Keeping English in Indonesian Schools
Salim Osman - Straits Times | December 04, 2012
"After weeks of review, Indonesia's Education Ministry eventually succumbed to societal pressure that English lessons be retained in elementary schools.
This about-face should be good news for parents. But it is not unexpected given the national swing towards English as an important foreign language in recent years, which the government has acknowledged.
Deputy Education Minister Musliar Kasim announced in late September that English would be scrapped for lower elementary pupils in the next school year beginning July as part of a curriculum revamp.
It was part of efforts by the ministry to ease the workload of pupils by reducing the number of subjects from ten to six. It would involve the scrapping of English, science and social studies in favor of religion, nationalism, Bahasa Indonesia, mathematics, art and sports.
With English dropped, pupils could concentrate on strengthening their Bahasa Indonesia — the country's national language — imbibing national values and picking up knowledge on science incorporated in other subjects. They would study English as a compulsory subject when they reached lower secondary or high school.
But the decision to leave out English was unpopular from the start not only among parents and language teachers but also several education departments in the regions. They debated the issue for many weeks to persuade the government to retain the language.
Parents wanted their children to have a head start in the language, seen as having higher economic value than Dutch, the language of their colonial masters. They feared their children's English lessons would be disrupted by the new curriculum.
"The scrapping of English is a retrogressive step," the head of West Kalimantan's provincial government education department, Alexius Akim, told Kompas daily.
The decision also had language teachers worried about their future as they were specifically recruited to teach English to primary school pupils.
But in a volte-face last month, Musliar announced that English would not be scrapped after all. "Schools would be allowed to offer the subject but as an elective instead. It should not be made compulsory," he said in a statement to Kompas and the Jakarta Globe.
Unlike previously, when he said that it would be "haram" or illegal to hold English lessons, Musliar made it clear that his ministry would not stop schools from offering the subject to pupils."
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Brits "lazy" when it comes to learning foreign languages
Brits "lazy" when it comes to learning foreign languages
By David Howells | 21 Nov 2012
Brits have been dubbed "lazy linguists" after many admitted not learning the language of the country to which they're headed, telegraph.co.uk reports.
A new poll published by foreign exchange provider VIDAFX found that just one in ten British travellers make any effort to learn snippets of the language before heading to another country.
In total, just five per cent said they would learn the translations for simple words such as hello, please, thank you, water and beer. A further five per cent said they would learn more complex words and phrases.
Whilst the results show a disinterest in interacting from British travellers, it also highlights potential risks for those using hire cars when on holiday as their poor grasp of the native language could cause trouble when out and about on the roads.
When quizzed on exactly why they don't take the time to learn the language, many claimed it was simply because English is so widely spoken outside of the UK. This, they said, meant there was "no point" in learning another language. Others, meanwhile, blamed shyness for not learning, with many fearing they'd be embarrassed by incorrect use of words or mispronunciation. "English tourists are renowned the world over for being particularly poor at languages," a spokesperson for VIDAFX told femalefirst.co.uk.
"While for many holidaymakers there really is no need as such to learn the local language, it was good to report that one in 20 tourists tried their best to communicate with locals - regardless of whether they could've got by without doing so."
Comment: One in 20, huh? Good news indeed.
A new poll published by foreign exchange provider VIDAFX found that just one in ten British travellers make any effort to learn snippets of the language before heading to another country.
In total, just five per cent said they would learn the translations for simple words such as hello, please, thank you, water and beer. A further five per cent said they would learn more complex words and phrases.
Whilst the results show a disinterest in interacting from British travellers, it also highlights potential risks for those using hire cars when on holiday as their poor grasp of the native language could cause trouble when out and about on the roads.
When quizzed on exactly why they don't take the time to learn the language, many claimed it was simply because English is so widely spoken outside of the UK. This, they said, meant there was "no point" in learning another language. Others, meanwhile, blamed shyness for not learning, with many fearing they'd be embarrassed by incorrect use of words or mispronunciation. "English tourists are renowned the world over for being particularly poor at languages," a spokesperson for VIDAFX told femalefirst.co.uk.
"While for many holidaymakers there really is no need as such to learn the local language, it was good to report that one in 20 tourists tried their best to communicate with locals - regardless of whether they could've got by without doing so."
Comment: One in 20, huh? Good news indeed.
Strong Case for English Proficiency in North Africa
Middle East Online
The language is necessary to be able to reap the benefits of internet-based knowledge and to take part in global research and innovation, stresses Oussama Romdhani.
"Better mastery of the English language is sorely needed in North Africa so as to meet many of the region’s critical challenges. Recent global studies show that English language proficiency is still lagging in this region. According to the latest edition of the English Proficiency Index, put out by the Swiss-based organisation, Education First, English language proficiency in the North African countries of Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Egypt ranks at levels varying only between ‘low’ and ‘very low’ levels. Libya, in fact, takes the lowest rank among the 54 nations assessed in the survey.
Other results revealed by a 2012-report prepared by Euromonitor International, show that English is spoken by 14 per cent of the population in Morocco, 13 per cent in Tunisia and 7 per cent in Algeria. In the three countries, there is still reliance on French as the main foreign language (the level of proficiency in French varies between 60 to 70 per cent of the population). But even in Egypt, where French is not the second language, English is not spoken by more than 35 per cent of the population..."
The language is necessary to be able to reap the benefits of internet-based knowledge and to take part in global research and innovation, stresses Oussama Romdhani.
"Better mastery of the English language is sorely needed in North Africa so as to meet many of the region’s critical challenges. Recent global studies show that English language proficiency is still lagging in this region. According to the latest edition of the English Proficiency Index, put out by the Swiss-based organisation, Education First, English language proficiency in the North African countries of Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Egypt ranks at levels varying only between ‘low’ and ‘very low’ levels. Libya, in fact, takes the lowest rank among the 54 nations assessed in the survey.
Other results revealed by a 2012-report prepared by Euromonitor International, show that English is spoken by 14 per cent of the population in Morocco, 13 per cent in Tunisia and 7 per cent in Algeria. In the three countries, there is still reliance on French as the main foreign language (the level of proficiency in French varies between 60 to 70 per cent of the population). But even in Egypt, where French is not the second language, English is not spoken by more than 35 per cent of the population..."
"For the Maghreb countries, where trade is essentially with Europe,
this is a strategic issue. English is today spoken in Europe at a higher level
of proficiency than any other region of the world. It is also more spoken among
the 25-35 young professional Europeans than any other age-group. If Maghreb
countries are serious about being competitive in Europe, today and tomorrow,
they cannot ignore the English language factor..."
"To be better equipped to deal with the joblessness problem, which
affects about 40 per cent of their 19-to-25 year-old populations; North African
countries need value-added economic activities. These include IT, software
development, and service-related occupations of consulting and travel and
tourism, where English proficiency is important. “English is necessary to
compete with the broader tourism market in the Mediterranean region. Also, all
the new markets in Eastern Europe require English,” says Jerry Sorkin, President
of Tunis-USA, a Philadelphia-based travel company. English is necessary to be
able to reap the benefits of internet-based knowledge and to take part in global
research and innovation. In 2011, half of the pages on the internet were in
English. Countries in North Africa with the lowest rate of internet penetration
are the same with the lowest rates of English language proficiency.
English is also necessary to facilitate the access of Maghrebi
job-seekers to outside employment possibilities, whether in Europe, North
America or even in the Arab Gulf countries. The same applies to joint-ventures
and business opportunities. A very telling indicator of the importance of
English language proficiency in employment is the listing of English proficiency
as a hiring requirement in newspaper job ads. English as “a second language” is
required in 92 per cent of jobs advertised in Morocco and 54 per cent in
Tunisia. English language proficiency guarantees a better income. In Tunisia,
Algeria and Morocco, the salary gap between employees who are fluent in English
and those who are not, varies between 7 per cent and 10 per cent. In Egypt,
where 98 per cent of the job ads require “English as first language; the salary
gap between those who speak English and those who don’t, reaches as high as 70
to 80 per cent..."
Hungary to favor German over English
Government to favor German over English as main foreign language taught in schools
"The education state secretariat plans to make German the main foreign language to be taught in schools, rather than English, news website Origo reports.
“From the point of view of language pedagogy it is proposed that pupils first encounter the German language, which has a more complex grammar structure than English.” according to the strategy.
The strategy would require pupils to take German-language exams every other year and could only sit higher entrance examinations from 2017 after passing language tests."
“In today’s international life English is the language in which we can get in touch with one another. German is, with the exception of Germany, not a language which people understand.”
Hungarian Academy of Sciences president József Pálinkás, responding to earlier reports that the government planned to officially replace English with German as the primary foreign language taught in state schools.
link
The education state secretary Rózsa Hoffmann later denied that the government had decided on such, saying only that a draft strategy had been written.
Hoffmann: nein to German over English in schools
Denies media reports of switch in first preferred foreign language
...
"EU data supports Hoffmann’s pessimistic assessment of Hungary’s foreign language skills. A Eurobarometer report in June identified Hungary as one of the countries where respondents are least likely to be able to speak any foreign language (65 per cent), behind Italy (62 per cent), the UK and Portugal (61 per cent) and Ireland (60 per cent).
