Liven Up the English Classroom with Academic Learning: Examples from Cognitive Psychology

学問で英語クラスを活気づけよう:認知心理学からの実例

TomokazuIshikawa, 石川 友和

Center for English as a Lingua Franca, Tamagawa University, Japant.ishikawa@lab.tamagawa.ac.jp

ABSTRACT

Topics in merchandised university English coursebooks are not necessarily interesting to students. By providing example activities on cognitive psychology topics, the present paper discusses one way of making the classroom a more exciting and engaging place to study English, along with academic content through English.

KEYWORDS:Englishlanguageteaching(ELT),Englishmediuminstruction(EMI),Cognitivepsychology

1. INTRODUCTION

WidelymarketeduniversitycoursebooksofEnglishfor(General)AcademicPurposesorEAPlargelyavoidproactivetopics,commonlyknownasPARSNIP,whicharepolitics,alcohol, religion, sex, narcotics, isms (e.g., communism), and pornography or pork(Galloway, 2018; Gray, 2000).Activities in these ‘uncontroversial’ textbooks can betooinsipidtoencouragestudentengagementinlearning.InreferencetoAirey’s(2016)language-contentcontinuum,thepresentpapersuggestsmovingfromEAP(i.e.,language)towardsEnglishMedium Instruction orEMI (i.e., academic content)with the help ofclassicaltopicsincognitivepsychology.GiventhatJapanesestudentseducatedinJapantendtotakeEMIastheopportunitytolearnlanguage(Murata&Iino,2018),EMIhasthepotential topromotemoreactiveandpurposeful languageuse throughstimulatingandfascinatingcontent. Assuch,itisnottheauthor’sintentiontoencouragefellowEnglishinstructorstodiscusscontroversialtopics,suchasPARSNIP,intheirclassrooms.Rather,hewouldliketodemonstratethatincorporatingacademiclearningintoourteachingmaybekeytomorestudentengagementinclassroomactivities.Tothiseffect,whatfollowsoffersexamplesof classroom practices.

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2. EXAMPLE ACTIVITIES

Thismainsectionintroducesfourclassicaltopicsincognitivepsychology,whichmaybeusedintheuniversityEnglishclassroomforstudentsacrossdifferentEnglishcapabilitiesandfromdifferentdisciplines.ThesetopicsareWason’s(1966)fourcardproblem(see2.1),availabilityandrepresentativeheuristics(Kahneman&Tversky,1972;Tversky&Kahneman,1973;see2.2&2.3),andchangeblindness(Simons&Levin,1998;see2.4).Figures1to5belowaretheactualslidestheauthorhasusedinhisteaching1.

2.1 Wason’s (1966) Four Card ProblemBasedonaseriesofexperimentsreportedbyWason&Shapiro(1971),wecanincludechallengingbut entertaining activities in class.Studentswill be shown four cards andgivenaruletoverify.Theirtaskistodetermineiftheruleisbeingfollowedbyselectingtwocardsoutofthefourtoturnover.

Figure 1. Wason’s four card problem: Letters and numbers

Itisworthwhiletoexplainwhatvowelsandconsonantsaswellasevenandoddnumbersmeantostudents.Obviously,whileA,E,I,O,andUaretheonlyvowellettersinEnglish,thereareinfiniteevennumbers.Eachcardhasaletterontheonesideandanumberon theother side.Forexample, the leftmostcard (i.e., “F”)has somenumberprintedonthebackside,andthenextone(i.e.,“4”)hassomeletteronthereverseside. Agoodnumberofstudentsarelikelytoselectthemiddlecards(i.e.,“4”and“E”).Atfirstsight,theirdecisionisreasonablesincetheruleisaboutevennumbersandvowels.However,itdoesnotmatterwhethertheothersideof“4”isaconsonantbecauseconsonantcardsareirrelevanttotherule(i.e.,“Ifacardhasavowel”).Inotherwords,theruledoes

1 Theseslideswillbecompiled,togetherwithothers,asteachingmaterialforonemoduleatTamagawaUniversity’sCenterforEnglishasaLinguaFranca(seeIshikawa&McBride,2019).

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notsayanythingaboutconsonants.Afterall,peoplemayallsufferfromconfirmationbias,thatis,thetendencytoconfirmratherthandisconfirminformation.ToborrowAnderson’s(2015)words,“[t]henumberofpeoplethatmaketherightcombinationofchoices,turningoveronlytheEandthe7,isoftenonlyabout10%,whichhasbeentakenasadamningindictmentofhumanreasoning”(p.243). Humanreasoningoftenfails,andWason’s(1966)fourcardproblemshowshowgoodpeopleareatmodusponensandtollensrespectively.

