STUDIES IN ENGLISH FOR PROFESSIONAL

COMMUNICATIONS AND APPLICATIONS

Edited by

Yi-Ju Chen, Shih-Jen Huang

Hui-Chuan Liao, Shouhua Lin

STUDIES IN ENGLISH FOR PROFESSIONAL

COMMUNICATIONS AND APPLICATIONS

Edited by

Yi-Ju Chen, Shih-Jen Huang

Hui-Chuan Liao, Shouhua Lin

National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences

Studies in English for Professional Communications and ApplicationsEditorial board: Yi-Ju Chen, Shih-Jen Huang, Hui-Chuan Liao, Shouhua Lin© 2010 by KUASNational Kaohsiung University of Applied SciencesKaohsiung, Taiwan 807Cover design: Tsai- Min LiuISBN 978-986-147-393-2

Preface

This book compiles 14 selected papers presented at The 2010 International Conference on English Teaching held on April 30, 2010 at the National Kaohsiung University of Applied Science (KUAS) in Kaohsiung Taiwan (http://www.kuas.edu.tw). The Conference features English for Professional Communication and Applications.

We want to thank our keynote speakers Prof. Winnie Cheng of Hong Kong Polytechnic University for her inspiring speech on research development in professional communication in English and Dr. Chizuko Suzuki to share her experience in Japan with us on possible collaboration between ELT and ICT, and guest speakers Prof. Wei Yang Dai on fluency development and Prof. Ying-Huei Chen on ESO and teacher identity, and the presenters from the academic institutions around the nation for their research studies in areas of CALL, Linguistics, Curriculum Design, ESP and TESL.

We are also deeply indebted to our sponsors for their generous support to make this conference possible and successful. They are: the Ministry of Education, Southern Taiwan Teaching/Learning Resources Center, Caves Book Store, Cosmos Culture Limited, Crane Publishing Company., Taiwan ELT, Tung Hua Book Publisher, Live ABC Corporation, Smarten Tech Company, AMC Incorporation, Hwajuh Digital Limited, Chun Shin Limited—ETS Taiwan Distributor.

Our thanks also go to the faculty, staff and students of the Department of Applied Foreign Languages at KUAS for their persevering efforts to bring all preparatory works, administrative services and events right on the track, including coordination, reception, transportation,

The Department of Applied Foreign LanguagesNational Kaohsiung University of Applied SciencesKaohsiung, TaiwanMay 2010

CONTENTS

Preface

1 Accomplishments and possibilities of collaboration between ELT & ICT shown by experiences in JapanChizuko Suzuki, Nagasaki Junshin Catholic University

1

2 Graphic Similarity in Vocabulary MCQ Options: Design Flaw or Enhancement?John-Michael Nix, National Taiwan Normal University

9

3 Constructing Reader-Writer Relationship in Business JournalsFei-Wen Cheng, National Chiyi University

21

4 A Study of Foreign Language Anxiety and its Relationship with their English Achievement of 7th Graders in TaiwanMin-hsun Su & Yi-ting Lan, Ming Chuan University

31

5 New Varieties of English (NVEs) in EOP on Tourism—An Indian English CaseAndrew M. L. Chou, Kai-nan University

43

6 Blogging about Picture Books: A Case Study of 13 High School EFL students’ Reading & Writing Experiences Hsiao-chien Lee, National Kaohsiung Marine University

57

7 Evaluating Readability of a University Freshman EFL ReaderCheng-Yi Lin, National Taiwan Normal University

75

8 A Retrospective Evaluation of a Local College English Textbook From an Intercultural PerspectiveTzu-chia Chao, Ming Hsin University of Science and Technology

89

9 Understanding Learner Interactions - Theoretic Perspectives Hui-jung Tang, Fortune institute of Technology

101

10 A Study of Modality in English Online SupportChih-Hsuan Hsu,National Taipei University of Technology

117

11 A Study of Collocation Learning of Junior High Students in Taiwan via ConcordancePing-yin Chao, National Chiayi University

129

12 The Effect of Different Forms of Online Dictionary on the Vocabulary Acquisition of Intermediate English as a Second Language (ESL) LearnersWei-Yuan Lu, De Lin Institute of Technology

155

13 An Effective College English Program for Low Proficient College StudentsLee-Yen Wang, Kainan University

165

14 Catching up with Global Trends: Using English Newspapers to Teach Business EnglishYuchih Wang, Shih Hsin University

175

1

Accomplishments and Possibilities of Collaboration between ELT and ICT Shown by Experiences in Japan

Chizuko Suzuki Nagasaki Junshin Catholic University

suzuki@n-junshin.ac.jp

AbstractThis paper discusses the collaboration of ELT with ICT focusing on the case of Japan

by starting with overlooking at some representative studies and their outcomes, followed by examination of concrete accomplishments to consider further possible directions in developing the collaboration. ICT should be utilized to connect non-native speaking learners of English with the English language and with its native speakers. Furthermore, ICT may have true potential for enhancing the Asian people’s professional communication in English, when it is incorporated with products of language processing and corpus studies.

Background Around since the beginning of this century, when Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,

Science and Technology-Japan (MEXT) issued the strategic plan and the following action plan to cultivate “Japanese with English abilities”, Japanese universities, academic circles and business communities concerned with ELT have adopted the idea of utilizing IT/ICT for a change of the ELT environment and developed several research projects regarding integration of ICT into ELT to produce some teaching methods and commercial materials and systems for ELT. In accordance with the MEXT strategic and action plans, the English for specific purposes (ESP) as well began to attract a great deal of attention in the field of ELT particularly for higher education. So, these years in Japan have witnessed various kinds of challenges and enterprises in ELT especially concerning collaboration between ELT and ICT.

Studies and their Outcomes of Collaboration between ELT and ICT First of all, how ICT is incorporated into ELT in Japan at the university level is

discussed quantitatively. Then, actual projects and products are categorized in terms of the function or aspect of ICT and exampled according to the classification to understand the qualitative characteristics of collaboration between ICT and ELT.

The Status of Use of ICT for ELT A data published in JACET (Japan Association of College English Teachers)’s Study

Report on the English language classes at the university level throughout Japan (2007) indicates how the IT media and networking have been playing a considerable role in improving the higher education. According to the part of the use of IT in the report (pp.

Studies in EPCA

2

280-283), among the 167 research projects for promoting university education reform which were accepted to be funded by MEXT starting in the year 2005, 88% have the term IT or related terms in their titles of the projects. And besides, one fourth of the projects contain the term Multi-media or (Learning Support) System as their key words. Moreover, among the 17 projects specified for ELT, 16 (94.1%) are directly connected with IT, with the terms of Multi-media and CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) as the highly ranked keywords.

Project Examples Representative projects regarding collaboration between ICT and ELT can be picked up

from the list of the projects funded by MEXT mentioned in the previous section, and from publications by academic circles like JACET and LET (The Japan Association for Language Education and Technology), which was renamed from LLA (Language Laboratory Association). JACET inaugurated a special research committee of ICT in 2007 and the committee has published two volumes of report on studies and outcomes of collaboration between ICT and ELT at the university level of education. The latest issues published by the national and chapters LET journals carry a lot of articles related to the theme of collaboration between ICT and ELT. The followings are such representative studies and outcomes of the collaboration listed from the reports and journals. They can be broadly classified into eight categories: 1) CALL; 2) CCDL (Cross-Cultural Distance Learning); 3) e-learning; 4) on demand; 5) vodcast; 6) Moodle; 7) mobile use in the ubiquitous world, and 8) courseware sharing. 1) “Business English Class by CALL”, “Collocation Studies Using a Concordancer” 2) “Developing Transferable Skills and Social Intelligence through Theme-Based CCDL” 3) “Supporting University Education by E-learning System”, “Web-based Communication

Practice for Nursing Students Overseas”, “Online Writing Evaluation Service” 4) “OnDemand Lecture Distribution through an Open Education Center” 5) “Vodcast Creation and Its Effects on English Presentation Class”, “Using YouTube to

Develop Presentation Skills in an EFL Setting” 6) “Making Use of Moodle: from Listening Practice for High School Students to EMP

(English for Medical Purpose)” 7) “Creation of English Materials for Mobile Phone, iPod, or PSP (PlayStation®Portable)” 8) “Development of Courseware by Association of Universities for the Promotion of Online

Learning” To sum up, the series of projects as above may indicate a transition from LL to CALL,

and further toward NBLT (Network-Based Language Teaching) in the history of media use for ELT.

Suzuki, C. Accomplishments and Possibilities

3

Cases Experienced at Department of English & Information Science, NJCU This section examines a few cases of collaboration between ELT and ICT which have

been experimented and experienced by the author for these five years at her workplace, the department of English and information science of Nagasaki Junshin Catholic University (NJCU) to discuss the accomplishments and prospects for future study.

An International Joint Project between Japan and Korea on an Interactive Web: BBS This project has been developed as an e-learning system of ELT for university students

in Japan and Korea, assuming that an online collaborative communication environment will provide Asian university students with as many activities as possible to unite and integrate all skills necessary for becoming global citizens. Such an environment maximizes chances for students to practice exchanging information and opinions in their common target language, English, which tends not to be sufficient in their regular classroom activities. Eventually the collaborative project using ICT has aimed at developing Asian university students’ global mind, critical thinking, and communicative competence in English.

The group of students who participated in the project could show a significant proficiency development evidenced by Pre- and Post- SLEP tests results being compared with a control group, particularly in the reading proficiency as exemplified in the case of 2005’s activity shown by Table 1 (JACET-ICT, 2008).

This type of overseas joint e-learning, furthermore, was proved to become more effective by taking an action research approach, with students, teachers and researchers all together involved in to ensure the sustainability (Suzuki).

Developing Medical/Nursing Academic English Writing Moodle Courseware based on Corpus Analysis

This project started in 2005 in order to meet the most urgent need for ESP: Reading and writing abilities, which was made clear by a survey previously conducted. (Yokoyama, et al., 2004) As its final goal, it set the task of constructing an e-learning system for reading and writing English academic papers in the field of medicine and nursing. To implement the

Studies in EPCA

4

system with appropriate courseware, a large-scale corpus data (approximately 11 million words) was compiled from international journals of medicine/nursing, and was analyzed in terms of section and genre of the papers to obtain a broad depiction of the characteristics of written academic discourse as found in scientific papers in the fields of medicine and nursing.

A beta version of courseware as the research outcomes was presented at a national conference of JACET in 2009. (Yokoyama, et al., 2009)

Developing a Data-Driven Learning System for Academic Writing This study has been carried out at NJCU since 2009 by a research group consisting of

three ELT specialists including the author herself, one linguist specified for language processing, and one specialist in computer science, literally in a collaborative way as illustrated by the chart of allotment and coordination of the work by the members (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Organization and timetable of the research project: allotment and coordination of work

by the members.

And the system is being developed for the purpose of supporting university students to write papers in English, and it is characteristically based on a study of a corpus of English graduation papers written by Japanese university students. That’s why members with varied backgrounds: researchers and teachers together with a computer scientist or programmer are required to be involved in the project.

Suzuki, C. Accomplishments and Possibilities

5

New Directions in the Field of Linguistics and ELT Related Disciplines There is no doubt that ELT has so far developed with the advance of linguistics,

cognitive science, and pedagogics. Hence, over viewing recent trends in these academic fields may give us suggestions about the directions that ELT should take in future.

It is remarkable that new directions can be observed to be emerging in the natural language processing research field besides the collaborative language processing approach. By way of example, at the latest annual conference of the natural language processing (NLP) society of Japan held on March 8-11, 2010 in Tokyo, the theme of collaborative language processing was naturally taken as one of the feature sessions and the session included presentations on an intellectual language processing by collaboration between the human and a machine, a language processing to promote the collaboration among humans, human beings’ promotion of a collaborative language processing, a collaborative system to develop language teaching materials, and so on. Some other topics of research, rather, looked afresh and noteworthy as represented by the following titles of presentation: 1) Extraction of main topics of online discussions by focusing on the thread structure and the vocabulary chain; 2) Identifying NS/NNS texts using recurring tree analyses; 3) Automated generation of typical expressions from English academic papers; 4) Automatic correction of English articles; 5)

Developing a database of expressions in the English academic papers by the move analysis. Those themes may suggest new directions of linguistic research applicable for ELT.

Another direction of the second language acquisition (SLA) in the context of ELT can be observed in research presentations in conferences like JACET, JALT or LET. That shows the recent interest in applying research results of cognitive science and informatics including artificial intelligence (AI) into ELT.

In pedagogical studies, e-portfolio is currently a noteworthy theme drawing a world-wide attention in tertiary education, and its systems have been actively developed by some consortiums of universities and graduate schools, sometimes with the industrial sector in a collaborative setup (Nakano). It means that a support system for students’ self-management of their study is needed to be implemented besides a learning system itself. It can be the case for ELT as well. In conclusion, all of these new directions may also provide the ELT and ICT collaboration with a wider range of possibilities and require it to take a more interdisciplinary approach.

Promising Possibilities of ELT & ICT Collaboration As can be concluded from overviewing the accomplishments and outcomes of

collaboration between ELT and ICT, such collaboration has the great potential for reforming the state of ELT. It has brought about a tremendous change to the environment of ELT especially in Asia, by enabling a non-native speaker of English (NNS) learner to come in touch directly with the English language including teaching materials, and with a native

Studies in EPCA

6

speaker or speakers (NS) as well as with other NNS learners to actually communicate with each other using English as much as possible. Furthermore, taking into consideration of the new research directions as previously observed may suggest more possibilities for evolution in the collaboration. For instance, there is room for applying the research products of language processing like the corpus study into a NBLT. Thus, it will enable a NNS learner not only to get in touch with English but also to study independently searching for how the English language is used by a certain group of NSs, namely a group of professionals like scientists, engineers, bankers/business persons, pharmacists, or whoever, specifically for ESP. (Biber: 2006, 2007) The ongoing project at NJCU which was introduced before in the section of case study can be one example of that type of device innovated from a corpus study. The following section will give a brief explanation for it.

Development of a Web-based Concordance System Based on a Corpus of English Papers Written by Japanese University Students

This project aims at developing a web-based study-aid system with built-in concordancer and tutorials based on the learners’ corpora, as shown by the diagram below (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Simplified configuration of independent learning system under construction by compiling

a corpus of English graduation papers written by Japanese university students.

Within one year, the system is to be evaluated by the students who actually use it continuously for about eight months to complete their graduation papers. The system is

Suzuki, C. Accomplishments and Possibilities

7

predicted to become more effective if it is used along with an e-portfolio device, which will support the students in managing their study on their own. It may offer another phase of collaboration with ICT.

ConclusionWith the penetration of globalization, the demand on every professional for acquiring

higher English abilities has been clearly boosted throughout Asia. To meet the requirement, collaboration of ELT with ICT has achieved considerable results through varied kinds of trial and error. The collaboration, moreover, needs to be explored by integrating new research results from related areas, and by expanding the connection with other new functions of IT and with people from different fields including people in actual workplaces, which solely will enable us to cope with the growing demands and to develop even the infinite potentialities of the collaboration.

Acknowledgements This study has been supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science

and Technology of Japan (Grant-in-aid for Scientific Research: Grant Nos. 15520381, 17320087, & 21520621)

References Biber, D. (2006). University language: A corpus-based study of spoken and written

registers. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Biber, D., and F. Barbieri. (2007). Lexical bundles in university spoken and written registers. English

for Specific Purposes 26.263-86. Nakano, H. (2010). Innovation of education with ICT brought by e-portfolio: from teacher-centered to

student-centered learning (in Japanese). [Presentation handout] at Kumamoto University (Ja-Sakai) 3rd Conference on E-portfolio: Evolution of the Learning Environment by the Web Technology of the Next Generation.

Suzuki, C., Watanabe, Y., Yoshihara, S., Jung, K., & Chang, K. (2009). Sustaining internet-based collaborative learning in process-oriented writing classes: Feasibility of an action research approach. International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning. 20-33.

The JACET (Japan Association of College English Teachers) Classology Research Committee ed. (2007). Koutou-kyouiku niokeru Eigo-jyugyou no Kenkyu (English Language Classes in Japanese Tertiary Education). Tokyo: Shohaku-sha.

The JACET ICT Research Committee ed. (2008). 2007nendo ICT Jyugyou Jissen Houkoku-sho (Information Communication Technology Practice & Research 2007). The JACET ICT Research Committee c/o Waseda University, Tokyo.

The JACET ICT Research Committee ed. (2009). 2008nendo ICT Jyugyou Jissen Houkoku-sho (Information Communication Technology Practice & Research 2008). The JACET ICT Research Committee c/o Waseda University, Tokyo.

Yokoyama. S. et al. (2004). Needs analysis for developing syllabus and materials of medical/nursing and technical ESP (in Japanese). Proceedings of JACET 43th Annual Convention.

Studies in EPCA

8

Yokoyama. S. et al. (2009). Developing medical/nursing academic English writing courseware based on corpus analysis (in Japanese). Proceedings of JACET 48th Annual Convention.

9

Graphic Similarity in Vocabulary MCQ Options: Design Flaw or Enhancement?

John-Michael Nix National Taiwan Normal University

john.michael.nix@gmail.com

AbstractThe multiple-choice question (MCQ) format of language exams, despite its maligned

reputation regarding content validity, remains a prevalent form of L2 assessment due to the inherent advantages of reliability and feasibility (Cheng, 2008; Choi, 2008; Prapphal, 2008). Although methodological studies of MCQ test design are numerous-focusing mainly on validity of item stems and differential performance bias, most have overlooked a fundamental feature in item construction, i.e., the answer options. This study investigates the effect of graphically similar distractors on MCQ item performance. Graphic similarity had been previously overlooked because test designers tend to eschew it, believing that similarity introduces confounding lexical priming effects. However, some researchers have postulated that distractor similarity may be a preferred feature, as it can enhance the discrimination power of an MCQ item due to sharper differentiation between responses based on complete knowledge versus strategic guessing.

The present study explores MCQ items in English vocabulary tests, using single-word options. The experimental and control test versions contain single-sentence MC cloze and short-paragraph MC cloze items. Both versions are identical save for the distractor options. In addition, the test instruments control for lexical difficulty in the options via frequency profiling within the 2000K level. Classical item and distractor analysis was performed to ascertain the performance characteristics of graphically similar and dissimilar options across item type with EFL students at the tertiary level.

Keywords: distractor performance, vocabulary tests, item performance, MCQ design

Introduction The multiple-choice question (MCQ) format of language exams, despite its maligned

reputation regarding content validity and fairness, remains a prevalent form of L2 assessment due to the inherent advantages of reliability and feasibility (Cheng, 2008; Choi, 2008; Prapphal, 2008). Although methodological studies of MCQ design and format are numerous, focusing mainly on content validity of item stems and differential performance bias, most have overlooked a fundamental feature in item construction, i.e., the answer options. Such a situation is unfortunate as it has been shown that flawed MCQ items may be biased against high performers more than for low performers (Tarrant & Ware, 2008). The unbalanced treatment of stems over options in the body of research is unusual considering the attention that option writing receives in the general test design literature.

Studies in EPCA

10

Reputable test design references recommend that options maintain “plausibility” such that distractors may receive an appreciable number of hits from examinees with lower degrees of competence in the construct under assessment. Plausibility has yet to be defined in such references as a construct beyond frequency of selection by low performers. The typical repertoire of guidelines maintains that options should primarily be of similar text length (Heaton, 1990; Hughes, 2003). Additionally, options should not be too easy to eliminate (Heaton, 1990; Hughes, 2003, Mousavi, 2002); elimination being accomplished through test-wiseness (Mousavi; Ascalon, Meyers, Davis, Smits, 2007) which entails comparison of distractors to find the misfits. The construct of test-wiseness is known to facilitate guessing, rendering the size of the guessing effect unknown. Another important consideration is that the distractors not be “too difficult”, the consequence of which is to make the correct option appear like a test trap due to the sharp contrast (Mousavi). Beyond these guidelines, there is no further guidance as too what constitutes “plausibility,” and some academics have questioned the ethics of MCQ, claiming that trickery is the main part of assessment (Wiggins, 1993).

Prominent voices in the test design community recognize the inherent contradiction in creating plausibility while avoiding similarity and proffer the advice of piloting test instruments followed by item analysis (Bachman, 1989; Hughes, 2003). This is because striking a balance between plausible distraction and fair distraction is an idiosyncratic process. Therefore, in the context of high-stakes, large-scale testing, focus on options shifted towards focus on the performance of test instruments and their component item banks.

In the history of MCQ test-design research, the issue of graphic similarity in distractor options was sidestepped because it is a general rule of practice to avoid such MCQ item construction in the pursuit of balancing fairness and plausibility. It is the present researcher’s position that non-observation of a problem is not equivalent to non-existence of a problem. Fortunately, there is a relatively smaller body of research which examines distractor similarity, and graphic similarity, in particular. The present study follows along this path of inquiry as it investigates the effect of graphically similar distractors on MCQ item facility in vocabulary items with single-word deletions.

Background Psycholinguistic research bolsters the intuitive notion that graphic and phonemic

similarity can influence recall of target lexis (Biederman, Ruh, Nichols & Coltheart, (2008). Yet, research from the psycholinguistic domain can only be tenuously linked to test design, as test designers must independently formulate pedagogical implications which were never proposed in the original research. The paradoxical result is that the psycholinguistic research can support the use of both similar and dissimilar items. A more detailed review of psycholinguistic research serves to explicate the origin of this paradox.

Nix, J-M.. Graphic Similarity in Vocabulary MCQ Options

11

Early research indicated that phonological similarity in items can confound serial recall due to a type of interference effect. In essence, words that sound similar can be confusing, and as a result of the similarity, recall of word lists is hampered. Gupta, Lipinski and Aktunc (2005) review this classic literature, and in a new series of experiments, found that rhyming and alliterative lists produced better recall than phonologically dissimilar word lists, respectively, when the words are audially presented. However, in a list of visually presented words, phonologically dissimilar words yielded better recall. Although not explicitly framed as graphic similarity, a recall effect of graphic similarity versus dissimilarity can be surmised due to the fundamental convergence of graphic and phonemic similarity. In other words, aside from cases of foreign language cognates which may include silent letters or irregular spelling, phonemic and graphic similarity co-vary. Gupta, Lipinski and Aktunc were aware of the confounding effects of foreign cognate spelling, so they controlled the word lists accordingly. The treatment word lists were comprised of three varieties of similarity, canonical, rhyming, and alliterative, which also encompass the graphically similar features of the distractor arrays used in the present study. 1

Another study pertinent to the present research is Biederman, et al.’s investigation of phonological and syntactic access during tip-of-the-tongue (ToT) partial recall states (2008). Biederman, et al.was predicated on previous studies which found conflicting evidence in regard to the validity of the syntactic mediation theory which postulates the seriality and primacy of syntactic processing during recall. Previous studies along the same vein as those reviewed by Beiderman, et al. appear to reflect the rationale behind POS homogeneity in distractor arrays prevalent in much of the test design literature, as test-designers assumed that syntactic knowledge of words may yield successful selection on partial word knowledge. However, Biederman, et al found that syntactic and phonological processes in English word recall operate both independently and in a non-serial fashion. The researchers focused on theoretical implications regarding previously known conceptualizations of word recall processes, yet it remains possible to extend the implications into the field of test design. Given that word recall could be influenced by phonological access independently, and in some individual cases, prior to syntactic access, then syntactic similarity in options such as POS homogeneity may be insufficient to produce plausible distraction, particularly under the condition of variant orthographic permutations in the distractor array.

Fortunately, some studies in test design methodology have begun to re-evaluate the previously accepted dogma. In the quest for “plausibility” Griedanus and Nienhuis (2001) studied semantically related distractors because they recognized the possibility that “easy or too easy distractors cannot give learners a chance to demonstrate word knowledge,” (p.569). The researchers began with a simple point to investigate: whether semantically related or

1 Canonically similar lists have a common phoneme placed medially, such as cad, cat, map, can, man.Rhyming lists exhibit similarity in the final position, such as mat, fat, sat, rat, hat, bat. And, alliterative lists exhibit similarity in the initial position, such as cat, cab, cad, can, cap.

Studies in EPCA

12

unrelated distractors were suitable to assess deep word knowledge. As their research took form, they began to investigate the type of semantic associations as well as the word frequency level at which semantic associations exhibit influence on test performance. As a matter of course, the researchers found that word knowledge increased as the words became more frequent, and that semantically related distractors were suitable for more advanced learners, the population who must be assessed for deep word knowledge. In the case of such learners, the researchers concluded that semantically non-related distractors were too easy because of the guessing effect. When discussing the results, Griedanus and Nienhuis recalled a key, previous study by Read in 1993 from which they formulated their design. Read had interviewed subjects who reported that they were adroit at recognizing semantic relations, and thus, could easily eliminate those options that had no semantic commonality with the target, or each other. Thus, partial word knowledge was the only requisite for successful guessing under the condition of semantic dissimilarity.

Another study, not intended for the research of distractor options serendipitously yields a similar anecdote, which exposes the introspections of one such successful guesser. Schmitt, Schmitt and Clapham (2001) when examining the validity of different versions of Nation’s Vocabulary Levels Test, describe one subject who reported that he was successful in guessing, despite not knowing a word. He had simply used a weak association between the target “collapse” with a semantic notion, albeit inaccurate notion, that collapse meant “break” (p.76). Using this spurious commonality between target and answer, he was able to eliminate the remainder of the option array. The researchers ascribe this to a fortuitous condition that occurs approximately, “six percent” of the time and could thus be discounted (p.75). However, the danger to this approach is that the validity of assessment by MCQ might be mitigated by incomplete word knowledge. Indeed, Nation (2001) cites previous research which found that examinees use of “association” method, or selection of an answer because “it could be related in some way to something they knew about the word,” occurred 50 percent of the time for both high and low ability learners (p. 349). When extended to the real, high-stakes testing context already common internationally, the ultimate implication is that partially qualified examinees, below the intended threshold level of proficiency, may receive institutionalized legitimacy of language skills through MCQ testing, which is precisely the fundamental criticism of the test format.

Another group of researchers recognized the need to investigate similarity and dissimilarity in distractor option arrays. Ascalon, Meyers, Davis, Smits (2007) focused on graphic similarity, the same research premise as the present study. The researchers utilized focal and reference driver’s examinations with sentential MCQ option arrays which were either similar or dissimilar, administered to native speakers who were both licensed and unlicensed to drive in the state of California. They found that dissimilar options (reference version) had a significant and meaningful effect on test scores. Average test scores were 12

Nix, J-M.. Graphic Similarity in Vocabulary MCQ Options

13

percentage points higher for the reference version. In addition, a DIF analysis found that 12 out of 16 items exhibited a moderate to large bias in favor of the reference version. They concluded that in the case of dissimilar option arrays, test-wiseness rather than content knowledge was a major causal factor in test performance.

Based on the evidence, both anecdotal and empirical, the present researcher surmises that distractor similarity may be a preferred feature over dissimilarity as it may enhance the discrimination power of an MCQ item, thereby contributing to the overall validity of the test when used for criterial /placement purposes. The purpose of this study is to gather data on the performance of single word MCQ options in the context of EFL vocabulary assessment. Single word options present a context unlike that investigated in Ascalon et al. (2007), therefore the issue of graphic similarity versus dissimilarity requires another round of investigation. Exploration of this issue requires analysis of subjects’ performance at the test level, the item level, and the distractor level. Accordingly, the research questions are as follows:

1. Is there a significant difference in test scores between focal (similar distractors) and reference (dissimilar) versions?

2. Is there a difference in classical item characteristics between focal and reference versions?

3. Is there a difference in distractor performance between focal and reference versions?

MethodologySubjects A total of 51 university English majors from two separate classes at a private university in Taiwan participated in this study. One class was comprised of 18 freshmen between 18 and 22 years old, whereas the other class was comprised of 33 continuing education sophomores between 22 and 42 years old, constituting a convenience sample of English learners. The potential for differential bias between the two classes as intact groups exists; therefore, the subjects were commingled into reference (n = 26) and focal (n = 25) groups. During the mid-term examination period, subjects in both classes received alternating forms of the MCQ test (focal and reference). Although not strictly randomized, group assignment was determined by chance, depending on the subjects’ seating choice for exam day. The subjects were uninformed of the research purpose of the exams, and believed they were taking a uniform version of a mid-term MCQ vocabulary test.

Tests The test instruments are contextualized assessments of the 2K level of vocabulary

knowledge in three parts, with the first part comprised of single sentence MC cloze items, the

Studies in EPCA

14

second part comprised of short paragraph MC cloze questions with three to five deletions, and the final part comprised of short paragraph reading with MC comprehension questions. All deletions are single word with one correct answer plus three distractors appearing in the option array. The two test versions were identical save for the option arrays, with the focal test utilizing distractors graphically similar to each other and the answer choice, while the reference test utilized distractors that were graphically dissimilar to each other and the answer choice. The correct answer was positioned identically for both versions. The third part was completely identical and served as a source of concurrent criterion relatedness between the focal and reference groups. In addition, both tests were corpus-informed; that is, answers and distractors were all selected from within the 2K-word frequency level. Sample item stems with focal and reference option arrays are shown in Appendix A.

The option arrays for both the focal and reference versions were constructed with corpus-supplied data. When constructing focal option arrays, the answer choice was compared against the 2K word list to find suitable distractor options. For example, the answer choice candle is distracted by cancel, cancer, and candy, all sharing alliterative and canonical similarity to each other and the answer choice. In the case of the reference option arrays, key words were selected from the stem, and collocates to those words were selected on the basis of mutually exclusive graphic dissimilarity. The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) compiled by Brigham Young University and available free of charge at www.americancorpus.org was utilized to supply collocational prospects for distractor options.

The tests were originally intended for criterial assessment of English majors. The researcher as teacher noticed the continually low English proficiency of incoming freshmen classes putatively resulting from loose college entrance standards. Therefore, the researcher as teacher designed a 2K level vocabulary test in a familiar format to supplement the oral assessment in conversation classes, as oral assessment alone would yield an inordinately high failure rate among the freshmen classes in the first semester. As a consequence of being a proficiency test, the students are not instructed on the vocabulary items during the English course, as it is assumed that they possess or do not possess 2K word knowledge, the criterial threshold of the instrument. Any word knowledge gained during the 16 hours of instruction prior to mid-term assessment is considered part of the lifetime learning experience comprising the construct of “proficiency.” Moreover, as all subjects are from the same class groupings, they have equal opportunity to experience incidental vocabulary learning in 16 hours of oral training prior to methodological grouping.

The test utilizes 40 contextualized vocabulary items, with the initial 30 items under investigation, whereas the final 10 items serve as an independent index of comparability between the focal and reference groups. Stems in the sentential items in part one (10) were modified from Collins Cobuild Sampler concordance returns. The paragraph-length cloze

Nix, J-M.. Graphic Similarity in Vocabulary MCQ Options

15

passages in part two (20 items) were modified from copyright-free material available online at www.gutenberg.org/wiki/main_page. The passages and comprehension questions in part three (10 items) were authored by the researcher either as a paraphrase of news articles about 2K semantic referents (museum) or free writing utilizing 2K semantic referents as themes (helicopter, Internet).

The overall lexical content of the test instruments was checked with the VP English v.3 (by Tom Cobb) available at www.lextutor.ca/vp/. The texts, with deletions filled, fall within 94 percent coverage of the 2K and AWL word lists. Readability was also checked with Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease and Grade Level indices, 75.6 and 7.2 respectively. It can be concluded that the test is easily readable by native speaking 7th graders approximately 12 years of age.

Procedure On exam day, the researcher alternated the test versions in the stack and distributed the

exams individually up and down columns moving from the left of the room to the right. Students were instructed to return the test papers as soon as completed, and the researcher noted the completion time for each student on the top margin. Students were grouped as reference or focal in the data set in Excel, and their responses and scores were tabulated. Subsequent statistical analysis was conducted with SPSS, student version. Part three of the exam, serving as the concurrent criterion of linguistic ability indicated no significant difference to partial out between the focus and reference groups. The mean scores of the focal and reference groups in percent were 70.8 and 68.4 (t = .393, p = .696), respectively. Additionally, a check on completion times in minutes provided a preliminary indication of performance comparability, 41.2 and 45.2 (t = -1.342, p = .186), respectively.

ResultsRQ1: Is there a significant difference in test scores between focal and reference versions?

The first research question investigated differences in performance at the test level. Analysis of test scores (30 items in parts one and two) indicated no significant differences, with means of focal and reference groups in percent at 65.7 and 67.6 (t = -.385, p = .702), respectively. Therefore, it can be surmised that at the test level graphically similar distractors are not unfairly difficult or “tricky” when compared against dissimilar options, and conversely, graphically dissimilar items are not inordinately easier. However, previous studies of test design have indicated that item level differentials may cancel out when cumulatively scored on whole test instruments (Takala & Kaftandjieva, 2000). Therefore, the second research question queried the presence of differential performance at the item level.

Studies in EPCA

16

RQ2: Is there a difference in classical item characteristics between focal and reference versions?

Analysis of the 30 items indicated expected fluctuations of facilities and discriminations, yielding mixed results. In particular, the disparity in facility between some items is large given the fact that only the three distractors in the option array varied between the focal and reference items. Figure 1 provides a graphic comparison of facilities. By comparison, Ascalon, et al. (2007), identified focal and reference facilities differing by 0.13, and estimated such differences as large, whereas in the present study item facilities can differ by as much as 0.50 (item 25).

The internal reliability of the facilities was checked with the alpha coefficient function of SPSS. In the case of dichotomously scored items, the coefficient is equivalent to KR-20 reliability. The coefficient values for focal and reference tests (r = .82 and r = .76, respectively) exhibit noticeable disparity, with the focal version providing greater reliability. As a secondary check, the item facilities were compared with Pearson r, indicating a low and insignificant correlation between the test versions (r = .315, p = .09), which may be construed as stems only explaining 10 percent of the variance between items, provided the linearity assumption is met. Additionally, linearity between the focal and reference tests cannot be assumed, so Kendall’s Tau (non-parametric test of association) was calculated as a precaution. Again, no significant correlation was found (t = .18, p = .182) between the facilities of the focal and reference versions, which suggests that the disparity in reliability coefficients may be meaningful.

Figure 1. Graphic comparison of item facilities.

Comparison of discrimination indices, likewise, does not indicate a strong association in the patterns across items between the focal and reference tests. Pearson r (r = -.181, p= .338) and Kendall’s Tau (t = -.108, p = .503) do not show significant relations. However,

Nix, J-M.. Graphic Similarity in Vocabulary MCQ Options

17

unlike analysis of facilities, there is a noticeable difference in discrimination indices, with the reference version possessing more items of higher discrimination. When averaged across 30 items, the reference version yields a mean discrimination of 0.61 compared to 0.52 for the focal version, which is statistically significant (t = -2.575, p = .013).

RQ3: Is there a difference in distractor performance between focal and reference versions?

In order to address the final research question, the discrimination power of the distractors was visually compared. Standard analysis of discrimination requires separation of subjects in the respective test groupings into sub-groups of high and low performers, typically at the top and bottom 27 percent thresholds (Mousavi, 2002), in this case yielding n = 7. The tallies of distractor options selected by high and low performing subjects were arrayed proximally and the occurrences of non-performing distractors (zero selection), poor performing distractors (equal tallies for high and low groups), and counter performers (greater selection by high performers than low performers) were tabulated and converted into percent ratios, displayed in Table 1.

Table 1 Percentage of distractor options by type of performance.

Focal Reference Non-perfomers 23 30 Poor performers 22 4 Counter performers 13 18 Optimal performers 42 48

In general, the reference version yielded a slight majority of optimally performing distractors: those which were selected by more low performing subjects than high performers. The researcher does not surmise that the six percent difference in favor of the reference version is meaningful in this case, as the study utilized a one-shot test design with an instrument which is not a universally accepted, standardized vocabulary test with independent empirical validation. However, the 18 percent difference in poor-performing distractors represents a salient point of disparity in favor of the reference version. It is via this type of distractor performance that the reference version yielded more items of stronger discrimination than the focal version.

ConclusionThe present investigation of differential performance between test items with graphically

similar distractors versus graphically dissimilar distractors at the test, item and distractor

Studies in EPCA

18

levels, yielded mixed results. At the test level, performance differentials found at the item level cancel out, resulting in a test which in the present proctoring did not bias in favor of either the focal or reference groups. However, analysis of item characteristics indicated differential performance between the two test versions. Specifically, the focal test items exhibited a noticeably superior internal reliability, while the reference version exhibited noticeably superior discrimination power, which was found to have statistical significance. Finally, distractor-level analysis indicated that the source of the disparity in discrimination power may have been induced by a noticeable reduction in the proportion of poor distractors on the part of the reference version. Ultimately, it can be surmised with a great degree of certainty that manipulation of distractors produces a profound effect in both facility and discrimination of the items. More research is required to establish potential patterns and significance in these effects.

The researcher intends to continue this vein of research in the future, but if pressed for a decision at this point, it appears that dissimilar options may be more practicable. Although, there was no performance bias in the overall test, this may be a spurious product of the fortuitous mixture of easy and difficult items. More importantly, the crux of the issue underlying the motivation for the present study is the discrimination power of the items, which was shown to be sustained at higher levels in the reference version. Finally, the reference version holds the advantage of face-validity, the common perception by examinees that a test is fair and valid. This is because subjects have informally reported perceptions that the test is somehow more difficult when presented with MCQ items incorporating graphically homogenous option arrays.

References Ascalon, M., Meyers, L., Davis, B., Smits, N. (2007). Distractor similarity and item-stem structure:

Effects on item difficulty. Applied Measurement in Education, 20(2), 153–170. Biederman, B., Ruh, N., Nichols, L., & Coltheart, M. (2008). Information retrieval in tip of the tongue

states: New data and methodological advances. Journal of Psycholinguist Research 37:171–198. Cheng, L. (2008). The key to success: English language testing in China. Language Testing 25(1)

15–37. Choi, I. (2008). The impact of EFL testing on EFL education in Korea. Language Testing, 25(1).

39-62.Griedanus, T. & Nienhuis, L. (2001). Testing the quality of word knowledge in a second language by

means of word associations: Types of distractors and types of associations. The Modern Language Journal, 85(4) p.567-577.

Heaton, J. (1990). Classroom testing. London: Longman group UK Limited. Mousavi, S. (2002). An encyclopedic dictionary of language testing. (3rd ed.). Taiwan: Tung Hua

Book Co. Ltd. Nation, I.S.P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. United Kingdom: Cambridge

University Press. Prapphal, K. (2008). Issues and trends in language testing and assessment in Thailand. Language

Nix, J-M.. Graphic Similarity in Vocabulary MCQ Options

19

Testing, 25(1) 127–143. Takala, S. & Kaftandjieva, F. (2000). Test fairness: a DIF analysis of an L2 vocabulary test. Language

Testing, 17(3) 323–340. Tarrant, M. & Ware, J. (2008). Impact of item-writing flaws in multiple-choice questions on student

achievement in high-stakes nursing assessments. Medical Education 42, 198–206. Wiggins, G. (1993). Assessing student performance; Exploring the purpose and limits of testing. San

Franciso: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

AppendixSample of question stems with focal and reference option arrays

When generators failed, surgeons operated by lantern, ______, and flashlight. A) candy B) cancer C) cancel D) candle <focal> A) glass B) bottle C) steam D) candle <reference>

Vincent stepped into the boat that belonged to Simon and his brother Andrew, and asked them to push it out a little into the __28__, so that he could talk to the people from it without being __29__too closely. They pushed it out, and then Vincent sat in the boat, and spoke to the people, as they stood upon the beach. After he had finished speaking to the people, and had __30__ them away, he spoke to Simon. 28. A) lake B) lack C) last D) laugh <focal> 29. A) covered B) crowded C) couched D) curved 30. A) sand B) send C) seventh D) sent 28. A) lake B) chest C) button D) hotel <reference> 29. A) noisy B) crowded C) worked D) secret 30. A) torn B) looked C) wiped D) sent

In February the National Palace museum in Taipei reopened after two years of work. The work project was done to rearrange the works of art and open areas inside the museum to display international art works. Museum officials believe the renovations will improve the museum experience for visitors. Not everyone is happy about the changes, though. In Beijing, the People’s Daily, a government- run newspaper, criticized the changes saying Taiwan is denying its Chinese culture. The newspaper in China wants people to believe there is a political motive behind the museum renovations.

Studies in EPCA

20

31. What is the meaning of visitors in this passage? People who… A) criticize the changes. B) read the People’s Daily. C) make changes at the museum. D) come to see the art works.

32. Which of the following is true according to the passage? A) Officials opened the museum for two years. B) People in China think the museum is good. C) The museum was closed for two years. D) Fewer works of art will be shown.

33. Why was there work done in the museum? A) To make it a better place. B) To finish the changes in February. C) To criticize Taiwan. D) To show fewer works of art.

21

Constructing Reader-Writer Relationship in Business Journals

Fei-Wen Cheng National Chiayi University, Taiwan

chengfw@gmail.com

Abstract

Effective writing in both business and academic settings requires writers to analyzing the particular communicative context and responding to the needs of the intended readers within the written context. An important means by which writers display their concerns to readers is through their use of various interpersonal resources to acknowledge, construct and negotiate social relations.

Most previous studies on business academic writing focused on the structure (moves) in research articles or linguistic realizations of each move. Few have been conducted to address this interpersonal aspect of business research articles. Many business journals, though will be read by academics and practitioners, are usually addressed essentially to different readerships.

As such, the purpose of this study intends to apply an engagement system developed by Hyland (2005) to analyze the use of interpersonal resources among three types of business journals aiming at different readerships. This engagement framework, as one sub-type of Hyland’s Metadiscourse model, illustrates various metadiscoursal resources that signal reader engagement. The results indicate that there are notable differences in the use of engagement features among the three types of journals. The occurrences of engagement resources are much lower in business academic journals than in other types of business journals.

Keywords: business communication, engagement features, interpersonal resources, persuasiveness, business writing.

Introduction In any type of writing, one major approach to crafting persuasiveness is to analyzing the particular communicative context and responding the needs to the intended readers within a specific written context. To manage their relationship with readers in order to enhance the persuasiveness of their texts, writers need to claim solidarity with readers, acknowledge their concerns, anticipate possible objections and explicitly mark and bring readers into their texts. An important means by which writers display their concerns to readers is through their use of various interpersonal resources to acknowledge, construct and negotiate social relations.

In investigating the use of writer-reader interaction, recent scholarship has developed several approaches, such as appraisal framework (Martin, 2000; Martin & White, 2005), evaluation (Hunston & Thompson, 2000), stance (Biber & Finegan, 1989) or interpersonal metadiscourse (Hyland, 2005a). However, researchers employing these frameworks mainly focused on the interpersonal features in various academic and professional genres: ELT conference paper (Abdollahzadeh, 2003), scientific journal (Kuo, 1999), linguistics journal

Studies in EPCA

22

(Vassileva, 2001), newspaper discourse (Dafouz-Milne, 2008) but paid scant attention to written discourse in business disciplines.

Most previous studies on business writing examined discourse moves in business letter/email (i.e. Gimenez, 2000; Nickerson; 2000; Santos, 2002; Vergaro, 2004) and in business report (i.e. Rutherford, 2005; Yeung, 2007) or analysis of the structure (moves) and linguistic realizations of each move in research articles (i.e. Lim, 2006). Only Hewings (1999) and Nickerson (2000) have analyzed the interpersonal strategies in business writing. Hewings focused exclusively on the use of first and second pronouns as well as rhetorical questions in business academic writing while Nickerson addressed a broad spectrum of interpersonal strategies in business emails. Although these studies did indicate there are disciplinary and genre differences in the use of some interpersonal resources, no comprehensive study has been conducted to study this interpersonal aspect of business academic journals. Many business journals, though will be read by academics and practitioners, are essentially tailored to different readerships.

Thus, the present study intended to explore the inter-disciplinary variations in the use of engagement resources across three types of business academic journals with a focus on how writers in these journals position themselves among multiple voices and negotiate the dialogic space with their readers. To analyze these texts, this study applied the engagement system developed by Hyland (2005b). His framework was selected among multiple approaches due to its emphasis on writer’s dialogic awareness. His theory focuses on how writers actively intervene to pull readers along or position them by including them as discourse participants and guiding them to arguments. By contrast, other approaches are primarily concerned with how writers represent their attitude or opinion towards their advanced arguments. These frameworks have identified features writers use to convey their epistemic and affective judgments, and degrees of commitment to their claims. Nevertheless, the most obvious indication of reader-writer interaction occurs when writers “overtly refer to readers, asking questions, making suggestions and addressing them directly” (p.6), as Hyland (2004) argued. This framework addresses the ways writers deal with possible reader objections, recognize their interpersonal concerns and explicitly bring readers into their texts. By doing so, writers can seek to monitor reader’s response to a text and manage their impression of the writer. As such, Hyland’s framework is utilized in the present study to investigate how writers manage reader-writer relationship to achieve the goal of persuasiveness. In the follows, I briefly introduced some features of engagement in Hyland’s framework.

Hyland’s engagement system, as one sub-type of his Metadiscourse Model, illustrates various resources that elicit reader involvement. These features are: (1) reader pronouns (i.e. we, you), including first person plural pronouns, second personal pronouns and other pronouns referring to readers; (2) appeals to shared knowledge referring to the use of explicit

Cheng, F. W. Constructing Reader-writer Relationship

23

markers (i.e. course, obviously) where readers are asked to recognize something as accepted or familiar; (3) personal asides (comments addressed to the reader, interrupting the ongoing flow of text); (4) questions (i.e. direct questions assuming no specific answers); (5) directives, including imperatives (i.e. consider, note), obligation modals referring to actions of the reader (i.e. must, should), and adjective predicate controlling a complement to- clause expressing the writer’s judgment of necessity/importance and directing readers to an action (i.e. It is important to understand …).

MethodData sources Three corpora of texts were constructed. One consists of articles from research journals with a readership of academics and an emphasis on general management. Another kind has a readership of business practitioners and these journals contain presentations and discussion for these professionals. A third type is a mix of researchers and practitioners with a focus on business communication. All three corpora contain approximately 129,000 words. For the present study, eight journals were selected, each representing one of these types of publication. The selection of journals for the study was through consulting a business researcher, who identified particular readerships among several well-known business journals and made journal recommendations for each type of corpus. Three journals pertinent to business professionals were chosen, Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, and MIT Sloan Management Review. For journals written by and for academics, two selected journals were Academy of Management Review and Journal of Management. Three business communication journals were selected, Journal of Business Communication, BusinessCommunication Quarterly, and Journal of Business and Technical Communication. The three-fold distinction in the types of journals reveals that the readers of these journals are researchers and/or practitioners. These journals were downloaded from library website and adapted to produce an electronic corpus of 386,028 words after excluding text associated with tables and other graphics.

Data analysis Basic text statistics of the three corpora were firstly explored via computer software, Simple Concordance Program 4.09, to find the range and frequency of all 55 items in the inventory. Simple Concordance Program is a free but powerful Window-based text-processing program which allows users to compile general text statistics, wordlists, and concordances. A concordance is a collection of the occurrences of a word-form, each in its own textual environment, and in the present study, each concordance was carefully examined to ensure that the target items expressed interpersonal meanings. The researcher

Studies in EPCA

24

independently coded all the samples according to the specific lexico-grammatical features of interpersonal resources listed in Hyland’s model. All instances that referred to other participants or expressed the writer’s stance were eliminated. The total occurrence of each feature in three corpora were identified and compared.

Results & Discussion Engagement patterns As Table 1 showed, the total number of engagement features used revealed the extent of dialogic interactions in the three corpora. The occurrences of engagement features are most frequent in type A journals while least frequent in type B journals. Despite this, the frequency of engagement features in type B journals is similar to the findings in Hyland’s study (2004), investigating these features in published articles across eight disciplines. Type A journals outnumbered other journal types with regards to most engagement features, except inclusive pronouns while type C journals outnumbered type B journals with respect to most features except personal asides. Among engagement features, directives are the most common devices for type A & B journals while inclusive pronouns are the most frequent devices for type C journals. The second common devices are second person pronouns in type A journals, rhetorical questions in type B journals, and directives in type C journals.

Table 1 Frequency of engagement features in different types of business journals (per 10,000 words)Inclusivepronouns

Secondpersonpronoun

Personalasides

Appeals tosharedknowledge

Directives Directquestions

Total

Type A 12.1 45.0 0.5 5.5 49.6 16.3 129Type B 5.0 1.5 0.2 4.0 33.4 6.7 50.8Type C 50 8.7 0 5.1 35.0 15.3 114.1

Use of inclusive pronouns Inclusive pronouns include first-person plural pronouns (i.e. we, us, and our), indefinite

pronouns and other nouns referring to the readers. By using this pronoun, the writers can stress solidarity with readers or even guiding readers towards a preferred interpretation because this pronoun constructs both writers and readers as participants with similar understanding and knowledge. In the present research, this engagement feature occurred more frequently than did others. As noted by Hyland (2004), inclusive pronouns were particularly common in the soft fields such as social science and business reports.

Notably, type C journals (business communication) comprised a much greater number of inclusive pronouns than other types of journals. Although there are frequent occurrences of pronouns we, us, our, and ours across three journal types, they were utilized in type A & B journals to explicitly indicate writers’ presence but not to textually construct both the writer and the reader as participants with similar understandings which bound them in the same discipline. It is possible that business communication is an emerging field in contemporary

Cheng, F. W. Constructing Reader-writer Relationship

25

society and the journals chosen in type C category are not top-ranked as those in type A & B. As such, writers in type C journals need to work harder to engage their audience and persuade them of the plausibility of writer’s view.

(1) Being forward-looking – envisioning exciting possibilities and enlisting others in a shared view of the future – is the attribute that most distinguishes leaders from nonleaders. We know this because we asked followers (Type A).

Second person pronouns Second-person pronouns mark direct appeals and communication with the reader and is

considered as the most interactive device because it explicitly acknowledge the reader’s presence. Not surprisingly, it occurred much less frequently in academic-oriented journals (Type B & C) while type A journals comprised a much higher frequency of this feature, given that this device is regarded as inappropriate in formal academic writing. Nevertheless, across the three corpora, you, your, yours performed a very similar function, referring to people in general, instead of a particular person or group, as shown in example 2:

(2) The only visions that take hold are shared visions – and you will create them only when you listen very, very closely to others, appreciate their hopes, and attend to their needs (Type A).

Similar to the indefinite pronoun one, it carries an interactive function, indicating writers’ effort to involve readers into some shared experience. This finding about the discourse function of you is very similar to the conclusion made in other research (Hyland, 2004; Kuo, 1999). Since most writers across corpora appeared to avoid using you to refer to specific participants, the higher frequency in the type A corpus suggested it was used as a type of engagement strategy with rhetorical intention to encourage readers to see what they see and to draw the same conclusions.

Personal asides This strategy refers to writer’s interruption of an argument in the mid-flow to initiate a brief dialogue by offering a comment on what has been said (Hyland, 2005a). In Hyland’s framework, it is considered as an engagement/interpersonal strategy since such comments contribute to the writer-reader relationship but not to the content of the text. This engagement feature was not employed at all by business communication researchers (type C journals) while there are merely 6 occurrences in type A corpus and 2 occurrences in type B corpus. The rare occurrence of this feature across corpora is similar to the finding of Hyland’s study (2005b), which also observed that personal asides was the least utilized device among the

Studies in EPCA

26

engagement strategies with 1.1 occurrences per 10,000 words in a large corpus comprising 240 research articles from eight related disciplines.