Hungary also stands out as one of the countries, along with Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Poland, where the proportion of those able to speak at least one foreign language decreased. Numbers stood at 35 per cent of the population, a seven per cent decrease since 2005 owing in part to a downward shift in the ability to speak Russian or German. Along with the Portuguese, Hungarians are also least likely in the EU to speak a second foreign language: 13 per cent, a 14-point drop since 2005.
The same report lists German as the third most spoken language in the EU (11 per cent), after English (38 per cent) and French (12 per cent). German nonetheless remains an important language in Hungary’s extensive engineering and manufacturing sectors.
Most multinational companies require English and/or German skills in these sectors, specialist recruitment firm Hays Hungary managing director Tammy Nagy-Stellini told The Budapest Times."
"The education state secretariat plans to make German the main foreign language to be taught in schools, rather than English, news website Origo reports.
“From the point of view of language pedagogy it is proposed that pupils first encounter the German language, which has a more complex grammar structure than English.” according to the strategy.
The strategy would require pupils to take German-language exams every other year and could only sit higher entrance examinations from 2017 after passing language tests."
“In today’s international life English is the language in which we can get in touch with one another. German is, with the exception of Germany, not a language which people understand.”
Hungarian Academy of Sciences president József Pálinkás, responding to earlier reports that the government planned to officially replace English with German as the primary foreign language taught in state schools.
link
The education state secretary Rózsa Hoffmann later denied that the government had decided on such, saying only that a draft strategy had been written.
Hoffmann: nein to German over English in schools
Denies media reports of switch in first preferred foreign language
...
"EU data supports Hoffmann’s pessimistic assessment of Hungary’s foreign language skills. A Eurobarometer report in June identified Hungary as one of the countries where respondents are least likely to be able to speak any foreign language (65 per cent), behind Italy (62 per cent), the UK and Portugal (61 per cent) and Ireland (60 per cent).
Hungary also stands out as one of the countries, along with Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Poland, where the proportion of those able to speak at least one foreign language decreased. Numbers stood at 35 per cent of the population, a seven per cent decrease since 2005 owing in part to a downward shift in the ability to speak Russian or German. Along with the Portuguese, Hungarians are also least likely in the EU to speak a second foreign language: 13 per cent, a 14-point drop since 2005.
The same report lists German as the third most spoken language in the EU (11 per cent), after English (38 per cent) and French (12 per cent). German nonetheless remains an important language in Hungary’s extensive engineering and manufacturing sectors.
Most multinational companies require English and/or German skills in these sectors, specialist recruitment firm Hays Hungary managing director Tammy Nagy-Stellini told The Budapest Times."
Class of 2012: Young Europeans trapped by language
Class of 2012: Young Europeans trapped by language
link
MADRID (AP) — Maria Menendez, a 25-year-old caught in Spain's job-destroying economic crisis, would love to work in Germany as a veterinarian. Germany, facing an acute shortage of skilled workers, would love to have her.
A perfect match, it seems, but something's holding her back: She doesn't speak German.
The European Union was built on a grand vision of free labor markets in which talent could be matched with demand in a seamless and efficient manner, much in the way workers in the U.S. hop across states in search of opportunity. But today only 3 percent of working age EU citizens live in a different EU country, research shows. As young people in crisis-hit southern Europe face unemployment rates hovering at 50 percent, many find themselves caught in a language trap, unable to communicate in the powerhouse economy that needs their skills the most: Germany.
"I think going abroad is my best option," said Menendez, "but for people like me who have never studied German, it would be like starting from zero."
___
Editors: This is the latest installment in Class of 2012, an exploration of Europe's financial crisis through the eyes of young people emerging from the cocoon of student life into the worst downturn the continent has seen since the end of World War II. Follow the class on its new Google plus page: http://apne.ws/ClassOf2012
___
In northern Europe, companies are desperately seeking to plug labor gaps caused by low birth rates and the growing need for specialized skills amid still robust economies. Germany alone requires tens of thousands of engineers, IT-specialists, nurses and doctors to keep its economy thriving in the years to come.
But a recent study pinpointed language as the single biggest barrier to cross-border mobility in Europe.
"What seems to prevent further labor market integration in Europe is the fact that we speak different languages," said Nicola Fuchs-Schuendeln, a Frankfurt University economics professor who co-authored the study.
Few German employers are prepared to compromise when it comes to language skills, according to Raimund Becker, who heads the German Federal Employment Agency's division for foreign and specialist recruitment. "If you want to work as an engineer you'll need a certain specialist vocabulary," he said. "Even colloquial German isn't enough."
Earlier this year the agency announced it would invest up to €40 million ($51 million) in special programs to help jobless Europeans aged 18 and 35 learn German so they can pursue jobs or training in Germany.
The measure targets people like Menendez, who graduated from veterinary school and has two master's degrees but hasn't been able to find work in Spain.
The market for veterinarians in her home country has taken a phenomenal beating over the past four years. Veterinary clinics are cutting back severely because crisis-hit Spaniards are spending less on pets, and a recent hike in the sales tax to 21 percent is hurting these businesses even more. "They're just not hiring," Menendez said.
She would also be qualified to work as a veterinarian for an agricultural company, and she has sent about 1,000 resumes to all corners of Spain over the last year. But only two companies called her back for a preliminary interview. Neither called to invite her for a formal one.
Menendez said she found plenty of jobs online in Germany, where EU rules mean her Spanish qualification would be accepted. But the ads are either in German or, if in English, say that candidates must have good German.
Like most Spaniards, she studied English at school and is now focusing on improving her English. Often touted as the continent's 'lingua franca,' English is widely used in multi-national companies but rarely in the public sector or the small-to-medium sized enterprises that employ the bulk of the European labor force. Meanwhile, London isn't the magnet for young English-speaking Europeans that it used to be. Migrants who flocked there a decade ago are now returning home or looking elsewhere for work as Britain, too, struggles with a rising jobless rate.
Ricardo de Campano learned the hard way how critical it is to have a wide set of language skills when he left London for Berlin two years ago. The 34-year-old said he quickly found work as a special needs teacher in London with the English he'd learned at school, but the same wasn't true when he came to Germany.
"If you want to have a decent job and be part of the system, pay your taxes and have your health insurance, you need to have German," said De Campano, who is now studying the language of Goethe at an adult education college where Spaniards have come to make up the biggest single group of students in recent years.
But despite the boom in German language teaching seen also in Spain itself, the number of Spaniards coming to Germany remains modest. According to figures provided by the Federal Employment Agency, less than 5,000 Spaniards have taken up jobs in Germany over the past year — a tiny fraction of the 4.7 million jobless in Spain.
Class of 2012 participant Rafael Gonzalez del Castillo speaks German and could work in Germany. He picked up the language on a student exchange program in the southern town of Darmstadt and lived with German flat-mates in Madrid. But, in perhaps an alarming sign for Europe, he sees more opportunity and cultural affinity in booming Latin America — and has started to learn Portuguese so he can see work in Brazil.
It's part of a rising trend in Spaniards departing for former European colonies in Latin America, meaning that Europe is losing much of its top-level talent to emerging economies.
"I see Brazil as a country that's going to grow so much in these years," said Gonzalez del Castillo, "And I feel close to them because we are Latin people, and our language is similar."
His fellow architect, 25-year-old David Garcia, is doing his masters in architecture in Spain after spending a year at the university in Regensburg, Germany. While there, Garcia took German lessons outside of his normal studies for the entire period.
Now, Garcia is working for a German company remotely while in Spain, and plans to return there when he finishes — but none of his classmates have targeted Germany for work even though there are plenty of building opportunities there.
"All the people I am studying with want to go abroad, but they prefer to go to England or South America because it will take them a lot of time for them to learn German," Garcia said.
Meanwhile, there are indications that workers from outside the EU are more willing to learn a new language than those from members of the bloc itself. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said in its 2012 report that while only 3 percent of working-age EU citizens live in a fellow EU country, migrants from outside the EU make up 5 percent of the EU working-age population. And when Germany's economy minister recently launched a program to recruit skilled foreign workers, he turned not to southern Europe's vast pool of jobless workers but to India, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Ten years ago European leaders at a meeting in the Spanish city of Barcelona called for "action to improve the mastery of basic skills, in particular by teaching at least two foreign languages from a very early age." Six years later, the EU's language czar, Leonard Orban, declared that speaking two foreign languages in addition to their mother tongue should be the goal for all citizens of the 27-nation bloc.
The result has been a deluge of programs to subsidize language learning in Europe. Yet a poll of more than 25,000 Europeans earlier this year still found only 54 percent said they were able to hold a conversation in more than one language.
And with austerity eating into European government budgets, the bloc's flagship student exchange program Erasmus, which supports 250,000 students and teachers with grants each year, faces a funding crisis.
"We've had bills for over €100 million already which we can't honor because there's no money in the pot," said Dennis Abbott, a spokesman for the European Commission's education and multi-lingualism directorate.
The shortfall represents less than 0.1 percent of the EU's annual budget, but the failure to break down language barriers could end up being far costlier.