Figure 2. Modus ponens and tollens

InthecaseofRule1inFigure1: •Modusponens(i.e.,ifp then q):Ifacardhasavowel,thenitmusthaveanevennumber on the other. •Modustollens(i.e.,ifnot-q then not-p):Ifacarddoesnothaveanevennumber,thenitmustnothaveavowelontheother.Theformerlogicrequirestask-takerstoturnover“E”(i.e.,avowel),andthelatterlogicnecessitateschecking“7”(i.e.,notanevennumber). Studentsmaywanttotryanothercardselectiontask.Inthehopeofmorecorrectresponses, we can state a problem in concrete everyday terms in relation to familiareverydayexperiences.

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Figure 3. Wason’s four card problem: Drinks and ages

Afewstudentsmightnotbefamiliarwiththeword“coke”,whichisshortforCoca-Cola,andmoreimportantly,asoftdrink. Wecanencouragesmallgroupdiscussionandmake links toour textbooks.Asanexample,wecanuse the followingboldfacedexpressions fromourcurrent readingtextbookforELF101-102courses(Ackert,Lee,Hawkins&Back,2014,p.77):Ithinkweshouldturnover____and____. •Yes, I agree. / Yes, I know. / Yes, I think so, too. •Well, maybe./Youmayberight./I’m not sure about that. •Well, I don’t think so./Youdon’tsay./Noway.Wemay ask each group to reach agreement on the two cards to be selected throughdiscussion,andsharetheirideaswiththeclassafterwards. Thistime,manystudentswillprobablyselectthecorrectcards:“beer”and“16yearsold”.Weshouldbetternotforgettopraisestudentsfortheiractiveparticipationinclassandfortheirbetterreasoninginthesecondcardselectiontask.

2.2 Availability HeuristicAnother area we can use to promote student discussion is what is called availabilityheuristic(Tversky&Kahneman,1973) tobeexplainedlater.Wecancreateclassroomactivitiesinaccordancewithinterestsoflocallearners,andKusano(2016)seemstoservethis purpose.

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Figure 4. Availability heuristic

Itisagoodideatomakesurethatallstudentsunderstandtheabovethreeoptions,andthatbeautyparloursaredifferentfrombarbershops.Atthisstage,weneednot,oroughtnotto,explainwhatavailabilityheuristicislike.Notethatthesameexpressionsasin2.1are‘recycled’inFigure4.Studentswillbeabletoproceduralisetextbookexpressionsbyusingthemondifferentoccasions. Again,wemayencouragesmallgroupdiscussiontoreachagreementononeofthethreeoptionsasagroup.Thisprocedurewillnottakesomuchtimesincemanystudentsusuallythinkthatconveniencestoresarethelargestinnumber.Afewgroupsmaychoosedental clinics instead. Inreality,however,Japanhasover220,000beautyparlours,farexceeding35,100conveniencestoresand68,700dentalclinics (seeKusano,2016).Whilemoreupdatedgovernmentalstatisticsarenotavailable,itwouldbefairtosaythatthefirstoption(i.e.,beautyparlours)isthefactualanswertothisthree-choicequestion. Human cognition is not perfect. In Tversky and Kahneman’s (1973) originalexperiment,peoplecommonlyperceivethattherearemorewordsbeginningwithk than havingk as the third letter, even though the opposite is true.Withfirst letters a goodmemorycue,itismucheasiertothinkoftheformerthanthelatter. Likewise,inthecaseoftheabovethree-choicequestion,conveniencestoreseasilyoccurtostudents’mindastheplacestheyregularlyuse.Eveniftheyspendmoremoneyatbeautyparloursthanatconveniencestores,theyusetheformerfarlessoften.Onasidenote,moreconveniencestoresarenormallyavailablearoundrailwaystations.TamagawaUniversity,wherewework,isclosetoastation,anditsstudentsinevitablyseedifferentconvenientstoreswhilewalkingtoandfromtheuniversity. As seen in bothTversky andKahneman (1973) andKusano (2016), themorememorableorstrikingexamplesare,themorelikelypeoplearetojudgetheiroccurrence

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inreal life.Toput itdifferently,peopleare liable tomakeaprobability judgmentofagiven itemby its retrievalfluency(e.g.,Reber,2017), that is,howeasily itsexamplescome to mind. Toconvincestudentsfurther,wecanaddananecdotelikethis:StudentAhasthreeclosefriendsinherEnglishclass,andnoneofthethreelikesstudyingEnglish.ShetellshermotherathomeloudlythateveryoneintheclassdislikesstudyingEnglishevenifadozenotherstudentsinthesameclassfeeltheoppositeway.Havingheardthisanecdote,wemayseestudentssmilingor laughing.Wetendtoexaggeratewhateasilycomestomind.Again,wemaywanttopraisestudentsfortheirunderstandingacademiccontentthroughEnglish.

2.3 Representative HeuristicSimilarly,wearepronetojudgebyrepresentativenessorcharacteristicfeatureswithoutregard to base rate or statistical probability. To put it technically, we often use therepresentativeheuristic(Kahneman&Tversky,1972).ThefollowingexampleisadaptedfromSwinkels(2003).

