"Dwarves Sitting on the Shoulders of Giants" A (very) BRIEF HISTORY OF TEFL

Basic question: are we teaching a TOOL, a SYSTEM, or a HABIT?

1. The Beginnings of EFL ... or was it ESP/Business English?

• William Caxton's Right good lernyng for to lerne shortly frenssh and englysshe (c.1485)
o it was an English textbook
o Wynken (worked for him) de Worde's A lytell treatyse for to lerne Englysshe and Frensshe
(c.1500)
o Basically, bilingual phrase-books for merchants; model situational dialogues.
o English was tool for them because it connected to business

• Huguenot refugees reach England after 1572: Jacques Bellot's The English Schoolmaster (1580) &
Familiar Dialogues (1586):
o these books were practical
▪ spelling & pronunciation,
▪ basic vocab & paradigms,
▪ dialogues for everyday life.
o English considered "easy" because un-inflected (!).
o Familiar dialogues → English, French, and pronunciation column → ungrammatical
but practical, real-life dialogues

• Early attempts to "fix" the language, often by reference to Latin → they’ve found the language was
too easy, so they borrowed structures from Latin
o Ben Jonson's English Grammar (1640),
o John Wallis's Grammatica Linguae Anglicanae (1653),
o Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language (1755),
▪ Oats: A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland
appears to support the people.
o Robert Lowth's Short Introduction to English Grammar (1762).
o Academics are getting involved, they’re trying to fix the language.
o
2. The Grammar Translation Method
Germany:
• Valentin Meidinger & Johann Fick's Praktische englische Sprachlehre für Deutsche beiderlei
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 Geschlechts (1793).
o They were producing textbooks for secondary schools: intended to make learning easy.
o A carefully planned, rational approach to teaching, based on intelligence and understanding,
treating language primarily as a system:

- Graded structural syllabus; grammar points taught in sequence

- Deductive approach to teaching (from rules to texts)
- Model sentences for examples
- Practice through translation

• Heinrich Ollendorff's New Method of Learning to Read, Write and Speak a Language in Six Months
(1835; English Version 1848)

3. The Reform Movement

• Wilhelm Vietor's Der Sprachunterricht muss umkehren! (~language teaching must change)
(published anonymously in 1882).
o Self-styled (and self-conscious) "movement" which spread through Europe (I.P.A. etc.),
culminating in Henry Sweet's The Practical Study of Languages (1899) and Otto
Jesperson's How to Teach a Foreign Language (1904).
▪ Ideas included:

- Primacy of Oral Approach (you learn a language by speaking it)

- Phonetic script for beginners (you have to recognize how the language looks like)
- Connected text (not separate sentences) for modelling
- Inductive approach to teaching (from texts to rules)
- Monolingual L2 classrooms, except for translation and explanation of new vocabulary &
grammar.

4. The "Direct Method"

• You can learn a language in a natural way → by being exposed to it
• It was led by business → English is something you can sell
• Early versions of the L1=L2 Hypothesis; →learning your first language and the second is very
much the same. – Montaigne (he was being taught Latin and his teacher only spoke Latin)
• Natural method
o Lambert Sauveur and the "Natural Method" in Boston, An Introduction to the Teaching of
Living Languages without Grammar or Dictionary (1874).
o Maximilian Berlitz & Nicholas Joly. 1878>>
 ▪ He set up a school. → The Berlitz formula:
• international franchises,
• young, untrained (= cheap) native-speaker teachers
• using simple, highly standardized method,
• "modular" courses that could be started in one school and continued in
another.
• Absolute monolingualism; repetition forms habit.
• Practical, topic-based syllabus (parts of body, furniture, etc.) (+ using realia)
• Q&A Conversational Technique - "real questions" (“Is this a man? – Yes, it is.”)
• Grammar left out or relegated to self study.

5."Structural Language Teaching 1" - Britain

• Harold Palmer's (ex-Berlitz teacher) "Ideal Standard Programme" in The Scientific Study of
Languages (1917):
o combined Reform Movement ideals with Direct Method experience + Behaviourist
attitudes to psychology: language as a habit.
o 3 main stages:
▪ Orientation: phonetics and "subconscious comprehension."
• learners are exposed to language, they don’t have to produce language here
▪ Drilling & Direct Method Speechwork for accuracy
▪ Skills Development: Reading, Composition, Literature

6. "Structural Language Teaching 2" - America

• Leonard Bloomfield and the "Army Specialized Training Program" ("ASTP") starting in 1943:
15,000 participants, 27 languages... Linguistic Relativism + Behaviorism (=everything is a habit,
and you learn by repetition)

o Progressive Grammatical Structural Syllabus

o Built-in Contrastive Analysis → comparison between the target language and your native
language
o "Senior Instructor" prepares materials & lessons
o Native-speaker "Drill-Master" provides model
▪ he/she says something that others should repeat

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 • This method became business → Leading to "audio-lingual" etc. methods (R. Lado & C. Fries), tape
recorders (instead of drill-master), language labs, Streamline (last of the great structural/behavioral
coursebook series) etc.

7. Towards a "Communicative Approach"

• Most EFL after c. 1750 concentrated on L2 systems, trying to teach accurate and fluent grammar and
pronunciation via either conscious knowledge and/or habit-formation/ drilling.
• "Communicative Language Teaching" brings innovations in two major areas:

o Methodology: see other lectures for radical influence of new (esp. digital) technology,
humanistic philosophy and SLA theories (cognitivism, affective factors etc.). Note also the
spread of humanistic general philosophies of education (John Dewey … Carl Rogers). Result:
shift of focus from "teaching" to "facilitating learning" and methodological emphasis on
task-based learning: "acquisition through motivated practice"; i.e. learning L2 by using it to
achieve real/necessary/desirable aims. Using informational gaps as well.

o Syllabus: spread of "ESP" (English for Special Purposes) and "EST" (English Science and
Technology) (especially in University Service Depts. and private business-oriented language
schools) since 1945 leads to "Needs Analysis" and raises questions such as "What will this
leaner need to talk about?" (answer = "NOTIONS" → find out what learners need) and
"What will s/he need to do with the language?" (answer = "FUNCTIONS" →give
information, complain, describe, warn, etc.). Attempts to create "international syllabus" with
contents translatable into any language leads to e.g. Council of Europe's "Threshold Level"
Categories, which have to be functional/notional ... language treated primarily as a tool.

Classroom Cultures: From Coral Gardens to Learning Networks

Looking at the effect of the classroom on learning but from a new perspective: the complex social life within
it
Breen (1985)
• “I wish to explore the belief that the classroom will have certain effects upon language learning.”
• Two questions (two views of the classroom) – researcher’s and teacher’s
1) Researcher → What are the specific contributions of the classroom to the process of language
development?
2) Teacher → In what ways might the teacher exploit the social reality of the classroom as a
resource for the teaching of language?
 • 3 metaphors for the language classroom
1. The classroom as Experimental Laboratory (Researcher’s point of view) – trying to isolate
variables but ignoring complexity
• Used in SLA research (what happens when linguistic input is given). Linguistic input > learning
outcome + language learning strategies
• this view ignores the intervening variable of learner cognition (ignores what is in the learners’ head)
• it also ignores the situatedness of learning for the learner
2. The classroom as Discourse (Researcher point) – superficial and symbolic
• seeks to describe what actually happens in classrooms through the discourse of classroom
communication
• teachers and learners are active participants
• the classroom is seen as a text which can be read
But:
• how well can the surface text show underlying reality which has generated it? Discourse cannot
reveal the internal dimensions of communication.
• reduces social events to observable features of talk between teacher and learner. It misses out the
participants’ interpretations of the discourse.
“Put simply, the discourse of the classroom does not itself reveal what the teacher and the learners
experience from the discourse.” Breen, p.140 → he says this about the 2 researchers’ view
3. The classroom as Coral Garden (Teachers’ view) – complex social and psychological environment
• We should explore the language classroom as an anthropologist discovering an unknown culture
“Just as gardens of coral were granted magical realities by the Trobriand islanders, a language class –
outwardly a gathering of people with an assumed common purpose – is an area of subjective and
intersubjective realities which are worked out, changed, and maintained. And these realities are not trivial
background to the tasks of teaching and learning a language.” (Breen, p.142) → these have to be taken into
account when talking about classrooms

The first two metaphors are reductive and “neglect the social reality of language learning as it is experienced
and created by teachers and learners” (p.141) and limit learners to passive respondents.

