Professional Documents
Culture Documents
TESOL QUARTERLY
Volume 2 June 1968 Number 2
Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Allen: Teaching English as a
Second Language (McIntosh)
Announcements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
University of Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii
Vol 2 No 2 June 1968
never wins but not *tennis is a it is these which govern semantic in-
shame he never wins, and we know terpretation. It follows, however, that
from analysis, of course, that “it” in control by the student over deep
(a) is the extraposed “it,” whereas in structure differences will not take place
(b) it is the pronominal “it.” Yet, unless he is aware of them. And I
one of the best known and most widely believe that one of the aims of lan-
used ESL texts presents as one so- guage pedagogy must be to bring
called pattern not only such sentences about that awareness.
as “It’s easy to speak English” and Realization of this aim will depend
“It’s difficult for us,” in which “it” ultimately upon the nature and orga-
reflects extraposition and pronominali- nization of the textual resources em-
zation, respectively, but also “It’s hot ployed. In such materials not only
outside” displaying still another “it,” must the linguistic facts and their
that associated with the weather. Fol- presentation have derived from a
lowing mass presentation, all of these thorough understanding of the find-
forms are put through the ubiquitous ings of linguistic research, but also
mammoth substitution drill, in which the construction of at least some of
strings like “easy for you to learn the drills which incorporate these
English a year ago” find themselves facts must reflect to some extent the
in the strange company of such items theory within which the facts were
as “warm” and “snowing,” only be- revealed. In other words, some drills
cause, presumably, they all occur must be designed to strengthen un-
after that little two-letter word “it.” conscious perception by the student of
The above sample is no isolated oc- the deep structure principles of En-
currence; more often than not, the glish, and of the fact that surface
overriding consideration in the con- structure alone is not sufficient for
struction of ESL classroom drills is semantic interpretation. Such drills,
that they focus upon strings which it can be added, will serve also to
look alike, or in other words, which measure not the student’s memory
display surface similarity. capacity but the extent to which
Confronted by masses of often un- English grammar has been internal-
related data, the average student, ized.
like the small child, will probably be Drills labeled transformation are
able over a long enough period of time by now a feature of every language
to extract from this data and internal- text that comes on the market, with
ize the rules of the language he is a number of such texts also claiming
studying. But this is doing it in a in general to be “transformational.”
way which is not only hard but also Yet, although the term transforma-
costly and time-consuming. ESL ma- tion does not and cannot mean in
terials are oriented almost invariably applied linguistics what it means in
toward imparting as a final goal the formal linguistics, we are never told
ability of the student to give phono- by the applied linguist precisely what
logical shape to surface structures. Yet, it does mean. Transformation in its
mastery of deep structure principles is linguistic sense characterizes a for-
just as important, if not more so, since mal procedure whereby deep structures
LANGUAGE DRILL 73
gressive and “be to” verb construc- 8. Deletion possibilities with for+NP
tions, respectively: in “too/enough” constructions pro-
duce very deceptive surface similari-
(a) His business is selling. . . . to
ties:
sell.
(b) His business is branching out. (a) The people are too crowded to
. . . to branch out. dance.
(b) The room is too crowded to
Only the nominals permute with their dance.
subjects, of course: Selling is his busi-
ness, not * branching out is his busi- “For the people” has been an obliga-
ness. tory deletion in (a), whereas it is op-
tional in (b).
6. “The shooting of the hunters,” by
now a part of every linguist’s store of 9. Unlike many other languages, both
examples, represents in its ambiguity pre- and post-copula comparisons in
a contrast which is a part of everyday English use “than”:
speech. Take for instance,
(a) Fiats are more economical than
(a) the promise of aid to alleviate Fords.
suffering (b) Fiats are more economical than
(b) the promise of A.I.D. to al- comfortable.
leviate suffering.
