tesol newsletter no. 1 august 2004

7/28/2019 TESOL Newsletter No. 1 August 2004

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CH I L E IINNAAWWOORRDD Volume 1, No. 1, Fall 2004Newsletter of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages in Chile

Did You Know ?

1. TESOL, Inc. -- the parent

organization of TESOL CHILE

collaborates with 91 affiliates

from around the world (including

12 in Latin America).

2. During 40 years, TESOL Inc.s

membership has grown to more

than 14,000 ELT professionals

from 127 countries.

3. TESOL, Inc.s annual convention

attracts 7,000-10,000 participantsfrom all over the world.

4. TESOL, Inc. publishes a

scholarly, refereed journal

(TESOL Quarterly) and a

magazine specializing in

classroom practice (Essential

Teacher), as well as books and

professional papers.

5. TESOL, Inc. has an extensive

website (www.tesol.org), a survey

of employment opportunities

(Placement E-Bulletin), and an e-

newsletter with links related to the

ELT field (TESOL Connections).

I n T h i s I s s u e

Ma Kings Ens Eofw Ords pg. 01

Welcome Message pg. 02Multimodality pg. 13

English in the 21st

Century pg. 18

English in Jail pg. 22

2004, TESOL CHILEEdited by Marc Chevalier

[email protected]

MAKING

SENSE

OF

WORDS

By Andrew Sheehan

For centuries, languages have been changing, and

English is no exception. Samuel Johnson expected that his

pioneering dictionary, published in 1755, [S]hould fix our

language, and put a stop to those alterations which time and

chance have hitherto been suffered to make in it. In fact,

English is changing faster than most languages. For teachers,

the fact that English is constantly changing and evolving can be

unsettling and sometimes even dispiriting. Thank goodness for

good old reliable grammar! But of course, MAKING SENSE

OF WORDS is what language teaching and learning is all about.A recent upsurge in the interest in, and importance of,

vocabulary in ELT has prompted a host of new books on the

subject, and the advent of corpus linguistics has added support

to the movement. How far does this lexical revolution extend?

It depends on where in the world you are, geographically

and chronologically. While methods and approaches may have

come and gone for many ELT academics in their universities, in

many parts of the world where English is taught, and where

contact with developments in ELT has been limited, working atthe chalk-face has remained the same for decades. In my

experience, the Lexical Approachor to be more specific, the

research on which the hypothesis is basedhas not reached

many parts of the world, and the majority of the teachers I have

been working with recently are not familiar with corpus

linguistics.

(Continued on page 3)


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Welcome Message Page 2

A MESSAGE FROM THE INTERIM PRESIDENT by Mary Jane Abrahams

Welcome to the first issue (and many more

to come) of TESOL CHILE. We are very

pleased to announce that we are back incirculation and that there will be a newsletter

for you every quarter with information on

events, new books, visiting lecturers, and

articles on different aspects of EFL ELT in

Chile and the world.

Andrew Sheehan starts us off this time

with a very interesting article on vocabulary.

He works with the English team at Mineduc in

the project El ingls abre puertas, and hesbeen in the field for the last 25 years, beginning

in England as a primary teacher, and then as a

teacher trainer in many parts of the world.

Miguel Faras is the Director of the

Master's program in Linguistics at USACH; he

teaches in the undergraduate English Teaching

Training program, as well as in the Master's

and Doctoral programs in American Studies at

USACH. In this essay, Farias approaches the

reading process from a semiotic perspective,

considering both the new text modalities and

the new types of literacies they generate, and

discusses their implications for TEFL.

Melvia Hasman is the director of the

English Language Programs Office at the U. S.

Embassy in Brasilia. Prior to joining the

Foreign Service, she taught at universities in

the United States and in Kuwait and was a

Fulbright Senior Lecturer in Honduras. Ms

Hasman has a B.A. in Middle East Studies, a

M.A. in applied linguistics. Her PhD work is in

curriculum development.

Mary Jane Abrahams, RECAP

Coordinator, is a teacher trainer who works at

the Universidad Catolica and the Universidad

Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educacin. She

has contributed to the results of a researchstudy carried out at the Penitenciara de

Santiago and in the Crcel de Mujeres, where

some volunteer students did their teaching

practice.

We finish with an invitation to our first

one-day conference to be held at DUOC on

August 2nd. We plan to have a guest speaker

(the specialists name is still a surprise!!) and

some excellent local lecturers. Your

participation is necessary to turn this event into

a real success.

TESOL CHILE MISSION STATEMENT

TESOL CHILEs mission is to strengthen the

effective teaching and learning of English as a

Foreign Language in the nation of Chile while

respecting individualslanguage and culturalbackgrounds. To this end, TESOL CHILE, as a

national professional association, supports and

seeks to inspire those involved in English

language teaching, teacher education,

administration and management, curricula and

materials design, and research; provides

leadership and direction through the

dissemination and exchange of information and

resources; encourages access to and standards

for English language instruction, professional

preparation, and employment; and supports theinitiatives of its international parent

organization, TESOL, Inc.

Vocabulary in ELT Page 3


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(Continued from page 1)

This article will address the following

questions:

What is the current thinking on the role of

vocabulary in ELT, and how does corpuslinguistics support this?

What does corpus linguistics tell us about

lexis and the importance of lexical

development?

What are the implications for English

language teaching and learning?

How can we help students learn, store, and

retrieve the words they need?

What is the current thinking?Vocabulary has been the neglected

Cinderella of language teaching; preference has

always been, and still is, given to the two

sisters Grammar and More Grammar. There are

several reasons for the Cinderella status of

vocabulary. First, there is the legacy of

previous language-teaching methods,

particularly the traditional Grammar

Translation Method with its emphasis on the

learning of rules and structures. As Brown

(2000, 15) states: [T]he Grammar Translation

Method remarkably withstood attempts at the

outset of the twentieth century to reform

language teaching methodology, and to this day

it remains a standard methodology for language

teaching in educational institutions. The

Audiolingual Method (ALM), with its

emphasis on repetitive drills, did nothing to

change the balance. Brown goes on to observethat a key feature of ALM is that Vocabulary

is strictly limited and learned in context (2000,

74).

Many English language teachers like to

stress grammar over vocabulary because

grammar is a finite system, whereas vocabulary

is not. The reasoning is that a language

teacher especially one who rarely reads in

English and has no access to English-languagenewspapers could not possibly keep track of

even a fraction of the words the English

language now contains, let alone its ever-

expanding lexicon. Consider, for example, such

recent additions as greenhouse effect, global

warming, hip hop, grunge, ethnic cleansing,

cyberspace, CD-ROM, hacker, and embedded

reporter.

However, the argument in favor ofplacing greater weight on vocabulary is strong.

Meara (1995) points out that knowing only 500

words is functionally useless. English learners

with such a minimal vocabulary who try to

process a text will encounter too many

unfamiliar words, and frequently these are

precisely the words that convey the meaning of

the text. Consider, for example, the following:

While Argentina was celebrating the

victory of its team in the World Cup, the

president and his family took the

opportunity to go on vacation.

