BE SURE, YOU ARE NOT PROBLEMATIC!

For how many years have you been learning English? Four, six, eight years perhaps even more? Depending on the length of duration, how do you evaluate your communication proficiency? Let’s suppose you have been learning for approximately five years. In spite of such a long process, are you still cannot communicate in English? If your response is “yes”, have you ever investigated the reason behind it?

High rate of students leaving their schools unable to communicate in English and especially my friends’ saying “Am I problematic?”, urged me to think that, depending on not all learners are problematic cognitively, there should be definitely some other contributors (!) to learners’ failure in communication irrelevant to them. They reveal why learners are not problematic, but there are already many things going wrong.

This is my defense of learners’ justice in “failure in communication.”

Firstly, what about the amount of spoken interaction carried out in the classroom? Because it is too little, it is fairly normal that they are unable in speaking. In fact, teachers do not have the right to expect them to be fluent speakers because what is experienced in the classroom directly conflicts with what is expected. As extra information, this case is not compatible with validity factor.

If teacher sees her students as passive input receivers instead of output producers, it is almost a miracle that students can speak in English. The quantity of learners unable in communication, no need for any extra evidence, proves what role was accepted to be adequate for them.

One of the most significant matters in language education is to attract learners’ attention to have a more effective speaking process. Choosing interesting topics, using different techniques and methods, maintaining learner participation via entertaining activities such as playing games, role playing, and simulations etc. are some means to attract them. What if a class is deprived of these elements and generally within a monotonous atmosphere? In this case, as a teacher, how can you justify yourself in their unwillingness to speak?

How the language is used (reading, writing, speaking, listening) in the classroom is totally different from real life language. The learner who is accustomed to scripted language will, of course, be shocked when he finds himself in a real conversation. This condition discourages the learner from speaking because he witnesses his own inability in real life. So, carefully chosen authentic materials should be carried to the classrooms to balance the gap between the language in the classroom and outside the classroom.

An obstacle in speaking for learner is that teacher attaches more importance to form than meaning. For the fear that she would be interrupted and corrected in her every attempt, the learner prefers not to speak. Besides, since it forces the learner to form her sentences as accurate as possible, fluency that is a priority in communication may be underestimated.

The other problem is the way how they are exposed to the target language. Their exposure mainly consists of written language at sentence level. As a result, it is not surprising that they are extremely major in written examinations and awful in communication.

So, if your experiences in English class are parallel with what I cite above and if you still cannot communicate in English, you have the right for not being able to speak. Be sure, you are not problematic!

As a recall, it certainly does not mean there is no problem with learners. Yet, what I want to stress here is just to make some outside learner factors more clear.

6 SOS !!!

As a candidate for teaching English, have you ever thought in which extents foreign language (L2) learning differs from first language (L1) learning? My opinion is that L2 learning is not certainly the same as what happens in L1 process. During writing, I will emphasize on six varieties between L1 and L2 learning and also share some suggestions.

The most important difference between them is related to the process in learning. While L1 has a subconscious and internal process, L2 has a conscious and external one. So, create some opportunities for your students to teach the language subconsciously, such as increasing exposure to language, pushing them to produce more output etc.

While anyone is learning his native language, she has an untouched and clear system waiting to be shaped by her L1; however, any foreign language learner has a system already established and violated by her native language. This is probably one of the most paramount obstacles making foreign language learning process compelling. So, tolerate your students’ errors originating from their L1.

All human beings (except for cognitively disabled ones) are capable of learning any language as their mother tongue as long as they are exposed to it. All languages, such as Turkish, Japanese, English, and French etc. are equally learnable by L1 learners. Is this scenario the same for a foreign language learner? This is not definitely the case for them. A Spanish speaker may have less difficulty learning Italian than she does Japanese. So, think of linguistic complexity of the language you are teaching.