Restoring deleted parts in both sen-
“Aid” is the deep structure object of tences produces Fiats are more eco-
“promise” in (a); “A.I.D.” is the deep nomical than Fords are and Fiats are
structure subject in (b). Related to more economical than they are com-
(a) is Someone promises aid (in or- fortable.
der) to alleviate suffering. Related to
(b) is A.I.D. promises to alleviate suf- 10. Relativizing on different parts of
fering. a NP dominating N Prep NP will pro-
duce
7. The verb+to+verb category ob- (a) the keys to the house that he
scures at least a triple distinction with bought
examples like
(b) the keys to the house that he
(a) We prepared to eat lunch. brought
(b) We stopped to eat lunch.
where under no circumstances can the
(c) We had to hurry to eat lunch. owner have brought the house, nor is
(a) is a verb + complement con- it likely that he has bought the keys.
struction whose constituents are not
movable. Examples (b) and (c), both 11. Lees’s well known “drowning
of which, unlike (a), can insert “in cats” example is not hard to duplicate:
order,” represent purpose and de- (a) Moving targets are hard to hit.
pendency relationships, respectively. (b) Moving targets is hard work.
Only in (c), however, can the to+verb
part prepose: (In order) to eat lunch, and if the student eventually under-
we had to hurry. stands why the old saying “Too many
LANGUAGE DRILL 75
cooks spoils the broth” uses a singular (a) What he wants is more of your
and not a plural verb, something will business.
indeed have been accomplished. (b) What he wants is none of your
business.
12. The preposition in a verb+prep
combination, with following direct ob- and passive sentences with embedded
ject, resembles a prep phrase of dura- wh- clause as subject:
tion: (c) What he did was criticize.
(a) He waited for a minute. (d) What he did was criticized.
(b) He waited for a signal.
Underlying (c) is He criticized. Un-
Intonation distinguishes them, howev- derlying (d) is Someone criticized
er, since the sentence-final contour will what he did.
normally descend on “waited” in (a)
and on “signal” in (b). 17. Verb root vs. participle also fur-
nishes the only surface distinction be-
13. A wh- clause embedded as subject tween
sometimes looks like the same clause (a) They said they’d study En-
functioning as sentence adverbial: glish.
(a) Where he comes from is im- (b) They said they’d studied En-
portant. glish.
(b) Where he comes from, the
but of course “they’d” in (a) is they
family is important.
would, in (b) they had.
14. Confusion occasionally arises with-
18. There is also the present perfect
in embedding itself, i.e. wh-X vs. wh-
with transitive verb vs. prenominal past
X-ever:
participle (after passive, relative
(a) Who he lives with is a secret. clause, and deletion transformations):
(b) Whoever he lives with is a se- (a) He’s invited a guest.
cret agent.
(b) He’s an invited guest.
Correspondence across the copula ap-
The same principle applies to the pres-
plies to the whole clause in (a) but to
ent progressive and prenominal verb-
only “whoever” in (b). ing:
15. Noun complements, in addition to (c) It’s confusing the issue.
example 3 above, can include for+NP (d) It’s a confusing issue.
–to+verb instead of that+S:
Prenominal verb-ing is sometimes a
(a) advice for them to consider
real adjective, sometimes not:
seriously
(b) advice for them to consider the (e) It was a moving train.
proposal (f) It was a moving experience.
16. Pseudo-cleft sentences resemble 19. By+NP following the passive can
both sentences with an embedded wh- make real manner adverbial look like
clause as subject of an active verb: the subject of the corresponding active:
76 TESOL QUARTERLY
by only a slight phonological contrast— 34. Insofar as items like “wanna, hafta,
a case, in other words, of not morpho- gotta,” etc. (as opposed to “want to,
phonemic but syntacto-phonemic reali- have to, got to”) carry weak stress,
zation. they resemble modals. The clearest in-
dication of this is perhaps “gonna” vs.
32. Notice, for example, that for most “going to”:
speakers the following two phrases do
not mean the same, although in print
they are identical:
Notice that the main verb in (a) is
“work,” whereas in (b) it is “go.”
Moreover, “work” in (b) isn’t even a
The underlying forms for (a) and (b) verb at all but a noun, like “school”
are I have to do something and I have in I’m going to school. Sentence (a)
something to do, respectively. The is therefore very much like I’ll work,
same contrast is also present in whereas (b) is like I’m riding to work.
Additional differences become apparent
(c) something he’d done
in pairs like
(d) something he hád done
(c) They’re going to battle with
Oppositions such as these can form
the basis for construction of gigantic (d) They’re going to battle with
minimal pairs, which are extremely
useful for increasing student perception
of important syntactic distinctions. where in (d) the use of “gonna” makes
the allies the enemy. This is so be-
33. A similar principle is involved in cause “battle with” in (d) is verb +
the following pairs of sentences: prep, the object of which is interpreted
semantically as the opposing force.
