Teaching L2 Listening Strategies Works!

The Problem 
Can L2 learners be taught strategies to help them become better at listening comprehension? 

The study 
This study shows that guiding students to engage in recursive listening processes helps them become better listeners. More specifically, the listening strategy instruction was found to help learners direct their attention to main ideas and content details and to enhance their ability to plan, predict, monitor, evaluate, and solve problems for listening tasks. University-level students of French as a second language were given process-based cycles of listening activities. They were instructed to predict main ideas and more detailed information before each passage and to discuss potential difficulties and possible solutions to them. As a result, their listening comprehension improved significantly. 

The Take-Home Message 
Providing instruction on L2 strategies can improve our learners’ ability to comprehend aurally and therefore accelerate their learning in the target language. But before including strategy instruction in your classes, it’s important to consider the range and frequency of strategies your students might already be using and to choose strategies appropriate to their level and to their communicative and/or academic needs. 

Article Citation 
Vandergrift, L., & Tafaghodtari, M. H. (2010). Teaching L2 learners how to listen does make a difference: an empirical study. Language Learning, 60, 470-497. 

Entry by Min Fan

Pronunciation—To Teach or Not to Teach?

The Problem

As an L2 teacher, do you ever find that your students are frustrated because they feel their accent is different from that of native speakers? For decades, pronunciation has been treated like an “orphan” by L2 curriculum designers, language departments, and textbook writers, leaving teachers with little in the way of resources for teaching this skill. Complicating this problem even further, it’s unclear to many how important it is to have a native-sounding accent and whether non-native adult speakers can acquire native-like pronunciation.

The Study 
In response to these issues and to skepticism over the effectiveness of pronunciation instruction, the number of studies that aim to understand pronunciation instruction and its impact on learners’ intelligibility and perceived comprehensibility has increased in recent years. Mark Tanner and Melissa Landon (2009) conducted a quasi-experimental study to evaluate a self-directed, computer-assisted cued pronunciation reading (CPR) technique with 75 intermediate ESL students. After 11 weeks (10 min per day) of lab treatment, students significantly improved in their perception of pausing and word stress as well as their production of word stress. Although they didn’t show short-term improvement in perceived comprehensibility, the students reported that the lab work helped them a lot with their pronunciation and even gave them more self-confidence when speaking.

The Take-Home Message 
This study differs from most other pronunciation studies in that the teachers did not provide feedback or grade the students but simply reminded them to complete the CPR tasks. This offers an excellent option for those who are not 100% confident/comfortable teaching pronunciation, or in cases when the curricula don’t include pronunciation instruction. Even though it’s hard for adult L2 speakers to have a native-sounding accent, they can still improve in certain aspects. Finally, although CPR tasks like those in the study can be used as a stand-alone component, combining them with explicit instruction and feedback may lead to even greater improvement.

Article Citation 
Tanner, M. W., & Landon, M. M. (2009). The effects of computer-assisted pronunciation readings on ESL learners’ use of pausing, stress, intonation, and overall comprehensibility. Language Learning & Technology, 13, 51-65.

Entry by Yuan (Helen) Zhuang

Is Teaching L2 Phraseology Worth our Time?

The Problem
Most teachers have been faced with that awkward moment when they have had to tell a student that their grammatically correct utterance is “just not right”.  What can a teacher do to assist students to acquire the phraseological knowledge they need to avoid breakdowns in communication and sound more natural or nativelike in their L2? 

The Study 
In 1993, Michael Lewis suggested that increasing student awareness of phrases would also increase their ability to use L2 phrases.  Putting this theory to the test, Boers, Eyckmans, Kappel, Stengers, and Demecheleer (2006) looked at two groups of similarly proficient students; one group engaged in awareness raising activities and the other did not.  Both groups were later interviewed after given a reading assignment.  The students who had received the extra input more often used the phrases they encountered in the pre-reading during the interview. Also, this group was more frequently perceived as being at a higher proficiency level than the control group.  Another component of the interview required the students to speak freely on an everyday topic. Results of this part of the interview showed no significant difference between the two groups’ use of phrases, suggesting that students had learned to identify and use phrases from their reading, but did not extend this use beyond specific topics. 

The Take-Home Message 
The bottom line here is that students may benefit from spending time engaging in activities that raise phraseological awareness. By doing so, learners might notice and begin to use these forms, which can increase both their fluency and their oral proficiency as perceived by others.

Article Citation
Boers, F., Eyckmans, J., Kappel J., Stengers, H., and Demecheleer, M. (2006). Formulaic sequences and perceived oral proficiency: Putting a Lexical Approach to the test. Language Teaching Research, 10, 245–261.

Entry by Anna M. Gates

Beliefs, Emotions, and Introspection in the L2 Classroom

The Problem 
Some students’ beliefs and emotions of shyness, embarrassment and low self-esteem may affect how they respond in class while learning a second or foreign language. How can we, as language teachers, help these students? 

The Study 
This article reports the case study of three students who were studying to become English teachers in Brazil. Through several different techniques (interviews, questionnaires, journals, etc.), the researcher collected information on the students’ beliefs, how these affected their emotions, and how they felt about themselves when learning English. The students’ had feelings of shyness, embarrassment, and low self-esteem when speaking in class because of considering themselves as having a lower proficiency level compared to the more advanced students in their class and their teacher. The results showed that simply through the process of reflection and introspection, some beliefs and hence attitudes may be changed for the better. 