The 8 essential features of the culture of the language classroom

1. Interactive – all its participants are involved in verbal and non-verbal interactions with a high value
placed on consensus whilst a negotiated search for meaning will be the norm. Interaction about the
language as well as well as interaction through the language.
2. Differentiated – in terms of views of language, learning purposes, preferences for how learning
should be done.
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 3. Collective – the culture of the classroom represents a tension between the individual and the group.
Compromise is necessary from individuals and the group in order to make progress.
4. Highly normative – school classrooms are institutions aimed at socialisation of learners. They are
also places where students are evaluated as learners > brings threat of negative evaluation.
5. Asymmetrical – teacher and learners have different knowledge, duties and rights. Harmony is
established by negotiation of rights and duties. There is also asymmetry between different groups
within the class.
6. Inherently conservative – change is resisted as potentially upsetting the established equilibrium.
Each new group reinvents “the rules of the game” for itself and the teacher has to handle innovation
cautiously.
7. Jointly constructed – both the new language and the lesson are jointly constructed. Lessons evolve
through negotiation and “are rarely straightforward journeys” (p.148). Any learning outcomes are
socially mediated.
8. Immediately significant – “how things are done and why things are done have particular
psychological significance for the individual and for the group.” (p.149)

Breen’s conclusions
For the researcher:
“Cautious triangulation has to be married with longitudinal patience ... In essence, we have to critically re-
examine our own assumptions and familiar ways of collecting information.” p.151
For the teacher:
1. “A language class may be a place where the underlying culture of that class can be mobilised and
engaged more overtly.” p.152
2. The culture of the classroom can help the teacher facilitate learning by revealing the process as it
happens and as it is experienced => teacher becomes action research → he/she has to find a way
which works for the class

Prabhu (1992)
Sees the lesson as four different types of event, four dimensions, thus making sense of a complex
phenomenon based on experience:
1. A curricular unit –
• a stage in the implementation of a course, one of a sequence of teaching units. Each lesson is
meant “to represent the completion of a step in the learner’s psycholinguistic development”
(p.226).
• What happens in the lesson → happens in the learner’s mind
• But this is an assumption made for the sake of convenience and does not reflect the learner’s
actual developmental progress.
 2. Implementation of a method –
• A method has a conceptual aspect – a theory of how learning happens – and an operational aspect
– the specification of what should be done in the classroom.
• The focus here is on teaching procedures in relation to a corresponding theory of learning.
• An assumption is made that the theory is valid.
3. A social event –
• A different perspective (not a pedagogical perspective) from the first two but a reality shared by both
teacher and learner.
• lesson = “a routinised social event, with roles and role relationships established by tradition and with
a ritualistic aspect to the actions performed.” (p.228)
• “a set of shared notions about the different phases of a lesson, legitimate and deviant behaviour, the
extent of teacher's authority and learner's right, and duties and obligations on both sides.” (ibid)
• With an essential function – a sense of security → everybody knows where they are and what’s
going on
4. An arena of human interaction –
• Beyond roles and routines, a lesson involves a collection of individuals
• Handling a lesson is a matter of protecting or enhancing one’s self-image for both the teacher and
the learner
• The fiercest “play of personalities” (p.229) are between the learners
• Lessons are about the “elemental, inevitable interactions which occur simply because human beings
are involved” (p.230)

All these dimensions are in conflict – they can help us understand how problems arise
• Pedagogic dimensions and social and personal dimensions of lessons
• Allows us to understand problems that arise in the classroom as conflicts between different
dimensions (e.g., problems with group work)
• Offers a way of ‟perceiving and understanding [conflicts] as the outcome of an interplay of different
forces at work in the classroom.” (p.231) → if we understand the lessons’ personal, social aspects we
understand what’s going on
Prabhu’s conclusion...
• Pedagogic aspects are emphasized at the expense of non-pedagogic aspects
• New procedures result in disturbed balance followed by a new balance, a return to routine, a process
of assimilation → new methods from outside are not effective because when sth new comes in they
return to routine
• Not enough to institute a specific method from outside; the teacher has to be the specialist
• Teachers need to operate “with their own notions or theories of how learning comes about and how
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 the teaching that is being done is bringing it about.” (p.235)
• Rational theory construction - teaching as intellectual exploration is exciting and fulfilling
The lesson as an expression of growth – teachers need to operate with their own set of beliefs and become
practicing theorists, the researchers of their own classrooms

Senior (2009)
Senior (2009) – research on how experienced teachers form bonded groups. Senior suggests that teachers
whose behaviour is both pedagogically and socially oriented take a class-centred approach.
• Based on her own research and findings of general research into group dynamics of groups of adult
learners from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds she describes 10 principles of class group
development
• class-centred teachers have a higher proportion of classes that function in a cohesive manner

Group development principles

1. Creating the climate → right environment, where learners are not judged when making
mistakes
2. Making connections → making connections between the people in the classroom
(icebreakers, warmers)
3. Establishing expectations → in terms of how people work together, creating supportive
groups
4. Convincing the customers → being well prepared
5. Defining directions → they make sure the everybody knows what their purpose
6. Harnessing the headstrong
7. Recognising roles → she values everybody
8. Sustaining solidarity
9. Maintaining momentum → revive interest
10. Formalising farewells → these teachers make sure that there is a clear ending → make the
end of the course memorable and satisfying for learners

More recently, Senior (2010) has looked at how cohesive groups can be formed online as well using the
concept of connectivity. → Web 2.0 dialogue building and social networking tools
How we create cohesive online groups is an urgent question that we are faced with at this particular moment
(the pandemic).

Have you got the energy? - teacher energies and learning groups
THE LESSON AS SOCIAL AND PEDAGOGIC EVENT
Ideal vs. real lessons
Idealized visions of language teaching are often based on the assumption that teaching and learning can be
planned fairly neatly in advance. In reality, however, they are sometimes a very untidy affair. This is
because any class is not just a pedagogic but also a social encounter. It is an event in which “people come
physically together and therefore become subject to the immediate influence of each other’s behavior”
(Allwright 1989; 4 cf. Tudor 2001:43-46).

THE ENERGETIC CLASSROOM

The dynamic nature of classroom learning

The language classroom is also a place where the participants – the students and the teacher – meet and
interact on the basis of potentially different perspectives on the nature and goal of classroom activity. All of
this gives rise to a dynamic tension which builds up and gets released in a way that is often described as the
rhythm of learning in a group.

What is group energy?

• It is difficult to describe the essence of the energy that makes itself felt in any learning group.
Bentley (1994) offers a definition that captures the dynamic nature of the phenomenon and
highlights some essential features:

• “[Group energy] is the moment-to-moment fluctuating (ingadozik) balance of mental, emotional and
physical intensity and vitality that can be felt like a positive or negative electrical charge in the air as
if the group is switched on or off.” (Bentley, 1994, p.23)

• Energy is a raw social force which occurs when adolescents meet and it is created through
interaction.

Suggestions:
• The quality of group energy is crucial for successful classroom interaction
• The flow of energy needs to be managed
• There are different but equally valid forms of personal energy present in class
• We can influence the energy in our classrooms consciously and positively

GROUP ENERGY AND THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER

The need to harmonise group energy

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A bunch of people in a room does not make a group. A group is a “resource pool that is greater in any given
area than the resources possessed by any single member”. (Dörnyei & Malderez, 1997: 66). To operate as a
group, the students’ diverse, sometimes conflicting perceptions and goals need to be harmonised or
aligned.
“When a group of people function as a whole […] a commonality of direction emerges and individuals’
energies harmonise [as] their shared vision becomes an extension of their personal vision” (Senge, 1990,
pp.234-235)

Non-aligned group: wasted energy Aligned group: harmonized energies

Matching challenge and ability: the concept of flow

Correlates the challenge (e.g. cognitive, physical) an individual faces to the level of knowledge and skills
needed to meet it. Individuals experience the (mis)match along a spectrum of emotions:

“… when a person’s body or mind is stretched to

its limits
in a voluntary effort to accomplish something
difficult and worthwhile.”. Csikszentmihály
(1990) → there is motivation and nobody forces
us → this is the flow

Presence and rapport (összhang)

The teacher is one of the key factors that influence the level and flow of energy in a group.
• Presence describes “the unique climate or psychological atmosphere that the teacher creates
(Underhill 1997). → the teacher is a key factor of the classroom events
• Rapport is what gets created when different presences meet. It is the bridge between the teacher
and other individuals in the group and the channel through which they communicate verbally and
non-verbally.

Which influences most the way students experience their classroom groups?
• group
 • teacher → it depends on the teacher’s personality
• other
• methodology

(Which describes group energy the best? → fluctuating

What is not related to aligned groups → wasted)

Teachers’ preferred access points to a group energy field

To build and maintain a group energy field (Heron,1993, p.46) teachers may use personally preferred and
interrelated access points.

EMPATHY
CHALLENGE

INTENSITY HUMOUR
Intensity: ‘I’m hard to ignore’; Striking up a basic tone; I’m coming for you
Humor: Making them laugh; Friendly banter; laughing together
Empathy: No putting on the spot; Auntie work; Sharing something personal
Challenge: Challenging tasks; Tickling ‘the dead fish’; Unpredictable lesson

Teachers have preferred ways, but they use all of them.

Strategies for managing group energy

A teacher can consciously influence and work with the energy in a learning group by
• staying attuned to the energy level present • providing a strong interest to communicate
(check their energy during the class) (information gaps sometimes boring so you
• creating a shared focus of attention have to find something which generates true
• varying forms of student-student interest)
interaction (e.g. different work modes) • making space for students’ ideas
• tapping into different competences (visual,
auditory, etc.)

