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Tag: ESL

  • Students and Pronunciation Difficulties

    All languages utilise a finite and limited set of sounds to convey meaning. Phonology is the ‘branch of linguistics that deals with the sound systems of a language’ (Cook, 2008, p.67). While adapting Communicative approaches in modern ESL teaching, producing the correct sounds of English takes a priority and especially in my teaching context. The students are 6-12 grade school teachers of Science, Math, ICT, and English in Al Ain region, in the United Arab Emirates. They are called in this government-sponsored programme in order to develop their English levels to cope with the changes in curricula they teach as they are now more English focused and based. The students are assessed by official IELTS (International English Language Testing System) results. All teachers are males, aged between 30-60, and have got Arabic as their native language (a small number have French as their second language – teachers from Tunisia.)

    When it comes to sound systems, we can find many differences between English and Arabic. English ‘has 22 vowels and diphthongs to 24 consonants, Arabic has only eight vowels (three short, three long, and two diphthongs) to 32 consonants’ (Swan and Smith, 2001, p.196).

    In tables 1 and 2, the shaded phonemes have equivalent or near equivalents in Arabic, and according to Swan and Smith, there should not be any difficulty in producing or perceiving these sounds:

    The differences between Arabic and English reflect in the students’ pronunciation as they have difficulties and struggle in producing rather a good number of consonants and vowels. The most significant struggle in my classes is with the vowels (the short vowels /ə/ and /e/) and the consonants (/T/ and / ð/).

    Many factors contribute to the problematic pronunciation of the above mentioned sounds. The predominant factor is the absence of the target-sound from learners’ first language. In this case, they are schwa / ə / and /e/ in Arabic Language. Thus, learners try to substitute it with a similar sound found in the first language.

    As for the voiceless and voiced dental fricatives /T/ and / ð /, there is a tendency, especially in Egyptian students, to substitute the sounds with /s/ and /z/ respectively. Despite the presence of these sounds in Standard Arabic sound system, they do not exist anymore in the Egyptian Arabic accent. Therefore most utterances that include these sounds end up with errors like: this / ð Is/ and think / θ INk/. This is mainly due to Negative Input in which the students have already been exposed to in their schooldays.

    Published 22/12/2013

  • Question Tags, they are dispensable in ESL teaching, aren’t they?

    Tag questions are considered to be a noticeable feature of modern spoken English. A tag questions is short question attached to a statement. The understanding of tag questions is vital in Second Language Learners effective communication. Despite the presence of tag questions variants in other languages (in German nicht wahr?, French n’est-ce pas?, or Spanish verdad,)  some Second Language Learners are still finding some difficulty in understanding the form , the use, and the meaning of tag questions. Factors like polarity, affirmative versus negative, and intonation add an extra challenge for non-native speakers. Therefore, and in the course of English as Lingua Franca, or English as an international language, many linguists consider tag questions to be a disposable element for Second Language Learners. R. Quirk (1982) proposes the concept of Nuclear English in which he introduces simplified forms of native Standard English. Those forms help easier learning of English, especially after stripping off features which can be “dispensable” and “disproportionately burdensome.”

    One of the challenges that Second Language Learners usually face is the first language (L1) interference, or transfer, in their learning process. When it comes to tag questions, many languages lack this element, or they have a different way in expressing the meaning intended by tag questions. For example, Arabic uses totally new items in the tag question in order to express different meaning of the tag questions. Learners may cease to use structures learned before because they are not fully integrated into their interlanguage systems[i]. They may even rely on one highly frequent tag question (isn’t it? For example) and over use it in most cases to produce ungrammatical utterances[ii]:

    * You are coming today, isn’t it?

    The technique of making tag questions is not a simple one. It requires a full understanding of forming questions, understanding the operator function, awareness of the difference between affirmative and negative tag questions, marked and unmarked tag questions, polarity, and the placing of a new lexical item which may not exist in the original statement.

    Probably the most important element regarding the use of tag questions is intonation. The meaning of tag questions differs as there are two possible intonations patterns. The rising-falling intonation pattern is the most common one as it is used to seek confirmation, making a point, agreement, or sure of the statement:

    The rising intonation is used when seeking to elicit a no or yes answer, being unsure, or seeking further clarification[iii]. 

    Second language learners have some difficulty controlling the intonation. Thus, the whole purpose of question tag, which is better communication, can be lost easily.

    There is no shred of a doubt that when linguists consider question tags “dispensable” feature in teaching English as a Second Language, they take into consideration the complexity and the intricacy of their use, meaning, and the difficulty of forming them.  Nevertheless, using tag questions can enhance the communication between English speakers, and I think that this element should be taught at a certain stage where the English learner is able to fully command them and use them in the proper way.

