DOCUMENT RESUME ED 352 829 FL 020 863 AUTHOR Arthur, Lore, Ed.

178 Pages·2012·5.2 MB·English

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 352 829
FL 020 863
AUTHOR
Arthur, Lore, Ed.; Hurd, Stella, Ed.
TITLE
The Adult Language Learner. A Guide to Good Teaching
Practice.
INSTITUTION
Centre for Information on Language Teaching and
Research, London (England).
REPORT NO
ISBN-1-874016-30-5
PUB DATE
92
NOTE
179p.
PUB TYPE
Guides
Non-Classroom Use (055)
Collected Works
General (020)
EDRS PRICE
MF01/PC08 Plus Postage.
DESCRIPTORS
*Adult Education; Classroom Techniques; Foreign
Countries; Guidelines; *Instructional Effectiveness;
Language Teachers; Language Tests; Linguistic Theory;
*Second Language Instruction; *Second Language
Learning; Teaching Methods
IDENTIFIERS
*Great Britain
ABSTRACT
Taking into account the British government's decision
to include foreign language learning as a foundation subject in the
National Curriculum for all school pupils ages 11-16, this guide
examines approaches to second language learning for adults. Chapters
include the following: (1) The Adult Language Learner (learning as an
adult, recognizing learner needs, and facilitating learning); (2)
Looking at Language (understanding learning, theories in language
teaching, the communicative approach, and strategies);
(3) Working
Together (lesson planning, presenting new language items, developing
receptive and productive skills, developing command of the language,
and additional materials and alternative methods); (4) Extending the
Professional Context (course design for special purposes, independent
learning, testing language performance, and being a professional);
and (5) A Suggested Approach (first lesson for beginners and
suggestions for classroom activities). An organizational resource
list of 26 entries is appended. (LB)
***********************************************************************
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the original document.
***********************************************************************
A guide to good teaching practice
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS
Improvement
Once or Educatanat Research and
MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY
INFORMATION
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
ERIC,
CENTE
as
This
document has been reproduced
organaabon
received from the person or
onconahng d
to improve
C Minor changes have been made
reproduCrOn duebty
trus docu-
frotort 01 voavo or opanons stated m
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
necessanly represent othc.al
do not
ment
OERI posdron or pOlICy
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)."
Edited by
LORE ARTHUR and STELLA HURD
2
C / LT
BEST COPY AVAILABLE
1171
The adult language learner
A guide to good teaching practice
edited by
Lore Arthur and Stella Hurd
Illustrations by Caroline Mort lock
Cl
LT
The views expressed in this book are those of the editors and contributors and do not necessarily
reflect the views of CILT.
Acknowledgements
Photographs on the cover and in the book with kind permission of the Brasshouse Centre,
Birmingham.
It has not been possible in all cases to trace copyright-holders; the publishers would be glad to
hear from any such unacknowledged copyright-holder.
First published 1992
Copyright © 1992 Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research
ISBN 1 874016 30 5
Cover by Logos Design Associates
Printed in Great Britain by The Alden Press
Published by Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research, Regent's College, Inner
Circle, Regent's Park, London NW1 4NS.
All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without the prior permission of the Copyright owner.
Contents
Page
The changing context (Alan Moys)
Introduction
1
The adult language learner
Chapter 1
5
Learning as an adult (Duncan Sidwell
5
1
Recognising the learner's needs (Duncan Sidwell)
2
12
Facilitating the learning (Duncan Sidwell)
3
20
Looking at language
Chapter 2
27
4
Understanding learning (Lore Arthur)
27
Theories in language teaching (Lore Arthur)
34
5
The communicative approach (Lore Arthur)
6
40
7
Strategies (Lore Arthur)
46
Working together
Chapter 3
53
Considerations in planning a lesson (Stella Hurd)
8
53
Presenting new language items (Rita Sutton)
64
9
10 Developing receptive skills (Rita Sutton)
72
11 Developing productive skills (Rita Sutton)
82
12 Developing command of the language (Stella Hurd)
92
13 Additional materials & alternative methods (Stella Hurd)
99
Extending the professional context
Chapter 4
111
14 Course design for special purposes (Lore Arthur)
111
15 Developing independent learning (Doreen Markham)
119
16 Testing language performance (Susan Ainslie)
127
17 Being a professional (Susan Ainslie)
136
A suggested approach
Chapter 5
144
18 The first lesson for beginners (Stella Hurd)
144
19 Suggestions for classroom activities (Stella Hurd)
153
About the contributors
168
Useful addresses
170
Introduction
The changing context
Alan Moys
A broader
Almost a decade ago I wrote a chapter for the CILT publication Teaching
educational
languages to adultsl which was published in 1984. In September of the
framework
same year, CILT organised a national conference for teachers of languages
to adults, with a particular focus on the need for professional support,
adequate resources and proper recognition for a field which still often
attracted Cinderella references even though it represented a major slice of
the adult education cake. How much has changed? Perhaps, given the
stresses under which adult education has so long operated, the question
should be, How much has changed for the better? While it has become
something of a cliche to speak of the rate of educational change in recent
years, a review of developments as they concern the adult language
learner in this country is an exercise which is revealing in its significance
for the future in terms both of what happens in classrooms and how the
learning of languages fits into a broader educational and social frame.