(3) It is worth noting, however, that the relationship between structural processes and attributional processes is complex and the processes may relate in other ways (Type B).

Directives According to Hyland (2004), directive force is generally realized by a modal of

obligation, the use of imperative, and by a predicative adjective controlling a complement to-clause, which expresses the writer’s judgment of necessity/importance. Thus, directives typically convey a very strong writer’s attitude to the reader and so may threaten the writer-reader relationship. This kind of appeal addresses readers from a position of confidence due to its claim of authority. Despite so, Hyland further elaborated that these forms have various functions: textual, physical and cognitive, and consequently can reduce threat to readers. Accordingly, this functional variety may reduce any threat to readers. Textual act guides readers to another part of the text or another text. Physical act instruct readers to involve a research process or real-world action. Cognitive act initiates readers into other domains of an argument or into perceiving a writer’s claim in a certain way. Hyland pointed out that cognitive act is the most imposing directive because it positions readers by directing them to understand a point in a certain way while the least imposing directive is textual act.

(4) textual act: We now discuss in detail these benefits and costs. See Figure 2 for an overview (Type B).

(5) physical act: Given strong direct crowding out, governance complexity mustincrease to offset the consequences of higher ex ante trust (Type B). physical act: In fact, leaders may need to toggle between the two phases, with the promise of subgroup security serving as a motivator to strip away negative distinctiveness (Type B).

(6) cognitive act: Also note that the apparent inflexibility that characterizes hierarchy (in the form of rules and procedures) is not incompatible with adaptiveness (Type C).cognitive act: Accordingly, in organizational socialization research, it is important to understand the reasons behind the structuring of communication messages toward newcomers (Type C).

Directives are the most frequent devices used to invite reader participation among type A

Cheng, F. W. Constructing Reader-writer Relationship

27

& B journals, comprising 38 (49.6/129) per cent in type A journal and 66 (33.4/50.8) per cent in type B journal. In type C journal, the frequency of directives (31 per cent: 35/114.1) ranks second to that of inclusive pronouns. In particular, most directives were employed to enable readers to perform a physical act (to undertake a real-world action) as shown in Table 2.

Table 2 Overall functions of directives by journal type (percent)

Textual Physical Cognitive Total

Type A 6.1% 78.3% 15.6% 100

Type B 19.1% 58.2% 22.7% 100

Type C 20% 71.6% 8.4% 100

Much less directives were utilized to perform cognitive and textual functions across three journal types. However, the distribution of directives is not uniform across three corpora. In type A journal, more directives expressed cognitive function than textual function while writers in type C journal tended to avoid this more imposing forms. In type B journal, both textual and cognitive functions were equally distributed. Compared with type B & C journals, there is lower frequency of textual function in type A journals. A possible explanation is that type A journals aim at a broad audience, including practitioners and academics, and address real situations with less intertextual references to other studies. With regard to physical function, the present finding is considerably different from those reported in Hyland (2004). Hyland observed that the occurrences of physical act are higher in students’ reports than in published articles across eight disciplines and most of these directives focused on research procedures instead of real-world action. By contrast, the present result shows that the corpora of business-related journals tend to utilize directives to urge readers (across different spectrums) to perform a physical act with a specific focus on real-world action. This notable difference may need to be explored further to disclose the potential disciplinary variations in engagement features. For the most imposing directive form, there are much fewer occurrences in type C journal than in type A & B journals. Probably, this finding may index business communication as an emerging and a less established field than business research study. As such, writers in type C journals appear to be reluctant to negotiate their ideas in this imposing way and direct readers to particular views.

Direct questions Interrogatives are considered inappropriate in formal English writing because they can be excessively personal and subjective (Swales & Feak, 1994). Nevertheless, Hyland (2004) contended that although textbooks on English academic writing tend to teach students to avoid this strategy, direct questions are in fact an important rhetorical resource of reader involvement. From his perspective, questions arose reader’s interest and bring them into the

Studies in EPCA

28

argument as participants, help direct them through a text, and work to position them to see things in a way determined by the writer. Surprisingly, this engagement strategy occurred far more often in type A & C journals than did in type B journals, as shown in Table 1. Although both type B & C journals are more oriented to academics, the editorial style of type C journal seems more similar to type A journals.

(7) Did she run out of time in writing or revising the report? Was she unable to meet with Secretary Ridge because of conflicting schedules (he oversaw a department with some 180,000 employees and a budget in excess of $30 billion) and therefore unable to educate him about privacy issues? Did she meet with him but fail to persuade him of her point of view? (Type A).

Appeals to shared knowledge This engagement feature is considered as a less imposing engagement strategy than

directives or rhetorical questions. By explicitly asking readers to recognize something as familiar or acceptable, writers are actually securing reader’s agreement by implying that they already know or will readily accept the writer’s claim (Hyland, 2005a). As such, this is viewed as a rather sophisticated rhetorical strategy. In the present finding, there were broad similarities in the overall frequencies of this feature and its distribution across three corpora, but subtle differences in the lexical-grammatical realizations. The most common ways of signaling the reader’s presupposed understandings included the use of clearly and the use of is known was more frequent only in type A & B journals while of course occurred more frequently in type A & C journals.

(8) Although the exact purpose of sleep remains unknown, it clearly has a restorative effect on the brain (Type B).

(9) In this approach agents are said to be subjectively rational when they behave in ways that are consistent both with what is known about their decision-making setting and with their beliefs about that setting (Type B).

(10) In part, this stereotype may exist because traits that are commonly associated with older people are considered less desirable than traits associated with the young (Type B).

(11) The language barrier, of course, posed some problems, but many tourist sites offer at least some of their interpretive guides in English (Type C).

Conclusion In sum, there are notable differences in the use of engagement features. The occurrences of these features are more than twice higher in type A & C journals than in type B journals.

Cheng, F. W. Constructing Reader-writer Relationship

29

Among the three journals types, practitioner-oriented Type A journals and Type C journals aiming at practitioners and academics, appear to involve more reader-writer interaction than type B academically oriented journals. Although type B & C corpora are both oriented toward academics, the way they structure and negotiate relationships with readers is considerably different. Type B journals tend to employ the more imposing strategies, such as directives and rhetorical questions while Type C journals prefer less imposing ones, such as inclusive pronouns, to guide readers to writer’s preferred interpretation. The higher occurrences of engagement resource in Type C journals as compared to Type B ones indicate that writers in type C journals devote more effort to encouraging reading and accepting their arguments. More research is required to explore further about the possible factors influencing the disciplinary variations in the use of engagement strategies. Do most communication/rhetoric research journals employ higher number of reader involvement strategies? Or is this limited to journal of business communication studies?

Reference Abdollahzadeh, E. (2003). ‘Interpersonal metadiscourse in ELT papers by Iranian and

Anglo-American academic writers’. Paper presented at the INGED conference Multiculturalism in ELT Practices: Unity and Diversity, Baskent University, Ankara.

Biber, D. & Finegan, E. (1989). ‘Styles of stance in English: lexical and grammatical marking of evidentiality and affect’. Text, 9(1), 93-124.

Dafouz-Milne, E. (2008). The pragmatic role of textual and interpersonal metadiscourse markers in the construction and attainment of persuasion: A cross-linguistic study of newspaper discourse. Journal of pragmatics, 40, 95-113.

Gimenez, J. C. (2000). Business e-mail communication: some emerging tendencies in register. English for specific purposes, 19, 237-251.

Hunston, S. & Thompson, G. (eds) (2000). Evaluation in text: Authorial stance and the construction of discourse. Oxford: OUP.

Hewings, M. (1999). The academy meets the real world: Response to audience in academic business writing. In M. Hewings & A. Nickerson (eds), Business English: Response into practice(pp.144-56). Edinburgh: Longman.

Hyland, K. (2005a). Stance and engagement: A model of interaction in academic discourse. Discourse studies, 7(2), 173-192.

Hyland, K. (2005b). Metadiscourse. London: Continuum. Hyland, K. (2004). Patterns of engagement: dialogic features and L2 undergraduate writing. In L. J.

Ravelli and R.A. Ellis (eds), Analysing academic writing: contextualized frameworks (pp.5-23). New York: Continuum.

Kuo, C. H. (1999). The use of personal pronouns: role relationship in scientific journal articles. English for specific purposes, 18(2), 121-138.

Lim, J. M. H. (2006). Method sections of management research articles: A pedagogically motivated qualitative study. English for specific purposes, 25, 282-309.

Martin, J. (2000). ‘Beyond exchange: APPRAISAL systems in English’. In S. Hunston and G. Thompson (eds), Evaluation in text: Authorial stance and the construction of discourse(pp.142-75). Oxford: OUP.

Martin, J. & White, P. (2005). The Language of evaluation. NY, New York: Macmillan. Nickerson, C. (2000). Playing the corporate language game. An investigation of the genres and

Studies in EPCA

30

discourse strategies in English used by Dutch writers in multinational corporations. Utrecht studies in language and communication. Amsterdam: Rodopi.

Rutherford, B. A. (2005). Genre Analysis of Corporate Annual Report Narratives. Journal of Business Communication, 42(4), 349-378.

Santos, P. (2002). Genre analysis of business letters of negotiation. English for specific purposes, 21,167-199.

Swales, J., & Feak, C. (1994). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

Vassileva, I. (2001). Commitment and detachment in English and Bulgarian academic writing. English for specific purposes, 20, 83-102.

Vergaro, C. (2004). Discourse strategies of Italian and English sales promotion letters. English for specific purposes, 23, 181-207.

Yeung, L. (2007). In search of commonalities: Some linguistic and rhetorical features of business reports as a genre. English for specific purposes, 26, 156-179.

31

A Study of Foreign Language Anxiety and its Relationship with their English Achievement of 7th Graders in Taiwan

Su, Min-hsun & Lan, Yi-ting Ming Chuan University

minhsun@gmail.com, jocelyn0205@gmail.com

AbstractIn Taiwan, students start to learn English as a formal course from grade 3 since2005.

The design of the course from grade 3 to 6 emphasizes on arousing motivation, hoping that students can learn in a relaxing mode (Zhu, 2003). However, when students move up to grade 7, the focus of their English course has been switched to the development of four language skills. Most importantly, in order to acquire good grades in the Basic Competence Test, students have to study nine school subjects well at the same time. Accordingly, junior high school students suffer more pressure in English learning, and thus students’ anxiety level might increase (Horwitz et al., 1986). The present study investigated the perceptions of 212 7th graders in one junior high school in Taipei County, trying to understand their anxiety level and the relationships between their anxiety level and English learning achievement. The participants reported a medium level of anxiety and a significant negative correlation existed between their anxiety level and achievement. There are implications for future instruction. Teachers can design courses with the consideration of reducing learners’ anxiety (Horwitz et al., 1986), and learners can expect to have an enjoyable English learning experience.

Keywords: 7th grader, foreign language anxiety, English learning achievement

Introduction Due to the trend of globalization and internationalization, the global English learning

population is getting bigger and bigger. More and more people in the world use English as a media to communicate in order to acquire the latest information. British Council predicts there were ten hundred million people learning English in 2000, and till 2010, there will be one-third people in the world learning English (Wu & Ho, 2007). In addition, it was estimated that in the end of 2000, one fourth of people, twelve hundred billion to fifteen hundred billion people, in the world, are fluent or competent in English (Crystal, 1997). In most non-English speaking areas, English learning has become a major trend since the 1970s. Thailand has made English as a required course for elementary school students since 1996, and South Korea did it in 1997, too. China also has regarded English as one of the formal courses for the cities since 2001 (Wu, 2007), and Taiwan is no exception.

According to the guideline for a 9-Year Joint Curricula Plan set by Ministry of Education in Taiwan, all 3rd graders have to learn English as a formal course from 3rd grade to 9th grade since the school year 2005. The design of the course in grade 3 to grade 6 is focused on arousing motivation, hoping that students can learn in a relaxing mode (Zhu, 2004). The

Studies in EPCA

32

goal of English curriculum in elementary school puts huge emphasis on cultivating students’ English listening and speaking ability. It is quite different from the English curriculum in junior high school (grade 7-9) that in junior high school level, the four language skills, listening, speaking, reading and writing are integrated and have equal importance. To start with, there are only 1-2 English classes each week in elementary level, but when students are in the 7th grade, they have 4-5 English classes per week. Moreover, the content of the textbooks in grade 7 is obviously more difficult than those in grade 3-6. In addition, students from grade 7 and above have to learn more subjects than those in elementary school and they have to study all subjects well in order to acquire good grades in the crucial Basic Competence Test in Taiwan. It is obvious that students experience more pressure in junior high school English learning than they did in elementary school. With this increasing pressure, it is possible that students become anxious about English learning, and anxious students may avoid classes and refuse to complete homework (Horwitz et al., 1986). Anxiety is one of the individual variables that could impact students’ language learning (MacIntyre, 1995), and learners who feel anxious in their language learning may find their study less enjoyable, and which may lead to low motivation and low achievement in language learning(Gregersen, 2005).

Studies have indicated that foreign language anxiety has significantly negatively influenced language performance (Chen & Chang, 2004; Horwitz et al., 1996; MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991c; Pappamihiel, 2002; Phillips, 1992), but very few studies were focused on Taiwanese high school students. MacIntyre and Gardner (1991a, 1991b, & 1991c) even suggested that high levels of foreign language anxiety interfere with language learning. When learners are anxious in English learning, their English learning achievement could be influenced. Since anxiety can have an unfavorable effect on foreign language learning, it is important to identify students with high levels of foreign language anxiety (Horwitz et al., 1986), and provide them with the necessary guidance and support.

Only when teachers are well aware of the existence of students’ foreign language anxiety, and when teachers are familiar with the means of lowering students’ anxiety level, students’ foreign language anxiety is possible to be reduced, their learning process would be enjoyable, and their English learning achievement could possibly be enhanced. As a result, the study aims to investigate students’ foreign language anxiety levels and its relationship with English learning achievement.

Research purpose Although many studies have found a negative relationship between foreign language

anxiety and achievement, there are a few studies related to foreign language anxiety examined in Taipei County. The purpose of the study is to uncover the seventh graders’ foreign language anxiety and its relationship with English learning achievement. Based on

Su, MM. H., & Lan, Y. T. Foreign Language Anxiety and Achievement.

33

the findings of the study, pedagogical implications will be offered in the end of this paper.

Research Questions The following research questions were addressed in this study: 1. What are the seventh graders’ levels of foreign language anxiety levels? 2. Is there a significant relationship between foreign language anxiety and English

learning achievement?

Significance of the study The results of the study have implications for teachers and students in the field of

foreign language teaching and learning. As a rule of thumb, teaching and learning are situated in a chiasmus effect. Teachers could design courses with the consideration of reducing learners’ anxiety (Horwitz et al., 1986), creating an enjoyable learning atmosphere, and thus enabling students to exploit the fully available resources (Onwuegbuzie, Bailey, & Daley, 1997). As a result, students could become clear about their learning situations, and might be able to find methods to lower their own anxiety, which might help them not to give up learning English easily.

In addition, this junior high school is not located in the center of Taipei County, but in the border area. Students here do not have as many opportunities to learn English as those in the centers of the cities. There is very limited research done focusing on junior high school students’ foreign language anxiety in Taipei County. It is worth paying attention. The results could be a reference of Taipei County for educators to innovate English instruction and to better understand the relevant factors that might affect students’ English learning achievement.

Review of Literature Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety

Anxiety has been viewed from different aspects by researchers. Several types of anxiety were discussed including state anxiety and trait anxiety, facilitating anxiety and debilitating anxiety, situation specific anxiety, and foreign language classroom anxiety.

Spielberger (1972) and his associates first made a difference between state anxiety and trait anxiety. State anxiety can be referred to “a transitory emotional state or condition of the human organism” (Spielberger, 1972). State anxiety is temporary and it swings over time (MacIntyre, 1999). It takes place at a particular moment, such as when having an interview, having a test or communicating in a foreign language (Spielberger, 1983). In comparison with state anxiety, trait anxiety means an individual’s likelihood of feeling anxious across various situations and is regarded as a relatively lasting personality trait (Speilberger, 1972). Scovel (1978) defined trait anxiety as a more durable predisposition to be anxious. In addition,

Studies in EPCA

34

Goldberg (1993) concluded that people with high levels of trait anxiety are usually nervous people, and they lack perseverance in emotion. Consequently, those who suffer high trait anxiety tend to feel apprehensive regardless of situations.

Anxiety could also be defined as debilitating and facilitating anxiety (Brown, 2000). Some researchers agreed that positive anxiety exists, and other researchers demonstrated a negative relationship between anxiety and performance (Gardner, Lalonde, Moorcroft, & Evers, 1987; Lin, 2005; Onwuegbuzie, Bailey & Daley, 1997; Wu, 2005). According to Scovel (1978), debilitative anxiety is a drive which “motivates the learner to ‘flee’ the new learning task; it stimulates the individual emotionally to adopt avoidance behavior (p. 139).” There is usually little cause for debilitating anxiety (Ehrman, 1996). Nevertheless, dissatisfaction with one’s performance can lead to a decreased self-efficacy and also to a loss motivation; it can also result in anxiety that let learners give up learning. Students feel anxious while performing an effortless task in class where the teacher is strict, serious and unpredictable, or when the teacher gives a harsh correction in front of the whole class. In these circumstances, EFL learners who feel anxious and disappointed might reject learning. Facilitating anxiety refers to inspiration of enthusiasm especially when a challenging learning task is distributed. Facilitating anxiety motivates one and therefore improves one’s performance of the forced task.

Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986) first mentioned the theoretical framework of foreign language anxiety. They present the following definition of foreign language anxiety, “a distinct complex of self-perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors related to classroom language learning arising from the uniqueness of the language learning process” (P.128). Based on the definition, the most widely employed measure of foreign language anxiety, the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) was developed. Three components, communication apprehension, text anxiety and fear of negative evaluation, were identified as foreign language anxiety. Communication apprehension means that people are scared or anxious about communicating with other people, for example, someone is not able to express his/her feelings orally (Horwitz et al., 1986). Sometimes, foreign language learners are afraid of performing badly in the examination or afraid of failing the test, and the anxiety coming along under this situation is called test anxiety. Besides, learners usually have unpractical demand on themselves. They think if they can not perform perfectly in the examination, it will be a failure (Horwitz et al., 1986).

Horwitz et al. (1986) also proposed that fear of negative evaluation refers to the kind of anxiety that foreign language learners have when they are frightened with negative evaluation. People who have fear of negative evaluation are fearful for the bad discussion from peers, teachers, parents or others and so on. Relationship between Foreign Language anxiety and English Learning Achievement

It is found that foreign language anxiety is common among language learning students

Su, MM. H., & Lan, Y. T. Foreign Language Anxiety and Achievement.

35

(Aida, 1994). Scovel (1978) disputed that scholars were not able to set up a clear relationship between anxiety and overall foreign language achievement. There are different types of relationships between anxiety and language achievement, such as positive, negative, and no relationship. Ganschow and Sparks (1996) declared that students’ language anxiety level in a foreign language class might be “an early indicator of basic language problems” (p. 199). Many researchers provided the idea that anxiety was probably one of the best predictors of language achievement (Ehrman & Oxford, 1995; Horwitz, 1986; MacIntyre et al., 1997). However, Horwitz (1990) suggested that anxiety was only helpful for simple tasks, but not with complex learning such as language learning.

Young (1991) found no significant correlation between anxiety levels and oral proficiency. However, Phillips (1992) investigated the anxiety of students’ from French classes. He reported a moderate inverse relationship between language anxiety and oral performance. Aida (1994) used FLCAS and found that there was a significant negative correlation between foreign language anxiety and final scores of 2nd year Japanese students from America. Satio and Samimy (1996) followed Aida’s study and the result was reproduced with Japanese learners at three levels, beginning, intermediate, and advanced. In addition, Onwuegbuzie, Bailey and Daley (1997) did research among college students and mentioned academic achievement was one of the variables which contributed significantly to the prediction of foreign language anxiety. Coulombe (2000) pointed out that there was a weak but a negative correlation between foreign language anxiety and final grades among Canadian university French learners. Matsuda and Gobel (2004) made a research on 252 first-year students majoring in English in Kyoto. They noticed that proficiency (operationalized as TOEIC scores) was seen as a significant predictor of classroom performance among the students. Liu (2006) reported a study on anxiety in Chinese 517 first-year undergraduate non-English majors and noticed that the more proficient in English the student were, the less anxious the students seemed to be. Zhao (2007) in China discovered that among 60 science students and 60 arts students, anxiety and English achievement were negatively correlated and it only correlated in terms of test anxiety. In Taiwan, Chou, Cheng and Sung (2009) also found a modest negative correlation between foreign language anxiety and English learning achievement on 2nd graders of senior high school students in Taipei city. In summary, almost all the research above indicated a significant correlation between foreign language anxiety and English learning achievement. Consequently, this present study tries to find if foreign language anxiety do play an important role on English learning achievement.

MethodsA group of students were invited to respond to the questionnaire for their perceptions of

foreign language anxiety. They were 220 7th graders from one junior high school in Taipei County. These 220 students were requested to respond to a questionnaire for their foreign

Studies in EPCA

36

language anxiety. Among 220 students, there were 105 male students and 107 female students, According to the guideline for a 9-Year Joint Curricula Plan set by Ministry of Education in Taiwan, all students have to learn English as a formal subject from 3rd grade since the school year 2005. As a result, the participants in the study have learned English as a formal subject in school for at least four years. Thus, the English proficiency of the participants are assumed to be that they could use at least two hundred English words in speaking, could spell and write from eighty of two hundred English words. Besides, 75 participants in the study have mentioned that they have learned English for about 6 years and 42 participants indicated that they have learned English for more than 7 years outside of the school setting.

The instrumentation in this study is a questionnaire containing two parts. The first part of the questionnaire included items asking for participants’ background information. Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope’s (1986) Foreign Language Classroom Scale was used to investigate students’ foreign language anxiety in the second part. The questionnaire included thirty-three scaled items about their feelings of learning a foreign language and a five-point scale ranged from strongly agree (5 point) to strongly disagree(1 point). The scale had demonstrated an effective internal reliability, achieving an alpha coefficient of 0.93. Its test-retest reliability yielded also at an effective level (r = 0.83). Because the participants of the present study were junior high school students, the Chinese version of the scale was examined by one college professor and two junior high school students before it was administered to the participants. The investigator randomly selected 31 students for the pre-test. The Cronbach’s Alpha of the first category is 0.76, the Cronbach’s Alpha of the second category is 0.77, and the Cronbach’s Alpha of the third category is 0.73. The first category, students’ communication apprehension, included eleven items, the second category, students’ test anxiety, included 15 items, and the third category, students’ fear of negative evaluation, included seven items. The theoretical range of the scale was from 33 to 165. The total score of the scale refers to students’ level of anxiety.

The data collection was conducted on October 2009. Before the participants did the questionnaire, they were given the instruction of how to respond to the questionnaire for about five minutes. Prior to the study, all the participants agreed to answer those questions involving their background information. To preserve participants’ privacy, the investigator used pseudonyms to present the result.

The test used to assess students’ English learning achievement was the first school-wide examination of the semester administered in the middle of October, 2009. The test paper included six parts: listening comprehension, multiple choice, cloze, reading comprehension, vocabulary and answering questions, which were intended to assess students’ overall language ability. The investigator provided the grades of the first English examination for participants to look up in order to ensure participants fill in the correct grades. Of all the participants taking part in this questionnaire, only 212 returned the complete questionnaire.

Su, MM. H., & Lan, Y. T. Foreign Language Anxiety and Achievement.

37

As a result, 212 out of 220 questionnaires were identified as valid. The SPSS (Statistic Package for the Social Science) 15.0 for windows statistics package were used to compute the collected data. First, descriptive analysis was performed to compute the means and standard deviations in order to understand students’ foreign language anxiety and their English learning achievement. Pearson Correlation was used to analyze the correlation between foreign language anxiety and English learning achievement.

ResultsForeign language anxiety

One of the major purposes of the study was to understand the seventh graders’ levels of foreign language anxiety. The mean of the participants’ scores of foreign language anxiety in this study was 101.8, the minimum is 43 and the maximum is 158 (see Table 1). The result showed that participants in this study reported to have a medium level of anxiety while learning English.

Table 1 Summary of FLCAS

Minimum Maximum Mean SD

Scores in FLCAS 43 158. 101.83 23.27

Table 2 indicates that the means of the communication apprehension was 3.19, the mean of test anxiety was 2.96, and the mean of negative evaluation was 3.20. It shows that students have the highest level of anxiety in both the category of negative evaluation and the category of communication apprehension.

Table 2 Summary of communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation

Communication

apprehension

Test anxiety Fear of negative

evaluation

Scores in FLCAS 3.19 2.96 3.20

Relationships between Foreign Language Anxiety and English Learning Achievement The relationships between foreign language anxiety and English learning achievement are examined with Pearson Correlation. According to Cohen and Holliday’s (1982) definition, correlation coefficient under and equal to 0.19 refers to a very slight correlation, and correlation coefficient between 0.20 and 0.39 equals to a low correlation; correlation coefficient lies between 0.40 to 0.69 refers to a modest correlation. If correlation coefficient is from 0.70 to 0.89, the correlation was high; and if the correlation coefficient is between 0.90 and 1, the correlation was very high. Table 2 presents correlations of the foreign language anxiety and English learning achievement.

Studies in EPCA

38

The correlation coefficient between foreign language anxiety and English learning achievement is -0.57 (Table 3). It demonstrates modest negative relationship between foreign language anxiety levels and English learning achievement.

Table 3 Correlation of the foreign language anxiety levels and English learning achievement

Foreign language anxiety levels English learning achievement

Foreign language anxiety levels 1

English learning achievement 0.57** 1

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2 tailed).

Discussion Similar to findings of previous studies (Aida, 1994; Matsuda & Gobel, 2004; Liu, 2006,

& Zhao, 2007), this study indicated that junior high school students did have certain level of foreign language anxiety during their English class, just as university students and high school students did. Participants of this study reported to have a medium level of anxiety. It may be due to that students are usually occupied by the teacher in English class. It is always the English teachers who design the content and the progress of the courses, and what all students have to do is to follow the teachers’ directions. In order to empower students with sufficient knowledge to be successful in the crucial Basic Competence Test, English teachers in junior high school usually focus on reading and writing. Students face huge pressure in learning, which makes English learning totally no fun in this period of time. Besides, English is a foreign language for Taiwanese students. Learning a different language is not an easy task, and it would definitely lead to students feeling anxious during English learning. Noticing that participants are English as foreign language learners as the similar studies conducted by Aida (1994), Liu (2006), Matsuda and Gobel (2004) and Zhao (2007), it could provide a reference for the educational authority to think of ways lower down students’ anxiety. For English as foreign language students, they are anxious in learning English because English is a total different language for them. Besides, the participants of Liu (2006) and Zhao (2007) are all Chinese, the same to the participants in this study. Liu (2006) did a survey of 547 non-English majors university students and indicated that more than one-third of the students were anxious in oral English classrooms. Zhao (2007) revealed that high school students did feel anxious in the English classrooms. The results presented that EFL learners are often anxious about English learning. It may because Chinese seldom use English to communicate in daily life. The structure of English is totally different from Chinese. Chinese is one word for one spelling, but for English, a word consists of various letters, and students need to understand each word’s spelling and they are able to read the words. Since English is a foreign language and Chinese do not have the opportunity to speak English. It may arouse students’ anxiety in learning.

Su, MM. H., & Lan, Y. T. Foreign Language Anxiety and Achievement.

39

Among all the anxiety, participants suffered most fear of negative evaluation and communication apprehension; the result is quite similar to Zhao (2007)’s findings. In Zhao’s study, the researcher indicated that high school students did have the feeling of anxiety in learning English and participants experienced more fear of negative evaluation. Zhao (2007) considered it was because participants were afraid of communicating due to their lack of proficiency. In addition, “the cultural condition that Chinese people care much about their faces” (Zhao, 2007, p.28) caused foreign language anxiety as well. Zhao’s result could be put into practice to the present study. Having negative evaluation makes Chinese people feel like losing face, and this feeling would usually be stronger for teenagers In addition, when it comes to communication apprehension, English is usually taught in the students’ mother tongue, not in English. Students do not have too many opportunities to actually communicate with others in English. They may be frightened with speaking English. Moreover, the educational setting in junior high school in Taiwan is often emphasized on reading and writing, English speaking ability is not something that would be put into the exam, and thus, tends to be ignored during limited English class time. With little opportunity to communicate in English, students, of course, would indicate that they have certain level of communication apprehension, too.

The other finding in this research was that there was a significant negative relationship between foreign language anxiety levels and English learning achievement. Participants who have low foreign language anxiety tend to have high language achievement level. In other words, participants with high foreign language anxiety tend to get low scores in English. The result suggested that foreign language anxiety did negatively affect junior high school students’ English learning achievement, and this finding echoed many research findings in the past few years (Aida, 1994; Chou, Cheng & Sung, 2009; Coulombe, 2000; Gobel, 2004; Liu, 2006; Onwuegbuzie, Bailey & Daley, 1997; Phillips, 1992; Satio & Samimy, 1996; Zhao, 2007). Chou, Cheng and Sung (2009) investigated 876 students, who were in their 2nd year in senior high school, from 50 senior high schools in Taipei City. They employed a revised version of Horwitz’s (1986) foreign language classroom scale to evaluate students’ foreign language anxiety. It is found that senior high students in Taipei City were anxious about learning English and their anxiety would disturb students’ learning in English class (Chou, Cheng & Sung, 2009). From the present study, the same situation happens in junior high school, too. It is obvious that anxiety does damage students’ learning. The results could be a reference for the EFL teachers, researchers, and policy makers in the field.

ConclusionIn this study, the investigator used FLCAS to examine the levels of foreign language

anxiety and the relationship between foreign language anxiety and English learning achievement among the 7th graders in one junior high school in Taipei County. The major

Studies in EPCA

40

findings are summarized below: Based on the results obtained from Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale, the foreign language anxiety tendencies of junior high school students in Taipei County are obvious to find out and students have a medium level of anxiety. The result is similar to Matsuda and Gobel’s (2004) and Liu’s (2006) finding, with a mean score of about 101. A significant negative correlation between foreign language anxiety and English learning achievement of the students is found. That is, students with high foreign language anxiety tend to get low scores while those with low anxiety tend to acquire high scores in English learning. The results are also consistent with previous study (e.g. Aida, 1994; Onwuegbuzie, Bailey & Daley, 1997; Phillips, 1992). The results of the study offer implications for further English teaching courses and English instructions related to foreign language anxiety of EFL junior high school learners. According to the mean score in FLCAS by 101.83 and a significant negative correlation between foreign language anxiety and English learning achievement, it could arouse teachers’ awareness of students’ foreign language anxiety and those low achievement students. It is suggested that English teachers design courses with the consideration of reducing learners’ anxiety (Horwitz et al., 1986), help learners recognize their fears and anxiety in the English classroom, and provide a variety of learning activities in order to help learners deal with their foreign language anxiety. Teachers can skip anxiety-provoking activities which are not required in class. For those anxiety-provoking activities needed in class, teachers could present in the way of games or group discussions to relieve students’ anxiety (Liu, 2006).

What is more important is that teachers can help learners understand their anxiety. Horwitz (1999) mentioned that “many students are relieved to learn that they are not only the ones experiencing anxiety about learning and using a foreign language” (p. 52). Once students can face their anxiety, they will understand their weakness and try to solve the problem. Since students’ English learning achievement plays an important role in anxiety. The teacher could provide make-up classes to help improve students’ English ability, such as teaching students phonetics, letting students understand each possible sound of letter. Once students can pronounce the English words, it will be easier for them to speak English and memorize words. They will not be so afraid of English, and their anxiety levels could be decreased.

Besides, students also can share their fears about learning English with classmates, and they can find ways to lower down the anxiety through peer discussion. Moreover, teachers can pay attention to their teaching styles and make corrections. Teachers teach students ways to learn English well, such as rote memorization, silent reading, and guessing. Hence, learning English will be easier for students. With reduced anxiety, learners will have an enjoyable English learning experience and great English learning achievement.

The study was conducted to investigate students’ foreign language anxiety and the relationship between foreign language anxiety and English learning achievement of junior

Su, MM. H., & Lan, Y. T. Foreign Language Anxiety and Achievement.

41

high school students. There were some limitations in this study. One of the limitations of the study was that the questionnaires may not cover all the learning situations in details, and some unrevealed questions may not be discovered by the questionnaire. Further study can be conducted with other research methodologies, such as interviews with teachers and students, teachers’ observations and so on. Moreover, on the condition of limited time, only the first monthly examination English scores of the semester were used to present students’ English learning achievement. If more time can be dedicated in the future study, adopting scores graded by more than one evaluator is suggested, and an average of students’ English scores of a longer period of time is also suggested for future study.

Reference Aida, Y. (1994). Examination of Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope’s construct of foreign language anxiety:

The case of students of Japanese. Modern Language Journal, 78(2), 155-168. Brown, H. D. (2000). Principles of language learning and teaching (4th ed.) White Pains, NY: Pearson

Education.Chen, T-Y. and Chang. G.. B. (2004) The relationship between foreign language anxiety and learning

difficulties. Foreign Language Annals, 37(2), 279-289. Cohen, L., & Holliday, M. (1982). Statistics for social scientists, London: Harper & Row. Coulombe, D. (2000). Anxiety and beliefs of French- as-a-second language learners at the university

level. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Laval, Quebec, Canada. Crystal, D. (1997). English as a global language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ehrman, M. (1996). Second Language Learning Difficulties: Looking Beneath the Surface. Thousand

Oaks, CA: Sage. Ehrman, M. & Oxford, R. I. (1995). Cognition plus: Correlates of language proficiency. Modern

Language Journal, 79, 67-89. Ganschow, L. & Sparks, R. L. (1996). Anxiety about foreign language learning among high school

women. Modern Language Journal, 80(2), 199-212. Gardner, R. C., Lalonde, R. N., Moorcroft, R., & Evers, F. T. (1987). Second language attrition: The

role of motivation and use. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 6, 29-47. Goldberg, L. R. (1993). The structure of phenotypic personality traits. American Psychologist, 48,

26-34.Gregersen, T. (2005). Nonverbal cues: Clues to the detection of foreign language anxiety. Foreign

Language Annals, 38, 388-400 Horwitz, E. K. (1990). Attending to the affective domain in the foreign language classroom. Shifting

the instructional focus to the learner. Ed. Sally Sieloff Magnan. Middlebury, VT: Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, 15-33.

Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety, Modern Language Journal, 70(2), 125-132.

Horwitz, E. K. (1996), Even teachers get the blues: recognizing and alleviating language teachers' feelings of foreign language anxiety, Foreign Language Annals, 29(3), 365-372.

Horwitz, E. K. (1999). Making connections with language learners. The proceedings of the Eighth international symposium on English teaching. Taipei: The Crane Publishing Co. Ltd,

47-54. Lin, M. C. (2005). A case study of interrelation between language anxiety and English proficiency of

Studies in EPCA

42

vocational high school students at National Tsao-Tun Commercial and Industrial Vocational High School. Unpublished M. A. thesis, National Kaohsiung Normal University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Liu, M. (2006). Anxiety in Chinese EFL students at different proficiency levels. System, 34(3),301-316.

Matsuda, S., & Gobel, P. (2004). Anxiety and predictors of performance in the foreign language classroom. System, 32, 21-36.

MacIntyre, P. D. & Gardner, R. C. (1991a). Language anxiety: Its relationship to other anxieties and to processing in native and second languages. Language Learning, 41, 513-534.

MacIntyre, P. D. & Gardner, R. C. (1991b). Investigating language class anxiety using the focused essay technique. Modern Language Journal, 75, 296-304.

MacIntyre, P. D. & Gardner, R. C. (1991c). Methods and results in the study of foreign language anxiety: A review of the literature. Language Learning, 41, 85-117.

MacIntyre, P. D. (1995). How does anxiety affect second language learning? A reply to Sparks and Ganschow. Modern Language Journal, 79, 90-99.

MacIntyre, P., Noels, K. A. & Clement, R. (1997). Biases in self-rating of second language proficiency: The role of language anxiety. Language Learning, 47(2), 265-287.

Onwuegbuzie, A. J., Bailey, P., & Daley, C. E. (1997). Foreign language anxiety among college students. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Mid-South Educational Research Association (Memphis, TN, November 12)

Pappamihiel, N. E. (2002). English as a second language students and English language anxiety: issues in the mainstream classroom. Research in the Teaching of English, 36, 327-355.

Phillips, E. M. (1992). The effects of language anxiety on students’ oral test performance and attitudes. The Modern Language Journal, 76, 14-26.

Scovel, T. (1978). The effect of affect on foreign language learning: A review of the anxiety research. Language Learning, 28(1), 129-142.

Saito, Y. & Samimy, K. (1996). Foreign language anxiety and language performance: a study of learner anxiety in beginning, intermediate, and advanced level college students of Japanese. Foreign Language Annals, 29, 239-251.

Spielberger C. D. (1972). Anxiety: Current trends in theory and research, 2. New York: Academic Press. .

Spielberger, C. D. (1983). Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

Wu, J. Y. (2005). The correlation between language anxiety and English speaking proficiency for the 3rd graders and the 6th graders in an elementary school. Unpublished M. A. thesis, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.

Young, D. J. (1991). Creating a low-anxiety classroom environment: What does language anxiety research suggest? Modern Language Journal, 75(4), 426-439

Zhao N. (2007). A study of high school students’ English learning anxiety. Asian EFL Journal, 9, 22-34.

(2004) ABC 10 470-477 (2007) 23

(2007) 28(2009)

32 2 81-111

43

New Varieties of English (NVEs) in EOP on Tourism— An Indian English Case

Andrew M. L. Chou Kai-nan University

papachou@mail.knu.edu.tw

Abstract

This paper addressed a pedagogical question regarding optimal pool of teaching materials for EOP (English for Occupational Purposes) on Tourism. Having been aware that New Varieties of English (NVEs) are riding waves with globalization nowadays and they often constitute a linguistic barrier for many trainers/trainees following the TESOL practice, the paper argued that it is high time to acknowledge the existence of NVEs as an adequate pool of teaching materials in EOP on Tourism. Based upon this awareness, this paper built an Indian English mini-corpus by collecting articles from Letters to the Editor from a widely circulated daily newspaper in India, The Hindu. The observation of the case ended up with two tables that manifested linguistic features of Indian English when it came to EOP on tourism. Findings such as high frequency of metaphorical expression as well as negative prefix in lexical utterance that constituted potential pools for teaching materials for EOP on Tourism would be discussed in the conclusion part.

Keywords: EOP, NVEs, Indian English

Introduction Statement of the Question

Tourism for the individuals is to do with education. It is also related to economic activities at the collective level. These two levels of concern bearing on the tourism industry, admittedly, is the essence of Applied English in which the TESOL discipline plays an important part. From the TESOL perspective, as a result, EOP (English for Occupational Purposes) on tourism (Hutchinson & Waters 2002: 17)—or English for International Tourism as it is termed (Strutt 2003)—came into popular being in the Department of Applied English as a branch of ESP (English for Specific Purposes) pedagogue today, because this kind of language course is commonly seen as catering for “learners studying for vocational qualification in the travel trade” with “in-service language training”. While most General English teachers take it for granted that the learners’ needs are “not specifiable” (Hutchinson & Waters 2002, p. 53), the presumed goal of EOP on Tourism is relatively speaking clear-cut. That said, learners applying for EOP on Tourism are assumed that they are looking for course that can “help the learner become aware of the way in which grammatical choices convey meaning” (Strutt 2003: Preface), and the way to materialize this goal, according to Hutchinson and Waters (2002: 66), is to identify linguistic features of target situation in the tourist sector.

Studies in EPCA

44

Given the foregoing, two points are worth attention that constitutes the research direction for this paper. To begin with, aside from many linguistic factors in the past literature, what may be a primary communication barrier in tourist sector from a pedagogical perspective with globalization riding wave at this moment? In the second place, if there has existed communicative barrier from a geo-linguistic viewpoint, how may a corpus-based approach contribute to an adequate set of teaching materials with the purpose of EOP on Tourism? To these two questions, this paper called for attention to New Varieties of English (NVEs). It argued that NVEs were the primary communicative barrier factor. They had to come into the limelight of EOP on tourism not only because linguistic interference from mother tongue in English expression, but also because, in terms of knowledge of NVEs (Sofield 2000: 55), there was an epistemological gap in learners’ target needs in tourist sector; need between necessities for the NVEs and lacks in competence (Hutchinson & Waters 2002: 55).

With these two questions as a directive, this paper put a case of Indian English into test by exemplifying a potential pool of teaching materials of Indian English related to the EOP construct for Tourism. Methodologically, this research attempted to review the features of Indian English currently used among the Indian elite. It was hoped that an exploration of the case of the Indian English by a corpus-based approach in the end would, firstly, demonstrably suffice to support the argument of this paper that NVEs deserve more scholarly attention from the TESOL perspective when addressing the EOP on tourism. Secondly and even more practically, the findings from a case study of Indian English would help collect adequate teaching materials—a wordlist at the lexical level in this paper—in the EOP courses on Tourism. With this effort students in the ESP/EOP courses may ultimately reinforce their discursive background when faced by Indian English, which is approaching toward this side of Asia as time goes by.

Organization of the Paper To press forward the goals mentioned above, both argumentative and practical, the paper

was structured into 3 parts consisting of six sections. Part 1 dished out the questions to be dealt with and the main purposes of this research as seen in this part of writing. Part 2 was inclusive of Section 2 that began with a review of NVEs with particular focus on the link to the tourist sector and Section 3 that justified the selection of the Indian English as a case for exemplification. Part 3 began the test to the observation with a mini-corpus approach launched in Section 4. Findings were reported in Section 5 and discussion and conclusion followed in Section 6.

A Review of NVEs NVEs refer to a cluster of English that are either remnants of the British cultural

Chou, M. L. NVE in EOP on Tourism.

45

hegemony during her bygone empirical era, or linguistic branches of American English under the current US influence. Cases that catch academic attention under this rubric include South African English, Nigerian English, Indian English and Philippine English, to name but a few (D’Souza 2001: 271; Khubchandani & Hosali 1999: 251). They represent a series of English languages that diverge from a common proto-English, but have eventually developed themselves into a unique identity widely in use within their linguistic sphere of influence (Dixon, 1997: 4).

Characteristics of NVEs What make NVEs distinct from Japanese English, Korean English and Chinese English

is that the latter three, if any, are grouped as “East Asia standardizing English” by McArthur (1987) and are identified as the one belonging to the “expanding circle” by Chen (2003: 1), while NVEs came into a natural being as a result of a long colonial history (Roger 2003: 19). They are natural in the sense that they are neither a pedagogically planned result nor an “acquired” product that is formulated by the Second Language Acquisition (SLA) pedagogue in the “English expanding circle” (Wiltshire & Harnsberger 2006: 91). Instead, they are transplanted in the sense that, taking Indian English for instance, when the first English fiction Travels of Dean Mahomet was published by S. D. Mahomet, an Indian surgeon in the British army, as early as 1794 (Dharwadker, 1992), the work reflected the truth that it was not necessary the European writers that could dominate the discourse of the world picture (Fisher 1998”: 70). As late as 1997, Arundhati Roy, who had never traveled abroad before flying to London for an award, became the first female writer in the history of India to win Booker Prize (Sadana, 2003: 13). Roy’s literary achievement in India effectively reflected a deeper hermeneutic structure as well as organically fertile ground to develop literary texts in English (Schell 2008: 127). Although Nemser was quite emphatic that however mature a given speech community could be, a “foreign language learner” did not change the fundamental identity as a language “borrower” (1991: 361), and McArthur (1992: 689) narrowly defined NVEs as “new English-es” that are “recently emerging”, the opposite may be closer to reality. NVEs are illustrative of a stubborn fact that they seize both the receptive and productive domains of English in modern history and are identified as norm-providers rather than norm-dependents in the linguistic construct (Kachru 2005: 19). Whereas some speech communities, such as that in Singapore, may officially discourage an emergence of their own version of English, considering their own way of expression as “broken English”, refusing to grant a legitimate status (Rubdy, McKay, Alsagiff & Bokhorst-Heng 2008: 48), NVEs are found to stay in a speech community quite assertively. Perhaps that was the reason that D’souza (2001: 158) buttressed by globalization was so adamant that NVEs serve as a constructive role in the English world because, as D’souza argued, they make English “a world language”. These views indicated that the link of NVEs to English may be deeper than generally assumed, and

Studies in EPCA

46

the link to the EOP on Tourism was illustrated below.

The Link between Tourism and NVEs The link between the tourist sector and NVEs are worth attention on two fronts. To

begin with, because of the colonial legacy of English in some Asian countries, their NVEs have been taken as treasures to lure those indigenous groups and multinational corporations into marketing effort for promoting tourist destination areas (Hall & Page 2000: 13; Wood 1997: 2). Some regions such as Southeast and South Asia known as places of cultural tourism have been understandably good at recreating and harnessing their tourism potential based on images of ethnic diversity (Graburn 1997: 210). Viewed in this light, for the first time in the post-colonial history NVEs have been taken as a positive functional factor in the tourist sector (Upadhyaya 1992: 825). And this functionality is particularly significant since English varieties today are accepted as a means to strengthen images of different-ness (Hall & Oehlers 2000: 80). NVEs seen in this light constitute one of the factors for the tourist sector to sustain.

In the second place, the existence of NVEs in the tourist sector, educationally speaking, also calls for a sensibly lenient attitude from the TESOL perspective. Twain for instance was of a positive view on tourism as he argued for a healthy attitude toward traveling. For Twain, tourism reduced human “prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness” (Twain quoted by Horowitz, n.d.). In other words, authentic expression in the tourist sector where NVEs are a frequent scene has to be taken into account by the TESOL pedagogue. It may be subsequently recommendable to cast aside the so-called standardizing English in TESOL when it comes to tourism English. Or, to avoid Crick’s harsh criticisms as “leisure imperialism” and “hedonistic face of neocolonialism” (1989: 322), and not to repeat the ill consequences of over-development purely for self-centered market concern (MacCannell 1994: 163), TESOL practice in Taiwan ought to surrender the orthodox ideologies in EOP on Tourism. It is high time for TESOL to accept NVEs as a natural creativity and artifact of the local diversities and one of the causes to accommodate in the tourist sector (Kroskrity 2000: 35).

The paper hastened to add that it had no intention to uphold NVEs. Rather, with TESOL as the main focus of concern, the paper while called for attention to NVEs in EOP on Tourism, showed no reservation to report the other side of the coin in NVEs.

Challenges of NVEs to EOP The challenge of NVEs lies in the stubborn fact that they are by no means friendly to the

ear of most ESL (English as Second Language) learners in the Asia Pacific region. Given the huge population and vast geography in some post-colonial countries, persistent interferences of local accent in the NVEs can be daunting challenge both to tourist business and TESOL pedagogue. Among the potential sources of concern with interferences from mother tongue

Chou, M. L. NVE in EOP on Tourism.

47

into English, Mumtaz and Mitha (1996) identified in Pakistan a range of languages including Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto and Balochi. Ball, Horner and Nield (2007: 21) also pointed out Bengali, Tamil, Gujarati and Urdu among 21 official languages in India (excluding English). Even more disturbingly, Hosali (2005) and Mehrota (1997) found among the English varieties in India that there are Babu English, Kitchen English, Butler English and Pidgin English, which are a legacy of British colonial history mixed with caste system on the Sub-continent. These examples demonstrate that NVEs vis-à-vis EOP on tourism is more complex than first meets the eye. Their complexities in turn effectively justified the concern of this paper from the TESOL perspective.

Taken together, as this paper argued, NVEs can be seen as one of the major concerns of EOP on Tourism and this position can be illustrated on dimensions. Firstly and positively, NVEs strike an image of being different that attracts more investment as well as inbound and outbound visitors into the tourist sector. Secondly and negatively, the inevitable interferenceof local mother tongues, accents and dialects of these NVEs constitutes tough communication barriers (Crystal 1997: 24) that calls for the attention from the TESOL perspective. No matter positive or negative, nevertheless, it is not wide off the mark for this paper to argue that NVEs have to be recognized as an unavoidable issue in the TESOL pedagogical construct when it come to the EOP on Tourism.

Justification of Case Selection Justification of Indian English as a case was based upon facts as follows.

The Largest English Variety There is a huge Indian English population coming from South Asia and spreading into

this part of Asia. According to the statistics quoted by Bhatt in 2000 (2000: 72), the figure registered at 60 millions, which represents the third largest speech community in English and is next only to the combined population of American English and British English. With its users geographically spreading across South Asia including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, etc (D’Souza 1997: 271), Indian English is the largest branch of NVEs. In other words, if Mackey (1988: 36) is right to point out that the “importance of a language may increase with the rise in the number of speaker”, the impact from Indian English as one English variety on the regional development in Asia can hardly be lightly dismissed.

What catches the scholarly attention here is that the giant English-speaking population in South Asia has rarely been a locally dormant one. They are increasingly assertive in their Indian way of English in use. Indeed, ever since 1991, when the Government of India launched the Look East Policy and liberated its economic strategy to a certain extent (Rao 2008), history has witnessed India’s relative advantage as a result of English as communicative means to integrate its economies into the Asia Pacific (Pardesi 2007). Either IT outsourcing, film industry, retails business or tourist sector (Agnihortri & Khanna 1997:

Studies in EPCA

48

111; McArthur 2003, p. 20; Taylor & Bain 2005: 132) or India’s recently being been coded as one of BRICs (the other three are Brazil, Russia and China), the fact that Indian English as a symbol to attract investment from the outside world has been there for us all to see. Given in this light, Indian English is currently expanding its linguistic sphere of influence across the Asia Pacific, and the Oscar awarded Slumdog Millionaire is nothing but to gild refined gold.

The main implication of the huge linguistic demography to TESOL is that it will be very hard for us to imagine the Asian tourism without acknowledging the existence of Indian English today. To the extent decades of native vs. non-native debates may therefore become a non-issue (Nihalani, Tongue & Hosali 1985; Paikeday 1985; Schell 2008), this paper was confident to report that the TESOL pedagogue should appreciate a perspective of language teaching in a global context where NVEs and Indian English in this case would play a part.

Potential Trade in Tourist Sector Indian English proves relevant to the TESOL pedagogue and is not forcefully intruding

in that there has been an in-depth link between Indian English and the tourist sector, if TESOL students are exposed to a wider historical picture. To begin with, India has been taken as one of the representatives of Oriental images (Bhattacharyya 1997). A quick remark by M. Twain remains the center of the world’s admiration. As Twain noted, “Nothing has been left undone, either by man or by Nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his round” (Twain 1897: 544). Owing to the fact that people today still invoke fictions by Rudyard Kipling, Joseph Conrad and E. M. Forester to substantiate their vaguest idea about India (Douglas & Douglas 2000, p. 37), the trade gained from the tourist sector in India has been significant compared with other economic activities. Simply put, the average annual figure of incoming trips into India registered no less than 90% of the overall incoming traveling activities with religious and heritage tourism taking the lead (Joseph & Kavoori 2001). By contrast, other activities in Indian such as conferences, business negotiation and job training constitute less than 1 percent separately (Ministry of Tourism 2008, p. 33). Given the stable trade of tourism, it has to be noted that visitors from UK ranked largest followed by people from US and Canada (Ministry of Tourism 2008, p. 33) demonstrated that Indian English remained the driving force in the whole process of tourist development. It was certainly very ironic for this paper to report at the moment of this writing that the Indian linguistic policy had initially been to phase out English by 1967 (Thomason 2001, p. 44) on the ground of anti-colonial ideology (Kachru 2005: 64; Koul 2001: 5, 39; Upadhyaya 1992: 825).