Multicultural Education: Meeting the Challenges of Multiculturalism

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Multiculturalism is now a demographic reality in many countries. This is why cultural identifiers, such as
ethnicity, social status, religion, gender and home language have become increasingly important for how
people in our societies perceive and relate to each other. One of the dangers in this process is that of
essentialising: people in one culture are seen as essentially different from people in another, i.e. […]
“lumped together as though all are the same under a grossly simplistic, exaggerated and homogenous,
imagined, single culture” (Holliday 2011: 4-5). In this view people typically
- belong to a physical place with evenly spread traits and membership
- are associated with a country and a language
- are seen as mutually exclusive with other national cultures

Multiculturalism
As a philosophy → Multiculturalism is often associated with ‘identity politics’, cultural plurality, and
liberal theory – that all cultures are equal and no one culture is better or superior to another culture.
Expression of culture is considered a human right and cultural plurality is healthy in society.
➔ Multiculturalism is a branch of political philosophy that _ the relationship between cultural diversity
and human freedom and well-being, while offering justifications for accommodating the claims of
cultural minorities in legal and political institutions and public policies.
➔ It is an umbrella term that covers a number of distinct areas, including the study of identity politics,
the politics of recognition, national self-determination and the politics of multinational citizenship
secularism and religious diversity.
Multiculturalism as a Policy
➔ Multiculturalism’s roots lie in the recognition of Human Rights.
➔ Policies concerning multiculturalism focus on addressing issues like:
o the right to expression of religion
o language rights
o equity
o access to education and employment opportunities for all
Multiculturalism as a Demographic Reality
➔ Scholars argue that multiculturalism has always existed citing the cultural plurality of most nations
and ancient civilizations – where people of many backgrounds, religions and cultural practices
existed side by side and interacted for centuries within regional and urban locations.
➔ Currently, the realities of globalization, immigration, migration (through work, study or
otherwise), means that people from a variety of cultures are sharing space in their communities and
workplaces, in their neighborhoods and, of course, their schools.
➔ (London had always been an ethnically diverse city)
Multicultural education
Multicultural education is one positive and systematic response to the challenges posed by our
increasingly multicultural societies. It refers to employing many and varied cross-cultural experiences,
content, methods, strategies and techniques in the classrooms so as to meet the needs of students from
diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, including those with special needs or disabilities, as well as
students who identify with differing gender roles and sexualities.

Multicultural education depends on context

➔ It comes from a context.
➔ Different nations and governments have different approaches concerning multiculturalism based on
their own political and historical contexts.
➔ This means that, for example, practical approaches to addressing multiculturalism issues in post-
apartheid Johannesburg, South Africa vary greatly from approaches to multiculturalism in
Vancouver, Canada; Bangalore, India; Oslo, Norway; or Singapore.

Multicultural Education in the United States

➔ Literature on multiculturalism in the classroom that is available reflects the specific issues of
different places.
➔ For example, much of the literature concerning multiculturalism in the US addresses racism
(specifically in regard to African Americans, Latino culture, Mexican-Americans, and Asian
Americans) prejudice, and inequity.

Multiculturalism in South Africa

➔ In Johannesburg, schools must address the needs of various linguistic groups such as Afrikaans,
English, Venda, Tsonga, Sotho, Xhosa, and Zulu
➔ Teachers must address the historical tensions that students bring to the classroom because of the
diverse but shared backgrounds.
➔ Language is a key component of Multicultural Education

Multiculturalism in Canada
In Canada the focus is often on:
➔ Teaching languages (French and English)
➔ Accommodating to the needs of new immigrants and refugees)
➔ Issues addressing aboriginal cultures
➔ In Canada, multiculturalism is official government policy
➔ The Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Multicultural Act guarantee the right to express one’s
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 culture, speak one’s language and practice one’s religion. (Pierre Trudeau)
Approaches vary
➔ In Canada, policies are often flexible but adhere to specific principles, for example:
o counseling should be made available to students in their mother tongue
o schools should be accessible for people with disabilities
o content taught in classes must not reflect racist beliefs
➔ These policies are then relegated to the provinces or states which are then further relegated to
individual school boards.

Villegas and Lucas (2002) encourage teachers to consider six features when teaching culturally diverse
groups: 1) socio-cultural awareness, 2) a positive attitude toward students from diverse backgrounds, 3)
commitment to change, 4) incorporation of a constructivist view of learning, 5) learning about one’s
students backgrounds, identities, and beliefs, and, 6) incorporation of diverse content and teaching strategies
that meet the needs and identities of all students.
1) Socio-cultural consciousness: realizing that one’s own way of behaving, thinking, and being are
influenced by social context and bias. Teachers should critically reflect on their own identities and
become aware of latent negative attitudes or stereotypes that they have regarding different groups
(p5). Once teachers are aware of their potential biases, they can respond to diversity in the
classroom and be a model for their students.
2) A positive attitude toward students from culturally diverse backgrounds: seeing students’
backgrounds and identities as a positive opportunity, to include more inclusive content, to learn
about and to respect differences as well as add approaches that are related to and reflect the culture
and identities of the students.
3) Commitment to change: teachers must address inequity and inequality in the classroom by
recognizing and changing those things (i.e. course content, approaches, classroom set up) that
perpetuate bias.
• This involves including
• extra-curricular material,
• opportunities for self-regulated learning,
• changing or alternating between teaching approaches, as well as eliminating factors that are a
barrier for students (seating plans, resources, biased material etc.)
4) A constructivist view of learning: the belief that all students are capable of learning. Learning is
linked to personal experiences and promotes
• critical thinking,
• problem solving,
• collaboration,
• as well as the recognition and sharing of multiple perspectives.
 The teacher should…
• create a collaborative problem-solving environment where students become active
participants in their own learning
• act as a facilitator of learning rather than an instructor
• understand students’ pre-existing conceptions
• guide activities to address them and then build on them
5) Learning about students’ past experiences, identities, home and broader culture: provides a
foundation for more inclusive teaching as well as helps build relationships with the students and
students’ families. Differences can be shared among students as well.
6) Incorporating diverse content and teaching strategies: finding and experimenting with diverse
teaching methodologies and resources that reflect the
• interests,
• backgrounds,
• identities and
• cultures of the students.
There are four main approaches to incorporating diverse content and teaching strategies into
multicultural classrooms and curriculum: a) exclusive (contribution), b) inclusive (additive), c)
transformative, and, d) social action:
(Tree picture)
a) Exclusive (Contribution Approach): represents traditional mainstream perspectives of diversity
(Kea et. al. p.6)
• Teaching culture or diversity is restricted to one part of a course – social studies or focus on
one group per week.
• Gender and diverse groups are discussed in relation to stereotypes – female and male roles
are discussed according to traditional roles, characteristics of certain ‘nations’ or
‘ethnicities’ are discussed according to generalities.
• Activities are restricted to the four ‘F’s’: food, folklore, fun and fashion or the two ‘H’s’ –
heroes and holidays – i.e. studying diverse ways of celebrating Christmas.
• Instruction strategies are lecture-based, teacher-centered, and assignments are focused
primarily on content – i.e. memorization of geography or holidays
• Evaluation and exams are objective (multiple choice, fill in the blanks, etc.)

b) Inclusive (Additive Approach): represents a mixture of normative and non-traditional

diversity perspectives ( ibid. p.7-8)
• Adds diversity content but retains traditional teaching structure –interdisciplinary lectures

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 are discussed throughout various courses over the entire year
• Readings reflect various perspectives: i.e. studying cultures from the perspective of various
ethnicities, cultures, genders and even animals
• Wide variety of assessment methods (portfolio, presentation, art, etc.)
• Predominantly teacher-centered but also includes some activities and other teaching
approaches including group work, pair work, presentations, etc.
• Students are encouraged to construct knowledge, use critical thinking skills and work with
‘peer learning’ (learning from and about each other)
• E.g., Ramadan Activity

c) Transformative Approach: represents complete structural transformation

• Challenges traditional views and encourages new ways of thinking and questions the
dominant social and political discourse
• Teacher uses ‘issue-oriented’ approaches and encourages problem-solving (current events,
news, etc.)
• Student-centered with self-evaluation, -analysis and -reflection
• E.g., Rethinking Schools
• E.g., Man: A course of study → it was banned, it went through all the stages of Inuit culture

d) Social Action Approach(/Decision-Making)

• Includes aspects of the transformative approach but also encourages students to become
critical thinkers who are actively and politically involved in social issues.
• Encourages students to question and respond to dominant and existing ideologies,
practices and institutions through:
o Volunteer work; writing letters to government representatives, corporations, organizations,
etc.; contacting the press; collecting money for social causes; active or passive resistance;
and/or protest: Cf. “The power of student-driven learning’ by Shelly Wright (see below)

Villegas and Lucas (2002:9) outlined classroom-based practices that promote the development of
multicultural classrooms:
• Reflective writing, in-class interviews, simulations and games; exploring family histories,
studying case-studies, history from different places;
• All of these have students realize that they belong to several communities at once and each can
 be seen as a distinct culture.