What about the difference between ultimate attainment reached by a first language learner and foreign language learner? Any person can reach a complete state of his native language, but however good she is, a foreign language learner cannot reach the same attainment. At least, effects of native language and fossilization are what will be traced in her foreign language output. So, when you hear the sentence “he comed yesterday”, do not be shocked.

While children are learning their first language, they learn a number of forms, structures, meanings for different situations. On the contrary, a second language user learns just appropriate and specific forms, meanings and structures for the given setting. So, do not expect your learners, particularly beginners, to be great generators in the foreign language.

When motivation is taken into consideration, it does not appear to have a direct impact on success or failure in learning native language. Yet, it is absolutely a significant element in contributing to foreign language learning. So, make use of even the subtle success of your students and motivate them as much as possible.

These are some important points why I find L1 and L2 learning different, there are definitely some more to add to the writing. Yet, these are especially what I would like state for the time being.

I AM IN A DILEMMA !!!

            It is a new trend that I heard in methodology course last semester. Instructor mostly talks about how it contributes to ELT education. I cannot deny its value in supporting both language teaching and also learning; however, what I expect more is to become aware of its drawbacks or deficiencies in application. What I am talking about is Task Based Language Teaching abbreviated as TBLT. There are some question marks concerning TBLT in my mind for approximately six months. These question marks make me confused and urge me not to use TBLT in the coming years.

            First problem is related to its burden to the teacher in terms of economy, time, and work. What I recall is that presentations of last semester costed a lot of money for many of us. What is more, it was really a time-consuming and worrisome process because you had to plan each stage according to learner needs attentively.

What about TBLT in a crowded class? While its application is a daunting job even in a small class in terms of discipline, control of mother tongue, and noise etc, it is will probably be much more problematic in a crowded class.

Tasks carried out especially in groups make me think that TBLT neglects individual responsibility to some extent. While some learners are doing the task, the rest may be indifferent to the task. So, it necessitates a perfect observation, supervision and organization skill.

            “Learn by doing” seems to me as a memorized chunk in TBLT. I find it right but lacking, “With enough help, support or scaffolding” should be added to the end of it. If they could “learn by doing”, then no need for teachers!

            One of the paramount targets of TBLT in education is to increase communication in the foreign language among learners through real-life tasks. What I experienced last semester was the opposite this scenario. There was little or no communication among my class- mates in English or they mostly switched to mother tongue even though they are able enough to use English. As a result of this condition, I questioned TBLT for the first time: “Does it really increase communication in foreign language in a class whose members have the same native language?” I am convinced that it will have a positive impact on multilingual classes sharing different mother tongues, but I am in a dilemma particularly with classes having the same native language. Again for these classes, the rate of risk may increase as the proficiency of students decreases. So, I need a research result showing the effectiveness or non- effectiveness of TBLT in supporting communication in the foreign language in any class sharing the same mother tongue. 


If you read this post, write me soon…

HOW DOES YOUR BRAIN WORK?

In linguistics, code-switching is defined as the concurrent use of more than one language, or language variety, in conversation. According to this description, I am a code- switcher. When I found out that I had a good potential for code- switching, I analyzed in which conditions I code switch. As a result, I found out these facts about myself:

1. When I switch to Turkish, following to the prolonged and intensive exposure to foreign language, I code switch unconsciously. This is a real example of my code- switching taken from a break after a course.

“Teacher, bu article blogging in learner ların language development ını nasıl support ettiğini değil, writing development ını nasıl support ettiğini gösteriyor değil mi?”

2. I have a considerable difficulty in passing from L2 to L1 especially after presentations in English. The example is after a presentation.

“Presentation, sorry, sunum biraz long oldu yani uzun oldu.”

3. The next condition I code switch a lot is the time when I am convinced that my listener/partner knows what I am citing for. I do never feel a necessity to use Turkish equivalent of the word. This is again a model taken from real life.

“…ELT ile ilgili kısa textler yayınlamayı düşünüyorum”

“… makale de tanıtıp discuss edebilirim.”