Given enough time, students reading

this sentence who have a low level of reading

vocabulary might recognize the italized words

because they are cognates, although they could

easily misinterpret the key signal word while atthe beginning of the sentence. But the same

students listening to a native speaker saying

this sentence at normal speed are not likely to

understand or recognize most of the words,

except perhaps, the wordsArgentina and World

Cup. Even the cognates are likely to become


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(Continued from page 1)

incomprehensible because the pronunciation of

these words in English is completely different

from that of, say, Spanish. Even given Nations

contention (1990) that learners need know only

half as many words to understand spoken text

as they need to understand written text

because of the usually greater lexical density of

written text listening, in my view, involves

the additional problem of real time constraints

in comprehension, which more than

compensates for the discrepancy noted by

Nation.

Evidence from the field of corpuslinguistics shows clearly that it is lexical

competence, not the learning of grammatical

structures, that must be the priority for

language learners because lexical competence

is at the heart of communicative competence.

Richards (2000, xi) states:

Vocabulary and lexical units are at the heart

of learning and communication. No amount

of grammatical or other type of linguisticknowledge can be employed in

communication or discourse without the

mediation of vocabulary. Indeed, vocabulary

and lexical expressions can sustain a great

deal of rudimentary communication without

much support from other aspects of the

language system. Understanding of the nature

and significance of vocabulary knowledge in

a second language therefore needs to play a

much more central role in the knowledge

base of language teachers.

Implications for English language teachers

and learners

Richards insistence on the importance of

vocabulary and lexical units has profound

implications for English language teachers and

learners. Six of them are discussed below:

1. What it means to know a word

Evidence suggests that language

learners need to learn as many words as

possible as soon as possible (initial 2000 word

target, with 10,000 words as an ideal longer-

term target). Several definitions have been

proposed concerning what it means to know a

word. I have adapted Ellis and Sinclairs (1989)

list of criteria for knowing a word:

To understand the word when it is

written or spoken To recall it when you need it

To use it with the correct meaning

To use it in a grammatically correct way

To pronounce it correctly

To know which other words you can

(and can not) use with it

To spell it correctly

To use it in the right situation

To know if it has positive or negative

connotations To know when (and when not) to use it

Of course, we know that all these

cannot occur simultaneously. We know that

learning and knowing words is an incremental

process; it may take years of learning to fully

know a word. A learner may learn the word red

in terms of its spelling and pronunciation, and

the learner may be able to apply it correctly


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when describing color. However, all the

idiomatic expressions associated with red,

including in the red, to see red, and a red letter

day, may never be learned.

2. Recycling and revising words

We know that words should be recycled

and revised as soon as possible after they are

introduced; otherwise there is a tendency for

them to be forgotten. There are several options

for presenting and revising, or recycling,

vocabulary. Nation (1990, 34) lists four

typical ways, from most indirect to most

direct, which teachers may follow. Here, Ihave chosen McCarthys (1990) categories as

being particularly useful. According to this

viewpoint, there are three main options:

(1) By topic or theme, e.g., colors, rooms in

a house, in the supermarket, on vacation,

crime

(2) By focusing on meaning, e.g.,

collocation, semantic sets, register,

discourse analysis

(3) By focusing on form, e.g., word

formation, such as roots, suffixes, and

prefixes; compounds; phrasal verbs

I shall introduce each of these, and give

examples, in the Three Options section to

follow. The examples are meant to be

representative of each category only; there are

many excellent books available that include awide range of similar activities.

3. Teaching vocabulary systematically

Another implication from the findings

of corpus linguistics is that vocabulary

development will have to be given much more

prominence in language teaching than it now

gets. I believe that vocabulary development in

the language classroom should be systematic.

There is, however, disagreement on the extent

to which vocabulary can or should be taught.

Nation (1990, 1) opens his book with the

question, Should vocabulary be taught? Until

recently, the unstated assumption has been that

learners must somehow learn vocabulary but

that teachers should not really try to teach it, at

least not systematically. This assumption was

clearly revealed by Coe in his 1997 article,

Vocabulary must be learnt, not taught. Now,

it seems, the introduction and development of

lexis, defined here as the input, storage, andretrieval strategies for the development of an

appropriate mental lexicon, should probably

receive a much higher and more explicit profile

in the ELT classroom.

4. Learning the principles and techniques of

vocabulary development

Teachers will have to gain expertise in

vocabulary development principles and

techniques so that they can provide appropriate

introduction, storage, and retrieval activities for

their students. There are many techniques,

ranging from vocabulary notebooks and

traditional word lists to mnemonic devices and

word association methods. One technique, the

keeping of well-organized vocabulary

notebooks, should no longer be left to the

discretion of the students, and perhaps instead

should be mandatory. However, the system fororganizing the notebooks should probably be

the one that the individual student finds most

effective and useful. Exactly what words

should be introduced is not clear, and questions

remain


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about whether the decision should be based on

a list of the most frequent words in the English

language (such as Wests 1953and now

rather outdatedGeneral Service List of

English Words), the learners immediate needs,

or whatever the course book writer deems

appropriate. My view is that emphasis should

be placed on learners needs.

English language teachers need to

familiarize themselves with the many excellent

vocabulary development textbooks available

today, most of which are filled with activities

they can use to augment the activities theythemselves devise. Teachers also need to

encourage their students to take more

responsibility for developing their own mental

lexicon. As mentioned earlier, vocabulary

notebooks, organized in whatever way works

best for each student, should probably be

considered essential items. At the moment, they

tend to be used by some motivated learners but

do not feature significantly in most ELT

classrooms.

5. Learning the metalanguage of vocabulary

Teachers need to be aware of what is

happening in the field of research and

development in lexis (corpus linguistics), and

they will need to grasp and use the necessary

terminology to talk about vocabulary with their

colleagues and, as needed, with their students.

Most English language teachers know and usethe metalanguage of grammar, such as past

perfect, first and second conditional, past

participle, and irregular verb. But few English

language teachers are familiar with and

understand the essential terms and concepts

associated with corpus linguistics and lexis,

such as collocation, chunks of language, fixed

expressions, and sentence heads. These

concepts need to be as familiar to English

language teachers as grammar is now. Teachers

should familiarize themselves, for example,

with these four major categories of lexical

items outlined by Lewis (1993, 1996):

(1) words,e.g.,push, exit, fruit

polywords, e.g., by the way, on the

other hand

(2) collocations or word partnerships,

e.g., an initial reaction, to assess the

situation

(3) institutionalized utterances or fixedexpressions, e.g.,Ill see what I can do,

Its not the sort of thing you think will

ever happen to you.

(4) sentence frames or heads, e.g.,

Considerable research has been done in

recent years on the question of...; At

present, however, expert opinion

remains divided; Some experts

believe.... (from Lewis 1996, 10)

Lewis also suggests that there are two

distinct modes of English, spoken and written,

and that in many ways they represent two

virtually different languages. Native speakers

have a vast store of words in both spoken and

written modes. As Lewis puts it, It is now

clear that students can usefully employ a

repertoire of at least several hundred, if not

many thousand, institutionalized expressions.Such expressions are central to effective

spoken communication, both receptive and

productive (1996, 15).

Lewis argues strongly and convincingly

that teachers should not be teaching traditional



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grammar but instead should be focusing on

these chunks of language, that is the fixed

expressions, of which there are thousands. One

immediate consequence of corpus linguistics

research is that the expression chunks of

language and the need to recognize and teachlanguage chunks has become part of ELT

terminology, and up-to-date books on ELT

methodology and vocabulary contain this term

(e.g., Hedge 2000; Cameron 2001). Teachers

may need to make a mental shift from thinking

that language is lexicalised grammar to

thinking of it asgrammaticalised lexis.