Edoardo Campanella, a former economic adviser to the Italian government, says labor mobility is fundamental to the EU's common market, and in particular the eurozone, where countries with widely differing economic fortunes share a single currency.
"Labor mobility is an important adjustment mechanism," said Campanella, currently a Fulbright Scholar at the Harvard Kennedy School. "The language hurdle impairs this safe-valve."
At Berlin's Cafe Colectivo, 30-year-old project manager Maria Sarricolea from Spain laughed as she recalled friends asking about the job prospects in Germany.
"A lot of Spanish people think they can come here and get a great job with a bit of English," she said.
link
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Time to stop avoiding grammar rules
Time to stop avoiding grammar rules
The evidence is now in: the explicit teaching of grammar rules leads to better learning
Catherine Walter Opinion
"The straightforward, pre-planned teaching of grammar in English language teaching has been under attack for years. Various alternatives have been proposed: to expose learners to language that is just a bit more advanced than what they currently produce; to wait until a communicative situation demands a certain structure before introducing it; to let the grammar emerge naturally from vocabulary learning, or from the lived context of the classroom. Each approach has been defended with carefully structured arguments, and some approaches have been embraced enthusiastically by ministries of education around the world.However, evidence trumps argument, and the evidence is now in. Rigorously conducted meta-analyses of a wide range of studies have shown that, within a generally communicative approach, explicit teaching of grammar rules leads to better learning and to unconscious knowledge, and this knowledge lasts over time.
This will not surprise the many teachers who have continued to teach grammar despite the tides of fashion. Behind classroom doors, the wisdom of the community of practitioners has often prevailed.
So why has there been so much resistance to the teaching of grammar rules?
There is a problem with English: it is a morphologically light language. It doesn't have many different verb endings, and its nouns only inflect for plural. If the language under discussion were Polish, with its three noun genders and seven cases, the idea that teaching grammar rules wasn't necessary would probably not even occur. It has been possible to get away with the idea that there is no need to teach grammar in English. Now, however, with the evidence piling up, this is no longer an option.
Some of the writers opposing explicit grammar teaching have confused a target end-state (near-native production) with how the learner reaches the target. For example, a large percentage of the language that a native speaker uses is composed of multi-word units or "chunks"; so, one argument goes, what we need to do is teach chunks, not grammar. Wrong. Learning vocabulary (including chunks) is very important. But the best estimate is that there are hundreds of thousands of chunks in English; learning enough of these to have an appropriate chunk to hand in a given situation is not a quick or trivial job. With much less time and effort, learners can acquire grammar for putting together comprehensible phrases and sentences that can serve them on the long journey towards more native-like proficiency.
Another problem is that most English language learning takes place in countries where English is not the predominant language: a foreign language situation. Much of the thinking leading to strictures against grammar teaching has taken place in countries where English is the predominant language: a second language situation. The enormous difference in exposure to the target language makes arguments based on exposure or emergence much less plausible in the foreign language situation.
Teachers see that few of their learners develop highly advanced proficiency. These teachers yearn to do better for their students, and researchers want to help them to do better. On the basis that teachers have been teaching grammar rules, and learners have not been reaching the desired proficiency, one conclusion is that teaching grammar rules is not working, and so other solutions must be sought. An alternative conclusion is that learning a language, especially in a low-exposure situation, is very difficult, and it may be the case that whatever teachers do, few learners will achieve high proficiency. The only way to find out whether improvements can be made is to look for evidence, like the evidence in the recent analyses.
There is a notion that pre-planned focus on a given grammar structure will not lead to effective learning, and that grammar should only be taught at the point when the need for a structure emerges during a task. Some of the problems this poses are obvious. In a class of 30, one learner's need might not correspond to another's. Few teachers are able to give a clear and reliable explanation of every grammar point that pops up. There is no guarantee that the needs that happen to emerge over the length of a language course will correspond to the structures that the learners will need in their subsequent use of that language. But in any case, it has been found that there is no difference in effectiveness between integrating grammar teaching into tasks and separating grammar teaching from tasks.
What does this imply for teaching? Teaching grammar explicitly is more effective than not teaching it, or than teaching it implicitly; that is now clear. What this implies is that the grammar in a course should be planned, to ensure coverage of the structures learners will need. Teachers cannot depend on a range of texts or a range of topics or a range of tasks to yield all the grammar in a course. Taking each class as it comes is not an option. A grammar syllabus is needed, along with the other syllabuses and word lists that structure a course.
This does not mean that grammar is the most important thing to teach: the title probably goes to vocabulary. But there is room, and need, for both vocabulary and grammar. Good teaching of good rules with good examples and good practice activities can mean that grammar teaching only takes the time it needs to take. And now it is clear that this grammar teaching works.
Dr Catherine Walter lectures in applied linguistics at the University of Oxford and is the co-author with Michael Swan of the Oxford English Grammar Course"
Comment: If the evidence is really in, it would have been nice to actually see a link or reference to actual studies. After "bakunin77" (hmmm..."my" Bakunin?) contacted Dr. Walter, she responded very quickly, quoting the following four references:
Norris, J. M. & L. Ortega. 2000. Effectiveness of L2 instruction: a research synthesis and quantitative meta-analysis. Language Learning 50/3: 417-528.
Gass, S. & L. Selinker. 2008. Second Language Acquisition: an Introductory Course (Third Edition). New York: Routledge/Taylor.
Spada, N. & Y. Tomita. 2010. Interactions between type of instruction and type of
language feature: a meta-analysis. Language Learning 60/2: 1-46.
Spada, N. & P. M. Lightbown. 2008. Form-focused instruction: isolated or integrated?
TESOL Quarterly 42: 181-207.
Not quite fresh or earth-shattering research. Methinks the good professor didn't count someone would actually ask. But what the heck. The other side keeps chanting input, input, Hare Krishna... Time to stop reading this stuff.
Die Trauerweide
- Die Trauerweide auf dem Grab des Mädchens
- Lässt ihre Zweige nur nach einer Seite
- Hinüberhangen. Eines Jünglings Hügel
- Erhebt sich dort. Wer möchte nun noch zweifeln,
- Wem jenes toten Mädchens Liebe galt?
Mushimaro
I prefer another translation, in a different language. Maybe one day I will be able to compare it to the original.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Traditional Language Programs Have Declined Steadily Over Decades
Can you say "decline" in French, German, or Italian? Undergraduate majors in German and the Romance languages have been slowly vanishing from the American higher-education landscape since before many of today's faculty members were born, according to a new analysis by four scholars at the University of California at Riverside.
The paper, which has been accepted for publication in The Journal of Higher Education, mines federal data to identify degree programs that significantly declined between 1971 and 2006.
The researchers wanted to examine the factors that cause the erosion of academic fields. Do fields decline primarily because long-established colleges drop them, or because new colleges choose not to offer them? Does a college's size or prestige matter, or whether it is public or private, or how many competing colleges are in its region?
Those are all interesting questions. But most readers' first reaction to the paper's raw data will probably be: My goodness, things look dire for European-language programs.
In the 1970-71 academic year, Romance-language majors were offered by close to 76 percent of American four-year colleges. But by 2005-6, only about 59 percent offered them. German programs saw a similar decline: In 1970-71, about 44 percent of colleges offered the major, but in 2005-6, just under 27 percent did so. Leaving aside "secretarial science," those are by far the largest relative declines discovered by the Riverside scholars.
And those numbers, of course, do not cover the effects of the recent recession. The last year, for example, has seen proposals to do away with certain European-language majors at a number of institutions, including the State University of New York at Albany, the University of Central Missouri, and the University of North Carolina system.
"We were just looking for patterns, and we certainly don't mean to endorse the decision to drop any of these programs," said the paper's lead author, Steven Brint, in an interview on Monday. Mr. Brint is associate dean for student academic affairs and professor of sociology at Riverside.
But the reduction in many traditional language programs is still troubling to some advocates of the humanities.
The Riverside paper's findings are unsurprising but still disturbing, Timothy G. Reagan, a professor of education at Central Connecticut State University and the author of several books on foreign-language study, said in an e-mail message to The Chronicle.
Mr. Reagan said he feared that proponents of foreign-language education have focused too much on the purported career benefits of becoming bilingual. That line of defense, he said, misses some of the most important values in language education.
Proponents, he said, should emphasize "the benefits of foreign-language study itself, rather than focus on the benefits of true bilingualism that will be achieved by only a small percentage of our students. I believe that there are incredibly powerful arguments for foreign-language study, and that these arguments fit beautifully into the core defenses for humanities and liberal-arts education writ large."
In general, as they expected, they found that smaller and less-prestigious institutions were more likely than their bigger and more-prestigious counterparts to drop degree programs. That pattern was more pronounced among private colleges than among public institutions. At public institutions, the authors speculated, low-enrollment programs may have been relatively insulated from market forces. (But that might be changing quickly in this recession, Mr. Brint said in the interview.)
Colleges with a strong liberal-arts tradition were especially unlikely to eliminate programs in the humanities, and large doctoral universities were especially unlikely to drop science programs. Those patterns were expected, but the authors write that they were surprised by the rate at which smaller, less-prestigious doctoral-granting universities dropped traditional arts and sciences fields.
