ERIC ED420205: A Mexican Project with University Academic At-Risk English as a Foreign Language Students.

21 Pages·1997·0.22 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 420 205
FL 025 307
AUTHOR
Johnson, Connie R.
TITLE
A Mexican Project with University Academic At-Risk English
as a Foreign Language Students.
PUB DATE
1997-00-00
NOTE
19p.
PUB TYPE
Reports
Research (143)
EDRS PRICE
MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
DESCRIPTORS
*Anxiety; College Students; *English (Second Language);
Foreign Countries; *High Risk Students; Higher Education;
Language Attitudes; *Learning Motivation; Learning
Strategies; Second Language Instruction; Student Motivation
IDENTIFIERS
Mexico
ABSTRACT
A Mexican study investigated the relationship between
foreign language learning motivation, anxiety, and learning strategies of
beginning-level university English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) students who
are at risk of failing the EFL class only. Subjects were 68 students
identified as having serious problems with listening comprehension and having
previous academic problems in their English courses, and who subsequently
attended 16 learning strategy training sessions. At the beginning and end of
the course, they completed listening comprehension tests and questionnaires
concerning their motivation to learn English, amount of communication anxiety
they experienced in the classroom, and listening strategies they used. Pre-
and post-treatment data were compared to those of a control group of
proficient students. Results indicate that the motivation scores were similar
before and after treatment and in the proficient group, although the
treatment group did improve in attitude. Even though the at-risk learners'
scores were consistently lower than those of the proficient students, the
at-risk group made significant ithprovement in their scores between the pre-
and post-listening comprehension test while the proficient EFL learners who
had not attended the strategy sessions showed no significant differences.
Contains 11 references.
(MSE)
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A Mexican Project with University
Academic At-risk English as a Foreign
Language Students
Connie R. Johnson
Universidad de las Americas-Puebla
Depto. de Lenguas
Sta. Catarina Matir
72820
Puebla
Cholula,
Mexico
Email:
[e-mail]
Code for Mexico + (22) + 29-31-01
Fax:
U.S.
DEPARTMENT
Office of
Educational
E
OF EDUCATION
Research
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and Improvement
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1
position
(ERIC)
represent
or policy.
Academic At-risk
A Mexican Project with University
a Foreign Language
Students
English as
relationship between foreign
language
project examined
the
This
a Foreign
of beginning English
anxiety, and learning
as
strategies
motivation,
students.
It
university
at-risk
Mexican
proficient
and
(EFL)
Language
the
sponsored
by
project
which
year
is
of
two
overview
represents
an
a
reasons
Mexican Foundation for Science and Technology (CONACYT) to
study
explore
for failure of Mexican university EFL academic-at-risk learners and to
techniques.
intervention
possible
For decades English as a Foreign Language (EFL) has been a
all Mexican secondary, high school and university
requirement for
students, however, since Mexico's entrance into the North American
Foreign
importance.
in
Free Trade Agreement,
intensified
it
has
companies which are scrambling to establish branches in Mexico are
requiring 80-100% proficiency in English as a basic requirement for
its management and technical personnel. Never before have Mexican
educational institutions so emphasized the importance of English, nor
have university students felt such an urgency to learn the language.
English has become the key to obtain jobs and the graduates that
have the highest proficiency secure the best positions and salaries.
Failure to learn English not only signifies having a poorly paid job,
but also, not graduating from the university.
Even though Mexico has required English classes in secondary
the proficiency level of students finishing
schools for many years,
generally low. Only a few of the private Mexican
high school
is
Spanish/English
fluent
produce
accurately
claim
can
to
schools
bilingual graduates. The majority of private and public school high
school graduates have what could be considered as only a basic EFL
1993 the Mexican government changed the national EFL
level.