    [i] Lightbown, P.M , Spada, N. (2006) How Languages are Learned Oxford University Press

    [ii] Celce-Murcia, M. Larsen-Freeman, D. (1999) The Grammar Book Second Edition, Heinle and Heinle Publishers

    [iii] Shepherd, J. Rossner, R. Taylor, J (1985) Ways to Grammar Macmillan Publishers LTD

    Published 23/10/2011

  • Can the knowledge of how L1 is acquired help the ESL teacher?

    Can the knowledge of how L1 is acquired help the ESL teacher?

         In what ways can the knowledge of how L1 is acquired help the ESL teacher?

    The rise of Selinker, Krashen and Chomsky’s new theories in second language acquisition, forced the “contrastive analysis” approach, which is related to behaviourism and structuralism, to fade away. A greater attention was set towards Krashen’s theory regarding the similarities between the first language acquisition and the second language one (De Bot, Lowie, and Verspoor 2005, p.34-35). Despite the differences between first language acquisition and second language learning, studies show that first language acquisition and the second language learning share a number of common features and stages. Knowing these features would help giving more information about learning process, efficient teaching techniques, and consequently support and improve second language delivery.

    Little child and brain concept.

    There has been a shift in second language teaching methodology and approaches to embrace the similarities between first language acquisition and second language learning. Modern communicative approaches are the recent ones to oust old grammar-translation and other past-due theories. These approaches aim to reinforce the function over the form (Yule, 1985, p.166) in an attempt to simulate first language settings and conditions and adapt them for the use of the second language. This is mainly due to the fact that Second language conscious process of learning can be integrated along with the subconscious acquisition of language and may result in a better competence on the learner side. The more “natural” the setting in which learning takes place, the better the results were. Jim Scrivener (2005, p.32) goes further in this area and says ‘The purpose of learning a language is usually to enable you to take part in exchanges of information’, and that the traditional teaching methods ‘failed to give learners an opportunity to gain realistic experience in actually using the language knowledge gained’. In this sense, ESL includes and integrates more real-life situations, similar to those of L1 in a try to emphasise on function. This is a good reason why ESL teachers should adopt these communicative approaches and work on approximating ESL environment and settings as far as they can. 

    In addition to the setting adaptation, knowing the stages and phases that children pass through when acquiring their first language can also help in second language learning. Second language learners and first language learners exhibit some similarities in the learning process. Ellis (1985, p.20-21) argues that second language learners’ early speech, after the silent periods and in accordance with formulaic chunks, is characterised to undergo a “propositional simplification”: A process in which learners tend to drop words as a result of inability to perform full sentences. Utterances like *Me no book and * You go? are frequent in my teaching context, especially in elementary and beginners classes. This simplification also appears in children’s telegraphic speech period between at the age between 24 and 30 months. It also shows a great similarity in developing syntax between first language learners and second language learners. Second language learners almost go through the same stages that children develop negation and interrogation in their first language. For questioning, students at first add Wh- in front of anything to form questions, or even change the intonation:

    Nevertheless, negation starts by placing no or not before any word or phrase to make negatives:

    * He not like lesson

    The “overgeneralization” process which first language learners undergo (Yule, 1985, p.155) also does exist in second language learning. Students take one morphological rule, the plural –s for example, and apply it to all nouns. After that stage, they start figuring out irregular forms of plural nouns.

    All the similarities mentioned above can be used as markers and guidelines in any ESL teaching context. Second language teachers would know by this comparison that learners -whether acquiring their first language or learning their second- do follow a specific order and go through some shared stages and process. They learn chunks before complete sentences, simple negation before using auxiliaries, and intonation change in questions before applying inversion rules, and so on.

    References:

    –           Cook, V 2008, Second Language Learning and Language Teaching, 4th edition, Hodder Education, London, UK.

    –           De Boot, K, Lowie, W & Verspoor M 2005, Second Language Acquisition, Routledge, New York, USA.

    –           Ellis, R 1997, Second Language Acquisition, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.

    –           Yule, G 1985, The Study of Language, 3rd edition, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

    Published 09/10/2011

  • Differences between First Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning

    Differences between First Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning

    Differences between First Language Acquisition and Second
    Language Learning

    Differentiating Language learning from language acquisition is considered as one of the many linguistic phenomena that emerged in the 20th century. The need for a systematic study of how languages are learned was developed as part of the cultural and communication expansion the world has witnessed (Ellis 1997, p.3).