An Unintelligible Linguistic Tool The foregoing account explicated that, to deal with Asian tourism, TESOL cannot go

without acknowledging the existence of NVEs and Indian English in this case today. More

Chou, M. L. NVE in EOP on Tourism.

49

significantly, Indian English has to be selected as a case in point because it is still premature at this stage (D’souza 2001: 158) to report that EOP on tourism as a ready and natural entity in the process of develop adequate syllabus for Indian English. Simply put, it is all right for TESOL to acknowledge the steady trend of Indian English and the distinct relevance to the tourist sector, but the access principle to teaching materials with the purpose of EOP on Tourism remains questionable.

Caution is therefore necessary due in part to the fact that Indian English is often seen as “unintelligible”, a headache even to the Anglo-Saxon native speakers (Mehrotra 1997; 2003: 19). Although Indian English is grammatically stable and psychologically assertive in its presentation by the Indian elite, it by no means implies that Indian English is comfortable to the ear of the speakers from other corners of Asia, Taiwan included. Imagine the following sentences when Indian-English speakers place the accent at the words underlined, which was cited by Nihalani, Tongue and Hosali (1985: 224).

(1) When can I see you. (2) When I went to see him, he wasn’t there. (3) “Professor Gimson, you are the most impotent parson I have ever met.” Replacing stress accent by pitch accent and with improper intonation by many Indian

English speakers will more often than not cause misperception and misunderstanding in communication.

On the other hand, the vocabulary in Indian English is admittedly ornate. However, it is notoriously confusing to the modern English users. Again, take the following two statements for instances (Mehrotra 2003: 23).

(1) She cannot get good job without some source. The word source here is barely equated with the term relations but more to do with a

similar connotation of Guan-xi in the Chinese cultural context. (2) Ravi has three female cousins. The adjective female specifies the gender of cousin, which is an example of a linguistic

transfer from the Hindi culture. This is a contrast to the word cousin in native English that goes without gender differentiation.

Aside from often confusing vocabulary and misplaced accents, Martin’s (2004: 57) story highlighting blurring pronunciation in Indian English may also make a scene:

Meanwhile (and we’re not making this up), two Indian nationals on a flight from Singapore to Hong Kong were detained at Changi Airport after an American passenger said he heard one of the men calling himself a “Bosnian terrorist” …. The man in fact said he was a “bass guitarist”.

The above joke was both suggestive and educational. It showed that Prator’s (1968: 473) remark made four decades ago that Indian English could be “the most unintelligible version” may not ring hollow even today. Perhaps Sofield was right in calling for more research into

Studies in EPCA

50

tourism vis-à-vis Indian English from a knowledge-based perspective (Sofield 2000: 55), and it was to this direction that the paper now turned.

A Corpus-based Approach to the Indian Case In an attempt to strengthen a systematic manner in observation of Indian English, this

paper took a corpus-based approach and it used 3.2.1 version AntConc concordance software program as assistance. Despite Ozturk (2007, p. 35) argued that a large scale corpus is helpful to make generalization, this does not necessarily mean the larger, the better. Ultimately, it has to be admitted that relative to the overall linguistic expression in human society, there is no such corpus as sufficiently large to the extent that generalization can be safely made. Being large is subsequently not the key point when a corpus-based approach is in used. This is not to say nevertheless that an academic research that takes a corpus-based approach will not make generalization. Rather, generation is needed effort but the purpose of bringing up a generalized result is not to explain a causal link but to highlight features of the collected materials in the corpus (Meyer 2002: 3).

Representative-ness in Corpus Building With this basic understanding, this paper followed Deignan (1991: 198) and

Tognini-Bonelli (2004: 13), who took representative-ness as guideline for corpus building. Here, representative-ness consists of three elements: homogeneity, diversity and time effectiveness. Homogeneity refers to the specific source of collective materials such as an ESP corpus for a specific discourse (Stubbs 2001: 223). Diversity refers to different issues within the same linguistic discourse that make comparison of the contents possible (Biber, Conrad & Reppen 2006: 248). Time effectiveness on the other hand requires that the authentic sources be collected in recent 5-10 years (Huston 2006:. 30; Meyer 2002: 45; Stubbs 2001: 221). Viewed in this line of thinking, this paper was therefore justified to pursue a mini-corpus in prospect of underscoring the feature of Indian English in the context of EOP on Tourism.

Sampling and the Control Group Based upon the above principles for building a representative corpus, this paper

collected all the letters to the editor published in The Hindu from September 2008 to August 2009. The Hindu is an Indian newspaper that boasts a daily circulation of 1.7 millions in city areas and is generally seen as a public media among the Indian elite. This choice was supposed to be helpful in that it reflected the three basic principles of representative-ness that can be illustrated as follows. Firstly, in terms of homogeneity, the sampling came from among the social elite in India that was seen as having relatively higher degree of professional career than high school students interviewed by Cowie (2007) and Davies (1991).

Chou, M. L. NVE in EOP on Tourism.

51

Secondly, with respect to diversity, the writing styles of articles sampled from Letters to the Editor section in The Hindu could be more diverse or less formatted than articles from editorials or columns that could have been specifically designated.

This paper also set the metaphor-based corpus built by Chou (2009) as a control group. This 45,420-word metaphor-based corpus (Appendix A) can be referred to online. It listed articles that had been separately sampled in the international affairs field and the textbook Cause and Effect: Immediate Reading Practice, 4th edition taught as General English course in Kainan University. The paper compared the testament group and control group with a view to typifying the contrast of the frequency counts on metaphor between those in EOP on Tourism and General English.

Findings and Discussion Reports of the Field Observation

Aimed at bringing up an adequate set of teaching materials, the paper built a mini-corpus of Indian English from The Hindu and it ended with a set of 18,192-word corpus in hand. There were in this mini-corpus 195 Letters to the Editor with 51 issues raised and responded among the Indian elite. Topic that had been discussed included reinterpretation of historical events, gyms, music, films, satellite technology, local politics, relations between the capitalists and labors, caste, Indo-Pakistan links and foreign cultural impacts. This wide range of incoming sources came naturally into conversation among the elite internationally and had, to a certain extent, strengthened the characteristics of diversity, a principle set by Biber, Conrad and Reppen in building a corpus (2006) with the following results that were worthy of note.

First, taking advantage of the concordance software program, AntConc, the paper brought forth a table of “Most Frequent Lexicons selected from the TESOL-based mini-corpus in Indian English” (see Table 1). This table contained 45 words that proved Indian English is under the interference of the Hindi language. It is for this interference that NVEs, among which Indian English is the largest one, become a primary communication barrier in easing communication barriers in the tourist sector. Limited by the space of the paper, this paper posted the mini-corpus of Indian English as well as Table 1 & 2 on the website (Please refer to http://cid-5d1703c5f39d2680.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/.Public?uc=1).

Second, after comparing frequency counts of metaphor in use among the mini-corpus of Indian English with the metaphor-based corpus shown in Appendix 1, the paper brought forth Table 2—Comparison of the Frequency Counts. With Table 2, the paper found that Indian English, as Letters of the Editor in The Hindu indicated, significantly tended to use metaphoric expression than the control group did. The testament group exhibited 294 counts of metaphoric expression that were converted into 16.16 units in measurement. On the other hand, the control group had as low as 3.1 units in measurement in terms of metaphoric

Studies in EPCA

52

expression. The frequency counts of metaphor in use in the corpus section in the control group) exhibited an erratic pattern. There was a case that hit as high as 27.36 units in measurement, and there was also a case hit as low as 7.15 units. In other words, neither ESP corpus nor the textbook materials for General English could compete with a stable pattern of metaphor in the Letters of the Editor section in The Hindu—a case of Indian English.

Third, helped by AntConc, the paper found that the lexicons in the testament group were significantly inclined to use negative prefix such as un-, dis-, non-, and in-. As Table 2 demonstrated, the frequency counts of negative prefix in use in textbook materials for General English constituted as low as 2.52 units after the conversion. The converted frequency counts of negative prefix in the ESP corpus existed in 2. 12 4.10 units. However, the Letters to the Editor section in The Hindu demonstrated a frequency of negative prefix went as high as 139 counts. This figure was converted to 7.69 units in measurement, which was 2-3 times of the former two corpuses. Among those lexicons with negative prefix in format, UNFORTUNATELY was worth attention for its hitting 13 times in the mini-corpus. The lexicon ONLY also exemplified a unique case. The control group demonstrated a frequency of ONLY reached 1.69 units, which was a relatively far cry from 3.72 units in the Letters to the Editor in The Hindu.

Discussion The above findings helped fill in the epistemological gap in learners’ target needs in

tourist sector between necessities for the trade and lacks in the competence. To illustrate, Table 1 with 45 most frequently identified lexicons underlined the need to take interference into consideration when collecting teaching materials of EOP on tourism. A closer look into the content showed that the first three lexicons in priority went as caste, Hindutva, and Taliban, and other noteworthy lexicons that were to be seen as representatively cultural included Dalits, Lakha (a 100 thousand unit in Indian monetary system), Lok Sabha. Taking lexicons as themes, this paper therefore suggested that the TESOL pedagogue build teaching materials of Indian English around the concepts of social inequities, prior status of Hinduism, impact of terror on tourism, different counting systems and localized political expression.

Despite the interference from the Hindu language, contextualized lexicons on Table 1 did not create communication barriers to most TESOL tutors in General English since the collected lexicons were independent from the context. Majority of Indian communicators in the public media exhibited an average level of English competence, and they are capable of demonstrating quality English expression in sentence structure.

Findings on Table 2 were intriguing. It is commonly understood that metaphoric expression helps explain complex objects and abstract contents. While many teaching materials for General English had lesser need to have access to metaphor for an article at the introductory level, and ESP teaching materials are assumed to have a higher frequency count

Chou, M. L. NVE in EOP on Tourism.

53

of metaphor in use, the gravity of metaphoric expression in Indian English can hardly be ignored. Take the paper “Spoiled Guest or Dedicated Patriots? The Chinese in North Vietnam, 1954-1978”, written by a Chinese writer Han (2009) and the paper “I Am a Colored Woman: Kamaladeri Challopadhyaya in the United States, 1939-1941”, narrated by an Indian writer, Slate, for instance. The Chinese writer Han showed a tendency to use rhetoric skill of metaphor with a frequency count of 7.15 units. Slate by contrast used metaphoric expression with a frequency count of 23.30 units in measurement. This sharp contrast partially supported a proposition that Indian English may be relatively inclined toward metaphor in use. Given the fact that public media cannot afford lengthy text with limited space and being straightforward in expressing opinions may be preferred to, metaphor in use is sensibly to be the secondary option. However, the frequency count of metaphor in the Letters of the Editor, The Hindu, reached 16.16 units actually represented a good case for the argument that Indian English exhibited metaphoric expression at the sentential level.

The high frequency of negative prefix in use shown in Table 2 suggested nontrivial implications. First, the legacy link between British English and Indian English seemed to remain despite the bygone British Empire. The Indian English under observation demonstrated a preference for an indirect reference, shunning a face-to-face confrontation in opinion exchanges, an ornate legacy of British link. In the syntax “Many of Mr. Tharoor’s critical reference to Congress are uncharitable”, the speaker’s refraining from words such as harsh or severe but used uncharitable was impressive. In a sentence “The Hindu deserves praise for publishing an unbiased editorial”, the writer preferred the word unbiased instead of a potentially controversial word, impartial. Secondly, the higher frequency counts of ONLY in the sentences such as “Only those who said ‘India is Indira and Indira is India’ survived”, or “Jinnah was only a pawn in the game of Partition” partially reflected a nihilist philosophy of life as well as impotence and entropy. To the extent that UNFORTUNATELY is so frequent in use that the adverb might serve as a transition technique rather than denoting unhappiness, this paper suggested a further research.

ConclusionThis paper started from the effort to identify linguistic barriers in the tourist sector,

trying to demonstrate a workable approach to EOP on Tourism so that an adequate set of teaching materials could be located. It argued that timely attention had to be given to NVEs with a view to market potentials in the Asia Pacific region. To fulfill the epistemological gap between learners’ target necessities for the NVEs and lacks in the competence, this paper methodologically built an Indian English-based mini-corpus for better understanding of NVEs in general. It collected articles from the Letters to the Editor section in The Hindu, a newspaper widely circulated among the Indian social elite and it compared the testament group with a metaphor-based corpus as the control group. The observation made by this paper

Studies in EPCA

54

ended up with two tables, i.e., “Most Frequent Lexicons selected from the TESOL-based mini-corpus in Indian English” (Table 1) and Comparison of the Frequency Counts (Table 2).

As of the observation, Table 1 successfully demonstrated that there was a potential source of lexicons in Indian English that could be taken as teaching materials with respect to EOP on Tourism from the TESOL perspective. Table 1 also dropped the hint that difference of Indian English, the major branch of NVEs, lay not so much in its grammar than in its lexical contents that had been greatly interfered by Hindu language. Table 2 on the other hand reflected a feature of Indian English that was characterized by metaphorical expression and there was a collection of lexical utterance loaded with negative prefix such as un-, dis-, non-, and in-. These findings led the paper to suggest that since a mild legacy of British English seemed writ large in Indian English, it demonstrated that NVEs effectively projected an image of the tourist sector in a more intriguing way. Also, the higher frequency counts of negative prefix found in the mini-corpus also mirrored a nihilist philosophy in the Indian life characterized by impotence and entropy. To the extent that UNFORTUNATELY is used exceedingly frequently, it is for this paper to recommend a further research whether this lexicon UNFORTUNATELY is more of a transition technique.

References Agnihortri, R. K. & Khanna, A. L. (1997). Problematizing English in India. New Delhi: Sage. Ball, S., Horner, S. & Nield, K. (2007). Contemporary hospitality and tourism management issues in

China and India: Today’s dragons and tigers. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Bhatt, R. M. (2000). Optimal expressions in Indian English. English Language and Linguistics, 4(1),

69-95.Bhattacharyya, D. (1997). Mediating India: An analysis of a guidebook, Annals of Tourism Research,

24(2), 371-389. Biber, D., Conrad, S. & Reppen, R. (2006). Corpus linguistics: Investigating language structure and

use, 5th printing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chen, S-C. (2003). The spread of English in Taiwan: Changing uses and shifting attitudes. Taipei:

Crane.Chou, A. (2009). Crossing boundaries confidently—A study of entering metaphor in ESP. Tien-Tsai

Chiang, Wei-Chen Chung, and Li-te Li (Eds.), English Education and English for Specific Purposes (pp. 53-73). Taipei: Shin Chieh University & Crane.

Cowie, C. (2007). The accents of outsourcing: The meanings of “neutral” in the Indian call centre industry. World English-es, 26(3), 316-330.

Davies, A. (1991). The native speaker in applied linguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Crystal, D (1997). English as a global language. Cambridge: CUP. Deignan, A. (1991). Corpus-based Research into Metaphor. In L. Cameron & G. Low, (Eds.),

Researching and applying metaphor (pp. 177-199). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dharwadker, V. (1992). English in India and Indian literature in English: The early history, 1579-1834.

Comparative Literature Studies, 39(2), 93-119. Dixon, R. M. W. (1997). The rise and fall of language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. D’Souza, J. (1997). Afterword. World English-es, 18(2), 271-274. D’Souza, J. (2001). Contextualizing the range and depth of Indian English. World English-es, 20(2),

Chou, M. L. NVE in EOP on Tourism.

55

145–159. Douglas, Ngaire. & Douglas, Norman. (2000). Tourism in South and Southeast Asia: Historical

dimensions. In C. M. Hall & S. Page (Eds.), Tourism in South and Southeast Asia: Issues and cases (pp. 29-44). Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann.

Fisher, M. H. (1998). Representations of India, the English East India company, and self by an Eighteenth-Century Indian emigrant to Britain. Modern Asian Studies, 32(4), 891-911.

Graburn, N. H. H. (1997). Tourism and cultural development in East Asia. In S. Yamashita, K. Din, & J. S. Eades (Eds.), Tourism and cultural development in Asia and Oceania (pp. 194-213). Selangor, Malaysia: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan.

Hall, C. M. & Oehlers, A. L. (2000). Tourism and politics in South and Southeast Asia: Political instability and policy. In C. M. Hall & S. Page (Eds.), Tourism in South and Southeast Asia: Issues and cases (pp. 77-93). Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann.

Hall, C. M. & Page, S. (2000). Introduction: Tourism in South and Southeast Asia—Region and context. In C. M. Hall & S. Page (Eds.), Tourism in South and Southeast Asia: Issues and cases(pp. 3-28). Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann.

Han, X. (2009). Spoiled guest or dedicated patriots? The Chinese in North Vietnam, 1954-1978.International Journal of Asian Studies, 6(1), 1-36.

Horowitz, A. (n.d.). From the corner of Raday and Kinizsi. CIEE Study Center in Budapest, Hungary, Retrieved September 20, 2009, from http://www.ciee.org/study/student-experience/documents/AllisonHorowitz.pdf

Hosali, P. (2005). Butler English. English Today, 21, 1, 34-39. Hunston, S. (2006). Corpora in applied English, 4th printing. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.Hutchinson, T. & Waters, A. (2001). English for specific purposes, 16th printing. Cambridge:

Cambridge University press. Joseph, C. & Kavoori, A. (2001). Mediated resistance: Tourism and the host community. Annals of

Tourism Research, 28(4), 998-1009. Kachru, B. (2005). Asian English-es: Beyond the canon. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. Khubchandani, L. M. & Hosali, P. (1999). Grassroots English in a communication paradigm.

Language Problems and Language Planning, 23(3), 251–272. Koul, O. N. (2001). A survey of language preferences on education in India. Language in India, 6(3),

1-44.Kroskrity, P. (2000). Regimes of language: Ideologies, polities and identities, Advanced seminar

series. Santa Fe, New Mexico: School for American Research Press. MacCannell, D. (1994). Tradition's next step. In S. Norris (Ed). Discovered country (pp. 161-179).

Albuquerque: Stone Ladder Press. Martin, J. R. (2004). Grammatical structure: What do we mean? In C. Coffin, Hewings, A., &

O’Halloran. K. (Eds.), Applying English grammar: Functional and Corpus Approaches (pp. 57-76). London: Hodder Arnold.

McArthur, T. (1987). The English languages? English Today, 11, 1-7. McArthur, T. (1992). The Oxford companion to the English language. Oxford: Oxford University

Press.McArthur, T. (2003). English as an Asian language. English Today, 19(2), 19-22. Mehrotra, R. R. (1997). Reduplication in Indian pidgin English. English Today, 13(2), 45-49. Mehrotra, R. R. (2003). A British response to some Indian English usages. English Today, 19(3),

19-25.Meyer, C. (2002). English corpus linguistics: An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

Studies in EPCA

56

Ministry of Tourism. (2008, February 22). India Tourism Statistics 2006. New Delhi: Government of India. Retrieved September 20, 2009, from http://tourism.gov.in/statistics/ITS2006.pdf

Mumtaz, K. & Mitha, Y. (1996). Pakistan: Tradition and change. Oxford: Oxfam. Nemser, W. (1991). Language contact and foreign language acquisition. In V. Ivir & D. Kalogjera

(Eds.), Trends in linguistics studies and monographs 54 (pp. 221-223). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter & Co.

Nihalani, P., Tongue, R. K., & Hosali, P. (1985). Indian and British English: A handbook of usage and pronunciation, 2nd Impression. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Ozturk, I. (2007). The textual organisation of research article introductions in applied linguistics: Variability within a single discipline. English for Specific Purposes, 26, 1, 25–38.

Pardesi, M. S. (2007). Understanding the rise of India. India Review, 6(3), 209-231. Prator, C.H. (1968). The British Heresy in TESL. In J. A. Fishman, C. A. Ferguson & J. Das Gupta

(Eds.), Language Problems of Developing Nations (pp. 459-476). New York: Wiley. Rao, P. V. Ed. (2008). India and ASEAN: Partner at summit. New Delhi: KW. Rogers, C. K. (2003). Registration variation in Indian English. Unpublished doctorial dissertation,

Ann Arbor, Michigan: North Arizona University. Rubdy, R., McKay, S. L., Alsagoff, L. & Bokhorst-Heng, W. D. (2008). Enacting English language

ownership in the outer circle: A study of Singaporean Indians’ orientations to English norms. World English-es, 27(1), 40-67.

Sadana, R. (2003). Englishwallahs, Hindiwallahs, and the politics of language and literary production. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Berkeley, California: University of California.

Schell, M. (2008). Colinguals among bilinguals. World English-es, 27(1), 117-130. Singh, T. V. & Singh, S. (2000). Tourism in India: Development, performance and prospects. In C. M.

Hall & S. Page (Eds.), Tourism in South and Southeast Asia: Issues and cases (pp. 225-232). Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann.

Slate, N. (2009). I am a colored woman: Kamaladeri Challopadhyaya in the United States, 1939-1941. Contemporary South Asia, 17(1), 7-19.

Sofield, T. H. B. (2000). Rethinking and re-conceptualizing social and cultural issues in Southeast and South Asian tourism development. In C. M. Hall & S. Page (Eds.), Tourism in South and Southeast Asia: Issues and cases (pp. 45-57). Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann.

Strutt, P. (2003). English for international tourism. Essex: Longman. Stubbs, M. (2001). Words and phrases: Corpus studies of lexical semantics. Oxford: Blackwell. Taylor, P. & Bain, P. (2005). India calling to the far away towns: The call centre labour process and

globalization. Work, Employment and Society, 19(2), 261–282. Thomason, S. G. (2001). Language contact: An introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Tognini-Bonelli, E. (2004). Working with Corpora: Issues and insights. In C. Coffin, A. Hewings, A.

& K. O’Halloran (Eds.) Applying English grammar: Functional and corpus approaches (pp. 11-24). London: Hodder Arnold.

Twain, M. (1897). Following the equator. NY: Kindle. Upadhyaya, P. C. (1992). The politics of Indian secularism. Modern Asian Studies, 26(4), 815-853. Wiltshire, C. R. & Harnsberger, J. D. (2006). The influence of Gujarati and Tamil L1s on Indian

English: A preliminary study. World English-es, 25(1), 91-104. Wood, R. (1997). Tourism and the state: Ethnic options and constructions of otherness. In M. Picard &

R. Wood (Eds.), Tourism, ethnicity and the state in Asian and Pacific societies (pp. 1-34). Honolulu: Hawaii University Press.

57

Blogging about Picture Books: A Case Study of 13 High School EFL Students’ Reading & Writing Experiences

Hsiao-chien Lee National Kaohsiung Marine University

marianlee@mail.nkmu.edu.tw

AbstractEFL (English as a Foreign Language) students need to have authentic reading and

writing experiences in order to learn meaningfully and productively. As technology has become a powerful tool to help students learn in today’s English classroom, and as picture books serve as a great catalyst for insightful discussions, it is worthwhile to examine the use of picture books with older EFL readers in an Internet-based environment. I conducted this study to investigate 13 high school EFL students’ reading and writing experiences. A particular Internet medium, the blog, was chosen to provide an arena for students to share their reading responses to 11 thought-provoking picture books. I collected multiple sources of qualitative data and used constant comparative method to code the data. The findings show that students found picture books to be rich in both meaning and illustration. When they blogged, they demonstrated sophisticated comprehension strategies. The sense of an audience as well as writing ownership motivated them, while teacher and peer supports sustained their engagement. However, self-consciousness as a foreign language writer and heavy schoolwork burden hindered the students from participating actively. I have concluded the study with pedagogical suggestions for EFL teachers in Taiwan.

Keywords: Blog, EFL learners, Literature Discussion, Picture Books

Introduction As a teacher of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students in Taiwan, I have long

noticed the importance of providing authentic reading and writing experiences as a means of engaging my students in meaningful English learning activities. However, it is too often the case that Taiwanese students devote much of their time to test preparation, and their teachers maintain an adherence to covering textbook content. With the widely accepted understanding that students learn to read and write by reading and writing (Graves, 1983; Smith, 2005), it is essential that EFL teachers provide reading material other than the textbooks and writing prompts outside of what is required to pass a test.

The statistics (Taiwan Network Information Center, 2006) indicate that, in Taiwan, the age group of 16-20 years old has the highest percentages of Internet users, at 98.90% or 1.57 million people. Close in second place are the 12-15 year olds, with a percentage of 98.00% or 1.27 million people (p. 3). These figures suggest that the Internet has become a popular tool in the daily lives of today’s Taiwanese youth. Accordingly, Taiwanese EFL students

Studies in EPCA

58

should be equipped with new literacy skills and strategies in order to read, think critically, and communicate via the Internet, and to “fully participate in our society and lead productive personal, civic, and work lives” (Leu, Leu, & Coiro, 2004).

In order to engage students in authentic reading and writing experiences, and in order to meet today’s youths’ needs for surviving in this new technology era, I conducted a book talk and blogging project. Thirteen high school students voluntarily participated in the project, which consisted of reading inspiring picture books, discussing the texts with their English teacher and peers, and blogging with native English speakers about the picture books they read. The project lasted eight months, and during this time multiple sources of data were collected. I asked the research questions: What were the students’ reading experiences of picture books? What factors motivated the students to blog about the picture books? What factors hindered them? I then coded the data and was able to reach insightful understandings about students’ reading and writing experiences. The following literature guided the study and helped form the research design.

Literature Review Web-log in the English Classroom

EFL teachers in Taiwan have recognized the importance of integrating technology, the Internet in particular, into school curriculum. Recent studies show, for example, that the Internet has been used to help construct e-pal projects thereby improving students’ writing skills (Cha, 2008; Liaw, 2003). The Internet has also proven itself an important resource for enhancing students’ listening comprehension (Chiu, 2007) and pronunciation (Tsai, 2008). Furthermore, teachers have used the Internet to involve students in multi-language learning (Lin, 2007) and self-learning activities (Kung & Chuo, 2002). In short, EFL teachers in Taiwan are aware of the benefits of Internet-based instructions and have practically applied that knowledge in their classrooms.

When engaging their EFL students in Internet-based learning activities, not too many English teachers in Taiwan have used the web-log, “one of the most popular forms of online discourse” (Bloch, 2007), as a tool to help their students learn. However, in general, teachers of English language learners recognize “the power of blogs to improve students' abilities while learning a second [foreign] language” (Arena & Jefferson, 2008).

Researchers of English education have examined the pedagogical implications of the weblog, for example, the use of a personal blog to motivate reading (Castek, Bevans-Mangelson, & Goldstone, 2006; Huffaker, 2005; Krashen, 2007) or the proposition that blogging helps encourage writing (Armstrong & Retterer, 2004; Richardson & Mancabelli, 2001). When it comes to the teaching of ESL (English as a Second Language) and EFL students, many researchers see the benefits of integrating the web-log in their courses (Bloch, 2007; Campbell, 2003; Duber, 2002; Johnson, 2004). For example, Horváth

Lee, H. C. Blogging about Picture Books

59

(2008) invited his college EFL students to voluntarily post on the class blog. As his students were posting both texts and images on the blog, while at the same time responsible for self-evaluationing the entries, Horváth realized that “for university courses devoted to the development of reading and writing skills in foreign languages, the blog approach has been shown to contribute to both stronger community bonding and to greater individual autonomy” (Conclusion section).

Several attempts to date have also explored how blogs can be integrated into peer literature discussions. For example, during a literature discussion activity, Richardson (2003) used the blog to give students “a chance to extend those discussions online and reflect on what had transpired in class” (p. 40). As a result, Richardson noticed that the discussions on the web blog “stimulate debate and motivate students to do close reading of the text” (p. 40). Franklin-Matkowski (2007) also examined blogging about books with her high school students. The students independently read classic thought-provoking novels, such as To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee, 1988), and then posted their thoughts about the books on the blogs at their own pace. Franklin-Matkowski saw that “students’ fluency, voice, and confidence increased;” she also noticed that “students generated their own responses to the literature and made text-to-text, text-to-self, and text-to-world connections” (p. ix).

Literature Discussion In literacy education, student conversation is integrated with the reading of literature.

Reading theorists emphasize the reader’s associations and references in determining meaning (Garber, 1995, p. 7). Rosenblatt (1978/1994) maintains that reading involves a transaction between the reader, the writer, and the text. When readers read, they actively participate by bringing in such resources as their past experience and present personality. Then they form a new order and a new experience (p. 12). Probst (1992) also states that readers should be encouraged to “attend to their own conceptions, their own experience, bringing the literary work to bear upon their lives and allowing their lives to shed light upon the work” (p. 60).

Accordingly, literacy educators have conducted studies on small group literature discussion, an effective strategy to engage students in active response (Gilles, 1998; Hill, Johnson, & Schlick Noe, 1995; Hill, Schlick Noe, & King, 2003; Short, 1998). Findings indicate that when students are able to speak candidly about books it is beneficial to all readers (including struggling or young readers), as discussion will engage students cognitively, motivationally, and emotionally (McIntyre, 2007; Triplett & Buchanan, 2005). Moreover, students demonstrate critical thinking and cultural identity when they are invited to read about “silenced” people (Hunsberger, 2007) and multicultural genres (Louie, 2006). As literature study naturally encourages deep thinking, group discussion further provokes the students to question, rather than passively accept, the information they encounter (McLaughlin & DeVoogd, 2004). The text meaning is therefore understood “in the context

Studies in EPCA

60

of social, historic, and power relations, not solely as the product or intention of an author” (Cervetti, Pardales, & Damico, 2001, Critical Literacy Approaches section, para.1).

Several scholars in Taiwan have examined the benefits of reading English literature collaboratively. In her study, Wang (2003) engaged her second year junior high school students in group discussion activity. When compared with the control group of students who received traditional reading instruction, those students who participate in Wang’s group discussion activity performed much better on reading comprehension tests and learned more reading strategies through group discussion. Wang’s study suggests that group discussion could be an effective alternative for teachers to enhance students’ reading skills and motivate them to learn.

Wu (2004) also investigated literature discussion. In her study, she engaged tenth-grade students in a reading-and-writing connection project. The students were asked to read two classic fictions and then write responsive letters according to the prompts. During the process of reading and writing, students discussed with peers about their responses to the writing prompts. In her findings, Wu pointed out that group discussions not only facilitated students’ English reading and writing but also effectively helped them develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Another Taiwanese scholar, Chiang (2007), investigated the effects of a virtual literature circle. She invited 54 college students to participate in a year-long online literature discussion project. The results showed that the students’ English reading comprehension and general English proficiency improved. Chiang also suggested that peer interactions within the virtual literature circle helped students learn from their peers and provided audiences to share thoughts with.

Teachers in Taiwan are increasingly exploring new ways to encourage their students to read English literature. As many studies have suggested the group discussion approach to be more effective and beneficial than traditional reading instruction, it is essential that educators conduct more studies using this method.

Reading Picture Books English teachers in Taiwan have acknowledged the significance of integrating picture

book reading instruction in their classrooms, especially at the elementary school level. For example, one Taiwanese teacher, Hsueh (2007) believes that because picture books have predictable plots, repetitive refrains, and imaginative illustrations that help offer clues for predicting the textual meaning, elementary students will have positive reading experiences and their motivation of learning English will be enhanced. Another English teacher, Shih (2009), distributed surveys to 39 rural elementary students, examining their preferences for reading materials. The results showed that the students were most interested in readingEnglish picture books. Chang (2008), another Taiwanese English teacher, also investigated

Lee, H. C. Blogging about Picture Books

61

the implementation of English picture books at the elementary school level. He used the classic story, The Three Goats (enclosed with a CD), with his third-grade students. The results showed that both the listening comprehension and English learning motivation of his third-graders improved. These studies suggest that applying English picture books as a supplementary material in the English classroom proves to bring a successful and joyful learning experience to the elementary school students in Taiwan.

As many teachers and librarians have noticed, picture books used to be considered appropriate for very young children, frequently designated by an “E” on the spine. However, “over the last few years, publishers have been producing more and more picture books in which the concept or the subject or the length of the text were not meant for preschoolers” (Juneau Public Libraries, 2004, Juvenile section, para.1). As a result, “picture books can be complex, difficult, and experimental in nature” and the “E” that traditionally stood for “easy” has shifted to mean “everybody” (Smith, 2008, p. 6).

Recent studies have shown that picture books should have great appeals for older readers as well. Specifically, researchers note that picture books are short enough to be read in one sitting, that they contain intriguing illustrations, and that they are reader friendly and therefore facilitate learning for a variety of special needs students. Accordingly, both middle school and secondary school students can benefit by reading picture books to enhance literacy learning, cultivate social awareness, and develop critical thinking (Burke & Peterson, 2007; Murphy, 2009; Wilkins, Sheffield, Ford, & Cruz, 2008).

Not much research has been conducted in Taiwan to investigate using picture books with older readers. However, since our students “live and learn in well-balanced print-rich and image-rich environments,” teachers should be aware that “symbol and imagination work interdependently to produce thoughtful, responsible, and multi-literate 21st-centry citizens” (Piro, 2002, p. 134). Engaging older students in picture book reading activity meets the demand of cultivating multi-literate citizens; it also provides a promising alternative for teachers to enhance students’ learning interests and reading and thinking strategies.

MethodologyParticipants

I invited 13 students from a municipal girls’ high school, located in the southern part of the nation, to participate in the blogging project. Their English teacher, having years of experiences of reading picture books aloud to her own child, was willing to help recruit the students from her freshman class. These13 students of varied English abilities voluntarily joined in the project. Most of them were strong learners as the school is among the top high schools in South Taiwan and the students had to study hard in order to be admitted to the school. There were various motives inspiring these students to participate in the study, including a chance to brush up on their English, the opportunity to communicate with English

Studies in EPCA

62

native speakers, and time read picture books in English.

Research Design Since the public high schools in Taiwan usually have a fixed curriculum and most of

the class time must be used to cover the contents of the standardized textbooks, the English teacher conducted the book club as an extra-curricular activity. We distributed the picture books to the students to be read individually in their free time. The picture books were chosen particularly for the purpose of encouraging multicultural perspectives and critical thinking (see Appendix for the titles of the books). As there were only two copies of each title, the students took turns reading the books. Every two weeks or so, after most of the students finished reading the book, the English teacher arranged a lunch meeting with the students to discuss the picture book being read at that time. Sometimes the students had other obligations during the lunch recess hours, so not every student was able to make it to all of the discussions. During the discussions, the teacher asked questions about the texts, encouraged the students to share their thoughts on the reading, and invited the students to examine closely both the meanings and the syntax of the books.

The students then went home and posted their thoughts about the books on the blog. I emailed prompts to the students to help them focus, but the students could also choose to write freely about their responses. I created a blog on Blogger (http://blogger.com), one of the most popular, easy-to-use blog hosting sites. The blog was password protected so only the participating students were allowed to post. In order to motivate the students to write and to provide them with the opportunity of writing for a real purpose, I also invited 13 American students to post about the same picture books on the blog. The American students were fifth grade native English speakers from a Midwestern city in the U.S., whose Principal encouraged cross-cultural communications and had involved the school in online communications with students in Taiwan before. The young age of the native English speaking students helped to balance the power struggle that the two groups might have experienced, had both groups been the same age.

The students made blog posts on a weekly basis. They had breaks from posting during the monthly exam weeks and the winter vacation. Altogether the book discussion and blogging activity lasted for eight months and students read 11 picture books. As the students blogged along, I kept in constant contact with them through emails and instant messages. The frequent communications between the students and myself allowed me to provide timely technique help to the students.

At the end of the project, I interviewed the students individually, as well as their teacher. The students also filled out a self-evaluation form to report their participation in the project and to reflect on the books they enjoyed most.

Lee, H. C. Blogging about Picture Books

63

Data Collection & Analysis To triangulate the data, I collected the students’ blog entries, digitally recorded their

group discussions, kept notes in my research journal, gave a pre-survey about students’ reading and writing background information, asked the students to fill out self-evaluation forms in the end of the project, interviewed the students and the teacher, and saved the copies of the emails exchanged amongst the teacher, the students, and myself. The following is a summary of the qualitative data collected:

Table 1. Sources of Data Collected

Source of Data Total Number Collected

Blog entries (book talk + free chat) 329

Field observations 2

Research journal entries 29

Student pre surveys 13

Student self evaluation forms 13

Emil exchanges & Instant Messages with the teacher 37 &11

Email exchanges & Instant Messages with the students 138 & 15

Recorded group discussions 5

Final interviews 14

I used the technique of the constant comparative method to code the multiple sources of data. To answer my research question, “What were the students’ reading experiences of picture books”, in addition to collecting descriptive data figures, I paid particular attention to the reading comprehension strategies demonstrated in students’ blog entries. I coded students’ blog entries based on the six major comprehension strategies: making connections, visualizing, asking questions, inferring, determining importance, and synthesizing (adapted from Sholastic.com). Moreover, in order to answer the other two research questions, “What factors motivated the students to blog about the picture books?” and “What factors hindered them?” I transcribed the student interviews and look closely through student self-evaluations and our private communications. I used constant comparative method to try to “see patterns, identify themes, discover relationships, develop explanations, make interpretations, mount critiques, or generate theories” (Hatch, 2002, p 148). Data analysis helped to answer my research questions and reveal the following findings.

Findings and Discussion Research Question 1: What Were Students’ Reading Experiences of Picture Books? Analysis Based on the Descriptive Data

In the self-evaluation form, I asked the students to circle the books that they thought

Studies in EPCA

64

had helped them learn most. The following is the summary of their choices:

Table 2. Billboard of the Most Inspiring Books

Numbers of Votes Book Title

4 The Island of the Skog

3 The Other Side

3 The Greatest Power

1 Me &Mr. Mah

1 Feathers and Fools

1 Terrible Things

0 Whoever You Are

0 Yoon and the Christmas Mitten

0 The Three Questions

0 The Big Box

0 Henry and the Kite Dragon

By voting on the books that helped them learn most, the following reading experiences were suggested:

1. Students enjoyed and valued thought provoking books with beautiful pictures. The Island of the Skog (Kellogg, 1993) was four students’ top choice. In the book, a group of mice, when moving to an unknown island, encounter a giant, menacing monster. Thinking to self defend, the group of mice discuss how to attack the monster. However, in the end it turns out that the monster, the Skog, is acting up since it is as terrified of strangers as the mice are. Students found the book easy to understand but with many deep meanings. Chieh-ming (I used pseudonyms in the paper) commented (all the interviews were translated from Chinese), “The book symbolizes today’s world. I learned from it the philosophy of getting along with people. It made me think” (personal communication, May 19, 2008). The students were also attracted to the book’s beautiful illustrations. Three students stated that the illustrations were impressive. Besides, two students indicated that they learned some vocabulary by reading the book. Therefore, picture books like The Island of the Skog prove to benefit older readers, as long as they have both beautiful illustrations and sophisticated meanings.

2. Those books appearing to be “children’s books” were not on the students’ favorite list. Whoever You Are (Fox, 1997) and The Big Box (Morrison, 2002) were the two books that fell into the students’ disfavor because of their repeated patterns and simple, chanting formats. Na-la explained: “The same sentences have been repeated too many times so we do not want to read on” (personal communication, May 18, 2008). Therefore, although the students had great discussions about the implied meanings in the book The Big Box, after they repeatedly read the refrains “We all agree, your parents and we, that you just can’t handle your freedom,” none of them considered it the most inspiring book.

Lee, H. C. Blogging about Picture Books

65

3. Books with Chinese elements were not necessarily on the list of the most inspiring books. However, this type of books played an important role and somewhat affected students’ opinions toward the books. For example, The Greatest Power (Demi, 2004), tells about a young Chinese emperor who seeks the wisest person to be his prime minister. Sing is chosen because she gives the best answer to the emperor’s question, “What is the greatest power in the world?” Three among seven students chose this book as the one that helped them learn most. Ning-ning felt that because the book is about Chinese culture, she could understand it better. Hsiao-fang felt that she had more to say about this particular book when posting on the blog. Chieh-ming was confident that she comprehended the text well because she had the background information. Books with Chinese elements made the students feel more connected to and also allowed them to have more to talk about.

4. Books with culturally relevant elements but did not seem authentic enough to the students were also not favored by the students. In the book Yoon and the Christmas (Recorvits, 2006), the illustrations of the little Korean girl, Yoon, showed that she had a round face and slanted eyes, and that her New Year gift was a red dress. Students stated that they did not like the way Yoon was portrayed. They found it too stereotypical. Therefore, although all 13 students read the book, and 12 of them participated in the group discussion, no one chose it as her favorite book. Na-la said, “I don’t like other people to have stereotypes about the Chinese. They drew the Chinese with braids and dressed in red. They are always dressed in red” (personal communication, May 18, 2008). As Korean and Chinese heritage both have close cultural ties, the students did not think the characters in the books were fairly portrayed and so they did not value the book greatly.

5. Students’ reading experiences expanded because of the interaction with the American students. The second most popular book among the students, The Other Side (Woodson, 2001), is about racial discrimination experienced by two American children, one black and one white. The Taiwanese students found the topic new to them as racial discrimination is not as prevalent in Taiwan compared with the United States. As they read the American students’ postings, their understanding about this social problem broadened. They also became more interested in this part of American history. For example, Hsiao-fang reflected, “Our textbook says that according to the law the black people had to give seats to the white people on the bus. My understanding gained from the textbook about this condition was confirmed after I read the picture book” (personal communication, May 16, 2008). Interacting with a group of audiences from another culture enriched the students’ reading experiences.

Reading Comprehension Strategies I closely examined the students’ blog entries and coded them by paying particular

Studies in EPCA

66

attention to the reading comprehension strategies displayed in students’ writing. To exemplify my understandings, I chose students’ responses to the book, The Greatest Power(Demi, 2004)--which was listed as the second most inspiring book and also received the second highest number of comments from the students--to demonstrate that students were able to use the following comprehension strategies to approach the texts.

1. Making connections: In her post, Shung-pei pointed out the unrealistic arrangement for Sing, a little girl, to be chosen as the prime minister. She wrote, “But, in the real Chinese history, it’s impossible for female to be prime ministers, and Sing is just a little girl” (blog entry, March 4)! Shung-pei’s posting showed that she could draw on her prior knowledge, as well as her understanding of ancient Chinese history, and make a judgment about the situation presented in the text. The connection she made with historical events helped her to question the text message and therefore turned her into a critically thinking reader.

2. Inferring: Hsiao-fang pondered on why the little girl, Sing, worked alone, when all the others worked in groups to find the answers to the Emperor’s question. She wrote:

Maybe the little girl was too intelligent to work with others because nobody knew what she thought. Or she has Kanner syndrome. It seems like that children who has Kanner syndrome will become a genius (blog entry, March 12).

Hsiao-fang tried to figure out the reason why Sing worked alone. She used her background knowledge about intelligent people and “Kanner syndrome” as clues to help her find possible answers. She was inferring when reading the book.

3. Determining importance: Most students posted about the lesson they learned from the book. Kang-lin was no exception. She wrote:

What this book is about is really touching. Most of the time we wonder what is the best thing to do and we always chase after those thing that are far away from our real life. But I think we should slow down our step and do what is now right beside you, hold your friendship tight, do whatever need to do, that would be true meaning of “Seize the Day” (blog entry, February 25).

Kang-lin was able to identify the big idea in the text and therefore learned a life lesson.

4. Synthesizing: After reading all the different answers to the Emperor’s question, “What is the greatest power in the world?” Chen-na came up with her own answer. She posted:

Lee, H. C. Blogging about Picture Books

67

And i think that LOVE is also the greatest power in the world love can give us energy love can change everything love can make magic Even if we have fortune Without love We won’t be happy and life will be meaningless (blog entry, March 1)

This blog entry, an impressive short poem, showed that Chen-na used what she read to create her own idea. She demonstrated that she could combine new information from her reading with existing knowledge and consequently create new perspective: that love is the greatest power.

Research Question 2: What Factors Motivated the Students to Blog about the Picture Books?Writing for Real Audiences

The students enjoyed communicating with native English speakers. They embraced the opportunity and thought it was fun and exciting. One student, I-mei, even described that her world got wider because of this project. She said, “My life used to be limited, doing some routine works. But with this project, I suddenly am able to see places far away and talk to people far away” (personal communication, May 18, 2008). Another student, Na-la, explained how the fact of receiving replies from others encouraged her. She said, “If someone responds [to my postings], [next time] when I write, I will be expecting: Will it be the same person that responds? Or will there be a lot of people responding” (personal communication, May 18, 2008)?

Supports from the Teacher and Peer Group Students benefited by participating in the group discussions. Ning-ning stated that

she could write very fast if she had participated in the discussion with the teacher and her peers. Otherwise, usually she needed to think for a long while before she could write something (personal communication, May 10, 2008). Hsiao-fang enjoyed the discussions since she could hear different perspectives. Na-la also pointed out that she gained more understandings about the books after discussing within the peer group. Kui-lan recalled that as the teacher asked them to reflect on similar experiences they had when traveling to another country, she had a deeper understanding about the book, The Other Side (personal communication, May 20, 2008). In short, the discussions with the teacher and the peers inspired the students to think further about the texts and therefore helped them construct more

Studies in EPCA

68

sophisticated thoughts in their postings.

Sense of Ownership and Achievement Students gained a sense of accomplishment by successfully writing in English.

Kang-lin reflected, “English is the foreign language, so if I can use another language to express myself and people still understand me, I feel good” (personal communication, May 10, 2008). Students also welcomed the writing activity as it was different from the academic writing they had to do for school. Na-la explained, “In school you have to write the topic that the teacher chose, otherwise you will get a zero as your score. But here even when you are off topic, you still get responses” (personal communication, May 18, 2008). Students appreciated that they could write freely about self-chosen topics and could always get feedback. The sense of ownership and achievement about their writing encouraged them.

Research Question 3: What Factors Hindered them? Foreign Language Learners’ Self-Consciousness

The students’ total blog entries about the books were counted and listed below:

Chart 1. Numbers of Students’ Entries

0

1

2

3

4

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Number of Entries

Num

ver

of S

tude

nts

On average, students posted 8.6 times about the books. Two students posted less than half of the amounts (four entries). After interviewing all the students, I realized that for some students, writing in English and making people understand them appeared to incite students to post. On the other hand, some students found this challenge quite intimidating. Bei-shan, for example, when describing her writing process, made it quite clear she had trouble blogging candidly. She sometimes needed to ponder on the words. Then she used a dictionary to help her. After she typed her post, she then re-read it to check for spelling

Lee, H. C. Blogging about Picture Books

69

and grammatical errors. She was concerned that if she typed the wrong words or used the wrong grammar, it would cause her to lose face. Bei-shan concluded that if she were writing in Chinese, she would be able to write more (personal communication, May 31, 2008). Chen-na expressed a similar concern. She said, “I dare not use English to write freely, because I am concerned that I may write something wrong and then they don’t understand it” (personal communication, June 5, 2008). As a result, the self-consciousness, commonly found with foreign language learners, prevented the students from posting spontaneously and freely on the blog.

Schoolwork Obligations Most students read all the picture books that were circulated among them. However,

not every one of them posted about all the books. During the eight-month reading and blogging project, an average of ten entries were made about each picture book. (See Chart 2).

Chart 2 . Number of Entries for Each Book

0

5

10

15

20

25

Whoeve

rSko

g

Mr Mah

Yoon

3 Qs

Greatest

Big Box

Other S

ide

Kite D

ragon

Feathe

rs

Terribl

e Thin

gs

Book Title (key words only)

Num

ber

of E

ntri

es

The main reason for students’ lack of posting was their own school obligations and heavy workload. Ning-ning said she had wanted to participate in the discussions but failed to do so because she had to go to her school club meetings during the lunch hour book discussion (personal communication, May 10, 2008). Na-la noticed that her classmates were just too busy to remember to post (personal communication, May 18, 2008). She told me, “Sometimes I reminded them [to post on the blog]. A few days later, when I talked to them about it, they did not remember that I had told them (personal communication, May 18, 2008). Bei-shan also agreed that time was a big issue. She said, “I don’t really have too much time. Sometimes the monthly exam approached…” (personal communication, May 31, 2008). This can be clearly observed from the complete absence of any book discussion

Studies in EPCA

70

post about Feathers and Fools (Fox, 2000), which was read one week prior to the monthly exam. The teacher also shared with me her observation. She noted that in the eyes of her students, academic success was the most important thing. When they had to choose between completing their schoolwork and participating in this project, their choice was always their school work (personal communication, June 26, 2008).

Conclusion My study shows that using picture books, along with blogging, is a successful

approach to engaging high school EFL students in meaningful reading and writing experiences. Students enjoyed the opportunity to read authentic materials, to ponder on the meaning of the texts, to share their thoughts with real audiences, and to practice their English writing. To make the project more beneficial, certain elements need to be attended to. The picture books chosen have to be inspiring and appealing enough for older readers. Impressive illustrations serve as an important tool for sustaining the older readers’ interest while thought provoking content helps evoke insightful appreciation and reflection. In other words, to engage and inspire older readers, the picture books have to be rich in both text meaning and image presentation.

Furthermore, although students are reading picture books, the content of this genre is becoming more complex, and affluent supports from teachers and peers are essential. EFL students in Taiwan have not had many opportunities to read authentic English texts. Therefore, reading instruction in class is indispensable. Group discussion appears to be a productive strategy in encouraging students to think independently, as well as to expand thought in response to others’ perspectives. In addition, when talking orally about one’s responses to the text, students are actually constructing thought processes, which will also help them later in their writing responses.

Moreover, as writing in English can be intimidating to some English learners, alternative ways of responding to literature should be provided. For example, students do not necessarily need to write down their thoughts about the books. Instead, they can act, sing, draw, and even create an artistic form (such as making a collage) to share their thoughts and opinions toward the texts. Students should also be encouraged to create their own literary works. Teachers can provide reading prompts to invite writing ideas while also allowing students to react to literature in various ways.

Finally, blogging proves to be a feasible tool to be implemented in EFL classroom. It only takes English teachers time and effort to figure out why, how, and when to integrate the blogging activity in their curriculum. Too many times teachers are using technology for technology’s sake only. English teachers in Taiwan need to evaluate the benefits of using blogging in their classroom, as well as the inconveniences or drawbacks that may come along (such as unnecessary time spent on the Internet, inaccessibility to the computers, unexpected

Lee, H. C. Blogging about Picture Books

71

technology problems that may occur, and students’ lacking self-regulation to post, etc.). Only after teachers have considered and addressed of all the factors, yet still find it worthwhile to use this new technology, can blogging truly benefit our students and help them become fully literate in this new era.

References Arena, C. & Jefferson, C. (2008, March). Blogging in the language classroom: It doesn’t “simply

happen.” Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, 11(4). Retrieved January 17, 2010 from http://www.cc.kyoto-su.ac.jp/information/tesl-ej/ej44/a3.html

Bloch, J. (2007). Abdullah’s blogging: A generation 1.5 student enters the blogosphere. Language Learning & Technology, 11(2), 128-141. Retrieved September 24, 2007 from http://llt.msu.edu/vol11num2/bloch/default.html

Burke, A. & Peterson, S. (2007, January). A multidisciplinary approach to literacy through picture books and drama. English Journal, 96(3), 74-79.