In
focus
grammar-translation
principally
to
from
curriculum
a
a
communicative approach, however, many of the
teachers continued
of
lack
oral
traditional
their
own
method
due
using
to
the
proficiency. Since 1993, the number of EFL teacher training programs
in public universities have been escalated in an attempt to meet the
teachers, but the demand still
demand for adequately trained English
exceeds the supply.
where
university
a
arrive
When Mexican
students
to
a
again required,
predetermined number of semesters of EFL study is
appropriate
assign them
take placement exams to
their
to
they
they are
levels. The majority place into basic level classes where
the
approach,
communicative
Using
the
English.
in
immersed
expects them
to
language,
target
the
in
speaks
only
instructor
continually
is
and
tasks
learning
employ English
classroom
in
The classes do not
evaluating their listening and speaking
skills.
the
focus on grammar as did their previous English courses; instead,
students are expected to actively use the foreign language.
THE AT-RISK PROJECT
is based began several years
The study on which this
article
English as a Second/Foreign
ago with a simple question which most
that some
Language teachers have asked themselves, "Why is
it
a language apparently with ease while others
students can learn
given the same opportunities find it almost impossible?". The answer
has a "knack for
many teachers would give is that the "good" learner
languages" or an "ear for languages" while the "poor" learner is an
During the past two years, the author has
"underachiever" or "lazy".
sponsored by her
project
is
research
which
directing
been
a
Americas-Puebla, and by the
the Universidad de
las
University,
and Technology
Science
for
Foundation
Government's
Mexican
(CONACYT) entitled "The Role of Strategies and Motivation in the
a Foreign Language with Academic At-risk
Learning of English as
Students".
this paper and
The author's definition of at-risk students that
"those EFL learners who are having
the CONACYT project uses is
in their basic English classes and are considered
academic problems
by their teachers to be at-risk of failing the English course but who
other university
not experiencing academic problems
their
in
are
identified by their EFL
These students were initially
courses".
through
teachers based on a history of previous English failures and
screening test. This test was applied to
all
a listening comprehension
the beginning of the
pre-test
at
students
level
as
basic
a
the
After referral by
their
end.
post-test
semester and
the
at
as
a
instructors, the at-risk learners were given a chance to participate
in
strategy awareness sessions to improve their listening
skills.
The skill of oral comprehension was decided as the focus to
identify the at-risk learner and for the project's intervention sessions
at-risk students in the
the majority of the
for several reasons:
1)
English was never spoken by
basic level came from schools where
daily EFL classes
listening
strong
had
their
a
teacher,
the
2)
and each of their exams contained sections to evaluate
component
the students' oral comprehension, 3) the skills of reading and writing
problems, and 4)
were areas in which the at-risk learners had fewer
were only
during
the
sessions
intervention
hour
one
there
16,
semester which would be insufficient time to focus on all skill areas.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
In reviewing published studies dealing with research into the
acquisition,
language
foreign
variables
second
and
affective
in
several factors are generally identified as possible causes for EFL at-
1) a poor attitude toward the L2 culture and motivation to
riskness:
learn the foreign language, 2) high classroom anxiety, and 3) lack or
inefficient use of language learning
Instruments were
strategies.
at-risk learners
used to
analyze these
the
at
factors
in
the
three
beginning and at the end of the intervention sessions which provided
low-anxiety
and
training
strategy
in
listening
comprehension
a
highly motivating setting.
Motivation
Motivation has been frequently mentioned as one of the
main determinants of second/foreign language acquisition.
During
considerable
amassed
investigators
have
decades
last
three
the
information about the nature and role of motivation in the language
learning process.
The predominate theory behind second language attitude
and
learner
must
"be
language
that
maintains
the
motivation
psychologically prepared to adopt various aspects of behavior which
if
the
characterize members of another linguistic-cultural group"
to be attained successfully (Gardner &
Foreign Language (FL)
is
types of motivation have been
3). Two different
Lambert,
1972:
If the learners' attitudes toward the language, culture and
identified.
and they want
learning
the
succeed
in
to
positive
people
are
language due to an internal desire, then the motivation is considered
in nature. However, if the learners' motivation is
to be integrative
principally to obtain a good job, study in the FL country or for other
is considered as instrumental
motivation.
external reasons, then it
The possibility of one type of motivation being more beneficial than
another has been repeatedly debated.