6. Updating mental lexicons

Perhaps most daunting of all the

implications is that English language teachers

will need to update their own mental lexicons.

Biber et al. (1999), in the Longman Grammar

of Written and Spoken English (the title clearly

reflects the current idea gained from corpus

research that written and spoken English are

different systems), examine language corpus in

four areas, or registers: academic texts,

newspapers, spoken texts, and fiction. Notsurprisingly, nouns represent by far the most

frequent lexical word class; every fourth word

is a noun. Verbs are less frequent, occurring

every tenth word, followed by adjectives and

adverbs. Surprisingly, newspapers have by far

the greatest range of lexis in terms of nouns,

yet newspaper language is the least known and

least understood among non-native English

language teachers. Headlines such as POLICE

CHIEF QUITS OVER PRESS SCAMand YARD

IN GEMS SWOOP DRAMA leave most non-

natives (and many natives) completely baffled.

It is the almost exclusive use of the simple

present form of verbs in headlines, associated

with the often unfamiliar lexical items used by

newspapers, that creates confusion.

Coursebooks rarely, if ever, discuss this type of

language, so EFL teachers and learners are

rarely exposed to it. But they should be because

newspapers keep pace with contemporarylanguage usage, including newly coined words.

Helping our students learn, store, and

retrieve the words they need: Three options

As indicated earlier, there are several

options for presenting and revising or recycling

vocabulary. Unfortunately, some traditional

course books do not go much beyond topic or

theme when dealing with vocabulary

development. McCarthys (1990) three main

options are described in this section.

Option 1: By topic or theme

This is the way most writers introduce

vocabulary in course books, and it is a logical

way to introduce the many important lexical

sets that make up the bulk of learners early

lexicons.

Topic activity 1

Put these animals into groups:

sheep dog goat lion pig zebra

horse wolf turtle cow camel cat

crocodile hamster giraffe tiger

elephant guinea ig bear antelope

There is no right or wrong answer for this

task; the animals may be grouped in a variety of

ways, for example, herbivores/ carnivores/

omnivores or pets/domestic/wild.



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Topic activity 2: Word webs

The teacher begins by writing the topic

Food in large letters in the middle of the board.

S/he then adds two categories of food: Meat

and Fruit. S/he then extends the Meat category

by adding Pig, Cow, and Sheep. Finally, the

subcategory Beef is added. The board nowlooks like this:

Food

The teacher then explains that there are more

categories that can be added (for example,

Vegetables) and many more words for each

category. Students, working in groups of two or

three, copy the web onto a large piece of paperand are given a time limit to extend the web as

far as they can. The webs are then displayed

and compared. Similar webs can be done using

topics such as Clothing, Rooms in a House,

Animals, or Transportation.

Option 2: Focus on meaning

With the renewed interest in lexical

development, the importance of focusing

students attention on meaning has increased

significantly. Better, more up-to-date course

books now mention the word collocation and

include activities focused on meaning, which is

the second option to be considered here. In this

option, we would look at collocations within a

specific context. We could examine items such

as final whistle, defending champions, off-side

rule, and penalty kick, which would typically

all come from a newspaper article about asoccer game. Or we could examine lexical sets

that reflect semantic fields (for example, words

that describe size, such as: large, enormous,

big, gigantic, vast, and huge) and discuss the

way they are used and how they do or do not

collocate with other words. So, with the

students we might discuss why it is acceptable

to say a large dog, but not a vast dog, and we

might work together to place the words on a

continuum based on size.

Focus on meaning activity 1Which adjectives can be combined with

which nouns?

ADJECTIVES NOUNS

hot or mild

hot or cold

sweet or dry

sweet or sourstrong or weak

strong or mild

rough or calm

rough or smooth

hard or soft

hard or easy

sea

cheese

curry

bedwater

wine

cigarettes

tea

exam

grapes

skin

surface

Adapted from Redman, Ellis, and Viney (1996)

This activity nicely points to the

different meanings words may take when

collocating with other words and the inherent

dangers of teaching synonyms and antonyms

too freely: for example, rough sea and calm

sea; rough surface and smooth surface.

In the Dictionary of Selected

Collocations, a book made possible because of

evidence obtained from corpus linguistics

research, Hill and Lewis (1997, 6) identify the



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five most important kinds of collocations as:

(1) adjective + noun, e.g., fatal accident,

golden opportunity

(2) verb + noun, e.g., accept responsibility,

undermine (my) self confidence

(3) noun + verb, e.g., the gap widened, a fight

broke out(4) adverb + adjective, e.g., highly desirable,

potentially embarrassing

(5) verb + adverb, e.g., discuss calmly, lead

eventually to

Focus on meaning activity 2

Complete the table with the appropriate

normal adjective. The first one has

been done as an example:

Normal word Extreme word

hot boiling

____________ enormous

____________ delicious

____________ tiny

____________ exhausted

____________ freezing

____________ awful____________ filthy

____________ ancient

____________ wonderful

Option 3: Focus on form

The final option is to focus on form.

Students who have some knowledge of suffixesand prefixes can often work out for themselves

the meanings of words. Prefixes are particularly

important because, generally speaking, they

change the meaning of a word. Thus, students

can learn that adding the prefixes im-, un- and

in- produces the opposite meaning of the word

to which they are attached (impossible,

unsatisfactory, inexpensive), which can provide

them with a useful strategy.

Focus on form activity 1Which of these words can be combined

with -less and -ful?

use

home

end

harm

tact

care

thoughttaste

pain

hope

Adapted from Redman, Ellis, and Viney (1996)

Focus on form activity 2

Most suffixes change the category of a

word, for example, from a verb to a noun. This

activity is based on a humorous song, WhenYoure Old and Gray, by Tom Lehrer. Lehrer is

known for the black humor in his songs, and

this one makes repeated use of the rhyme of the

-ility suffix (in many cases, transforming an

adjective into a noun).

Since I still appreciate you

Lets find love while we may,

Because I know Ill hate you

When youre old and gray.

So say you love me here and now



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Ill make the most of that,

Say you love me and trust me

For I know youll disgust me

When youre old and getting fat.

An awful debility

A lessened utilityA loss of mobility

Is a strong possibility.

In all probability

Ill lose my virility

And you your fertility

And desirability.

And this liability

Of total sterility

Will lead to hostility

And the sense of futility.So lets act with agility

While we still have the facility

For well soon reach senility

And lose the ability.

Your teeth will start to go, dear

Your waist will start to spread

In twenty years or so, dear

Ill wish that you were dead.

Ill never love you then at all

The way I do today,

So please remember

When I leave in December

I told you so in May.

Conclusion

In that 1755 dictionary, Samuel Johnson

also admits that neither he, nor anyone, shall

imagine that his dictionary can embalm his

language, and secure it from corruption and

decay. While we shouldnt equate normallanguage change with corruption and decay, as

language teachers we must accept the fact of

change in the subject we teach. We must also

accept the challenge of staying abreast of the

kinds of changes occurring in English, which

are most apparent in its lexicon. Corpus

linguistics, the study and analysis of large

collections of written and spoken text, has

contributed immeasurably to our understanding

of how English is actually used. A renewedfocus on teaching vocabulary and lexical items

in English can help our students be more

successful in learning, storing, and retrieving

the words they need.References

Biber, D., S. Johansson, G. Leech, S. Conrad and E.