    First Language acquisition is the natural process in which children subconsciously possess and develop the linguistic knowledge of the setting they live in. In contrast, Second language learning takes place where the target language is the language spoken in the language community that differs from the mother tongue “first language” and distinguished from Foreign language learning in which the language is absent from the setting of that community (De Bot, Lowie, and Verspoor 2005, p.7)

    Many studies addressed the distinction between L1 (First language) acquisition and L2 (Second language) learning. The very first thing to address is the natural process in which L1 learners acquire their language knowledge. L2 learning is more of a conscious one.

    Compared to L1 learning, L2 learners develop this knowledge by utilising conscious and cognitive efforts. De Bot, Lowie, and Verspoor (2005, p.7) argue that Krashen and Terrel tried to draw a line between second language acquisition and learning by stating that acquisition is a subconscious process and very similar to the one that children develop in their first language.

    Yule (1985, p.163) defines acquisition to be ‘…the gradual development of ability in a language by using it naturally in communicative situations with others who know the language’. He contrasts it with learning: ‘a more conscious process of accumulating knowledge of the features, such as vocabulary and grammar, of a language, typically in an institutional setting’.

    The natural subconscious or conscious learning factor is highly and vitally linked and attached to the linguistic setting. This leads to another major distinction between L1 and L2 learners which is exposure. The L1 acquisition, as defined earlier, takes place in a setting where the acquired language is the language spoken by parents and or caregiver. The acquirer is in a constant exposure to this language. Second language learners have lesser contact with the language, and maybe as few as hours per week in
    the case of foreign language learners (Yule, 1985, p.163).

    There are also some individual differences that play part in this distinction and they fall in two groups. First, physical differences and age: Children who are acquiring their first language are still developing their speech organs. This explains the gradual and natural development of sound production accompanied with the brain development. L2 learners’ competence is also affected by age-related physical conditions that hinder their learning. Yule (1985, p.145) argues that the readiness of the human mind to receive and learn a new language is most in childhood, which is called the critical period. Ellis (1995, p.67) describes the critical period that in which ‘…language acquisition is easy and complete (i.e. native-speaker ability is achieved)’.

    Second, cognitive and psychological differences: A number of cognitive and
    psychological learning barriers that separate L2 learners from the L1 acquirers. Recent studies show that motivation plays a great role in attaining language proficiency. Cook (2008, p.136) states that bigger motivation leads to better performance in L2. According to Cook, the motivation for learning falls in two types: Integrative ‘… reflects whether the student identifies with the target culture and people in some sense’; and instrumental one in which learning takes place for a career or other practical reason (Cook (2008, p.136-137). Ellis (1995, p.75) even adds two more types of motivation: Resultative motivation that takes place when learning controls the motivation, and an intrinsic motivation in which it involves the activation, arousal, and maintenance of the learning curiosity.

    There are other cognitive factors that play a role in determining learner’s effort and competence in the second language learning. Those factors are highly related to aptitude which is “… natural ability for learning an L2” (Ellis, 1995, p.73)

    Published on 19/09/2011

  • Present and Past Tenses… and the idea of time!

    Present and Past Tenses… and the idea of time!

    Any given language consists of three systems: words system, sound system, and grammar. English grammar has two distinctive tenses: Present and Past tenses. A Tense would be the syntactic identification of event’s location in time. This is done by the speaker deciding the event time according to their world experience . Most of grammarians and linguists agree that there is no direct relation between the “form” of the verb and the “tense” of the action. The issue of time-form is the backbone in categorizing the verbs into finite and non-finite verbs: Non-finite verbs show that a verb does not indicate tense. This is the reason why tensed verbs are considered to be central members of the verb lexemes. This is mainly due to their inflectional paradigms and the functional potential of their forms that non-finite verbs lack . These verbs show what is known as syncretism.

    Present tense, in general terms, denotes an action that happens in present time. This statement proves to be inaccurate. Present tense can be used to denote past actions as in I have met David Beckham. The present perfect can be used for a past happening which is seen in relation to a later event or time. It means “past-time-related-to-present-time ” as in He’s been in France for ten years. Present tense also can be used to refer to an action that will take place in the future I am flying next week to Bangkok. We can also use the present (instead of the past) to tell a story. It helps the action seem more direct, as it is happening now: I’m standing outside the bank, and a man comes up to me and grabs hold of my arm. We also use the present for actions in films, plays and books Macbeth murders the King of Scotland, who is staying at his castle .

    While past tense in English locates an action or a state in the past and situates them at a “temporal distance” from the moment of speaking, yet the past tense can refer to time frames other than past. Closed conditional exhibit the potential present reference of past tense as in If we had enough time… Other hypothetical subordinate clauses like He talks as if he owned the place and I often wish I were someone else also have present reference despite the use of past tense. We often use the past tense in polite requests in order to distance the action in order to make the impact on the listener less direct: Did you want to speak to me now? And I wondered if you need anything now. As many other languages, English language has the grammatical categories of past and present tenses, future time, and different aspects. All these concepts encourage the false assumption that that present tense talks about present events or states and so on. Unfortunately, this assumption is wrong. It is obvious that there is no one-to-one relation between time and tense, nor time and form of the verb.

