasasocialpracticeinwhich experiencesareorganizedandidentitiesnegotiated.(p.351)Inmynativelanguage,for example,myidentityisthatofasisterandadaughterbecausemyonlyinteractionsin Albanianarewithmyfamily.InEnglishIenactmultipleotheridentities:astudent,a woman,afriendandsoforth.Thus,wecanstatethatlanguageisidentityconstruction,a multiple,complexidentityembeddedinthelargersocialstructure.

WhereIStand Thefunctionsoflanguagearemany,andgivenitspoliticalandideologicalnature,

thereareinanygivensociety,legitimatespeakers;i.e.aspeakerwhohasthepowerto imposereceptionbecausehe/sheisinaprivilegedposition.(Bourdieu,P.1977.Citedin NortonPeirce,B.1995)Bourdieu,(1977)writesaboutthemayorofPau(towninFrance) addressingtheinhabitantsintheBearnaislocallanguage,asanexampleofstrategiesof condescension;i.e.onlyapersoninpower,suchasamayor,canusealanguageotherthan theofficialFrench,andbepraisedforit,insteadofderided.ThemayorofPauisthus,a legitimatespeakerbecauseofhisprivilegedpositioninsocietyandhasthepowerto imposereception.NortonPeirce,(1995)extendsBourdieuslabeloflegitimatespeakerto includenativespeakersofaTL.InherworkwithimmigrantwomeninCanada,Norton (2011)detailsanexchangebetweenEva,aPolishimmigrant,andhercoworker,Gail,who asanativespeakerofEnglishistheonewhocoulddeterminethegroundsonwhich interactioncouldproceedandwhohadthepowertobringclosuretotheconversation. (p.13)TheinteractionreferredtohereisGailsrhetoricalquestiontoEvadontyouknow whoBartSimpsonis?(p.13)andthereforebypointingoutEvasignoranceoverBart Simpsonsidentity,Gailisrobbinghertherighttoaddtotheconversation.CitingBourdieu, Norton(2010)writes,thevalueascribedtospeechcannotbeunderstoodapartfromthe personwhospeaks,andthepersonwhospeakscannotbeunderstoodapartfromlarger networksofsocialrelationships.(p.350)TheimplicationhereisthatGailwasclaiminga superiorpositiontoEva,simplybecausetheformerisanativespeakerwhoiswellversed inpopularculture,andthelatterisanimmigrant. PreviouslyImentionedthattheoriesoflanguageassymbolicpowerandinvestment

shouldinformanESLteacherspedagogy.IbelievethisbecausemanyofourESLstudents

WhereIStand areimmigrantsorchildrenofimmigrantsandwouldhavehadexperiencessimilartoEva; experiencesthatmayinhibittheirmotivationtoacquiretheTL.AccordingtoUshioda, (2003)motivationcomesnotonlyfromwithintheindividual,butisalsoasocially mediatedprocess.Astudentotherwisehighlymotivatedmayfeelambivalenttowardthe TLdependingonnumerousfactorsinsideandoutsidetheclassroom.Fornoclassroom standsapartfromsocietal/pressures/challengesthatinfluenceandshapeit,andeach studentandteacherispartofhis/hersocioculturalmilieu,andcannotbeunderstood outsidethatcontext.AsateacherIwouldpaycloseattentiontoclassroomdynamicsand createanatmospherethatisopenandencouraging.Ithinkitispossibletofosterpassion forlearninginourstudents,butforthattohappenitisessentialtofirstdeveloparapport

witheachstudent,remainappreciativeoftheiruniqueness,andrespectfuloftheircultural background.Obviously,asteachers,wecannotcontrolorfixchallengesourstudentsface outsidetheclassroom,butcertainlyitiscrucialtounderstandhowtheirrelationshipand investmentintheTL,influencestheirlearning. TheLanguageLearningProcess Cook(2008)writes,thetermL2userwasoriginallyintendedtocounteractthe

implicationthatpeoplewithasecondlanguagearelearnersforlifeandtogivetheman equalstatuswithpeoplewithanL1.(p.23)AnotherimplicationwhenreferringtoL2 usersasL2learnersisthattheultimategoalmustbenativelikeattainmentandanything shortofthatisconsidereddeficient.PersonallyIlikethetermL2userbecauseit emphasizesanotherimportantaspectoflanguage:thatitisasocialtoolweuse.And whetheronesgoalisnativelikeattainmentorsimplywantingtogetby,usinglanguageis crucialtolearninglanguage.Ifirmlybelievethatnoamountofclassroominstructionwill