The authors found that some fields, including mathematics and history, experienced relative declines only because most new colleges have not included them. At colleges that had been established by 1970, those fields have held their own. But other fields, including German, Romance languages, and classics, have been dropped by many institutions that once offered them.
For their analysis, Mr. Brint and his colleagues looked at federal data for all American four-year colleges, excluding specialized colleges with narrow focuses in specific fields such as business or the performing arts. There were 1,263 such colleges in 1970-71 and 1,416 in 2005-6.
In determining whether a degree program was offered at a college, the authors looked at whether any students actually graduated with such a degree. "Ghost" degrees that lingered in a college's course catalog did not count. If no students graduated in a certain field in two consecutive years at the beginning or the end of the study period, the authors deemed that the program did not exist at that college.
The new paper is titled "Declining Academic Fields in U.S. Four-Year Colleges and Universities, 1970-2006." Mr. Brint's co-authors are Kristopher Proctor, a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford University; Kerry Mulligan and Matthew B. Rotondi, who are graduate students in sociology at Riverside; and Robert A. Hanneman, a professor of sociology at Riverside."
In similar vein:
Au revoir for study of French, German?
Foreign Languages Fade in Class — Except Chinese
The Decline of the English Department
Who needs English? (in Japan)
Auf Wiedersehen
Colleges strive to make foreign languages relevant
Disappearing Languages at Albany
The paper, which has been accepted for publication in The Journal of Higher Education, mines federal data to identify degree programs that significantly declined between 1971 and 2006.
The researchers wanted to examine the factors that cause the erosion of academic fields. Do fields decline primarily because long-established colleges drop them, or because new colleges choose not to offer them? Does a college's size or prestige matter, or whether it is public or private, or how many competing colleges are in its region?
Those are all interesting questions. But most readers' first reaction to the paper's raw data will probably be: My goodness, things look dire for European-language programs.
In the 1970-71 academic year, Romance-language majors were offered by close to 76 percent of American four-year colleges. But by 2005-6, only about 59 percent offered them. German programs saw a similar decline: In 1970-71, about 44 percent of colleges offered the major, but in 2005-6, just under 27 percent did so. Leaving aside "secretarial science," those are by far the largest relative declines discovered by the Riverside scholars.
And those numbers, of course, do not cover the effects of the recent recession. The last year, for example, has seen proposals to do away with certain European-language majors at a number of institutions, including the State University of New York at Albany, the University of Central Missouri, and the University of North Carolina system.
"We were just looking for patterns, and we certainly don't mean to endorse the decision to drop any of these programs," said the paper's lead author, Steven Brint, in an interview on Monday. Mr. Brint is associate dean for student academic affairs and professor of sociology at Riverside.
A Mixed Picture
The decline in European-language degree programs does not necessarily signal a general collapse in foreign-language study at American colleges. Spanish programs have been largely immune from the declines in other Romance languages. Many institutions have added majors in Chinese and Arabic. The overall number of bachelor's degrees awarded in "foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics" increased by roughly 30 percent between 2001 and 2008, according to federal statistics.But the reduction in many traditional language programs is still troubling to some advocates of the humanities.
The Riverside paper's findings are unsurprising but still disturbing, Timothy G. Reagan, a professor of education at Central Connecticut State University and the author of several books on foreign-language study, said in an e-mail message to The Chronicle.
Mr. Reagan said he feared that proponents of foreign-language education have focused too much on the purported career benefits of becoming bilingual. That line of defense, he said, misses some of the most important values in language education.
Proponents, he said, should emphasize "the benefits of foreign-language study itself, rather than focus on the benefits of true bilingualism that will be achieved by only a small percentage of our students. I believe that there are incredibly powerful arguments for foreign-language study, and that these arguments fit beautifully into the core defenses for humanities and liberal-arts education writ large."
The Path to Decline
Meanwhile, what did Mr. Brint and his co-authors learn about the forces that shape declines in academic fields?In general, as they expected, they found that smaller and less-prestigious institutions were more likely than their bigger and more-prestigious counterparts to drop degree programs. That pattern was more pronounced among private colleges than among public institutions. At public institutions, the authors speculated, low-enrollment programs may have been relatively insulated from market forces. (But that might be changing quickly in this recession, Mr. Brint said in the interview.)
Colleges with a strong liberal-arts tradition were especially unlikely to eliminate programs in the humanities, and large doctoral universities were especially unlikely to drop science programs. Those patterns were expected, but the authors write that they were surprised by the rate at which smaller, less-prestigious doctoral-granting universities dropped traditional arts and sciences fields.
The authors found that some fields, including mathematics and history, experienced relative declines only because most new colleges have not included them. At colleges that had been established by 1970, those fields have held their own. But other fields, including German, Romance languages, and classics, have been dropped by many institutions that once offered them.
For their analysis, Mr. Brint and his colleagues looked at federal data for all American four-year colleges, excluding specialized colleges with narrow focuses in specific fields such as business or the performing arts. There were 1,263 such colleges in 1970-71 and 1,416 in 2005-6.
In determining whether a degree program was offered at a college, the authors looked at whether any students actually graduated with such a degree. "Ghost" degrees that lingered in a college's course catalog did not count. If no students graduated in a certain field in two consecutive years at the beginning or the end of the study period, the authors deemed that the program did not exist at that college.
The new paper is titled "Declining Academic Fields in U.S. Four-Year Colleges and Universities, 1970-2006." Mr. Brint's co-authors are Kristopher Proctor, a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford University; Kerry Mulligan and Matthew B. Rotondi, who are graduate students in sociology at Riverside; and Robert A. Hanneman, a professor of sociology at Riverside."
In similar vein:
Au revoir for study of French, German?
Foreign Languages Fade in Class — Except Chinese
The Decline of the English Department
Who needs English? (in Japan)
Auf Wiedersehen
Colleges strive to make foreign languages relevant
Disappearing Languages at Albany
Teenagers shunning foreign languages - again
UK - 2010
Who still wants to learn languages?
"The new GCSE results show foreign languages are in severe decline – with the number of children learning French and German falling most dramatically of all. Aida Edemariam asks what this means for our universities, our economy, and the future of Britain."
Uk - 2011
More teenagers shunning foreign languages at school
Record numbers of pupils are leaving school without learning a foreign language, figures show, as the popularity of French and German slumps to a new low.
Data published by the Department for Education shows that almost 380,000
teenagers in England failed to take GCSEs in languages last summer.
The number of schoolchildren shunning the subjects between the age of 14 and
16 has more than doubled since the late 90s, it was revealed.
The drop has been particularly marked in French and German – traditionally
the two most popular languages at school – with both being named among the
fastest declining subjects at GCSE level last summer.
It follows a decision by Labour to make languages optional for 14-year-olds
in England for the first time in 2004.
UK - 2012
French, German and Spanish entries all down this year, and headteachers say strategy to promote languages is overdue.
Entries in French declined to about 12,500 this year, and the number of candidates taking German dropped below 5,000. The number of entries for Spanish declined slightly, at 7,351 this year compared with 7,610 in 2011, although the trend over the last five years is up.
There was a modest rise in the take-up of other languages. Entries for A-level Polish rose from 844 last year to 923, and there were 3,425 entries for Mandarin, compared with 3,237 in 2011. Arabic, Japanese and Russian entries also climbed.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Ein Traum ist unser Leben...
Ein Traum, ein Traum ist unser Leben
Auf Erden hier;
Wie Schatten auf den Wogen schweben
Und schwinden wir
Und messen unsere trägen Schritte
Nach Raum und Zeit
Und sind, wir wissen´s nicht, in Mitte
Der Ewigkeit.
Johann Gottfried Herder
Auf Erden hier;
Wie Schatten auf den Wogen schweben
Und schwinden wir
Und messen unsere trägen Schritte
Nach Raum und Zeit
Und sind, wir wissen´s nicht, in Mitte
Der Ewigkeit.
Johann Gottfried Herder
How long does it take to learn a language - if you already know something
An update on the first post How long does it take to learn a language? which was mostly about the FSI learning scale and learning a wide variety of languages from scratch.
Here are a couple of tables for French and German, which lets you estimate learning expectations for someone with previous knowledge of the language.
French is in the Group I (FSI scale) requiring approximately 575-600 hours of instruction to reach
proficiency in speaking (S3) and reading 3. A handy wiki here. ILR scale here.
The DELF and DALF are diplomas awarded by the French Ministry of Education to prove the French-language skills of non-French candidates.
Each DELF DALF language proficiency exam corresponds to the following hours of teaching :
German requires 750 class hours according to FSI to reach proficiency level 3.
Below is a table of the basic Goethe-Institut exams as they fit into the scheme:
link
The CEFR describes language ability in a scale of levels from A1 for beginners up to C2 for those who have mastered a language.
CEFR/CEFL
The Common European Framework for Languages (CEFL) as referred to here is identical to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).