    Published on 18/05/2011

  • Creative Writing Enhancement via Literature Based Instructions

    Creative Writing Enhancement via Literature Based Instructions

    Can creative writing be taught? Can those who “don’t have it” inside be creative?

    The article being critiqued be found here: http://cscanada.net/index.php/sll/article/viewFile/1335/1438

    The article Enhancing ESL Writing via a Literature Based Instruction summarises the experiment undertaken by Chittra Muthusamy, Faizah Mohamad, Siti Norliana Ghazali, and Angelina Subrayan. As the title suggests, the article encloses the literature, the experiment and the findings of incorporating literature based language instruction in ESL writing lessons to trigger, evaluate, and enhance creative writing of the students.

    The article starts with an introduction in which the writers gave a holistic view of writing skills in comparison to different aspects of creative writing arguing that literature plays an important role in shifting students’ writing from the dullness of academic writing, to the liveliness of creative one. Then the writers discussed the elements of literature that can engage students, and provide a wide variety of resources for ESL teachers to choose from. The writers cited a number of references to support the claims of literature exposure and its role in enriching students’ academic, intellectual, cultural, and linguistic learning. The article then discussed the principle of creativity, and its relation to education and English
    language. The writers gave a close look on some types of language creativity ranging from lexical, phonological, graphological, semantic and grammatical creativity, in addition to the use of metaphor. Finally, the writers provided a lengthily details description of the method used in the experiment, a research instrument, the treatment and instructional procedures, data collection and analysis procedures, and finally the findings of the experiment.

    Stephen King on Creative Writing and Creative Writers who Teach

    The whole article and research can be perceived as a scientific try to answer and solve the complicated issue of how teachable is creative writing. One can notice that the language of the article ranged between pure scientific information-oriented style when talking about the methods and data analysis, and somehow prose-like style when it comes to the rationale behind the experiment. The article is well referenced and well structured in order to reflect the explanatory aspect of the reasons behind such research and study. It provides concise definitions and explanations of literature usage in ESL; and also the difference between writing, creativity, and creative writing. The researchers even went further to explore the relation between creativity and education, and the different types of creativity that ESL learners may reflect. One of the positive points in the article is the scientific explanation and description of the approach and methods used by the researchers in order to test the enhancement of creative writing. The research was conducted on two experimental and control groups; and was built on a quasi-experimental design in which Ibsen’s I-Model of text exploration was applied on the experimental group. The findings and results reflected the overall improvement in creative writing of the experimental group. The researchers gave a full account on the stages of Ibsen’s text exploration and mentioned in details the nature of tasks, the interaction taking place between the readers and the story, in addition to the type of active reading and negotiation of meaning.

    Yet, the article raises a number of question marks towards explaining, describing, and validating some key concepts and issues.

    First, the researchers gave an exaggerated negative description of the students’ competence and their actual writing skills. They also could not provide a decisive say in whether creativity is considered to be an innate gift, or a tool used in education. The article also fails in describing the appropriate input of the appropriate literary piece that should be used. That not all literary works could be used as a good input for creative writing. Add to this, the well-known, appealing and good literary works usually utilise somehow complicated and complex language structures, vocabulary registry, and writing techniques that can prove challenging for ESL learners and consequently will lead to unfulfilling the aim of creative writing.

    Second, the article fails in explaining key arguments the article is based upon. The researcher did not explain the relation between linguistic competence and subject and content details; and between literature and syntax enhancement. The research did not give any pedagogic explanation of how this enhancement is taking place.

    Finally, the article could not provide validation for some key points in the study. The article concentrates, especially in the findings, on the overall group achievement in the pre-test post-test comparison. However, the researchers did not pay attention nor highlight the individual differences among ESL learners. ESL learners have different learning preferences, needs, and intelligences. Literature based language instruction may cause disengagement and raise serious effectiveness questions. Their creative writing responses in the post-test might not be but immediate reflection on the experiment where there is no indication of any long-term testing taking place in order to eliminate the temporariness of the results. Moreover, constant exposure to literary works and literature works centred lessons and practices (the entire focus is on creative writing) may raise plagiarism concerns. The writers did not provide any evidence that the creativity measures found in the students’ post-test were authentic and were not mere replicas of the characters, structures, plots, and vocabulary found in the literary work they studied before. In addition, one of the limitations looming around the article is the potentiality of focus-shifting to written forms of output neglecting, in the same time, any other form of output.

    Published on 12/05/2011