Materials design in L2 learning

Es udios de lingüís ica inglesa aplicada Concep os cla e de la lingüís ica aplicada / Key concep s in applied linguis ics MATERIALS DESIGN IN L2 LEARNING Jim Lawley Uni e sidad Nacional de Educación a Dis ancia (UNED) [email p o ec ed] Las yea in his space Jane A nold (2009: 145) began by quo ing Ea l S e ick’s (1980: 4) a i ma ion: “Success [in language lea ning] depends less on ma e ials, echniques and language analyses, and mo e on wha goes on inside and be ween he people in he class oom”. This emphasis on he impo ance o he class oom in language lea ning is widesp ead and usually unques ioned. E en an o ganiza ion such as he Cen o Uni e si a io de Idiomas (CUID) a he Uni e sidad de Educación a Dis ancia (UNED) in Spain, which has many s uden s who ind i di icul o a end lessons in class ooms, encou ages i s English as a Fo eign Language (EFL) s uden s o a end lessons in class ooms i hey can. The assump ion seems o be ha class oom ac i i ies a e an impo an ing edien in success ul language lea ning. Ce ainly, mos mains eam gene al-pu pose EFL cou se books a e class oom-based. Thei ac i i ies cha ac e is ically equi e guidance and ELIA 10, 2010, pp. 267-274 268 Jim Lawley ELIA 10 2010, pp. 267-274 eedback om a eache , and in e ac ion wi h ellow s uden s ( o he many pai - and g oup-wo k ac i i ies). While class oom-based ac i i ies a e abundan , ma e ial allowing EFL s uden s wo king au onomously o s udy ocabula y and g amma , and o lea n o ead, w i e, lis en and speak is conspicuous by i s absence. Failu e o make adequa e p o ision o sel - s udy can ha e se ious consequences. Allw igh and Bailey (1991: 163) commen : […] [such] mode n communica i e ex books […] can be qui e useless o lea ne s […] i , o ins ance, hey a e ying o s udy independen ly, o o ca ch up on a lesson hey ha e missed. Lea ne s may come o see such ma e ials as gene ally unhelp ul, and as eason o eeling hey a e ne e going o succeed [….] The absence o sel -s udy ma e ials may be one eason why, in gene al, le els o a ainmen in class oom-based o eign language lea ning a e poo and why ‘mos language lea ning is associa ed wi h ela i e ailu e’ (Skehan, 1996: 18). I also, o cou se, makes language lea ning di icul o hose who a e unable o a end classes. The ques ion hen a ises: is i possible o design ma e ials which will enable s uden s o lea n English on hei own, s udying when and whe e hey wan and o as long as hey wish wi hou e e ha ing o en e a class oom? Ce ainly he au onomous s udy o bilingual wo d lis s ( an de Laan, 2009: 66-67) is an excellen ini ial s ep owa ds acquisi ion o he ocabula y o some nine o en housand wo d amilies ha an ad anced lea ne o English needs (McCa hy, 2007: 55). Knowing he basic o m-meaning links o he mos equen English wo ds makes i much easie o ead and lis en o ex s, and when wo ds a e e-encoun e ed in hei habi ual en i onmen s addi ional lea ning abou how hey a e used can ake place na u ally (Schmi , 2010: 30-31). I is no ha ocabula y lea ning on his scale is mo e con enien ly ca ied ou away om he class oom, bu a he ha i is di icul o see how i can e e i in o con en ional class oom schedules. Simila ly, he au onomous s udy o G amma (see, o example, Chacón Bel án and Sen a Sil a, 2010: 8-9) is likely o be mo e ime-e icien o he same undamen al eason; s uden s wo king alone can concen a e on he poin s which hey ( a he han o he s) need o s udy. Ma e ials Design in L2 lea ning 269 ELIA 10, 2010 pp. 267-274 Much he same is ue o he ecep i e skills. Reading, an in aluable sou ce o inpu , is an essen ially indi idual and p i a e ac i i y since people like o ead and e- ead a hei own speed in hei own ime, while he lis ening exe cises which adi ionally ea u e in language ex books a e a elic om he days be o e he in o ma ion echnology e olu ion. Sa elli e and cable ele ision, DVDs, he Wo ld Wide Web, In e ne and new elephone se ices like Skype mean ha i is no longe ue as i o en was in he 1990s ha he English lesson is he only oppo uni y o many s uden s o lis en o au hen ic English. These new echnologies b ing huge ad an ages which class oom ac i i ies canno hope o emula e: DVDs, o example, a e an excellen way o imp o ing lis ening skills, especially i s uden s wa ch hou s o p og ammes hey