Finegan. 1999.Longman grammar of spoken

and written English. Harlow, UK: Longman

Pearson.

Brown, H.D. 2000.Principles of language learningandteaching(4th ed.). New York:

Longman/Pearson Education.

Cameron, L. 2001. Teaching languages to young

learners. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

Coe, N. 1997. Vocabulary must be learnt, not

taught.Modern English Teacher, 6, 3:4748.

Ellis, G. and B. Sinclair. 1989.Learning to learn

English. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

Hedge, T. 2000. Teaching and learning in the

language classroom. Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress.

Hill, J. and M. Lewis. 1997.Dictionary of selected

collocations. Hove, UK: Language Teaching

Publications.

Lewis, M. 1993. The lexical approach., Hove, UK:

Language Teaching Publications.

. 1996.Implications of a lexical view of

language in J. and D. Willis Challenge and

Change in Language Teaching. Oxford:

Heinemann.

Meara, P. 1995. The importance of an early

emphasis on L2 vocabulary.The LanguageTeacher, 19, 2:810.

McCarthy, M. and F. ODell. 1999.English

vocabulary in use elementary. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.



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debate about the role of vocabulary in language

teaching and learning. The figure 2000 as the basic

number of words needed has been around for a

while. West (1953) had 2000 head words in his

list. In theirIntroduction to the student, McCarthy

and ODell (1999, 4) suggest that .to speak and

write English in normal situations you need at least

1-2000 words. The authors said this based on

evidence provided by corpus linguistics research.

Analysis of corpora tells us about word

frequency and text-coverage. Not surprisingly, we

could predict that the most frequently occurring

words in English are words such as the, of, and, to,

a, in, and that. These arefunctionalwords, which in

themselves carry no meaning. By analysis, we know

that the three most frequent words in English (the, I,

you in spoken English, and the, to, and in written

English) represent 11.5% of all word tokens, or

occurrences, in texts. We know that the top 100

words represent 44% of texts.

Perhaps the most significant figure,

however, is the one corresponding to the most

frequent 2000 words. The top 2000 words account

for about 80% of texts. In other words, a learner

who knows the most frequent 2000 words will be

able to understand about 80% of a text (or, to put it

another way, one in five words, or 20%, will be

unknown). From this evidence, we can surmise that

2000 words is the absolute minimum a language

learner needsthe survival levelin order to be

able to process a text. Any fewer, and the unknown

gaps in the text will be too many to enable the

learner to deduce meaning from context. This

minimal 2000 figure is critical; there is only a 5%

increase for the next 2000 words (up to 4000), and

even less for each subsequent 2000 words (the

figures are, approximately: 4000 = 88%, 6000 =

91%, 8000 = 93%). Analysis also shows that

knowing 10,000 words means that 93% of a text

will be understood, and this could be recommended

as the next ideal target for a proficient language

learner.


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The New Literacy Page 13

Multimodality in Times of Multiliteracies:

Implications for TEFL

by Miguel Faras

INTRODUCTION

The research literature on reading, in

general, and on reading comprehension in a

second or foreign language, in particular, has

been slow in integrating the visual components

in reading comprehension models. As visually

encoded information, in the manner of

diagrams, pictures, videos, page formats, colors

and layouts, has become more prominent than

written texts in the last few decades, a new

form of communication has emerged,

multimodal texts (Kress and van Leeuwen

1996), which use a wide range of

representation and communication modes. The

monomodality of such traditional genres as

literary novels, academic papers, official

documents and reports has given way todocuments which present color illustrations,

different typographies and layouts and that may

link to voice and video files. Thus, as language

teachers, we need to move from a purely

linguistic explanatory frame of the reading

process to a semiotic perspective in which the

visual accompaniments and arrangements of

textual information provide and complement

the meaning of these multimodal texts. In turn,

digital technologies make us revise our

conceptions of literacy to incorporate critical

skills of cognitive engagement and social

interaction made possible by digital and online

communications. Some of the ideas presented

in this essay come from a macro research

project that tries to provide an account of

meaning as conveyed in multiple signifying

media. This has long been an objective of

semiology, as it is called in the European

tradition started by De Saussure, or semiotics in

its American (US) counterpart which follows

the work by Pierce and now has relevant

implications for the teaching of English as a

foreign language, as the materials we use bring

more and more multimodal formats into the

classroom.

FROM PRINT TO SCREENHistorically speaking, the advent of the

printing press meant a change in the

communication processes from an oral tradition

and a tradition of scribes to a massification of

the printed word. Little by little, as new

technologies were invented and with thecombining of photographs and texts, visual

elements were incorporated into the texts as

complements to the linguistic message.

However, in the last decades, the computer and

new forms of diagramming have sped up this

process and the visual message has become

central to comprehension.

One of the first manifestations of this

passage from print to screen is the creation of a

new type of discourse in which the traditional

relation between addresser and addressee is

now mediated by a machine (Faras 2003)

whose technology offers everyday new

possibilities to users. Social groups, then, are

differentiated between those belonging to the

print generation and those to the post-


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typographic group. One subgroup of this latter

category has been called screenagers, who

have not only grown with computers but with

non-stop connectivity that allows them to

download music onto MP3 players, send instant

messages online and text messages by cell

phone all at the same time. Referring to the

US culture, Brant (2003:52) has admitted that

its no surprise that they (screenagers) think

well beyond text.

Since some of our students belong to

this post typographic generation, we need tothink about our objectives when teaching

reading and writing skills. Although for some

of us it may seem a commonplace to write and

read from a computer screen, little has been

said about the implications of the new

communication technologies in the teaching of

language. What are the new sociocognitive

structures required and developed by these

technologies? As we and our students use more

and more computer mediated communication

(CMC), new types of texts are emerging that

require not only the mechanical ability to

decode graphemes from the printing page but to

make meaning of particular signs (emoticons:

, , ), arrangements, layouts, coloring,

linking possibilities, etc., which are available

through the Internet, on the World Wide Web

and in the products that incorporate

multimodality, such as electronic dictionaries,computer games, (music) video clips, cartoons,

web pages in general, etc.

NEW LITERACIES

To what extent do we need to change

our concepts of reading and writing in the face

of media that integrates visual, sound and text

codes? More globally, what are the new

conceptions of literacy that emerge from these

new social practices? Similar to what has

happened with the concept of intelligence

(Gardners multiple intelligences), literacy

needs to be pluralized and we have to talk

about literacies; as Rocap (2003: 147) has

pointed out, literacy definitions that

traditionally include descriptions of material

processes of encoding and decoding meaning

increasingly need to accommodate and make

sense of digital rendering on digital media as

well.As we look at multimodal texts and the

processes that make their production and

comprehension possible, we depart from

traditional notions of competence and

performance to now integrate what some have

called communication literacy, computer

literacy, TV literacy, and media literacy.

We hypothesize that the particular

arrangements of this semiotic totality that is the

multimodal text are socially and ideologically

motivated. Just take a look at any newspaper

and observe the different sections and their

organization. What goes on the front page?

How much text and visuality are included?