Perhaps the most remarkable
- and one hopes the most enduring - change
has happened outside classrooms. In the last few years we have witnessed
in this country a major surge in the level of public awareness of the
importance of competence in languages. Back in 1984, who could have
foreseen that by the end of the decade the year 1992 would have taken on
an even more apocalyptic symbolism than 1984 itself, for all its Orwellian
connotations? Who could have dreamed that in 1990 the Department of
Trade and Industry would launch an expensive publicity campaign with
full page advertisements in the daily press and posters on street hoardings
urging British business to do something about its language skills? Who
would have forecast the crop of newspaper articles, television and radio
broadcasts, and offers of language courses at all levels which have
appeared in recent years? Who would have guessed that many teachers of
languages would now be entering in their diaries each year a reminder to
attend the London Language Show, another sign of the changing dines?
Political and policy decisions have been at the heart of this most
The National
Curriculum
significant shift in public attitudes, and while it may be debatable just how
lasting will be the effects, there are good reasons to believe that the
dogged British refusal to learn other languages is fast becoming more of a
2
THE ADULT LANGUAGE LEARNER
stereotype than an accurate reflection of reality. The Government's
decision to include the learning of a foreign language as a foundation
subject in the National Curriculum for all school pupils from 11-16 sends
very important messages to learners, parents and teachers that this country
cannot afford to have half its young people abandon the learning of other
languages by the age of 14, which was the position until the National
Curriculum legislation was produced. It is also Government policy that
we
should seek to diversify the range of languages on offer in our education
system, though any significant reorientation at school level will require
substantial funding in terms of linguistic retraining, given the traditional
imbalance in favour of French.
The European
But if policy developments at national level in recent years have reinforced
context
and reflected changing public attitudes, it
is the context of European
Community policy which quite naturally lies at the heart of our new view
about developing a national capability in languages. On the one hand the
legislation leading to the Single European Market is providing a
spur to
British business to learn to operate in the language of its European
customers and competitors. While the economic recession has severely
restricted investment in new training just at the time when employers
were
becoming convinced of the critical relationship between language
competence and business success, there is every sign that the business
world in this country is now 'thinking European' on an increasing scale.
ERASMUS
We would be forgiven for thinking that European policy initiatives have
been exclusively in the economic field, but in education also there have
been European developments of great importance to the subject under
discussion. In particular, Community schemes to promote exchanges and
work experience among students and young employees have had
a
dramatic impact on the 16-25 age-group. An excellent illustration of this
effect is provided by the ERASMUS2 programme, a scheme under which
students (and indeed teachers) in higher education spend
a term in a
university in another member state, as part of their degree
programme.
Such has been the success of this scheme that now every UK institution of
higher education has at least one ERASMUS
programme. The effect on
students' attitudes to language learning has been remarkable. Throughout
the country, universities, polytechnics and colleges have reported
spectacular growth in demand for language courses from students in other
disciplines, prompted in many cases by the immediate challenge of
a
period of study in another European country. Many higher education
institutions have launched schemes to make language learning available
(and in some cases obligatory) for all students. There
are indications that
this development is having also a backwash effect
on students in the 16-19
age group in schools and colleges. Demand (and provision) here is
increasing, but the 16-19 range still urgently awaits the sort of reform
which will provide a broader and more balanced curriculum of the
sort
which will give appropriate weight to competence in languages.
In 1989 European education ministers gave their agreement to the EC
LINGUA
LINGUA3 programme, with funding available from 1990 for the
purpose of
achieving a qualitative and quantitative improvement in foreign language
teaching and learning in the twelve member states. One of the less
trumpeted effects of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, if it survives its
pre-
The changing context 3
ratification agonies, will be that school education will come within the
competence of the European Community. For programmes such as LINGUA
the Community has hitherto had to seek from member states specific
agreements outside its legal competence or to restrict (however nominally)
its involvement to the field of training, where its brief is covered by the
Treaty of Rome. Thus it is that the LINGUA programme in its present pre
Maastricht form does not target school pupils below the age of 16.
Nonetheless, it represents a substantial investment in our future linguistic
capability, and provides valuable funding support for visits and exchanges
of young people in vocational trailiing, for the encouragement of language
training in business, and for the in-service training of teachers. The UK is a
major partner in the LINGUA programme, not least because of the demand
for English from other countries. We can expect this programme to have a
steadily increasing impact on language learning, not least in the adult
education field.