pa icula ly like and he sub i les a e a ai h ul ansc ip ion o wha is said. Audio books a e an impo an esou ce o he same eason. Pe haps hen i is he p oduc ion skills, w i ing and speaking, which accoun o he popula assump ion ha a class oom is essen ial o language lea ning: who, a e all, will co ec he mis akes s uden s make when hey w i e and speak i he e is no eache ? Ye w i ing is o en no adequa ely deal wi h in EFL class ooms. Since mis akes a e lea ning oppo uni ies, i would su ely be desi able o s uden s o w i e as o en as hey wish and o ecei e de ailed co ec i e eedback on all hei mis akes, bu many s uden s say ha oo ew o hei composi ions a e ma ked by eache s and ha hey would like less c yp ic explana ions o hei mis akes (abb e ia ions such as T and WO, o example, a e equen ly used o indica e p oblems wi h ense and wo d o de espec i ely). One o he p incipal easons why mo e composi ions and essays a e no se is ha eache s wi h la ge numbe s o s uden s a e anxious no o inc ease hei own wo k loads, and i seems likely ha one o he easons why c yp ic co ec ion codes a e so widely used is ha ha d-p essed eache s simply do no ha e ime o explain mis akes in mo e de ail (Lawley, 2004: 332-333). The de elopmen o compu e - media ed echnology a he UNED which enables s uden s o de ec and co ec he mis akes in hei ee- o m w i ing sugges s a p omising al e na i e which allows s uden s o w i e whene e hey wish, ecei ing de ailed use - iendly ‘jus -in- ime’ eedback on hei (no o he s’) mis akes (Chacón Bel án, 2009: 193). Wo king alone like his has an impo an a ec i e ad an age oo: “Time o hink, oppo uni ies o ehea se and 270 Jim Lawley ELIA 10 2010, pp. 267-274 ecei e eedback, and he g ea e likelihood o success educe anxie y and can esul in inc eased pa icipa ion and language lea ning” (C andall, 1999: 233). The assump ion ha a class oom is he bes place o lea n o speak also seems un ounded. P ac ising speaking may only be a small pa o lea ning o speak; i could be ha he la ge-scale au onomous s udy o ocabula y and g amma and abundan independen eading, lis ening, and w i ing will esul in inc eased con idence and mo i a ion which in u n will p oduce wha A nold (2009: 147) calls a Willingness o Communica e (WTC). E en ac i i ies which p ac ise speaking do no always equi e a class oom; indeed exe cises which encou age s uden s o adop and use he language i ems p esen ed o hem as inpu , he ul ima e aim o all language lea ning, may be bes ca ied ou away om he ime cons ain s o he class oom. The exe cise ep oduced below is an example: 10L1 Lis en o a lec u e abou D Johnson’s le e o Lo d Ches e ield (TRACK 10). T y o unde s and as much as possible. Then w i e an accoun o he lec u e, as comple e and in o ma i e as possible, o someone who has ne e hea d i . 10L2 Lis en again. Do you lea n any hing new? I so, how signi ican is i ? 10L3. Read he audiosc ip o he lec u e ound in he Appendix. Did you miss any hing signi ican ? 10L4 P ac ise gi ing he lec u e you sel . (Lawley & Chacón Bel án, 2010: 57) The FluenCi p ojec (Campbell, 2010) is simila ly conce ned wi h he con e sion o inpu in o ou pu , ocusing on helping s uden s o use spon aneously and app op ia ely in con e sa ion he same discou se ma ke s, exp essions used o he p ese a ion o ace, o poli eness and hedging, and Ma e ials Design in L2 lea ning 271 ELIA 10, 2010 pp. 267-274 o exp ess agueness and app oxima ion ha na i e English speake s use. And again, he ma e ials, using s a e-o - he-a echnology o allow s uden s o p ac ise using he high equency mul i-wo d in e ac ional i ems wi h which na i e English speake s manage con e sa ions, wo k bes when s uden s can p og ess a hei own pace and in hei own ime; ha is, away om he class oom. The e a e good easons hen o hinking ha class ooms a e a om essen ial o language lea ning. E en people who ind a ending lessons easy and enjoyable should ask hemsel es i hose lessons a e in ac he bes use o he limi ed ime hey ha e a ailable o language lea ning. Many class oom ac i i ies a e all a e li le mo e han hinly disguised es s o s uden s’ knowledge o English. Exe cises ha equi e s uden s o ‘Read he passage and answe he ques ions’ o o ‘Lis en o he ape and answe he ques ions’ o o ‘Fill in he gaps’ a e, o example, p ima ily es ing no