awareness to applic

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Can learner traininghelp students learnEnglish more efficiently?

We begin by considering two questions concerning the teaching

of English to young adult and adult learners:

Which aspects of learner training relate most specifically to the

learning of a new language?

What teaching approaches can help students move from awareness

of helpful practices to taking the initiative and responsibility ofapplying them?

This article will suggest a structured pedagogy for learner training that

will build students awareness of practices that aid in language learning

and enable them to apply those practices as they use and continue to

learn English.

From Awareness to Application

It is generally agreed by language educators that providing opportunities

for students to work towards goals; to access prior knowledge; to practice

classic learning strategies such as planning, self-assessing, predicting, etc. will have positive results on studentsability to learn. Although many believe that creating content and lessons that include these practices aids the

learning of language, students will not incorporate them into their own learning initiatives if they are unaware of

them or their value. Following are suggestions for building learner awarenessan awareness that leads to active

application of strategies that work.

1. Working towards goals

At the beginning of each term, before beginning instruction, it is a good idea to probe students individual goals in

learning English. Such a discussion can be conducted in English or in the students native language, depending on

their level. Common goals will be: for professional reasons, for travel, for academic study, etc. It is important to

Issue 4

FROM AWARENESSTO APPLICATIONFive essential aids to learner training

Joan Saslow and Allen Ascher

TOP NOTCH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SERIES

2008 Joan Saslow and Allen Ascher

A STRUCTURED PEDAGOGYFOR LEARNER TRAINING

1. Working towards goals

2. Observing progressand self-assessing

3. Being aware of theinstructional process

4. Reflecting on oneslanguage learning

5. Making strategiesa habit


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show how the course and/or course book will help them

reach these goalsfor example, by helping them learn to

understand and communicate in spoken and written

English.

It is also worthwhile to encourage students to brainstorm

what they want to be able to do in English in more

practical or specific terms. Students might generate a

list such as this, which could be posted on the board in

the class:

order meals

check into hotels

read academic journals or articles

write emails or letters

discuss news and current events

have social conversations

use the Internet

Almost all English course books include

topics and skills, so you can show students

how what they will learn to do, discuss,

understand, read, etc. support the goals

they listed. Topics and skills are usually

easily located in the scope and sequence

chart at the beginning of most course

books.

But most importantly, throughout the

course dont lose sight of those goals. At the beginning of

each class session, be sure to tell students (or post on the

board) the goal(s) for the day: Today were going to learn

how to give and get directions. Alternatively, for a less

teacher-centered approach, ask students to take a few

moments to look over the course book page or pages you

plan to do that class session and ask them to infer the

goal for the day.

Benefit: Students see a practical purpose for eachlesson and are motivated by how each lesson will help

them attain their own goals.

2. Observing progress and self-assessing

If each class begins with the statement of an achievable

goal, it then becomes easy for students to observe and

confirm their progress. One simple way to ensure this is

to ask them, Did you learn how to give someone

directions? What did you learn today? and so on. When

students confirm that the goal was achieved, they value

the class, study, and instruction. Since language in classes

is learned very much by doing, observing progress

reinforces the value of paying attention and participating.

Then, at the end of each study unit or lesson in your

textbook, and before assessment, it is worthwhile to ask

students what they have learned in the unit. One

approach is to prepare a list of can-do*

statements for students to check, indicating

that they have achieved each goal. Can-do

statements should be worded in the same

way as the goals and can be written on

the board or photocopied for students.

An example follows.

Now I can

understand a menu in English

order a meal in a restaurant

use the vocabulary of foods

and drinks

use count and non-count nouns

correctly

discuss healthy and unhealthy foods

Benefit: Students consciously observetheir progress, which validates their

effort and encourages perseverance in

studying English.

3. Being aware of the instructional process

Students should become aware that the language

presentations and activities used in class and assigned for

work outside of class (homework, projects, laboratory

activities, on-line assignments) are not random or

accidental. They should be led to see how each one of

these has an additive and integrative impact on theirlearning of English.

For example, if the communication goal of a class is to

extend, accept, or decline invitations to events, then the

grammar or vocabulary presented during that class

session should be essential to achievement of the

communication goal. One such plan follows:

Although many

believe that creating

content and lessons

that include thesepractices aids the

learning of language,

students will not

incorporate them

into their own

learning initiatives

if they are unaware

of their value.

2

* Can-do statements are used as assessment criteria by the Council of EuropesCommon European Framework of Reference for Languages.