Multicultural Education requires teachers

➔ to take the multicultural context of their classrooms into their own hands and devise ways in which
to solve problems
➔ to work together in teams to solve shared challenges and problems
➔ to continue to expand their own education in terms of learning about other cultures and cultural
practices
➔ to continue to expand their own education by learning from their students
➔ to continue to expand their own education by exposing themselves to new teaching methods and
approaches that can benefit their students

Common Beliefs (Teaching Tolerance) (n.d.) Southern Poverty Law Center, Tolerance.Org (PDF)
1. Multiculturalism in the Modern World: Jen Holladay at TEDxDenverTeachers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5rKgDOs33U
2. Becoming a Culturally Responsive Teacher https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV36efjBKRU
3. Strategies for Teaching Culturally Diverse Students
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPutaPc9gB8
4. The power of student-driven learning: Shelley Wright at TEDxWestVancouverED
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fMC-z7K0r4

17
 No Fluent Fools: The role of culture in ELT
1. A VIEW OF CULTURE (Moran 2001)

“To avoid becoming a fluent fool, we

need to understand more completely
the cultural dimension of language.

Language does serve as a tool for

communication, but in addition it is a
’system of representation’ for
perception and thinking”

(Bennett, 1997).

A view of culture
➔ Figure → All aspects are connected.
➔ We are exposed to and regulated by the culture that we were born into. → and we are individuals as
well.

2. WHY IS IT DIFFICULT TO COMMUNICATE SUCCESSFULLY ACROSS CULTURES?

Caught in our cultural background → 5 factors
• limited shared knowledge • basic human concepts but • a deeply engrained
about facts, people and places different meanings, values disposition to (over)
(no cold call zone) or scope (eating) generalise and judge
• false expectations: taking things • faulty inferences: from (csaptelep)
for granted (old man and lady) behaviours to causes
(Yemen)
Neither here nor there
Learning a second culture also involves acculturation, the process of leading to adjustment to non-native
cultural patterns (Damen, 1987, pp. 140-141). Successful acculturation depends on factors such as social
background, personality of the individual and the perceived difference between the home and a target
culture.
(Fire metaphor → when you visit another fire)
3. BEYOND THE COMMUNICATIVE PARADIGM

Who’s a native speaker anyway?

English less used as a means of communication with speakers from ‘target culture’ and more with large
numbers of English speakers from a variety of linguistic and cultural backgrounds. “The rise of English as
an international language of research, business and industry has dissociated native speakership of English
from its traditional geographic locations. English has become the lingua franca between people who don’t
speak each other’s national languages” (Kramsch 1998).

Why communicative competence in EFL is not enough

• based on a description of how native speakers speak to each other
• does not take into account what is required for successful communication between people of
different cultural origins (Byram 1997)

mono- intercultural
lingual/cultural speaker
speaker language-as-culture learning
continuum

The 'intercultural speaker' construct

Native/non-nativeness becomes less important if a learner's communicative competence is put into the wider
context of intercultural competence as the ultimate instructional goal in foreign language learning.
Requires a different construct of the communicatively and culturally competent language user and a
different pedagogy: Kramsch (1998) and Byram/ M. Fleming (1998:9) suggest a pedagogy which would be
based on the construct of the intercultural speaker:

"someone who has knowledge of one or, preferably, more cultures and social identities and has the
capacity to discover and relate to new people from other contexts for which he has not been prepared
directly."

4. INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE = LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY PLUS…

IC viewed as an extension of communicative competence (Bennett/Bennett 2004; Beneke 2000; Fantini
2005; CEF)
• the ability to communicate effectively in cross-cultural situations and to relate appropriately in a
19
 variety of cultural contexts
• to a large extent the ability to cope with one’s own cultural background in interaction with others

The literature usually refers to four dimensions or ‘savoirs’ of intercultural competence:

KNOWLEDGE savoirs - SKILLS savoir-faire - ATTITUDES savoir-être - AWARENESS savoir

s’engager

Language learners with an increasing intercultural communicative competence would

• aim to become proficient users of English
• develop an understanding of the identities and cultures they are interacting with
• become aware of their own identity and culture, and of how they are perceived by others
• learn to establish relationships between their own and other cultures by mediating and accepting
differences and recognizing similarities

4. THE CLASSROOM PRACTICE OF INTERCULTUALLY ORIENTED TEACHERS

Such teachers "will not expect to know and teach everything about a specific society and its culture(s).
They will place more emphasis on developing their learners’ and their own awareness of the nature of
intercultural interaction, and the skills and competences which allow them to relate to cultural difference”
(Byram/Fleming 1998:9; Kramsch 1998:7). In practice, this would mean:
• focus rather than ‘cover’ content
• create memorable cultural classroom experiences
• choose a coursebook that satisfies cultural criteria (cf. Byram 2007) (for example, British
Lifestyles)
• practice transferable cultural skills (e.g., ‘limited inferencing’- Brown 1991)
• notice and grab ‘cultural moments’ (unplanned opportunities for cultural learning in class)
(penfriend)
• encourage ‘ethnographic’ attitudes to culture → notice how people sit, body language, what is it
like to sit on a bus
• use translation purposefully (‘language surfing’ to explore the cultural boundaries of language) →
trying to translate somlói galuska for example.

Lived experience is important → staying with host families → intercultural learning → take notes about
their hosting family.
 The Lexical Approach or the sad story of the dead rabbit

Substitution table/drill → hundreds of possible sentences can be created with the help of this chart.
I’ll see what I can do → making a weak promise. It is extremely common. It is a lexical chunk.

A) Characteristics of the Lexical Approach

Lexical Approach
• LA concentrates on developing learners' proficiency with lexis, or words and word
combinations.
• It is based on the idea that an important part of language acquisition is the ability to
comprehend and produce lexical phrases as unanalyzed wholes, or "chunks.
o (These chunks become the raw data by which learners perceive patterns of language
traditionally thought of as grammar)
• Only a minority of spoken sentences are entirely novel (újszerű) creations. This was derived from
Corpus linguistics, which is the study of language as expressed in samples (corpora) or "real
world" text.

• Natural language learning → patterns comes first.

• Unemployed is a word, out of work is a chunk.
• out of work → as a non-native you have to learn this
• Collocation ~ Chunk

Collocations
• “Collocation is the readily observable phenomenon whereby certain words co-occur in
natural text with greater than random frequency. Instead of words, we consciously try to think
of collocations, and to present these in expressions. Rather than trying to break things into ever
smaller pieces, there is a conscious effort to see things in larger, more holistic, ways.”
(Underlined words → collocations)
(Lewis,M. (1997) Implementing the lexical approach: Putting theory into practice. Hove, England: Language
Teaching Publications.)

• Collocations are arbitrary (önkényes), decided only by linguistic convention. (Bus stop)
• They are also idiomatic, very often their meaning cannot be derived from their constituent parts.
(level crossing, heavy smoker, by the way, that’ll do, we get on quite well) (these are native
speaker innovations)

21
 • Collocations differ to what extent their meaning is removed from the literal meanings of their
constituent parts, i.e. in their idiomaticity.

• Very and absolutely → there are strong adjectives (brilliant with absolutely) and gradable
(very)).
• Blocked collocations → fresh air and open air → you cannot mix them up)
• De-lexicalized words → take, get, be, have, make, do … → they don’t have a meaning without a
context.
• Collocational field → the verbs mentioned above have a huge collocational field whereas shrug
has a tiny one. Bad has a huge collocational field, i.e. it can co-occur more or less freely with a
lot of words whereas rancid has a small one.
• Certain words cannot be differentiated by meaning, they can only be differentiated by their
collocational field. See speak, tell, say.

• “Language consists of grammaticalized lexis, not lexicalized grammar”

o Collocation is the most powerful force in combining words. What we call “grammar” is
on a continuum of more or less generative collocations.
Lewis,M. (1993) The Lexical Approach. Hove: Language Teaching Publications p.34)
Types of chunks/collocations
• words (e.g., book, pen)
• polywords (e.g., by the way, upside down)
• word partnerships (e.g., community service, absolutely convinced)
• institutionalized utterances (e.g., I'll get it; We'll see; That'll do; If I were you .)
• sentence frames and heads (e.g., That is not as . . . as you think; The fact/suggestion/problem/danger
was . . .)
• text frames (first of all…., secondly….., finally…., on the one hand… on the other hand…)

The sediment approach to grammar:

• Thornbury →sediment→ first there was vocabulary → collocations became grammar (they
solidified)
Colligation
• Colligation is the way a word regularly co-occurs with a (grammatical) pattern, in other words it
denotes the word and its grammatical environment. Each word has its own “grammar”.
Examples: He passed HIS driving test” He insisted on moving out.
Advantages of having a large repertoire of formulaic language or collocational competence
• Better prediction when listening and reading – enhanced speed, increased fluency
• Better production when speaking and writing – increased fluency. Chinks save processing time.
• More accurate and more economical expression of meaning. Her disability will last until she dies
vs. She has a permanent disability.
• Grammar for free! Chunks bring their own grammar with them. If I were you I’d…
• Improved pronunciation! The language of foreigners is slow and clumsy because we often try to
fabricate our sentences word by word.
• Chunks save processing time
• Listening, reading – better prediction, texts are not difficult because of unrecognized words but
because of a great density of unrecognized collocations
• Speaking and writing, faster production – increased fluency, more accurate negotiation of meaning.
• Brain has huge storage capacity
• Grammar for free – chunks bring their grammar with them……
• Pronunciation for free – chunks bring their rhythm and intonation pattern with them, using chunks
increases fluency.