4. I apply to code- switching on the condition that I cannot find the Turkish equivalent of any word while talking.

“Para exchance edemedikleri için adamın biri para vermiş.”

Note 1: Exchange, text, expose, input, support, development, paragraph, learning, teaching, context, meaning, criticize etmek, discuss etmek etc. is a list I mostly code switch. I even sometimes think that my brain does not accept Turkish equivalents of these words. It may stem from that I am exposed to these words in English more than I do in Turkish.

Note 2: I found out that I code switch after presentations and courses (1, 2) more than I do in casual life (3,4). I will explain its reason below together with why I code switch.

I am very curious about how my brain works so I sometimes consider in this way: “Regarding for linguistic abilities, my brain has possibly just one part for both English and Turkish, not distinct areas for each language. There is a line dividing this part into two for both languages and letting transition of words between them, which is the reason of my code- switching. While using (speak, listen, write, and read) Turkish in casual life, this line is fairly normal and lets transition of words from English to Turkish in some cases (3, 4). Whenever I use (listen, speak, write, and read) English the most, this line gets tense and separates the spaces for English and Turkish from each other strictly. The moment I pass to Turkish, the line confuses, perhaps gets worn-out, and the flow of words from English to Turkish increases. This scenario may explain why I code switch after courses and presentations (1, 2) more than I do in casual life.  After some time, everything gets back to normal.”

You may question why the line does not get tense while speaking in Turkish. Speaking in Turkish is what my brain is accustomed to more than in English. This is a just prediction I made on how my brain works. What about you? How does your brain work?

 WILL WE GET RID OF THE IMPACT OF GTM?

Roles of Teacher and Learners

One of the priorities of today’s life is learning a language, especially English. Whatever language it is, there are many factors creating challenge when learning that language. Some of these factors are learner- oriented; however, there are some other reasons, not learner- oriented, as Grammar- Translation Method (GTM). It is the number one potential to pose difficulty during language learning process on its own.

Unfortunately, because of GTM, learning English was seen as being proficient at grammar that is a great misunderstanding. So, sadly, we were like machines loaded with structures and rules waiting to be active one day; however, that day never came. It was because of the reason that little or no communication lies on the ground of GTM. I strongly think that language should act as a communication creater among people. And communication, at first, means being able to speak and being able to understand (listening) what is said. There is no or little emphasis of GTM on listening and speaking, directly on communication. Because of this reason, there is a mismatch between the meaning of language for GTM and for me. So, I do not appreciate GTM.

 Secondly, there is a great gap between the language use in GTM and outside the classroom. During the courses, teaching stands on sentence- level not on discourse level in GTM. What about real life? We use the language in discourse level not in sentence- level.

The roles of teacher and the students in GTM indicate to what extent it can be successful, what is more, why it fails in teaching English. Comically, learners are passive and teachers are active in general. There is a mismatch between roles since teachers, at least, are already better than students in English. That is, students should be on floors.

Our generation was mostly subjected to GTM so I think that our generation is the victim of this method. I frequently hear this question: “Although we have been learning English for 9- 10 (sometimes more) years, why can not we speak English? Do WE have problems?” Definitely, no one (except for people who have problems mentally) has problem. The answer of this question is hidden under GTM. If we had exposed to another method, we would be able to communicate easily instead of forcing ourselves to create the most grammatical sentence unnecessarily.

I could realize the traces of GTM on me when one of my friends from Indonesia told me: “Why do you, the Turks, force yourself to be a grammar book?” She was completely right; however, it was the result of the pressure GTM put on us. While chatting with a friend of mine from Philistine, I realize that I make up my sentences as grammatical as possible that is again due to the pressure of GTM on me. Yet, what he does is to just convey his message directly as long as it is comprehensible enough. It seems to me that, at least, our generation will never be able to get rid of the impact of GTM.