Language Skill Integration

Context is a main point in Chapter 9 because language needs to be contextualized to make sense. Kuma talks about linguistic, extralinguistc, situational, and extrasituational realities. Which one should educators put the most emphasis on? The linguistic context teaches that words have different meanings in different contexts (such as “table”). The extralinguistic context says that emphasis allows attention to be drawn to certain parts of sentences and intonation lets the listener know the difference between a statement and a question. Intonation should be stressed for ELLs. I have a hard time understanding some of my ELI students because when they say something, but it sounds like a statement when it is meant to be a question. The situational contexts allows for meaning in certain places. Statements don’t make sense if they are out of place. Lastly, the extrasituational context talks about being culturally sensitive and knowing the culture of the people around you. One of my international students told me about a time in which she was describing her husband as fat to someone and they looked offended. She then learned that it is not socially acceptable to say that in America. However, in Saudi Arabia, she says that to describe him, not insult him. Therefore, teachers need to make sure that their ELL students are mindful of the setting.

Chapter 10 is about integrating language skills and not teaching reading, writing, speaking, and listening separately. Audiolingualists recommended a sequence of listening, speaking, reading, then writing because that is how children acquire language. They obviously did not consider that all language learners are not children and that people learn different skills at different times. It is important that the skills are integrated because learning and using any single skill can trigger cognitive and communicative associations with others. It’s like killing 4 birds with 1 stone. I do this as much as possible in my ELI classes. For example, this week we talked about Halloween. I first accessed the prior knowledge of my students and asked them what they knew about the holiday (speaking and listening), then I introduced vocabulary for a paragraph that were going to read (listening). They then read the paragraph and summarized two facts that they learned (reading and writing) to share their new knowledge with the class (speaking and listening).

Brown’s Chapter 17 not only talked about the importance of integrating skills, but also models of integration: content-, task-, and theme-based instruction. Of these three, I mostly utilize theme-based in my teaching at the ELI. Because my course is about the everyday skills of English, I have more flexibility in my teaching. For example, my students have formally debated the pros and cons of social media and written personal opinion essays. They also engage in experiential learning by ordering and interacting with restaurant staff, and using teamwork and communication to carve a pumpkin as a class. It is necessary to have a variety of skills and methods in instruction to keep learners engaged and to cater to their different learning needs.

Focus on Form

Eric Hawkins stated, “While combating linguistic complacency, we are seeking to arm our pupils against fear of the unknown which breeds prejudice and antagonism (157).” This is a good quote that is a vital part of Kuma’s chapter “Fostering language awareness”. When people are knowledgeable about something, they are less likely to judge it. We as teachers need to instill the desire for knowledge in our students about English and other languages in the school. Whole language doesn’t exclude some languages and dialects: it involves every aspect. Teachers also need to acknowledge that learning English is difficult. For every rule there is an exception. This is why language awareness is necessary for language teachers. The difference between speaking English and English Education is that English Education majors learn how the language works, while most English speakers just know how to speak it, not teach it. For English learners to develop an appreciation and knowledge about the language, they need to have control of the issues they learn about.  Teachers should explore issues that interest them and the learners. I make sure to incorporate this into my teaching at the ELI. At the beginning of the semester, I handed out a note card to each of my students and asked them to write down what they wanted to learn about. This allows me to cater to them and their needs.

Activating intuitive heuristics is when a student increases their language awareness by attempting to discover the rules and patterns of the linguistic system. This enhances their capacity to discover the linguistic system by increasing language awareness. When a teacher uses a deductive method of teaching grammar (usually focus on forms), they present students with set rules and expect the students to use the rules in speech and writing after enough practice. This encourages little teacher-student interaction and almost no learner-learner interaction that is necessary to create an environment that is conducive to self-discovery. While thinking of when you learned your L2, what deductive method features did you find helpful and which would you change? Inductive teaching (usually focus on forms) allows students to discover the grammar rules. It avoids explicit description and encourages students to analyze samples provided. Most importantly, it structures interaction.

“Form-focused instruction”, by Brown, commented that many language approaches in the past have learned to one extreme or the other regarding focus on form vs. forms. Teachers and researchers now have a better respect for the place of form-focused instruction in an interactive curriculum. After reading Brown’s chapter, I realized that it is important to have both. I usually lean on the side of focus on form, but it depends on the learners as to which one would be more appropriate. Age, proficiency level, educational background, language skills, style, and needs and goals need to be considered. For example, an adult student who already has developed their BICS would benefit more from focus on forms than a new English learner. However, it is important to take both into consideration.

Teaching Reading and Writing

Brown’s chapter entitled “Teaching Reading” helped the reader gain a sense of how to design effective activities, which I enjoyed, and had a lot of good points that I had never thought about before. The first one is that English learners should refrain from using a bilingual dictionary. The meaning of most words can be figured out from their context. I understand that that can help with fluency but I think that knowledge of word meaning is important, too. In regards to types of classroom reading performance, I thought of a disadvantage that is not listed. Oral reading can cause students to feel uncomfortable and inadequate to other students who read better. If students are put on the spot, especially in their L2, their affective filter may be raised because they do not have the necessary language ego yet. However, Brown made a valid point about extensive reading. It usually occurs outside of the classroom and involves pleasure reading. This type of reading not only develops reading fluency and accuracy, but also an appreciation for reading. It is an engaging way to discover more about English.

“Teaching Writing” briefly talked about the issue of voice and identity. How do we preserve the cultural and social identities of students but at the same time teach that English language writing conventions? It is difficult to accommodate students when the task at hand is clear-cut. I feel that we can be culturally sensitive by allowing students to choose topics to write about, such as their backgrounds and to look at the writing in the home country of the students. What is the style? How might the writing of that country be reflected in writing in English? When it comes to types of Written Language, I thought it would be a creative activity to show the students different types of writing (like on 362-363) and teach them how to identify and create these types, such as greeting cards. Lastly, in regards to peer editing, students will learn to be a better writer and a better reader if they take part in peer editing. I had not thought of it in this way before, but it is an applicable point because the students develop their reading skills when they look at the work of their peers. The Myth 5 chapter had good ideas about wiring, as well.

            My favorite of the three readings, “Myth 5: Students Must Learn to Correct All Their Writing Errors”, was a very real chapter in the sense that it gave real-life examples of how to teach and that the author made real connections from his life to the topic. Dana Ferris said that sometimes teachers sometimes expect their students to made radical transformations in a short period of time, which just does not happen. It takes time and hard work to improve and sometimes improvement is not as quick of a process as is wanted. I like that the author said that it is important to focus on the positive aspects of a student’s work. Every step should be celebrated as a big one because the student is that much closer to learning English. Students can be assessed in many different ways. Instead of a timed test, teachers can have students create a writing portfolio to show their improvement. What the teacher will find is that the quality of writing will be improved by higher expectations. Teachers who employ this method, demand more yet give students better conditions for success.