B) Implications for teaching/learning

Translation as a language learning tool is out
• With premature translation we ask learners to fabricate English sentences whereas they
cannot be fabricated.
• It encourages negative learner habits like translating from one’s own language instead of thinking
in the target language.
• Translation is a separate skill that has to be taught at very high levels when a lot of chunks are
available to the translator in both languages.

Vocabulary lists with L1 equivalents are out

It is best to link vocabulary items to
C) reality, F) sample sentences/linguistic context,
D) perceptions, G) collocational field.
E) definitions,
Monolingual dictionaries should be introduced gradually but as early as possible, the process should
start at pre-intermediate level.

23
Value of learner creativity is questioned
Learner creativity is not rewarded at exams. Although collocations change very fast, they are controlled
by the native speaker community. Learner creativity should start at the level of combining chunks.

Rote learning is back (learning by heart)

Fluent language use requires a large amount of over-learnt chunks.
Collocations memory, jigsaw
Gapped reading
Correcting text
Reconstructing text
Dictation
Copying – off-the wall-dictation
Drills
Learning by heart, songs, poetry, tongue
twisters, proverbs, etc.
Huge amounts of input
Intensive and extensive listening and reading in the target language so that chunks re-appear in various
linguistic and social contexts and therefore are re-enforced.

Raising awareness
Noticing and recording language patterns and collocations
Observe-Hypothesize-Experiment, as opposed to the traditional Present-Practice-Produce paradigm.

Working with language corpuses, collocation dictionaries, etc.

British National Corpus

Teacher is language model and input provider

C) Criticism
• St output is undervalued (RJ)
• There is no methodology or syllabus (Thornbury)
• Learning time is limited, grammatical structures are often generative (Swan)
• Decisions about which collocations to include at which level are difficult.
• Accuracy is back in a more wicked way.

Rabbit example → ha a language machine → összerakhatom a szavakból, de ha élőlény, akkor

már nem tudom összerakni, ha szétszedtem.

A Square Peg in a Round Hole? – Spoken Genres in the ELT Classroom

1. Definitions: what is genre?

(Rock, Metal, Classical, Folk, Electronic, Alternative, etc.)

• Swales (1990): “a class of communicative events, the members of which share some set of
communicative purposes.”

25
 • Hyland (2008):
Genre “is based on the idea that members of a community usually have little difficulty in recognising
similarities in the texts they use frequently and are able to draw on their repeated experiences with
such texts to read, understand and perhaps write them relatively easily.”
o Discourse community → every text presupposes a corresponding community.

• Martin (1992): Genres are staged, goal-oriented, purposeful social processes.

• Staged: a genre is staged as the meanings are made in steps; it usually takes more than one
step for participants to achieve their goals. → could be separated into small meaningful units
• Goal oriented: a genre is goal oriented in that texts typically move through stages to a point
of closure and are considered incomplete if the culmination is not reached. → achieving a
communicative goal
• Social process: genres are negotiated interactively and are a realization of a social purpose. →
all happen in interpersonal situations

2. Why genre in ELT? Different understandings of grammar

• Two traditional interpretations of grammar in ELT:
a. mental grammar: a mental system which is cognitive constituent of the brain (Chomsky 1980)
o we were born with an innate capacity to acquire and learn languages, thus it is part of our
mental system
o we can recognize and store these grammatical rules (this is the cognitive constituent)

b. descriptive grammar: a set of rules (Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, & Svartvik, 1985)
o classical, systematic classification of English grammar
o syntactic, part of speech categories, etc.
o in this approach we can categorise on levels (sentence, etc.)

• Problems with these two: despite their importance in language instruction, they leave a narrow scope
for linguistic analysis (we want our learners to analyse what they’re learning)→

c. functional grammar: Genre theory is a component of functional grammar. It focuses on

grammatical composition grounded in the functional concept of the nature of language.
According to the functional concept, language is viewed not only as a linguistic system but also as
a means for doing things. Most of our everyday language use involves functional activities:
offering, suggesting, advising, apologizing, etc. → more beneficial for ELT practitioners
 (Halliday, 1985; Martin, Matthiessen, & Painter, 1997).
o language is not just simply a linguistic system
o it is a tool for getting things done as we speak → functional activities
o by saying “Can I help you?” → you volunteer to do something → and this is a functional
activity

3. What benefits are there of a genre-based approach in EFL?

3.1. It reflects communicative language teaching: analyses of both formal and functional aspects
of language in social and cultural contexts: language, content, context of discourse production,
interpretation (Paltridge, 2001) → so it is not just language but context, content (it is within a
larger context) and interpretation of meaning
3.2. Language teaching through authentic situations: learners actively practise doing things
with language. Possible learner roles: receiver (listener), processor (as a listener you don’t have
to react, but → negotiate meaning; process the information) and producer. Chances to respond to
diverse situations → skills for successful communication in different discourse communities
(Swales, 1990)
3.3. Close relationship with the theory of register: helpful in text-based and literature-based ELT
→ learners distinguishing between literary genres and demonstrating how meaning is created
through language (Hyland, 2008)
3.4. Combined with theory of register: great contribution to the teaching and learning of
productive skills. Language as social event → speaking and writing are linked to power,
gender, age, and geography
3.5. In ESP (English for Specific Purposes): constructing texts that are also in agreement with
discipline-specific situations (Hyland, 1990; 2004) (e.g. a job interview, hotel room reservation)
3.6. Learners can grasp pragmatic meaning from spoken narratives: phrases of chronological
order (Initially, At first, Then), discourse markers to introduce (Now ...) or delay topics (... OK ...
erm ...); conversational strategies:
• to maintain harmony
• to save face (avoid embarrassment, avoid having to apologise)
• to avoid conflict, etc.
➔ politeness functions

4. What is in the focus of teaching spoken genres in the ELT classroom?

27
 o Oral text types from the EFL classroom: 1AC (first affirmative constructive), 1NC (first negative
constructive) …, rebuttal speech
o Teacher-initiated response: IRF (Initiation-Response-Feedback) Sequence:
o Question → answer → acknowledgement
o (Labov) Spoken narrative: Abstract → Orientation → Complication → Evaluation → Resolution
→ Coda (The fighter girl’s story)
o Genres are staged (3rd approach)

Features Spoken Texts tend to:

Discourse 􀁴 be produced in context with the listener
Level 􀁴 be produced in conjunction with other
(context and speakers
organization) 􀁴 have repetition, reformulation, and refinement
between speakers
Grammar 􀁴 use simple and short clauses with little elaborate
and Sentence embedding
Level 􀁴 have a high incidence of coordinated clauses (and, but)
􀁴 have indicators of interpersonal dynamics (tag questions,
interruptions, unfinished clauses) and indication of presence
of speaker (first person pronouns)
Lexis and 􀁴 have low lexical density
Word Level 􀁴 use general vocabulary and more idioms
􀁴 use terms dependent on the context (this one, that one, it)

5. Genre and context awareness activities for the classroom (Millard 2011)
• text purpose audience activities
• genre and discourse activities
• problem-solution activities
• spoken vs. written language activities
 The Teacher as Preacher – The Teacher as Facilitator

• Transmission mode of education → believes that the main aim of education is to pass on knowledge
(this is the role of the teacher) → frontal setup → jug and mug view of education
o lecturer role
• Fishbowl (inner and outer circle) → teacher is an observer here
o facilitator role
• Synergy → 1+1+1 > 3 →1s → individuals → you can learn a lot in groups (social skills, etc.)
o as a facilitator you believe in this
• The power of questions → closed (tunnel metaphor) and open (What do you think about…?)
• As a facilitator teacher you have to know about the types of questions →
o Focusing questions (focusing attention: What is the main topic today?)
o Comprehension questions (you understood the text)
o Clarification questions (what he/she meant by that and you repeat it)
o Concept questions (it is related to teaching grammar)
o Thinking questions (open-ended questions) (some teacher use them as exit-questions)
o Probing questions (gets students go deeper Can you give us an example?)
o Display questions (What’s the past form of go?)
o Leading questions (Why aren’t you paying attention? → my assumption is that you didn’t pay
attention)
Facilitator’s Toolbox: a wide range of work modes and activity types
• Mingle (market place activity) → Why did this picture choose me?
• Group Challenge → Picture cover-up → Can you come up with ideas? → guessing
• Cross-over groups → Scene from a film → using visuals, plot? title? setting? → students pass their
ideas
• Random round → Group picnic → My name is Margit and I’m brining some melons. (name learning
activity)

Historical background
• Carl Rogers (1902-1987) was the first who used this term.
o he was a therapist
o Freedom to Learn
o Father of humanistic education → he believed that the conditions have to be right
o Teachers need to:
▪ free curiosity → let students ask questions, encourage them to do so
29
 ▪ Unleash a sense of inquiry
▪ Encourage questioning and exploration
1 John Dewey and the primacy of experience

Dewey believed that education is not fundamentally the transmission of knowledge, but rather it is the …’
intelligently directed discovery of the meanings inherent in ordinary experience’ (Dewey 1938:35).