Kress and van Leeuwen (1996) have studied

the semiotic representation of newspapers in

various countries and have concluded that in

Western societies the visual space is arrangedalong a square divided in four. Since in

Western literate societies reading proceeds

from left to right and from the top to the

bottom, these four squares indicate different

meanings: the upper section represents the ideal

domain and the bottom the real one. From left

to right, the left is ascribed to the domain of


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given information, or what is taken for granted,

whereas the right represents the new

information, or what is supposedly unexpected.

Examine any newspaper and see how this

theory is played out.

GIVEN/IDEAL NEW/IDEAL

GIVEN/REAL NEW/REAL

The visual space in Western visual

semiotics (Kress, Leite-Garcia and Van

Leeuwen 2000)

Why are we interested in these issues as

language teachers? As teachers and as ordinary

citizens, we are surrounded by images in the

visual aids we use, the textbooks we work with,

or the very images that we create when

explaining something, making a sequence of

events in a time line, pointing to the titles of

texts in pre-reading activities, presenting a

video on some topic or story. However, these

images now come not as isolated signifiers that

by some external arrangement come together,

but as connected to other media, as text and

sound. This interconnection of media creates

multimodal texts which allow for the

concretization of the ideal of integrated skills

by providing a structured presentation of

reading (text and images), listening (sound

files), speaking (built-in mikes andcomputerized spectographs) and writing

(answering questions about the particular text

or image or sounds).

Awareness of the power and importance

of the visual code for teachers was expressed

by Kress and Van Leeuwen in (1996: 12):

educationalists everywhere have become

aware of the increasing role of visual

communication in learning materials of various

kinds, and they are asking themselves what

kind of maps, charts, diagrams, pictures and

forms of layout will be most effective for

learning. In FLT in Chile, Silva (2002) has

reported that multimodal processing of

information may result in better retention of

incidental learning as learners process input

through both visual and verbal channels and

that more referential constructions are made,

leading to more paths for the retrieval of lexicalinformation. In his study investigating the

effects of different hypermedia annotations on

incidental vocabulary learning, Silva concludes

that the multimedia group performed

significantly better than the sentence and the

multiple-choice groups.

If one of the aims of current educational

policies is to develop individuals with critical

thinking abilities (one of the cross-curricular

objectives in the Chilean educational reform),

in teaching reading comprehension, particularly

in pre-reading activities, we may foster critical

reading by paying attention to the meanings

conveyed and supplemented by the visual codes

included along with the linguistic code. In other

words, we should focus on the visual grammar

(the particular arrangements of the visual

elements) together with the textual grammar. Ifthe deconstructive movement (Derrida)

incorporated the idea of reading as global

understanding and interpreting (as in do you

read me or that was a good reading of the

issue), in teaching the English language we

should also aid our students in reading the


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The New LiteracyThe New Literacy Page 16

world by paying attention to the other

signifying systems beyond the mere linguistic.

Attention to these issues can also help

lead the way toward understanding the new

types of literacy (London School) that the

digital age is requiring and will require from us

and the future generations we are now training .

In this respect, Davis quotes Stein and

Newfield saying that assessment of

multimodal texts in the English classroom is a

complex, multilayered task which makes newdemands on teachers competencies and has

implications for teacher education.

When we apply these ideas to our

context, the first issue to be discussed is that of

access to multimedia. Although a lot of ELT

professionals have jumped on the bandwagon

of digital progress, access to computers has

maintained and exacerbated the so-called

digital divide by which social inequalities are

maintained. The statistics for Chile show 120

computers per 1,000 inhabitants and 122

Internet users per 1,000. Warschauer 2000, in a

qualitative study of the relationship between

technology, reform and equality concluded that

underlying differences in resources and

expectations served to reinforce patterns by

which the two schools (an elite private and an

impoverished public school) channel studentsinto different social futures.

The second issue is the methodologies

and means that are available and used in our

educational institutions. Are teachers requiring

students to send their projects and assignments

by electronic mail? Are teachers using

technological aids in their teaching by, say,

preparing Power Point presentations, designingwebpages, and compiling compositions in an

electronic website? Are teachers of English

taking advantage of the Enlaces program? How

do we perceive the gap between my generation

that grew up in the context of a print-based

literacy and the post typographical generation

raised and quite at ease with the use of

computer technology?

It seems to me that the demand forauthentic materials contained in the new

programs for English designed by Mineduc

provides an opportunity to bring back into the

classroom the images that have been displaced

by the traditional textbook. If we remember our

texts from when were children or look at our

childrens books, we can realize that they are

fully illustrated, but as the educational

(logocentric) emphasis has been placed more

and more upon the printed page, on text, these

images were abandoned. However, todays

every day newspapers, magazines,

advertisements and books involve a complex

interplay of written text, images and other

graphic elements. Using authentic materials

also implies bringing into the school certain

types of literacies that have been marginalized

in favor of the written text. Listening to music,

reading cartoons, playing video games, chattingon the Internet, and watching music video clips

are the kinds of reading activities in which our

students are engaged within their daily life

outside the school and that should now be

incorporated into the EFL classroom.


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The New LiteracyThe New Literacy Page 17

Some techniques that tackle the

visuality in texts have already been introducedinto the adult TEFL class: as attention to titles,

graphs and images accompanying texts in pre-

reading activities; the use of semantic mapping

to build or establish background knowledge

prior to reading; and the design of webpages in

task-based activities or projects. For children,

activities as those suggested by the Language

Experience Approach, in which children draw

pictures as prompts for language instruction,

are ideal.

In preparation for this multimodal

cybernetic scenario, teacher training needs to

introduce reflection on these emerging

literacies and action in preparing multimedia

materials that reflect these changes in human

communication.

.

REFERENCESBrant, Martha. Log on and Learn,Newsweek,

August 25, 2003.

Davis, Harriet. Assessing Multimodal Texts in

Multilingual Classrooms,http://www.engl.polyu.edu.hk/ACLAR/ltrc_documents/ltrc_networks

Faras, M. Anlisis conversacional de un

corpus reducido de lenguaje de salas dechateo, en Valencia, A. (ed). Desde el Cono

Sur. Homenaje a Juan Lope Blanch.

Santiago: Sochil.

Kress, G. Leite-Garcia, R. and Van Leeuwen,T. Semitica Discursiva, en Van Dijk, T.

2000.(ed). El Discurso con estructura y

proceso. Barcelona: Gedisa.Kress, G. and van Leeuwen, T. 1996. Reading

Images: The Grammar of Visual Design.

London: Routledge.Kress, Gunther and Van Leeuwen, Theo. 2001.

Multimodal Discourse. The Modes and Mediaof Contemporary Communication. London:Arnold.

Lankshear .1997. Changing Literacies.Buckingham: Open University Press.

Rocap, Kevin. Defining and designing literacyfor the 21st century, en Gwen Solomon,

Nancy Allen y Paul Resta (eds.).2003.

Toward Digital Equity: Bridging the Dividein Education. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Silva, Roberto. 2002. The effects of

Hypermedia Annotations on IncidentalVocabulary Learning, trabajo presentado en

el Congreso de la Asociacin Chilena de

Estudios Norteamericanos, Valparaso: Univde Playa Ancha.

Warschauer, M. 2002. Technology and School

Reform: A View from Both Sides of the

Tracks, English Language and Technology,

Vol. 8, No 4.


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Role of English Page 18

The Role of English in the 21st Century

by Melvia A. Hasman

The world is in various stages of social,

economic, and demographic transition.