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COMMUNICATIVE GOAL: EXTEND, ACCEPT, ANDDECLINE INVITATIONS

A. Model Conversation (to exemplify the goal)

A: Are you free on Friday?Married on

Main Streetis at the Film Forum.

B: Really? Id love to go. What time?

A: At 7:10.

OR

B: Really? Id love to go, but Im busy on

Friday.

A: Too bad. Maybe some other time.

B. Grammar (to support the goal)

1. Questions with When, Where, and What time

2. Prepositions of time and place

Students will then, through pair work, personalize the

conversation and thus achieve the communication goal

(to extend, accept, or decline invitations to events). They

should be encouraged to see that they will be able to

personalize the conversation because they have learned

the grammar they need.

C. Pair Work (to permit students to observe how the

model and the grammar are essential in achievingthe goal)

A: Are you free _____? _____ is

playing _____.

B: Really? Id love to go. _____?

Merely offeringstudents a lesson in which the parts

contribute to the achievement of its goal may be goodlanguage teaching. However, if students can develop a

cognitive awareness of the value of the lessons parts in

achieving its communication goal (in the case above, the

grammar), the lesson will make them better language

learners.

In order to ensure this cognitive awareness, ask students

to study the pair work before actually personalizing the

model conversation. Say, Weve just studied prepositions

of time and place and questions with When, Where, and

What time. Where do you need to use that grammar?

It is our experience that students will not be aware of

this without prompting.

Benefit: Students become aware that language

presented and practiced contributes to their beingable to achieve a communicative goal.

4. Reflecting on ones learning

There are a number of hurdles that must be overcome in

the learning of a foreign or a second language. One such

hurdle that interferes with progress is not knowing the

difference between understanding the meaning of a word

and being able to translate it into ones own language.

Learners instinctively attempt to translate word for word

everything they hear. Such an effort is futile for tworeasons: first, no one can possibly translate word for

word quickly enough to follow a speaker speaking at a

natural pace. And second, languages dont equate in a

word-by-word way. Moreover, exact translations dont

help for idioms, expressions, metaphors, or figurative

language. In order to build students awareness of this

reality, we must help them see that, when faced with

words they havent heard or seen before, they can in fact

derive both general and specific meaning from them.

The following example from a Spanish class for English

speakers illustrates learner confusion betweenunderstanding and translating and suggests a way

to build student awareness that understanding is possible

without translation.

A picture in an intermediate level Spanish-as-a-second-

language textbook showed sugar cane growing in a sugar

cane field. The caption read: La caa de azcar crece en

un caaveral. (Sugar cane grows in a sugar cane field.)

The instructor pointed at each part of the picture that

depicted the new vocabulary, asked students to repeat it,

and asked questions (in Spanish) to be sure the students

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understood. At the end of the activity, a student raised

her hand and said, We dont know what were saying.

The students, however, did in fact know what they were

saying, but were simply unable to translate the words

directly into English.

To build awareness of the dichotomy between

understanding meaning and being able to translate, the

instructor pointed at the sugar cane and asked students,

Whats this? They answered, Sugar cane. (Caa is a

cognate for cane, so students didnt perceive this as a lack

of understanding. They probably silently translated,

Sugar cane to themselves.)

Next, the instructor asked students, Whats the sugar

cane doing? Students answered, Its growing. (This

was understood because in the presentation, theinstructor had gestured grows with a rising hand, and

theres an exact equivalence of the verbs crece and grows.

Next she asked students, Wheres it growing? They

responded In a a caaveral. The instructor asked,

What is it you dont understand? Students said a

caaveral!? When the instructor followed this with,

Whats a caaveral? students said, Its the place where

the sugar cane grows.

From this process, students became aware that even

though they had no equivalent English word forcaaveral, they knew what a caaveralwasthe place

that sugar cane grows.

This is a profound awareness that every learner of a new

language needs to reflect on. It creates the desire and need

to depend on context to infer meaning, promoting the

development of one of the most important strategies for

language learnersunderstanding meaning from context.

Benefit: Students gain confidence that they can

gather meaning from context and extrapolation and

other clues.

5. Making strategies a habit

We characterize strategies as actions learners choose to

take to be more successful. In order for them to make the

choice to use a strategy, they have to have observed that

the strategy is effective. Only with repeatedly

experiencing these successes will students transfer the

strategies to other learning opportunities. For that reason,

we advocate multiple opportunities for students to apply

strategies, so they become a habit and result in the

following internal monologue: When I do x or y, I am

more successful.