Cervetti, G., Pardales, M.J., & Damico, J.S. (2001, April). A tale of differences: Comparing the traditions, perspectives, and educational goals of critical reading and critical literacy. Reading Online, 4(9). Retrieved October 7, 2007 from http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=/articles/cervetti/index.html

Cha, H.-J. (2008). The effects of process writing via e-mail on vocational high school students' English writing ability. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, National Chengchi University.

Chang, M.-R. (2008). Effects on applying the English picture book as the supplementary material in teaching English listening to the third graders: A case study in Wang Gone Elementary school.Unpublished Master’s Thesis, National Kaohsiung Normal University.

Chiang, M.-H. (2007, October). A novel idea: English as foreign language reading via virtual literature circles. , 31(4), 1-37.

Chiu, H.-w. (2007). The effects of CALL and listening strategies on listening comprehension among EFL learners. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Dayeh University.

Chou, C.-T., Cheng, Y.-S., & Sung, C.-M. (2009, June). Journal of Education & Psychology, 32(2), 81-111.

Franklin-Matkowski, K. (2007). Blogging about books: Writing, reading, and thinking in a twenty-first century classroom. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Missouri.

Garber, K.S. (1995). The effects of transmissional, transactional, and transformational reader-response strategies on middle school students’ thinking complexity and social development. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Gilles, C. (1998). Collaborative literacy strategies: “We don’t need a circle to have a group.” In K.G. Short & K.M. Pierce (Eds.), Talking about books: Literature discussion groups in K-8 classrooms (pp. 55-68). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Graves, D. (1983). Writing teachers and children at work. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Hatch, J.A. (2002). Doing qualitative research in education settings. Albany, NY: State University of

New York Press. Hill, B. C., Johnson, N.J. & Schlick Noe, N.L. (Eds.). (1995). Literature circles and response.

Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon Publishers. Hill, B.C., Schlick Noe, K.L., & King, J.A. (2003). Literature circles in middle school: One teacher’s

journey. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon Publishers. Horváth, J. (208). Hungarian university students' blogs in EFL: Shaping language and social

Studies in EPCA

72

connection. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, 12(4). Retrieved January 17, 2010 from http://www.tesl-ej.org/wordpress/past-issues/volume12/ej48/ej48int/

Huang, H.-Y. (2007). Implementing literature circle in an EFL reading class at a technological university. Unpublished Master’s theiss, National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology.

Hunsberger, P. (2007). “Where am I?” A call for “connectedness” in literacy. Reading Research Quarterly, 42(3), 420-424.

Hsueh, H.-Y. (2007). Relationships between picture book reading instruction and English learning motivation for elementary school EFL students. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, National Kaohsiung Normal University.

Juneau Public Libraries. (2004). Sandra says: Juvenile illustrated fiction. Retrieved March 6, 2010 from http://www.juneau.lib.ak.us/library/kids/jif.php

Kung, S.-C. & Chuo, T.-W. (2002, June). Students’ perceptions of English learning through ESL/EFL websites. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, 6(1), Retrieved January 5, 2010 from http://tesl-ej.org/ej21/a2.html

Lee, H (1988). To kill a mockingbird. New York: Grand Central Publishing. Leu, D. J., Jr., Leu, D. D., & Coiro, J. (2004). Teaching with the Internet K-12: New literacies for new

times. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon. Liaw, M.-L. (2003, March). Cross-cultural e-mail correspondence for reflective EFL teacher

education. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, 6(4), Retrieved January 5, 2010 from http://tesl-ej.org/ej24/a2.html

Lin. C.-T. (2007). The effectiveness of web-based lessons on English classes: A case study—The multi-language learning website by Tamkang University. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Tamkang University.

Louie, B.Y. (February 2006). Guiding principles for teaching multicultural literature. The Reading Teacher, 50(5), 438-448.

McIntyre, E. (April 2007). Story discussion in the primary grades: Balancing authenticity and explicit teaching. The Reading Teacher, 60(7), 610-620.

McLaughlin, M. & DeVoogd, G. (2004). Critical literacy as comprehension: Expanding reader response. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 48(1), 52-62.

Murphy, P. (2009, March). Using picture books to engage middle school students. Middle School Journal, 40(4), 20-24.

Piro. J. (2002, October). The picture of reading: Deriving meaning in literacy though image. The Reading Teacher, 56(2), 126-134.

Probst, R.E. (1992). Five kinds of literary knowing. In J.A. Langer (Ed.), Literature instruction: A focus on student response (pp. 54-77). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.

Richardson, W. (2003, Sep.) Web logs in the English classroom: More than just chat. The English Journal, 93(1), 39-43.

Rosenblatt, L.M. (1978/1994). The reader, the text, the poem. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.

Shih, W.-H. (2009). The efficacy of authentic materials on improving the learning motivation and reading ability of students in a rural elementary school in Taiwan. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Chaoyang University of Technology.

Sholastic.com. Reading comprehension strategies. Retrieved March 1, 2010 from http://teacher.scholastic.com/LessonPlans/pdf/oct_nov05/9SixComprehension.pdf

Short, K.G. (1998). Creating a community of learners. In K.G. Short. & K.M. Pierce (Eds.), Talking

Lee, H. C. Blogging about Picture Books

73

about books: Literature discussion groups in K-8 classrooms (pp. 33-52). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Smith, F. (2005). Reading without nonsense (4th ed.). New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Smith, M. (2008, Spring). Is “E” really for everybody? Picture books for older readers in public

libraries. Education Libraries: Childrens Resources, 31(3), 5-12. Su, S.-F. (2007). A study of literature circles in an EFL reading class for seventh graders in Taiwan.

Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Southern Taiwan University of Technology. Taiwan Network Information Center. (2006). Internet broadband usage in Taiwan: A summary report of the July survey of 2006. Retrieved October 2, 2009 from http://www.twnic.net.tw/download/200307/07en.pdf

Tung, S.-H. (2004). Content design of on-line learning--A case of Taiwanese English-learning.Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Chinese Culture University.

Wang, Y.-H. (2003). The effects of group discussion on EFL reading comprehension instruction.Unpublished Master’s Thesis, National Kaohsiung Normal University.

Wilkins, K., Sheffield, C. Ford, M. & Cruz, B. (2008, May/June). Images of struggle and triumph: Using picture books to teach about civil rights in the secondary classroom. Social Education, 72(4), 177-180.

Wu, J.-L. (2004). Effects of adolescent-literature-letter reading and responding on English learning of senior high school students. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, National Kaohsiung Normal University.

Studies in EPCA

74

Appendix: Picture Book List

(ordered chronologically based on the time student read them) 1. Fox, M. & Staub, L. (1997). Whoever you are.2. Kellogg, S. (1993). The island of the skog.3. Spalding, A. & Wilson, J. (2001). Me and Mr. Mah.4. Recorvits. H. & Swiatkowska, G. (2006). Yoon and the Christmas mitten.5. Muth, J.J. (2002). The three questions.6. Demi. (2004). The greatest power. 7. Morrison, T. & Potter, G. (2002). The big box. 8. Woodson, J. (2001). The other side.9. Hall, B. & Low, W. (2004). Henry and the kite dragon.10. Fox, M. & Wilton, N. (2000). Feathers and fools.11. Bunting, E. & Gammell, S. (1993). Terrible things: An allegory of the Holocaust.

75

Evaluating Readability of a University Freshman EFL Reader

Cheng-Yi Lin National Taiwan Normal University

ericlin0924@gmail.com

AbstractProviding students with texts that are well matched to their L2 proficiency levels has

always been a challenge for language educators. Unlike the contexts of junior and senior high schools in which there are standard curriculum guidelines for textbook writers, there is no standard English curriculum guideline for the design of texts for tertiary English education. Therefore, the textbooks adopted in college English classes are mainly chosen based on the experiences of English instructors. However, according to surveys done by NTNU (2002) and Liao (2006), many students complain that college English textbooks are dull and impractical. Alarmingly, many students indicated that university English textbooks were significantly easier than their senior high textbooks, often complaining of a perceived regression in English proficiency after entering university/college.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate a popular university EFL reader series quantitatively with Flesch-Kincaid readability formulae (grade level and reading ease), and qualitatively via student and teacher interviews. The reading text under investigation is ACTIVE Skills for Reading, 2nd Edition, the most popular series in Taiwan based on the publisher’s promotional statistics. Readability was assessed between volumes and within volumes. The results indicate that readability only appears stable between volumes if Book Four is excluded from consideration. From the perspective of readability, Book Four is an easier volume than Book Three. Within volumes, readability fluctuates within a broad range randomly. Teachers view the ACTIVE series favorably due to its scope of topics and organization, and believe it is suitable for Taiwanese college freshmen. However, students view the textbook unfavorably because the scope of topics is irrelevant and uninteresting. Furthermore, they believe the reading level is too easy. This study attempts to provide an alternative perspective for college English instructors to select proper EFL learning materials for their students.

Keywords: readability, textbook evaluation, tertiary EFL education

Introduction In Taiwan, every college student is required to take a four-credit English course for at

least one year. Because this course is usually arranged at the first year of the college, it is also called “Freshman English.” According to the policy of the Ministry of Education in Taiwan, the goal of Freshman English courses is to enhance general English proficiency in the four skill areas of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. However, due to the limitations of time and large class sizes, many English instructors put English reading training as the first and the only priority. In other words, although the ideal College English

Studies in EPCA

76

course should enhance students’ four skills, many teachers regard it as an English reading class.

According to Chern’s (2009) investigation, the common way for most English teachers to conduct Freshman English courses is to select a reading-based textbook for EFL learners as a main material. On the basis of this textbook, teachers design a variety of teaching activities, such as prediction, translation and discussion.

One of the most commonly used EFL reading books at the tertiary level of Taiwanese education is the ACTIVE Series, authored by Neil J. Anderson. The title ACTIVE is an acronym for Activate prior knowledge, Cultivate vocabulary, Think about meaning, Increase reading fluency, Verify strategies, and Evaluate progress. The ACTIVE series is comprised of five levels: Intro, One, Two, Three and Four. Books Two and Three are commonly used in university EFL programs as they are presumed to fit the proficiency levels of college students, both English–majors and non-majors.

According to the author, the series was designed to follow a general approach to reading, which incorporates skills, strategies, and self-assessment. As such, the series is intended to operationalize a reading methodology advocated by Anderson and associates. Thus, the ACTIVE series is presumed to be theory-based, a major selling point among college educators.

However, some studies showed that the effectiveness of Freshman English courses were doubtful. For example, according to a survey done by NTNU (Shih & Chang, 2006), the interviewed students complained that college English courses were dull, impractical, and showed little innovation. Liao (2006) reported in the United Daily News the finding that no significant difference exists between university and high school graduates’ English writing ability after he served as a composition grader for both the graduate school entrance exam and National Joint College Entrance Exam. He even claimed that many high school graduates’ performance averaged far better than that of university graduates. In addition, Li (2006) revealed that almost half the students from 76 universities/colleges in Taiwan who completed questionnaires self-reported their English proficiency not improving after they attended university/college. Li (2007) also cited that 42% of university students thought that their English proficiency regressed after they entered university/college. Furthermore, based on the researcher’s teaching experiences in college, many students indicated that the required English textbooks were much easier than their senior high English textbooks. They complained that they learned nothing and felt that their English proficiency regressed after they entered university/college.

When choosing an appropriate EFL reader for students, many teachers find it hard to make a decision: should they choose a reading material which is a little beyond their students’ English level? Or a reading material which is a little behind their students’ English level? Krashen (1991) proposed that, in the Input Hypothesis, learners will learn better if they are

Lin, C. Y. Evaluating Readability

77

provided “comprehensible input” (i+1). That is to say, the input for learners can neither be so difficult as to upset learners, nor can it be so easy that learners will have low motivation to learn. The most appropriate input is that which is a little beyond one’s current level. However, Day & Bamford (2002) holds a different point of view. They claimed that teachers should choose materials that are i-1in reading classes. By choosing reading materials which are a little behind learners’ level, learners will not be frustrated by new words and complex sentence structures when they read. Most importantly, they can pay their full attention on appreciating the meaning of the reading and communicating their ideas with their teachers.

Thus, the purpose of this study is to evaluate a popular university EFL reader series quantitatively with Flesch-Kincaid readability formulae (grade level and reading ease), and qualitatively via student and teacher interviews. The reading text under investigation is ACTIVE Skills for Reading, 2nd Edition, the most popular series in Taiwan based on the publisher’s promotional statistics.

The following questions are proposed for investigation: Firstly, what are the readability parameters of this popular university EFL reader

according to the Flesch-Kincaid readability formulae? Second, what are teachers’ and students’ perceptions of reading level and difficulty for

this popular university EFL reader? Third, which theoretical level of reader do students and teachers prefer: one with i+1 or

one with i-1? This study aims to enhance English teachers’ understanding of the readability of one

popular college English textbook. If the research findings of this study can serve as an important reference for English teachers in the textbook selecting process, English teachers in Taiwan can make an appropriate decision to choose an ideal textbook for their students. This study also attempts to provide useful suggestions for textbook compilers and publishers.

Review of Literature Nunan (1989) proposed three key concepts in compiling textbooks: grading, sequencing,

and integrating. “Grading” means that the arrangement of the content of a textbook is presented for the learner in a helpful way; that is, progressive from simple to difficult. “Sequencing” means that the units have various interrelated and purposeful content design in a coherent structure. “Integrating” refers to a design of the textbook which enables readers to bring world knowledge or schema into the text to construct interpretations and allow higher order thinking. Therefore, optimal textbooks should provide systematically planned structures and syllabi. Textbooks can not only provide a framework to regulate a program and maintain the consistency within the program, but also provide a framework to standardize teachers’ instruction and to systematically supply instructors and learners with various kinds

Studies in EPCA

78

of teaching materials. However, very little research is about the examination of readability for English

language textbooks. Lin (2008) is the only researcher and he tried to compare the readability of the dialogues and the reading passages among the six versions of English in junior high texts in Taiwan, namely, Han-lin, Kang-xuan, Longman, Nan-yi, He-sheng, and Hess with the Fry Readability Scale. Among these six versions, he indicated that in terms of the stability of the grade level readability of the dialogues, Han-lin shows the most appropriate stability within its six volumes. On the contrary, in terms of the stability of the grade level readability of the reading passages, Nan-yi shows the most appropriate trend within its six volumes. In addition, in terms of differences of the grade level readability of the reading passages among the six versions, Book 2, Book 3, and Book 6 display significant differences among the versions. In the case of Book 2 there are significant differences among all six publications, which were putatively of equal readability. Hence, Lin pointed out the trend of the readability of each version across their respective series is not all progressively distributed and stable, and the readability of each volume within the six versions is not all evenly distributed. Because it can be seen that readability is not stable among volumes in popular reader series at the junior high level, it serves the broader interest of improving English instruction to investigate readability of a reading text series at the elementary, high school and tertiary levels as well. The present study performs such an inquiry at the tertiary level.

MethodIn this study, the readability of the series of ACTIVE Skills for Reading, 2nd edition was

examined from the following 3 perspectives--- the Flesch-Kincaid readability formula, the teachers’ evaluations, and the students’ feedback. In order to be precise, the content of each reading passage of 5 volumes, from Intro to Book 4, were all typed into the computer and saved as Microsoft Word documents so that standard readability statistics such as the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level and Reading Ease could be calculated via the formulas included with Word’s grammar checker.

The reason why the Flesch-Kincaid readability formula is adopted in this study is that this formula is easily accessible in the Microsoft Word for both PC and Mac platforms. Furthermore, it is also the most widely used one in the previous studies on readability. Using the Flesh-Kincaid Formula, a text’s readability is calculated by determining average sentence length (ASL) and average word length (ASW). The Flesch-Kincaid Formula converts the values into a U.S. grade school level and a reading ease score. For example, if an article is indicated as Grade 12, it means that one needs to have the English proficiency of 12th grade native speakers of English. The higher reading grade level an article is, the more difficult it is. However, for the reading ease score, higher scores reflect easier reading;

Lin, C. Y. Evaluating Readability

79

lower scores reflect more difficult reading. According to Carrell (1987), a text with a Flesch score of 90 to 100 is thought to be easily comprehended by a fifth grade reader; a text with a Flesch score of 60 to 70 is thought to be easily processed by an eight or ninth grader. A college graduate should reasonably interpret texts scoring in the 0 to 30 scores. Furthermore, according to Hedgcock & Ferris (2009), Time magazine generally scores in the low 50s on the Flesh scale; Reader’s Digest articles score around 65. In contrast, academic journals achieve much lower readability scores in the high 20s and low 30s.

However, Hedgcock & Ferris (2009) cautioned L2 reading teachers that most such reading formulae are not designed with the L2 reader in mind. Therefore, five reading teachers and four students who had the experience of reading ACTIVE Skills for Reading were asked to share their perceptions of the readability of the ACTIVE series. Teachers were asked to complete a readability checklist and interviewed to gather their feedback toward this series of college readers, whereas the students provided responses in interviews. These nine participants all came from a private university in Danshui. These five reading teachers are all experienced teachers with more than five years and have used the series of ACTIVE Skills for Reading as their reading textbooks for the past three years.

The Irwin-Davis Readability Checklist designed by Irwin & Davis (1980) was adopted as alternative criteria to evaluate the readability of ACTIVE Skills for Reading. This checklist is mainly designed to evaluate the textbooks for content areas, such as accounting, education, physics, etc. The whole checklist evaluates a textbook from the perspectives of understandability and learnability. In addition, the section of learnability consists of the factors of organization, reinforcement, and motivation. In order to make it more proper for evaluating language textbooks, the researcher made slight modifications. The modified version of the readability checklist is in Appendix One.

Teachers marked their responses to the checklist with a five-point Likert scale. Following completion of the checklist, the researcher interviewed the teachers about responses of interest to seek clarification. The Likert responses were averaged and are reported in the present results. In contrast, the students were interviewed by the researcher using a structured interview format.

Results and Discussion Readability from the Flesch-Kincaid Formulae

The analysis of the reading passages from ACTIVE Skills for Reading via readability formulae is summarized as follows. Table 1 shows the readability grade level and reading ease scores from Intro to Book 4. Tables 2 to 6 show the readability grade levels and reading ease scores of 24 reading passages from 12 units within each volume.

From Table 1, we can ascertain that the readabilities from Intro to Book 3 are quite satisfactory. The intro version is the easiest one in this series and its difficulty level is

Studies in EPCA

80

commensurate with the level of the 7th grader of native speakers. Book 3 is the most difficult one and its difficulty level equals with the level of the 12th grader of native speakers. Based on our assumption, Book 4 is assumed to be the most difficult one in this series. However, it is somehow equal to or even simpler than Book 3. This may explain the fact that the market share of Book 4 is much lower than the other book volumes (Liu, personal communication, n.d.).

Table 1 Readability between the books

Intro Book 1 Book 2 Book 3 Book 4

Grade Level 7 8 10 12 11

Reading Ease Score 63 59 51 42 44

Based on the results shown in Table 1, the grade levels of ACTIVE Skills for Reading are equivalent to the high school grade levels of native speakers of English. The author of this series of books, Anderson, may assume that the target readers for this series are non-native speakers of English around the world and, therefore, lowered the text difficulties. However, according to the reading ease scores proposed by Carrell (1987), a college graduate should reasonably interpret texts scoring in the 0 to 30 scores. Moreover, Hedgcock & Ferris (2009) claimed that academic journals achieve much lower readability scores in the high 20s and low 30s. We can therefore assume that if a college student in Taiwan can comprehend the reading passages in the series of ACTIVE Skills for Reading well after the instruction, it is still not sufficient to prepare him/her to have the ability to comprehend the reading passages from their other content-area textbooks, most of which are imported from countries of native language as English and also adopted as textbooks in many universities in these countries. Thus, it is not strange at all that according to previous studies ( Li, 2006 & 2007; Liao, 2006; Shih & Chang, 2006), many college students in Taiwan complained that the Freshman English courses could not improve their English abilities, and thought that these kinds of courses wasted their time.

Tables 2 to 6 show the readabilities within the respective volumes. Compared to the results of the readability between the books, the readabilities within each book vary hugely. The grade level within the Intro volume ranges from grade 5 to grade 9. The grade level within Book 1 ranges from grade 6 to 9. The grade level within Book 2 ranges from grade 8 to 12. The grade level within Book 3 ranges from grade 9 to 14. The grade level within Book 4 also ranges from grade 9 to 14.

Lin, C. Y. Evaluating Readability

81

Table 2 Readability within the Intro

Intro: Unit 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Grade Level 6 6 8 7 7 6 5 8 9 7 6 7

Reading Ease Score 67 61 54 61 64 66 76 60 52 63 68 62

Table 3 Readability within Book 1

Book 1: Unit 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Grade Level 7 8 7 6 8 9 9 9 7 8 8 6

Reading Ease Score 66 56 62 66 56 49 53 50 61 59 58 71

Table 4 Readability within Book 2

Book 2: Unit 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Grade Level 10 8 9 8 10 10 10 9 11 10 10 12

Reading Ease Score 51 61 57 60 50 49 48 50 41 50 48 40

Table 5 Readability within Book 3

Book 3: Unit 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Grade Level 11 11 13 11 13 11 9 13 12 14 13 12

Reading Ease Score 47 44 33 49 38 43 55 39 42 30 37 42

Table 6 Readability within Book 4

Book 4: Unit 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Grade Level 10 9 9 10 10 13 13 12 12 13 13 14

Reading Ease Score 45 53 53 52 55 39 32 38 42 36 41 37

From the above results, because of the great variety of difficulty in one book, in order to meet students’ proficiency levels, an English instructor may not only choose a right volume but also needs to choose the lessons carefully.

In conclusion, from the aspect of readability, Quantitatively speaking, the construct of readability is acceptable between books but does not appear stable within books.

Readability from the teachers’ perspective The following results were reported based on the four categories on the Irwin-Davis Readability Checklist designed by Irwin & Davis (1980)--- understandability, organization for learnability, reinforcement for learnability, and motivation for learnability. Five English teachers from a private university in Danshui completed this readability checklist and were interviewed based on the answers they gave on the checklist.

Studies in EPCA

82

Table 7 Mean scores on understandability

Items Means

A. Are the assumptions about students’ vocabulary knowledge appropriate? 3

B. Are the assumptions about students’ prior knowledge in this content area

appropriate?3.67

C. Are the assumptions about students’ general experiential backgrounds appropriate? 3

D. Does the teacher’s manual provide the teacher with ways to develop and review

the students’ conceptual and experiential backgrounds?3

E. Are the new concepts explicitly linked to the students’ prior knowledge or to their

experiential backgrounds?3

F. Does the text introduce abstract concepts by accompanying them with many

concrete examples?4

G. Does the text introduce new concepts one at a time with a sufficient number of

examples for each one?4.3

H. Are definitions understandable and at a lower level of abstraction than the concept

being defined?4

I. Is the level of sentence complexity appropriate for the students? 4

J. Are the main ideas of paragraphs, chapters, and subsections clearly stated? 4.33

K. Does the text avoid irrelevant details? 4.33

L. Does the text explicitly state important complex relationships (e.g., causality,

conditionality, etc.) rather than always expecting the reader to infer them from the

context?

3.67

Total 3.69

Based on the findings shown on Table 7, the five teachers thought that the series of ACTIVE Skills for Reading are an adequate teaching material for the students they taught. Because it is a graded reader, teachers can choose one volume whose difficulty level can be commensurate with the proficiency level of their students. Among the above items in this section, the interviewees thought that this reader provided very clear main ideas no matter in paragraphs, chapters, or subsections, and the reading passages could avoid irrelevant details in order not to confuse students. In addition, the sentence complexity in every lesson is very appropriate to their students’ level. Furthermore, the numbers of unfamiliar words in each lesson are also appropriate to their students.

Lin, C. Y. Evaluating Readability

83

Table 8 Means scores on learnability/organization

Items Means

A. Is an introduction provided for in each chapter? 5

B. Is there a clear and simple organizational pattern relating the chapters to each other? 4.67

C. Does each chapter have a clear, explicit, and simple organizational structure? 4.67

D. Does the text include resources such as an index, glossary, and table of contents? 3.67

E. Do questions and activities draw attention to the organizational pattern of the

material (e.g., chronological, cause and effect, spatial, topical, etc.)?3

F. Do consumable materials interrelate well with the textbook? 3

Total 4

Table 8 shows the results of the interviewed teachers’ perceptions toward the organization of ACTIVE Skills for Reading. The five teachers all agreed that this was one of the strengths of this series of books. The whole series of books is well-organized so that it can facilitate teachers to teach and help learners learn better,

Table 9 Means scores on learnability/reinforcement

Items Means

A. Does the text provide opportunities for students to practice using new concepts? 3.67

B. Does the text provide adequate iconic aids such as maps, graphs, illustrations, etc. to

reinforce concepts?2

C. Are there adequate suggestions for usable supplementary activities? 2.67

D. Are there literal recall questions provided for the students’ self review? 3.67

E. Do some of the questions encourage the students to draw inferences? 4

F. Are there discussion questions which encourage creative thinking? 4.33

G. Are questions clearly worded? 4.33

Total 3.52

Table 9 reveals the mean scores on the category of reinforcement for learnability. The average score of five teachers is 3.52, which means that these five teachers thought that the activities designed for each lesson were adequate. However, in this section, the five teachers held rather different opinions toward the exercises for the reinforcement of learnability. In the follow-up interviews, two out of five teachers gave very high recommendation toward the exercises in each lesson. They mentioned that the after-reading exercises include the introduction to morphology, such as prefixes and suffixes, and the information on how to choose a right word. They found them very useful. On the contrary, one teacher mentioned that she seldom adopted those supplementary activities in her class

Studies in EPCA

84

because she thought that those activities were irrelevant to the reading passage in each lesson.

Table 10 Means scores on learnability/motivation

Items Means

A. Does the teacher’s manual provide introductory activities that will capture students’

interest?3

B. Are chapter titles and subheadings concrete, meaningful, or interesting? 3.33

C. Is the writing style of the text appealing to the students? 2.67

D. Are the activities motivating? Will they make the student want to pursue the topic

further?3

E. Does the book clearly show how the knowledge being learned might be used by the

learner in the future?2.67

F. Are the cover, format, print size, and pictures appealing to the students? 3

G. Does the text provide positive and motivating models for both sexes as well as for

other racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups?2.67

H. Are the articles interesting to most of the students? 4

Total 3.04

Table 10 reveals the results of the interviewed teachers’ perceptions on the issue if the series of ACTIVE Skills for Reading can motivate students to learn. Compared with the above categories, this section seems to be a weaker part for this series of textbooks although the five teachers still gave them 3.04 scores, which means adequate. In the interviews, four out of five teachers indicated that the writing style of ACTIVE Skills for Reading is so consistent that it may bore teachers and students. However, the five teachers thought that the topics covered in each volume showed varieties and the topics were related to students’ real life.

In general, according to the above findings, the five interviewed teachers gave positive responses for this series of reading materials. It may explain the reason why this series is so popular in Taiwan.

Readability from the students’ perspective Four students from the same university were interviewed based on the same four

categories queried of the teachers. The findings gathered from the four students were briefly summarized as follows: Unlike the positive responses from the teachers, the four interviewed students all had negative attitudes toward ACTIVE Skills for Reading. Specifically, the four students complained about the topics and content of the reading passages. Contrary to what the teachers thought, the four students considered the choice of topics in this series of textbooks boring and not related with their real life. For example, one

Lin, C. Y. Evaluating Readability

85

student mentioned that in one lesson the author introduced one famous soccer player. However, because of the cultural boundary, unlike baseball, soccer is not a popular sport in Taiwan. Therefore, that soccer player is popular mainly in the West but not in Taiwan, she said that most of her classmates could not appreciate that lesson. Another student suggested that they would rather their teachers adopt articles from English newspapers or magazines because they were more interested in current affairs around the world.

In addition, the interviewed teachers indicated that they usually adopted the pre- and post-reading questions as opportunities for students to present their opinions and communicate in English. However, students thought that those questions had no value because some of the questions are designed mainly for international students in the U.S. Thus, students in Taiwan lack the background knowledge to answer these kinds of questions. Furthermore, most students in Taiwan still prefer the teacher-centered instruction and like to keep silent in the classrooms. Hence, although their teachers tend to adopt the questions provided in each lesson to communicate with their students, the four interviewed students reported that the results were always not satisfactory because of the dead silence of most of the students.

Regarding the optimal theoretical difficulty of text for students (i+1 vs. i-1), three out of four students indicated that the books they are using, Book 1 and 2, are too simple for them. Only one student, whose textbook is ACTIVE Skills for Reading: Book 3, considered the difficulty level of Book 3 appropriate for him. Nevertheless, all of them indicated that the books they are using are much easier than their senior high English textbooks. There were only a few unfamiliar words for them in each lesson and the sentence structures in each reading passage were not complicated for them. Therefore, they mentioned that they usually spent only one night to prepare for the English exams. For the appropriate difficulty level of the textbook, the results gathered from the students are quite contradictory from the results from the teacher.

Therefore, we can conclude that the perceptions between teachers and students toward this series of textbooks vary drastically. According to students’ interviews, the readability of ACTIVE Skills for Reading is high, but not appropriate to their level. One student even suggested that the college English teachers should examine the difficulty level of senior high English textbooks first, and adopt a book that is a little challenging beyond the senior high English textbooks. Reflecting with the debate if a reading material should be “i+1” or “i-1”, it seems that the four interviewed students prefer reading materials with “i+1” difficulty level. In fact, the results gathered from the students are very similar with the previous studies reported by Li (2006 & 2007) & Liao (2006).

ConclusionIn conclusion, from the analysis of the Flesh-Kincaid Readability Formulae, the

Studies in EPCA

86

difficulty level of ACTIVE Skills for Reading is similar with the American public school grade level from 7 to 12. In terms of the perspective of the teachers, the difficulty levels are just right for their students. However, from the perspective of the students, they think that their teachers underestimate them and they would rather like to challenge themselves to study a more difficult reading textbook.

I hope that this study can raise college English teachers’ awareness on how to select an appropriate reading textbook for their students. In addition to adopting some textbook evaluation checklists, readability formulae can be considered as a convenient and objective tool. Moreover, never underestimate the classroom culture of students in Taiwan. College students in Taiwan are still more used to the traditional teacher-centered instruction and the Grammar-Translation Method.

For those who are interested in follow-up research, they can try to conduct a survey investigating the readabilities of other College English reading textbooks available in Taiwan, and compare their readabilities with the readability of ACTIVE Skills for Reading. In addition, one can also conduct an in-depth analysis on the gap of the perceptions between teachers and students on selecting appropriate English textbooks.

Limitations of the Study Due to the limitation of time, only five tertiary English teachers and four students were

involved in this study. Future research into this issue should include more participants in the study. In addition, these participants were from a single university, representing a sample of convenience. Ideally, the researcher would like to include participants from schools, which are located in different geographical areas in Taiwan, in order to gather representative data. Finally, the researcher should design a questionnaire instrument for student participants in order to balance the interview data. The researcher expects to conduct the follow-up research utilizing such an expanded design in the future.

References Anderson, N. (2008). Active skills for reading. (2nd ed.). MA: Thomson ELT. Carrell, P. L. (1987). Readability in ESL. Reading in a Foreign Language, 4, 21-40. Day, R. & Bamford, J. (2002). Top ten principles for teaching extensive reading. Reading in a foreign

language, 14(2), 136-141. Hedgcock, J. S., & Ferris, D. R. (2009). Teaching Readers of English: Students, texts, and contexts.

NY: Routledge. Irwin, J. W. & Davis, C.A. (1980). Accessing readability: the checklist approach. Journal of reading,

24, 129-130. Kincaid, J. P., Fishburne, R. P., Rogers, R. L., & Chissom, B. S. (1975). Derivation of

new readability formulas (Automated Readability Index, Fog Count and Flesch Reading Ease Formula) for Navy enlisted personnel, Research Branch Report 8–75, Millington, TN: Naval Technical Training, U. S. Naval Air Station, Memphis, TN.

Lin, C. Y. Evaluating Readability

87

Krashen, S. (1991). The input hypothesis: an update. In Alatis, J. E. (1991). Linguistics and language pedagogy: The state of art (pp. 409-431). Georgetown University Press,.

Lin, C. F. ( ) (2007). Comparisons of the readability among the six versions of English textbooks in junior high school in Taiwan. Unpublished master’s thesis, National Kaohsiung Normal University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Nunan, D. (1989). The learner-centered curriculum. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Sheldon, L. (1988). Evaluating ELT textbooks and materials. ELT Journal, 42 (4), 237-246.

95 5 8

Appendix One Irwin-Davis Readability Checklist

Textbook title: _____________________________________________________________________

Publisher: _____________________________________________________________________

Copyright date: _____________________________________________________________________

Directions: This checklist is designed to help you evaluate the readability of your classroom texts. It can best be used if you rate your text while you are thinking of a specific class. Be sure to compare the textbook to a fictional ideal rather than to another text. Your goal is to find out what aspects of the text are or are not less than ideal. Finally, consider supplementary workbooks as a part of the textbook and rate them together.

5 = Excellent, 4 = Good, 3 = Adequate, 2 = Poor, 1 = Unacceptable, NA = Not applicable

Understandability

_____ 1. Are the assumptions about students’ vocabulary knowledge appropriate? _____ 2. Are the assumptions about students’ prior knowledge in this content area appropriate? _____ 3. Are the assumptions about students’ general experiential backgrounds appropriate? _____ 4. Does the teacher’s manual provide the teacher with ways to develop and review the students’

conceptual and experiential backgrounds? _____ 5. Are the new concepts explicitly linked to the students’ prior knowledge or to their

experiential backgrounds? _____ 6. Does the text introduce abstract concepts by accompanying them with many concrete

examples? _____ 7. Does the text introduce new concepts one at a time with a sufficient number of examples for

each one?

Studies in EPCA

88

_____ 8. Are definitions understandable and at a lower level of abstraction than the concept being defined?

_____ 9. Is the level of sentence complexity appropriate for the students? _____ 10. Are the main ideas of paragraphs, chapters, and subsections clearly stated? _____ 11. Does the text avoid irrelevant details? _____ 12. Does the text explicitly state important complex relationships (e.g., causality, conditionality,

etc.) rather than always expecting the reader to infer them from the context?

Learnability: Organization

_____ 1. Is an introduction provided for in each chapter? _____ 2. Is there a clear and simple organizational pattern relating the chapters to each other? _____ 3. Does each chapter have a clear, explicit, and simple organizational structure? _____ 4. Does the text include resources such as an index, glossary, and table of contents? _____ 5. Do questions and activities draw attention to the organizational pattern of the material (e.g.,

chronological, cause and effect, spatial, topical, etc.)? _____ 6. Do consumable materials interrelate well with the textbook?

Learnability: Reinforcement

_____ 1. Does the text provide opportunities for students to practice using new concepts? _____ 2. Are there summaries at appropriate intervals in the text? _____ 3. Does the text provide adequate iconic aids such as maps, graphs, illustrations, etc. to

reinforce concepts? _____ 4. Are there adequate suggestions for usable supplementary activities? _____ 5. Are there literal recall questions provided for the students’ self-review? _____ 6. Do some of the questions encourage the students to draw inferences? _____ 7. Are there discussion questions which encourage creative thinking? _____ 8. Are questions clearly worded?

Learnability: Motivation

_____ 1. Does the teacher’s manual provide introductory activities that will capture students’ interest? _____ 2. Are chapter titles and subheadings concrete, meaningful, or interesting? _____ 3. Is the writing style of the text appealing to the students? _____ 4. Are the activities motivating? Will they make the student want to pursue the topic further? _____ 5. Does the book clearly show how the knowledge being learned might be used by the learner

in the future? _____ 6. Are the cover, format, print size, and pictures appealing to the students? _____ 7. Does the text provide positive and motivating models for both sexes as well as for other

racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups? _____ 8. Are the articles interesting to most of the students?

89

A Retrospective Evaluation of a Local College English Textbook From an Intercultural Perspective

Tzu-chia Chao Ming Hsin University of Science and Technology

Stella.chao@must.edu.tw

AbstractSince the development of communicative competence and intercultural abilities are

important factors for effective communication in the era of a global village, the content of English textbooks should include intercultural elements for practice and reflection. Recently, some local publishers in Taiwan have started to invent English textbooks to satisfy the need of internalization. In this study, Global Eyes (II), developed by one local publisher, was chosen as the one for evaluation.

This paper begins with a brief review of foreign language textbook evaluation checklists and is followed by introducing the recent development of intercultural communication competence (ICC) frameworks. Founded on one ICC model, proposed by Chen and Starosta (1996& 1998), College English Textbook Evaluation Guide: An Intercultural Approach was designed, revised and finalized for further content analysis after several discussions with 7 participant teachers. Then, 5 teachers and 10 students who had used Global Eyes (II) for one semester attended the research for a retrospective evaluation based on the guide. The results show that the content, related exercises/activities, and illustrations of the target student’s textbook cannot satisfy college English learners’ needs in developing ICC. Moreover, when compared with internationally published ones, the teacher’s manual of Global Eyes (II) becomes less competitive, because it is like a collection of answer keys and Chinese translation of each unit, without providing useful information in helping students develop ICC. This paper ends with discussions and suggestions for the future development of local college English textbooks, especially in the content of linguistic materials and intercultural issues.

Keywords: local college English textbooks, intercultural communicative competence (ICC), college English textbook evaluation, retrospective evaluation

Introduction English has spread around the world extensively and has been developed as a global

language in intercultural communication for social, economic and technological purposes (Crystal, 1997; Graddol, 2007). When the number of non-native English speakers using English to communicate with other non-natives has been increasing (McKay, 2004), the native-like communicative competence model used in English teaching and learning has become unrealistic. A growing want of the development of intercultural communication competence have been considered as a vital part of language learning and communication (Alptekin, 2002; Brooks, 2004; Byram, 1997; Byram, Nichols and Stevens, 2001; Chao, 2009;

Studies in EPCA

90

Hu, 2007; Spencer-Oatey and Franklin, 2009). It seems obvious that the only instruction of mainstream American and British cultures reflected in many international English textbooks cannot satisfy current needs in the era of a multicultural global village.

Today, one of the most critical issues confronting Taiwan’s college EFL/EIL teachers is the selection of adequate textbooks and the integration of intercultural information with English, the international language. However, based on the existing literature, most English textbook researches with regard to cultural issues in Taiwan have been conducted on high school and elementary school levels (Lan, 2004). Few Taiwanese scholars are interested in doing college English textbook research, and the study of intercultural issues in instructional materials is almost none. The possible reason is that international textbooks, published by foreign publishers such as Oxford and Cambridge, have dominated Taiwan’s college English Language Teaching (ELT) market for a long time. Many college English teachers have considered imported textbooks, edited and written by native-speakers, as the best model for English learning without hesitation. Those teachers may have ignored possible stereotypes or perspectives, which may have negative impact on EFL/EIL learners, hidden in these textbooks (Apple, 1990). Recently, some Taiwan’s publishers, such as Live ABC and Book Man, have started to produce local college English textbooks in cooperation with college teachers. It is good to see international and local textbooks exist side by side because students and teachers have more choices to select the textbooks that reflect their real needs.

The current study is a retrospective evaluation of a local college English textbook from an intercultural perspective. The results may shed some light on how to promote local college English textbooks in the development of the content of intercultural communication, including linguistic materials and intercultural issues.

A Brief Review of Foreign Language Textbook Evaluation Checklists The existing literature about the evaluation checklists of foreign language textbook

(instructional materials) has not been particularly extensive. Among them, many focus on the overall usefulness of the textbooks in categories like subject matters, vocabulary and structures, exercises, illustrations and physical make-up, without directly mentioning culture (Breen and Candlin, 1987; Chambers, 1997; Tucker, 1978; Wallace, 1998; Byrd, 2001). Others that suggest teachers should pay attention to the cultural issues express different cultural focuses, such as possible stereotypes of cultures, cultural suitability of the thematic content for its proposed audience, and whether the cultural contexts reflected in textbooks are comprehensive to learners or not (Cunningsworth 1994 &1995; Harmer, 1991; Sheldon, 1988; Skierso, 1991; Ur, 1996; Williams, 1983). Although the abovementioned checklists that reflect general interests and similar components can be used as helpful starting points for EFL/EIL teachers in textbooks evaluation, the presentation of intercultural aspects is still absent.

Chao, T. C. Retrospective Evaluation of English Textbooks

91

Recently, intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is seen as an extension of communicative competence (Alptekin, 2002; Brooks, 2004; Byram, 1997; Byram, Nichols and Stevens, 2001; Chao, 2009; Hu, 2007; Spencer-Oatey and Franklin, 2009). Several foreign language education specialists, such as Byram (1997) and Fantini (2000), have proposed important components for developing ICC. From Byram’s perspectives (1997), intercultural communicative competence requires certain attitudes, knowledge and skills in addition to linguistic, sociolinguistic and discourse competence. As for Fantini’s views (2000), five constructs including awareness, attitudes, skills, knowledge and language proficiency, should be developed for successful intercultural communication. The importance of developing ICC has been widely recognized by many language teaching professionals, but the adding of intercultural components in textbook evaluation checklist has been rarely seen in the ELT textbook research. Due to this reason, the development of a textbook evaluation guide from an intercultural perspective is needed for language teachers and students to examine if the target textbooks can satisfy the needs and interests of EFL/EIL learners and users in the era of a global village.

A Brief Review of Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC) Although many research efforts about Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC)

have been made in this area since Hall (1959), there are numerous ways of defining ICC and a generally accepted model has not existed (Arasaratnam and Doerfel 2005). The recent research has showed that there is still disagreement about how to define and measure ICC; however, there is increasing agreement about its fundamental dimensions. In general, ICC is assumed to include three dimensions: affective, cognitive and behavioral. The three dimensions must be developed together in order to communicate effectively and appropriately in intercultural settings (Byram, 1997; Chen and Starosta, 1996; Fantini, 2000; Lustig and Koester, 2006; Spitzberg, 2000; Ting-Toomey, 1999). The three dimensions are closely related, but the problem indicated by scholars is that most studies tend to mingle the three dimensions without clearly distinguishing them from each other, which can lead to the difficulty in the evaluation of intercultural trainings and the measurement of intercultural communication competence (Arasaratnam and Doerfel, 2005; Chen and Starosta, 1998). Therefore, a comprehensive model is required to reduce conceptual ambiguity and confusion of each dimension (Chen and Starosta, 1998).

Chen and Starosta’s ICC model The present study views culture in terms of intercultural communication, which is

defined based on Chen and Starosta’s intercultural communication competence (ICC) model (1996 & 1998). The rationale of choosing this model was its characteristics of comprehensiveness and integration in this filed. There are three conceptual dimensions in this ICC model: intercultural sensitivity (affective dimension), intercultural awareness (cognitive

Studies in EPCA

92

dimension) and intercultural adroitness (behavioral dimension). That is, in addition to communicative competence (linguistic behavior), intercultural abilities (affective and cognitive dimensions) should be taken into consideration for a textbook evaluation especially when English has been considered as an international language and the development of intercultural communicative competence has become important. A brief introduction of Chen and Starosta’s ICC model is provided in Appendix B for reference.

The Study The present study used a content analysis approach to achieve the two objectives: (1) to

establish a handy college English textbook evaluation guide that can help us check the extent of intercultural aspects reflected in the target textbook, and (2) to examine the intercultural content and exercises of the chosen local college English textbook Global Eyes (II) (2008) according to our own evaluation guide. The study was conducted from January 2009 to September 2009 in one University of Science and Technology, Taiwan. Several experienced teachers and volunteer students, who had used Global Eyes (II) in their General College English Course (III) for one semester, attended the study for doing a retrospective evaluation.

Background Information In this study, the target textbook for evaluation was Global Eyes (II), developed by the

local publisher Live ABC and said to include various high-interest topics. It was chosen as the textbook of 2008~2009 General College English (3) & (4) by the Curriculum Committee of University Language Center. General College English was a one-year and two-hour course for all sophomores in this University. Generally, there were 25 classes, about 1500 students, using this target English textbook at the same time.

A Retrospective Evaluation There are two types of instructional materials evaluation: a predictive evaluation and a

retrospective evaluation, but most of the published articles about the evaluation of language textbooks have traditionally focused on the predictive one (Ellis, 1997). Generally speaking, a predictive evaluation is designed to determine what textbook to use, and a retrospective evaluation is carried out to examine the textbook that has been used (Ellis, 1997). This study adopted a retrospective evaluation to explore issues such as “Are there exercises helpful for EFL/EIL learners to develop tolerance or empathy towards people of other cultures?” and “ Is the content helpful for developing positive emotional responses to appreciate, acknowledge and respect cultural differences?”

Developing a Textbook Evaluation Guide from an Intercultural Perspective In the course of developing a suitable guide, 7 teachers (experienced university lecturers

or professors) were invited to give comments and suggestions about the first draft of College

Chao, T. C. Retrospective Evaluation of English Textbooks

93

English Textbook Evaluation Guide designed by the researcher. After discussions, we decided to distinguish the guide from traditional evaluation checklist by only focusing on categories and questions related to intercultural aspects. The three conceptual dimensions in Chen and Starosta’s ICC model: intercultural sensitivity (affective dimension), intercultural awareness(cognitive dimension) and intercultural adroitness (behavioral dimension) were employed during the process as a framework to develop the evaluation guide. The final version of this guide includes five main categories with connected questions: (1) The Appropriateness of Intercultural Content: goals, topics, intended readers, the variety of culture, intercultural sensitivity and awareness; (2) The Presentation of Content in Developing ICC: linguistic knowledge and skills, strategic competence, intercultural sensitivity and awareness; (3)Exercises or activities related to ICC: the types and goals of exercises related to intercultural communication; (4) Illustrations related to ICC: the features and functions of illustrations related to intercultural communication; (5) Pedagogical Guidance in the Information of developing ICC: the ICC information in the teacher’s manual. The details of College English Textbook Evaluation Guide: An Intercultural Approach is included in Appendix A for reference.

Data Analysis To increase the validity of the content analysis results, 5 English teachers and 10 college

students who had used this textbook for one semester were invited to join the project, examining the content of Global Eyes (II) (student course book +CD) and its teacher’s manual, with the researcher. Moreover, each of the participant teachers and students was provided in advance both College English Textbook Evaluation Guide: An Intercultural Approach Appendix A and A Brief Introduction of Intercultural Communicative Competence(Appendix B). The former was used as a tool to elicit related data for further analysis. The latter was employed to help participant teachers and students easily understand the meaning of ICC. The major task of content analysis in this study was to quantify and analyze the existence and frequency of some concepts/themes related to the five categories of CollegeEnglish Textbook Evaluation Guide and then to discuss the results.

Results and Discussions Based on the results of content analyses, the following discussions go along with the

five categories (themes) of College English Textbook Evaluation Guide.

The Appropriateness of Intercultural Content in Global Eyes (II) Although the textbook is named Global Eyes, the goal of intercultural instruction is not

explicitly stated in the content chart of the textbook. The main purpose of the textbook seems to emphasize how to broaden English reading skills, especially concentrating on the skills of scanning and skimming, through reading articles of different topics (evaluation category 1:

Studies in EPCA

94

Qa). The reading themes include some of the issues of “Big C” (the achievements of different disciplines of a country, such as art, music, architecture and literature) and “small c” (everyday cultures, such as transport, food and shopping of the mainstream countries). However, a closer examination shows that 12 of the 16 articles are related to the cultures of mainstream countries. Obviously, USA and western European countries are still editors’ favorites, even though they have tried to include various topics, such as sports, literature, technology and health (evaluation category 1: Qb, Qc & Qf). Suggestion from one teacher goes like “More cultures of countries in Latin America, the Middle East, Indochina’s peninsula, and Eastern Europe are also worthy to be included for intercultural understanding and discussion”. In addition, many teachers criticized that “there is no obvious citation, reference or resource being marked at the end of each article or the back of this textbook, the reality of some cultures mentioned in articles cannot be sure” (evaluation category 1: Qe). Furthermore, the chosen group of this textbook has been intended for Taiwanese learners/readers, but there are not many local things (big c or small c) being included for comparison and reflection. Only two articles (unit 2 & unit11) talk about Taiwan (evaluation category 1: Qd & Qf). The appropriateness of intercultural content in Global Eyes (II) has not been achieved according to the opinions of most participant students and teachers.

The Presentation of Content in Developing ICC When examining the content of Global Eyes (II) about the presentation of linguistic

knowledge (evaluation category 2: Qa~Qb), all reviewers considered this part as the main weakness of this local English textbook, especially when compared with those internationally published ones. During the process of reading, some grammar errors, informal usage of words, and incomplete ideas appear throughout articles. It is found that these articles chosen to put in this textbook are mostly drawn from the Monthly English Learning Magazine printed by the same local publisher. The result is that some ideas become unclear and several grammar errors are made during the process of re-writing. Since textbook is an important model for EFL/EIL learners to learn the target language, well-written content is necessary. Therefore, “experienced English language experts on reading should be invited to go through all articles during the procedure of textbook editing to certify the linguistic quality of this textbook”, as one teacher said. As for the possibility of the textbook content for developing intercultural sensitivity and awareness (evaluation category 2: Qc~Qe), unfortunately, most participant teachers and students claimed that this book can not help English learners develop those intercultural abilities. Some teachers suggested that the section “Extra Information” in Global Eyes (II) should be used to support the “title” (global eyes) of this book. Although there is still a few interesting information being included at the end of some units for further intercultural reflection, most of them is needed for improvement to help English learners develop intercultural sensitivity and awareness. Some good suggestions from reviewers are summarized on Table 1 for reference.

Chao, T. C. Retrospective Evaluation of English Textbooks

95

Table 1: Suggestions for the Section “Extra Information”Unit Suggested activities for the section “Extra Information”1 Including the introduction of local artists or Asian arts

2 Providing a list of all rites of passage ceremonies in the world

3 Including the information of local popular sports and other important sports events in the world

4 Providing a list of international cuisine

5 Providing the information of oriental drinks such as Pearl Milk Tea and Jasmine Tea

6 Including a detailed list of methods for fortune telling in the world

7 Providing the information of famous story writers in the world

8 Providing an introduction of different hotels in the world

9 Including the methods of keeping healthy in the world, such as Chinese herbs.

10 Providing a list of local and international well known musicians

11 Providing a list of transportation in different countries

12 Including local catch slogans

13 Including an introduction of local heritage sites

14 Providing more information of web site shopping in different countries

15 Including the effects of global warming on different countries (areas)

16 Providing a list of local and international famous adventurous stories/novels

Exercises/Activities Related to ICC In this part, sections of exercises and activities in the student textbook are examined for

discussion. They are “Key Words”, “Language Tips”, “Reading Comprehension”, “Reading Strategy”, “Grammar”, “More to Learn”, “Before you Read” and “Wrap-Up”. Generally speaking, these sections are like the format of many English textbooks. Taking a first quick view, it seems to be well organized for students to learn English. However, having a retrospective examination, all participant teachers and students have proposed similar shortcomings.