Oxford & Shearin
differences
speculate
the
upon
(1994)
between second and foreign language learning motivation. Because
the second language learning situation is one in which the learner is
is spoken,
surrounded by the target language in the country where it
Therefore,
the
stimulation.
auditory
visual
more
there
and
is
integrative motivation to acquire the L2 is greater than for students
the FL in
their own
instrumentally motivated studying
who are
the deciding factor
country. They feel that integrative motivation is
better FL acquisition. They also
fact
that
discussed
the
the
in
the chance of
learn the language is
motivation to
proportional
to
success in the learning process, and that the outcome must be at least
or the learner will
the amount of effort put into
equivalent to
it
withdraw from the FL situation.
is much
integrative motivation
Dornyei (1990)
suggests
that
foreign language second
learner
than
to
significant
less
a
to
a
The FL
environment.
language
target
student
language
in
the
culture and community
students rarely have enough exposure to the
of the target language to have established strong attitudes about the
thus, making instrumental goals much more
language and people,
powerful. Dornyei also states that the motivation to learn the FL for
is more real
promotion, future study)
instrumental purposes (jobs,
for the learner than are the integrative motivators (internal
desire).
He does not deny, however, that for FL students to advance beyond
certain amount of integrative motivation
level,
intermediate
the
a
would probably be necessary.
Anxiety
have been
of anxiety
Two basic identified
by
types
If the task is demanding
facilitating and debilitating.
psychologists:
but relatively simple to succeed then anxiety can be facilitating and
improve performance through increased effort. However, if the level
of difficulty of the task increases beyond the likelihood of success,
or reward of
can begin
occur and
compensation
failure
the
to
amount of
put
effort
then
in,
equal
not
succeeding
the
to
is
debilitating anxiety initiates. As demand further exceeds ability,
the
Learners who
psychological damage caused by
worsens.
anxiety
the L2
process
facilitating
will
anxiety
experience
able
be
to
information more effectively and quickly than those with debilitation
anxiety who are distracted by task-irrelevant cognition (Macintyre,
1995).
cognition and behavior
The relations
between anxiety,
are
If the anxiety is facilitating, then the cognition and resulting
cyclical.
behavior are positive to learning. If the anxiety becomes debilitating,
then the cognitive performance diminishes, repeated failures begin
occur causing negative self-evaluation which in
turn
leads
to
to
greater
performance
motivation,
anxiety
lessened
poor
and
(Macintyre,
1995).
After repeated negative experiences, students can fall into this
a wide
cycle of learned-helplessness. These students may exhibit
range of symptoms. For example, they may respond correctly in
a
group drill but freeze when asked to use the FL in a
free speech
They seem
understand during
class
situation.
the but,
when
to
confronted with the same point on a test, they forget.
They have
,
7
difficulty concentrating, become forgetful and actually sweat or
have
the FL class.
palpitations when called
in
respond
to
on
heart
Sometimes they experience a need for physical activity which causes
and begin
display
have headaches
to
pencil,
the
tap
them
to
class
avoidance behaviors such as not doing homework and, missing
al., 1986).
(Horwitz et.
The majority of high anxiety in an FL situation centers on two
the skill which has
listening and speaking. Speaking is
basic tasks:
anxiety. The student
literally
highest
causing
the
cited
been
as
a close
freezes and cannot reply, however, listening anxiety
in
is
second place. These problems are often explained by the learner as a
difficulty in discriminating sounds and words in the target language.
blur of
fuse together and become a
The words
reported
to
are
indistinguishable noise (Horwitz, et.
al.,
1986).
literature
discussed
in
effect
been
cyclical
also
has
The
concerning communication apprehension, reinforcement and learned
Learners who
attempt
their
to
anxious
in
feel
helplessness.
communicate in the FL have a tendency to avoid such situations. As a
practice
their
chances
exposed
to
will not
to
result,
be
they
communication skills (listening and speaking) and, thus, will perform
peers who take
of
advantage
their
than
areas
these
worse
in
The negative
their
result
confirms
communication opportunities.
learn the FL which contributes
that they
to
"cannot"
expectations
avoidance
of
increased
the
leading
anxiety
greater
to
an
their
learned
proliferation
of
situation
and
communicative
to
a
helplessness (Horwitz & Young, 1991).