(a) Who’s the person you want to
“Battle” in (a) is a noun, part of “go
to battle,” and “with” in the following
(b) Who’s the person you want to prep phrase is interpreted semantically
as comitative “with.” The “allies” are
therefore still part of the alliance.
where somewhere in the derivational
A few suggestions were offered earli-
history of (a) is You want to call the
er concerning how such utterance con-
person, in (b) You want the person
trasts could be made use of in the
to call. Sentence (b) is perhaps am-
biguous for some speakers, although classroom situation, and it was pointed
(a) can have only one interpretation. out that restatement and transforma-
Again, even though the deep structure tion type drills provide the most obvi-
difference between (a) and (b) is a ous framework for such practice. It
highly important one, the two are dis- should also be noted that contrasts of
tinguished in speech by only a small this or any other kind must not be
phonological contrast, and in writing attempted unless the paired structures
not at all. have already been separately intro-
LANGUAGE DRILL 79
duced and separately mastered. The The details, however, of practical in-
significance (and fascination) of the corporation into drill work of the deep
deep structure distinctions will be and surface structure phenomena un-
lost if the student does not have a der discussion ought to be fairly ob-
prior independent command of the vious to those skilled in the compila-
individual structures under scrutiny. tion of language-teaching materials.
The one area where deviation from this It is important to recognize that drill
principle can be not only tolerable but types which are already in common
profitable is that where classroom ac- use, such as those mentioned above,
tivity focuses upon only perception of can be made use of for this purpose.
contrasting patterns, “contrast” in this In the belief that ideas for classroom
instance being of the surface phonolog- application will not be difficult to come
ical variety cited in examples (32) to by, the weight of discussion has con-
(34). An “utterance discrimination” centrated upon attempting to reveal
exercise—where the student identifies not only how wide the range of co-
by A or B a mixture of utterances dif- alescent deep and surface structure
fering, for example, only in the man- formations in English really is, but also
how important it is to establish as one
of the goals of language pedagogy the
appear after mastery of the syntax of perception by the learner of such phe-
A, but not before that of B. nomena.
Vol 2 No 2 June 1968
Most of us would agree that a vari- cerning the proper goals of linguistic
ety of different educational goals endeavor, when learning psychology
exists within what we call TESOL is apparently moving away from stud-
(teaching English to speakers of other ies of rats in mazes and of pigeons in
languages), but we would probably boxes to computer simulation of be-
insist that we should share a common havior and to studies of electrical,
pedagogy in which the linguistic, psy- chemical, and neurophysiological func-
chological, and educational variables tioning, and when pedagogy is con-
find a unity. cerned more and more with content,
The problem I have chosen in- with strategies of learning, and with
volves an examination of these three the structuring of knowledge.
different variables to discover what It should be pointed out, however,
the relationship among them has been that even in this apparent disunity in
in the past, is now, and could be- the disciplines there is a very remark-
come in the future. What should a able kind of unity. Each of the dis-
teacher engaged in TESOL know of ciplines is reverting to types of in-
linguistics, of psychology, and of peda- quiry which certain former practi-
gogy? How much does each of these tioners of the discipline pursued. In
three disciplines contribute to the current linguistics Chomsky has looked
others? Are they perhaps quite sepa- so far into the past for historical ante-
rate with nothing at all to contribute cedents to his interests in linguistic
to each other? May not any unity we theory and language acquisition that
find be in reality a forced one, a mar- he has even been called a “neomedieval
riage of convenience (à trois, of philosopher” by one of his critics1. In
course), or a rationalization of existing current psychology there is a return
practice rather than a theoretically to some of the concerns of early psy-
valid unity? Do we, to refer to my chologists, to such concerns as rea-
title, have a trinity or a unity? T h e soning and the genesis of ideation. No
examination I propose seems particu- longer is the inside of the “black box”
larly necessary at this point in time forbidden territory. In current educa-
when the three disciplines themselves tional thought there has been a no-
are in a state of change, when lin- ticeable return to a kind of neo-prag-
guistics is filled with controversy con- matism, to a “John Dewey with a
hard nose” approach, to quote a recent
* This paper was presented at the TESOL issue of Saturday Review2. However,
Convention, March 1968. this kind of unity, or disunity if you
Mr. Wardhaugh, Associate Professor of wish to call it such, is not the kind I
Linguistics and Director of the English
Language Institute at the University of 1 Charles F. Hockett, review of Biological
Michigan, is the editor of Language Learn- Foundations of Language by Eric H. Len-
ing. He has published recently in College neberg, Scientific American, 217:5 (Novem-
English, Reading Teacher, and Canadian ber, 1967), 14.