Implications for the teacher: intelligent direction giver - works with students’ experience

2 Abraham Maslow and humanistic psychology

Humanistic psychologists believe that in every person there is a strong desire to realize his or her full
potential, to reach a level of self-actualization. Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) was one of the founders of
humanistic psychology.

Implications for the teacher: needs to create opportunities for learning, remove ‘learning blocks’ - the desire
to learn, develop is innate.

3 Carl Rogers and humanistic education

“When I have been able to transform a group … into a community of learners, then the excitement has been
almost beyond belief. To free curiosity, to permit individuals to go charging off in new directions dictated by
their own interest, to unleash the sense of inquiry, to open everything to questioning and exploration … -
here is an experience I can never forget.” (Rogers 1983:120)

Core qualities of a facilitator according to Rogers:

a) genuineness: means being yourself, not playing a role in front of your learners; Rogers sometimes
referred to this quality as authenticity, and yet other times as congruence.
b) acceptance: means prizing the learner, prizing her feelings, her opinions her person Rogers
sometimes referred to this quality as unconditional positive regard. It implies a basic trust, a belief
that this other person is fundamentally trustworthy. → He made a difference between accepting
someone’s behaviour and personality. You respect and accept everyone.
c) empathy, or empathic understanding: being able to put yourself into someone else’s shoes “This
kind of understanding is sharply different from the usual evaluative understanding which follows the
pattern of ‘I understand what is wrong with you.’ (ibid, p. 125) → don’t forget that students
 sometimes feel anxious

Facilitation in the classroom context

1 Adrian Underhill’s framework of lecturer, teacher, facilitator (Underhill 1996):

• lecturer – subject matter knowledge is the most important
• teacher – subject matter knowledge is important, but you realise that methodology is important as
well
• facilitator – subject, methodology +1
o +1 is process orientation
▪ means that you’re focusing on everybody’s feelings (Is anyone feeling angry?)
▪ How can I best guide the learning process?
• How can I help my learners to feel safe?
• How can I help them to remember?
• How does each activity affect students’ energy levels?
o and being aware of your ‘presence’

presence: The unique psychological climate or atmosphere that a teacher creates in the classroom (Underhill
1997). (It is as unique as your fingerprint) It is influenced by
• personal qualities (patience, warmth, confidence or spontaneity)
• voice, posture, gestures and other forms of body language
• teaching methods used

Two types of professional development

• horizontal development: refers to a kind of teacher development which means ’more of the same’,
e.g. more subject knowledge or expertise. It doesn’t challenge your underlying values and
assumptions.
o more of the same type of learning

• vertical development: consists of a shift in underlying values and assumptions of the process of
learning, e.g. e.g. expanded or new methodology based on a deeper understanding of learning
o you’re also paying more attention to methodology or the +1

2 Earl Stevick: relationships in the classroom and group dynamics

31
"Success depends less on materials, techniques and linguistic analysis,
and more on what goes on inside and between people in the classroom.“ → the relationships in the
classroom matter → there has to be a good connection between students and the teacher → RAPPORT

“... a language class is an arena in which a number of private universes intersect one another. Each person is
at the center of his or her own universe of perceptions and values, and each is affected by what the others do
...”

Implications for teacher:

“The trick for the teacher is … to provide just the right amount of learning space. If there is too little, the
students will be stifled. If there is too much, the students will feel that the teacher has abandoned him.”
Stevick (1980)

The teacher as facilitator: skills, beliefs and qualities

A facilitating teacher
• is good at classroom management → different types of activities, groupwork, getting attention back
(hands-up signal)
• uses a variety of work modes → toolbox
• is a good listener and a keen observer → during a conversation, the teacher listens to the content as
well, observe students’ feelings
• believes in learner autonomy → e.g. when I make a project work I believe in that students can do that
task
• trusts the potential of the group → 1+1+1
• sees group interaction as a way of learning
• is sensitive to group dynamics → if the energy is low, he/she tries to raise it; if students are
overexcited tries to calm them down
• unlocks the power of questions → uses different types of questions
• works with a process-sensitive methodology
Recap:
• Need to unleash a sense of inquiry (Rogers)
• Needs genuineness, acceptance, empathy (Rogers)
• Process orientation, self-awareness (Underhill)
• Sensitivity to group dynamics (Stevick)
 ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO ASSESSMENT AND FEEDBACK

Evaluation: observation and measurement of the effectiveness of a lesson or a course.

Assessment: is the measurement of a learner’s degree of attainment of (linguistic) competence.
• Assessment involves pen and paper tests but also many other instruments.
• Assessment can be carried out by teachers or by learners and their peers.

Types and aims of tests

• to see which group a student should be placed in according to his or her level of knowledge
• to decide what certain group of students needs to learn, revise and practice in a course, semester or a
year
• to measure and compare students’ global competence in a given language or other subject
• to measure students’ achievement typically at the end of a unit, or at the end of a stage of instruction

A test is a formal or informal method of measuring students’ knowledge and/or abilities in a given area. A
test inevitably samples performance but infers certain general competence on the basis of the sampled
performance (Brown, 2007).
• Placement test: to see which group a student should be placed in according to level
• Diagnostic test: to see what a certain group of students needs to learn / practice (you diagnose your
group like a doctor)
• Achievement or progress test: to measure students’ achievement at the end of a unit / course
• Proficiency test: to measure and compare students’ global competence in a given language or other
subject (Brown, 2007)
What makes a good achievement test?
• validity – the test measures what it is intended to measure
• practicality – the test has to be practical regarding financial limitations, time constraints, ease of
administration, and scoring and interpretation → you don’t want to spend 2 weeks correcting the tests
• reliability – the score will be the same or very similar if the test is taken at an another time or if it is
corrected by someone else; it is consistent and dependable
• advance preparation – teacher can raise awareness of test-taking strategies, lower anxiety, help
students prepare for tests, the teacher informs students about what to expect → if you don’t tell them
what will be in the test then you don’t test what you should test
• face validity – the students feel that the test measures what it is supposed to measure → similar to
validity, but it is the students’ perspective

33
 • principle of authenticity – the language used in the test is natural, authentic and provides a familiar
context → if you test a grammar structure you should use a familiar vocabulary
• washback effect – the effect the corrected test has on the learners (positive or negative) → it can
motivate or demotivate students
o sometimes, when they can learn from their mistakes it is good
o if there is not enough information about what was wrong, they won’t learn from their mistakes
(Brown, 2007, pp. 251-257, pp. 270-272)

Problems with tests →

• if there are always bad results
• test is testing other things
• one grade is not good
• when teachers do not give a plus or a grade on classroom activity
• when teachers don’t give enough information about the mistakes, there’s no feedback
• selective correction→ students don’t feel it is fair if their work isn’t
Negative connotations appreciated
associated with traditional
tests and testing o fear of failure, stress
o one-off possibility to show what you know
Stress, fear of failure, one-off o unpleasant surprises (unexpected or too difficult questions,
possibility to show what you
strange design, unfamiliar context, etc.)
know, not designed the way you
expected the test to look like, o no or little information about what was right
unpleasant surprises, too
difficult questions, humiliation, o not enough information about what was wrong and why and
seems more like punishment how things could be improved
than a fair chance to prove that
you have made progress, etc. o seems more like punishment than a fair chance to prove that
you made progress
o you don’t get assessed in areas where you can do well

• School report → he didn’t feel it was fair → it is up to the teacher what the final grade will be
• Einstein’s fish example → we should use differentiated grading, we should differentiate
Needs for changes
• Language testing, generally associated with formal assessment procedures such as tests and
examinations carried out at specified times and serving a variety of purposes, is a vital component of
instructional language programmes throughout the world…
• Nevertheless, educators and critics from various backgrounds have raised a number of concerns about
its usefulness as the primary measure of student achievements.
• Traditional testing techniques are often incongruent with current second/foreign language classroom
 practices.
• Rich, descriptive information about the products and, more importantly, about the process of learning
and the ongoing measurement of student growth needed for formative assessment and for planning
instructional strategies cannot be gathered by conventional testing methods.
• A communicative approach to language teaching is more likely to be adopted when the test at the end
of a course of instruction is itself communicative. A test can be powerful instrument for effecting
change in the language curriculum. (Weir, 1990).
• …tests can be useful for collecting information about student achievement under certain restricted
conditions, but they’re not particularly useful for collecting information about students’ attitudes,
motivation, interests, and learning strategies. (Genesee and Hamayan, 1994)