Cambridge ESOL is often asked about the number of study hours (or guided learning hours) required to reach a certain examination level. It is not possible to give a categorical answer to this, as hours of study required will vary depending upon several factors, such as the candidate’s language learning background, the intensity of the study, the inclinations and age of the individual, as well as the amount of study/exposure outside of lesson times. The following figures are, however, sometimes quoted as an approximate guideline:
Here are a couple of tables for French and German, which lets you estimate learning expectations for someone with previous knowledge of the language.
French is in the Group I (FSI scale) requiring approximately 575-600 hours of instruction to reach
proficiency in speaking (S3) and reading 3. A handy wiki here. ILR scale here.
The DELF and DALF are diplomas awarded by the French Ministry of Education to prove the French-language skills of non-French candidates.
Each DELF DALF language proficiency exam corresponds to the following hours of teaching :
DELF A1 : 60 hours from Beginner level
DELF A2 : 160 hours from Beginner level
(100 hours from DELF A1)
DELF B1 : 310 hours from Beginner level
(150 hours from DELF A2)
DELF B2 : 490 hours from Beginner level
(180 hours from DELF B1)
DALF C1 : 690 hours from Beginner level
(200 hours from DELF B2)
DALF C2 : 890 hours from Beginner level
(200 hours from DALF C1)
German requires 750 class hours according to FSI to reach proficiency level 3.
Below is a table of the basic Goethe-Institut exams as they fit into the scheme:
| CEFL level | Goethe-Institut exam | Instructional hours needed |
| C2 | Zentrale Oberstufenprüfung, Kleines Deutsches Sprachdiplom | 750-900 (both) |
| C1 | Goethe-Zertifikat C1 - Zentrale Mittelstufenprüfung (neu), Prüfung Wirtschaftsdeutsch | 600-750 (both) |
| B2 | Zertifikat Deutsch für den Beruf, Goethe-Zertifikat B2 | 375-540 (ZDfB), 450-600 (GZ B2) |
| B1 | Zertifikat Deutsch | 300-450 |
| A2 | Start Deutsch 2 | 128-255 |
| A1 | Start Deutsch 1 | 64-128 |
The CEFR describes language ability in a scale of levels from A1 for beginners up to C2 for those who have mastered a language.
CEFR/CEFL
The Common European Framework for Languages (CEFL) as referred to here is identical to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).
Cambridge ESOL is often asked about the number of study hours (or guided learning hours) required to reach a certain examination level. It is not possible to give a categorical answer to this, as hours of study required will vary depending upon several factors, such as the candidate’s language learning background, the intensity of the study, the inclinations and age of the individual, as well as the amount of study/exposure outside of lesson times. The following figures are, however, sometimes quoted as an approximate guideline:
CEFR Level
|
and Guided Learning Hours for English - Cambridge English exam
|
| C2 | approximately 1,000–1,200 |
| C1 | approximately 700–800 |
| B2 | approximately 500–600 |
| B1 A2 | approximately 350–400 approximately 180–200 |
Excerpts and findings from the book "The CEFR in Practice" which I have parked here. In practice, Eurocentres' findings suggest that to get from zero to B2 in English in an "intensive in-country environment", “900 hours was an ambitious but realistic goal for those speaking a European language”. From zero to B1 required 400 hours for Europeans. A study of native Finnish speakers confirmed this 400 hour figure. B1 is the average level reached by Finnish 15-16 year olds after 300 hour lessons of English plus c. 100 hours of homework. A separate study of Finnish speakers reconfirmed this number and also that Finns “typically reach B2 after about some 800-900 hours (Tuokko 2007 inTakala 2010a, Takala 2010b). However, “progress thereafter seems to require exponential increase in the time required, with 3,000 hours estimated for C1. In this case, the attainment of the C levels is in fact based on anecdotal evidence and conjecture rather than firm data.” Data from a joint Eurocentres/Goethe Institute project…suggested that there was a correlation between proficiency level and time of extensive study at the Goethe overseas institutes in Europe and Latin America: “There was a remarkably linear progress up to Eurocentres “Mastery” (equivalent to C2), with 1,000-1,200 hours required to reach it. This is considerably less than the 3,000 hours for the Finns! However, the learners who achieved C2 in these cases were the tiny number of survivors: the unusually talented, successful, tenacious, hardworking learners who had made it through the whole system over many years. Not anybody can get to C2 in German in 1,000, or 2,000 – or even 3,000 hours”. According to Swiss data “after two years of English (=c.160 hours) a considerable majority of 15-16 year olds had reached A2, whilst half the Gymnasium students had achieved B1 after two years. The main point, however, was the wide range of difference in the proficiency achieved. After three years (=c 240 hours) this range of achievement was from A1 to B1 for both lower secondary school and Gymnasium; in Gymnasium after six years (=c.480-600 hours), the range was from B1 + to C1. In adult sector evening classes the ranges were even greater.” “In an attempt to summarise all the information available, John De Jong (personal communication) recently presented ranges of time required to reach different levels. The 400 hours for B1 is optimistic according to his calculations, which suggests a range from 380 hours (fast learners) to 1386 (slow learners). For C1 the range is from 1,520 hours (fast learners) to 4,490 hours (slow learners) which neatly straddles Takka’s estimate of an average of 3,000 for his graph. “Estimates are further complicated by informal learning, especially for English. Takala (2001:101) cites a Finnish saying “English sticks to your clothes:” and says English is well on the way to becoming a third national language.” Taking all of these factors into account, only the person asking the question can answer it by logging the progress of the learners in their context. There is not simple answer.” The CEFR in Practice, pp.98-100 |
The wrong and right way to learn a foreign language
The wrong and right way to learn a foreign language
The Washington Post
By Stephen Krashen
In a recent issue of the Washington Post Express, Andrew Eil, a staffer who works at the U.S. State Department on international climate change, recommends that foreign language students start with “boot camp:” Study grammar very hard, drill vocabulary every day, and force yourself to talk. This regimen, he claims, put him in a position to develop high levels of competence in several languages; he now speaks Russian and French fluently and can converse in Mandarin and Kazakh.
Most of us who have taken foreign languages classes that emphasize heavy grammar instruction and memorizing vocabulary would disagree with his recommendations, and so does the research.
The results of studies done over the last few decades by a wide variety of researchers and published in scientific journals support this view: We do not master languages by hard study and memorization, or by producing it. Rather, we acquire language when we understand what people tell us and what we read, when we get “comprehensible input.” As we get comprehensible input through listening and reading, we acquire (or “absorb”) the grammar and vocabulary of the second language.
Studies show repeatedly that intensive grammar study and memorizing vocabulary are of limited value: Students in classes that provide lots of comprehensible input (e.g. methods such as TPRS) consistently do better than students in traditional grammar-based classes on tests that involve real communication and do just as well, and often better, on grammar tests. These students have acquired the grammar and vocabulary of the language naturally, and can use what they have acquired in real communicative situations. They are also more likely to continue foreign language study.
Grammar
The complexity of the grammatical system to be mastered makes it highly unlikely that it can be taught and learned: Linguists have not even described the grammatical system of any language completely and many rules are forbiddingly complex, with numerous exceptions.
Even very complex rules, however, can be acquired (or “absorbed”) through comprehensible input, especially through reading. Here is one of many examples from the research: In one study, English speakers who spoke Spanish as a second language were tested on their ability to use the Spanish subjunctive in conversation. The subjunctive is of interest as it is considered a difficult structure to master. Researchers considered a number of predictors of subjunctive proficiency: amount of formal study of Spanish, amount of formal study of the subjunctive, years of residence in a Spanish-speaking country, and the amount of reading done in Spanish. The only significant predictor was reading in Spanish.
Vocabulary
There is a substantial research literature showing that vocabulary knowledge comes largely from comprehensible input, especially reading, in both first and second languages. Many second language speakers acquire enormous vocabularies, and it is highly doubtful that they did it through vocabulary study: In one study, it was reported that speakers of Spanish as a second language who were avid readers in Spanish had larger Spanish vocabularies than native speakers of Spanish who did not do a lot of reading.
Forced speech
Should language students force themselves to talk, as Eil advises? Research informs us that at beginning stages, highly successful second language acquirers often experience a substantial “silent period,” a time when they produce little or no language. The silent period is nearly universal for children acquiring a second language, and there are entire cultures in which second language acquirers are expected to experience a silent period. Also, successful comprehensible-input based methods do not force students to speak.
Forcing language students to speak before they are ready not only makes them extremely uncomfortable but does nothing for language acquisition. Speaking doesn’t cause language acquisition; rather, the ability to speak is the result of comprehensible input.
Comprehensible input at all stages
Andrew Eil has clearly done well in foreign language acquisition, and he acknowledges the value of the experiences he had during his residence in Russia, Kazakhstan, France and China over several years, from the reading he did, the movies he saw, the many conversations he had with others, and other kinds of “informal, friendly interaction.” In other words, he improved thanks to comprehensible input.
Current research strongly suggests that comprehensible input is the way we acquire language at all stages. The kind of “boot camp” Eil recommends is neither necessary nor desirable.
--
Sources:
Comprehensible input: Krashen, S. 2003. Explorations in Language Acquisition and Use. Heinemann.