Firstly, there is no sample sentence under each new word in the section of “Key Words”. It becomes difficult for learners to learn a new word without context. Secondly, the information about idioms or slang appearing in each article is not clearly explained in the section “ Language Tips”. One example is “It seems as though a morning buzz isn’t the only coffee perk after all” (the underlined words in p65, Unit 5: A Coffee a Day Keeps the Doctor Away). Many students felt confused by the meanings of those underlined words. Thirdly, six student reviewers have considered the section of “Reading Comprehension” as the most boring exercise in this textbook. The fill-in-the-blank exercises are like a practice of copying answers from articles without thinking. Fourthly, the section of “Reading Strategy” is problematic as well. There are only two reading strategies, skimming and scanning, are presented for practice throughout the book. Other strategies for reading comprehension, such as semantic mapping and understanding discourse markers, are not offered. Fifthly, the section of “Grammar” doesn’t include enough explanation and exercises for students to

Studies in EPCA

96

master the target grammar. Instead, many fragment rules (formula) and examples are provided which easily make students feel confused and don’t know how to apply them in the real world. As for the section “More to Learn”, all reviewers agree that this section can help learners extend their vocabulary repertoire in use if it can be systematically introduced and more concrete examples/rules of word formation and exercises are provided. In other words, all exercises or activities for language practice sections discussed above cannot help students develop communicative competence (evaluation category 3: Qa).

Finally, “Before You Read”, and “Wrap-Up” are sections offering questions/activities for learners to discuss or to perform. There is no doubt that they have been designed to provide students opportunities to do reflection and oral English practice. However, some questions or activities are too simple, only focusing on Yes-No answer. All teacher reviewers suggested more profound questions/activities, such as comparison and reflection, should be designed to help students develop intercultural sensitivity and awareness (evaluation category 3: Qb~ Qf) with the support of the intercultural section, such as “Extra Information” discussed in Table 1.

Illustrations Related to ICC Illustrations in English textbooks, including pictures, photos, drawings and tables, are

supposed to help learners easily catch the printed linguistic content as well as the intercultural events appearing in each article. Although the textbook Global Eyes (II) is colorfully filled with photos and pictures, there is no explanation of its meaning, function, location, and source of each picture/photo (see the following pages: p16, p17, p24, p25, p28, p35, p36, p37, p40, p41, p49, p52, p53, p60, p96, p97, p132, p133, p144, p148, p149, p156, p181, p192, p193, p196, p197). Most illustrations in this book, like decorations without real functions, fail to help students understand intercultural content (evaluation category 4: Qa).

Pedagogical Guidance in the Information of Developing ICC The teacher’s manual of this textbook Global Eyes (II) is like a collection of student

textbook’s answer keys and Chinese translation of each unit. No further pedagogical guidance included in the manual has depressed five teacher reviewers. It is found that the design of this teacher’s manual has reflected the traditional need of Taiwanese English teachers and learners in language classrooms: Chinese translation and correct answers. Other useful information for classroom teaching and students’ learning, such as suggestions for intercultural activities, teaching strategies and assessment tasks, are not mentioned at all (evaluation category 5: Qa & Qb). When compared this part with internationally published ones, such as American Files (Oxford) and Essential Reading (Macmillan), this local English textbook becomes less competitive.

Suggestions and Conclusion It is not easy for a local publisher to print a textbook of quality to compete with

Chao, T. C. Retrospective Evaluation of English Textbooks

97

international ones, but ELT professionals in Taiwan cannot give up the goal. According to the results of this study, the problematic aspects of this textbook Global Eyes (II) include (1) the selection of intercultural content: the focus of mainstream countries cannot satisfy current needs, (2) the section design of activities/ exercises: more activities/ exercises for linguistic practice and intercultural reflection are needed, (3) the presentation of linguistic content: grammar mistakes and wrong usage of word/phrase throughout the textbook can not help learners develop communicative competence, (4) the functions of illustrations: the arrangement of pictures, photos, drawings and tables, can not help learners easily catch the printed linguistic content and intercultural events appearing in each article, (5) the content of teacher’s manual: it is a collection of student textbook’s answer keys and Chinese translation of each unit, lacking rich sources for intercultural activities, teaching strategies and assessment tasks. The possible solution to modify these problems is to have an appropriate team and adopt an intercultural approach to edit English textbooks with both local and international views. The working team may include editors of a local publisher, local teachers of different universities, as well as native speakers and international language educators. It is believed that the variety of voices can contribute a lot to the development of effective and practical English textbooks. The intercultural approach, based on Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) model, an extension of Communicative Competence model, should be a suitable guide for the design of linguistic materials and the selection of intercultural issues in promoting English learners’ ICC.

Acknowledgment Since this study has been under the grant of MUST-98-Task-based Project-12, I want to

express my sincere gratitude to Ming Hisn University. Special thanks are also due to the two anonymous reviewers for their feedback on earlier version of this paper. Any faults in this paper remain my own.

References Alptekin, C. (2002). Towards Intercultural Communicative Competence in ELT. ELT Journal, 56(1),

57-64.Apple, M.W. (1990). Ideology and Curriculum. New York: Routledge. Arasaratnam, L.A. and Doerfel, M.L. (2005). Intercultural communication competence: identifying

key components from multicultural perspectives. International Journal of Intercultural Relations 29, 137-163.

Brooks, P. (2004). Cultural Intelligence: A guide to working with people from other cultures. UK: Intercultural Press.

Breen, M.P. and Candlin, C.N. (1987). Which materials? A Consumer’s and Designer’s Guide. In Sheldon L.E. (ed.), ELT Textbooks and Materials: Problems in Evaluation and Development, ELT Document 126, 13-28.

Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Studies in EPCA

98

Byram, M, Nichols, A. and Stevens, D. (2001). Developing Intercultural Competence in Practice.Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Byrd, P. (2001). Textbooks: Evaluation for selection and analysis for implementation. In Celce-Murcia, M, (ed.) Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language (3rd edition). 415-427. Mass: H & H.

Chambers, F. (1997). Seeking consensus in coursebook evaluation. ELT Journal, 51(1), 29-42. Chao, T.C. (2009). Understanding university English learners’ intercultural communication

competence: related studies and curriculum suggestions. Studies in International Cultures, 5(2), 49-86. (In Chinese).

Chen, G.M. and Starosta, W.J. (1996). Intercultural communication competence: A synthesis. In B. Burleson (Ed.), Communication Yearbook 19 (pp.353-383). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Chen, G.M. and Starosta, W.J. (1998). Foundations of intercultural communication. Boston, MA: Allyen & Bacon.

Crystal, D. (1997). English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cunningsworth, A. (1984). Evaluating and selecting EFL Teaching Materials. London: Heinemann. Cunningsworth, A. (1995). Choosing your Course Book. Oxford: Heinemann. Ellis, R. (1997). The empirical evaluation of language teaching materials. ELT Journal, 51(1), 36-42. Fantini, A. E. (2000). A central concern: Developing intercultural communicative competence. School

for International Training Occasional Papers Series, Inaugural Issue, 25-42. Graddol, D. (2007). English Next. UK: The British Council. Hall, E.T. (1959). The Sailent language. New York: Anchor Books. Harmer, J. (1991). The Practice of English Teaching. London: Longman. Hu, W-C. (2007). An Introduction to Intercultural Communication. Beijing: Foreign Language

Teaching and Researches Press. (In Chinese) Lan, S-T. (2004). An analysis of master’s thesis and doctoral dissertations on textbook-related

researches in Taiwan during the past two decades. Journal of the National Institute for Compilation and Translation, 32(4), 2-25. (In Chinese)

Lustig, M.W. and Koester, J. (2006). Intercultural Competence: Interpersonal communication across cultures. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, INC.

McKay, S.L. (2004). Teaching English as an International Language: the role of culture in Asian contexts. The Journal of Asia TEFL, 1(1), 1-22.

Sheldon, L.E. (1988). Evaluating ELT Textbooks and Materials. ELT Journal, 42(4). 237-246. Skierso, A (1991). Textbook selection and evaluation. In Celce-Murcia, M, (ed.) Teaching English as

a Second or Foreign Language (2nd edition). 432-453. H & H. Spencer-Oatey, H., and Franklin, P. (2009). Intercultural Interaction: A multidisciplinary approach to

intercultural communication. Palgrave Macmillan. Spitzberg,B.H. (2000). A model of intercultural communication competence. In L.A. Samour and R.E.

Porter (Eds.), Intercultural Communication: A reader (pp.375-387). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Ting-Toomey, S. (1999). Communicating across cultures. New York: Guilford. Tucker, C.A. (1978). Evaluating beginning textbooks. In Madsen, H.S. and Brown, J.D. (eds).

Adaptation in Language Teaching. 219-237. MA: Newbury House. Ur. P. (1996). A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press. Wallace, M.J. (1998). Action Research for Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.Williams, D. (1983). Developing criteria for textbook evaluation. ELT journal, 37(3), 251-254.

Chao, T. C. Retrospective Evaluation of English Textbooks

99

Appendix A. College English Textbook Evaluation Guide: An Intercultural Approach Edited by Dr. Tzu-chia Chao

1. The Appropriateness of Intercultural Content: a. Is the goal of cultural instruction stated in the textbook? b. Does the textbook include a variety of cultures or just specific ones, such as British and

American cultures? c. Does the textbook cover a variety of perspectives presenting the content of both big

“C” and small “c” cultures? d. Is the textbook content culturally suitable or understandable for intended learners? e. Where is the intercultural/cultural information taken from? Does the content represent

the reality of target cultures or the author’s views? f. What social or cultural groups are represented? Is it limited to a chosen group or not?

Are there any stereotypes? Does the book include generalizations about different cultures?

2. The Presentation of Content in Developing intercultural communicative competence (ICC):a. Is the content accurate and authentic for developing the knowledge of the linguistic

system of English? (linguistic knowledge) b. Is the content meaningful for developing the abilities of communicating appropriately

in different social/cultural contexts? (linguistic performance/skills) c. Is the content helpful for developing the abilities to use various strategies to get

intercultural communication done? (strategic competence: interaction management, behavioral flexibility, identify management and relationship cultivation; etc)

d. Is the content helpful for developing positive emotional responses to appreciate, acknowledge and respect cultural differences? (intercultural sensitivity)

e. Is the content helpful for developing the knowledge of cultures in one’s own and in one’s interlocutor's country, as well as a person’s reflective (meta-cognitive) ability to understand and interpret similarities and differences of other cultures? (intercultural awareness)

3. The Types and Goals of Exercises/Activities related to ICC a. Are there exercises helpful and familiar to the intended EFL/EIL learners in developing

communicative competence? b. Are there any exercises helpful for EFL/EIL learners to develop tolerance or empathy

towards people of other cultures? c. Are there exercises encouraging curiosity about other cultures? d. Are there any exercises preparing EFL/EIL learners to develop a feeling of their

national identity? e. Are there any exercises preparing EFL/EIL learners to behave adequately, when in

contact with people of other cultures? f. Are there any exercises encouraging EFL/EIL learners to compare the foreign culture

with their own?

4. The features and functions of illustrations related to ICCa. Are there illustrations? Are they helpful to the understanding of intercultural content?

5. Pedagogical guidance in the information of developing ICCa. Does the manual give language teachers instructions and information about how to

handle cultural/intercultural content? b. Does the manual provide teachers with enough information in language knowledge,

intercultural activities, teaching strategies and assessment tasks?

Studies in EPCA

100

Appendix B. A Brief Introduction of Intercultural Communication Competence

The Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC) model developed by Chen and Starosta (1996 & 1998) was used in the study for students to understand the meaning of ICC. This model is composed of three conceptual dimensions: intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness and intercultural adroitness. Each of the three dimensions contains a set of components. A brief introduction of this model is explained as follows.

Intercultural sensitivity ( affective dimension)Definition: a person’s motivation and attitude before, during and after intercultural interaction. This ability of positive emotional responses is believed to help individuals appreciate, acknowledge and respect cultural differences. Key Components Self-concept, open-mindedness, non-judgmental, social relaxation

Intercultural awareness (cognitive dimension)Definition: It includes the knowledge of cultures in one’s own and in one’s interlocutor's country, as well as a person’s reflective (meta-cognitive) ability to understand and interpret similarities and differences of other cultures. Self-awareness and cultural awareness are two important components under this dimension. This ability can help Ss develop multicultural identities that transform them from single-culture minded beings into multiple persons. Key Components Self-awareness and cultural awareness

Intercultural adroitness (behavioral dimension) Definition: It is a person’s capability to reach communication goals when interacting with people from other cultures. Key Components Message (Linguistic) skills, interaction management, behavioral flexibility, identity management/appropriate self-disclosure, and relationship cultivation:

101

Understanding Learner Interactions - Theoretic Perspectives

Hui-jung Tang Fortune Institute of Technology

Matilda.Tang@warner.rochester.edu; njtang@center.fotech.edu.tw

AbstractLearner interactions are less researched than teacher-student interactions. This paper

discusses the Interaction Hypothesis (IH) and socio-cultural theory (SCT), the two theories dominating the research. The discussion centers on the respective ontology, epistemology and essential concepts. The IH, with roots in information process model, breaks down languages into input, feedback and output. It describes languages as information to be processed, learners as machines and learning as a result of processing. Although the IH sheds light on communication strategies and influences of various variables on interactions, it only focuses on miscommunication and negotiation. In contrast, SCT reveal learners as real human beings with agency, goals, interpretations and resources. Languages are the mediated symbols assisting learners to think, make sense, communicate, and construct knowledge. Learning, a mediated process, involves participating in situated social activities. The theory also emphasizes the bi-directional relationship between people and their worlds, learners’ boundless zone of proximal development, their unique activities in performing the same tasks and the power of collaborative dialogues. The paper concludes that SCT, rendering a vision of learning as situated in sociocultural contexts and interactions as a complex multi-dimensional learning process, can deepen our understanding of learner interactions in real language classrooms.

Keywords: learner interaction; pair/group work; language education; theory; literature review

Introduction Many students learn a second or foreign language through classroom interactions (Hall

& Walsh, 2002). Compared to the attention that the interactions between teacher/researchers/native speakers and students receive (e.g. Oliver, 2002), learner interactions are less researched. However, pair/group work is a common practice in many language classrooms - communicative approach, task-based instruction and collaborative learning all advocate students’ learning through engaging in tasks together (Ellis, 2003; Naughton, 2006; Savignon, 1991). Tasks are defined as “an activity which requires learners to use language with emphasis on meaning, to attain an objective” (Bygate, Skehan & Swain, 2001, p. 11). In the communicative approach, designed tasks offer learners chances to express their opinions and engage in real communication in the target language (Savignon). Task-based instruction mainly focuses on task features that push learners to produce particular linguistic features, such as negotiation of meaning (Gass, Mackey & Ross-Feldman, 2005). Cooperative learning emphasizes on enhancing positive interdependence on partners, collaboration, and learning (Naughton).

Studies in EPCA

102

In Taiwan, more research on learner interactions is also called for. While the Ministry of Education has acknowledged the importance of the communicative approach, there seems to be a mismatch between the form-focused language education and students’ preference for the communicative approach (Savignon & Wang, 2003). When the class size is big and classroom discourse is dominated by teacher-student interactions, students might rarely use the target language. In addition, the use of English can be limited to only the second turn in the pattern of Initiation-Response-Evaluation (IRE), which dominates most language classrooms (Hall & Walsh, 2002). In these situations, students rarely have chances to acquire the practices of what a real conversation needs, such as opening and closing of a conversation, proposing a topic, and maintaining flow (Brooks, 1992). For students who have high anxiety in using English in front of a whole class (Cao & Philip, 2006), peer interactions make English use possible. The comparatively little research on language learners’ interactions outside of Western educational contexts warrants more studies.

Although studies on learner interactions exist, there is little systematic comparison of the theories underlying the research, with the exceptions of Ellis’s works on tasks (1999, 2003). The other theoretical discussions align with either one of the two theories dominating the studies of learner interactions - sociocultural theory (Swain, Brooks & Tocalli-Beller, 2002) or the Interaction Hypothesis1 (Gass & Mackey, 2006). Instead of book-length explorations, here I present a comprehensive overview of the two theories.

I begin with the ontology, epistemology and essential concepts in the Interaction Hypothesis (IH) and then in sociocultural theory (SCT), focusing on how the theories assist our understanding of learner interactions and which aspect of peer dialogues the theories do and do not shed light on. The strengths and weaknesses of each theory are discussed. The argument that SCT is a sophisticated theoretical framework that yields deeper understandings of peer interactions concludes the paper.

The Interaction Hypothesis Although the ontology and epistemology underlying the IH is rarely articulated, it,

following the psycholinguistic tradition (Ellis, 2003), is based on the information processing model (Lantolf, 2005). Gass and Mackey (2006) explain its basic tenet:

[T]hrough input and interaction with interlocutor, language learners have opportunities to notice differences between their own formulations of the target language and the language of their conversational partners. They also received feedback which both modifies the linguistic input they receive and pushes them to modify their output during conversation. (p. 3, emphasis added)

1 Gass and Mackey (2006) argued that the IH should be renamed as interaction approach, because the relationship between interaction and language acquisition had been established. However, the IH is the most common terminology in the literature so far.

Tang, H. J. Understanding Learner Interactions

103

As the above quotation indicates, languages, according to this hypothesis, are fixed linguistic systems that can be broken down into input and output. They are neutral “conveyor[s] of an already formed thought” (Swain & Deters, 2007: 822). Contexts of languages being uttered are simplified into task implement features that can be manipulated, such as labs or classrooms (Gass et al., 2005). Language acquisition is the product of processing the linguistic bits, and can be quantified by measuring the gains in post-tests (Keck, Iberri-Shea, Tracy-Ventura, & Wa-Mbaleka, 2006). Because languages are not conceived as resources, the use of code-switching or the first language (L1) is seldom of interest to the IH researchers.

In the IH, learners are often perceived as machines processing information of languages (Lantolf, 2005), and their identities other than the ones of learners or non-native-speakers (NNSs) are ignored (Kasper, 1997). Because many interaction studies (e.g. Oliver, 2002; Shehadeh, 1999) are conducted with native-speakers (NSs) interacting with NNSs, and sometimes with NS-NS or NS-NNS as compare groups contrasting to NNS-NNS (e.g. Pica, Lincoln-Porter, Paninos & Linnell, 1996), language learners appear as “deficient communicator[s]” (Firth & Wagner, 1997: 285) and NS as the standard. Most of the IH studies are quantitative (see Keck et al., 2006). To investigate the influence of learner characteristics, learners are portrayed as a “collection of variables” (Belz, 2002: 14).

One of the variables is ethnic and L1 background, while culture is rarely discussed in the IH research. Only the participants’ ethnicity and L1 (e.g., Oliver, 2002) are sometimes described. Earlier research on interethnic communications indicates that interlocutors’ L1 and ethnic backgrounds influence communication (Sato, 1982). Therefore, to control for ethnic differences, participants from one ethnic background are sometimes chosen (e.g. Gass et al., 2005). In cases when the ethnic background is not controlled, the researchers typically provided a brief description without further discussion (e.g. Oliver).

In quantitative studies based on the IH, only language acquisition counts as learning (Kasper, 1997). Language learning is conceptualized as a cognitive activity that happens inside people’s heads and the product of processing input and output (Ellis, 2003). Learning capacity lies in innate selective attention and the ability to process linguistic messages (Long, 1996). In the IH, the opportunities to learn arise in miscommunication: language learners become aware of the differences between the correct and their unclear utterance, and thus modify their utterances. In other words, the “catalyst for learning is noncomprehension” (Naughton, 2006: 17). Because learning is not taught through explicit teaching, it is considered incidental (Ellis, 1999).

To summarize, the IH is based on a computational model. Learners are portrayed as either machines that process linguistic messages or a constellation of manipulatable variables. Language learning is equivalent to the accumulation of linguistic knowledge that can be measured by tests. Languages pre-exist their use and can be categorized as input, feedback

Studies in EPCA

104

and output. After the discussion of epistemology and ontology in the IH, I now investigate its essential constructs – input, output, feedback, and interaction.

Input refers to “language that is available to the learner through any medium (listening, reading, or gestural in the case of sign language)” (Gass & Mackey, 2006: 5). Based on the Input Hypothesis (Krashen, 1985), input becomes intake, the linguistic bits that learners are able to take in, when it is one level higher than learners’ current linguistic ability – the concept is called i + 1. In the IH, intake is believed to facilitate language acquisition, because it serves as data for learners to take in and adjust their interlanguage morphologically, lexically or syntactically. To facilitate input comprehensibility, interlocutors need to be sensitive to their partners’ indication of confusion and modify messages by using simpler words, repetition or other strategies. Modified input itself, however, is not enough in enhancing communication and language acquisition. Interactionally modified input better assists language acquisition, such as vocabulary retention, than premodified input (Ellis, Tanaka & Yamazaki, 1994).

Earlier research (see Pica et al., 1996) found that people often modified their input by segmentation – to take a word or phrase from prior utterances and elaborate on the meaning, form or use of the problem word or phrase. Based on the finding on segmentation, two studies (Garcia Mayo & Pica, 2000; Pica et al.) compared the interactions between NS-NNS with the ones between NNS-NNS and reported that language learners were capable of providing modified input as NSs did. However, the percentage of modified input produced by low-intermediate-level learners was smaller than the proportion of modification uttered by NSs, when the amount of modified input produced by advanced learners and NSs was not that different. Besides simple segmentation, advanced learners used a variety of modification, and this suggested that learners with higher proficiency seemed to be a richer source of adjusted input for their partners than their counterparts with lower proficiency.

Interactionally modified input is triggered by feedback, a “form of negative evidence” (Gass & Mackey, 2006: 7). The feedback can be either explicit or implicit. Explicit feedback often includes correction or metalinguistic comments, while recasts, reformulations of the erroneous utterances, are the most frequently used implicit feedback in language classrooms (Ellis, Loewen & Erlam, 2006). The foci of the classrooms appeared to influence effectiveness of feedback (Lyster & Mori, 2006). The rare studies of feedback provided by learners to their peers show that students could offer feedback to their partners and learners’ proficiency had impacts on its quantity, complexity and accuracy (Garcia Mayo & Pica, 2000; Pica et al., 1996).

While input and feedback is for listeners and readers, output is examined from the perspective of speakers and writers. Swain’s Output Hypothesis (1995) stresses that in producing language, either by writing or speaking, learners make use of what they have learned, stretch their linguistic ability, reflect on linguistic forms and sometimes test their

Tang, H. J. Understanding Learner Interactions

105

hypothesis about the target language. In the process, language acquisition becomes possible. Research indicates that the learners who were pushed to produce the aimed features gained more in post-tests than the learners who were not (Keck et al., 2006).

In cases when learners correct themselves or are prompted to modify their output, the process might increase their awareness of and talk about the target language. To put differently, modifying output serves the noticing and metalinguistic functions which benefit language acquisition (Swain, 1995). Learners with high proficiency are capable of catching their own unclear utterances and making changes to increase comprehensibility (Shehadeh, 1999). Learners’ attention drawn to form is further documented by the improvement of the second drafts from the first, when a NS’s reformulation of the learners’ first draft (Swain & Lapkin, 1998) was provided to the learners between two writing occasions.

In terms of the contribution to a language learning environment in providing comprehensible input for partners, learners are shown to be able to provide modified output as NSs do (Garcia Mayo & Pica, 2000; Pica et al., 1996). Working with their peers, learners modified their output as much as they did in negotiating with NSs (Garcia Mayo & Pica; Pica et al.). The quantities of the modified output produced by more advanced learners and NSs were not significantly different.

In the IH perspective, the process of providing input, feedback, and output as described above is viewed as interaction, “exchanges in which there is some indication that an utterance has not been entirely understood” (Gass & Alvarez Torres, 2005, p. 2). As the definition conveys, researchers in the IH focus on problematic communication. Interactions serve as both a forum for language learners to practice the linguistic skills they have already acquired and an “attention-drawing device” (Gass & Alvarez Torres, p. 24).

In addition to the constructs discussed earlier, negotiation - another component of interactions within this model - receives much attention (Gass & Mackey, 2006). While the earlier version of the IH centers on how input becomes intake, the focus of the later version shifts to negotiation (Ellis, 2003; Long, 1996). When miscommunication appears, a side sequence diverging from the conversation is created to solve the problem (Oliver, 2002). To examine the quality and success of communication, negotiation is often operationalized as three conversational strategies - confirmation checks, comprehension checks, and clarification requests (e.g. Foster & Ohta, 2005; Gass et al., 2005; Oliver, 2002). Confirmation checks aim to check if the heard utterances or understood meanings are correct. Clarification requests refer to expressions asking for clarification of the previous statement. When people do comprehension checks, they verify their partners’ understanding to prevent communication breakdown. The above research indicates that negotiation, in general, increases comprehension and enhances learners’ awareness of the target language form.

However, negotiation research has its weaknesses. First of all, negotiation might not be a good indication of communication and learning for some participants. Students with high

Studies in EPCA

106

proficiency do not negotiate much (Foster & Ohta, 2005; Garcia Mayo & Pica, 2000). It is also argued that the typical definition of negotiation is too narrow and should be broadened to include both meaning- and form-focused situations. The two foci should be clearly distinguished: The former assumes incidental learning, while the latter draws deliberate attention to form, the usual approach in many foreign language classrooms.

What is more, identification of the communication moves is based on the functions that they serve. It is possible that the moves actually aim to move the conversation forward or show interests in the dialogue instead of dissolving communication problems (Foster & Ohta, 2005). More critique targets at the underlying assumption that frequency of the conversation strategies is equivalent to the quality of the communication (Ellis, 1999). Conversations require much more than good negotiation strategies. There is also the possibility that a learner might stop short of linguistic development, because of one’s mastering of communication strategies (Schmidt, 1983, as cited in Ellis, 2003). Research also indicates that some aspect of languages, such as morphology, is rare in negotiation (Sato, 1986, as cited in Ellis, 1999). Furthermore, the whole picture of rich interactions is lost, when the focus is only on negotiation (Foster & Ohta).

The strengths of the IH research lie in its generalizability. It is possible to design a replicable study for different participants in various settings to get a possibly generalizable result. The same constructs and communication strategies can be repeatedly examined in various data. The accumulated results contribute to our understanding that interactionally modified input, feedback, pushed output and negotiation facilitates learning in the IH perspective. Data collected with the same participants engaging in different tasks allow the exploration of the various discourse types and features induced by tasks.

In summary, the IH enhances our understanding of how people use languages to mend communication breakdown. It is based on the “computation metaphor” (Ellis, 2003, p. 175) in which input and feedback forms data provided for the black box of brains to enable the production of correct output. Languages are deciphered into input, feedback and output. Only language acquisition measured by tests is qualified as learning. Therefore, the dominant quantitative research methods in the IH are consistent with its epistemology and ontology. However, interactions are actually richer than the combination of the linguistic bits and interactional moves. They should be seen as a totality. The assumptions of the IH about miscommunication and negative nature of feedback lead the researchers to ignore the lessons in smooth communication or positive quality of feedback in general. Human beings, with our motives, identities and interpretations of situation, are more complex than a compilation of variables. I, thus, turn to SCT for more insights to understand peer interactions.

Sociocultural Theory SCT is a powerful theory to examine learner conversation. Its power partly lies in its

Tang, H. J. Understanding Learner Interactions

107

epistemology and ontology enabling a holistic vision of how human beings actually learn, and partly in its sophisticated constructs. Contrasting with the belief in the IH that learning is only a cognitive activity happening in people’s heads, learning in SCT is viewed as a social activity. People learn to participate in sociocultural activities with the assistance of mediational artifacts and experienced members, and then become capable of performing the same activity independently (Vygotsky, 1978). In this section, I first discuss what languages, learners and language learning mean in SCT, and then the concepts that are applied to study learner interactions - mediation, zone of proximal development (ZPD), activity and collaborative dialogue.

Among the tools and symbols that enable humans to progress, language is the “most powerful of our[human] mediational artifacts” (Lantolf, 2006: 71). It is both a communication and thinking tool that is neither context- nor interaction-free (Firth & Wagner, 1997). As discussed earlier, the IH research focuses on communication aspect of languages, especially the negotiation strategies. The function of languages to assist people in solving problems is often limited to the communication moves in miscomprehension in the IH, whereas SCT research on private speech, utterances directed at the speakers themselves (Lantolf, 2000), shows how learners talk themselves through problem solving. The cognitive function of languages is also exemplified in how learners use languages to make sense of the target language, a task and their roles (Storch & Wiggleworth, 2003). This is drastically different from the conception of languages as information to be processed in the IH.

Another difference is that languages also serve as the resources that language users draw on to enhance further language learning, whether it is the first (L1), second (L2) or a foreign language. While L1 use is rarely of interest in the IH, SCT researchers demonstrate multiple functions of L1 in peer interactions. It can be used to manage a task (Anton & DiCamilla, 1998; Storch & Wiggleworth, 2003), to achieve intersubjectivity, "a shared perspective on the task" (Anton & DiCamilla, p. 327), and to talk about the target language (Storch & Wiggleworth; Swain & Lapkin, 2000). In fact, most of the occasions of L1 use (88%) inSwain and Lapkin’s study were on task. Though SCT researchers do not encourage the use of L1 in the context of learning a new language, they argue that L1 helps language learners sustain a discussion or make a task manageable when their proficiency of target language can not provide such support.

Different languages function not only as resources, but also as socially, culturally and historically significant symbols that mediate development and are reshaped in the process. Instead of being a fixed linguistic system as perceived in the IH, languages are “emergent” in SCT (Swain & Deters, 2007, p. 829) – language users incorporate other voices, form utterances and reformulate the language at the same time (Bakhtin, 1981). Therefore, language use and acquisition constitute each other, and can not be separated (Firth & Wagner, 1997; Swain & Lapkin, 1998).

Studies in EPCA

108

Besides languages, learners as language users are also perceived differently in SCT. Because of the attention to linguistic gains and quantitative research methods in the IH, language students’ sole portrayed roles are the ones of learners and negotiators of linguistic information. Variably, language students have multiple roles in SCT. Besides experts and novices (Storch, 2004), students sometimes shift roles between knowers and non-knowers - they are co-constructors of activities and knowledge. Their roles can be fluid (Swain & Lapkin, 1998), or change as well as their relationship (Storch, 2001).

Instead of being machines processing information, learners are “agents interacting with other agents” (Lantolf & Pavlenko, 2001, p. 156). This perspective underscores learners’ agency. “As agents, learners actively engage in constructing the terms and conditions of their own learning" (Lantolf & Pavlenko, p. 145). Contrasting to the portrait of learners as actors who follow designed tasks as a workplan, the learners in SCT are shown to interpret tasks, carry out actions based on their motivations and make their own decisions (Storch, 2004; Swain & Lapkin, 1998). Inevitably, the process of interactions can evolve (Guerrero & Villamil, 2000). Agency is wielded by individual learners, as well as constructed socially. In the process of performing a task, learners co-construct their goals, roles, relationship, and activities (Swain & Deters, 2007).

Using mediational tools (such as languages) and other resources to participate in a practice, learners are also “possible reformers of the practice” (Sfard, 1998: 6). This contrasts to the learners in the IH who are presented to follow the rules of the target language, and the language use not conforming to the tradition is not reported or considered deviant. To view learners as transformers of linguistic practice enables us to see the hybridity of language use (Gutierrez, Baquedano-Lopez, Alvarez & Chiu, 1999). Hybrid language practices are more than just code-switching. They are a blending of “alternative, competing, and even shared discourses and positionings or roles” (Gutierrez et al.: 92). For example, an English classroom in Vietnam (Sullivan, 2000) incorporated a Vietnamese tradition of oral verse and play into their learning. The language play and its hybridity contributed to the linguistic use and development that the students demonstrated. Although the classroom was teacher-fronted, it also showed the characteristics of a learner-centered (e.g. the students were free to take over the language play) and communicative approach (e.g. the students were using the target language for a real communicative purpose - to turn a real story into a funny narrative).

In SCT, to participate in a socioculturally practice, such as the language play in Vietnam, is associated with learning. The metaphor of participation replaces the one of acquisition in the IH. Whereas acquisition implies an end when the target feature is learned, participation draws attention to what learners do in the activity of knowing in SCT (Sfard, 1998). Perceiving language learning as a social practice, SCT researchers examine not only the linguistic features that learners are capable of using, but also what learners do to facilitate, or in some cases obstruct, their partners’ and their own participation (e.g. Foster & Ohta, 2005;

Tang, H. J. Understanding Learner Interactions

109

Storch, 2004). When participation is possible, learners, on the interpersonal level, can construct new

knowledge together which they might not be able to accomplish alone (Wells, 1996, as cited in Swain & Lapkin, 1998). In addition, learners’ interpersonal interactions with their partners in pair/group work also trigger intrapersonal development (Ellis, 1999). The path of learning goes from an interpersonal to an intrapersonal plane – people engage in sociocultural activities of the target community and then internalize such practices. While interactions in the IH are arenas for learners to put their linguistic knowledge into practice, interactions in SCT constitute learning (Lantolf & Pavlenko, 2007).

The participation metaphor also invites us to see the wider contexts - communities of practice - formed by the people who share the same value and perform repeated practices (Lave & Wenger, 1991). Although the communities of practice, in Lave and Wenger’s conception, are not as broad as speech communities, Lantolf and Pavlenko conceive them to be “an entity as broad as a society or culture, or as narrow as a particular language classroom” (2001: 149). In the case of EFL, a classroom is often physically distant from the target community whose practice is aimed to be appropriated. The classroom itself forms a community of practice that shares the values and behavior patterns (Chavez, 2007).

The relationship between individuals and a culture is “bi-directional” (Lantolf, 2006: 90), and so is the relationship between individuals and a community. By participating in the sociocultural practices, individuals are becoming a member of the community, and in the meanwhile the community is also constituted by individuals. Learners’ fluid position in the community can be explained by the concept of “legitimate peripheral participation” (Lave & Wenger, 1991: 29), which allows us to see different degrees of participation, ranging from peripheral to full. In the community, the roles of newcomers and old-timers can also be fluid, depending on their various expertise. What is learned in interactions by the members with different proficiency and goals can also be different (Ohta, 2001). Ideally, learners’ engagement with the practice increases and participation moves from peripheral to full, witnessed, for example, by acting more actively (Guerrero & Villamil, 2000). The above view realistically describes learners’ relations with their peers and community – a theme that is ignored in the IH.

The participation metaphor also leads us to see learning situated not in a vacuum, but in its social historical cultural context (Wertsch, 1998). Like the dialectic relations between learners and their communities, the ones between learners and their environment are also dialectic. In appropriating mediational tools and artifacts, human beings not only expand our ability to use the assisting means to restructure the activities, but also reshape the tools and environment. In the meantime, we also change how we make sense of the world (Swain & Deters, 2007). Whereas the context in the IH is either ignored or simplified into settings such as a lab or a classroom, attention to broader contexts is called for in SCT. Although SCT

Studies in EPCA

110

equips us with such a lens, empirical research in learner interaction rarely exploits it. The contexts are restricted to examination of dyads or groups (e.g. Storch, 2004; Swain & Lapkin, 1998), and the other bigger social historical cultural contexts remain in the background.

The above discussion of ontology and epistemology in SCT highlights ideas about languages, learners, learning, interactions and contexts that are different from those in the IH. The ontological and epistemological conceptions are closely connected to the important ideas of mediation, zone of proximal development, activity and collaborative dialogue, which I now turn to for how they help us understand peer interactions.

An essential construct of SCT often applied in studying learner interactions is mediation, through which development and learning occur. Human beings use physical and symbolic tools to help ourselves to organize our thoughts, control activities and achieve our goals (Vygotsky, 1978). In language learning, the mediation can be through objects (such as the use of portfolios, tasks, or technology), oneself (i.e. through private speech) or other people (Lantolf, 2000). Among the three, the last is of special interest to peer interactions. Language learners facilitate their partners’ and their own learning through multiple methods. Some engage their partners and themselves in tasks by showing interests in the conversations (Foster & Ohta, 2005). Some pool their resources together and co-construct new knowledge (Swain & Lapkin, 1998). Some scaffold, providing necessary assistance and withdrawing their interference when unnecessary (Storch, 2004).

To meet learners’ needs requires sensitivity to their ZPD, a “projection of a person’s developmental future in the sense that what one can do in cooperation with others today one can do alone tomorrow” (Lantolf, 2005, p. 336). It differs from the earlier discussed construct of i + 1 (Krashen, 1985) in how the future is configured (Dunn & Lantolf, 1998). While the future development is fixed and predictable in i + 1, it is open in ZPD. Boundary of the zone can be blurred and open-ended based on progress of learning (Wells, 1999). ZPD can refer to both a “ripening process” (Dunn & Lantolf: 422) and a product of learning (McCafferty, 2002). Its traditional definition has been applied to demonstrate the appropriate assistance provided by an expert (McCafferty), but it has been informed and revised by recent research (Wells). Peers can sense their partners’ need and make a sensible decision on when to provide and withhold assistance (Storch, 2004). The relations can be reciprocal, because learners have different strengths and weaknesses. In some other cases, the development is substantiated by joint production (Donato, 1994; Swain & Lapkin, 1998), with learners who are “individually novices and collectively experts” (Donato: 46).

While most researchers of peer interactions employ the constructs of mediation and ZPD, some switch focus to activity system (Haneda, 2007; Storch, 2004). Activity refers to “social relations and rules of conduct that are governed by cultural, political, and economic institutions” (Thorne, 2005: 395). Activity as an unit of analysis helps us notice each component in the activity system and the interactions among subject, object, artifacts

Tang, H. J. Understanding Learner Interactions

111

(including tools and practices), community, values (including rules and conventions), and division of labor (Engeström, 1987).

Subjects are active agents in activities (Haneda, 2007; Lantolf & Pavlenko, 2001) who make sense of their world and make decisions based on their interpretation. In performing activities, all the artifacts, events and actions are social cultural historical significant for individuals, and are not only objective tools, meaningless processes, and senseless behaviors. Human beings, based on their goals and interpretations of a task, are free to invest in different degrees in the activities (Haneda; Storch, 2004). They can also decide to reject others’ suggestions or choose the best solution to their problems (Swain & Lapkin, 1998). Although learners might appear to participate in the same task, they are, in fact, constructing different activities based on their interpretations and goals (Heneda; Storch). This is distinct from the views of some researchers in the IH (Ellis, 2003), in which tasks are carefully designed to induce learners to produce particular kinds of interactions (e.g. one-way or two-way communication), languages to serve certain functions (e.g. describing locations of objects or expressing one’s opinion), or linguistic features (e.g. passive voice or articles). To summarize, tasks are perceived as blueprint in the IH, but process in SCT (Ellis).

Activity theory also enables us to examine learners’ transformation, because agency does not remain the same. Agency changes, develops and transforms, as we shape and reshape our history (Lantolf & Pavlenko, 2001). Learners’ unconscious motivations, conscious goals and actions are dynamic as well (Lantolf & Pavlenko; Storch, 2004; Wells, 1999). However, SCT research does not seem to shed enough light on the changes of learners over time yet. For example, while we understand how complementary or conflicting goals of learners create four different interaction patterns in participating in the same task (Storch), the patterns are shown to be stable and little description of the evolving process can be found. Because of the small sample size (N = 33) and purposive sampling (8 were chosen to be discussed in details), we do not know how common the interaction patterns are.

Although activity theory offers a lens to discuss all the components in activity system and how changes in one component might reinvent the activity, not all elements are discussed in SCT research. Learners’ various motivation and goals are illustrated to have impact on the interaction pattern and results (Storch, 2004). The influence of the larger community seems to be restricted to the instructors and their beliefs (Chavez, 2007). Besides these, there does not seem to be enough discussion on how artifacts or division of labor shape the activity system. The typical focus of conflicts and contradictions within the activity system rarely surfaces in the SCT studies of language learner interactions (Haneda, 2007), with the exception of Storch’s work (e.g. 2001, 2004).

While activity theory is susceptive to conflicts, collaborative dialogue focuses on joint problem solving and knowledge construction in learners’ talk (Swain et al., 2002; Swain & Lapkin, 1998, 2000; Watanabe & Swain, 2007, 2008). Although Swain’s output hypothesis

Studies in EPCA

112

(1995) contributes to the IH, she found that output itself was not enough to explain how language learning took place. Informed by SCT, she observed how her participants used languages, both L1 and L2, as communication and cognition tools to move the task along, talk about linguistic problems, generate alternative solutions and evaluate different solutions (Swain & Lapkin, 1998, 2000).

The accumulated research on collaborative dialogues shows that this type of dialogue assists learners to perform better in speaking, writing, reading and listening (Swain et al., 2002). The dyads that worked collaboratively were more likely to have better scores in the post-test of individual writing (Watanabe & Swain, 2007). The perception of a partner’s ability to contribute had greater impact on interactions than the partner’s actual proficiency (Watanabe & Swain, 2008). As long as the learners were willing to work collaboratively and to perceive themselves and their partners as capable contributors, partners with both higher and lower proficiency could provide opportunities for learning.

To conclude, SCT broadens our understanding of languages, learners and language learning. The theory sheds light on both cognition and communication functions of languages. Languages are socially, culturally and historically significant symbols and resources that learners use to make sense of their world. To see pair/group dialogue as a whole, rather than a combination of linguistic bits, permits us to see a bigger picture. SCT also renders the perception of learners as human beings, and brings attention to issues of goals, interpretation and identities. Language learning is a situated mediated practice that does not happen in vacuum and is an evolving process, in which peer interactions unfold, relationship develops, and knowledge construction becomes possible. The constructs of mediation and ZPD are closely entwined with and coherent to the epistemological and ontological stances. SCT reveals a complex multi-dimensional interplay among human, languages and social contexts.

ConclusionTo study student interactions in pair/group work in language classrooms, SCT enables a

deeper and more holistic understanding of the dynamics and evolvement. Because the IH focuses on miscommunication, language learners are often portrayed as deficient communicators. Languages, fixed systems that learners need to acquire, can be examined by compartmentalizing into input, feedback and output. Only gains in post-tests qualify as language acquisition and solely language acquisition counts as end products of learning. In contrast, languages are both communication and cognition tools that mediate development, and are also reshaped in the process in SCT. Language use and acquisition constitute each other. What we have acquired enables linguistic practices, and participation in activities involving languages promotes our proficiency. The projected future in ZPD does not present a fixed boundary. Thus, learners are resourceful human beings who are capable of using (sometimes various) languages to solve problems and construct knowledge. Our goals and

Tang, H. J. Understanding Learner Interactions

113

interpretations shape interactions, and so do social, cultural and historical contexts. In SCT, learner interactions do not only situate in social, cultural and historical contexts,

but also constitute the arenas where learning takes place. Learning originates on an interpersonal level and is internalized on intrapersonal level. Interactions are a constituent of actual learning. Learners become aware of what we do and do not know about languages, while co-constructing knowledge, identities and unique activities. This viewpoint enables us to see languages as evolving symbolic tools, learners as real human beings with motives and ability to make meaning, learning as a transforming process and interactions as components of learning. Compared with the IH, SCT appears to be a more holistic and sophisticated theory, taking into account the bidirectional nature of language use and acquisition, and the complex interactions among learners, languages and contexts.

Acknowledgement I would like to thank Dr. Mary Jane Curry, Dr. Joanne Larson and Joyce Duckles from

University of Rochester for their invaluable feedback on an earlier version of this paper.

References Anton, M., & DiCamilla, F. (1998). Socio-cognitive functions of L1 collaborative interaction in the

L2 classroom. Canadian Modern Language Review, 54(3), 314-342. Bakhtin, M. (1981). The dialogic imagination: Four essays (M. Holoquist ed.). Austin, TX: University

of Texas Press. Belz, J. A. (2002). Second language play as a representation of the multicompetent self in foreign

language study. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 1(1), 13-39. Brooks, F. B. (1992). Communicative competence and the conversation course: A social interaction

perspective. Linguistics and Education, 4(2), 219-246. Bygate, M., Skehan, P., & Swain, M. (2001). Researching pedagogic tasks: Second language learning,

teaching, and testing. New York: Longman. Cao, Y., & Philp, J. (2006). Interactional context and willingness to communicate: A comparison of

behavior in whole class, group and dyadic interaction. System, 34(4), 480-493. Chavez, M. M. (2007). The orientation of learner language use in peer work: teacher role, learner role

and individual identity. Language Teaching Research, 11(2), 161-188. Donato, R. (1994). Collective scaffolding in second language learning. In J. Lantolf & G. Appel (Eds.),

Vygotskian approaches to second language research (pp. 33-56). Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Dunn, W. E., & Lantolf, J. P. (1998). Vygotsky's zone of proximal development and Krashen's i + 1:

Incommensurable constructs. Language Learning, 48(3), 411-442. Ellis, R. (1999). Theoretical perspectives on interaction and language learning. In R. Ellis (Ed.),

Learning a second language through interaction (pp. 3-32). Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins Publishing Co.

Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based language learning and teaching. New York: Oxford University Press. Ellis, R., Loewen, S., & Erlam, R. (2006). Implicit and explicit corrective feedback and the

acquisition of L2 grammar. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 28, 339-368. Ellis, R., Tanaka, Y., & Yamazaki, A. (1994). Classroom interaction, comprehension, and the

acquisition of L2 word meanings. Language Learning, 44, 449-491.

Studies in EPCA

114

Engeström, Y. (1987). Learning by expanding: An activity-theoretical approach to developmental research. Helsinki, Finland: Orienta-Konsultit Oy.

Firth, A., & Wagner, J. (1997). On discourse, communication and (some) fundamental concepts in SLA research. The Modern Language Journal, 81(3), 285-300.

Foster, P., & Ohta, A. S. (2005). Negotiation for meaning and peer assistance in second language classrooms. Applied Linguistics, 26(3), 402-430.

Garcia Mayo, M. P., & Pica, T. (2000). L2 learner interaction in a foreign language setting. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 38(1), 35-58.

Gass, S. M., & Alvarez Torres, M. J. (2005). Attention when? An investigation of the ordering effect of input and interaction. SSLA, 27(1), 1-31.

Gass, S. M., & Mackey, A. (2006). Input, interaction and output: An overview. AILA Review, 19(1),3-17.

Gass, S., Mackey, A., & Ross-Feldman, L. (2005). Task-based interactions in classroom and laboratory settings. Language Learning, 55(4), 575-611.

Guerrero, M. C. M. de, & Villamil, O. S. (2000). Activating the ZPD: Mutual scaffolding in L2 peer revision. Modern Language Journal, 84(1), 51-68.

Gutierrez, K. D., Baquedano-Lopez, P., Alvarez, H., & Chiu, M. M. (1999). Building a culture of collaboration through hybrid language practices. Theory into Practice, 38(2), 87-93.

Hall, J., & Walsh, M. (2002). Teacher-student interaction and language learning. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 22, 186-203.

Haneda, M. (2007). Modes of engagement in foreign language writing: An activity theoretical perspective. Journal Canadian Modern Language Review, 64(2), 297-327.

Kasper, G. (1997). "A" stands for acquisition: A response to Firth and Wagner. The Modern Language Journal, 81(3), 307-312.

Keck, C. M., Iberri-Shea, G., Tracy-Ventura, N., & Wa-Mbaleka, S. (2006). Investigating the empirical link between task-based interaction and acquisition: A meta-analysis. In J. M. Norris & L. Ortega (Eds.), Synthesizing research on language learning and teaching (pp. 91-132). Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Krashen, S. (1985). The Input Hypothesis. London: Longman. Lantolf, J. P. (2000). Second language learning as a mediated process. Language Teaching, 33, 79-86. Lantolf, J. P. (2005). Sociocultural and second language learning research: An exegesis. In E. Hinkel

(Ed.), Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning (pp. 335-353). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Lantolf, J. P. (2006). Sociocultural theory and L2 - State of the art. SSLA, 28(1), 67-109. Lantolf, J. P., & Pavlenko, A. (2001). Second language activity theory: Understanding second learners

as people. In M. P. Breen (Ed.), Learner contributions to language learning: New direction in research (pp. 141-158). New York: Longman.

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Long, M. H. (1996). The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In W. C. Ritchie & T. K. Bhatia (Eds.), Handbook of Language Acquisition: Vol. 2 Second Language Acquisition (pp. 413-468). New York: Academic Press.

Lyster, R., & Mori, H. (2006). Interactional feedback and instructional counterbalance. SSLA, 28(2),269-300.

McCafferty, S. (2002). Gesture and creating zones of proximal development for second language learning. The Modern Language Journal, 86(2), 192-203.

Tang, H. J. Understanding Learner Interactions

115

Naughton, D. (2006). Cooperative strategy training and oral interaction: Enhancing small group communication in the language classroom. The Modern Language Journal, 90(2), 169-184.

Ohta, A. S. (2001). Japanese second language acquisition in the classroom. In H. Nara (ed.), Advances in Japanese pedagogy (pp. 93-135). Columbus, OH: Foreign Language Resource Center.

Oliver, R. (2002). The patterns of negotiation for meaning in childhood interactions. Modern Language Journal, 86(1), 97-111.

Pica, T., Lincoln-Porter, F., Paninos, D., & Linnell, J. (1996). Language learners' interaction: How does it address the input, output, and feedback needs of L2 learners. TESOL Quarterly, 30,59-84.

Sato, C. (1982). Ethnic styles in classroom discourse. In M. Hines & W. Rutherford (Eds.), On TESOL '81 (pp. 11-24). Washington, D.C.: TESOL.

Savignon, S. (1991). Communicative language teaching: State of the art. TESOL Quarterly, 25(2), 261-277.

Savignon, S. J., & Wang, C. (2003). Communicative language teaching in EFL contexts: Learner attitudes and perceptions. IRAL, 41(3), 223-249.

Sfard, A. (1998). On two metaphors for learning and the dangers of choosing just one. Educational Researcher, 27(2), 4-13.

Shehadeh, A. (1999). Non-native speakers' production of modified comprehensible output and second language learning. Language Learning, 49(4), 627-675.

Storch, N. (2001). How collaborative is pair work? ESL tertiary students composing in pairs. Language Teaching Research, 5(1), 29-53.

Storch, N. (2004). Using activity theory to explain differences in patterns of dyadic interactions in an ESL class. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 60(4), 457-480.

Storch, N., & Wigglesworth, G. (2003). Is there a role for the use of the L1 in an L2 setting? TESOL Quarterly, 37(4), 760-770.

Sullivan, P. N. (2000b). Playfulness as mediation in communicative language teaching in a Vietnamese classroom. In J. Lantolf (Ed.), Sociocultural theory and second language learning(pp. 115-132). New York: Oxford University Press.

Swain, M. (1995). Three functions of output in second language learning. In G. Cook & B. Seidlhofer (Eds.), Principle and practice in applied linguistics: Studies in honour of H.G. Widdowson (pp. 125-144). Oxford: Oxford University Press

Swain, M., & Deters, P. (2007). "New" mainstream SLA theory: Expanded and enriched. ModernLanguage Journal, 91(5), 820-836.

Swain, M., & Lapkin, S. (1998). Interaction and second language learning: Two adolescent French immersion students working together. The Modern Language Journal, 82(3), 320-337.

Swain, M., & Lapkin, S. (2000). Task-based second language learning: The uses of the first language. Language Teaching Research, 4(3), 251-274.

Swain, M., Brooks, L., & Tocalli-Beller, A. (2002). Peer-peer dialogue as a means of second language learning. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 22, 171-185.

Thorne, S. (2005). Epistemology, politics, and ethics in sociocultural theory. The Modern Language Journal, 89(3), 393-409.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Watanabe, Y., & Swain, M. (2007). Effects of proficiency differences and patterns of pair interaction on second language learning: Collaborative dialogue between adult ESL learners. Language Teaching Research, 11(2), 121-142.

Studies in EPCA

116

Watanabe, Y., & Swain, M. (2008). Perception of learner proficiency: Its impact on the interaction between an ESL learner and her higher and lower proficiency partners. Language Awareness, 17(2), 115-130.

Wells, G. (1999). Using L1 to master L2. The Modern Language Journal, 83(2), 248-254. Wertsch, J. (1998). Mind as action. New York: Oxford University Press.