Journal of Linguistics. 2 December 16, 1967.
80
TRINITY OR UNITY? 81
These goals certainly differed from the ther postulation or discovery, its sig-
goals we have today, but that is quite nificant units, significant contrasts,
another matter. We must also pre- and significant patterns. This charac-
sume that the teachers did find a terization needs no further amplifica-
unity among linguistics, psychology, tion; it is doubtless very familiar to us
and pedagogy and that they could all.
justify what they were doing either We undoubtedly have a similar fa-
in terms of stating a set of principles miliarity with the prevailing psychol-
on which their practices were based, ogy. This too became more “scientific”
hence a priori, or in terms of a ra- and “experimental.” We have heard
tionalization to justify practice, hence about the laws of learning (à la Thorn-
a posteriori. dike) and about such notions as trans-
More relevant to us as teacher fer and interference. We are aware of
trainers than the prelinguistic period both Watsonian behaviorism and
is the linguistic period, for it was in Skinnerian reinforcement, and we
this period that most of us were know better than to ignore the pat-
trained ourselves, and it is just such terns discussed by the Gesaltists. In
training that is behind us in our work psychology the period was one in which
today. However, as I intend to empha- psychologists emphasized habit for-
size, the students we are training to- mation, induction, and transfer, both
day are almost certainly not going to positive and negative, and they too,
be working in what I am referring to like linguists, ruled the inside of the
as the linguistic period. They are head almost entirely out of bounds as
going to be working in a period which a legitimate area of concern.
will have to be characterized in quite When the pressures of war and in-
a different way from the characteriza- ternational involvement made it neces-
tion that I am now going to present sary to teach second languages to large
for the linguistic period. numbers of students in situations
In the linguistic period of second- which enabled their teachers to em-
language teaching the study of lan- ploy subtle forms of coercion, a new
guage became more “objective” be- unity was found, and it is not sur-
cause the prevailing scientific view- prising that this unity reflected the
point in language study valued dis- kind of linguistic, psychological, and
passionate observation of data. The pedagogical interests just mentioned.
period also witnessed important at- Just as it is possible to choose a phrase
tempts to wrestle with the implications book and the Coleman Report as rep-
of various distinctions: for example, resentative works of the prelinguistic
the speech-writing distinction and the period, it is possible to choose a similar
Saussurean langue-parole distinction. representative work for the linguistic
However, in connection with the latter period. Lado’s book Language Teach-
it must be emphasized that there was ing 4 is just such a work, for it is a
greater concentration on parole than deliberate attempt to formalize in
on langue. There was also a wide-
spread belief that, given any language, 4 Robert Lado, Language Teaching, A
Scientific Approach (New York: McGraw-
a linguist could describe, through ei- Hill j 1984).
TRINITY OR UNITY? 83
ing the processes of perception, cogni- a method work and why does it work
tion, and learning: that is, on under- very well at one time but not well at
standing the higher mental processes. all at another time?” A second com-
Psychologists, too, are attempting to ment comes from Robert Politzer at
model the inside of the head and to the conclusion of a report on an ex-
simulate human capabilities in order periment in which various combina-
to gain a better understanding of cog- tions of drill and explanation were
nitive structures, categorizing abilities compared:
and information transmission, and of In conclusion we point out that the
the various strategies and plans that independent variable under investiga-
an organism has available to it or can tion—place of or absence of explana-
tion—does perhaps not have the
acquire. Even the postulation of in- importance attributed to it in some
nate structures and properties is found of the current pedagogical discussion.