Language Learning Strategies
has been given in
past decade, much attention
During the
the identification and classification of language learning
literature
to
linguistics
have
of
applied
Researchers
area
in the
strategies.
and disseminated huge amounts of valuable
classified
collected,
styles and strategies.
Learning
information concerning FL learning
conscious
or
the
being
generally
accepted
strategies
are
as
unconscious steps that are taken by language students to aid in
their
acquisition process.
possibly the most published expert in the area
Rebecca Oxford,
(1990) two different
of
divisions
of learning
identifies
strategies
direct and indirect.
The direct
strategies:
learning
language
sub-classfied as memory, cognitive and compensation
strategies
are
its
during
language
target
involve
directly
the
strategies
which
sub-divided
strategies
indirect
are
as
processing.
The
mental
metacognitive, social and affective strategies that allow the learner to
control and coordinate the learning process. Effective learners use a
which would be appropriate
of learning
the
to
strategies
variety
number of
that
the
indicates
research
however,
learning
task,
strategies are probably less important than the correct use of them.
Unsuccessful FL learners may use a large number of strategies but in
a random and ineffective fashion (Ehrman & Oxford, 1995).
Vogely (1995) found in her study of perceived strategy use
varied in
with authentic listening comprehension tasks that subjects
their choice and manner in which they were using
strategies
the
rather than the number of strategies they had to choose from. They
syntax,
(knowledge of
strategies
the
bottom-up
use
tended
to
grammar and vocabulary) with the more difficult passages and top-
situation) with easier tasks. Her
down strategies (knowledge of the
findings implied that students may have a wide range of strategies to
choose from
effective
for
least
select
ones
the
often
but
the
particular
assignment.
of teaching
past decade,
language
validity
the
During
the
strategies has been a subject of considerable controversy.
learning
This debate centers around the assumption that strategic competence
develops in the FL learners native language during their years of
the foreign language.
transferred automatically
education and
to
is
According to Bialystok and Kellerman (1987), adult language learners
the FL situation
repertoire
of
developed
well
with
arrive
a
to
of proficiency
target
in the
their
regardless
of
level
strategies
9
no new
knowledge
linguistic
there
therefore,
is
"If,
language.
involved and the cognitive processes are familiar from the Ll,
what
then is the point in teaching these strategies? (p. 60)."
not
only
that
is
maintains
disagrees
and
(1995)
Dornyei
possible. He was
able
to
it
also
desirable,
training
is
strategy
that
study
EFL
his
prove
in
quantitatively
qualitatively
and
direct
strategy
due
increased
to
strategies
use
communication
student should be made
he meant that
training. By "direct",
the
well as of how
aware of objectives of the strategy training sessions as
found that the
to use the strategies themselves. Also, the same study
the learners level of
effectiveness of the training was unrelated to
training can be effectively
EFL competence which indicates
that
employed in
pre-intermediate
levels.
PARTICIPANTS
During the two semesters of the study, one hundred and thirty-
identified
seven beginning level EFL academic-at-risk learners were
skill of
as having serious problems with the
by their instructors
previous academic
listening comprehension and having experienced
their English courses. The purpose of the project was
problems in
explained to the students and they were provided with four options
to choose the time they would prefer to attend the training sessions
The students who chose the two time
which were not obligatory.
participants
became
the
contained
most
the
options
which
attend the
experimental groups for the study and were invited
to
intervention sessions which were offered for one hour twice a week
for eight consecutive weeks.
of 68 students entered the sessions during the two
A total
semesters, 38 were male and 30 were female. On the first day they
completed a series of questionnaires to evaluate their motivation to
learn the target language, the amount of communicative anxiety they
the language classroom and the
strategies
listening
experienced in
they were presently employing. These same instruments were again
completed after the 16 sessions were completed. An equal number of