117

A Study of Modality in English Online Support

Chih-Hsuan Hsu National Taipei University of Technology

t7548002@ntut.edu.tw

AbstractAs a universal semantic-grammatical category underlining subjective assessment,

modality has established itself as an interpersonal marker central to spoken and written language use. However, little research has been conducted to examine the function of modality in computer-mediated language. This study thus aims to dig out how English modality serves to enhance interpersonal interaction in the U.S. Internet communities. Data were drawn from public comments made by fans on online guestbooks to support well-known American athletes. Results indicate a predominant use of the deontic modal verb don’t for enhancing intimacy in supportive strategies such as requests, advice, and encouragement. The prevalent occurrence of the epistemic modal verb will strengthens supporters’ blessings and promises. The dynamic modal verb can not only denotes probability of the realization of supporters’ wishes, but also predicts conceivable outcomes of blessings. These modal distributions reveal a salient linguistic variation among oral, written, and electronic discourses introduced by contextual factors. Internet language in particular features a considerably limited range of modal choice, where elements of identical semantic categorization take on distinct pragmatic roles. The conclusions suggest that the awareness of characteristics of communication media is crucial for language learners in establishing successful communication in networking societies.

Keywords: modality in English, online support, Internet, computer-mediated communication (CMC)

Introduction The history of semantic studies on modality can be traced back to more than 2,000 years

ago. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle discussed the logic of possibility and necessity. After that, modality has received the bulk of logicians’, philosophers’, and linguists’ attention. With the growth of linguistics in the late 20th century, the research methods in the study of modality have tended to be not only more systematized and more diversified, but also have produced results that reflected phenomena closer to the real use of language (Li, 1998, 1999; Tang, 2008). Moreover, applied studies of modality indicate that modality has established itself as an interpersonal marker central to spoken and written language use (e.g., Papafragou, 2000; Nuyts, 2001; Verstraete, 2001; Hsieh, 2008a) and important for expressing interpersonal meanings (e.g., Miao, 2004; Wang, X.-F., 2006; Yang, 2006; Zhang, 2008). However, no matter how the studies on modality were conducted in English or in other languages, these generalizations have been built upon observations on spoken or written languages. With the development of Internet technology, the language used in

Studies in EPCA

118

computer-mediated settings should then be paid more attention. Innovations in computer technology have brought an innovative interface for people to

interact, to communicate, and to exchange information (Barnes, 2003). It was found that Web users in the United States numbered over 200 million, which constitute approximately 75% of its total population (Internet World Stats, 2009). Communication media such as e-mail, Web pages, instant messenger (IM), and bulletin board systems (BBS) are introduced by Internet technology. Some newly established social networking sites (e.g., Facebook) allow Web users to register as members to enjoy services like online albums, blogs, and guestbooks.1

With the development of these communication media, online guestbooks have become one of the important channels for giving support to public figures. However, modality in this communication method is largely ignored in past research. Therefore, this paper intends to understand modality in English online language use. Our purpose is to discover the interpersonal meanings of modality in English online support.

Literature Review Modality Modality belongs to a distinct semantic category and refers to the conception of human thoughts. The words used to express this kind of conception are modals. As defined by Lyons (1977), modality is the logic conception of all humankind. Modality is adopted by the speaker to express an opinion or attitude parenthetically towards the proposition expressed by a sentence, or the situation described by the proposition (Lyons, 1977). In terms of the categorization put forth by Lyons (1977) and Palmer (1986, 1990), epistemic modality enables the speaker to make judgments of possibility and necessity about the truthfulness of certain events, while deontic modality enables the speaker to impose an influence on the possibility and the necessity of certain actions. The two categories listed above involve the subjectivity of the speaker. May and must, for example, are able to convey these two meanings.

Lyons (1977) argues that epistemic modality “is concerned with the nature and source of knowledge” (p.793), and deontic modality “is concerned with the necessity or possibility of acts performed by morally responsible agents” (p. 823). Palmer (1990) also claims that epistemic modality essentially makes judgments towards the truth of a proposition, while deontic modality involves influencing actions, states, or events, and expressing directives and permissions. In addition to epistemic modality and deontic modality, there is another modality type in English dealing with the “ability or volition” of the subject of the sentence, e.g., can and will, rather than being concerned with the speaker’s opinions (epistemic) or attitudes (deontic). Strictly speaking, this type of modality is not a kind of modality. It is based on the fact that the sense of ability and volition is subject-oriented, which is not

1 Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/.

Hsu, C. H. A Study of Modality

119

directly related to the speaker. However, this type of modality shares specific formal characteristics with epistemic modality and deontic modality; its meanings should also be placed on par with both epistemic modality and deontic modality. For instance, the negative form of can, namely, can’t, not only encodes epistemic modality, but is also the only grammatical negative form of the epistemic modal must. Moreover, a large number of words or grammatical forms expressing epistemic and deontic modality were developed from meanings conveying ability or volition. Thus, Palmer (1990) recognizes a third type of modality—dynamic modality—to cover the modal verbs that describe the ability, tendency, and volition of the speaker. This paper will discuss modality according to the modality types proposed by Lyons (1977) and Palmer (1986, 1990).

Previous applied studies of modality have been conducted in conversational texts, advertisements, scientific discourses, academic discourses, speech texts, literary texts, business discourses, and news reports. The results have shown modality as an interpersonal marker central to spoken and written languages (e.g., Papafragou, 2000; Nuyts, 2001; Verstraete, 2001; Hsieh, 2008a), and significant in expressing interpersonal meanings (e.g., Miao, 2004; Wang, X.-F., 2006; Yang, 2006; Zhang, 2008). For instance, modality has been found being able to support and develop communication, discussion, and relationship between an addresser and an addressee, also being able to tone down expressions and enable a smooth conversation flow (e.g., Wu, 2009). Furthermore, modality can express politeness in scientific discourses (e.g., Zhao, 2001), as well as exhibit objective reality, soften mood, and display various interpersonal meanings, e.g., interaction and discussion, in academic discourses (e.g., Wang, Y., 2008). Modality is also of significance to meaning and function for being beneficial to writers of academic texts in conveying their personal opinions, attitude, and judgments (e.g., Su, 2006). What is more, modality in speech texts may facilitate speakers in unleashing strong feelings in order to influence and persuade the audience, and make them provide sympathetic responses (e.g., Wang, Y., 2008). In literary texts, such as novels and plays, modality can assist characters in expressing comments and emotions (e.g., Wang, Y., 2008). Moreover, modality can increase the persuasiveness of commercial advertisements in influencing and leading the audience either directly or indirectly, thus successfully promoting products and services (e.g., Zhang, 2008). With the frequent use of modal expressions in public service advertisements, the reliability of the advertisement contents is increased, and the readers are thus propelled to take certain actions (e.g., Yang, 2006). Studies on news reports have also indicated that modality is helpful in realizing interpersonal meanings (e.g., Liu, 2008). Modality helps writers of news reports in seizing interpersonal functions, and in emphasizing proposed viewpoints (e.g., Xiao, 2004b). In addition, modality can make news reports more innovative, more powerful, and more objective (e.g., Xiao, 2004a). Prior research has also revealed that modality in business English is advantageous in realizing communication goals, and making

Studies in EPCA

120

sentences more polite and more euphemistic (e.g., Wang, X.-F., 2006). Modality can prescribe the responsibilities and obligations of the addresser and the addressee effectively as well to adjust and maintain the relationship between the addresser and the addressee (e.g., Wang, X.-F., 2006). Modality is also able to decrease the illocutionary force of speech acts; thus, the addressers are not likely to be denied, which is advantageous in realizing self-protection (e.g., Wang, X.-F., 2006).

Although the investigations cited above have highlighted notable achievements of modality in different text types, the spotlight was on written and spoken communication forms. Modality in computer-mediated communication (CMC) has tended to be particularly neglected. Moreover, the prevalence of modals in supportive strategies helps supporters to express their viewpoints and attitude, to influence supportees’ attitude and behavior, and to touch supportees’ emotion. Therefore, this paper seeks to survey English modality in a computer-mediated setting in order to understand its interpersonal meanings.

The Internet and CMC Human interaction via the Internet represents a new and exciting chapter in human

evolution, and is a common lifestyle in high-tech environments (Wang, X.-J., 2008). The Internet can stretch information resources beyond national boundaries (Xu, Li, Southwick, Komlodi, & Haidar, 2003); thus, it has become a key medium for human communication. Moreover, it has opened up new avenues for the facilitation of exchanges and the dissemination of information.

Similarities and disparities between CMC and face-to face (FtF) communication have been widely emphasized. Many researchers have claimed that CMC interaction groups result in shorter social distance than FtF groups. The findings of this line of research have revealed that groups interacting by CMC are less dominated by high-status members (Weisband, 1995), and that CMC can reduce status effects during the communication process (Tan, Wei, Watson, & Walczuch, 1998). Furthermore, Dubrovsky, Kiesler, and Sethna (1991) have indicated that compared to groups that meet face-to-face, the same groups meeting online are less conscious of social disparities. Therefore, these interactants are more able to communicate beyond social boundaries, to exhibit uninhibited behavior, and even to make risky, extreme, or unconventional decisions. In addition, status effects on participation and advocacy, and expertise on credibility and influence will be reduced, achieving an “equalization phenomenon” (Dubrovsky et al., 1991).

Since the Internet has advanced to become a prime communication medium, language for communicating in CMC settings should receive more scholarly attention. Little research has been conducted to investigate computer-mediated language. Nevertheless, based on the little research conducted on this area, it has been reported that computer-mediated language is different from the language employed in traditional communication media. Internet discourse

Hsu, C. H. A Study of Modality

121

is “neither simply speech-like nor simply written-like” (Yates, 1996; Stein, 2006). Unnecessary linguistic material is generally omitted (Condon & ech, 1996). Moreover, the efficiency valued by CMC leads to more direct and clearer linguistic forms than language adopted in traditional communication media (Ma, 1996; Hsieh, 2009b). Some researchers in the CMC field have asserted the unique linguistic practice and communication culture of computer-mediated language (Walther, 1996; Postmes, Spears, & Lea, 2000; Barnes, 2003). The impact of the digital era on interpersonal communication can be seen from the use of Internet languages (Hsieh, 2008b, 2009a). Researchers have generally found that CMC has unique communication culture and language practice. In addition, the characteristics of the Internet make CMC worth studying for its potential as a way of encouraging successful communication. However, little research of computer-mediated language has so far been done on language use in online guestbooks. Thus, the aim of this paper is to explore the pragmatic function and the interpersonal meanings of English modality in online guestbooks.

MethodologyThe observed data were gathered from online guestbooks, which are prevalent methods

for giving support to public figures and where large quantities of data can be accessed. Dates, time, and contents of posting are fully and accurately recorded on the browsing interface when users leave messages there. This provides complete and systematic data. Data were drawn from two English online guestbooks: (1) that of the baseball player Derek Jeter on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Derek-Jeter/9521047988#); (2) that of the tennis player Serena Williams on her official website (http://www.serenawilliams.com/).

These two guestbooks share some features that are advantageous to this research. First, users can read posts without registering at the websites beforehand, which is convenient for data collection. Moreover, advertisements and posts irrelevant to support were rarely obtained, which saves labor and time in the process of data gathering. Third, users who post messages do not show specific age, gender, or profession tendency, which provides a general and objective basis for the current study. Fourth, users are required to log onto the websites before posting messages. They also have to leave account names or nicknames before posting messages. This helps to reduce negative effects caused by anonymity.

The two guestbooks are with varying posting frequencies. 823 posts were drawn from Jeter’s guestbook from July 2008 to February 2009; 804 from Williams’ from November 2007 to February 2009. Data irrelevant to support were excluded from further treatment though relatively few in number. Finally, 795 qualified posts were obtained from each of the guestbooks, making the total number of qualified samples 1,590 (= 795*2).

Studies in EPCA

122

Data Analysis Directive, Wish, Blessing, and Promise are four of the most prevalent supportive

strategies identified in English online support, which contribute to the occurrence of modals. Directive is employed to command, ask, and request supportees, frequently in the form of imperatives. Blessing is used by supporters to wish supportees luck in the future. Wish is adopted as supporters’ wishes for a certain event to come true to meet their expectation. Promise occurs as supporters give temptation to supportees with material gain. A linguistic analysis indicates that the modal choice depends on which supportive strategy they occur in. Table 1 summarizes the modals in supportive strategies.

The most common modal in a Directive is the deontic modal don’t/do not, which is the negative form of do. It makes up 10.31% (59/572) of the directive sentences, e.g., (1)-(2). The use of do covers 0.87% (5/572), which is not as frequent as its negative form, e.g., (3).2

Other deontic modals that reveal obligation and order such as should, have to, and ought tohave occasional occurrence. They elicit 2.62% (15/572), 1.05% (6/572), and 0.17% (1/572) of the directive sentences respectively, e.g., (4)-(6). The deontic modals expressing possibility such as can, could (the tentative form of can), and may are often adopted in suggesting directives. However, this sentence structure is not commonly used, as shown by their occurring frequencies: 2.62% (15/572), 0.87% (5/572), and 0.35% (2/572) respectively, e.g., (7)-(9).3 The dynamic modal can occurs in the clauses introduced by or in the sentences preceded by encouraging directives. Can induces 1.75% (10/572) of this strategy, e.g., (10) and (11). The epistemic modal will also occurs in the sentences or clauses preceded by ordering or requesting directives. Will accounts for 4.55% (26/572) of this strategy, e.g., (12) and (13). The tentative form of will, i.e., would, often occurs in suggesting directives or indirect requesting directives, e.g., (14) and (15). The occurring frequency is low: 0.87% (5/572). Another epistemic modal can occurs in requesting directives as well, yet the occurring frequency is even lower: 0.70% (4/572), e.g., (16).

The most frequent English modal in Blessing is the epistemic modal will. The near-synonym of will, i.e., the semi-modal be going to, is also found. The occurring frequencies are 15.88% (91/573) and 2.97% (17/573) respectively, e.g., (17) and (18). Be going to is the most common form adopted to show futurity in oral texts, whose use makes an event more certain or more immediate. In addition to will, the dynamic modal can is also prevalent in this supportive strategy. It expresses possibility and elicits 7.16% (41/573) of the tokens, e.g., (19). The tentative form of can, i.e., could, and its synonym, i.e., the semi-modal be able to, is observed only in two tokens, e.g., (20) and (21). Another dynamic modal may, which describes

2 The deontic modal do is used to emphasize an obligation imposed on the addressee; very low occurrence of this modal is observed in the data. However, in negation, do has the form don’t, but without a special emphasis that goes with the positive form. 3 The “tentative form” expresses less assurance, and is more diffident or more polite than non-tentative forms (Palmer, 1990).

Hsu, C. H. A Study of Modality

123

Table 1. Modals in supportive strategiesSupportivestrategy

Modaltype

Modal % Examples

don’t/donot

10.31(1) Don’t lose your edge and aggressiveness.4

(2) DO NOT GIVE UP THE FIGHT

do 0.87 (3) Whenever you have a chance do drop me a line

should 2.62 (4) your knee should heal quickly.

have to 1.05 (5) you have to focus on the French Open for now..

ought to 0.17 (6) You ought to start a line of Barbe dolls of yourself

can 2.62(7) u can say this one was for the hotty back in

summit nj

could 0.87 (8) you could go and SEE HIM!!!!!

Directive deontic

may 0.35 (9) u may call my house at 631 368 4398

dynamic can 1.75(10) REMEMBER that you CAN achieve anything you

want(11) Do that, and no one can touch you.

will 4.55

(12) REMEMBER PUT GOD FIRST AND EVERYTHINGELSE WILL FALL IN LINE.

(13) plzzz at least get into wild card so there’ll be asubway series for shea stadium and yankeestadium!!!!!!!!!!!

would 0.87(14) help get CC and Burnett... Texiera would be nice

too....(15) id luv it it u post ur biggest fan back

Directive

epistemic

can 0.70 (16) write me back it you can

will 15.88 (17) u’ll be in the World Series againepistemic

be going to 2.97 (18) Yankees are going to kick ass this coming season.

can 7.16 (19) you can win this.

could 0.17 (20) I could feel it happening!

be able to 0.17 (21) you’d be able to win French Open

Blessing

dynamic

may 3.14 (22) may God continue to bless you

can/can’t 18.99(23) I hope u can get well soon(24) Can’t wait to see u on the field.

could 3.16 (25) I WISH I could meet you someday in person.

be able to 1.90 (26) I hope Rena is able to play alot better on today.dynamic

would 4.43(27) I would like to be ur friend(28) Would love to catch up with you when you are

back in NY.

deontic don’t 0.32 (29) I hope you don’t get tired of reading from me...

will 5.70 (30) hopefully youll be the# 1 again.

would 5.06 (31) Hoping you’d be playing in Gaz de France

Wish

epistemic

be going to 0.32(32) I hope Sere that you gonna take the trophy in

madrid5

Promise epistemic will 73.68 (33) I WILL BE ROOTING FOR YOU AS USUAL.

4 For readers’ comprehension, the modals discussed are underlined. All the samples cited in this paper are in their primitive forms. The occurrence of errata (including spelling, capitalization, etc.) and stylistic forms (e.g., orthographic innovations such as the substitution of ‘u’ for ‘you’) was attributed to the supporters. For more information of stylistic forms of Internet language, please refer to Barnes (2003). 5 Gonna is the weak form of be going to in normal colloquial style.

Studies in EPCA

124

would 3.16 (34) IF U WERENT MARRIED I WOULD MARRY U

be going to 2.11 (35) im going to the final game Sunday

supporters’ wishes, are also observed. However, the use is quite formal, and would not normally occur, e.g., (22). The occurring frequency is 3.14% (18/573).

The modal with the highest occurrence in Wish is the dynamic modal can, which expresses possibility, e.g., (23). The occurring frequency of can, including its negative form can’t, is 18.99% (60/316). Can’t often occurs in sentences that begin with can’t wait to express supporters’ strong wishes, e.g., (24). The tentative form of can, i.e., could, are also found, yet it is not prevalent. Could elicits 3.16% (10/316) of this strategy, e.g., (25). The semi-modal be able to, which is similar in meaning to can, are also observed. The occurring frequency is even lower than that of could, constituting 1.90% (6/316) of the tokens, e.g., (26). The dynamic modal would (in would like and would love) also occurs in Wish. The occurring frequency is not high: 4.43% (14/316), e.g., (27) and (28). This type of sentences is also more direct than other types. They are often used to convey supporters’ wishes that will benefit themselves. Another occurrence is the negative form of the deontic modal do, namely, don’t. However, don’t is only found in one token, e.g., (29). Still other occurrences are the epistemic modal will, its tentative form would, and the semi-modal be going to. The occurring frequencies are 5.70% (18/316), 5.06% (16/316), and 0.32% (1/316) respectively, e.g., (30)-(32). These modals are often observed in subordinate clauses of wishing sentences to employ indirectness and to achieve politeness.

The most recurrent modal in Promise is the epistemic modal will, accounting for 73.68% (70/95) of the tokens, e.g., (33). The use of will may indicate a conclusion rather than suggesting mere probability or suggesting “thinking that.” The tentative form of will, namely, would, is at low frequency: 3.16% (3/95), e.g., (34). The semi-modal be going to is used to refer to futurity as well. However, it refers to the future from the perspective of the present, rather than simply signifying the future. Thus the use of be going to makes an event more immediate or more certain. Be going to is also at low frequency: 2.11% (2/95), e.g., (35).

Discussion This paper observes modality in supportive strategies adopted by the U.S. Web users in

online guestbooks. Modal occurrence is observed in four supportive strategies: Directive,Blessing, Wish, and Promise. The analysis reveals that the modal choice depends on which supportive strategy they occur in, where elements of identical semantic categorization take on distinct pragmatic roles.

The negative form of the deontic modal do, i.e., don’t/do not can enhance intimacy in supportive strategies that express request, suggestion, and encouragement. The prevalent occurrence of the epistemic modal verb will strengthens supporters’ blessings and promises. It also makes a request more persuasive and serves to explain the reason why an order is

Hsu, C. H. A Study of Modality

125

given. Although being synonymous, the tentative form of will, i.e., would, does not occur as frequently in its non-tentative form. What the supporters want to show is continuous and strong support; thus it contributes to the relatively rare occurrence of the tentative form. The dynamic modal verb can denotes probability of the realization of supporters’ wishes, and predicts conceivable outcomes of the blessings. Thus, it can be inferred that modality establishes itself as an interpersonal marker and as well as a method to express interpersonal meanings central to computer-mediated language use.

Furthermore, these modal distributions reveal a salient linguistic variation among oral, written, and electronic discourses introduced by contextual factors. This reflects the findings in the literature indicating that Internet language displays different characteristics from oral and written languages. Although with the existence of synonymous modals, Internet language in particular features a considerably limited range of modal choice. First, Internet language is not communicated orally, yet supporters frequently adopted modals that often occur in spoken languages, e.g., don’t, will, and can. However, despite being communicated through words, Internet language shows features different from written language. The modals of which the proportion of occurrences is greater in the written texts than in the spoken are much less frequently observed. For instance, the formal use of the dynamic modal may in blessings, the epistemic modal would in suggestions and indirect requests, and dynamic modal can in requests. They are often used to enhance politeness. Nevertheless, the occurrence of be going to is not usual in Internet language, although it is also uncommon in formal and written texts. The choice of be going to makes an event more immediate or more certain. However, the supporters seek to show continuous support, instead of giving support only in the near future. Thus the choice of be going to is infrequent.

Qualities of Internet communication are reflected in the modal choice as well. First, significant status disparity does not exist between supporters and supportees. In addition, status effects during group communication are reduced via CMC. Thus a particular modal choice makes supportive messages become ordinary conversations between friends. Interpersonal communication is then enhanced. For instance, should, have to, and ought tohave occasional occurrences in directive sentences. The infrequency of these modals is due to the fact that these modals reflect a superior-to-subordinate relationship, so they tend to be avoided. Such inferiority may exert a negative influence on interpersonal relationship. Further, the use of don’t in Wish places obligations on and gives orders to the supportees. Due to that there are no apparent status differences between supporters and supportees, these modals are scarce in online support.

Summarizing the results, it is found that a particular modal choice may pose positive influences on interpersonal relationship. For instance, the deontic modal don’t in directive sentences result in shorter social distance and stronger interpersonal rapport between supporters and supportees. When supporters make wishes, the dynamic modal verb can and

Studies in EPCA

126

the epistemic modal will serve the functions of suggesting the possibility of the realization of a wish and predicting conceivable outcomes of these wishes. These modals all denote the expectations of supporters to supportees. However, they are not to such an extent as to impose strong obligations on supportees; thus politeness is achieved. This paper attempts to investigate how English modality serves to enhance interpersonal interaction in the U.S. Internet communities. The present paper provides a practical example demonstrating the influence of communication media on the performance of speech acts. The conclusions imply that the awareness of qualities of communication media is crucial for foreign language learners in establishing successful communication in networking societies. It is also implied that new technology is adopted to extend traditional communication patterns; an online guestbook is an example of this concept. References Barnes, S. B. (2003). Computer-mediated communication: Human to human communication across

the Internet. Boston: Pearson Education. Condon, S. L., & ech, C. G. (1996). Functional comparison of face-to-face and computer-mediated

decision-making interactions. In S. C. Herring, (Ed.), Computer-mediated communication: Linguistic, social, and cross-cultural perspectives (pp. 65-80). Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Dubrovsky, V. J., Kiesler, S., Sethna, B. N. (1991). The equalization phenomenon: Status effects in computer-mediated and face-to-face decision-making groups. Human-Computer Interaction, 6,119-146.

Hsieh, C.-L. (2008a). Evidentiality in Chinese newspaper reports: Subjectivity/objectivity as a factor. Discourse Studies, 10(2), 205-229.

Hsieh, C.-L. (2008b). Yuyan yu yujing: Huayu wanglu qingqiu xingwei yanjiu (Language and context: Investigation on Chinese online request). In Department of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, Ming Chuan University (Ed.), Proceedings of 2008 International Conference & Workshop on Teaching Chinese as a Second Language (pp. 222-234). Taipei, Taiwan: Crane Publishing Co. Ltd.

Hsieh, C.-L. (2009a). Huayu qingtaici de wanglu renji gongneng (Internet interpersonal functions of Chinese modals). In Department of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, Ming Chuan University (Ed.), Proceedings of 2009 International Conference & Workshop on Teaching Chinese as a Second Language (pp. 83-95). Taipei, Taiwan: Crane Publishing Co. Ltd.

Hsieh, C.-L. (2009b). Xuni shehui de qiuzhu celue tantao (Request for help in virtual society). Chinese Sociolinguistics, 12, 86-100.

Internet World Stats (2009). Internet usage and population statistics for North America. Retrieved June 12, 2009, from http://www.internetworldstats.com/

Li, J.-A. (1998). Qingtaiyiyi yanjiu (A study of modality). Journal of Foreign Languages, 115, 57-60. Li, J.-A. (1999). Qingtaiyiyi han qingtai zhudongci yiyi (Modality and the meanings of modal

auxiliaries). Journal of Foreign Languages, 122, 19-23. Liu, L.-H. (2008). Meiti yupian zhong de qingtai dongci fenxi (An analysis on modal verbs in media

discourse). Journal of Tianjin Foreign Studies University, 15(5), 21-29. Lyons, J. (1977). Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ma, R. (1996). Computer-mediated conversations as a new dimension of intercultural communication

between East Asian and North American college students. In S. C. Herring (Ed.), Computer-mediated communication: Linguistic, social, and cross-cultural perspectives (pp.

Hsu, C. H. A Study of Modality

127

173-185). Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Miao, X.-W. (2004). Renji yiyi yu yupian de jiangou (Interpersonal meaning and the construction of

discourse). Shandong Foreign Language Teaching Journal, 98, 5-11. Nuyts, J. (2001). Subjectivity as an evidential dimension in epistemic modal expressions. Journal of

Pragmatics, 33(3), 383-400. Palmer, F. R. (1986). Mood and modality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Palmer, F. R. (1990). Modality and the English modals (2nd ed.). London: Longman. Papafragou, A. (2000). On speech-act modality. Journal of Pragmatics, 32(5), 519-538. Postmes, T., Spears, R., & Lea, M. (2000). The formation of group norms in computer-mediated

communication. Human Communication Research, 26(3), 341-371. Stein, D. (2006). E-mail, Internet, chatroom talk: Pragmatics. In K. Brown (Ed.), Encyclopedia of

language & linguistics (2nd ed., pp. 116-124). Oxford: Elsevier. Su, N.-N. (2006). Yingyu xueshu yupian zhong de qingtai shouduan (Modality in English academic

texts). Proceedings of 2006 Annual Meeting of Fujian Foreign Languages Association, Vol. 1.Retrieved July 23, 2009, http://cpfd.cnki.com.cn/Article/CPFDTOTAL-FJWW200612001016.htm

Tan, B. C. Y., Wei, K.-K., Watson, R. T., & Walczuch, R. M. (1998). Reducing status effects with computer-mediated communication: Evidence from two distinct national cultures. Journal of Management Information Systems, 15(1), 119-141.

Tang, J.-A. (2008). Qingtai fanchou de yuyong neihan (Pragmatic connotations in modal category). Heilongjiang Social Science, 107, 128-130.

Verstraete, J.-C. (2001). Subjective and objective modality: Interpersonal and ideational functions in the English modal auxiliary system. Journal of Pragmatics, 33(10), 1505-1528.

Walther, J. B. (1996). Computer-mediated communication: Impersonal, interpersonal, and hyperpersonal interaction. Communication Research, 23(1), 3-43.

Wang, X.-F. (2006). Shangwu Yingyu zhong de qingtai biaoda ji qi renji gongneng (On modality in business English and its interpersonal functions). Journal of Harbin University, 27(4), 95-99.

Wang, X.-J. (2008). Han Ying Wangluo yuyan de goucheng (The construction of Chinese and English Internet languages). Journalism Lover, 7B, 54-55.

Weisband, S. P. (1995). Computer-mediated communication and social information: Status salience and status differences. Academy of Management Journal, 38(4), 1124-1151.

Wu, L.-Q. (2009). Renji yiyi zhong de qingtai ji qi xianjie (On modality in interpersonal meanings and its cohesion). Shandong Foreign Language Teaching Journal, 129, 12-17.

Xiao, T.-J. (2004a). Yingyu zhengzhi pinglun de pianzhang gongneng ji qi yingyong (Textual functions and their applications in English political comments). Journal of Guizhou University for Ethnic Minorities (Philosophy and Social Science), 85, 120-123.

Xiao, T.-J. (2004b). Lun Yingyu xinwen baodao de xinyingxing (On the novelty of English news reports). Training and Research Journal of Hubei University of Education, 21(6), 20-22.

Xu, H., Li, B., Southwick, S. B., Komlodi, A., & Haidar, T. (2003). Cultural variations of Internet development and use. Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 40(1), 494-495.

Yang, S. (2006). Gongyi guanggao yupian zhong qingtai de renji gongneng tanjiu (Interpersonal meaning of modality in public service advertisement). Journal of Shaoguan University SocialScience, 27(1), 131-136.

Yates, S. J. (1996). Oral and written linguistic aspects of computer conferencing: A corpus based study. In S. C. Herring (Ed.), Computer-mediated communication: Linguistic, social, and cross-cultural

Studies in EPCA

128

perspectives (pp. 29-46). Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Zhang, N. (2008). Yingyu shangye guanggao de qingtai xitong ji qi renji gongneng (On modality in

English commercial advertisements and its interpersonal functions). Read and Write Periodical, 5(7), 25-26.

Zhao, H.-T. (2001). Yuzhi dui keji yupian yuyu tezheng de yingxiang (The influence of tenor upon the register of scientific discourse). Foreign Language Education, 22(6), 21-25.

129

A Study of Collocation Learning of Junior High Students in Taiwan via Concordance

Ping-yin Chao National Chiayi University far390390@yahoo.com.tw

AbstractResearchers have suggested that collocation learning is beneficial in transferring

receptive vocabulary into productive vocabulary. Due to the features of enhancing inductive learning and longer retention, concordance learning has been regarded as an effective tool to facilitate L2 learners’ vocabulary and collocation development. However, research which has empirically documented collocation learning for Taiwanese junior high students via concordancer is scant. Therefore, the aim of this study attempts to investigate the effects of concordancer on collocation learning of Taiwanese junior high students. This research involved a pretest, posttest, and a questionnaire concerning students’ attitudes toward concordance learning and their recommendations about the course. Two intact classes of 71 junior high students participated in the study.

Results showed that the junior high students made significant improvement in collocation learning, especially in productive collocations. The students help positive attitudes toward concordance leaning and agreed its effects on their learning. To conclude, this study may be of importance in investigating the efficacy and feasibility of incorporating concordance into English curriculum of junior high school for collocation learning, as well as in providing English teachers with a better understanding of how to conduct concordance learning to enhance students’ vocabulary and collocation development.

Keywords: collocation learning, concordance, junior high

Introduction Learning vocabulary is crucial in the process of L2 learning. Wilkins (1972, cited

from Chan, 2004) pointed out the importance of vocabulary ability: “Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without lexis nothing can be conveyed.” (p.111) Knowing a vocabulary requires more than just familiarity its the meaning and form, but also including a series of word knowledge, such as grammatical behavior, associations, collocation, frequency and register (Schmitt & McCarthy, 1997). And among the series of knowledge, collocation plays a fundamental role in L2 vocabulary learning or acquisition. Nation (2001, cited from Chang, Chang, Chen, Liou, 2008) claimed that “Language knowledge is collocational knowledge.” (p.318) Collocation refers to the natural cooccurrence of a string of fixed, identifiable, non-idiomatic phrases and constructions (Benson, Beson, Ilson, 1997), for instance, heavy rain, strong wind, and heavy drinker. Collocation learning enables second

Studies in EPCA

130

language (L2) learners to have deep understating to the learned words and therefore enhances their learning (Cobb, 1997 & 1999), to make passive vocabulary active (Wu,1996; Wei, 1999), and to contribute to native-like language (Benson et al., 1997; Lewis, 2001; Shei & Pain, 2000).

In the past, Taiwanese students received systematic collocation learning usually when they were senior high. The possible reason was that senior high students who had a great amount of pre-made items in memory (Chan & Liou, 2005) and therefore were considered to be suitable to learn collocations. Nowadays, nevertheless, English education in Taiwan has started at the elementary stage since the 94 school year. Students graduating from elementary school have possessed a certain amount of vocabulary (at least 2000 vocabulary); therefore, junior high stage is just a perfect time to start conducting collocation instruction. In addition, the English textbook of junior high has stared introducing the concept of collocations to junior high students. Lin (2008) analyzed the junior high school English textbooks and reported that dialogue and reading are the teaching sections having the most collocations. It indicates that collocations have started presenting in the English textbook of junior high. Last but not the least, she also indicated that vocabulary teaching in junior high still focuses on memorizing words instead of actively using them. Therefore, students may not understand these learned word can be combined into a couple of collocational combination, in other words, they may not know that two separated vocabulary can form a meaningful lexical, and which can help them to express their thoughts and ideas much clearer. She argued that the lack of collocation instruction may cause students to have difficulty in utilizing the learned words to communicate. For example, junior high students have learned words such as tea ( ) and strong ( ); however, students may have difficulty in understanding the meaning when the two separated words combine and form strong tea (

). Learning collocation, therefore, may assist junior high student in and productively and accurately using these learned words (Conzett, 2000; cited from Chang, et al., 2008) and having deep understanding to them (Cobb, 1997 & 1999). These changes indicate that collocation learning should be put into consideration and start at the junior high stage instead of senior high stage.

However, most of the studies on collocation learning usually focus on senior high school and college school students (Tseng, 2002; Wang, 2002; Sun & Wang, 2003; Lin, 2007). Only few studies in Taiwan (Hsiao, 2004; Kuau, 2008; Pu, 2009) explored collocation learning and instruction in junior high school. It indicates that collocation learning may be a neglected part in junior high school. Hsiao (2004) reported that junior high students probably have difficulty in producing collocations. He analyzed the writing of the junior high students who passed the beginning level of General English Proficiency Test (GEPT) found that miscollocation accounted for 54 % of high-frequent errors in their writing. Hsiao’s study may indicate that Taiwanese junior high students are unaware of the restriction of

Chao, P. Y. Collocation Learning

131

collocation combination. Kuau (2008) conducted a three-week collocation instruction (eight hours) on 66 Taiwanese junior high students to investigate its effects on both receptive and productive collocations. The results showed that the students who received collocation instruction had significant performance on both receptive and productive collocations (sentence-level). To compare the treatment and the control group, it was found that only productive collocations significantly outperformed the control group. Kuan’s study, however, has some limitations in small size of participants and the limited instruction time, so the results of the study may not be totally generalized to other junior high school students. Pu (2009) further investigated the effects of collocation instruction on the junior high students’ vocabulary learning. Two classes of students participated in the study. The experimental group class received collocation instruction, while the control group received vocabulary glosses with example sentences instruction. The vocabulary test included multiple-choice (receptive collocation) and fill-in (productive collocation in sentence-level). The result showed that in overall gains, the treatment group performed better than the control group in the posttest. Although Pu’s studies shed some light on the teaching of collocations, only vocabulary learning in overall gains was reported, the students’ performances on receptive and productive vocabulary were still unknown.

Productive collocations have received high retention in the studies on collocation learning of EFL students (Nesselhaulf, 2003; Chan & Liou, 2005; Hsu, 2007; Chang, et al., 2008; Jing, 2008; May, 2009). These studies indicated that collocation has become a prominent problem to most of the EFL students, especially in terms of production. Nesselhaulf and Tschichold (2002) noted that “The most difficult part for learners, then, is not comprehension of collocations, but the correct production of them.” Even advanced EFL students have difficulty in precisely and productively producing collocations (Shei & Pain, 2000; Yoon & Hirvela, 2004; Chan & Liou, 2005; Wang, 2006; Yeh, Liou, & Li, 2007) because that first, a collocation would be regarded less acceptable when one of its components is replaced by other word (Chang, et al., 2008). Next, L1 interference may also one of the factors causes the occurrences of miscollocation, such as write a diary ( )and open a check ( ) (Liou, 2001; Liu, 2002; Jing, 2008). Furthermore, collocation is relatively hard to learn or acquire via mere exposure to it (Sun & Wang, 2003; Kuau, 2008). As for the reason why knowledge of collocations can not be acquired implicitly, Chang, et al. (2008) provided a possible explanation. They claimed that L2 learners who lack collocational awareness are less able to identify collocations from reading materials. L2 learners, therefore, may regard these words as separated words instead of collocation combination; hence, learning collocation via reading may be in vain if learners are lack of collocation awareness.

Fortunately, with the development of technology, besides collocation dictionary, concordancer has also been regarded an effective tool to facilitate collocation learning (Ma,

Studies in EPCA

132

1993; Kita & Ogata, 1997;Lewis, 2001). Concordance provides a huge amount of sentences for learners to examine language features which is far behind the amount of sentences provided by a dictionary. Hill (2000, cited from Sun & Wang, 2003) also noted that one effective way to learn collocation is through observing vast amount of recurring patterns of concrete examples in texts; hence, concordance is a favorable learning tool for concordance learning in this study. Furthermore, concordancing learning is conducted in a computer lab. Learning in a compute able is claimed to be able to increase learning motivation and encourage students to take full learning responsibility (Lee & Liou, 2003). Empirical studies have proven that concordance learning encourages inductive learning (Yeh, Liou, & Li, 2007; Gilmore, 2008), enhances better retention (Sun &Wang, 2003; Chan & Liou, 2005), and facilitates both language learning (Cobb, 1995, 1997; Yoon, 2005; Charles, 2007; Gilmore, 2008) and collocation learning (Wang, 2002; Chan, 2004; Sun &Wang, 2003; Chan & Liou, 2005). However, no empirical studies apply concordancer to facilitate collocation learning of Taiwanese junior high students. In sum, the vital role of collocation in L2 vocabulary learning, the changes of English education in Taiwan, the limited studies on collocation learning of Taiwanese junior high EFL students, and the lack of empirical studies on applying concordancer to assist collocations of Taiwanese junior high students motivated this study. In this study, I adopted on-line collocation concordance, IWiLL, to explore to what extent a concordance can facilitate the learning of collocation of junior high students. IWiLL is a collocation explorer which detects collocations automatically using the licensed version of the British National Corpus. Specifically, this research addressed the following questions:1. What are the effects of concordance on junior high students’ collocation learning in terms

of overall learning and receptive collocations and productive collocations? 2. What difficulties do the students encounter during concordancing process, their

evaluations of the concordance program, and the effects on their learning?

MethodThis study explored the collocation learning the junior high students via collocation

concordancer, IWiLL. Two classes of junior high students participated in this study. The duration of the study was 15 weeks, not including administration of the pre- and posttest and questionnaire survey, with the class meeting 40 minutes every two weeks. The collocation instruction was conducted in a computer lab. In this study, the concordance instruction was implemented during the English conversation course. The researcher was the teacher of the collocation course. Each collocation course was implemented after the teaching of correspondent lesson of the textbook. The major instruments included pre- and posttest collocation tests and a questionnaire.

Chao, P. Y. Collocation Learning

133

Participants Two classes of second-grade junior students of a public junior high school in Tinan

County, Taiwan participated in this study. One of the classes was randomly assigned to the experimental group (36 students) and the other to control group (37 students). Before participating in this study, all the participants had received at least three years of formal EFL English instruction in Taiwan, with two years in the elementary school and one year in junior high school. In addition, there were about 350 second-grade students in the school, and these participants were the top 71 students (the top 20% students) based on their academic performance of each semester. Therefore they may have the ability to adjust to the interface of the collocation concordance and to cope with the complicated English concordance example sentences. In addition, both of the two classes were taught by the same English teacher.

Their English course contained four periods per week and each period lasted for 40 minutes. Their regular textbooks were Han-Lin ( ) English, English III. Besides their regular English class based on school curriculum, they also had an English conversation course, 40 minutes a week as well. Therefore, they have English course for five periods per week in total.

InstrumentTwo kinds of instruments were adopted for this study to measure the participants’

collocation learning: pre- and posttest collocation tests and a questionnaire. Collocation test included pre- and posttests. The researcher developed Test sheet A and B (See Appendix C and D) as collocation test. Both Test sheet A and B comprised multiple-choice section (MI) and fill-in-the-blank section (FI) in order to measure the students’ receptive learning of collocation and productive collocation learning separately. Both Test sheet A and B measured the same target collocations (TCs), the only difference is that the items measured in MI of Test sheet A were measured in the FI of Test sheet B, while the items measured in FI of Test sheet A were measured in the MI of Test sheet B. The experimental group took Test sheet A as pretest and Test sheet B as posttest. The control group took Test sheet B as pretest and Test sheet A as pretest

A questionnaire comprising both open- and closed-ended questions was used (see Appendix E) to explore the junior high students’ attitudes toward learning collocations via concordancer. The questionnaire comprised two parts: 19 3-point closed-ended questions and five open-ended questions, 24 questions in total. The questionnaire was designed to obtain information about the students’ evaluations of the concordance program (item 1-10, 16-21, and 24) and the difficulties they encountered when operating concordance and how they solved the difficulties (item 11-15and 22-23).

Studies in EPCA

134

Collocation Selection The target collocations (TCs) taught and measured in the current study were selected

based on three major criteria. First, most of the collocations were mainly from Liveand the previous empirical studies (Lin, 2002; Chan, 2004; Hsiao, 2004; Lin,

2008) which were worthy of learning during the stage of the junior high. Some collocations were from Live and the 98 Basic Competence Test for Junior High School Students (98 ). And some collocations that the researcher self regarded as crucial were also included. Next, the collocations that were not related the theme of the participants’ regular textbooks and beyond 2000 vocabulary ( 2000) regulated by the government were crossed out. Therefore, the participants in the study would learn unknown collocations of known words. Nation (2000; cited from Webb & Kagimoto, 2009) noted that teaching collocations for known words nay be a useful method of strengthening knowledge of meaning for previous taught words, as well as increasing the depth of knowledge for those words. Finally, only the collocations that could be located on the first or second page of the IWiLL concordancer were chosen as TCs. It was because that as far as the limited vocabulary competence and searching skills of the junior high students were concerned, too many searching results may confused the participants and make concordancing learning much more difficult for the junior high students. After sieving some collocations out, there were 49 TCs in total (See Appendix A).

Teaching Material For each lesson, there was a worksheet designed in coordination with the lessons of the

textbook (See Appendix B). Each worksheet contained 5 to 7 TCs and these TCs were present in the form of blank-filling in a story context, so that the students may consider the TCs were related to each other instead of separated and unrelated items. There were nine lessons in the regular textbook, but there were only seven worksheets. Lesson 5 and Lesson 6 were combined into one worksheet (Worksheet 5) because the numbers of TCs were relatively few. Lesson 7 and Lesson 8 were combined into one worksheet (Worksheet 6) due to the same reason. Hence, there were seven worksheets in total. Although Lesson 9 (Worksheet 7) contained four TCs only, it was not combined with other lesson because a free-recall activity was conducted at the end of the last course.

Implementation At the third week, a pretest was conducted to estimate all the participants’ receptive and

productive knowledge of the 49 TCs. After analyzing the pretest, some collocations that only a few students made errors on them were crossed out. After supplementing other collocations, the researcher once again conferred the collocations with the English teacher. A week after the pretest (the 5th week), the researcher introduced the collocation concordance,

Chao, P. Y. Collocation Learning

135

IWiLL, to the students and showed them how to operate the concordancer. Right after the introduction, the collocation instruction began. The collocation instruction lasted for 15 weeks in total. The collocation instruction would be postponed to the following week if that week was the monthly examination week.

Over the 15 weeks, the students were required to use the concordancer to complete the worksheets individually or cooperatively without looking up dictionary or on-line dictionary in order to have deep understanding of the effects of concordancer on collocation learning. Quizzes were conducted at the next day after the instruction in order to observe their learning progress and modify the course if it was necessary. Meanwhile, the worksheets were collected by the teacher at the end of each instruction.

Collocation Instruction The collocation instruction was divided into four stages: warm up, searching, check-out,

and competition activity stage. (1) Warm up stage: At the beginning of each collocation instruction, the research encouraged

the students to free-recall the TCs that had been taught at the last course. Some times the recall activity was conducted in competition form, girls vs. boys. After recalling, the new collocation instruction started. The researcher discussed the syntactic features of the TCs on the worksheets with the students to ensure that the students knew how to operate the concordance to find out the TCs then. After that, the students were encouraged to guess the possible collocational combination of the TCs.

(2) Searching stage: After warming up, the students were required to finish the worksheets individually or cooperatively. The dictionary or on-line dictionary was not allowed for the students to look up the words they were not familiar with. Instead, the students were encouraged to discuss these unfamiliar words with their classmates. In the meantime, the researcher ever now and then joined the discussion among the students, provided suggestions to facilitate the students to search the possible answers, and recorded the wrong collocations that students wrote down on their worksheets. (3) Check-out stage: After ensuring all the students had finished the worksheet, the

researcher randomly picked two students, usually one girl and one boy, to write down their answers on the whiteboard. The researcher then discussed the answers on the board with the whole class. The wrong collocations that were recorded by the research during searching stage were also discussed. For example, the target collocation was light fire ( ); however, some students may thought that catch fire ( ) was the correct answer. The researcher taught the students the difference between the two collocations.

(4) Competition stage: At the end of the course, usually three or four minutes left, the researcher collected the worksheets and conducted a competition activity, usually girls vs.

Studies in EPCA

136

boys. The students were required to free-recall as many as collocations that had been learned today. By which, the researcher was able to briefly evaluate the learning outcome.

Data collection and analysis Data collection lasted for five months. The primary data source for this study included

a pretest, a posttest, and a questionnaire. The data of pretest was collected before the collocation instruction in the 3rd week of the semester. The data of the questionnaire was collected in the 17th week as well to investigate the students’ attitudes toward concordance learning and the course. The data of the posttest was collected in the 20th week to investigate the students’ collocation learning in terms of overall gains and receptive and productive collocation gains. In order to explore the effects of concordance learning on junior high students’ overall collocation learning, the results of the pretest and the posttest test of the two groups were subjected to Independence Sample T-test. Next, as for the students’ learning gains in terms of receptive and productive collocations, the results of the pretest and the posttest test of the experimental group were subjected to Pair Sample T-test. As for the questionnaire, each closed-ended question was counted and every open-ended question was categorized and then counted the frequency in order to understand the difficulties the students encounter during concordance learning and their evaluations of the concordance program.

ResultsThe general performance on collocations

To evaluate the students’ overall collocation gains after receiving treatment, Independence Sample T-test was performed in order to calculate the gains between the pretest and the posttest (See Table 4.1). The data showed that the there was no difference between the pretest scores of the experimental and that of the control group. In contrast, there was a statistically significant difference in the posttest scores at the .05 level (p = .000), with the experimental group manifesting fewer errors in collocations than the control group. The experimental group’s mean score increased from 13.48 (SD = 3.49) to 41.42 (SD = 6.03), which was higher than that of the control group by 27.64. Pair Sample T-test was performed to investigate whether the progress of the experimental group reach statistic significance (See Table 4.2). The result showed that after the concordance instruction, the students’ (the experimental group) overall collocation knowledge increased and reached the statistical significance level (p = .000 < .05). In sum, the experimental group not only significantly outperformed the control group, but also had great performance on collocations. It indicated that concordance learning was able to aid the junior high students of the current study in learning collocations.

Chao, P. Y. Collocation Learning

137

Table 4.1 Comparison of the scores for the two groups on the pretest and posttest

N Mean S.D. t Sig.

PretestExperimental Group 36 13.28 3.94

Control Group 37 15.05 4.51

1.79.078

PosttestExperimental Group 36 41.42 6.03 22.43 .000***

Control Group 37 13.78 4.39

Note. Maximum score = 49.

*** p < .001

Table 4.2 The pretest and posttest scores of the experimental group

N Mean Std.Deviation

t Df Df Sig.

Pretest Scores &Posttest Scores

3613.2841.42

3.946.03

33.74 35 35 .000*

The performance on receptive and productive collocations The scores for the tests measuring receptive (MI) and productive (FI) collocations were

reported in Table 4.3. Pair Sample T-test showed that before treatment, receptive collocations on average (M = 11.36, SD = 2.98) was much higher than productive collocations (M = 2.14, SD = 1.64).

Table 4.3 The receptive and productive collocations of experimental group

N Mean S.D. t Df Sig.FI (Pretest)FI (Posttest)

362.1420.53

1.642.52

37.78 35 .000*

MC (Pretest)MC (Posttest)

3611.3621.06

2.983.70

14.34 35 .000*

Note. FI refers to fill in.MC refers to multiple choice.

While after treatment, receptive collocations on average (M = 21.06, SD = 3.70) was slightly higher than productive collocations (M = 20.53, SD = 2.52). The results indicated that students made progress in both receptive and productive collocations and reached statistic significance (p = .000 < .05). In addition, the gap of receptive collocation of the pretest and posttest was narrowed by 9.17, while the gap of productive collocation was narrowed by 18.92, which indicated that the students made more progress in productive collocations than receptive collocations.

Studies in EPCA

138

Students’ Evaluations Of Ocncordance Learning Learning difficulty

Table 4.4 investigated what difficulties the students encountered when learning collocations via concordancer. 90 percent of the students indicated that vocabulary difficulty was a major obstacle during the process of concordance learning. The students reported that the words appearing in the concordancer were beyond their understanding, and therefore they were not sure whether the collocations they found were exactly they needed. In addition, 83 percent of the students considered they had a hard time in finishing worksheets because of vocabulary difficulty. However, 97 percent of the students thought that they were still capable of completing worksheets.

Table 4.4 The difficulty students encounter when operating the concordancer

Questions Regarding Collocation Concordancer Disagree Slightagree

Agree

11. I do not understand the vocabulary when using the concordancer. 8.3% 58.3% 33.3%12. I have difficulty in searching for the collocations because I do notunderstand the vocabulary.

5.6% 63.9% 30.6%

13. I feel that the vocabulary appears in the concordancer wasdifficult, so I have difficulty in finishing worksheets.

16.7% 61.1% 22.2%

14. Although the vocabulary appears in the concordancer was difficult,I still can finish worksheets.

2.8% 47.2% 50%

15. I do not think the vocabulary appears in the concordancer wasdifficult, and I can finish worksheets.

25% 61.1% 13.9%

Open ended Question Regarding the Other Difficulty22. 47 percent of the students considered that the vocabulary and the example sentences are

difficult to comprehend23 Although the students have difficulty in understanding the words and sentences, they expressed

that they would discuss the possible answer with peers (64 %) or find other sentences whichwere more comprehensible (36%), so that they could find out the answer.

The results seemed to be contradictory. Students were overwhelmed by difficult language data, but they could cope with the difficulty and be able to finish the worksheets. Some students further expressed that there were many collocations to choose, and they did not know whether the collocations they got were exactly what they need. They explained that looking for peer supports was the major solution. During discussion, the students cooperatively discussed and compared the possible answers. They also would look for other sentences which were easier to understand, and then inferred the most possible answer.