WhereIStand leadtolanguagelearningwithoutopportunitiesforactualuseoflanguage.Ellis(2006) principle8states:TheopportunitytointeractintheL2iscentraltodevelopingL2 proficiency.(p.219)IlearnedEnglishbecauseIhadnootherchoicebuttointeractwith

nativespeakerswhenIimmigratedtotheUS.IhaveyettodevelopaproficiencyinGerman becauseIrarelyseekinteractionsinGerman.Ihavehad5yearsofGermanclassroom instruction,butverylittleinteractioninthelanguage.Now,IamapassiveGerman languagelearner,andbythisImeanthatIunderstandmostofwhatissaidinGerman,but amunabletocarryacomplexconversation.SwainandSuzuki(2006)write,fewwould doubtthatparticipationincommunicativeinteractionisasourceofL2acquisition.(p. 576)Theauthorsclaimthatwhenlearnersparticipateincommunicativeinteractionthey engageinlanguagingdefinedastheuseoflanguagetomediatecognitively demanding/complexactivities,(p.565)i.e.,learnerstalkaboutlanguagethroughlanguage inordertotesthypotheses,solveproblemsandsoforth.Producinglanguageplaysarole instimulatinglearnersawarenessoflinguisticforms,encouraginglearnerstopay attentiontoL2grammar.(Swain&Suzuki,p.565)Theultimategoalinlearninganew languageistheabilitytoproducethatlanguage.Interactionandlanguagingarecentral processesinL2acquisition. Thenextsectionwilladdresshowinteractionandlanguagingwillbeusedinthe

classroomthroughtaskbasedinstruction. TeachingLanguage Elliswrites,(2010)tasksconstituteanimportantpedagogictoolforpromotingL2

acquisition,becauselearnerswilldeveloplinguisticknowledgeiftheyexperiencetryingto usethatknowledgeunderrealconditions.Andfurthermore,learnersinterlanguage

WhereIStand

developmentoccursasaproductofcommunication.(p.39)Atask,accordingtoEllis,must satisfythefollowingcriteria: 1. Thereisprimaryfocusonmeaning. 2. Thestudentschoosethelinguisticandnonlinguisticresourcesneededtocomplete thetask. 3. Thetaskshouldleadtorealworldprocessesoflanguageuse. 4. Successfulperformanceofthetaskisdeterminedbyexaminingwhetherstudents haveachievedtheintendedcommunicativeoutcome.(p.35) Ibelievethattaskspromoteinteractionandlanguaging.Tasksadditionallyengage

studentsinproblemsolving,collaboration,andprovideascloseofanauthenticsituationas possible.Tasksenablestudentstodevelopcontrolovertheirlinguisticknowledgewhile theyuselanguageunderrealoperatingconditions.Furthermore,trueinterlanguage development(i.e.,theprocessofacquiringnewlinguisticknowledgeandrestructuring existingknowledge)canonlyhappenwhenacquisitionhappensincidentally,asaproduct oftheefforttocommunicate.(Ellis,2010.pp.3839)OnetypeoftaskthatIbelieve satisfiestheabovecriteriaisadictogloss.Dictoglossisakindofoutputtaskthat encouragesstudentstoworktogetherandproducelanguageformscollaborativelyby reconstructingatextpresentedtothemorally.(Ellis,R.CitedinNasaji&Fotos)During suchatasktheteacherwouldreadatextwhilestudentswrotedownkeyphrases.Oncethe teacherhasfinishedreading,studentswouldworkcollaborativelytoreconstructand reproducetheoriginaltext.Thistypeoftask: promotesverbalinteractioninarealisticcommunicativecontext.Tocompletethe dictoglos,learnersneedtocommunicateandhelpeachothertoreconstructthe passagethisrequiresthemtoengageinextensivediscussionabouttheappropriate lexicalandgrammaticalformsthetaskpusheslearnerstoreflectontheirown languageoutputortalkaboutlanguageitraiseslearnersconsciousnessof specificaspectsoflanguageuse.p.109

WhereIStand AnothertypeoftaskthatIwoulduseinmyclassroomisgrammarconsciousness

raisingtasks.AccordingtoEllis(2003)grammarconsciousnessraisingtasksrequires learnerstocommunicatedirectlyaboutgrammarstructuresThesetasksmaypresentthe structureimplicitly,embeddedincommunicativecontextsorpresentthegrammar structureexplicitlyastaskcontent(Ellis,R.CitedinNassaji&Fotos.p.91)Onegreat example,adaptedfromEllis(2002)ofanexplicitstructuredgrammarfocusedtaskis presentingstudentswithsentencesandaskingthemtodeterminewhenforisandwhen sinceisused,thegroupsthendeveloprulestoexplainwhenforandsinceareusedand presenttheirrulestotherestoftheclass.(Ellis,R.CitedinNassaji&Fotos.p.98) Ibelieveinapplyingtaskbasedinstructionintheclassroombecausetheysimulate