The Take-Home Message 
As language teachers we should be aware that our students’ feelings of self-awareness, shyness, embarrassment may interfere with how they act or respond in class, especially when it comes to speaking in a second/foreign language. We can encourage our students to reflect on their feelings and beliefs in order to see if these might be negatively affecting their performance in class as well as to alleviate some of their negative feelings. 

Article Citation
Aragao, R. (2011). Beliefs and emotions in second language learning. System, 39, 302-113.

Entry by María Nelly Gutierrez Arvizu

Feedback on L2 Writing

The Problem

Have you ever wondered what students are thinking when they see the feedback you give them on their writing, or whether they learn from it?

The Study

Storch and Wigglesworth (2010) examined the efficacy of direct (reformulation) and indirect (editing symbols) feedback and the factors impacting advanced learners’ processing, uptake, and retention. They found the following: (1) Editing symbols prompt learners to engage more deeply than reformulation-type feedback; (2) The more students engage with the feedback, the more likely they are to learn from it; but (3) The learning that results from feedback may depend on the type of errors as well as the learners' beliefs about and attitudes toward the feedback they receive.

The Take-Home Message

There are no hard and fast rules for giving written feedback, but this study indicates that editing symbols may be best for lexical and grammatical errors, while reformulations can be used for mechanical and formatting mistakes. In addition, as teachers, we can help learners build positive beliefs, attitudes, and goals for using the feedback we give them by discussing our feedback choices openly with them.

Article Citation

Storch, N. and Wigglesworth, G. (2010). Learners’ processing, uptake, and retention of corrective feedback on writing. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 32, 303-334.

Entry by Qiandi Liu

Curator's note: There is a rich body of research on written corrective feedback. Those interested in this topic might want to check out Bitchener and Ferris' (2011) book: Written Corrective Feedback in Second Language Acquisition and Writing.

Identity and English Language Learners

The Problem 
To what degree is English and/or a ‘global identity’ part of English language learners’ self-perceptions?

The Study

Peter Roger, an applied linguist based in Australia, interviewed seven Korean women who were advanced learners of English and had each spent a considerable amount of time in an English-speaking country. His questions were aimed to get at the participants’ perceptions of themselves, their L2 (English), and the place of their L2 in a larger context. With regard to cultural associations, the participants predominantly linked English with Anglophone countries, especially the United States, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, instead of viewing it as a global lingua franca. When asked whether they considered themselves global citizens, approximately half of the participants identified as such; the same participants felt that English was a vital part of their identity. The other half categorically denied these self-perceptions.

The Take-Home Message

As applied linguists/language teachers, we often believe that students do or should have language-related identities that they do not necessarily have. We are well aware of the expanding roles of English (English as a lingua franca, World Englishes, etc.), but English language learners may not see things through the same lens as us. Also, we might assume that EFL (or ESL) learners have incorporated English into their identities, but this might not be the case. In fact, some would be offended by this description, as they feel this would dilute their own identities (i.e., national, cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and so forth). Therefore, instead of assuming or ascribing identities to our students, it may be more beneficial to open up a dialogue with them or have them write about how they feel about their target language. Journaling about their relationship with English (or another L2) could be especially insightful because both the student and teacher could observe changes over time. 

Article Citation

Roger, P. (2010). Reluctant and aspiring global citizens: Ideal second language selves among Korean graduate students. TESL-EJ, 14(3), 1-20.

Entry by Meghan Moran

Keep on Chatting

The Problem

Anyone who has worked in a computer lab with second language learners knows how challenging it can be. Many students would prefer to browse or check their email and Facebook rather than do a language assignment. So, is it possible to use online chatting in the classroom to improve our students language learning?

The Study

Faculty at a two universities in Iran found out that students can improve their language through the interaction that occurs when students are engaged in chat. Online chatting is like speaking in that it is real-time, back and forth. But unlike speaking, students can benefit from having more processing time and from being able to refer back to the text to help them learn from it. The teachers in the study gave students of different proficiency levels activities like problem solving and free discussion. After recording and analyzing all the ways the students interacted with each other, they found that students often helped each other with questions related to vocabulary, grammar, and spelling. Later when the students were given post-tests individually designed based on the questions they initiated during the chat sessions, it was found that the students learned a lot through the chat session. Furthermore, the benefits of online chatting were found for learners of both proficiency levels.

The Take-Home Message 

Thinking about and planning activities of this type is exciting. Student motivation might be enhanced because of the use of technology and a way of communicating that many already spend free time using. The other good news is that a teacher does not have to arrange L2 learners with a native speaker partner. Having the learners in your class or from several classes pair up works great! Using this type of activity, teachers (and even students) can also get printouts of chat sessions to see what language is produced and to assess areas of difficulty. Finally, although the choice of materials needs to be motivated by the lesson/activity objective(s), there are numerous opportunities where chat can be used effectively in the L2 classroom. Here are a few suggestions you can try. Or try just modifying one of the activities you already use:

- A “spot the difference” task using two slightly different pictures.

- A “solve the mystery” task, where each student has information that the other one doesn’t.

- Propose a solution to a specific problem (local, national, or global) that you give.

- Have students work together to collectively decide the best motel (or artwork, automobile, apartment, etc.) out of five available options and explain their choice. 

Happy chatting!

Article Citation

Shekary, M., & Tahririan, M. H., (2006). Negotiation of meaning and noticing in text-based online chat. The Modern Language Journal, 9, 557-573.

Entry by Rebecca Javorsky