Figure 5. Representative heuristic

It is likely that students at Tamagawa University are familiar with what itsPerformingArtsdepartment is likeand thereforewith this term(i.e.,performingarts),butthatsomeofthemareunfamiliarwiththewords“aggressively”and“occupation”aswasthecaseintheauthor’sELF101-102class.Whentheauthorusedthisslide,NaomiOsakacreatedasensationinthemediabywinningthe2018UnitedStatesOpentennistournament.Hetookthesecond-placewinnerSerenaWilliamsasanexampleofaggressive athletes,andreferredtoWilliams’andOsaka’soccupationasplayingtennis.Also,wecanallowstudentstosearchbyimagethroughtheInternetanddiscusswhattrapezeartistsarelike,aswellasotheroccupationsinFigure5asnecessary.

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Yetagain,wemayencouragesmallgroupdiscussiontodecideononeofthefiveoptions.Wecan‘recycle’anysetoftextbookexpressionsandputtheminacommunicativecontext(see2.2).Differentideaswillemergefromdifferentgroups,makingthesubsequentclassdiscussionlively.ItistruethatthedescriptionofthepersonnamedTamaoseemstobesuggestiveofaperformer. Importantly,however, thenumberofanyof theotheroptions(i.e.,businesspeople,farmers,lawyers,andsurgeons)issignificantlyhigherthanthatof trapezeartists in Japanandelsewhere.Disregarding thisbase rate information,studentsmaywellbeswayedintobelievingthatTamaobelongstoacircustroupe.Giventhat60.04outof67.24millionworkersinJapanarecategorisedasbusinesspeopleasof2019(StatisticsBureauofJapan,2020),itisthemostreasonabletoconsiderhimtobeabusinessperson.Studentswillbe‘allears’tothisexplanation,perhapswonderingwhytheyhaveignoredthebaserateinformationthemselves.

2.4 Change BlindnessIfwelefttheclassroomshortlyandcamebackwithadifferenttieorscarf,howmanystudentswouldnoticethechange?Tothesameeffect,wemayshowthefirst38secondsofNOVA’s(2011)videocliptoseewhetherstudentswillnoticeachangeofpersonswithinabriefstory. Simons and Levin’s (1998) well-cited experiment on change blindness isreproduced in the same video clip of NOVA (2011, 1’40’’–2’35’’). In their study, anexperimenterstoppedpedestriansandaskedfordirections(seeFigure6).Whiletalking,theywereinterruptedby‘workers’whowerecarryingalargeboardandpassingbetweenthem.Even though one of theworkers replaced the original experimenter during thatinterruption(seeFigure7),aroundhalfoftheparticipantsdidnotnoticethechange,thusillustratinghowgreatlycontextualinformationaffectsourperceptionoftheworld.

Figure 6. Change blindness: Asking for directions, captured from NOVA (2011, 2’07’’)

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Figure 7. Change blindness: Asking for directions, captured from NOVA (2011, 2’09’’)

Oncestudentsgettheideathatpeopleareoftenbiasedbycontextualinformationandtherebyunabletokeeptrackofcurrentinformation,wecanshowanothervideoclip,suchasChambers(2016),inwhichinstructionsaregiveninEnglish.Chambers(2016)startswiththetextinstruction,“You’reabouttoseetwoimagesswitchingbackandforthinrapidsuccession”(0’00’’–0’03’’),andincludesthreetasksofthiskind(seeFigure8forthefirsttaskasanexample).Studentswillbegluedtothequicklyalternatingimages,possiblyforgettingthefactthattheyarereadinginstructionsinEnglishandlisteningtoourexplanationthroughEnglish,ratherthantheirmothertongue.

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Figure 8. Change blindness: Two switching images, captured from Chambers (2016, 0’13’’–0’17’’)2

Withstudents,wewillexperience“[t]heinabilitytodetectachangeinascenewhenthechangematchesthecontext”(Anderson2015,p.366).Atthesametime,wewillobservestudents’abilitytoenjoyandlearnaboutcognitivepsychology.

3. CONCLUSION

Classical topics in cognitive psychology may provide English classes with a lot offun.Wecan facilitateEnglishusewhen it is combinedwith academic learningwhichisbothintellectuallyintriguingandrelevanttoeverydaylife.Wason’s(1966)fourcardproblem,availabilityandrepresentativeheuristics(Kahneman&Tversky,1972;Tversky&Kahneman, 1973), and change blindness (Simons&Levin, 1998) are among goodexamples.Theyhighlightthehumantendenciestohaveaconfirmationbias,overweightwhateasilycomestomind,ignorebaserateinformation,andnottoseechangesinavisualscenerespectively.WecanfindsimilarexamplesinAnderson(2015)andothercognitivepsychologytextbooks. Byidentifyingweaknessesincognition,wemaybeabletothinkmorecarefullyandeffectively.ByfindingaplaceoflearningtheseweaknessesintheEnglishclassroom,wemaybeabletobringmoreexcitementandengagementinstudyingEnglishaswellasacademiccontentthroughEnglish.

2 Notethedifferenceincolourofthetrouserswornbythepersononthefarleft.75

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