Although the strategy set that underpins successfullanguage learning is large and well appreciated, we will

concentrate in this example on one strategy that has great

value to language learners: compensating for inadequate

vocabulary.

Canale and Swain (1980) classify communicative

competence into four categories: grammatical

competence, discourse competence, sociolinguistic

competence, and strategic competence. This last ability

is what enables learners to express themselves even when

lacking the necessary language to do that correctly or

well. Even though students may become aware thatlanguages dont necessarily translate word for word, one

to another, they still will need assistance applying that

knowledge when they seek to express their own ideas.

Learners must accept that although few people ever

acquire the breadth of vocabulary in a foreign or second

language that they have in their own language,

communication is nevertheless possible even when one is

missing an essential word or phrase. To help students

build the skill of compensating for missing vocabulary,

we can work with them to help them restate their ideas

using language they do know.

One activity might be to ask students to define words

after learning them. For example, assume students have

learned the names of foods and drinks through the use of

an illustrated list. Students could then take turns

describing the foods and asking others to guess the name

of the specific food they are describing. An example

follows.

S1: Its a vegetable. Its orange and long.

Its good for your eyes. (The other studentsguess carrot.)

S2: I drink it for breakfast. Its dark brown,

almost black. I like it with sugar and milk.

(The other students guess coffee.)

This activity can be done with students of all levels and

with individual words, phrases, or collocations. For

instance, in a lesson about travel problems, students learn

the following phrases: have an accident, have mechanical

problems, miss the train, andget seasick. Once students

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have learned this vocabulary, they can break into two

teams, with one team working together to formulate a

definition and the other team guessing the phrase.

Team 1: We arrived at 3:00. The train left at2:45. (The other students guess You

missed the train.)

Team 2: We traveled on a boat. The weather was

bad. The boat moved a lot. We felt very,

very bad. (The other students guess

You got seasick.)

Becoming skillful at defining words and phrases is

important because it allows one to be able to describe

what a word means in order to elicit that word from

others. Alternatively, if one is speaking with someonewho doesnt know the right word either, the definition

itself can get the idea across. An example follows:

S: (doesnt know the word superstitious) I am

a how do you say it I am afraid of black

cats. I am afraid of the number 13. I worry

that some things bring bad luck. What is the

word for that kind of person?

T: Superstitious.

S: (doesnt know political terminology) My

husband is very different from me. He doesnt

like new ideas. He doesnt like change. Is there

a word for that?

T: Yes. Hes conservative. What about you?

S: Im the opposite. I like new things and

change. Whats the word for that?

T: Liberal.

In this way, if students can describe and explain what

they mean, they can compensate for the vocabulary

they are lacking. If students develop this skill, theywill apply it as a strategy when challenged with a lack

of knowledge.

In teacher / student interactions, we can also discourage

students from expecting us to be their dictionaries.

While in many cases its simplest and fastest either to give

the student the word, to suggest the student look it up in

a dictionary, or to ask other students to provide it, we

suggest at least some of the time encouraging students to

talk around the word they dont know. An example

follows.

S: (doesnt know the word cruise) I would like

to go to Hawaii, on a a ... How do you

say [word for cruise in native language]?

T: What would you like to do? How would youlike to go there? Would you like to take an

airplane?

S: No. I would like to take a boat.

Certainly using a dictionary is an important aspect of

learner training, but in a real conversation outside of an

English class, its impractical to look a word up on the

spot. Knowing how to talk around an unknown word

is very valuable. Giving students frequent practice with

this skill ensures that they will make it a habit and elect it

as a strategy when necessary.

Benefit: Students learn that they are able to express

themselves on a variety of topics in spite of deficits

in vocabulary.

Summary

This article has focused on classroom practices that help

students move from cognition to behavior. We have

sought to suggest concrete ways to instill awareness,

generate reflection, and therefore promote the habitual

transfer and application of these effective practices. Thefive aspects of learner training covered in this article offer

a pedagogical approach that we hope will motivate

students and promote more successful language learning.

5

References

Canale, Michael & Merrill Swain (1980). Theoretical bases of

communicative approaches to second language teaching andtesting, Applied Linguistics, 1, 1-47

OMalley, J. Michael, Anna Uhl Chamot, Gloria Stewner-Manzanares,

Rocco P. Russo, and Lisa Kupper (1985). Learning strategy

applications with students of English as a Second Language.TESOL Quarterly, 19/3, 557-584


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Other titles of interest in the

TOP NOTCH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SERIES:Making English Unforgettable

The Purposeful Use of Songsin Language Instruction

A Process Approach to Discussion:Four Techniques that Ensure Results

(see page 8)

Joan SaslowJoan Saslow is co-author, with Allen

Ascher, of two best-selling, adult-level

English courses, Top Notch and Summit.