Effectiveness of comprehensible-input based instruction: Krashen, op. cit.; TPRS studies: Varguez, K. 2009. Traditional and TPR Storytelling instrution in beginning high school Spanish classroom. International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 5 (1): 2-11; Watson, B. 2009. A comparison of TPRS and traditional foreign language instruction at the high school level. International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 5 (1): 21-24.
Acquisition of Spanish subjunctive: Stokes, J., Krashen, S., and Kartchner, J. 1998. Factors in the acquisition of the present subjunctive in Spanish: The role of reading and study. ITL: Review of Applied Linguistics 121-122:19-25.
Highly successful second language acquirers often experience a substantial “silent period”; Krashen, S. 2000. What does it take to acquire language? ESL Magazine, 3(3), 22-23. (available at http:www. sdkrashen.com)
Cultures in which a silent period is expected: Sorenson, A. 1967. Multilingualism in the northwest Amazon. American Anthropologist, 69 (6), 670-684.
Avid readers of Spanish: Rodrigo, V. 2009. Vocabulary size and reading habit in native and non-native speakers of Spanish. Hispania, 92.3, 580-592.
The Washington Post
By Stephen Krashen
In a recent issue of the Washington Post Express, Andrew Eil, a staffer who works at the U.S. State Department on international climate change, recommends that foreign language students start with “boot camp:” Study grammar very hard, drill vocabulary every day, and force yourself to talk. This regimen, he claims, put him in a position to develop high levels of competence in several languages; he now speaks Russian and French fluently and can converse in Mandarin and Kazakh.
Most of us who have taken foreign languages classes that emphasize heavy grammar instruction and memorizing vocabulary would disagree with his recommendations, and so does the research.
The results of studies done over the last few decades by a wide variety of researchers and published in scientific journals support this view: We do not master languages by hard study and memorization, or by producing it. Rather, we acquire language when we understand what people tell us and what we read, when we get “comprehensible input.” As we get comprehensible input through listening and reading, we acquire (or “absorb”) the grammar and vocabulary of the second language.
Studies show repeatedly that intensive grammar study and memorizing vocabulary are of limited value: Students in classes that provide lots of comprehensible input (e.g. methods such as TPRS) consistently do better than students in traditional grammar-based classes on tests that involve real communication and do just as well, and often better, on grammar tests. These students have acquired the grammar and vocabulary of the language naturally, and can use what they have acquired in real communicative situations. They are also more likely to continue foreign language study.
Grammar
The complexity of the grammatical system to be mastered makes it highly unlikely that it can be taught and learned: Linguists have not even described the grammatical system of any language completely and many rules are forbiddingly complex, with numerous exceptions.
Even very complex rules, however, can be acquired (or “absorbed”) through comprehensible input, especially through reading. Here is one of many examples from the research: In one study, English speakers who spoke Spanish as a second language were tested on their ability to use the Spanish subjunctive in conversation. The subjunctive is of interest as it is considered a difficult structure to master. Researchers considered a number of predictors of subjunctive proficiency: amount of formal study of Spanish, amount of formal study of the subjunctive, years of residence in a Spanish-speaking country, and the amount of reading done in Spanish. The only significant predictor was reading in Spanish.
Vocabulary
There is a substantial research literature showing that vocabulary knowledge comes largely from comprehensible input, especially reading, in both first and second languages. Many second language speakers acquire enormous vocabularies, and it is highly doubtful that they did it through vocabulary study: In one study, it was reported that speakers of Spanish as a second language who were avid readers in Spanish had larger Spanish vocabularies than native speakers of Spanish who did not do a lot of reading.
Forced speech
Should language students force themselves to talk, as Eil advises? Research informs us that at beginning stages, highly successful second language acquirers often experience a substantial “silent period,” a time when they produce little or no language. The silent period is nearly universal for children acquiring a second language, and there are entire cultures in which second language acquirers are expected to experience a silent period. Also, successful comprehensible-input based methods do not force students to speak.
Forcing language students to speak before they are ready not only makes them extremely uncomfortable but does nothing for language acquisition. Speaking doesn’t cause language acquisition; rather, the ability to speak is the result of comprehensible input.
Comprehensible input at all stages
Andrew Eil has clearly done well in foreign language acquisition, and he acknowledges the value of the experiences he had during his residence in Russia, Kazakhstan, France and China over several years, from the reading he did, the movies he saw, the many conversations he had with others, and other kinds of “informal, friendly interaction.” In other words, he improved thanks to comprehensible input.
Current research strongly suggests that comprehensible input is the way we acquire language at all stages. The kind of “boot camp” Eil recommends is neither necessary nor desirable.
--
Sources:
Comprehensible input: Krashen, S. 2003. Explorations in Language Acquisition and Use. Heinemann.
Effectiveness of comprehensible-input based instruction: Krashen, op. cit.; TPRS studies: Varguez, K. 2009. Traditional and TPR Storytelling instrution in beginning high school Spanish classroom. International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 5 (1): 2-11; Watson, B. 2009. A comparison of TPRS and traditional foreign language instruction at the high school level. International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 5 (1): 21-24.
Acquisition of Spanish subjunctive: Stokes, J., Krashen, S., and Kartchner, J. 1998. Factors in the acquisition of the present subjunctive in Spanish: The role of reading and study. ITL: Review of Applied Linguistics 121-122:19-25.
Highly successful second language acquirers often experience a substantial “silent period”; Krashen, S. 2000. What does it take to acquire language? ESL Magazine, 3(3), 22-23. (available at http:www. sdkrashen.com)
Cultures in which a silent period is expected: Sorenson, A. 1967. Multilingualism in the northwest Amazon. American Anthropologist, 69 (6), 670-684.
Avid readers of Spanish: Rodrigo, V. 2009. Vocabulary size and reading habit in native and non-native speakers of Spanish. Hispania, 92.3, 580-592.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
At what rate do learners learn and retain new vocabulary
At what rate do learners learn and retain new vocabularyfrom reading a graded reader?
Rob Waring, Misako Takaki
Abstract
keywords: guessing vocabulary from context, vocabulary acquisition, graded readers, occurrence rate, vocabulary decay, vocabulary attrition, extensive reading
Conclusion
"The results of this study point to several things. Firstly, the data support
the notion that words can be learned incidentally from context. However, these
data suggest that few new words appear to be learned from this type of
reading, and half of those that are learned are soon lost. Secondly, the
test type affects the gain scores that are shown from the reading. Therefore,
researchers should be particularly cautious about selecting multiple-choice
tests to validate the learning of vocabulary. Thirdly, previous research that
used a multiple-choice test format rather than a translation test most probably
has overstated learning gains. Fourthly, those studies that did not have
vocabulary retention data almost certainly will have overstated natural learning
too. Thus, the results here suggest that studies that had both these elements in
their design, appear to have substantially overstated their natural vocabulary
gains. This should be borne in mind when interpreting their results.
However, we have to be cautious when saying that very little vocabulary can
be learned from the reading. This study only looked at the learning of
new words from the reading. This study did not attempt to study a myriad
of other forms of word knowledge which include lexical access speed gains; the
noticing of collocations, colligations or patterns within text; the recognition
of new word forms yet to be learned; an increase in the ability to guess from
context; a confirmation that a previously guessed word's meaning is probably
correct; recognition of new word associations; the raising of the ability to
recognize discourse and text structure; an increase in the ability to 'chunk'
text; the development of saccadic eye movements and so on, and so on. The jury
is still out on these. Research into what effect reading in a foreign language
has on these elements of the reading puzzle is welcomed. However, it is our
contention that ultimately learners do not learn a lot of new words from
graded reading, but in fact graded reading helps to deepen and consolidate
already known language. The data presented here should not be interpreted
as a case against the need for graded reading.
Also it must not be forgotten that the data have been gathered from the
reading of only one graded reader. Clearly, graded readers are not supposed to
be used as a one-off learning experience with the vague hope that some new words
or language will be learned. Unfortunately, all too often this is the case as
graded readers are subjected to the 'supplementary' shelf of the teacher's
armory. This research points ever more clearly to the need for repeated and
consistent exposure to graded readers if words are going to be acquired and
especially if the aim is to learn new words.
While this study has given us a few more insights into what kinds of vocabulary are learned from reading, and the rate at which words need to be met in order to learn them, there are still several unanswered questions. Firstly, we are still not clear whether increasing the number of occurrences of target items will lead to higher acquisition rates. If the subjects had met the target items say 25 or 30 times we can presume that more of them would have been learned, but this is not clear. Another unanswered question concerns whether it is due to the nature of graded reading itself (where the focus is on understanding the message rather than on the learning of new vocabulary) that certain words cannot be learned easily in this way. It may be that the type of cognitive effort expended depending on whether the subject is focused on word learning or on the message may be part of the explanation. This fruitful research area may also investigate whether certain types of words are best learned from reading than others, or whether they are best learned out of context. Other questions relate to how much vocabulary is learned by reading, say, all the titles of one level of a graded reader series, in order to determine just how many titles need to be read to master the vocabulary at that level.