to be quite acceptable. In education, That class differences (even with class-
too, there is a return to the organiza- es taught by the same teacher!) turned
tion of knowledge, to the self discipline out to be more significant than treat-
ment differences is an indication that
of learning, and to the range of in- in the actual practical teaching situa-
dividual variation in interest and tion the Foreign language teacher
ability. should indeed pay a great deal of atten-
One result of all this activity is tion to such variables as the time of
that the linguistic method of language meeting of the class, the degree of ea-
gerness or tiredness of the student at
teaching is under severe attack from certain times of the day, etc. As many
various sides. For illustration of this Foreign language teachers have no
point I will quote a few criticisms doubt suspected for some time, such
and offer a comment or two on each. variables may, in the long run, make
First, a criticism by Paul Roberts. at least as much of a difference as
some of the refinements of teaching
Speaking of the wartime language methodology. 7
schools, Roberts says: Politzer’s comment brings us a little
If you put a bright young soldier closer to a full awareness of the com-
into a room with a native speaker of plexity of the problem of understand-
Japanese and keep them there eight
hours a day for eighteen months, the ing exactly what variables are impor-
soldier will learn quite a lot of Japa- tant in language learning. Perhaps
nese, even if his text is just a Japanese we should be a little more honest than
translation of Cicero and his instruc- we are and admit that we do not
tor is a nitwit. Unless, of course, really know how people learn. At best
the soldier simply goes mad, which also
happened now and then. 6 we can make only more or less satis-
factory guesses, and these guesses ac-
Obviously there is considerable truth
count for only parts of the language-
in Roberts’ statements. The linguistic
learning process.
method worked in many cases but
other methods worked, too. The really 7 Robert L. Politzer, “An Investigation
interesting questions are, “Why does of the Order of Presentation of Foreign
Language Grammar Drills in Relation to
Their Explanation.” (United States De-
6 Paul Roberts, Foreword to A Linguis- partment of Health, Education and Wel-
tics Reader, ed. Graham Wilson (New fare, Office of Education, Bureau of Re-
York: Harper & Row, 1967), p. xxvii. search, Project 5-1096, September, 1967.)
TRINITY OR UNITY? 85
The third statement is a claim about such claims, and I suggest we heed
language learning and language teach- it:
ing by William Bull:
I am, frankly, rather skeptical about
Learning to talk like a Spaniard means the significance, for teaching of lan-
first to think like a Spaniard. This guages, of such insights and under-
book is dedicated to the proposition standing as have been attained in
that it is easier to learn to think like linguistics and psychology . . . [and]
a Spaniard if the teacher can explain . . . suggestions from the ‘fundamental
how a Spaniard thinks.8 disciplines’ must be viewed with cau-
tion and skepticism.10
The claim is a very strong one indeed,
that we should teach Spanish by We must heed it if we are to resist
teaching the thought processes of the stampede in what I have called
Spaniards. The claim suggests that the contemporary period of language
we know a lot about these processes. teaching towards the adoption of a
I would suggest that we know next new pedagogy in which the new lin-
to nothing about these processes and guistics, the new psychology, and the
the claim is spurious. The book from new demands made of our educational
which it comes also seems to suggest system will find themselves welded
that somehow a generative-transfor- into a new unity which will have a s
mational grammar of Spanish offers little theoretical justification as any
some kind of characterization of the past unity.
thought processes of Spanish speakers. Let me substantiate this last state-
Again this claim must be disputed. ment since it obviously requires a
Still another instance of a similar defense. If we look back to what I
kind of claim comes from a paper pre- have called the prelinguistic period,
sented by Karl Diller at the Tenth we can now see that there was really
International Congress of Linguists in little or no reason for the particular
Bucharest in 1967: unification of linguistic, psychological,
In sum. . . generative grammari- and pedagogical understandings that
ans would agree that a language is occurred. We can make the same
learned through an active cognitive statement for the linguistic period.
process rather than through an ex- During this period there were in exis-
ternally imposed process of condition- tence other views of linguistics, psy-
ing and drill. Further, they would
agree that grammatical rules are psy- chology, and education than those par-
chologically real and that people must ticular ones which found their way
use these rules—consciously or not— into the linguistic method. However,
in speaking or understanding a lan- the kind of unity that the method
guage. 9
provided did give its practitioners an
Chomsky himself has given us the approach, or a theoretical basis, or a
following very clear warning about rationale, within which to work. As
Edward Anthony has pointed out,11 terization of the basic disciplines and
an approach is axiomatic so that it is to justify what we are doing in class-
by definition beyond proof or disproof. rooms. We need it so that we can
An approach is a matter of belief, and feel that our practice is theoretically
the beliefs on which the linguistic justified, so that we can consider our-
method was based came from many selves to be up to date, and so that
sources. It may even be said that on we can be properly committed to our
occasion an approach is based not so jobs. At the moment many of our
much on axioms or beliefs as that younger teachers feel rather insecure.