Chao, P. Y. Collocation Learning

139

Students’ evaluations of the concordance program Table 4.5 indicated that approximately 50 percent of the subjects considered that using the

concordancer to learn collocations was interesting. They also agreed that the layout of the concordancer could help them search for the collocations they needed (50 %). Besides, more than half of the students (61 %) suggested that they would make use of the concordancer for their future collocation learning (item 1, 7, and 8). The students’ responses to the open-ended questions indicated the reasons to the results. 36 percent of the students expressed that they would like to have collocation instruction in a computer lab because it was fun to learn in the computer lab. Moreover, they felt less learning pressure when they are in the computer lab. The findings reflected a positive attitude towards the concordancer (item 20). However, 22 percent of the students considered that utilizing concordancer to learn collocations was slight a waste of time, and 11 percent of the students considered the concordancer was not easy to use because of hardware operation (item 9 and 10).

Table 4.5 Students’ evaluations of the concordance program

Questions Regarding Collocation Concordancer Disagree Slight agree Agree

1. After using IWiLL, I think it is interesting to learncollocations.

2.8% 41.7% 55.6%

3. When I have problem, IWiLL can help me find thecollocation I want.

0% 30.6% 69.4%

7. I think that the design of the concordancer can help mesearch for the collocation I need.

0% 50% 50%

8. I would like to use IWiLL to learn collocations in the future. 0% 38.9% 61.1%9. I feel utilizing the concordancer to search for collocations isa waste of time.

77.8% 22% 0%

10. I feel the concordancer is not easy to use. 55.6% 33.1% 11.1%19. I would to use dictionary to look up the words when

operating the concordancer.5.6% 30.6% 63.9%

Open ended Questions Regarding the concordance program20. When asking if the students liked to go to the computer lab to learn collocations, the students (36 %)

expressed that “No one likes to learn in classroom. It is more interesting and less pressured to learnin the computer lab”

24. 43 percent of the students were satisfied with the program, while 57 percent of the students madesome comments on it. They suggested using dictionary to assist them in comprehending theconcordance sentences (63%).

When asked to comment on the program in the open-ended questions, over 50 percent of the students considered some improvement needed to be made. Most of them suggested using dictionary when operating the concordancer (63 %) so that they could comprehend more sentences. They though it would help them be sure about the collocations they found was the one they needed.

Studies in EPCA

140

The influence on the students’ learning Table 4.6 showed the influence of the concordance program on the students’ learning.

The students’ responses to their collocation learning were generally positive (91%). Besides, 86 percent of students considered the concordance program was also beneficial in reviewing the vocabulary they had learned, followed by expanding their vocabulary size (64%), having better performance on quiz and the posttest (approximate 50 %), and reinforcing their learning (17%).

Table 4.6 The influence on the students’ learning

Questions Regarding the influence on the students’ learning Disagree

Slight agree Agree

2. IWiLL can help me learn collocations 0% 8.3% 91.7%3. When I have problem, IWiLL can help me find the collocation Iwant.

0% 30.6% 69.4%

4. IWiLL can help me have better performance on the quiz the nextday.

2.8% 41.7% 55.6%

5. IWiLL can help me have better performance on the posttest. 0% 50% 50%6. I feel using IWiLL can help me review the vocabulary I had learnedbefore.

0% 13.9% 86.1%

16. I like the teaching and learning way. 0% 13.9% 86.1%17. I like the content and design of the worksheets. 0% 50% 50%18. The way the course is conducted can help me learn more words. 2.8% 13.9% 83.3%Open ended Question Regarding the influence on the students’ learning

21. Over half of the students (64%) expressed the concordance program was effective for their learningbecause it taught them the concept of collocations. They realized that directly translating Chinese intoEnglish is wrong. In addition, they learned many new words while processing the concordancersentences (64%).Moreover, they reported that they could remember and recall the collocations theyhad looked up (17%).

It was interesting to note that there were a few students (2.8%) considered that the concordancer was not able to assist them in having better performance on the quiz, but it was capable of helping them have better performance on the posttest (Item 3-6). The testing type may explain the circumstance. The testing type of the quiz was fill-in; therefore, the students had difficulty filling in correct answers. While multiple-choice were one of the testing types in the posttests, and hence, it may be easier for the students and gained higher scores.As for the design of the course, over 80 percent of students were satisfied with the design of teaching/learning activity and agreed that the teaching/learning way and activities were capable of assisting them in learning collocations and new words. They expressed that group competition motivated them to work much harder on their learning. Moreover, 50 percent of the students liked the design of the worksheets.

Chao, P. Y. Collocation Learning

141

Discussion Effects of concordance in collocation learning

Numerous results emerged from the comparison between the pretest and the posttest. Because of lacking of enough statistic data, the following discussion focused on findings that related specifically to overall collocation gains and receptive and productive collocation gains. In terms of overall collocation gains, the results of the study indicated that the junior high students of the current study received large gains in collocations and made significant improvement on overall collocations learning. The findings were consistent with previous studies (Sun & Wang, 2003; Chan & Liou, 2005, Pu, 2009) which indicated that concordancing learning was effective method for collocation learning of EFL students.

As for receptive and productive collocation gains, mean scores on the receptive collocations increased from 11.36 on the pretest to 21.06 on the posttest. The productive collocations had similar gains, scoring 2.14 on the pretest and 20.53 on the posttest. It indicated that the students made progress in both receptive and productive collocations and reached statistical significance after receiving collocation instruction. The result was in line with Webb and Kagimoto’s (2009) and Kuau’s (2008) studies where EFL students received large gains in both receptive and productive collocations after receiving collocation instruction. Although the mean score on the productive collocations is slightly lower than that on the receptive collocations, the finding is supported by earlier researcher which has reported that receptive collections are easier and learn and gain than productive collocations (Shei & Pain, 2000; Yoon & Hirvela, 2004; Wang, 2006; Yeh, Liou, & Li, 2007). In addition, the finding also enhanced the previous studies (Sun & Wang, 2003; Chan & Liou, 2005, Pu, 2009) by providing a much more detailed examination of collocation performance via concordancer. These studies did not compare the scores on receptive and productive and the progress of receptive and productive collocations was thus unknown. In the current study, the gap of receptive collocations between the pretest and posttest was narrowed by 9.17, while the gap of productive collocations was narrowed by 18.92. It could be inferred that the junior high students of the current study made more improvement in productive collocations than receptive collocations via concordancing learning.

In sum, the students made significant improvement in both overall collocations gains and receptive and productive collocations gains, especially in productive collocations. A partial explanation for this may lied in first, the designing layout of the concordancer and the restrictions set on the target collocations (all of the target collocations were all within the range of vocabulary 2000 regulated by the Educations department and could be found at the first two pages) were effective in helping the junior high students looking for collocations, and therefore, they were not overwhelmed by the raw materials of the concordance. Furthermore, Concordancing learning is more likely to encourage inductive learning and increase cognitive work during the learning process; therefore it is able to lead to greater

Studies in EPCA

142

learning gains (Cobb, 1997; Sun & Wang, 2003; Chan & Liou, 2005; Gilmore, 2008) and may explain the significant progress made in the current study.

Learners’ attitudes toward concordancing learning

Although concordance learning was proven effective for collocation learning of the junior high students, concordance learning was not without its problem. Almost all of the students agreed that vocabulary difficulty was the main obstacle to process language data, and therefore, they were not sure whether the collocations they found were correct. The finding was in accord with Chan’s (2004) study, where the students expressed that they often didn’t know how to select the useful information because of there was a huge pool of language data in the corpus. On-line corpus was difficult for beginning level learners to understand because the authentic language data retrieved from current on-line corpus, newspapers, or novel were beyond their ability (Chujo et al., 2005; Tu, 2006). However, it did not mean that concordance learning was unsuitable for the junior high students. The students of the current study expressed that by their joint efforts they overcome the difficulty. The students cooperatively discussed the possible answers, processed the language data which were more comprehensible, and then inferred the most possible answer. It indicated that looking for peer support was a crucial factor to conduct concordance learning in junior high, and that such learning was also effective on promoting inductive learning. The findings are in line with previous researches (Ma, 1993; Lee & Liou, 2003) which claim that concordance learning could help develop inductive learning and independent learning. The students also suggested looking up dictionary during concordance learning or modifying concordance sentences, for example, using simpler and less complex sentences, or providing bilingual equivalence, so that they were able to take advantage of the authentic language data and benefit more from concordance learning.

As for the effects of concordancing learning on collocations, the students’ responses were generally positive. Besides its effects on collocations, students mentioned that they also learned many new words and reviewed the words they had learned when processing the language data. The result is in complete agreement with Cobb’s (1997, 1999) studies where concordancing learning is a valid way for the expansion of vocabulary size and the enhancement of vocabulary learning. In addition, collocation awareness was raised after receiving treatment. The students expressed that words were just separated words instead of a group of meaningful multi-word combination. However, after treatment, they learned that these separated words could be combined into collocations and that direct translating Chinese into English collocations was wrong. The result echoes Tsai’s (2007) finding that concordancing learning or data-driven learning (DDL) is capable of enhancing learners’ language awareness. Finally, the students stated that operating the concordancer to look up collocations made a deep impression on their learning, which was remarkably consistent with

Chao, P. Y. Collocation Learning

143

these researchers (Gilmore, 2008) that increased cognitive work during the learning process is able to lead to greater learning gains and longer retention.

On the whole, the students in the current study held positive attitudes toward concordancer mainly because they considered that it was more fun and interesting to learn English in a computer lab. Moreover, more than half of the students presented that they would make use of the concordancer in their future learning. Concordancing learning is conducted in a computer lab instead of in a classroom, where creates interesting and relaxed atmosphere and makes the students willing to devote themselves to learning. As Isel (1991, cited from Ma, 1993) pointed out that students found the concordance program a fascinating piece of software and appreciated its potential for language learning. In sum, the students were satisfied with concordancing learning in the perspective of learning collocations, expanding their vocabulary size, reviewing the taught words, raising collocation awareness, and enhancing and reinforcing their learning.

Conclusion

The main purpose of the study is to investigate the effectiveness of collocation learning of EFL junior high students via an on-line concordancer. Thirty-six second-year junior high students participated in fifteen week long concordance instruction and completed seven collocation units. The results indicated that even junior high students, who are relatively lower proficient students than senior high and college students, can benefit from concordance learning with careful course design and appropriate guide. Overall, the students in the current study consider concordance learning positively. Besides the effects on learning collocations and reviewing the words they had learned, students are satisfied with it because the interesting learning atmosphere motivated them to work harder. In addition, operating the concordancer aids the students in enhancing and reinforcing their learning. Furthermore, cooperating with peers played a vital role in concordance learning. The vocabulary appeared in the concordancer was difficult to comprehend for the junior high students, but they expressed that by working with peers, they are able to overcome the problem. Overall, the students’ attitudes tended to be more positive than negative. The findings of this study are restricted to the junior high students’ collocation performance, which still leave the question about transferring receptive vocabulary to productive one such as writing and speaking unanswered. Future research is therefore necessary to examine the interaction between collocation learning and productive language performance.

Reference Benson, M., Beson, E., & Ilson, R. (1997). The BBI dictionary of English combinations. Amsterdam:

John Benjamins. Chan, T. P. (2004). Effects of CALL approaches on EFL college students’ learning of Verb-Noun

collocations. MA Thesis, National Tsing Hua University.

Studies in EPCA

144

Chan, T. P. & Liou, H. C. (2005). Effects of web-based concordancing instruction on EFL students’ learning of verb-noun collocations. Computer assisted language learning, 18 (3), 231-250.

Chang, Y. C., Chang, J. S., Chen, H. J., & Liou, H. C. (2008). An automatic collocation writing assistant for Taiwanese EFL learners: A case of corpus-based NLP technology. Computer assisted language learning, 21 (3), 283-299.

Charles, M. (2007). Reconciling top-down and bottom-up approaches to graduate writing: Using a corpus to teach rhetorical functions. Journal of English for Academic Purpose, 6, 289-302.

Chujo, K., Utiyama, M. & Nishigaki, C. (2005). A Japanese-English Parallel Corpus and CALL: A Powerful tool for vocabulary learning. Retrieved from http://www2.nict.go.jp/x/x161/en/members/mutiyama/pdf/95Chujo.pdf

Cobb, T. (1997). Is there any measurable learning from hands-on concordance? System, 25 (3), 301-315.

Cobb, T. (1999). Breadth and depth of lexical acquisition with hands-on concordancing. ComputerAssisted Language Learning, 12 (4), 15-31.

Gilmore, A. (2008). Using online corpora to develop students' writing skills. ELT Journal, 63(4), 363-372.

Hsiao, H. M. (2004). Trust me, you Really can Make it?--A Study on High School Students’ Learning Collocations. MA Thesis, Providence University.

Hsu, J. Y. (2007). Lexical collocations and their relation to the online writing of Taiwanese College English majors and non-English majors. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 4(2),192-209.

Jing, M. (2008). Erroneous collocations caused by language transfer in Chinese EFL writing, US-China Foreign Language, 6 (9). Retrieved fromhttp://www.linguist.org.cn/doc/uc200809/uc20080913.pdf

Kita, K. & Ogata, H. (1997). Collocations in language learning: Corpus-based automatic compilation of collocations and bilingual collocation concordance. Computer assisted language learning, 10 (3), 229-238.

Kuan, C. Y. (2008). Effects of collocation instruction on Taiwanese junior high school Students’ English collocational competence. MA Thesis, National Changhua University.

Lee, C. H. & Liou, H. C. (2003). A study of using web concordancing for English vocabulary learning in a Taiwanese high school context. English Teaching & Learning, 27 (3), 35-56.

Lewis, M. (2001). Teaching collocation. Further development in the lexical approach. London: Language Teaching Publications.

Lee, S. H. & Muncie, J. (2006). From receptive to productive: Improving ESL learners’ use of vocabulary in a post reading composition task. TESOL Quarterly***

Lin, Y. P. (2007). The effects of collocation Instruction on the Development of Reading Proficiency of Vocational High School Students in Taiwan. MA Thesis, National Kaohsiung Normal University.

Lin, C. Y. (2008). An analysis of collocation instruction which integrates the corpora and the junior high school English textbooks-the case of verb-noun collocation. MA Thesis, Ming Chuan University.

Liou, J. P. (2001). . ,.

Liu, L. E. (2002). A corpus-based lexical semantic investigation of verb-noun miscollocations in Taiwan learners’ English. Mater’s thesis, Tamkang University.

Ma, BCK. (1993). Small-corpora Concordancing in ESL Teaching and Learning. Hongkong Papers in

Chao, P. Y. Collocation Learning

145

Linguistics and Language Teaching, 16. Retrieved from http://sunzil.lib.hku.hk/hkjo/view/4/400070.pdf

May, F. (2009). An exploratory study of collocational use by EFL students- A task based approach.System, 37(1), 110-123.

Nesselhaulf, N. & Tschichold, C. (2002). Collocations in CALL: An investigation of vocabulary-building software for EFL. Computer assisted language learning, 15 (3), 251-279.

Nesselhaulf, N. (2003). The use of collocations by advanced learners of English and some implications for teaching. Applied linguistics, 23, 223-242.

Pu, C. H. (2009). The effects of collocation instruction on Taiwanese junior high students'' vocabulary learning. Unpublished master’s thesis. Tamkang University.

Schmitt, N. & McCarthy, M. (1997). Vocabulary: Description, acquisition, and pedagogy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Shei, C.-C. & Pain, H. (2000). An ESL writer’s collocational aid. Computer assisted language learning, 13 (2), 167-182.

Stuart, W. (2005) Receptive and productive vocabulary learning. The effects of reading and writing on word knowledge. SSLA, 27/1, 33-52.

Sun, Y. C. & Wang, L. Y. (2003). Concordances in EFL classroom: Cognitive approaches and collocation difficulty. Computer assisted language learning, 16 (1), 83-94.

Tsai, S. L. (2007). The Effects of Formulaic Sequences Instruction on Vocational High School Students' Listening and Reading Comprehension. MA thesis, National Taiwan Normal University.

Todd, R. W. (2001). Induction from self-selected concordances and self-correction. System, 29,91-102.

Tseng, F. P. (2002). A study of the effects of collocation instruction on the collocational competence of senior high School students in Taiwan. MA thesis, National Taiwan Normal University.

Tu, W. J. (2006). Discussing the use of concordance programs in the EFL classroom. , 1,113-135.

Wang, H. C. (2006). The relationship between EFL learners’ depth of vocabulary knowledge and oral collocational errors. MA thesis, National Kaohsiung Normal University.

Wang, L. Y. (2002). Effects of inductive and deductive approach on EFL learning collocation patterns by using concordancers. MA thesis, National Yunlin University of Science & Technology.

Wu, W. S. (1996). Lexical collocations: one way to make passive vocabulary active. Proceedings fromThe Eleventh Conference on English Teaching and Learning in the Republic of China, 461-480. Taipei: Crane Publishing Company.

Yeh, Y., Liou, H. C. & Li, Y. H. (2007). Online synonym materials and concordancing for EFL college writing. Computer assisted language learning, 20 (2), 131-152.

Wei, Y. (1999). Teaching collocations for productive vocabulary development. (Report No. FL 026913). Development Skills Department, Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED457690).

Yoon, H. (2005). An investigation of students’ experiences with corpus technology in second language academic writing. The Ohio State University, USA.

Yoon, H. & Hirvela, A. (2004). ESL student attitudes toward corpus use in L2 writing. Journal of second language writing, 13, 257-283.

Studies in EPCA

146

Appendix A The resources of the target collocations

Lesson Lexical collocation Resource1 Weather is fine/good Hsiao (2004)

Sea is calm LiveVast/great ocean LiveLoud noise Live ; Hsiao (2004)Tell a joke Lin (2008)Quiet beach Live

L2 Set alarm clock Lin (2002); Chan (2004)Ring the doorbell Lin (2002); Chan (2004)Lift weights Live ; LiveLight fire Lin (2002); Chan (2004)Answer / pick up the phone Lin (2002)Keep a diary Lin (2002); Chan (2004)Raise a question Live

L3 Heavy drinker Lin (2002);Heavy smoker Lin (2002);Practice medicine Lin (2002); Chan (2004)skilled worker Hsiao (2004)unskilled worker Hsiao (2004)Look at the moon LiveWatch the sunset Live

L4 Sun is bright 98Hang the clothes LiveWipe the sweat Designed by the researcherRun/fill a bath Lin(2008)Take an exam Lin(2002)

Keep a pet Lin (2002); Chan (2004)Lose weight Lin(2002)

L5. Catch a fish Lin (2008)Sail a boat Designed by the researcherRun a train Designed by the researcherMilk the cow Lin(2002)

L6. Heavy traffic Hsiao (2004)The road is narrow Hsiao (2004) ; LiveThe street is empty LiveNews travel fast. Hsiao (2004) ; LiveBack soon Hsiao (2004) ;Live

L7 Strong tea Hsiao (2004) ; Lin (2002)Make some tea Chan (2004)Thick jacket Hsiao (2004) ;LiveHeavy jacket Hsiao (2004) ;Live

L8 So delicious LiveEat quickly Hsiao (2004) ; LiveBake bread Hsiao (2004)Size is large Hsiao (2004) ; LiveA nice tea Designed by the researcher

L9 Wind is strong Hsiao (2004)heavy rain Hsiao (2004)Tall buildings Hsiao (2004); LiveNative trees Hsiao (2004)

Chao, P. Y. Collocation Learning

147

Appendix B Sample worksheet

L1: I took a trip to Hualien ,

Task: !!IWiLL

The weather was 1.___________, ( The weather was __________) so we decided to take a trip to Hualien. We went to the famous first. The sea there is very beautiful. Above the

2.___________sea, a couple of sea gulls were flying freely in the sky. Looking at the 3.________ocean, I felt it was great to be here. When we stood on the quiet beach, we heard a 4.__________noise from the sky. Suddenly, the sky turned into purple and the sea became rough (

). We decided to go back to the hotel and go out when the weather was better. In the hotel

room, we watched TV, 5. ________ jokes, and played cards. It was such an interesting day.

Clue: ?

: :

: ~ :

:

Extra: ? ? IWill!

_________beach

Studies in EPCA

148

Appendix C Test Sheet A : : :

I.

1. ( )TomTom likes to ___________the boat but not like to just sit on it and to admire ( ) the view. (A) drive (B) sail (C) ride (D) take

2. ( ) I will be back __________. (A) quick (B) fast (C) hurry (D) soon

3. ( ) The wind is_________. (A) huge (B) big (C) strong (D) heavy

4. ( ) , Every time we go to the farm, we always feed the rabbit and ______the cow.

(A) squeeze (B) make (C) milk (D) breed 5. ( )

Eat ____________. I need to clean the table. (A) quickly (B) fast (C) hurry (D) soon

6. ( ) There is no one in this town. The street is so quiet and ____. (A) cold (B) quiet (C) empty (D) calm

7. ( ) , During the typhoon, many _________buildings collapsed( ).

(A) tall (B) large (C) high (D) great 8. ( )

The road is __________. Drive slowly! (A) tiny (B) small (C) narrow (D) wide 9. ( ) There was _________rain yesterday.

(A) big (B) heavy (C) large (D) strong 10. ( )

I don’t like __________coat. (A) heavy (B) weighty (C) thick (D) fat

11. ( ) This is a ________cup of tea. (A) good (B) well (C) nice (D) right

12. ( ) The size of the clothes is _________.

(A) big (B) huge (C) large (D) great 13. ( )

Many __________trees were washed away( ) by the floods. (A) old (B) aged (C) native (D) grow

Chao, P. Y. Collocation Learning

149

14. ( ) It is reported that doing chores can help ___________weight.

(A) cut (B) shorten (C) lower (D) lose 15. ( )

Mom likes to have __________tea. (A) strong (B) heavy (C) thick (D) light

16. ( ) His dream is to ________a train to travel all over the world someday. (A) run (B) take (C) ride (D) sail

17. ( ) The cake is ___________ delicious.

(A) very (B) so (C) such (D) well 18. ( )

News travels _________ these days. (A)quickly (B) fast (C) hurry (D) soon

19. ( )Mom Mom _________ bread for me. (A) makes (B) grills (C) bakes (D) roasts

20. ( ) , It is getting cold. You should put on a _________jacket.

(A) weighty (B) heavy (C) thick (D) strong 21. ( )Mary

Mary often___________ guests some tea. (A) cooks (B) brings (C) makes (D) does

22. ( )I often ______a fish with my father on Sundays. (A) go (B) take (C) catch (D) net

23. ( ) On a day of ___________traffic, it takes more than( ) an hour to drive there. (A) heavy (B) bad (C) slow (D) great

II.1.

You usually like to________some weights. 2.

The weather is ___________. 3.

It is perfect( ) to __________the clothes. 4.

People like to _____________ the moon on the Moon Festival. 5.

You usually___________a diary to write down what happened today.

Studies in EPCA

150

6.The sun is _____________ today.

7.You ________a question.

8.We need a(n) ______________ worker to undergo( ) the surgery( ).

9.Above the ___________sea, a couple of sea gulls are flying freely in the sky.

10. MikSomeone was _____________the doorbell. It’s Mike.

11.He is such a(n) ______________ smoker.

12. Tom 6Tom usually_______________ his alarm clock for six o’clock.

13.You like to put the fireworks in the cans, ______________fire, and then run to the side to enjoy the display.

14.When we stood on the ___________beach, we heard a(n)__________noise from the sky.

15. 3He needs to drink three bottles of wine a day. He is such a(n)__________ drinker.

16.I have to _____________a math exam tomorrow.

17.She ____________medicine no longer.

18.I want to ___________a snake as my pet.

19. MikeMike’s cell phone rang and he ___________the phone.

20. , ,We went for long walks, ate meals( ), and ______________the sunset yesterday.

21.Looking at the ____________ocean, I feel it is great to be in Hualien( ).

22. We often sit on the bed and _____________jokes. 23. ,

I am a _____________ worker here, so I don’t know if it is appropriate( ) to deal with( )the matter.

24. I often _____________the sweat from my forehead( ) with a wiper( ).25. Mom usually ______________a bath at 8 o’clock in the evening.

Chao, P. Y. Collocation Learning

151

Appendix D Test Sheet B : : :

I.

1.This is a _____________cup of tea.

2.I will be back _____________.

3. TomTom likes to _____________the boat but not like to just sit on it and to admire ( ) the view.

4. ,Every time we go to the farm, we always feed the rabbit and ____________the cow.

5.On a day of ___________traffic, it takes more than( ) an hour to drive there.

6.Eat ____________. I need to clean the table.

7.Thre is no one in this town. The street is so quiet and __________.

8.Mom likes to have _____________tea.

9.There was _____________rain yesterday.

10.The road is _____________. Drive slowly!

11. MaryMary often______________ guests some tea.

12. ,It is getting cold. You should put on a ______________jacket.

13.I often________________a fish with my father on Sundays.

14.The size of the clothes is _____________.

15.Many ______________trees were washed away by the floods.

16.News travels _____________ these days

17. ,During the typhoon, many _____________buildings collapsed( ).

18.His dream is to ____________a train to travel all over the world someday.

19.The cake is _______________ delicious.

20.It is reported that doing chores can help _______________weight.

Studies in EPCA

152

21. Mom Mom often _____________ bread for me.

22.The wind is_____________.

23.I don’t like ______________coat.

II.

1. ( ) 3 He needs to drink three bottles of win a day. He is such a(n)_____ drinker. (A) ghost (B) big (C) heavy ( D) strong 2. ( ) The sun is _____ today. (A) big (B) bright (C) sunny (D) warm 3. ( )

She _____medicine no longer. (A) walks (B) takes (C) practices (D) does 4. ( ) ,

I am a(n) ______ worker here, so I don’t know if it is appropriate() to deal with( ) the matter.

(A) new (B) unknown (C) bad (D) unskilled 5. ( )

Looking at the ______ocean, I feel it is great to be in Hualien( ). (A) big (B) large (C) great (D) huge

6. ( ) You usually like to_____some weights. (A) raise (B) do (C) lift (D) carry 7. ( )

The weather is ______. (A)fine (B) nice (C) well (D) better

8. ( ) Mom usually ______a bath at 8 o’clock in the evening. (A) wash (B) take (C) run (D) put 9. ( ) I want to ______a snake as my pet. (A) raise (B) make (C) keep (D) own 10. ( )

Above the ______sea, a couple of sea gulls are flying freely in the sky. (A) silent (B) calm (C) quiet (D) still

11. ( ) Tom 6 Tom usually______ his alarm clock for six o’clock. (A) puts (B) sets (C) takes (D) points

Chao, P. Y. Collocation Learning

153

12. ( ) He is such a(n) _______ smoker.

(A) old (B) heavy (C) big (D) strong 13. ( ) , , We went for long walks and ate meals( ) and _________the sunset yesterday. (A) looked at (B) saw (C) watched (D) looked after 14. ( ) Mik

Someone was ______the doorbell. It’s Mike. (A) pressing (B) ringing (C) using (D) pushing

15. ( )Mike Mike’s cell phone rang and he _______the phone. (A) picked (B) answered (C) took (D) called 16. ( ) You usually_______a diary to write down what happened today. (A) make (B) write (C) keep (D) do 17. ( ) People like to ________ the moon on the Moon Festival. (A) look at (B) see (C) watch (D) look after 18. ( )

It is perfect( ) to ______the clothes. (A) sun (B) dry (C) hang ( D) iron

19. ( ) I often ______the sweat from my forehead( ) with a wiper( ). (A) wipe (B) mop (C) cover (D) wash

20. ( ) ( ) When we stood on the ___(1)___beach, we heard a __(2)___noise from the sky.

(1) (A)silent (B) calm (C) quiet (D) still (2) (A)huge (B)loud (C)large (D)big

21. ( ) You ______a question. (A) bring (B) raise (C) carry (D) lift

22. ( ) I have to ______a math exam tomorrow. (A) test (B) pass (C) take (D) do 23. ( )

You like to put the fireworks in the cans, _____fire, and then run to the side to enjoy the display. (A) catch (B) put (C) light (D) set

24. ( ) We need a(n) _______ worker to undergo( ) the surgery( ). (A) skilled (B) old (C) known (D) good 25. ( ) We often sit on the bed and _______jokes. (A)tell (B)speak (C)say (D) share

Studies in EPCA

154

Appendix E Questions of Questionnaire 1. IWiLL , ………..… ( ) ( ) ( ) 2. IWiLL …………………….......( ) ( ) ( ) 3. , IWiLL ……..( ) ( ) ( ) 4. IWiLL ………………...( ) ( ) ( ) 5. IWiLL ………...( ) ( ) ( ) 6. IWiLL

…………………………………...…… ( ) ( ) ( ) 7. , IWiLL …….…..………... ( ) ( ) ( ) 8. IWiLL ……( ) ( ) ( ) 9. IWiLL .………….……………( ) ( ) ( ) 10. IWiLL

…………………………………………………........( ) ( ) ( ) 11. IWiLL

……………..……………………………………....( ) ( ) ( ) 12. IWiLL

…………………………………………………....( ) ( ) ( ) 13. IWiLL .( ) ( ) ( ) 14. IWiLL …………….………...( ) ( ) ( ) 15. IWiLL ….……….…………....( ) ( ) ( ) 16. IWiLL ……………………….……….….… ( ) ( ) ( ) 17. . …………………….……….……( ) ( ) ( ) 18. ……………( ) ( ) ( ) 19. , ………...( ) ( ) ( ) 20. …………………………………....( ) ( ) ( )

Open Question: 2 321. ?22. IWiLL ? ?23. IWiLL ?24. IWiLL ?25. ? ?

155

The Effect of Different Forms of Online Dictionary on the Vocabulary Acquisition of Intermediate English as a Second Language (ESL) Learners

Wei-Yuan Lu De Lin Institute of Technology

stevenluboss@yahoo.com

AbstractSeveral studies investigated vocabulary retention regarding electronic dictionaries

and paper dictionaries in the lexicography and CALL fields. This research study will compare the monolingual and bilingual online dictionary to find out which is more suitable for intermediate ESL learners. Also, the study will analyze for which one is more helpful for L2 learners to retain new vocabulary words in the target language. Independent T-test was used in data analysis. This study found the difference in terms of vocabulary acquisition among intermediate Chinese ESL learners who use different forms of online dictionaries.

Keywords: CALL (computer assisted language learning), Vocabulary Acquisition, ESL, online dictionary

Introduction Statement of the Problem

Computer technology plays a vital role in today’s society. We utilize computer technology to carry out numerous things that humans cannot do independently. People make use of innovative computer technology not only for dealing with everyday life, but also for facilitating education, including learning English vocabulary.

Undoubtedly, after computer technologies were invented, human actions have also changed. As computers have become widely used, Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) has also been shown to be an effective tool (Klassen & Milton, 1999). We certainly can apply this powerful ability, such as computer technology, to make use of instruction in acquiring the vocabulary for the ESL (English as a Second Language) students. An online dictionary is one of CAI programs that can facilitate ESL learners to acquire vocabulary words in target language. An online dictionary is a useful tool and can easily be accessed when the computer connects to internet. The online dictionary is useful to handle the volume of vocabulary processing because the constraints of online dictionary are not as much as traditional paper dictionary (Horst, Cobb, & Nicolae, 2005). Effective second language vocabulary acquisition is very important for second language (L2) learners (Hunt & Beglar, 2005).

In Taiwan society, most L2 learners fall in the range of beginning and intermediate levels. According to the statistics from International English Language Testing System

Studies in EPCA

156

(IELTS), Taiwan is performing badly on the recent report of 2007. In this report, the average scores of people taking the IELTS language –proficiency test in Taiwan ranked at 17th in total out of 20 Asian countries. The statistical results show that most of L2 learners are intermediates in Taiwan. Therefore, increasing the English proficiency is a tendency and need in Taiwan society in order to live in this globalizing world. Choosing the most appropriate dictionary for L2 students is an important issue. The problem is: Between the monolingual and bilingual online dictionary, which will be more suitable for intermediate ESL learners? Which one can be more helpful for L2 learners to acquire vocabulary words in target language?

Background and Significance Some studies concluded that L2 learners often decide not to use the dictionary when

confronting unknown words in the text (Hulstijn, 1993). One of the reasons is that students will spend much time on finding the words through the dictionary. This behavior will influence the coherent of thought and distract the learners’ language process. The online dictionary can provide the solution to this problem because the result of checking the vocabulary words is instant. L2 learners can pick up the meaning very fast by consulting online dictionaries. The ease and speed of using online dictionaries will encourage L2 learners, and in turn will increase the possibility of acquiring the looked up words (Laufer & Hill, 2000).

In addition, this study will suggest the best format of dictionary between English-to-Chinese (Bilingual) vs. English-to- English (Monolingual) online dictionaries in the explicit approach paradigm. The results will contribute to the English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers in selecting appropriate dictionaries for their students. L2 learners can have the insight of choosing a suitable dictionary format for themselves.

Research Question What is the effect of using English-to- English (Monolingual) vs. English-to-Chinese

(Bilingual) online dictionaries on the vocabulary acquisition performance of English intermediate Chinese ESL learners?

Hypothesis Ho 1: There is no significant difference in the vocabulary acquisition by using

English-to- English (Monolingual) vs. English-to-Chinese (Bilingual) online dictionaries among intermediate Chinese ESL learners in Miami Chinese Community.

Definition of Terms Intermediate English as a Second Language (ESL) Learners – students who learn

Lu, W. Y. Online Dictionary on Vocabulary Acquisition

157

English as a second language. They receive instruction in the target language and live in the society in which English is the primary language. The instructors will use English-only instruction with ESL learners. Intermediate refers to the learners’ level of English proficiency. The intermediate ESL learners in this study are the students who do not pursue any degree in the U.S. Also, they all have bachelor’s degrees in either China or Taiwan. The participants received similar hours of English instruction in their previous education.

Monolingual Online Dictionary – one form of the dictionaries which use the same language to explain vocabulary entries. In this study, monolingual dictionary means specifically the English-to-English dictionary.

Bilingual Online Dictionary – one form of dictionaries which use learners’ first language to explain the vocabulary entries. In this study, bilingual dictionary means specifically the English-to-Chinese dictionary.

Vocabulary Acquisition – the degree to which learners can acquire vocabulary after learning vocabulary.

Assumptions This study assumes that the quality and accuracy of the monolingual and bilingual

online dictionaries that were used in the intervention are similar. It also assumes that all the students who participated in the study felt comfortable using online dictionaries and that their level of English proficiency is similar. It is assumed that participants did their best when doing the TOEFL and they used the assigned form of dictionary, either monolingual or bilingual dictionary, to check meaning when they confronted unknown vocabulary words during the two-week intervention.

Limitations In this study, the participants were not randomly selected to neither the experimental

nor the control group. The researcher randomly assigned participants to either experimental or control group. It is very difficult to have the students who are randomly selected to participate in the study because some of them may not be willing to participate in the study. Therefore, the researcher could only do randomly assign participants. Hence, randomization is the limitation of this study.

Review of the Literature A student’s vocabulary is a key predictor of his or her ability to understand a wide

range of texts (Wood, 2001). Therefore, understanding vocabulary is significant for students to attain language proficiency. Vocabulary learning is considered a vital element in CAI programs, and vocabulary learning could be easily designed via CAI programs (Ma & Kelly, 2006). It is true that computers can easily store the information of vocabulary words online

Studies in EPCA

158

for students to look up new vocabulary. Hence, computer-assisted environments will give students more opportunities and exposure to L2 vocabulary.

Currently, many new programs in the process of being developed which will utilize the newest technology, such as the PDA, Bluetooth, World Wide Web, and others to provide CAI environments for vocabulary learning. According to Pennington (1999), many dictionaries publisher currently develop various online dictionaries. Computer technology utilizes internet connection to help learners to enlarge their exposure to L2 vocabulary. The approach to vocabulary learning can be generally categorized under two broad paradigms: the implicit and the explicit learning paradigms.

Implicit and Explicit Vocabulary Learning Paradigms Implicit learning is associated with natural, effortless and meaning-focused learning.

Students could acquire vocabulary through exercises and practice without knowing the exact meaning of the vocabulary. That is to say students will learn during exercises and practice (Ma & Kelly, 2006). Such practices include teaching students how to figure out words in context and providing multiple exposures to new words in a variety of contexts (Wood, 2001).

In the implicit aspect, Smidt and Hegelheimer (2004) conducted a study and assumed that students can acquire incidental vocabulary efficiently through CAI. There are 24 non-native speakers of English. They participated in the study and are from China, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Korea, Colombia, Japan, and Marshall Islands. The researchers found that the incidental vocabulary activity does facilitate vocabulary learning implicitly, but it is not effective for L2 learners. They found most of the L2 learners and especially beginning or intermediate learners would use bilingual dictionaries to aid them in understanding vocabulary in order to comprehend the meaning in target language.Explicit learning means that learning requires more deliberate mental effort than simply engaging in meaning focused activities. Students will understand the meaning of the vocabulary directly by explanation. Learners also need to use memorization techniques to store the vocabulary in long term memory.

The vocabulary will be a facilitating tool for L2 learners in the explicit instruction paradigm (Ma & Kelly, 2006).In the explicit aspect, Wood (2001) asserted that the explicit approach is more consistent with the developmental levels of the intended audience than is the implicit approach. The explicit way of teaching can help students understand the meaning of vocabulary instantly. Students then can use the meaning to comprehend the whole text. The three most crucial lexical instruction and learning strategies are acquiring decontextualized lexis, using dictionaries, and inferring from context (Hunt & Beglar, 2005).Explicit instruction and rich learning environments can promote students’ deep understanding of words and their semantic relationships are best created by applying both

Lu, W. Y. Online Dictionary on Vocabulary Acquisition

159

approaches in concert (Wood, 2001). The online dictionary is developed to help L2 learners understand the vocabulary instantly including phonology, syntactic category, semantic, and morphology. These inputs can help L2 students to understand, acquire, and retain new vocabulary words. Explicit instruction is a very efficient way for beginning or intermediate L2 learners to acquire vocabulary (Groot, 2000).

Increase Motivation The new online dictionary can overcome barriers found in the traditional manner of

teaching vocabulary. Moreover, computer-assisted vocabulary learning increases the students’ motivation and performance in acquiring vocabulary. Stepp-Greany (2002) found that “two-thirds (66%) of the students agreed that the computer lab made the English course more interesting” (p.172). An online dictionary therefore can be looked upon as a useful instrument to enhance the interest and enjoyment for students in L2 vocabulary learning; it can also help increase L2 vocabulary acquisition. New technology has transformed the traditional paper dictionary into online format which is much more flexible and convenient. Computer technology will go far in facilitating language learning in many respects and can lead the way to vocabulary learning.

Monolingual Dictionary or Bilingual Dictionary Monolingual dictionaries demonstrate the definition of the lexicon in target whereas

bilingual dictionaries present the learners’ first language translated meaning. Bilingual dictionaries would encourage the usage of a single lexicon. Through use of a monolingual dictionaries, students are looking at the definition, thus benefit from the full range of resources offered in target language. According to Baxter (1980), monolingual dictionaries for L2 learners tend to be better than bilingual dictionaries. McCreary and Dolezal (1999) conducted a study to investigate the usefulness of a monolingual English dictionary used by second language students when taking a vocabulary test. The study suggests that monolingual dictionary use, when supplementing the use of contextual cues, is beneficial. However, the monolingual dictionary use without a supporting context provides no measurable advantage.

In addition, Thompson (1987) contends that monolingual dictionaries have many disadvantages in many language-teaching situations. First, learners will often not know which key word to look up; even when they do, the definition in the foreign language may not help them to understand the meaning. He found bilingual dictionaries are potentially more efficient and more motivating sources for L2 learners (Thompson, 1987). Laufer and Levitzky (2006) conducted a research study about bilingual dictionaries, and the results demonstrated the superiority of bilingual dictionaries in terms of the effectiveness for a production task and learners’ preferences. Loucky (2005) found most Japanese college students prefer bilingual dictionaries. The study also shows many advantages by using

Studies in EPCA

160

bilingual dictionaries for l2 beginning and intermediate language learners’ vocabulary acquisition.

Merits of Online Dictionaries Online dictionaries can overcome barriers found in the traditional paper dictionaries. L2

students need spend a considerable amount of time to look up new vocabulary words on paper dictionaries. Online dictionaries can be accessed easily just by key in the word and press enter key on the computer keyboard. The results of each vocabulary meaning are instantaneous. Online dictionaries save much time for L2 learners when look up new vocabulary words. Also, online dictionaries provide easily access for language learners (Gillespie & Mckee, 1999). Wood (2001) online dictionary is a beneficial source for language learners to understand and acquire new lexicons. Computers are very powerful, and they can be used to do a variety of activities including assisting vocabulary acquisition.

Methodology and Procedures Among contemporary studies and papers dedicated to developing CALL facilitating

vocabulary acquisition, the research dealing with different forms of online dictionaries (monolingual dictionary and bilingual dictionary) for intermediate level ESL learners in particular seems to be lacking. The purpose of this study is to investigate the differences in performance when intermediate ESL students use different forms of dictionaries. The results of the study could suggest which form of dictionaries can help intermediate ESL students to acquire more vocabulary words and contribute new knowledge to the Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) field.

Research Design This study employed a quasi-experimental research design to investigate the

performance between experimental and control groups. This type of research design was appropriate because one group received the intervention of the monolingual dictionary to help them when reading articles and the other group received the intervention of the bilingual dictionary to help them when reading articles. The independent variable is the interventions, and the results are the dependent variables which were compared to understand which intervention was more effective.

Setting for the Study The context for this study was Miami, a metropolitan city. The entire population of

participants was residents of Miami. They are the local Chinese community.

Lu, W. Y. Online Dictionary on Vocabulary Acquisition

161

Participants Ten Chinese ESL learners participated in this study. The participants are all second

language (L2) learners, and their level of English proficiency is similar because all participants possessed bachelor degrees either from China or Taiwan. Four of them are from China, and six of them are from Taiwan. They all received similar hours of English instruction. The researcher randomly assigned 5 students to an experimental group and 5 students to a control group. All the participants received post-tests after two weeks of using the different forms of online dictionaries. The participants in the experimental group used an English-to-English (Monolingual) online dictionary during the two weeks of intervention, whereas the control group used an English-to-Chinese (Bilingual) online dictionary during the two weeks of intervention.

SamplingThe sampling method that was used to select the participants from the population was of

convenience. The researcher chose this sampling method because limited persons were willing to participate in this study. Although there are many people in the Miami Chinese community, few were willing to sacrifice their time to be my participants. Due to this study requiring intermediate Chinese learners, it increased the criteria to select qualified participants. Therefore, the researcher decided to employ a convenient sampling method to select participants who qualified as intermediate ESL learners from the Miami Chinese community.

InstrumentThe instrument to be utilized for the purpose of this study is the Test of English as a

Foreign Language (TOFEL). This study employed the 2007 computer-based TOEFL. The articles and the questions are derived from reading session in the TOEFL and they were used to get the results from the participants. The TOEFL is accepted by most institutions including top universities in the world. More than 6000 institutions accept the TOFEL including most universities in the USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Also, TOEFL scores can be used for consideration in admissions, scholarship and graduation decisions.

ReliabilityThe reliability of an instrument means the degree to which a test consistently measures

what it needs to measure (Gay, Mills, & Airasian, 2006). According to the ETS website, the reliability of the TOEFL is 0.92. The reliability score of TOEFL is very high. Therefore, this is a very reliable instrument.

ValidityThe validity of an instrument refers to the degree to which a test measures what it is

intended to measure (Gay, Mills, & Airasian, 2006). According to the ETS website, the validity

Studies in EPCA

162

of TOEFL is very high. Although the ETS organization does not want to disclose the validity of the TOEFL, they claim that the TOEFL is valid to test students’ English proficiency and it is a highly accurate test.

Data CollectionThe researcher provided several articles which appeared in the post test to the participants

to read during the two weeks of intervention. The participants used different forms of dictionaries when reading the articles. The post-test was administered by the researcher to investigate participants’ vocabulary acquisition. The post-test took one hour for the participants to finish. Due to particular schedules of the various participants, the researchers held three sessions in order to collect data.

Data Analysis One independent t-test was used to compare the performance in the post-test scores

between the experimental and the control group.

Result__________________________________________________________________________Independent T-Test Group Statistics

dictionary N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

TOEFL score monolingual 5 18.2000 1.78885 .80000

bilingual 5 27.2000 1.48324 .66332

_______________________________________________________________Independent Samples Test

Levene'sTest forEqualityofVariances

t test forEqualityof Means

F Sig. t df Sig.(2 tailed)

MeanDifference

Std. ErrorDifference

95%ConfidenceInterval oftheDifferenceLower Upper

TOEFLscore

Equalvariancesassumed

.549 .048 8.660 8 .000 9.0000 1.03923 11.39647 6.60353

notassumed

8.660 7.735 .000 9.0000 1.03923 11.41085 6.58915

The independent t test was calculated to compare the performance in TOEFL scores between the experimental and the control group. A significant difference was found, and the

Lu, W. Y. Online Dictionary on Vocabulary Acquisition

163

null hypothesis was rejected. There is a significant difference in the vocabulary acquisition of participants using English-to- English (Monolingual) vs. English-to-Chinese (Bilingual) online dictionaries among intermediate Chinese ESL learners in a Miami Chinese Community.

ConclusionThis study found the difference in terms of vocabulary acquisition among intermediate

Chinese ESL learners who use different forms of online dictionaries. This new knowledge is important for English to Speaker of Other Language (ESOL) teachers to use the better forms of online dictionaries to English as a Second Language (ESL) student in helping their vocabulary acquisition. Vocabulary is a key to increase the ability in functioning in English. ESL learners should learn vocabulary efficiently in order to master English more quickly. According to the results of this study, the bilingual online dictionary is better in helping ESL learners in acquiring vocabulary. Practitioners and teachers should adopt this new knowledge within their classroom practices in order to better assist ESL students in vocabulary acquisition.

Recommendations for Further Research Some suggestions for further research have emerged based on this research study. First,

this study was conducted in a small Chinese community, and the participants numbered only 10 people. Hence, the same or similar study could be conducted again with a large sample community comprised of mainly Chinese speaking people. Also, a future study should include more participants which would result in higher validity in reference to the population.Due to the time frame of this study, conducted within one semester period, the researcher held only two weeks intervention. In the future research, the intervention could be held longer to obtain stronger data in vocabulary acquisition. Randomization of the population sample may be used in the further research to ensure better data to support the hypothesis pertaining to the population. It is difficult for the researcher to use random sampling method to collect data within a small Chinese community. In addition, the online bilingualized dictionary had not been included in this study. Since many web sites started to publish bilingualized dictionaries, future research could compare the effectiveness and usefulness of this kind of online dictionary to either monolingual or bilingual dictionaries or both of them. Lastly, the online dictionaries users’ behavior is an important topic. It is crucial to understand the ESL learners’ tendencies in using different forms of online dictionaries.

References Baxter, J. (1980). The dictionary and vocabulary behavior: A single word or a handful. TESOL

Quarterly, 14(3), 325-336. Electronic reference formats recommended by the American Psychology Association. (2008, March

Studies in EPCA

164

29). Retrieved March 29, 2008, from http://www.ielts.org/ Gay, L., Mills, G., & Airasian, P. (2006). Educational Research: Competencies for analysis and

applications (8th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson. Gillespie, J., & Mckee, J. (1999). Dose it fit and does it make any difference? Integrating CALL into

the curriculum. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 12(5), 441-455. Groot, P. (2000). Computer assisted second language vocabulary acquisition. Language Learning &

Technology, 4(1), 60-81. Horst, M., Cobb, T., & Nicolae, I. (2005). Expanding academic vocabulary with an interactive on-line

database. Language, Learning & Technology, 9(2), 90-110. Hunt, A., & Beglar, D. (2005). A framework for developing EFL reading vocabulary. Reading In A

Foreign Language, 17(1), 23-59.Klassen, J., & Milton P. (1999). Enhancing English skills using multimedia: Tried and tested.

Computer Assisted Language Learning, 12(4), 281-294. Laufer, B., & Hadar, L. (1997). Assessing the effective of monolingual, bilingual, and “bilingualized”

dictionaries in the comprehension and production of new words. The Modern Language Journal, 8(1), 189-196.

Laufer, B., & Hill, M. (2000). What lexical information do L2 learners select in a CALL dictionary and how does it affect word retention? Language Learning & Technology, 3(2), 58-76.

Laufer, B., & Levitzky, T. (2006). Examining the effectiveness of ‘bilingual dictionary plus’ – A dictionary for production in a foreign language. International Journal of Lexicography, 19(2), 135-155.

Loucky, J. (2005). Combining the benefits of electronic and online dictionaries with CALL websites to produce effective and enjoyable vocabulary and language learning lessons. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 18(5), 389-416.

Ma, Q., & Kelly, P. (2006). Computer assisted vocabulary learning: Design and evaluation. ComputerAssisted Language Learning, 19(1), 15-45.

McCreary, D. & Dolezal, F. (1999). A study of dictionary use by ESL students in an American university. International Journal of Lexicography, 12(2), 107-146.

Pennington, M. (1999). Computer- aided pronunciation pedagogy: Promise, limitations, directions. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 2(5), 427-440.

Smidt, E., & Hegelheimer, V. (2004). Effects of online academic lectures on ESL listening comprehension, incidental vocabulary acquisition, and strategy use. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 17(5), 517-556.

Stepp-Greany, J. (2002). Student perceptions on language learning in a technological environment: implication ns for the new millennium. Language Learning & Technology, 6(1), 165-180.

Thompson, G. (1987). Using bilingual dictionaries. ELT Journal, 41(4), 282-286. Wood, J. (2001). Can software support children’s vocabulary development? Language Learning &

Technology, 5(1), 166-201.

165

An Effective College English Program for Low Proficient College Students

Lee-Yen Wang Kainan University

AbstractThe English proficiency of students in the high tier college has been intractably low.

This research aims to evaluate the effect of a hypothetical teaching approach based upon students' true proficiency level and their needs. This research gathered self-reported English proficiency levels through questionnaires from 360 students of 22 majors in a private four year university in Taoyuan, Taiwan and identified their self-reported anxiety levels with their English study, their struggling with pronunciation, difficulty in using the dictionary. The result of this questionnaire based research indicates that if the English program starts from the true proficiency level of the students, the respondents think that they could gain more: almost one year higher in their English proficiency than the current implementation which does not take students’ true proficiency into consideration. Another purpose of the study is to present the issue of excessive ratio for teacher and student in affecting the quality of language teaching, and the role of the Ministry of Education (MOE) in this direction. The MOE should set a definite ratio ceiling between teacher and students in language courses in high education institutes. Due to the excessive class size, no language instructor has ever given any writing assignment in this university for their general English program.

Keywords: proficiency centric college English program, college English program, excessive teacher and student ratio, self-reporting English proficiency, needs analysis

Introduction English is a global linqua franca. Nonnative speakers have outnumbered native speakers,

and English is the chosen language for communication (Gnutzmann, 2000; Firth, 1996). English is a global language, and its salience has palpable influence in the Asia-Pacific region (Nunan, 2003). Even with years of effort in improving the proficiency for students, English proficiency has not been satisfactory for students in Taiwan. Yu (2008) reports that the average score for the lower 25 percentile in the Department Required English Test, a high stakes test for high school graduates to enter colleges and universities in Taiwan, has been reduced from 19 in 2003 to 13 in 2007. The number of students who score nothing in the composition portion, 20 points in this test category, has been increased from 6166 or 5.69% to 11322 or 12.76% of all test-takers while the number of students taking the test has been reduced by about 20,000 from 2002 to 2008.

Due to declining enrollment and overcapacity in the high level education institutes, every high school graduate can literally get a chance to study in a college if he or she prefers. High school graduates keep on flowing into colleges and universities without an adequate and

Studies in EPCA

166

compatible English proficiency. This challenge is not new, but there has been no realistic and effective way to cope with this problem.