Economically and politically, the world has

changed more rapidly in the past few years

than at any time since 1945. The emerging

global economy is both competitive and

interdependent. It reflects the availability of

modern communications and production

technologies in most parts of the world. So, do

we need to be concerned about the future of theEnglish language in the 21st century?

According to The Economist (1996), English

continues to be the world standard language,

and there is no major threat to the language or

to its global popularity. Even so, changes are

coming.

AN INTERNATIONAL ECONOMYTwo factors drive the global

marketplace. First, many manufactured

products have one or more foreign components.

Ford cars and IBM computers are just two

examples of this. Second, more than half of all

imports and exports, which governments label

foreign trade, are transacted between domestic

companies and their foreign affiliates.

The increasing globalization of the

marketplace is forcing companies to pay moreattention to international developments.

Domestic firms are adjusting their structures

and methods of operation to fit a broader and

rapidly changing economic environment. They

are increasing their geographic outreach

because more of their suppliers and customers

are located on various continents. For example,

last year Johnson and Johnson sold more

products outside the United States than in the

United States. Hewlett Packard, like many

companies, lost money when the Asian

economy collapsed.

Joint ventures are no longer just theoretical

possibilities. Mergers and acquisitions, like

Chrysler/Daimler Benz and MCI and BritishTelecom, increasingly cross national

boundaries. This trend is expected to continue

into the next millennium.

Such internationalization is illustrated in

three ways. First, companies change their basic

goals to conform to a global marketplace.

Second, they adapt their products to local

markets. But most importantly, they do not set

up international bureaucracies; instead, they

hire foreign nationals who understand the local

markets.

Why discuss economics together with the

English language? Because the English

language is closely associated with this

economic modernization and industrial

development.

Information is sent and received at

increasing speed. The competitive demands of

governments, industries, and corporations, both

national and multinational, for technological

progress require an understanding of the


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tolerance for diversity and individual style, and

has resulted in Internet English replacing the

authority of language institutes and practices.

English, like many languages, uses a

phonetic alphabet and fairly basic syntax. But

most importantly, it has a large and extensive

vocabulary, of which about 80% is foreign.

Therefore, it has cognates from virtually every

language in Europe and has borrowed and

continues to borrow words from Spanish and

French, Hebrew and Arabic, Hindi-Urdu and

Bengali, Malay and Chinese, as well aslanguages from West Africa and Polynesia.

This language characteristic makes it unique in

history.

Finally, no English-language central

authority guards the purity of the language.

Therefore, many dialects have developed:

American, British, Canadian, Indian, and

Australian, to name a few. There is no standard

pronunciation. But within this diversity is aunity of grammar and one set of core

vocabulary. Thus, each country that speaks the

language can inject aspects of its own culture

into the usage and vocabulary.

However, the future is unpredictable.

As David Crystal (1997) commented, there has

never been a language so widely spread or

spoken by so many people as English. Thus,

there are no precedents to help us predict whathappens to a language when it achieves genuine

world status.

CHANGES IN THE 21st CENTURY

The world is in transition, and the

English language will take new forms. The

language and how it is used will change,

reflecting patterns of contact with other

languages and the changing communication

needs of people.

English is divesting itself of its political

and cultural connotations as more people

realize that English is not the property of only a

few countries. Instead, it is a vehicle that is

used globally and will lead to more

opportunities. It belongs to whoever uses it for

whatever purpose or need.

One question that arises about the futurerole of the English language is whether a single

world standard English will develop. This

could result in a supranational variety that all

people would have to learn.

The widespread use of English as a

language of wider communication will continue

to exert pressure toward global uniformity.

This could result in declining standards,

language changes, and the loss of geolinguistic

diversity.

On the other hand, because English is

the vehicle for international communication

and because it forms the basis for constructing

cultural identities, many local varieties could

instead develop. This trend may lead to

fragmentation of the language and threaten the

role of English as a lingua franca. However,

there have always been major differences

between varieties of English.

There is no reason to believe that any

one other language will appear within the next

50 years to replace English. However, it is

possible that English will not keep its


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monopoly in the 21st century. Rather, a small

number of languages may form an oligopoly

each with a special area of influence. Forexample, Spanish is rising because of

expanding trade and the increase of the Latino

population in the United States. This could

create a bilingual English-Spanish region.

A language shift, in which individuals change

their linguistic allegiances, is another

possibility. These shifts are slow and difficult

to predict. But within the next 50 years,

substantial language shifts could occur as

economic development affects more countries.

Because of these shifts in allegiance,

more languages may disappear. Those

remaining will rapidly get more native

speakers. This includes English.

Internal migration and urbanization may

restructure areas, thereby creating communities

where English becomes the language ofinterethnic communicationa neutral

language.

Universities using English as the

medium of instruction will expand and rapidly

create a generation of middle-class

professionals. Economic development will only

increase the middle class, a group that is more

likely to learn and use English in jobs.

While languages such as English,

German, and French have been international

languages because of their governments

political powers, this is less likely to be the

case in the 21st century where economics and

demographics will have more influence on

languages.

CONCLUSION

English has been an internationallanguage for only 50 years. If the pattern

follows the previous language trends, we still

have about 100 years before a new language

dominates the world. However, this does not

mean that English is replacing or will replace

other languages as many fear. Instead, it may

supplement or co-exist with languages by

allowing strangers to communicate across

linguistic boundaries. It may become one tool

that opens windows to the world, unlocks

doors to opportunities, and expands our minds

to new ideas.

REFERENCES

Crystal, D. 1997. English as a global language.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

The Economist, 1996. London: The Economist,

Profile Books.

The Future of English. 1997 London: The

British Council.


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Affective Strategies Page 22

Self-esteem and its Relationship to Language

Learning. A Significant Example: Learning

English in Jail

by Mary Jane Abrahams

I. INTRODUCTIONFor many, the learning of a foreign

language represents a threat to their security, to

their need of acceptance and recognition bytheir friends and classmates, by their English

teacher and, sometimes, even by their own

family. It is hard for our students to accept that

making mistakes is necessary to learn a new

language. The fear of losing face and being

laughed at is usually very negative for the

motivational efforts of the teacher.

Consequently, learning a new language implies

having the will to run risks, to learn to tolerate

ambiguity, and even to be ready for chaos.(Oxford, 1998 and Brown, 1996)

It is interesting to note that, among the

many strategies employed in the teaching of

English, a fairly new type has been

incorporated that is related to the emotions of

the individual (Oxford, 1998 and Hadley

O.,1997). These are called Affective Strategies,

and they explain why the more basic negative

emotions are detrimental to the motivation to

learn, and to the results of such a learning

system. Emotions such as shame, lack of self-

esteem, insecurity and sense of being

threatened cause a series of repercussions in the

relationship of the student with the usual

strategies, and the achievements in learning.

It was thought that the penitentiary

system was an appropriate frame for a

significant study in this area, given that thepeople doing sentences for transgressions of the

law generally claim that lack of self esteem is

one of the main reasons for delinquency

(Coyle, 2002). Consequently, a project was

designed and an agreement was approved by

the Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de

la Educacin and the Direccin Nacional de

Gendarmera, so that the last-year students of

Pedagogy in English could carry out their

professional practice in the jail precinct locatedin the Metropolitan Region. Four volunteers

were accepted for this project, to teach English

during a semester under the supervision of a

teacher from the English Department and a

counselor from the Departamento de

Formacin Pedaggica at UMCE.