Reconsidering the aims of assessment

Assessment can be undertaken for different purposes:
• to help the teacher’s planning of further classroom work based on information gathered about
learners’ progress over a period of time (formative assessment)
• to measure and document learner achievement to feed into externally imposed record-keeping
(summative assessment) → measures the learners’ achievement on the basis of performance → minimum
number of grades that you have to register, but you can give more → with more grades we can make
continuous assessment
• to give grades as expected by the school, learners, and the parents
• to fill the register as expected by the school / the authorities
• to focus on mistakes/difficulties /weaknesses
• to indicate strengths / achievements
• to motivate/encourage learners
• to give content feedback → if there’re too many grammar mistakes we have to find something that we
can appreciate (→ content)
• to help learners assess their own progress over time (self-assessment)
• to keep track of learners’ progress on a regular basis (continuous assessment)

Changes in content, format, marking criteria and attitudes:

The content of language tests has become broader with more emphasis on sub-skills involved in listening,
speaking, reading and writing. In the communicative era tests tend to focus on the learner’s ability to
extract meaning and to convey messages in both written and oral performance. Tasks have become more
life-like, and marking criteria focus on aspects of communicative language use in addition to the traditional
criteria (Hedge, 2000, pp. 382-384).

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Alternative approaches to assessment

Evaluation is integral to teaching

“While tests can be used as a bolt-on procedure at end-points

in a learning programme, assessment is integral to the whole
process of teaching and learning. It is the means by which
students’ language learning development and achievement are
monitored over time” (Hedge, 2000, p. 376).

Alternative assessment is usually taken to mean assessment procedures which are less formal than
traditional testing, which are gathered over a period of time rather than being taken at one point in time,
which are usually formative rather than summative in function, are often low-stakes in terms of
consequences, and are claimed to have beneficial washback effects (Alderson and Banerjee, 2001).

Feedback
Feedback is information that is given to the learner about his or her performance of a particular learning task,
usually with the objective of improving this performance (Ur, 1991). Any meaningful feedback is going to
involve judgment.
How can we ensure that feedback is useful and supportive?

by making the attitude to feedback more positive,

by ensuring that feedback does not only focus on what was wrong,
by suggesting ways to improve things,
by discussing and accepting that mistakes are a natural part of learning,
by clarifying that the purpose is to promote the learning process.

Some examples for alternative (formative) assessment methods

• observation-driven assessment that focuses on both language and content, a teacher’s diary-type record
of learners’ achievements and weaknesses, also known as learner profiles;
• portfolios kept by the learners themselves that contain samples from a variety of the learners’ work
(compositions, drawings, notes, pictures, audio or video-recordings, project results, etc.), discussed with
and always made available for inspection for both the learners themselves and the teacher;
• learners’ personal diaries, similarly to the portfolio, contain samples of the learners’ work, help
document the learning process and encourage continuous self-assessment;
• projects, debates, role-plays, dramatizations, etc. evaluated by self, peers, and/or the teacher;
• tests that actually give real feedback with narrative evaluation to encourage learners and help them see
their strengths in addition to their areas for improvement (Hedge, 2000; Tsagari, 2004)
• gamification, meaning game elements used in classroom assessment (fun points, trophies)
Exam question → List 3 methods of alternative (formative) assessment and describe them briefly.
 If you can’t beat them, join them - Using technology in and outside of the language classroom
• We have to be aware of students’ needs regarding the technology, because we can work with them
easier if we know about their needs.
• Evolution of the desk → video
1. Learners, metaphors, generation,
• learners’ expectations: digital natives (generations x, y , z & alpha) vs digital immigrants
(Prensky, 2001))
o Digital natives → ‘… are all “native speakers” of the digital language of computers, video
games and the Internet’.
o Digital immigrants → ‘… always retain to some degree, their “accent” (when speaking a
digital language)’
• visitors and residents (White, D. S., & Le Cornu, A., 2011)
o this is the metaphor of ‘place’
o visitor →
❖ use the web for a particular purpose
❖ unlikely to have any form of persistent profile online
❖ see the web as a set of tools which deliver or manipulate content
o resident →
❖ see the web as a place – a proportion of their lives is actually lived out online
❖ they are likely to consider that they ‘belong’ to a community which is located in
the virtual
❖ see the web primarily as a network of communication and they live their life there
• generation factor (baby boomers » alpha)
o z → 20’s
o y → 30’s
o x →40’s
o baby boomer → 50’s, 60’s
• Clash of generations
o OK boomer → “rallying cry for millions of fed-up kids”. The phrase crossed over into the
mainstream, when 25-year-old New Zealand lawmaker used it in response to heckling
during a speech on the climate crisis.
o climate crisis means something else for a 60 old and a 20 old
2. A short history of using technology in the language classroom:
• tape recorders, language laboratories, video players (1960,70s)

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 • CALL1: respond to stimuli, text reconstructions, individual tasks, CD-ROMs (1980s)
• ICT2 (Internet, computer programmes, web-based tools, TELL3 (1990s)

▪ Web 1.0: one-way distribution, largely flat, static use, source of information, mostly “read-only
web”, mostly “published content”
▪ Web 2.0: two-way process, a fully-fledged computing platform, mostly “read-write web”, “mostly
user-generated content (UGC), social websites, e-learning: blended and online courses (VLE4),
synchronous and asynchronous communication tools
o Web 1.0 = Personal Website / Web 2.0 = Blog
o Web 1.0 = Britannica Online / Web 2.0 = Wikipedia
▪ Web 3.0 (The future): semantic web, artificial intelligence, 3D graphics, connectivity, ubiquity

3. New pedagogies
• Education 1.0
o Learners as receptacles of knowledge
1. Receiving
2. Responding
3. Regurgitating
• ‘Education 2.0’
• permits interactivity (T-St; St-St, St- content/expert)
• focuses on the three Cs – Communicating, Contributing, and Collaborating
• constructivist learning environments
• knowledge construction is emphasized over knowledge reproduction
• thoughtful reflection on experience is encouraged
• ‘Education 3.0’ (The future)
• a different set of Cs: Learners as Connectors, Creators, Constructivists
• self-determined learner rather than “doing” learning as facilitated by the educator
• teachers, learners, networks, connections, media, resources, tools create a unique entity that
has the potential to meet individual learners’, educators’, and even societal needs
• ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill
• decision-making is itself a learning process

1
CALL= Computer Assisted Language Learning
2
ICT= Information and Communication Technologies
3
TELL=Technology Enhanced Language Learning
4. Online teaching and learning (definitions)
• E-learning
• Distance learning
• Online learning
• Blended learning
• Virtual Learning environment (Learning Management System)
• Online classes and webinars
• Videoconferencing tools
What kind of expertise does a teacher need for online classes?
• Careful design of activities
o instructions should be more spelled out
o less scaffolding is possible
o encourage student autonomy
o more design happens before than during the course
• Teacher presence
o Cognitive
o Social → social communication channels to maintain interactions
o Facilitatory → mentoring the students
• Assessment
o (The most challenging part for an institution used to face-to-face oral or written exam)
o a continuous assessment model must be adopted
o make self-regulation a part of the assessment, (e.g. self-reflections or portfolios)
o planning self-paced, asynchronous activities (always within a pre-defined timeline) as part of
the students’ learning process
o indicate clear ways of assessing students’ participation.
▪ shift the focus onto students responsible for their own learning
5. Some examples for ICT tools:
a) Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) (a large board with a special software)
• strengths (e.g.: a great number of interactive activities; special pen – write over images, highlight
things, etc.)
• weaknesses (e.g.: too few tasks readily available, time-consuming to create tasks, promotes frontal
teaching and teacher-centredness, used more for teaching sciences-visualisation, many of the
activities can be done with online tools)

4
VLE=Virtual Learning Environment
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 b) Online tools
• When used to supplement in-person teaching in and out of the classroom
o developing vocabulary
o developing language skills
o fostering group cohesion
• When used in online teaching as the main medium of teaching
o all areas of teaching and class management

6. mLearning (mobile learning)

• with the help of any handheld devices (not only mobile phones)
• on the move or within the classroom
• content from a wide range of sources: apps, Internet (vocabulary flashcards, podcasts, videos), materials
produced by students, etc.
• informal learning

Advantages of mLearning
• Level of engagement
• Amount of language generated
• Sense of ownership

Ways of implementing mLearning

• Class sets (tablet, mobile phone own by the school)
• Hybrid (part of the devices are students’ and others provided by the school)
• BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)
• students bring to class technology they already own and use out of school
• School provides support and infrastructure (wifi)
• Arguments against BYOD →
• Devices and hardware
❖ ‘Haves’ and ‘have nots’
❖ Tech support for the different devices?
❖ (Equal) access to reliable Wi-Fi
❖ Devices charged?
• Safety
❖ Cyberbullying
❖ Access to inappropriate content
 • Classroom management
❖ Class time spent on
▪ social media
▪ texting
▪ accessing inappropriate content
mLearning activities:
• Quiz – Are you addicted to your mobile phone?
o Do you check your phone immediately on waking up?
o Do you check your phone before going to sleep?
o ~ regulary?