New technology
Our growing internationalisation of outlook is of course not exclusively the
result of political decisions on the European front. The rapid developments
in recent years in the technology of television transmission mean that
world events are beamed directly to us as they happen. The arrival and
proliferation of the satellite as a means of programme delivery gives us
(both private citizens and in our schools and colleges) the potential of
immediate access to the daily television output of Brussels, Rome, Madrid
and Moscow. The information technology revolution means that we can
send and receive textual communications with correspondents in other
countries for the price of - and at the speed of
- a telephone call. The
widespread availability in our homes of video recording and the increasing
popularity of the small portable video camera represent a major resource
both for the teacher of languages and for the learner
- and particularly the
adult learner who may wish or need to learn independently&
So far we have been looking at those pressures, influences and
NVQs
opportunities which are having an increased motivational effect on
language learners and particularly on adult learners. There have been in
addition important developments in recent years which will impinge on the
decisions that adult learners and their teachers take about what is to be
learned and for what purpose. Notable among these has been the move by
the Government to develop standardised national measures of competence
across all vocational fields:
A National Vocational Qualification is defined as a statement of
competence dearly relevant to work and intended to facilitate
entry into, or progression in, employment, further education and
training, issued by a recognised body to an individual.
(National Council for Vocational Qualifications5:
The NVQ criteria and related guidance, p 8)
The system of NVQs and the standard which they represent are likely to
have a decisive effect on foreign language courses as on all vocationally
related programmes. At the time of writing, standards for languages are
about to be published, and examining and awarding bodies will be aligning
their examinations and qualifications to the NVQ requirements6.
Employers, through the lead bodies for different occupations, will be
incorporating the languages NVQs as components into occupational
4
THE ADULT LANGUAGE LEARNER
qualifications as diverse as travel and tourism on the one hand and sales
and marketing on the other.
Funding issues
The implications of the NVQ development for teachers of languages
to
adults are wide-ranging. Let us briefly consider two very distinct but
ultimately related effects. The whole system has been constructed around
the model of competence as the basis for the elaboration of the
standards. This means that qualifications
- and therefore the courses we
teach - will be defined in terms of learning outcomes, that is what
a
learner can do rather than what he or she may know. Fortunately, this is
very much the direction which foreign language learning courses and
targets have been taking over the recent years, and will not therefore come
as a shock to most teachers. More worrying is the related pressure on the
part of the Government to seek to discriminate for funding purposes in
favour of vocational courses in the adult field at the
expense of leisure
courses. This arbitrary distinction
ultimately unsustainable, as is
L.-
particularly evident in the language learning field, but it
is likely to
threaten the heterogeneity and richness of the adult language class
as
many of us have known it.
So much for the context, which promises to be both rewarding, and here
and there difficult. Adult education tutors are no strangers to difficulty, but
can look forward to enhanced professional - if not material
- rewards in
the context outlined in this introductory chapter. The rest of this book is
devoted to the much more important discussion of
ways and means. It
provides a rich seam of expertise and experience on the part of the editors
and contributors.
Alan Moys
former Director of GILT
References
1. Sidwell, D (ed), Teaching languages to adults, CILT (1984).
2. ERASMUS
Information about the EC ERASMUS programme is obtainable from the UK Students'
Grant Council, The University Research and Development Building, Canterbury CT2
7PD. Tel: [phone].
3. LINGUA
Information and a regular newsletter are obtainable from the UK Lingua Unit,
Seymour Mews House, Seymour Mews, London W1H 9PE. Tel: [phone].
4. Technology in Language Learning
Series of six titles published by CILT, details on demand.
5. National Council for Vocational Qualifications (NCVQ)
222 Euston Road, London NW1 2BZ. Tel: [phone].
6. The agency equivalent to NCVQ in Scotland is SCOTVEC, Hanover House, 24 Douglas
Street, Glasgow G2 7NQ. Tel: [phone].
9
The adult language learner 1
-----
-..---
,--
%,
----:-----:------=';-,---=i4..
''?"
---...----,--
ril
III
*44
rils
IM.../
_ -
i is je--1
..is
4411111101'
._
.;,iiillill111111:111011!
,zsutai
i
--5--
chl /
k5
gl
111
Unit 1
Learning as an adult
Duncan Sidwell
The first three units of this publication deal with the adult language learner's
motivations and needs. These are, of course, to be satisfied within the context of
how adult education is provided, and it may be worthwhile to look first at the
direction which the provision of adult education appears to be taking at the end
of this century. In general, adult education is becoming more market-orientated
and vocational in its emphasis. Consideration and funding are being given to the
provision of courses which lead to job-related or other examination
qualifications, while courses defined as for leisure interests'i will be more likely
to have to be self-sustaining and rely upon discretionary support. There is also,
as far as language learning is concerned, a considerable increase in interest and
recognition of its value. The introduction of language learning by the Open
University and the Open College system is evidence of this. This growth in
interest is also leading to more private provision. We can expect, therefore, a
heightened customer awareness to accompany this increase in demand and a
consequent need to respond with higher professional standards of provision.