anauthenticsituation,theyraiselearnersawarenessofmeaningandform,promote collaborationandbecausemyownexperienceoflearningEnglishexemplifiessomeofthe featuresoftaskbasedinstruction.IhadlivedinSeattleforhardlyamonthwhenIbegan myjunioryearofhighschoolwithonlyanintermediateEnglishproficiency,butwasstill enrolledinclasseswithnativespeakers.Thefocusoftheseclasseswasonmeaning:the meaningofatext,ofaformulaandsoforth.SincethesewerenotESLclasses,students wereexpectedtochoosethelinguisticandnonlinguisticresourcestocompletean assignment.Mostofourassignmentsrequiredreallanguageuse.Ofcourse,emphasiswas onacademicgenrenonetheless,idiomsandculturalreferencesalwaystookpart.Andlastly, ourperformancewasmeasuredbywhateveritwasweproduced:apresentation,agroup project,orapaper.IamnotproposingthatwedoawaywithESLclasses,andcertainly, whatworkedforme,willnotworkforanother.ButIdobelievethattasksgivestudentsthe opportunitytoproducesomethingmeaningfulandtangible.

WhereIStand Inconclusion,Iwanttostate,thatnoamountoftaskbasedinstruction,languaging

andinteractionwillleadtoL2acquisition,unlesseducatorspaycloseattentiontostudents investment,individualdifferences,theirrelationshiptotheTLandwhattheyperceivetobe assymboliccapital.Theworstwecandoistodismissaseeminglydisinterestedstudentas unmotivatedbecauseitispossiblethatthisstudentisnotinvestedinacquiringtheTLfora varietyofreasons.Perhapshe/shelivesinacommunitywhereEnglishisneverused,or perhapshe/shehasnotbeenwelcomedbythenativeEnglishspeakingcommunitybecause ofthecolorofhis/herskin.AndthusIfirmlystate,thatbeforewearetodevelopa curriculum,whethertaskbasedorcontentbased,weoughttodeveloparapportwithour students.Understandwhotheyareashumanbeingsfirst,thenasstudents.Askyour studentstowriteanaccountoftheirlanguagelearninghistoriessothatyoumay understandwheretheycomefrom,whattheywantandexpect.Andmostofallhave empathyforeachone.Seetheworldfromtheireyes,andbekind,forthatisthebare minimumrequiredforabetterclassroom.

WhereIStand References: Bourdieu,P.(2006).Languageandsymbolicpower.InA.Jaworski(Ed.),TheDiscourse Reader(pp.480490).Routledge.

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Cook,V.J.(2008).Multicompetence:Blackholeofwormholeforsecondlanguage acquisitionresearch?InZ.Han,(Ed.),Understandingsecondlanguageprocess(16 26)Clevedon;Buffalo:MultilingualMatters.

Ellis,R.(2005).Principlesofinstructedlanguagelearning.System,33,209224. Ellis,R.(2010).Secondlanguageacquisitionresearchandlanguageteachingmaterial.InN. Harwood(Ed.),Englishlanguageteachingmaterials.(pp.3356)NewYork,NY: CambridgeUniversityPress.

Gee,J.P.(2011)AnIntroductiontoDiscourseAnalysis:TheoryandMethod.NewYork,NY: Routledge.

Nassaji,H.,&Fotos,S.(2011).Teachinggrammarinsecondlanguageclassrooms: Integratingformfocusedinstructionincommunicativecontext.NewYork,NY: Routledge.

NortonPeirce,B.(1995).Socialidentity,investment,andlanguagelearning.TESOL Quarterly,29,931

Norton,B.(2010)LanguageandIdentity.InV.Edwards(Ed.),NewPerspectiveson LanguageandEducation(pp.349369).MultilingualMatters.

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Norton,B&McKinney,C.(2011).Anidentityapproachtosecondlanguageacquisition.InD. Atkinson(Ed.),Alternativeapproachestosecondlanguageacquisition.(pp.7294). NewYork,NY:Routledge.

Pinker,S.(1994)TheLanguageInstinct:HowTheMindCreatesLanguage.NewYork,NY: HarperCollinsPublishers.

Swain,M.(2000).Theoutputhypothesisandbeyond:Mediatingacquisitionthrough collaborativedialogue.InJ.P.Lantolf(Ed.),Socioculturaltheoryandsecond languagelearning(pp.97114).Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress.

Swain,M.,(2006).Languaging,agency,andcollaborationinadvancedlanguageproficiency. InH.Byrnes,H.(Ed.),Advancedlanguagelearning:ThecontributionofHallidayand Vygotsky(pp.95108).London:Continuum.

Ushioda,E.(2003).Motivationasasociallymediatedprocess.InD.Little,J.Ridley,andE. Ushioda(Eds.),Learnerautonomyinthelanguageclassroom(pp.90102).Dublin: Authentik.

Ushioda,E.(2009).Apersonincontextrelationalviewofemergentmotivation,selfand identity.InZ.Drnei&E.Ushioda,(Eds.),Motivation,languageidentityandtheL2 self(pp.215228).Bristol,UK:MultilingualMatters.