In conclusion, the results of this study seem to support Nation and Wang's (1999) research that recommends a high volume of reading (a book a week at the learner's reading level), or more. If this amount of reading were done, the rather disappointing forgetting rate evident from reading only one book would be reduced to some degree. The data also support Nation and Wang's contention that graded readers might be best used for recycling already known vocabulary than for introducing new words. This is because the results of this and other studies suggest that few new words seem to be learned from graded reading. As has been mentioned elsewhere, vocabulary growth is not the main aim of graded or extensive reading (e.g., Day and Bamford, 1998, 2002; Waring, 1997; Waring and Takahashi, 2000; Prowse, 2002). Teachers and learners alike would be best advised to be aware of this and not to expect too many new words to be learned from their graded readers. However, learners should be encouraged to read them for the other informational and enjoyable aspects of reading in a foreign language, as well as the many language learning and affective benefits they offer."
Rob Waring, Misako Takaki
Abstract
"This study examined the rate at
which vocabulary was learned from reading the 400 headword graded reader A
Little Princess. To ascertain whether words of different frequency of
occurrence rates were more likely to be learned and retained or forgotten, 25
words within five bands of differing frequency of occurrence (15 to 18 times to
those appearing only once) were selected. The spelling of each word was changed
to ensure that each test item was unknown to the 15 intermediate level (or
above) female Japanese subjects. Three tests (word-form recognition, prompted
meaning recognition and unprompted meaning recognition) were administered
immediately after reading, after one week and after a three month delay. The
results show that words can be learned incidentally but that most of the words
were not learned. More frequent words were more likely to be learned and were
more resistant to decay. The data suggest that, on average, the meaning of only
one of the 25 items will be remembered after three months, and the meaning of
none of the items that were met fewer than eight times will be remembered three
months later. The data thus suggest that very little new vocabulary is
retained from reading one graded reader, and that a massive amount of graded
reading is needed to build new vocabulary. It is suggested that the benefits of
reading a graded reader should not only be assessed by researching vocabulary
gains and retention, but by looking at how graded readers help develop and
enrich already known vocabulary."
keywords: guessing vocabulary from context, vocabulary acquisition, graded readers, occurrence rate, vocabulary decay, vocabulary attrition, extensive reading
While this study has given us a few more insights into what kinds of vocabulary are learned from reading, and the rate at which words need to be met in order to learn them, there are still several unanswered questions. Firstly, we are still not clear whether increasing the number of occurrences of target items will lead to higher acquisition rates. If the subjects had met the target items say 25 or 30 times we can presume that more of them would have been learned, but this is not clear. Another unanswered question concerns whether it is due to the nature of graded reading itself (where the focus is on understanding the message rather than on the learning of new vocabulary) that certain words cannot be learned easily in this way. It may be that the type of cognitive effort expended depending on whether the subject is focused on word learning or on the message may be part of the explanation. This fruitful research area may also investigate whether certain types of words are best learned from reading than others, or whether they are best learned out of context. Other questions relate to how much vocabulary is learned by reading, say, all the titles of one level of a graded reader series, in order to determine just how many titles need to be read to master the vocabulary at that level.
In conclusion, the results of this study seem to support Nation and Wang's (1999) research that recommends a high volume of reading (a book a week at the learner's reading level), or more. If this amount of reading were done, the rather disappointing forgetting rate evident from reading only one book would be reduced to some degree. The data also support Nation and Wang's contention that graded readers might be best used for recycling already known vocabulary than for introducing new words. This is because the results of this and other studies suggest that few new words seem to be learned from graded reading. As has been mentioned elsewhere, vocabulary growth is not the main aim of graded or extensive reading (e.g., Day and Bamford, 1998, 2002; Waring, 1997; Waring and Takahashi, 2000; Prowse, 2002). Teachers and learners alike would be best advised to be aware of this and not to expect too many new words to be learned from their graded readers. However, learners should be encouraged to read them for the other informational and enjoyable aspects of reading in a foreign language, as well as the many language learning and affective benefits they offer."
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Vocabulary Demands of Television Programs
Vocabulary Demands of Television Programs
Stuart Webb, Michael P. H. Rodgers
"This study investigated vocabulary coverage and the number of encounters of low-frequency vocabulary in television programs. Eighty-eight television programs consisting of 264,384 running words were categorized according to genre. Television shows were classified as either British or American and then put into the following genres: news, drama, situation comedy, older programs, children's programs, and science fiction. The results showed that knowledge of the most frequent 3,000 word families plus proper nouns and marginal words provided 95.45% coverage, and knowledge of the most frequent 7,000 word families plus proper nouns and marginal words provided 98.27% coverage. The vocabulary size necessary to gain 95% coverage of the different genres ranged from 2,000 to 4,000 word families plus proper nouns and marginal words; 5,000 to 9,000 word families plus proper nouns and marginal words to gain 98% coverage. The analysis also indicated that there was great variation in coverage between episodes. The results showed that there were relatively few encounters with low-frequency vocabulary. However, if learners knew the most frequent 3,000 word families and they watched at least an hour of television a day, there is the potential for significant incidental vocabulary learning."
Selecting Television Programs for Language Learning: Investigating Television Programs from the Same Genre
Stuart Webb
Abstract
"The scripts of 288 television episodes were analysed to determine the extent to which vocabulary reoccurs in television programs from the same subgenres and unrelated television programs from different genres. Episodes from two programs from each of the following three subgenres of the American drama genre: medical, spy/action, and criminal forensic investigation were compared with different sets of random episodes. The results showed that although there were an equivalent number of running words in each set of episodes, the episodes from programs within the same subgenre contained fewer word families than random programs. The findings also showed that low frequency word families (4000-14,000 levels) reoccur more often in programs within the same subgenre. Together the results indicate that watching programs within the same subgenre may be an effective approach to language learning with television because it reduces the lexical demands of viewing and increases the potential for vocabulary learning."
"...Webb and Rodgers (2009a) findings also shed light on differences between television genres. Children’s programs were found to have the smallest vocabulary load; the most frequent 2000 word families, plus proper nouns and marginal words accounted for 95% coverage. The most frequent 3000 word families plus proper nouns and marginal words accounted for 95% of American drama, older programs, situation comedies and British programs. The genres with the greatest proportions of low frequency words were news stories and science fiction programs. Results also indicated that coverage is likely to vary between episodes of programs leading Webb and Rodgers to suggest that randomly viewing programs may limit comprehension...
The findings indicate that it may be more effective to watch different episodes of the same television program rather than episodes of different programs because the vocabulary load is likely to be lower when watching episodes of the same program."
...Research on incidental vocabulary learning from reading indicates that from six (Rott, 1999) to 20 encounters (Waring & Takaki, 2003) may be needed to learn words with the amount of knowledge gained dependent on the contexts in which the words are encountered (Webb, 2008). In corpus-driven studies, Nation and Wang (1999) used 10 or more encounters with unknown words as the number of encounters necessary for incidental vocabulary learning through reading, Cobb (2007) used six encounters, and Horst (2009) used 10 or more encounters for learning through listening. Because the number of encounters necessary for learning can vary from word to word (Webb, 2008), it is useful to look at different numbers of encounters with words. One or two encounters is likely to lead to gains in knowledge of form but minimal gains in knowledge of meaning, five to nine encounters may lead to partial knowledge of a number of aspects of knowledge, and 10 or more encounters with words may Indicate a good chance of learning the meanings of words and other aspects of knowledge...
Research investigating incidental vocabulary learning through watching television indicates that both L1 viewers (Oetting, Rice, & Swank, 1995; Rice & Woodsmall, 1988) and L2 viewers (d'Ydewalle & Pavakanun, 1995; d’Ydewalle & Van de Poel, 1999; Koolstra & Beentjes, 1999; Neuman & Koskinen, 1992; Pavakanun & d’Ydewalle, 1992) do incidentally learn words through watching television. Although there has not been any research examining the number of encounters necessary to learn words incidentally through extensive viewing, it is likely that learning words through watching television is similar to learning words through reading...However, with television it may also be a function of the clarity of the discourse, the speed of the discourse, and the amount of semantic overlap between the imagery and the vocabulary.
CONCLUSION
The present study provides some direction on how television might be effectively used. Watching L2 television programs is likely to be difficult at first. Initially the speed of the dialogue, the unfamiliar spoken forms of words that have only been encountered previously in text and the amount of spoken input may be overwhelming. If comprehension is challenging, it may be more effective to watch television programs with related content and storylines than programs with unrelated content. Watching similar programs is likely to reduce the lexical burden and may also increase background knowledge which may aid comprehension when viewing subsequent episodes with similar content. The primary aim when teaching with L2 television programs should be to support comprehension because if viewers can understand L2 television programs they are more likely to watch them regularly. The findings in this study suggest that regular viewing of related programs may lead to large incidental vocabulary learning."