(Just because you can doesn’t mean you should! → have a reason for using them)

7. The Five ’Ws’ for using technology (Stanley, 2011)

• Why use the technology?
• Who is the technology best for?
• What is the technology best used for?
• Where should it be used?
• When should the technology be used?
+
• How should the technology be used?

8. The TPACK model (Mishra & Koehler, 2006; Rodgers, 2018)

Three types of knowledge to integrate technology into teaching:
1) Content Knowledge (CK) - what are you teaching and what is your own knowledge of the subject?
2) Pedagogical Knowledge (PK) - how do your students learn best and what instructional strategies do
you need to meet their needs and the requirements?
3) Technological Knowledge (TK) - what digital tools are available to you, which do you know well
enough to use, and which would be most appropriate for the lesson at hand?
We have to decide whether we want to use ICT tool or not → these 3 knowledge help us

Centre: Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge – TPACK

• step back
• look at your strategy
• evaluate it
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9. What are the benefits of using technology in language teaching?
• exposure to and practice in all areas of language
• exposure to different varieties of English
• fostering group cohesion
• motivation
• learner autonomy
• interaction and collaboration between learners in the same class and in different countries

10. What do we need to consider when using technology?

• core values and beliefs
➢ aims and principles (what we want to achieve and how)
➢ teacher and learner roles (facilitation, learner-centredness)
• potential dangers
➢ unpredictability of technology (we have to have a plan B)
➢ misuse (wb example → teacher-centred)
• course planning

Learn to Change and Change to Learn – Continuous Professional Development

The aims of this lecture

• To discuss what a well informed and principled approach to 21st century pedagogy and language
teaching is
• To become ready to change our ways in language education in order to develop
• To start unlearning some old rules and practices most of us were taught by (esp. planning, methods,
classroom management, assessment, technology)
• To help face the continuous blow to our self-esteem resulting from the above and …
… learn to change and change to learn

The knowledge teachers need (Darling-Hammond, 2006):

• Knowledge of learners and how they develop within social contexts, including knowledge of
language development;
• Knowledge of subject matter and understanding of curriculum goals, including skills to be taught in
light of student needs, the demands of the discipline, and social and educational purposes; and
• Knowledge and understanding of teaching in general: teaching diverse learners, understanding
assessment and using productive classroom management.
The practice teachers need (Darling-Hammond, 2006):
• The importance of extensive (long-term) and intensely supervised (you have a mentor) teaching
practice – tightly integrated with course work – that allows trainees to learn from expert practice in schools
that serve diverse students (Ball & Cohen, 1999).
• To be most powerful, this work needs to incorporate newly emerging pedagogies – such as close
analyses of learning and teaching through case studies, performance assessments, and action research (try to
examine and develop our own practice) – that link theory and practice in ways that theorize practice and
make formal learning practical.

Research on teacher learning (as cited by Darling-Hammond, 2006):

• Recent studies of learning to teach suggest that analyzing samples of student work, teachers’ plans
and assignments, videotapes of teachers and students in action, and reflecting on cases of teaching and
learning can help teachers draw connections between generalized principles and specific instances of
teaching and learning (Ball & Cohen, 1999; Hammerness, Darling-Hammond, & Shulman, 2002)
o combine theory and practice
What are 21st century expectations?
Cooperation Complex problem-solving Critical thinking Autonomy
Creativity Empathy Accountability Emotional intelligence
Multiperspectivity Cognitive flexibility (you accept that things that you have learnt previously can
change) Entrepreneurship ICT literacy
Life-long learning
Competencies needed: they all include the development of the previous expectations
• social,
• intercultural,
• democratic and
• transversal competence
• global competence

Two key documents:

• UN Sustainable Development Goals (2015)
• Council of Europe: Education for Change – Change for Education (Manifesto, 2014)
What does this mean in education?
“The models of schooling we inherited from the past tend to be elitist, hierarchical and exclusive; features
which have perhaps softened over the years, but which have not really been challenged by the
democratisation of the secondary and tertiary education that many countries have experienced in recent
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decades” (Manifesto, 2014, p.21).

Teachers as facilitators of learning in an interconnected world will be encouraged to develop particular

transversal competences in themselves on top of the competences specific to their academic subject
(Manifesto, 2014)

“In order to change behaviors and favor the integration of new concepts and values, learners would benefit
from experiential learning within a socio-constructivist approach, allowing them to observe, reflect,
compare, research, experiment – all activities that are not often integrated sufficiently into traditional choices
such as ’learning by heart’ and frontal approaches where there is one ’educator who knows and talks’ and a
’learner who does not know and listens’” (Manifesto, 2014, p. 20).

Curriculum and lesson planning: Traditional questions and guidelines

What are the aims?
For students to acquire knowledge, to practice and to be assessed
How do we get there?
by transmitting knowledge frontally, giving tasks, testing
How will I know that I got there?
From students’ responses to my questions during the lesson
Number of fours/fives (As/Bs) awarded on a quiz or test
What else do we achieve?
If we plan lessons like this students won’t learn cooperation, autonomy, creativity, accountability,
critical thinking and multiperspectivity! Because students are only responsible for memorizing.

Changes in curricula and lesson planning

What are the expected learning outcomes?
Learning, practicing and/or assessing new material
How do we get there?
Learner-centered education
Discovery learning, learning-by-doing
Cooperative learning and project work
Discussions and debates
Supportive teacher communication
Formative assessment, self- and peer-assessment
Building on students’ aims, interests, experience and active participation
How will I know that we got there?
Visible signs of creativity, cooperation, critical thinking, growing autonomy, sense of accountability
in classroom participation, verbal feedback, and in the evaluation of the teacher’s work
Also documented in learning diaries, portfolios, essays, etc.
Changes in roles: Classroom management
• Teacher as a facilitator to support learning
• Teacher as a role model in participative, inclusive classes
• Learners to have the right to be involved in decision making about course aims, processes and
assessment
• Learners at the center of activities
• Teacher using the potential in the group
• Teacher seeing group interaction as a way of learning
• Individualizing learning for the needs of each student
• Promoting autonomy and responsibility for learning

Changes in methods: learning-by-doing

• lecture → not the best way to learn (5%)
• group discussion is useful
• practice by doing and teaching others → you will remember a lot more!!!
Changes in methods: cooperative learning
• Equal access and participation
• Parallel interaction → everyone busy
• Positive interdependence → students cannot accomplish the task without the others’ help
• Individual responsibility and accountability → everyone have to contribute
• Transparency of structures and assessment
• Conscious personal and social learning and cognitive competence development
Changes in interaction
• Face-to-face, blended and online learning
o interactivity, communication and collaboration
o constructivist learning environments
o flipped classroom → whatever can be done at home alone, can be learnt at home alone
o knowledge construction → cognitive flexibility
o thoughtful reflection is encouraged
o self-determined learning → students should have their own aims

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 o collaboration between learners in different countries
Changes in assessment: formative methods
Teaching to the test?
Valuing grades over learning?
Valuing competition over cooperation?
Instead:
• Changes in content, format, criteria, and attitudes
• New assessment tools and methods are less formal, low-stakes, formative and continuous with
beneficial washback effects
Teachers’ continuous professional development
The most frequent activities in the English language classroom in Hungary in 2006 about 20 years after the
communicative approach was born (Nikolov and Ottó, 2006)
o Grammar explanation
o Translation
o Copying from the blackboard
o Cue-response drills
o Reading out aloud
Foreign language teaching can only be effective on condition that pedagogy changes from a teacher-centered
and knowledge-based approach to learner-centered experiential approach. (Einhorn, 2015)
Areas of change
• The curriculum (CEFR, NCC)
• Expected learning outcomes
• Lesson planning
• Teacher roles
• Classroom management
• Teaching methods
• Face-to-face and online interaction
• Classroom assessment
Obstacles to change (Harris and Lázár, 2011):
• Resistance: old habits die hard
• Lack of time and energy
• Fear of relinquishing power
• Lack of openness for innovation
• Difficulties accepting new teacher roles
• Fear of losing face/prestige
• Competitive atmosphere
Ways to overcome obstacles (Harris and Lázár, 2011):
• Exploring and reflecting about our values and beliefs
• Accepting new teacher roles
• Experimenting with new ideas and tools
• Accepting challenges with a growth mindset
• Getting mentors and colleagues’ support
• Building communities of (teacher) learning

CL research → important but they don’t use it every time

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