II.STUDY OVERVIEW

The subjects of this study were 42 (37

male and 6 female) inmate volunteers from two

of Santiagos jails: the Ex-Penitentiary and the

Penal Center for Women. They came from

different sections of their institutions,

depending on their behavior, their crimes and

their sentences (in years left to serve).


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Hence, it is understood that this is a

characteristic to be developed from childhood

onward, through experience and interaction

with others. As long as work and effort are

stimulated, the child receives support for his

integral growth is motivated to achieve goals

within his/her reach. Taught to evaluate his/her

potential, this child, upon reaching his/her

adolescence, will stop needing explicit

approval from his/her elders, and start looking

for it in his/her peers (Branden 1994).

V.SEARCHING FOR LINKSThe result of an individual having

positive self-esteem is reflected in his/her

confidence when handing out judgement and

opinions, believing and defending his/her

principles and values, in his/her tolerance and

flexibility, in taking actions in terms of the

responsibility he/she holds (without blaming

others), in acquiring goals within his/her grasp,

and in adapting to difficult situations. If these

characteristics are not developed, the individual

will react negatively to anything which means

showing confidence and faith in him/herself. In

this way, be it acting as a law-abiding citizen,

or risking ridicule by learning a foreign

language, the individual will face his/her

challenges with respect for him/herself and

with responsibility.

Christy Camp (1995) establishes that the

level of self-esteem an inmate attains when

he/she is about to be released determines

his/her potential to commit further crimes.

Rosenberg (2001) says that adolescents with

low self-esteem commit crimes as a way of

getting back at the system. We think that there

are few doubts about the relationship between

low self-esteem and criminal behavior; in this

sense, it becomes of paramount importance to

find alternatives that might motivate inmates to

change their behavior, thus changing their lives

once their sentences are completed. Learning

English is, then, a way of forming relationships

with others, feeling competent, establishing

goals, feeling ones individuality, and having a

sense of purpose that goes beyond the

immediacy of jail life.

If we focus primary and high-school

students, we come to similar conclusions.Teachers play a decisive role in developing

their students self-esteem, since they are the

ones who create the conditions that surround

students an environment in which each one

of them has feelings of pride and belonging.

The teacher must make sure that each student is

recognized as an individual, and for his/her

own traits. It would, therefore, be desirable for

teachers to develop self-esteem-designing

activities in which students could voice their

opinions and make suggestions and choices of

their own. In the same way, it is necessary to

give feedback in a specific and informative

manner that will strengthen self-esteem, instead

of just complying with a duty. (Branden 1994)

Williams and Burden (1997) use

Feuersteins theory of mediation, formulated in

relation to learning experience, to explainfactors conducive to social development, sense

of belonging, the desire to share, and the value

of each individual, and apply it in activities to

teach a foreign language with the thought of

transforming it into an integral part of teaching

strategy to collaborate in the development of


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the self-concept: ...the wholeness of a complex

and dynamic system of learned beliefs which

each individual thinks to be true about his

personal existence, and which give consistency

to his personality of which self-esteem forms

a part.

IV.METHODOLOGY

The four practice teachers worked on the

development of a series of attitudes in the 47

inmates; these attitudes were related to the

ability to express opinions and feelings openly,and to think positively in regard to themselves.

The following steps were put into action for the

development of the project:

The application of a Coopersmith self-

esteem test to evaluate the problem. Theresults were between medium and low

levels.

The selection and application of

activities for English language learningthat develop self-esteem.

The selection and application ofqualitative tools, such as class

observation, check lists and self-evaluation forms. All of these had the

clear objective of evaluating the

changes that would develop. Anincrease in self-esteem was hoped for,

which would make itself apparent in

their performance and attitude towards

learning. Interpretation of the data.

Conclusions.

V. ACTIVITIES

The selected activities were generally based on

the humanistic approach. Some were adapted to

the context of the inmate students, whose level

was that of beginners. The activities were then

combined with what the students felt, thought

and knew, and with the knowledge of what they

were learning of English. The activities were

geared to be fun, interesting, motivating

towards the use of English; at the same time,

they satisfied the necessary requirement of

being perceived as relevant and pertinent to the

students as individuals. Their objective was

directed towards the development of six

primary components regarding self-esteem:

1. Awareness about their lives(understanding both the internal and

external world)

2. Self-acceptance (the will to live without

evading or denying aspects of oneself)

3. Responsibility towards oneself

(accepting the results of ones decisions

and choices)

4. Self-assertiveness (respect and

authenticity)

5. Living with a purpose (identifying long

and short-term goals, formulating plans

to get there)

6. Personal integrity (being congruent to

what one believes, knows and does).

Branden, 1994

To achieve these goals, the activities were

divided into four substantial areas:

1.) Artistic ExpressionThe intention behind this activity was to help

make the students feel free to express

themselves in ways that were unexpected to

them. There was a combination of humanistic

and artistic sculpting techniques to help them

discover themselves, have fun and improve


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their self-esteem. These techniques favored

self-discovery and self-awareness, contact with

their feelings and increasing creativity.

Example: The Best Product: Me

Objectives: Introspective thinking,

stimulating creativity and imagination,

practicing the use of the Present Simple,

practicing the use of Adjectives.

Materials: A sheet of paper per student,

magazines, scissors, glue and felt-tip

pens.

Procedure: The teacher explains thatthey [the students] will design an ad

about themselves. The students will

consider why they are special and then

design their poster explaining their

qualities. When all are finished, the

results are to be shared with the group.

2.) Literature

This activity had two purposes. One was to

develop vocabulary and language skills, a

fundamental need for these adults, for whom

English is a foreign language. The other was to

stimulate self-acceptance and self-

understanding through thought-provoking

questions that would serve as the basis for the

analysis and discussion of the texts, as well as

for debating over important subjects such as

faith, respect, individuality, etc.

Example: I am Special (Author Unknown) Objective: For students to think about

themselves introspectively, considering

their individuality, practicing the use of

be, can, have got, and practicing

expressions related to personal

characteristics.

Materials: A photocopy of the text per

student.

Procedure: The teacher starts out by

brainstorming about what makes

someone special. The students read the

text in silence, then the teacher reads it

out loud. A circle is formed for its

discussion and analysis, where

everyone gives their opinion and talks

about their emotions. Finally, the

students give their opinion about the

activity itself and what they have

learned.

3.) Creative Writing

These activities were a group of tasks directed

to helping the inmates understand themselves

better, expressing their individuality and

listening to others. From the point of view of

actual language learning, the linguistic

achievements were incredible, possibly due to

the nature of the activities that facilitated the

expression of feelings in a creative and original

way.

Example: Weather Forecasting

Objectives: Realizing what one feels in

different situations, practicing words

and expressions related to the weather

using the right tense.

Materials: Photocopies and a series of

questions. Procedure: The teacher explains that in

any given situation there is a

multiplicity of feelings, and that they

[the students] will learn to respond to

each situation using terms related to the


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weather: hot, warm, chilly, freezing, bright,

dark, blue, foggy, cloudy, sunny, etc.

4. Music

The songs selected were aimed at developing

listening comprehension and helping students

get in contact with their feelings. The music

created a relaxed and agreeable working

environment where feelings appeared more

easily.

Example: Fantasy by Earth, Wind and Fire.