These two courses are, respectively, the

2006 and 2007 recipients of the

Association of Educational Publishers' Distinguished

Achievement Awards. Ms. Saslow has authored a number

of other textbook series with integrated multimedia

components designed specifically for adults learning

English. She is the author of Ready to Go: Language,

Lifeskills, Civics; Workplace Plus: Living and Working in

English; and Literacy Plus, a combined language and

literacy program for pre-literate adult immigrants. In

addition, Ms. Saslow was Series Director of True Colors:An EFL Course for Real Communication and True Voices:

An EFL Video Course.

Ms. Saslow has taught in the United States and Chile in a

variety of programs, including binational centers, as well

as academic, intensive-language, and workplace

programs. Ms. Saslow has been an editor, a teacher-

trainer, a language learner, and a frequent speaker at

gatherings of English teachers throughout the world. Ms.

Saslow has a BA and an MA in French from the University

of Wisconsin. She is fluent in Spanish and French.

Allen AscherAllen Ascher is co-author, with Joan

Saslow, of the Top Notch and Summit

courses. Mr. Ascher has been a teacher,

a teacher-trainer, an academic

administrator, and a publisher. He has

taught in both China and the United States. In China, Mr.

Ascher trained teachers and taught English at the Beijing

Second Foreign Language Institute, and he taught ESP

classes for workers at a major international hotel. In the

United States, he taught Japanese students from Chubu

University studying English at Ohio University. In New

York, he taught students of all language backgrounds and

abilities throughout the City University of New York. Mr.

Ascher was the academic director of the InternationalEnglish Language Institute at Hunter College, and he

trained teachers in the TESOL Certificate Program at the

New School.

As a publisher, Mr. Ascher played a key role in creating some

of the most widely used materials for adults, including True

Colors, NorthStar, Focus on Grammar, Ready to Go, and the

Longman TOEFL and TOEIC test prep series. He is also

author of the popularThink About Editing: A Grammar Editing

Guide for ESL Writersand is currently contributing to an

online teacher-training course. Mr. Ascher is a continuing

learner of Spanish, French, and Mandarin Chinese and has

an MA in Applied Linguistics from Ohio University.

About the Authors

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Notes

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ISBN 0-13-813906-7

Other titles of interest in the

TOP NOTCH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SERIES

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Issue1

MAKINGENGLISH

UNFORGETTABLE

EnhancingAcquisitio

nintheEFLSetting

JoanSaslowandAl

lenAscher

TOPNOTCH PROFESSIONA

LDEVELOPMENTSERIES

2005JoanSaslow

andAllenAscher

ISSUE 1

Making English Unforgettable:Enhancing Acquisition in the EFL Setting

ISBN: 0-13-238521-X

ISSUE 2

The Purposeful Use of Songs inLanguage Instruction

ISBN: 0-13-242410-X

ISSUE 3

A Process Approach To Discussion:Four techniques that ensure results

ISBN: 0-13-714375-3

8

THEVALUEOFSONGSINSECONDORFOREIGNLANGUAGEINSTRUCTIONSongshavegreatvalueinlanguageinstruction.Popsongscanbeusedinmanywaystoenhancetheteachingandlearningprocess,tomotivatestudents,toprovideachangeofpaceintheclassroom,toreducestudentsnative-languageaccents,andtoreinforcevocabularyandgrammar.Mostimportantly,however,songscanmakeEnglishunforgettable.Thefollowinggeneralandspecifictechniquesforusingsongsinyourclassroomareofferedasamenu.Experimentwithavarietyofthem,orchoosetheonesyoulikeatfirstglance.Youwillbesurprisedhoweffectivesongscanbeasteachingandlearningtools!HOWTOCHOOSESONGSSinceclassroomtimeisalways

verylimited,eve

ryminuteneedstobeusedtoprovidelanguagetoobserveandstudy,toofferintensivepractice,andtoensurethatlanguageisrecycledenoughsoitcanberemembered.Thekeytosuccessistochoosesongsthatstudentsunderstandsothatthelearningprocessisenhanced.TheTopNotchtextseriesandTopNotchTVinclude

comprehensibleandappealingpopsongs(TopNotchPopandKaraoke)writtentosupportalanguagesyllabus.ThetechniquesofferedinthisarticlecanandshouldbeusedwithTopNotchPop,buttheyareequallyusefulforanysongsappropriateforalanguageclassroom.