The MOE in Taiwan stipulated in 1993 that the Freshman English for Non-English Majors (FENM) would be a foreign language requirement course instead of a general requirement course; and the FENM credits were reduced to six hours from eight hours and students would be allowed to take more advanced English courses or other foreign language courses if their English proficiency is high (Huang, 1998). Colleges offered different FENM programs, some with an exit policy and others without (Huang, 1998). Huang (1998) also finds that Taiwan college students recognize the importance of English while the non-English majored students prefer to have a lesser credit hour course for the freshman English program, but some students want to have more learning opportunities for speaking and listening. With the implementation of the GEPT, a few colleges started to mandate their graduates to meet the requirement for the High-Immediate GEPT or equivalent. Some universities developed emphatic FENM program (Chien, Ching, &Kao, 2002; Chiang, 2005; Chu, 2005; Eyerman, 2005; Luo, 2005; Chen, 2006). One of the most representative one is the Tunhai’s FENM program (Haakenson et al., 1992; Wang, 1998; Sims, 2006) which is based upon the Communicative Language Teaching and Task Based Language Teaching. However, the students in the low proficiency group still failed to reach the minimum passing level after having stayed in the program for a year even when their improvement is statistically significant (Hsaio, 2006).

The Needs-based philosophy of language teaching was introduced into language teaching through the ESP movement. This philosophy argues that all language learners have unique needs, and all responsive language programs should be built upon the analysis of the learners’ needs and should be learner centric (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987). The needs analysis is conducted through procedures to collect respondents’ needs information (Brown, 1995) in order to know what and how courses should be designed (Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998).This approach can avoid implementing a language program that is exclusively based upon the understanding of the language teachers and policy makers (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987). Instead, the needs analysis incorporates proper evaluating procedures by identifying the needs of the learners in building a defensible curriculum. The results of the needs analysis provide information for syllabi design with objectives and goals forming a comprehensive curriculum, where teaching materials, tests, teaching strategies and activities, evaluation strategies, placement and diagnostic tests can be coherently developed to meet the expectation and needs of the learners (Brown, 1995).

Language leaning anxiety has a debilitating effect and can affect a student’s achievement in their educational goals (Scovel, 1978; Woodrow, 2006). Anxiety reactions include mental reactions such as worry and physiological reactions such as stammering, fidgeting, racing heart, and blushing (Leibert and Morris 1967). Worry can bring self-deprecating thoughts and

Wang, L. Y. Effective English Program

167

truancy. Brandibas and et. al (2004) identified truancy is not associated with the lack of motivation, or caused by defiant disorder, but with anxiety for students in technical schools in French. Student boredom is linked to truancy, school dissatisfaction, and lower academic achievement. Sandi and Andrew (2009) report that 59% of 211 college students surveyed report boredom with their lectures half the time, and 30% of students feel that lectures are boring all the time; and the boredom is associated with the use of PowerPoint. Truant behavior is prevalent in Taiwan’s colleges and university, and the truancy rate is higher for less prestigious colleges (Chiang, 2004). A private four year university is chosen for this study. The researcher has a wide exposure to the agony of the students who have been struggling with their English. His first notice of the anomaly of students’ problems was in the fall of 2007, his first year teaching in Taiwan. In all four of his sophomore English classes, each with 110 to 125 students, more than 50% of the students could not correct pronounce the word “society” and more than 70% of students could not correctly pronounce “a technological society.”

There is very little research done for low English proficient students’ needs and about what they really want to learn, their anxiety level in learning English, their self-reported English proficiency level, what they think they know and how they want the institute they are studying to help them, and what they think to be the most productive and realistic educational goals for them to achieve in the limited time they study in the college. Besides collecting and analyzing this information, this research proposes a hypothetical teaching curriculum based upon the needs of the students and evaluates its effectiveness. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the results of a hypothetical teaching approach based upon the needs and English proficiency level of the learners.

MethodA total of 377 students were drawn from a private university in Taoyuan, Taiwan. This

university was established in 2000. The university contains 5 colleges, with an enrollment of approximately 7,000.

Introduction to Esthetic is a required course for all students regardless of their majors. With the support of an instructor, 5-Point Linkert Scaled questionnaires were distributed to her classes. The questionnaires were collected in January of 2009. Respondents received the questionnaire 30 minutes before their final exam. Four classes were chosen to participate in the survey by the consent of the instructor and her students prior to the event. There are 360 students who completed the survey, 195 male students and 165 female students, in a private university in Taoyuan, Taiwan, with an average age of 20.04 and a median age of 20. Of the 360 students, 68.89% of them are 20 years old or younger, from 22 departments out of 26 departments in the university. Of the 360 students, 30 students are majoring in Applied English (AE). There are 152 freshmen, 77 sophomores, 95 juniors, 33 seniors, and 3

Studies in EPCA

168

fifth-years. All the statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 14. This questionnaire uses English grade levels, ranging from the first grade in the junior

high school to the graduate school level, as the way to measure English proficiency. Besides data collections on gender, age, and department major, perceived anxiety level, average hours per week in studying English, and the number of essays edited by the language teachers, the questionnaire includes a question asking the respondents to report the English grade levels before they enter this university. It also includes a question asking the respondent to report the English grade level when they graduate from this college under the existing teaching approach and learning environment. It also further includes a question asking the respondent to report the English grade level when they graduate from this college if they were taught from their true proficiency level, which is the level when they enter the college. The questionnaire also contains proficiency related questions: number of syllables capable of pronunciation, knowledge of the parts of the speech when checking a dictionary, and needs for remedial courses. This university offers general English courses with a teacher and student ratio of 1 to 120s. There is a question asking what proper teacher to student ratio for effective learning is, and another question asks who the culprit is for his or her failure to learn English well.

ResultsThe respondents, 272 or 75.6%, report that they agree with the assessment that their

failing experiences with learning English is due to the lack of effort of their own. Sixty five students, or 18.05%, report that they spend zero hours per week in studying English, and only 5.6% of students report that they study 10 hours or more in studying English weekly. The mean weekly studying time for English is 3.51 hours and the median value is 2 hours. The accumulative percentage of respondents who think they can handle the pronunciation of a three syllable words or less is 31.7% for, and it is 46.9% for four syllables or less. And 4.4% of respondents report that they can only handle a single syllable word. If there were a basic course to teach how to pronounce English words, 33.8% of students would take the course.

There is a mismatch between students’ need and courses offered. This university does not offer any basic phonic courses. Nor does it provide any basic English review courses to help students how to check a dictionary properly. There is no proficiency test to know where students’ proficiencies lie before they start to take the general English courses. No students report that they have received any essay assignments. In terms of anxiety level, there are 273 students, or 75.8%, report that their anxiety for fear of failing to learn English well is high.

Wang, L. Y. Effective English Program

169

Table 1 English Proficiency Level when entering the university

Grade Level Counts Percentage Accumulative Percentage

7th 26 7.2 7.2

8th 34 9.4 16.7

9th 52 14.4 31.1

10th 80 22.2 53.3

11th 66 18.3 71.7

12th 47 13.1 84.7

Freshman 31 8.6 93.3

Sophomore 14 3.9 97.2

Junior 4 1.1 98.3

Senior 3 0.80 99.2

Graduate level 3 0.80 100

Total 360 100.0

Table 2 Most probable English Proficiency Level when graduating from college under the current programdesign

Grade Level Counts Percentage Accumulative Percentage

7th 14 3.9 3.9

8th 19 5.3 9.2

9th 46 12.8 21.9

10th 44 12.2 34.2

11th 24 6.7 40.8

12th 70 19.4 60.3

Freshman 33 13.1 69.4

Sophomore 47 6.7 82.5

Junior 24 8.1 89.2

Senior 29 2.5 97.2

Graduate level 9 0.3 99.7

Total 360 100.0 100

Table 3 A Hypothetic Proficiency Level

Grade Level Counts Percentage Accumulative Percentage

7th 10 2.8 2.8

8th 21 5.8 8.6

9th 19 5.3 13.9

10th 38 10.6 24.4

11th 20 5.6 30.0

12th 44 12.2 42.2

freshman 40 11.1 53.3

sophomore 45 12.5 65.8

junior 46 12.8 78.6

senior 54 15.0 93.6

Graduate level 23 6.4 100.0

Total 360 100.0

Studies in EPCA

170

When checking a dictionary for an unknown word, more than half of the respondents, 56.1%, do not know or have the confidence to know the parts of speech to look for proper definitions in the dictionary.

The teacher and student ratio is from 1 to 110s or 120s in general English classes. Eighty one percent of the respondents want to have a teacher and student ratio to be within 1 to 30 or 40 to learn effective.

Table 4 The Paired t Test between the Current Program and the Hypothetic Program

Questions Average CountsStandardDeviation

Correlation Sig.

Most probable English ProficiencyLevel when grading from collegeunder the current program design

10.92(gradeLevel)

2.600

0.605

Most probable English ProficiencyLevel when grading from college if theteaching program is oriented at thestudents’ true English proficiency level

11.87(gradelevel)

360

2.758

0.00

Nearly 4 out of five respondents, 79.5% of respondents, think that the MOE should recognize the real English proficiency of students when they enter colleges and leave room for universities in Taiwan to plan appropriate English courses to fit the student’s level. Only 1.9% of students think that the current English teaching approach can improve their English proficiency. When they entered college, 31.1% of students report that they have a proficiency level equivalent to a 9th grade or lower, and 53.3% of students think they have a level equivalent to or lower than a 10th grade. Under the existing English program design, 34.2% of students think they can most likely achieve a proficiency level of a 10th grade or lower, while 15.6% of students think that they can attain a level higher than a high school senior at the time they graduate. Table 1 and Table 2 show the counts and frequency distribution for these two surveys of students’ proficiency at entering the university and the proficiency level they think they can achieve when they graduate.

However, if English courses are offered at the true level of a student’s proficiency level, a hypothetical question, it is found that 75.6% respondents think that they can achieve a level higher than a 10th grader. Table 3 shows the results of this hypothetical question. A paired t-test is also used to compare the mean between the existing program achievement and the hypothetical one. The Table 4 shows the paired t-test comparison. The hypothetical approach is statistically significant. It is different from the existing program, and is a 0.95 grade higher than the existing implementation.

Due to the excessive class size, no language instructor has ever given any writing

Wang, L. Y. Effective English Program

171

assignment in this university for their general English program. In a question of asking the number of times language instructors have given writing assignments, both the mean and the variance are zero.

Discussion English problems for students at this university are not isolated. Many colleges and

universities admit students with different English proficiency levels. College students’ English proficiency in Taiwan is not up to the expectations. Many attempts have been tried to bring up the proficiency, but the improvement has not been effective. This research addresses this issue from the perspective of the need analysis to identify the needs of students in a high tiered private university. Communicative Language Learning (CLT) has been very popular in Taiwan. Fluency is emphasized more than accuracy in this teaching approach. However, if some college students have basic problems to pronounce words correctly or to know the parts of speech when they check a dictionary, these handicapped symptoms in learning English warrant new perspectives into their deficiencies. Still, these students know what they need. They want remedial programs to address their needs. Ninety percent of respondents think they need certain remedial programs. These students want to go back to basics of re-learning the phonics and basic skills. They think that the university should design English programs to fit their true level of proficiency instead of treating them as college students simply because they enter the university. They think that if such a program exists and if they can study in this program, their proficiency level can be improved by almost a year higher, 0.95 grade level more. And 58.8% of students can have the English proficiency of a college student with this approach instead of 39.7% under the current plan. One year higher in English proficiency is a good information for the university curriculum designer to know. The finding also calls for attention to the needs of under-achievers, who are requesting a basic phonetic course to help them pronounce words correctly. They have trouble knowing the parts of speech. They do not think the existing English program will work for them, and only 1.9% of students think the current approach will work for them. Less than 6% of respondents think they can pass the GEPT High-Intermediate exam and only 20.3% of respondents think that they can pass the GEPT Intermediate exam. Shing (2001) points out that CLT has been embraced in Taiwan without receiving serious challenges. Even CLT is based upon the assumption that fluency is more important than accuracy, it shouldn’t mean that the instructors can pay no attention to students’ problems with their pronunciations.

To place the students properly at the appropriate level is the first step to launch a successful program. It is not a shame to find college students’ disappointing English levels. There are many causes for such a tragedy, and 40.56% of students reported that their English got deteriorated in junior high school. However, it would be highly inappropriate to ignore their needs for failing to cover some basics for them. They are asking for a simple question:

Studies in EPCA

172

treat college students in a way that fits their real proficiency level. The Ministry of Education should set a definite ratio ceiling between teacher and

students in language courses in high education institutes. High tier private universities are under pressure to save expenses to deal with the declining enrollment. The ratio for teacher and students has been in the range of 1 to 120s for several years in this university in the general English courses. A new approach is to ask graduating seniors to take the failed freshman or sophomore English courses in other universities if these classes are full without reimbursing the students. These money saving practices do not violate MOE’s regulations because there is no such a regulation to be violated against. Theses approaches simply deprive the right of the students to learn in a language class. If universities like this one admits students with low English proficiency and then pack them in a crowded classroom, there is very little possibility that this is a productive environment to learn. This is not even ethical. The MOE should set the upper limits for the number of students to be allowed for any language course. The MOE can dictate the minimum number of writing assignments for general college English program to control the quality.

Low English proficiency students keep on entering universities. It has been a big challenge for many high tier universities and colleges to resuscitate their students' English proficiency if they try. This research examines the issue from the perspective of the students in a private university in Taoyuan, Taiwan by asking some students how they think they can learn more. The result of the research indicates that the students want to learn from the starting point of their true level, which is the level when they enter college. No college in Taiwan has been known to offer junior high school English for their college students or repeat senior high school English courses. However, these junior levels are the levels a great majority of students in this university prefer to have. This research is based upon how students feel and think in a single university. More universities are needed in the future study. The benefit of gaining nearly one year more in English proficiency is certainly very attractive from the alternative approach hypothesized in this study. However, the conclusion is achieved based upon subjective assumptions, whose validity can not be ascertained without an empirical field trial. This finding opens a new perspective to implement a general English program for students in the high tier colleges. The finding also points out how and why the MOE should monitor the high educational institutes to protect the interests of the students. Zero essays written in the entire general English courses should not be overlooked by the MOE, and mega class settings are utterly not conducive to language learning, much less for the students that have been struggling with essential Knowledge in English.

References Brown, J. D. (1995). The elements of language curriculum: A systematic approach to program

development. New York: Heinle & Heinle Publishers. Brandibas, G., Jeunier, B., Clanet, C., & Fourasté, R. (2004). Truancy, school refusal and anxiety.

Wang, L. Y. Effective English Program

173

School Psychology International, 25, 117-126. Chen, C. Y. (2006). A decade of changes in the English ability of university freshmen in Taiwan.

Master thesis, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan. Chien, C. N., Ching, H. L., & Kao, L. H. (2002). Study on a different leveling English instruction

policy for ‘Freshmen English’ in Chung Yuan Christian University. Chung Yuan Journal, 30(4),505-516.

Chiang, M. E. (2004). Study of the truant behaviors of college students from the technical colleges – in area of Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Meiling in Taiwan. Unpublished thesis, Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan.

Chiang, Y. H. (2005). Freshman English at Providence University. Paper presented at the symposium on Freshman English for Non-majors Program in Taiwan, Taichung, Taiwan.

Chu, H. S. (2005). Freshman English at National Taiwan Normal University. Paper presented at the symposium on Freshman English for Non-majors Program in Taiwan, Taichung, Taiwan.

Dudley-Evans, T., & St John, M. (1998). Development in English for specific purposes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Eyerman, L. (2005). Freshman English at Ming-chuan University. Paper presented at the symposiumon Freshman English for Non-majors Program in Taiwan. Taichung, Taiwan.

Firth, A. (1996). The discursive accomplishment of normality. On ‘lingua franca’ English and conversation analysis. Journal of Pragmatics, 26, 237-259.

Gnutzmann, C. (2000). Lingua franca. In M. Byram (Ed.), The Routledge encyclopedia of language teaching and learning, (pp.356–359). London: Routledge.

Haakenson, P. J., Wang, C. P., Dakin, C. J., Tsan, Y. Y., & Fisher, W. D. (1992). University freshman English in Taiwan: A proposal based on the Tunghai model. Paper presented at the Ninth Conference on English Teaching and Leaning in the Republic of China. (pp.320-337). Taipei: The Crane Publishing Co., Ltd.

Hsaio, T. L. (2006). An investigation of the effectiveness of the Tunghai method to freshman English for non-English majors. Master thesis, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan.

Huang, S.Y. (1998). Are Freshman English Programs for Non-English Majors at Universities in Taiwan Meeting the Expectation of Students and Teachers? National Science Council (ROC) Project Report, 9.2 (Taipei, Republic of China [ROC]: National Science Council Press): 201-211.

Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (1987). English for specific purposes: A learning centred approach.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Liebert, R. M., & Morris, L.W. (1967). Cognitive and emotional components of anxiety: A distinction and some initial data. Psychological Reports, 20, 975-78.

Luo, B. (2005). Achievement grouping and students’ progress in freshmen English classes at Feng Chia University. Feng Chia Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 253-279.

Nunan, D. (2003). The impact of English as a global language on educational policies and practices in the Asian-Pacific region. TESOL Quarterly, 37(4), 589-612.

Sandi, M., & Andrew, R. (2009). Boredom in the lecture theatre: An investigation into the contributors, moderators and outcomes of boredom amongst university students. British Educational Research Journal, 35(2), 243-258. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED EJ833156).

Sims, J. (2006). The creation of a valid and reliable university proficiency exam. Tunghai Journal, 47,325-345.

Scovel, T. (1978). The effect of affect on foreign language learning: A review of anxiety research. Language Learning, 28(1), 129-142.

Studies in EPCA

174

Wang, S. P. (1998). A pragmatic study on English teaching and leveled classes at colleges. Paperpresented at the Fifth International Symposium on English Teaching (pp.310-330). Taipei: The Crane Publishing Co., Ltd.

Woodrow, L. (2006). Anxiety and speaking English as a second language. RELC Journal, 37,308-328.

Yu, C. C. (2008). The 2008 Departments Required Test Analysis: English Subject. College Entrance Examination Center (CEEC), Taipei. Taiwan.

175

Catching up with Global Trends: Using English Newspapers to Teach Business English

Yuchih Wang Shih Hsin University

irene88@cc.shu.edu.tw

AbstractFrom a practical point of view, business English should be a profession-oriented

subject to students at the university level because what they learn from this class may identify their ability to apply their English in the business world after graduating from colleges. Therefore, in an accelerating business world, shaping teaching strategies should be used in a new competitive way to help students catch up with global trends.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the shaping teaching strategies. That is, English newspaper articles were incorporated into conventional business textbooks to arouse their learning motivation and interests. Two classes of 108 sophomores participated in this experiment for one year. They were randomly assigned to class A and class B. Class A was the control group. In addition to the regular textbooks; class B was given articles from Business Section of English newspapers each week; class A was not. The study was to examine which one is more effective after making a comparison and then to revise these teaching materials based on the findings.

After a one-year experiment, the results were found: (1) the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in their finals; (2) students in the experimental group changed from a conservative attitude to a more positive one; (3) students in the experimental group had better performance in their role play showing their stronger interests in learning English; (4) students in the experimental group showed stronger self-confidence in their future. Pedagogical implications and suggestions for further research are provided.

Keywords: Business English, Newspapers, Teaching Materials.

Introduction The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the shaping teaching

strategies. Two classes of 108 sophomores participated in this experiment for one year. They were randomly assigned to class A and class B. Class A was the control group. In addition to the regular textbooks; class B was given two articles from Business Section of English newspapers every week; class A was not. Students in class B spent about 30 minutes each week reading the two articles, and used the rest time to read textbooks.

Nowadays, English has become a baseline skill in the international competitive business in the global context. There is no doubt that the purpose of learning it is to be able to embrace and enrich international communication. Without this awareness, students can’t even join the

Studies in EPCA

176

global race for employment conducted in business English. In international trading, few business transactions are carried through successfully

without efficient language communication. That is, successful business depends on effective communication operated in a multifaceted process involving people accelerating and exchanging information. Therefore, business English should be a profession-oriented subject to students at the university level because what they learn from this class may identify their ability to apply their English in the business world after graduating from colleges.

Shaping teaching strategies were used to help students catch up with global trends. Two textbooks: Market Leader and Handbook of Business Letters were used in these two classes. Though both of them were published in 2006, they can’t catch up with the accelerating change in business world as newspapers articles do. Sanderson (1999) indicated that English Newspapers can connect students to the global society and respond to the challenges of globalization, and they can also help teachers meet students’ diverse needs and interests, and give learners a different kind of challenges. Moreover, by reading English Newspaper articles, students can receive current new concepts and the cultural background of business events. Therefore, English newspaper articles were incorporated into conventional business textbooks. In order to enhance the students’ potentials in business in the future, the contents of their business English should include a wide range of topics in business fields such as international trading, banking, stock market, and finance.

Students enrolled in Business English class usually do not expect to learn the same materials as they learned in the general English classes. They have specific purposes, needs, and expectations in business English, and their future professional work situation must be considered as an issue in the curriculum design for this course (Dubley,1998). Before incorporating new teaching materials, teachers should first know who the learners are, what the learners need, and what the purposes or missions of the program are (Morrison, Ross, & Kemp, 2001). After that, the researcher used the shaping strategies in order to teach the course effectively.

Findings from surveys and interviews revealed that most students expect to learn not only English but also the practical Business English to link them with the business world. Nowadays teachers are confronting a great challenge as they devote their energy to designing specific Business English teaching materials in meeting the students’ needs and expectations.

Literature Review English has become the common thread in the world today, especially in the areas

related to global business. This has made business English a practical subject of learning for students in business departments. Since business English courses are the best means in providing the students with the professional knowledge and skills needed in their future career, it has become a major requirement in all Business Departments. Chang (2000) pointed

Wang, Y. C. Catching up with Global Trends

177

out: “Therefore, it is usually the case that ESP English teachers have to facilitate, absorb, and explore the professional knowledge and expertise to set up the teaching plan and practice for the classroom context” (p. 167).

Cunningsworth (1995) suggested that good teaching materials “should reflect the uses (present or future) that the learners will make of the language” (p. 186). ESP is a powerful means for students to apply in their professional work in the future. Since the 1960s researchers have started to pay attention to the differences between the general and specific purposes in English courses. It was not until the late 20th century that ESP started to focus on business, tourism, engineering, science, or nursing areas. Hutchinson and Waters (1987) introduced the term English for Business and Economics (EBE) as another way to emphasize the increasing importance of Business English. Robinson (1990) suggested that ESP should provide learners proper materials to meet their future needs. Frendo (2005) pointed out: “business English is not only about language, but about language use” (p.152). In other words, the language used here is related to business concepts, contexts, and communications, especially for international business affairs.

The evolution in high-tech and the developing trend towards globalization has exerted a great influence on the world, especially on business enterprises. However, Shih, Su & Lin (1998) indicated that the training of business expertise and English competence in Applied English Language Department is not sufficient to meet the corporate needs for manpower in Taiwan. Chen (2000) also pointed out that ESP training and teaching courses for English teachers are insufficient to meet the current needs in Taiwan. What this implies is that business English teachers today should have a clear vision regarding their mission and design a proper Business English teaching materials that would match the needs of the corporate world; therefore, Snyder (1971) indicated: “There is the ‘hidden curriculum,’ that collection of expectations, norms and values through which students learn what is really important” (p. 68).

Except training students’ specific business English skills, their basic English four language skills should also be enhanced. Nowadays, content-based instruction is widely used. Brinton, Snow, and Wesche (1989) pointed out: “the integration of content learning with language teaching. More specifically, it refers to the concurrent study of language and subject matter…” (p. vii). Therefore, language becomes a vehicle to convey the goals of content, and newspapers articles can be appropriate teaching materials. Many researchers suggest that extensive reading is efficient and essential in second language acquisition. Krashen (2001, 2004) claims that there is sufficient evidence showing that Free Voluntary Reading (FVR) is “highly beneficial” for language acquisition, because it can “be a source of ideas and information”, and “slow the decline of verbal memory”, which direct instruction can not compete with (1993, p.21); moreover, it will “produce the highest levels of competence” (2004, p.1). Krashen (2004) also implies that reading influences cognitive development.

Studies in EPCA

178

Some researchers indicate that extensive reading can improve not only learners’ reading comprehension but also learners’ writing skills (Hafiz & Tudor,1989; Susser & Robb, 1989). Sun (2003) has shown that Extensive Reading Online can help students to hold a positive attitude toward reading and can also enhance learners’ autonomy, independence, and reading interest. Hsu and Lee (2005) indicate that extensive reading makes junior college students in an experimental group perform slightly better than the comparison group in vocabulary acquisition; moreover, it helped them to greatly improve their reading ability and reading rate. The way the extensive reading was implemented in this study reflected this integrated concern and the impact was evaluated in terms of the possible improvement in communicative competence. To help the learners become acquainted with the real world they will face in their future, it is necessary to read current materials. Reading authentic articles plays a very essential role in language learning no matter which levels students belong to according to the principles of Communicative Language Teaching (Brown, 2007). Therefore, English newspaper articles in business field are effective tools because they are so authentic that learners can get a lot of information after reading them.

MethodologyThe research design in this study includes the participants, the purpose of the study, and

the statistical analysis of data on the subjects’ identification of the most difficult areas of learning, expectations, and attitude toward reading English newspapers before and after a one-year experimental learning in the Business English class.

Participants In this one-year study, one class of students from Economics Department (Group A) and

another from the International Trading Department (Group B) were chosen to participate. English proficiency between the two groups was found to be equivalent via a statistical analysis on the students’ English term grades of the preceding semester (t=.01, p= .99>.05). From this statistics, we can see the homogeneity of the two groups in their English performance prior to the experiment, though they belong to different departments. There were 108 sophomore students in this experiment: 55 from the Economy Department and 53 from the International Trading Department taught by this researcher. In essence, they constituted a nonprobability captive sample.

A textbook on Business Letters was used to teach students about the basic forms of letters and business documents for both groups. Besides the regular textbook, articles in the Business Section from English Newspapers were also incorporated in their assignment in Business English class in Group B. This paper focuses only on exploring whether students of Group B had stronger learning motivation and better performance in both their role playing and their finals after one-year experimental curriculum in the Business English class.

Wang, Y. C. Catching up with Global Trends

179

Purposes of the Study In view of the insufficient English competence and business knowledge among the

graduates from the Business Departments, this researcher, also as an English teacher, developed a strong sense of professional responsibility in helping design a proper curriculum for students to meet their future career needs. The main concern for this study is about the proper materials that should be incorporated into the Business English class in addition to the using of Business Letters textbook. Sanderson (1999) pointed out: “Newspaper is an invaluable source of authentic materials, and their use in the language classroom is very much in keeping up with current thinking and practices in teaching pedagogy” (p. 3). The environment where the learners are exposed to the language is a crucial factor in determining the outcome of learning. Incorporating the articles taken from the Business Section in the English newspaper into the class creates an authentic language learning environment because Brown (2007) indicated that an efficient language teaching material should be as authentic as possible (p. 157). During the semester of experimental learning, students in Group B were not only required to read business articles in the classroom but also read one article each week at home. In completing this assignment, they were also instructed to write a summary for each article that was read at home. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the benefits the students felt through their one-year participation in this Business English curriculum.

The Analysis of Survey Data In this study, the researcher used two surveys in the data collection and analysis. The

first survey was distributed to students in the first week after the beginning of the first semester in September. The second survey was distributed in the last week of the second semester in June. Since the surveys were administered in group setting, they yielded a 100% response rate. All 55 students in Group A and 53 in Group B who attended the classes on the day of the first survey completed the questionnaires; 52 students of Group A and 50 of Group B completed the second survey.

Likert scale items containing the responses of “strongly agree, agree, uncertain, disagree, and strongly disagree” were used in all the attitudinal statements to measure the students’ learning experiences in English.

Table 1-A and Table 1-B examine the most difficult areas in the students’ learning of English. A close examination of the combined percentage distributions of the first two response categories (strongly agree and agree) revealed a hierarchy among these different areas. Writing was ranked the first in terms of difficulty of two groups with 63.4% (Group A), 64.5% (Group B) agreed, followed by grammar (56.2%: Group A), (55.8%: Group B), vocabulary (52.3%: Group A), (51.8%: Group B), speaking (49.8%: Group A), (49.6%: Group B), listening (42.8%: Group A), (43.1%: Group B), and reading (25.8%: Group A), (25.6%: Group B).

Studies in EPCA

180

Table 1 A. Percentage Distribution of Students’ Ranking of the Most Difficult Areas in English Learning(N=55) (Group A)

Responses*Statements 1 2 3 4 5

a. Vocabulary 17.4 34.9 17.3 24.3 6.1b. Grammar 16.3 39.9 24.5 16.4 2.9c. Reading 6.7 19.1 37.2 29.7 7.3d. Writing 19.6 43.8 23.4 11.0 2.2e. Speaking 19.8 30.0 19.4 24.9 5.9f. Listening 20.2 22.6 25.5 25.7 6.0*1: Strongly agree 2: Agree 3: Uncertain 4: Disagree 5: Strongly disagree

Table 1 B. Percentage Distribution of Students’ Ranking of the Most Difficult Areas in English Learning(N=53) (Group B)

Responses*Statements 1 2 3 4 5

a. Vocabulary 17.9 33.9 17.8 23.3 7.1b. Grammar 16.9 38.9 25.6 15.6 3.0c. Reading 6.3 19.3 36.8 29.8 7.8d. Writing 18.8 45.7 22.3 10.9 2.3e. Speaking 20.4 29.2 18.4 25.6 6.4f. Listening 19.9 23.2 24.9 25.8 6.2

*1: Strongly agree 2: Agree 3: Uncertain 4: Disagree 5: Strongly disagree

Table 2 A. Percentage Distribution of Students’ Ranking of Expectations of English Learning in the firstsemester (N=55) (Group A)

Responses*Statements 1 2 3 4 5

a. Be able to read English Newspapers 12.6 33.1 30.6 21.6 2.1b. Newspapers as an effective tool 17.7 36.0 26.6 16.4 3.3c. Want to improve English in college 50.2 35.6 7.5 5.1 1.6d. Expect improvement in speaking 39.5 44.9 11.1 3.2 1.3e. Expect improvement in listening 40.8 41.8 10.2 5.7 1.5f. Expect improvement in reading 33.6 43.8 16.4 4.0 2.2g. Expect improvement in writing 40.9 37.7 10.1 9.0 2.3

*1: Strongly agree 2: Agree 3: Uncertain 4: Disagree 5: Strongly disagreeTable 2 B. Percentage Distribution of Students’ Ranking of Expectations of English Learning in the firstsemester (N=53) (Group B)

Responses*Statements 1 2 3 4 5

a. Be able to read English Newspapers 12.3 32.2 31.6 22.0 1.9b. Newspapers as an effective tool 17.3 37.8 27.5 15.1 2.3c. Want to improve English in college 50.1 34.6 7.2 6.1 2.0d. Expect improvement in speaking 38.7 44.8 10.2 5.1 1.2e. Expect improvement in listening 41.1 41.3 9.8 6.1 1.7f. Expect improvement in reading 33.1 43.4 17.3 4.1 2.1g. Expect improvement in writing 40.4 38.0 10.2 9.4 2.0

*1: Strongly agree 2: Agree 3: Uncertain 4: Disagree 5: Strongly disagree

Wang, Y. C. Catching up with Global Trends

181

Table 2-A and Table 2-B show the expectations toward English learning including both the general and specific goals. The findings indicated that in Table 2 half of the students did their best to improve their English in college (50.2% of Group A and 50.1% of Group B strongly agreed). 12.6% of Group A and 12.3% of Group B strongly agreed that they wanted to be able to read English newspapers, with 17.7% (Group A) and 17.3% (Group B) strongly agreed that reading English newspapers could be an effective learning method in English. Close to forty percent of the students also strongly agreed about improvement in speaking (39.5% of Group A) and (38.7% of Group B), listening (40.8% of Group A) and (41.1% of Group B), reading (33.6% of Group A) and (33.1% of Group B), and writing (40.9% of Group A, 40.4% of Group B). After analyzing Tables 1-A, 1-B, 2-A, and 2-B, the researcher can say that the statistics of the two groups are very similar.

Table 3 A. Percentage Distribution of Students’ Ranking of Expectations of English Learning (N=52) in thesecond semester

Responses*Statements 1 2 3 4 5

a. Be able to read English Newspapers 12.9 33.5 30.4 21.1 2.1b. Newspapers as an effective tool 20.9 37.8 23.9 14.5 2.9c. Want to improve English in college 50.2 36.5 6.8 4.9 1.6d. Expect improvement in speaking 39.7 45.4 10.6 3.2 1.1e. Expect improvement in listening 41.2 42.3 9.8 5.3 1.4f. Expect improvement in reading 33.7 44.4 15.8 4.0 2.1g. Expect improvement in writing 40.9 38.2 9.9 8.7 2.3

*1: Strongly agree 2: Agree 3: Uncertain 4: Disagree 5: Strongly disagree

Table 3 B. Percentage Distribution of Students’ Ranking of Expectations of English Learning (N=50) in thesecond semester

Responses*Statements 1 2 3 4 5

a. Be able to read English Newspapers 27.5 37.6 24.7 9.2 1.0b. Newspapers as an effective tool 31.6 50.8 13.2 2.6 1.8c. Want to improve English in college 50.4 37.5 8.5 2.4 1.2d. Expect improvement in speaking 39.9 44.9 9.8 4.6 0.8e. Expect improvement in listening 42.0 42.9 9.3 4.8 1.0f. Expect improvement in reading 34.8 45.9 15.1 2.3 1.9

g. Expect improvement in writing 40.9 39.9 9.6 7.6 2.0*1: Strongly agree 2: Agree 3: Uncertain 4: Disagree 5: Strongly disagree

Table 3-A and Table 3-B show the expectations for learning English about including both the general and specific goals in the second semester. The finding indicated that over half of the students would like do their best to improve their English in college (50.2% of Group A and 50.4% of Group B strongly agreed), which was about the same as the first semester. 27.5% of Group B strongly agreed that they wanted to be able to read English

Studies in EPCA

182

newspapers, which was more than double the percentage compared to the first semester (12.3%); however, 12.9 % of Group A was almost the same as the first semester. 31.6% of Group B strongly agreed that reading English newspapers could be an effective method for learning English, which was significantly higher than the 17.3% who answered the same way in the first semester. In comparison with Group A, 20.9% was only a little bit higher than 17.7% in the first semester. Slight increases were also found among those in Group B who strongly agreed about expected improvement in speaking (39.9%), listening (42.0%), reading (34.8%), and writing (40.9%). These results clearly indicate that the use of English newspapers has a positive impact on students’ learning.

Two sets of standard test scores were used in evaluating the substance of learning: placement test scores and final exam scores. Through comparison of the differences between the two groups, the directions of change were identified and used as indexes in evaluating the impact of extensive reading strategy. As shown in Table 4, the average placement test score for the experimental group was 54.56 and 73.22 for the final, a difference of 18.66 points. Observations of the individual profiles revealed that 100% the students in this group experienced improvement in their test scores. Comparing their scores with those of the control group, it became obvious that the shaping strategies had made a significant difference in improving students’ learning. The difference between the two scores for the control group was 12.89, 5.7 points lower than the difference for the experimental group. In order to be more precise in assessing the impact of extensive reading on English newspaper articles, levels of improvement between the two scores were computed for each individual student in the two groups. These results are shown in Table 5. The levels of improvement were determined based on the magnitude of difference between the individual student’s placement and final test scores. More specifically, an increase of 20 points or more in the final would be considered as “Greatly Improved”, 10 to 19 points as “Generally Improved”, 0 to 9 points as “Same or Minor Improvement”, and less than 0 as “Negatively Improved.” These results revealed that 66.85% of the students in the experimental group could be categorized as “Greatly Improved” and 28.68% as “Generally Improved” as compared with only 43.42% and 26.75% in the control group. Students in the control group were more dominant in “Minor/Same” and “Negatively Improved” categories: 22.88% and 6.95%.

Table 4: Averages and Differences of Standard Test ScoresGroups Placement Test Score Final Test Score Difference

Experimental Group (n=55) 54.56 73.22 18.66

Control Group (n=53) 55.27 68.16 12.89

Wang, Y. C. Catching up with Global Trends

183

Table 5: Comparison of Levels of Improvement in Standard Test Scores

Groups Levels of Improvement

Greatly Improved(%)

GenerallyImproved (%)

Minor/Same(%)

NegativelyImproved (%)

ExperimentalGroup (n=52)

66.85% 28.68% 4.47%

Control Group(n=50)

43.42% 26.75% 22.88% 6.95%

Using English Newspaper in Business English According to Hsien (2001), adopting newspapers as a medium for language instruction

will increase students’ reading proficiency as well as information acquisition. There are five reasons that business articles on English newspapers were chosen in this study.

First, the articles are suitable for multi-level students. Sanderson (1999) indicated that newspapers can be used effectively with a wide range levels from elementary to advanced (p. 4). Since the two classes which participated in the experiment are large classes, it is reasonable to assume that they may contain students at different levels. By adopting materials from finance, banking, business fields, and using different instructional strategies, students at all levels can benefit not just in the classroom, but also from study at home.

Second, the news reports are all authentic and up-to-date. The nature of the materials can help students to keep up with current events in the global world. It would be impossible for those who do not read the newspapers to know what has happened in the world community. Countless studies verified newspaper reading is closely related to a person’s interest in public affairs. Kebbel (1985) found that political activity is closely associated with newspaper readership. Back in 1997, when Southeast Asia financial crisis erupted, again the global financial tsunami occurred in 2008. Consequently, English Newspapers became the most valuable and dynamic source of learning for students in business departments. Students really thought that they had learned a lot by reading English Newspaper, especially in keeping up with the new developments of the crisis. Later, many students felt that it is worth the effort to cultivate their reading habit of the English Newspapers.

Third, students can learn both language and culture. People are aware of the vital importance of cultural understanding in communication, and English teachers around the world are urged to put cultural learning into their language lessons. How to effectively integrate culture into language teaching still bothers many English teachers. Through reading business articles covering worldwide topics would provide students with a better chance to understand cultures of different countries because of the vivid authentic news stories covered.

Fourth, it is easy to access world news in Taiwan. The China Post, Taiwan News, and Taipei Times are the three locally published English newspapers. Students can also find USA Today, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal in the library, newspaper stands, and

Studies in EPCA

184

through the Internet. For students, to get English newspapers is much easier than to buy English textbooks; moreover, it is much cheaper too.

Fifth, English newspapers are life-long learning materials. As we live in the life-long learning era, teachers are obligated to guide students to be life-long learners. Since English newspapers report current events, students can absorb the latest information by reading them every day. Fredrickson and Wedel (1984) offered seven reasons for teachers to use the English newspaper as an essential part of reading programs in Business English. One of the most important points is that newspapers are “one type of English materials that students are likely to continue to read after they complete their education” (p. 112).

Students must get a feeling that what they are doing or learning in class has relevance with their future career. They need to understand that the ultimate goal of improving language skills, because good English language skills can be a great advantage to their personal and professional lives in their future. Using the real-world materials can help students see that the specific functional language emphasized in the class is indeed useful in the outside world.

CurriculumAfter investigating the background and needs of the students, the English teachers

should then decide on the specific materials to be incorporated into the class curriculum. Though the Business Letters textbook is the important part of the class curriculum, the additional concern is to integrate the current business news and provide students with opportunities to be connected with the real world in Group B. In practice, the business articles from English newspapers were taught in class, and students were also required to read one extra article each week by themselves. The specific function of this assignment is to cultivate the students to be more sensitive to global changing trends in the business world and develop a reading habit of the English newspapers. The environment in which the students are exposed to the language has a great influence in determining their learning effectiveness. Adding the Business section of the English newspapers to their learning environment would be most helpful in achieving this goal.

One problem associated with this assignment is that some business related articles in the English newspapers are too long for student to read. According to McKeachie (1994), “One of the major tasks in teaching is not how to scare students into doing their homework but rather how to nurture their curiosity and use curiosity as a motive for learning” (p.23). In order to reduce students’ tension in handling this assignment, the characteristics of newspaper writing such as the function of headline, the lead, and grammar were taught in the very beginning of the first semester in Group B. In order to be better connected with the environment that the students are most familiar with, they were asked to read locally published English newspapers instead of the international ones in the first semester. Students

Wang, Y. C. Catching up with Global Trends

185

of lower-level standings were asked to read only the lead, the summary of the whole article, because “A summary lead gives an audience the gist of a story in the first paragraph. It is terse, with generally no more than 35 words in one sentence, and summarizes the major elements of a newsworthy event” (Itule & Anderson, 1994, p. 57).

(A) Reading and Writing The rule of game in Group B is that students read business articles not only in the

classroom but also at home. In order to enforce this rule, they were asked to share what they read at home with other students in the class. They were also instructed, as they read, to find the five Ws (who, where, when, what, and which) and the one H (how). Many students thought this practice was beneficial, and it helped to keep them concentrating on reading the news articles.

Students were also asked to write a summary after reading one business article at home. They were encouraged to write using their own words in combining the five Ws and one H found in the article. This assignment helps students link what they read to writing. They were allowed to imitate the words, phrases, and sentence patterns learned by reading the articles in their summaries. Students found a deeper understanding of the business events through this practice. Reading and writing are complementary skills in the students’ quest for language comprehension.

(B) Listening and Speaking Students were divided into several small groups in both Group A and Group B when

they engaged in role playing in the class about the business events that they read in the English newspapers. When rehearsing, the player’s pronunciation was corrected by their peers, and all classmates were asked to interact with the role players through using the English language. The researcher (teacher) served as a filler in case the interaction stopped. The researcher would ask questions to either the presenters or the listeners or both. In this type of role playing, students not only learned to pay more attention to their peers, but also learned to use their peers as valuable reference other in polishing up their own skills in speaking the language. Many high-level students felt significant improvement in their speaking skills in English after developed the habit of listening to ICRT business news reports or CNN. In evaluating the relationship between listening and speaking, Underwood (1987) indicated: “If our students do learn to listen effectively, they will be unable to take part in oral communication” (p. 132). Therefore, listening and speaking are complementary to each other in the students’ quest for language skills.

As Rigg (1991) indicated the ‘wholeness’ of language opposes to viewing language into fragmented pieces, so people should pay more attention to the interaction and interconnections between oral language and written language (p. 531). In the real world,

Studies in EPCA

186

language will be used not only one or two skills, but also the connection of the four language skills.

The grading criteria of role playing include content (40%), familiarity (20%), interaction (20%), and pronunciation (20%). The average score of role play in Group A was 80.6 but Group B was 88.9, because they had very creative and vivid contents of the role playing, which they integrated the current events into their screenplays. From the above, people can see that by reading business articles in English newspapers, learners could combine the four skills together step by step.

Student reactions: Before the end of the second semester, the researcher interviewed the students from

group B. Students expressed their personal opinion about one-year learning experience. After the one-year experiment, 73% students thought they wanted to go on reading to

keep up with the changing world, and 64.5% students thought that reading business articles on the English newspapers are no longer hard to them. 70.3% students dared to talk with foreigners when meeting them, and 79.2% students agreed reading English newspapers are good ways to link them with the real world and make them aware of the events in business world. 68.2% students said that by reading both Chinese and English newspaper articles made them get great improvement both in Chinese and English. 78% students expressed it was the first time they thought English has practical function other than passing examinations so they changed their conservative attitudes toward it. 69.3% students reported they had stronger self-confidence because they knew how to improve, not only now but also in the future.

FindingsAll these evaluations seem to reinforce McKeachie’s philosophy on language learning:

“Knowing how to learn is not enough; student must also want to learn” (p.365). Their learning motivation and interests were shown from their reactions. By comparing Table 2 with Table 3 in Group B, one will find a dramatic increase in the percentages in item A: be able to read English Newspapers and item B: think Newspapers as effective tool of learning. In the first semester, there were 12.3% strongly agreed, and 32.2% agreed that they were able to read English Newspaper; 17.3% in Group B strongly agreed, and 37.8% agreed on Newspapers as effective tool of learning. However, in the second semester, the percentages increased to 27.5%, 37.6% in item A, and 31.6% and 50.8% in item B. After one-year reading business articles in the English newspapers, 65.1% agreed (including strongly agree) that they are able to read the English newspapers, and 82.4% agreed that the English newspapers are effective tools of learning. Combining these figures with the positive reactions from students in Group B, one can conclude, to a reasonable

Wang, Y. C. Catching up with Global Trends

187

degree, that business articles in the English newspapers are effective teaching materials that can really help upgrade the learners’ language ability and professional knowledge in business fields. By comparing Tables 4 and 5, one will know that Group B outperformed the group A, though they are very similar at the beginning of the first semester. Moreover, by observing their role playing, the average score of Group B was much higher than that of Group A.

Conclusion and SuggestionsIn response to the accelerating changes and challenges in the business world, shaping

teaching strategies should be developed to meet the needs from business world. The purpose of this study was to examine these teaching strategies. After this one-year experiment, the teaching materials in the Business English Group B class has proved that business articles in the English newspapers could be diverse, up-to-date, and effective teaching materials in meeting the needs of students at different levels of English ability. Through personal interviews conducted in the beginning of the first semester, the researcher has found that about 55% of the students in Group B held a conservative attitude toward reading business articles in the English newspapers. Most of them recalled some frustrating experiences in their language learning in senior high schools. However, at the end of the school year, around 65 % thought reading business articles in the English newspapers had broaden their business perspectives by keeping them more informed about the changes occurring in the field of business. In Rubin’s (1997) observations: “A good language learner demonstrates the following characteristics: having a strong, persevering drive to communicate, taking advantage of all practice opportunities, and paying attention to meaning” (p. 29). Close to half of all the students from the Group B participating in this study were able to demonstrate that they posses these qualities, and became active independent language learners after one-year of the experiment.

From this experiment, we can find the participants in experimental group performed better, had more positive attitude, stronger interests and self-confidence than the control group because of their intrinsic motivation. This study reaffirmed the assumption: “Content-based classrooms have the potential of increasing intrinsic motivation…” (Brown, 2007: 56). The findings from this study can offer practical suggestions to both the school authorities in curriculum design and the Business English teachers in innovating their teaching materials. This study suggests that in the future, more participants at different levels of English proficiency should be involved in a follow-up study. Future study could focus on how these teaching materials influence on language learning and acquisition.

References Anderson, N. (1999). Exploring second language reading. Boston: Heinle & Heinle. Babbie, E. (2002). The basics of social research. Belmont: Wadsworth. Brinton, D., Snow, M. A., & Wesche, M. (1989). Content-based second language instruction.

Studies in EPCA

188

Rowley, MA: Newbury House. Brown, H. D. (2007). Teaching by principles (3rd ed.). White Plains, NY: Person Education. Chang, H. F. (2000). A study of a business English course in technology and vocational school.

Selected Papers from the Ninth International Symposium on English Teaching, 167-177. Taipei: Crane Publishing.

Chen, E. S. (2002). “Some aspects of teaching English for specific purposes (ESP) versus Teaching ESL: A focus on teaching of business English”. The Proceedings of 2002 Conference and Workshop on TEFL & Applied Linguistic, 27-37. Taipei: Crane Publishing.

Chen, T. Y. (2000). Self-training for ESP through action research. English for Specific Purposes, 19(4), 389-402. Crosling, G. & Ward, I. (2002). Oral communication: The workplace needs and uses of business

graduate employees. English for specific purposes, 21(1), 41-57. Cunningsworth, A. (1995). Choosing your coursebook. Oxford, U.K. Heinemann. Dubley, E. & Maggie, J. S. (1998). Developments in English for specific purposes, A multi-

disciplinary approach. London: Cambridge University Press. Fredrickson, T. L. & Wedel, P. F. (1984). English by newspaper. Boston: Heinle & Heinle. Frendo, E. (2005). How to teach business English. Harlow: Pearson Longman. Gilmore, A. (2004). A comparison of textbook and authentic interactions. ELT Journal, 58(4),

363-374. Hsieh, L. T. (2001). Teaching strategies and applications for newspaper reading. The Proceedings

of the Tenth International Symposium on English Teaching, 402-409. Taipei: The Crane Publishing.

Huang, S. C. J. (2000). Needs analysis for business English – the perspective of working students. Selected Papers from the Ninth International Symposium on English Teaching, 381-392. Taipei: Crane Publishing.

Huang, T. L. (1993). New horizons in English teaching. Taipei: The Crane Publishing. Hutchinson, T. & Waters, A. (1987). English for specific purposes. London: Cambridge

University Press. Itule, B. D. & Anderson, D. A. (1994). News writing and reporting for today’s media. New York:

McGraw-Hill, Inc. Kebbel, G. (1985). Strength of political activity in predicting newspaper use. Newspaper

Research Journal, 6(2), 1. Krashen, S.D. (2001). Free voluntary reading: Still a very good idea. Selected papers from the Tenth

International Symposium on English Teaching, 47-58. Taipei: The Crane Publishing. Krashen, S.D. (2004). The power of reading: Insight from the research. London: Libraries Unlimited. Lougheed, L. (2003). Business correspondence – A guide to everyday writing: Intermediate. Second

Edition. NY: Longman. McKeachie, W. J. (1994). Teaching tips. Toronto: D. C. Health and Company. Morrirson, G. R. & Ross, S. M. & Kemp, J. E. (2001). Designing effective instruction. New York:

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Oxford, R. L. (1990). Language learning strategies. Boston: Heinle & Heinle. Rigg, P. (1991). Whole language in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly 25: 521-42. Robinson, P. (1990). ESP today: A practitioner’s guide. New York: Prentice Hall. Rubin, J. (1997). Learner strategies in language learning. New York: Prentice Hall. Sanderson, P. (1999). Using newspapers in the classroom. London: Cambridge University. Sharples, A. (2005). LCCIEB How to pass English for business: First level. 3rd Ed. Taipei: Global

Wang, Y. C. Catching up with Global Trends

189

workplace consultants Corp. Ltd. Stipek, D. J. (1993). Motivation to learn. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Snyder, B. R. (1971). The hidden curriculum. New York: Knopf. Tsai, M. J. (1998). A course design for business English. The Proceedings of the Seventh

International Symposium on English Teaching, 797-808. Taipei: The Crane Publishing. Tsai, M. J. (2002). The role of motivation in ESPO learning. Proceedings of the Nineteenth

International Conference on English Teaching & Learning in the Republic of China, 421-431. Taipei: The Crane Publishing.

Wilson, G. H. (1983). Curriculum development and syllabus design for English teaching. Singapore: Fong & Sons Printers.

(2003) . 2003507 :

, (1998), 59-80 :

Studies in English for Professional Communications and Applications

(Yi-Ju Chen) (Shih-Jen Huang) (Hui-Chuan Liao)(Shouhua Lin)

106 200 8(02) 2393-4497 (02) 2394-3810

106 200 8TEL:(02) 2393-4497 FAX: (02) 2394-6822 2394-3810

106 200 8TEL: (02) 2393-4497 FAX: (02) 2394-6822407 60-8 5 6TEL: (04) 2317-0216 FAX: (04) 2314-0002802 88 2TEL: (07) 2270-888 FAX: (07) 2270-801

http://www.crane.com.twcrane.book@msa.hinet.net

TEL: (02) 2365-1288010792612010 05350

I S B N 978-986-147-393-2 003-1029