Objectives: Learning about themselvesthrough fantasies, practicing the use of

imperatives and Present Simple.

Materials: Radio cassette player,

cassettes, a photocopy of the lyrics per

student, a photocopy of the fill-in-the-

blanks exercises.

Procedure: The teacher introduces the

song to the students, asking them to

guess what the song is about through

the title. The teacher asks vocabulary

questions, the inmates listen to the song

and fill in the blanks. Finally, the deep

meaning of the lyrics is discussed and

students reach their own conclusions.

The concepts chosen to explore and develop in

the suggested activities were the following:

Individuality The need of a clear sense ofself-awareness.

Feelings Learning to react emotionally,

without previously analysing their

feelings.

Respect Particularly towards the knowledge,

opinions and abilities of others.

Abilities Admitting their own potential and

developing it proudly.

Creativity The ability to generate or

recombine in an original fashion.

Communication Exchanging information or

expressing ideas and feelings.

Optimism Believing that things will always

get better.

Faith Believing that one can trust others, and

that one can do the right thing.

VI. RESULTS

Check Graphs.

VII. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

The results show a significant increase in the

self-esteem of the inmates, seen in their social

interactions and their performance in English.

The number of inmates with low self-esteem

dropped considerably from July to September.

Interpersonal relationships improved and their

academic performance showed an important

increase. Statistics recorded improvement,

going from 16% of inmate students with good

achievement levels, to 48%. There are several

explanations for this:

1.) The implementation of self-esteem activities

in class. The ten implemented activities during

this study managed to increase the self-esteem

of the students, which became evident in:

An increase in their awareness of their

strengths and weaknesses.

Their capacity to establish goals.

Their creativity.

Their responsibility towards the results

of their actions.

Their optimism.


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2.) Strategies used by the practice teachers,

some of which were used in all of the classes

and in tandem with the aforementioned:

Referring to the students by their given

name.

Talking to each student so that they

could share their hopes, fears and

achievements with the teacher. These

conversations took place after class.

Giving multiple alternatives on how to

go about the activities so that the inmate

could feel they were achieving thegoals, particularly by giving them tasks

in accordance with their skills.

Exhibiting the students work on the

walls.

Giving opportunities for open

discussion of their peers work and their

own evaluation of it. This was quite

difficult in the beginning, given that the

inmate were loath to do it. The situation

changed after some time, after they

learned how to manage giving opinions

and receiving criticism.

Taking time to help those who had

problems or were falling behind.

Stimulating students to take risks and

accept challenges.

Stimulating and accepting suggestions

and decisions: for example, selecting

subjects, texts and work. Stimulating paired and/or team-work.

Highlighting achievements

enthusiastically.

There was a visible increase in the inmates

academic performance when voluntary

participation in oral and written activities

became more frequent. This was accompanied

by a better disposition towards learning a

foreign language. The efforts towards learning

and participating were more and more

noticeable, in the same way that their

willingness to work in groups increased, along

with their responsibility for their homework.

Perhaps the best way to appreciate the increase

in self-esteem and academic performance is to

check the self-evaluations.

VIII. CONCLUSIONS

Very often, English teachers tend to think thattheir classes have little or no impact on their

students, that they dont get beyond a few

interesting discussions on some common

topics. However, throughout this study there is

increasing evidence of the necessity to select

teaching strategies and systematize activities

that develop fundamental values, specifically

self-esteem, for each individual. These

activities should simultaneously help to

improve the performance in the learning of a

foreign language.

English teaching is very versatile: in fact, it

lends itself to a great variety of subjects and

exercises. This means that it allows students to

talk about their reactions, emotions and

opinions about them. Students can relate to

these subjects through their memories and

experiences (both positive and negative), theirhopes and their fears. Through all the different

subjects that must be seen in class, the foreign

language teacher can provide the students with

a highly significant subject matter: the study of

themselves.


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IX. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brown, H.Douglas. (1994) Teaching by Principles.

An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy.

New York: Heinle & Heinle.

Branden, Nathaniel. (1994) The Six Pillars of Self-

Esteem.New York: Bantam Books.

California Task Force. (1990) To Promote Self-

Esteem and personal and Social Responsibility.

Towards a State of Self-Esteem. Sacramento,

C.A.: California Department of Education.

Camp, Christy. (1995) Time's up. July 29th

www.lairdcarlson.com/celldor.htm

Coopersmith, Stanley. (1967) The Antecedents ofSelf-Esteem. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and

Company.

Coyle, Andrew. (2002) La Administracin

Penitenciaria en el Contexto de los Derechos

Humanos. Londres: Centro de Estudios

Penitenciarios.

De Andr, Vernica. (1999) What is Self-Esteem.

May 22nd www.newrenaissance.ibs.ee/veronica/

english/frame/index

Hadley Omaggio, Alice. (1993) Teaching Language

in Context. Heinle & Heinle.

Oxford, Rebecca. (1990) Language Learning

Strategies. Boston, Mass. Heinle & Heinle.

Reasoner, Robert & Malhi, Ranjit. (2000)

Enhancing Self-Esteem. Kuala Lumpur: Self-

Esteem Seminar.

Williams, Marion & Burden, Robert L. (1997)

Psychology for Language Teachers. London:Cambridge Language Teaching Library, CUP.


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Editorial Information and Event Notices Page 30

U PCOM I N G SY MP OS I UM

BBiilliinngguuaall MMiinnddss::EEnngglliisshh ffoorrCChhiillee 22001100

Symposium organized by Universidad Diego

Portales on the occasion of the opening of its

new major in English Language and

Culture 2005.

Date: October 20 - 21, 2004

Time: 9:00 a.m - 18:30 p.m every day.

Venue: Auditorium Facultad de Ingeniera:

Ejercito 441. Universidad Diego Portales

Professor John Swales from the University ofMichigan and Professor Ray Fleming fromFlorida State University (FSU) have confirmed

their participation as guest speakers.

This symposium is free of charge. .

Contact information and registration:

Roxana Orregoe-mail: [email protected]

Jaime Correae-mail:[email protected]

Facultad de Humanidades

Universidad Diego Portales

6762396 - 6762810 - 6762395

N EWS L E T T E R

SUBM I S S I O N GU I D E L I N E S

IN A WORD solicits submissions on an

ongoing basis. Submissions may be short-

entries (250-750 words) on teaching

methods/tips, professional development,

material writing, book reviews or issues related

to specialized areas such as basica-

secondaria education, adult education, or

teacher-training. Longer, pedagogically-

oriented articles (1,000-1,500 words) on any ofthese issues are also welcome.

Please send submissions by e-mail or on a

3.5 diskette. Text should be in ASCII format.

Relevant illustrations may be included.

Citations should conform to APA (American

Psychiatric Association) style. Please include

a printed copy of your manuscript. Please

include an autobiography (50 words or so)

with your name, affiliation and area(s) of

specialization. Please send submissions to:

[email protected]

IN A WORD also welcomes

announcements about upcoming events, calls

for papers, conference notices, links to notable

websites, and news about the activities of

TESOL CHILE members.

Please include day and evening phonenumbers, a preferred postal address, and e-mail

(if possible) with all correspondence.

IN A WORD reserves the right to edit all

manuscripts accepted for publication. A

writers request for final approval is honored

whenever possible.


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tesol newsletter no. 1 august 2004

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