TECHNIQUESTHATINVOLVESINGINGSafetyinNumbers Ifyourstudentsarealittleshy,takethesafetyinnumbersapproach.Askthewholeclasstosingalongtogether,withorwithoutthelyricsinfrontofthem.Or,usethelyricsandaudioearlyon,sothatwhenstudentsaremorefamiliarwiththesong,theycansingacappellaandwithoutlyrics.

Male/Female Ifasonghasbothmaleandfemaleparts,divideyou

rclassaccordingly.Askallthemalestosingthemalepartandallthefemalestosingthefemalepart.Oncestudentsarefamiliarwiththesong,inviteonemaleandonefemalestudenttosingthesongalonefortheclass,withorwithouttheaudio.Iftheclassisallormostlymaleorfemale,youmaysimplywanttodividetheclassinhalftosingeachpart.

Issue2THEPURPOSEFULUSEOFSONGSINLANGUAGEINSTRUCTIONJoanSasl

owandAllenAscherwithAndreaNotarpietroSongs,likepoetry,areoneofthemostpowerfulcombinationsinhelpingthelearnercommitlimitedphrasesandwordcombinationstomemory,tobeputintoactiveserviceatalatertimeincommunication....Songsoftencontaintheelementsof

repetition,rhyme,andrhythmthatfacilitatequickmemorizationandeasyimitation....Itisnowonder,then,thatinsongaforeignaccentpronunciationismuchmoreeasilymaskedoreliminatedthaninnormalconversationalspeech.

ThomasJ.Garza

2005JoanSaslowandAllenAscher

TOPNOTCHPROFESSIONALDEVELOPMENTSERIES

AgreatchallengeintheEnglishlanguageclassroomis

successfullyengaginglearnersinfreediscussion.Teacherstypicallyreportthat

studentssitsilently;producesingle,short,fossilizedutterances;orrevertto

usingtheirfirstlanguage.

Manyteachersattempttoencourageclassdiscussionthroughinterestingand

engagingtopics.Alltoooften,however,fewstudentsactuallyparticipatefully

orsuccessfully.Consequently,manyteacherstrytosolicittheviewsofnon-

participants,usuallywithmeagerresults.Intheend,boththeteacherand

studentsfeeldissatisfied.Traditionally,classroomdiscussionwaslefttotheendoftheclassorlesson.

Aftercompletingaseriesofcontrolledactivitiesandlimitedpair-worktasks

orperhapsafterareadingandsomecomprehensionactivitieslearnerswere

presentedwithalistofdiscussiontopicsrelatedtothelesson'stheme.Recently,

innewertask-basedlessons,theorderhasbeenreversed;itisnowacommon

practicetobeginwithdiscussion,withtheexpectationthatthediscussionitself

wouldgeneratelanguageandideas.

Neithermethodhasachievedsatisfactoryresultsforthemajorityofour

students.Itisourgoalinthisarticletohelpteachersapproachclassroom

discussionasaprocessinordertomoresuccessfullydevelopstudents'fluency.

Wewillpresentfouressentialtechniquesthatinourexperiencesupportlearner

confidenceandincreasebothquantityandqualityofexpression.

Impedimentstosuccessfulclassroomdiscussions

Studentsareoftennotsuccessfulorproductiveinclassroomdiscussions

becausetheylackvocabulary,grammarmastery,subjectknowledge,or

interestinthetopic.Itisimportant,however,toconsiderthepsychological

Issue3

APROCESSAPPROACH

TODISCUSSION

Fourtechniquesthatensureresults

JoanSaslowandAllenAscher

TOPNOTCHPROFESSIONALDEVELOPMENTSERIES

FOURTECHNIQUESIDEAFRAMINGUsesurveysandquestionnairesto

getstudentsthinkingabouttheir

ideasandopinions.NOTEPADDINGHavestudentsplanhowthey'll

statetheirideasbywritingnotes

beforespeaking.TEXT-MININGUsereadingandlisteningtexts

tochoosekeywordsandphrases

thatcanenrichdiscussion.

WORDPOSTINGKeepaninventoryoflanguage

studentsalreadyknow,and

makeiteasilyavailablefor

visualreference.

2008JoanSaslowandAllenAscher

awareness to applic

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