Stuart Webb, Michael P. H. Rodgers
Article first published online: 8 MAY 2009
"This study investigated vocabulary coverage and the number of encounters of low-frequency vocabulary in television programs. Eighty-eight television programs consisting of 264,384 running words were categorized according to genre. Television shows were classified as either British or American and then put into the following genres: news, drama, situation comedy, older programs, children's programs, and science fiction. The results showed that knowledge of the most frequent 3,000 word families plus proper nouns and marginal words provided 95.45% coverage, and knowledge of the most frequent 7,000 word families plus proper nouns and marginal words provided 98.27% coverage. The vocabulary size necessary to gain 95% coverage of the different genres ranged from 2,000 to 4,000 word families plus proper nouns and marginal words; 5,000 to 9,000 word families plus proper nouns and marginal words to gain 98% coverage. The analysis also indicated that there was great variation in coverage between episodes. The results showed that there were relatively few encounters with low-frequency vocabulary. However, if learners knew the most frequent 3,000 word families and they watched at least an hour of television a day, there is the potential for significant incidental vocabulary learning."
Selecting Television Programs for Language Learning: Investigating Television Programs from the Same Genre
Stuart Webb
Abstract
"The scripts of 288 television episodes were analysed to determine the extent to which vocabulary reoccurs in television programs from the same subgenres and unrelated television programs from different genres. Episodes from two programs from each of the following three subgenres of the American drama genre: medical, spy/action, and criminal forensic investigation were compared with different sets of random episodes. The results showed that although there were an equivalent number of running words in each set of episodes, the episodes from programs within the same subgenre contained fewer word families than random programs. The findings also showed that low frequency word families (4000-14,000 levels) reoccur more often in programs within the same subgenre. Together the results indicate that watching programs within the same subgenre may be an effective approach to language learning with television because it reduces the lexical demands of viewing and increases the potential for vocabulary learning."
"...Webb and Rodgers (2009a) findings also shed light on differences between television genres. Children’s programs were found to have the smallest vocabulary load; the most frequent 2000 word families, plus proper nouns and marginal words accounted for 95% coverage. The most frequent 3000 word families plus proper nouns and marginal words accounted for 95% of American drama, older programs, situation comedies and British programs. The genres with the greatest proportions of low frequency words were news stories and science fiction programs. Results also indicated that coverage is likely to vary between episodes of programs leading Webb and Rodgers to suggest that randomly viewing programs may limit comprehension...
The findings indicate that it may be more effective to watch different episodes of the same television program rather than episodes of different programs because the vocabulary load is likely to be lower when watching episodes of the same program."
...Research on incidental vocabulary learning from reading indicates that from six (Rott, 1999) to 20 encounters (Waring & Takaki, 2003) may be needed to learn words with the amount of knowledge gained dependent on the contexts in which the words are encountered (Webb, 2008). In corpus-driven studies, Nation and Wang (1999) used 10 or more encounters with unknown words as the number of encounters necessary for incidental vocabulary learning through reading, Cobb (2007) used six encounters, and Horst (2009) used 10 or more encounters for learning through listening. Because the number of encounters necessary for learning can vary from word to word (Webb, 2008), it is useful to look at different numbers of encounters with words. One or two encounters is likely to lead to gains in knowledge of form but minimal gains in knowledge of meaning, five to nine encounters may lead to partial knowledge of a number of aspects of knowledge, and 10 or more encounters with words may Indicate a good chance of learning the meanings of words and other aspects of knowledge...
Research investigating incidental vocabulary learning through watching television indicates that both L1 viewers (Oetting, Rice, & Swank, 1995; Rice & Woodsmall, 1988) and L2 viewers (d'Ydewalle & Pavakanun, 1995; d’Ydewalle & Van de Poel, 1999; Koolstra & Beentjes, 1999; Neuman & Koskinen, 1992; Pavakanun & d’Ydewalle, 1992) do incidentally learn words through watching television. Although there has not been any research examining the number of encounters necessary to learn words incidentally through extensive viewing, it is likely that learning words through watching television is similar to learning words through reading...However, with television it may also be a function of the clarity of the discourse, the speed of the discourse, and the amount of semantic overlap between the imagery and the vocabulary.
CONCLUSION
The present study provides some direction on how television might be effectively used. Watching L2 television programs is likely to be difficult at first. Initially the speed of the dialogue, the unfamiliar spoken forms of words that have only been encountered previously in text and the amount of spoken input may be overwhelming. If comprehension is challenging, it may be more effective to watch television programs with related content and storylines than programs with unrelated content. Watching similar programs is likely to reduce the lexical burden and may also increase background knowledge which may aid comprehension when viewing subsequent episodes with similar content. The primary aim when teaching with L2 television programs should be to support comprehension because if viewers can understand L2 television programs they are more likely to watch them regularly. The findings in this study suggest that regular viewing of related programs may lead to large incidental vocabulary learning."
Monday, November 19, 2012
New translations reveal new depths of classic works
RYUNOSUKE AKUTAGAWA
New translations reveal new depths of classic works
By DONALD RICHIE
Sunday, Aug. 19, 2007
"Good, new and much needed translations of the stories of Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927) have recently begun to appear. Last year there was the Penguin edition of 18 stories, translated by Jay Rubin, and now comes this Archipelago edition of 15, translated by Charles De Wolf. Both contain works never before translated into English.
To be sure, these two late (posthumously published) stories are among the Akutagawa works already adequately rendered into English. "Cogwheels" was translated by Beongcheon Yu in 1965 and by Cid Corman in 1987. "The Life of a Fool" was translated by Will Petersen in 1970 and, again, by Cid Corman in 1987.
Translations, however, are a product of their times. Arthur Waley's "Tale of Genji" with its Edwardian prose still has its admirers, but the original is best displayed in the Edward Seidensticker translation. The fusty exoticism still perceived attached to Akutagawa's work can in part be attributed to his early translators.
In building what has been called an identical structure side by side with the original, the translator must choose words and expressions that both mirror and explicate the original. The excellence of the translation (or the lack of it) depends largely upon how good the translator is in his own language. In any event, his interpretation is based upon the stylistic choice he shows us.
Below are two translations of the same passage from the 1927 "Aru Aho no Issho." Rubin translates this as "The Life of a Stupid Man," and continues with "#18. Butterfly. A butterfly fluttered its wings in a wind thick with the smell of seaweed. His dry lips felt the touch of the butterfly for the briefest instant, yet the wisp of wing dust still shone on his lips years later."
De Wolf translates it as "The Life of a Fool," and continues with "#18. A Butterfly. A butterfly fluttered in the seaweed-scented breeze. For an instant, he felt its wings touch his parched lips. Even many years later, the powder on those wings that brushed his lips still glistened."
One translation has no advantage over the other, both impart the purport. The Rubin translation (40 words) is slightly longer than De Wolf's (33 words), a ratio that is maintained throughout both books. At the same time there are indications of intent.
In his notes, De Wolf makes a distinction between "aho" and "baka," feeling that the latter is the more restricted and that the former is not always a term of abuse — as in August Strindberg's "Confessions of a Fool," a work Akutagawa knew well and mentions in the text. Perhaps that's why the translator chose a word like "parched" rather than "dry," the term chosen by Rubin.
"Dry" is a statement, like "wet," but "parched" (like "moistened") implies a cause. I have no idea what the original Japanese is so I can only guess that De Wolf, with reason, wanted to connect this fool with other fools (Strindberg, Dostoevsky) who had anxious reasons for having parched lips.
Rubin in his notes (both collections are richly annotated) would seem to have supported the "stupid" thesis since these notes mention the women in Akutagawa's life and the very similar problems he had with them. Could that be the reason behind the choice "shone?" Doesn't "glisten" imply something less steady, more intermittent — when what the translator perhaps needed (and found in "shone") was a word that implied permanency?
Whatever. Both translations are useful and defendable and their differences are illustrative of varied interpretations. And both offer us the opportunity of meeting old acquaintances in new clothes and introducing us to enchanting strangers."
Sunday, November 18, 2012
The 100 Best Books of All Time
by language
From Wikipedia
The World
Library is a list of the 100 best books, as proposed by one hundred writers
from fifty-four different countries, compiled and organized in 2002 by the
Norwegian Book Club. This list endeavours to reflect world literature, with
books from all countries, cultures, and time periods.
The books
selected by this process and listed here are not ranked or categorized in any
way; the organizers have stated that "they are all on an equal
footing," with the exception of Don Quixote which was given the distinction
"best literary work ever written."
More lists here
More lists here
Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century
Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century
By language
"Starting from a preliminary list of 200 titles created by bookshops and journalists, 17,000 French voted by responding to the question, "Which books have stayed in your memory?" (« Quels livres sont restés dans votre mémoire ? »).[1]
The list of acclaimed titles mixes great novels with poetry and theatre, as well as the comic strip."
Wikipedia
Ideas for a reading list. I have completely forgotten Vercors and many others. English-language books constitute 27% of the list. I was going to delete them but what the heck.
By language
"Starting from a preliminary list of 200 titles created by bookshops and journalists, 17,000 French voted by responding to the question, "Which books have stayed in your memory?" (« Quels livres sont restés dans votre mémoire ? »).[1]
The list of acclaimed titles mixes great novels with poetry and theatre, as well as the comic strip."
Wikipedia
Ideas for a reading list. I have completely forgotten Vercors and many others. English-language books constitute 27% of the list. I was going to delete them but what the heck.