eaching mechanisms. So p e alen indeed is he emphasis on es ing ha i no mally passes unno iced. One o he main easons why he esul s o language classes a e so o en disappoin ing may be ha e y li le o he lesson is ac ually spen eaching and lea ning. The e a e o cou se good easons o his s a e o a ai s; he ubiqui ous es ing ein o ces he class oom powe s uc u e, making he espec i e oles o eache and s uden e y clea . Pe haps i would be be e o accep his eali y a he han o s uggle agains i . I , as his pape has sugges ed, language lea ning can be mo e e ec i e when s uden s s udy on hei own, hen he class oom can become ins ead he place o s uden s o show wha hey know; ha is, hey can pu he language skills hey ha e acqui ed ou side he class oom o es inside i . While hose who do no ha e access o a class oom (and indeed o hose who do), he ue es comes as always in he eal wo ld. Bu be o e he es ing comes he lea ning. Many will accep ha languages can be lea ned ou side he class oom, bu his pape sugges s ha many s uden s should lea n hem ou side, and ha mo e ene gy should be de o ed o c ea ing ma e ials ha will help hem do so. Ul ima ely, i is imagina i e ma e ials design which de e mines whe e language lea ning can ake place and, o a conside able ex en , how success ul i is. 272 Jim Lawley ELIA 10 2010, pp. 267-274 Re e ences Allw igh , D. & Bailey, K. (1991). Focus on he language class oom: An in oduc ion o class oom esea ch o language eache s. Camb idge: Camb idge Uni e si y P ess. A nold, J. (2009). “A ec in L2 lea ning and eaching.” ELIA: Es udios de Lingüís ica Inglesa Aplicada, 9, 145-151. Campbell, D. (2010). “Be ween you and me: Uns essed sequences o na i e- o-na i e speech occu ing na u ally in in o mal dialogue and hei impo ance o EFL/ESL lea ne s.” Con e ence a Semina io Pe manen e de Lingüís ica Inglesa Aplicada. UNED, Mad id. Oc obe 22nd, 2010. Chacón Bel án R. (2009). “Lea ne au onomy and li elong lea ning: echnological solu ions in he Eu opean Highe Educa ion A ea.” In M. L. Pé ez Cañado (Ed.), 2009, English language eaching in he Eu opean C edi T ans e Sys em: Facing he challenge, (pp. 187- 195). Be n: Pe e Lang. Chacón Bel án, R. and Sen a Sil a, I. (2010). G amá ica inglesa pa a hispanohablan es. Camb idge: Camb idge Uni e si y P ess. C andall, J. A. (1999). “Coope a i e language lea ning and a ec i e ac o s.” In J. A nold (Ed.), 1999, A ec in language lea ning, (pp. 226-245) Camb idge: Camb idge Uni e si y P ess. Lawley, J. (2004). “A p elimina y epo on a new g amma checke o help s uden s o English as a Fo eign Language.” A s and Humani ies in Highe Educa ion, 3(3), 331-342. Lawley, J., and Chacón Bel án, R. (2010). English skills o independen lea ne s: B2. Camb idge: Camb idge Uni e si y P ess. Ma e ials Design in L2 lea ning 273 ELIA 10, 2010 pp. 267-274 O’Kee e A., McCa hy M., Ca e R. (2007). F om co pus o class oom: Language use and language eaching. Camb idge: Camb idge Uni e si y P ess. Schmi , N. (2010). “Key issues in eaching and lea ning ocabula y.” In R. Chacón Bel án, C. Abello-Con esse, & M. M. To eblanca-López (Eds.), 2010, Insigh s in o non-na i e ocabula y eaching and lea nin, (pp. 28-40). B is ol: Mul ilingual Ma e s. Skehan, P. (1996). “Second language acquisi ion esea ch and ask-based ins uc ion.” In Willis J. and Willis D., Challenge and change in language eaching. Ox o d: Heinemann. S e ick, E. (1980). Teaching languages. A way and ways. Rowley, MA: Newbu y House. an de Laan M. (2009). “A bilingual glossa y o IELTS band 5.” ELIA: Es udios de Lingüís ica Inglesa Aplicada 9, 83-112. 274 Jim Lawley ELIA 10 2010, pp. 267-274 Jim Lawley is a g adua e o Ox o d Uni e si y (Mode n Languages). He holds an MA in Applied English Linguis ics om Bi mingham Uni e si y and a doc o a e om he Uni e sidad Nacional de Educación a Dis ancia (UNED), Spain. He has augh a he UNED since 1996 whe e he is now a enu ed lec u e , eaching English o unde g adua e cou ses, and co pus linguis ics and ma e ials design on he UNED’s Mas e en Lingüís ica Inglesa Aplicada. He specializes in cou se and syllabus design and is he au ho and coau ho o books published by Ha pe Collins, Thomas Nelson, Pea son, Richmond and Camb idge Uni e si y P ess. Fi s e sion ecei ed: Sep embe 2010. Final e sion accep ed: No embe 2010.