axioms and beliefs are developed in an They find the linguistic method quite
apparent attempt to justify existing unacceptable since it employs the
methods. Perhaps at some time we wrong rhetoric. They cannot believe
would do well to examine the linguis- in it; consequently, the method will
tic method in detail to see if it is not not work for them. But they have
just an instance of this latter process nothing to replace it with, for there is
of justification. Today, though, the no new rhetoric available as yet. For
system of beliefs associated with the them there is no self-fulfilling proph-
linguistic method is held by a de- ecy, the prophecy which says that to
clining number of the key people in make something work you must be-
second-language teacher training. In lieve in it; believe in something and
such training we are engaged in for- it will work for you.
malizing a new approach which will Let me conclude by saying that it
be based on beliefs that we find to be is just such systems of belief and
acceptable today. But while we seek commitment which are above all im-
to formulate a set of axioms, actual portant in our task of training teachers
teaching innovations are occurring in in TESOL. It is up to all of us to
the classrooms. Gradually there will help the next generation of TESOL
be an inevitable merging of theory teachers find an approach to their
and practice, and ipso facto a new teaching which will serve them as well
unity will emerge. This will happen, as the linguistic method has served us
but it has not yet happened. and probably still serves us. I myself
There is though, let me add, a kind do not agree entirely with Alfred
of puzzle in all of this. We do not Hayes when he writes:
need to have this new unity because [Teachers] must somehow cease to
it is intrinsically better than either of regard ‘methods’ as matters of ‘belief,’
the previous unities I have character- while learning to understand and to
ized. Indeed, I do not know how we question the assumptions underlying
could test for better or worse in this suggested approaches. 12
sense. We need a new unity for an Certainly we must train teachers to
entirely different reason. We need it question, but they need to believe in
in order to reflect our current charac- what they are doing, too. Blind un-
questioning belief is what we must set of beliefs which will allow them to
avoid, but belief in a unified approach be as successful as we have been, and
is what teachers must have in order which at the same time gives them
to succeed in their teaching. One of the opportunity to grow and change as
the greatest challenges we have before the theoretical advances in linguistics,
us as trainers of the next generation of psychology, and pedagogy continue.
teachers in TESOL and other disci- It is an exciting challenge and one
plines is to help them to articulate a which demands our fullest attention.
Vol 2 No 2 June 1968
beyond the list unless of course we they each raise minor problems. The
wish to test words previously taught. first, (a), might not be considered a
From it, we select the words to be normal sort of test, but it is likely to
tested. If we have time, we can put be a most useful technique with teach-
every word in the test, but there is ers and students who are cooperating
no need, for using some appropriate closely in the learning process. The
techniques, we can choose a represen- second and third raise a special prob-
tative sample. Next, we have to de- lem: when multiple choice items are
cide on the testing technique we are given, the student should know the
going to use. It is here that we are meaning of the incorrect answers as
called on to define more precisely what well as the correct one; otherwise, the
it means to “know vocabulary”; we choice is unduly limited. For example,
need to translate the general term into in (c) above, bottle would be a bad
a more precise one. Here are some distracter, for the word is not intro-
possible operational definitions, each duced in Lesson Eleven (or in fact in
describing a possible technique: Book One). Similarly, (b) has a bad
(a) When presented with a word definition; the word drink comes in
on the list, the student taking the test Lesson Sixteen; in Lesson Eleven, all
should say, “I know it” or “I don’t you do with glasses is wash them. A
know it.” more serious problem in choosing a
(b) When presented with a word test technique is deciding whether it
on the list, he must select which one is a valid representation of the skill
of a group of definitions is appropri- we want to test. Is there a serious dif-
ate: ference between being able to recog-
glass— something you drink nize a definition and being able to give
out of a definition? The former technique
something you paint is easy to mark, the latter takes much
with longer. But it is quite easy to try out
something you draw all the different techniques, and decide
with for ourselves whether they correlate
(c) When presented with a picture so well that we only need to use one
of the object named by a word on the in the future.3 Once we have decided
list he indicates its name:
3 The Interpretive Information for the
glass Test of English as a Foreign Language
cup (Educational Testing Service, 1967, revised
bottle January 1968) for example describes an
interesting comparison of the scores on the
(d) When presented with a picture, “writing” section (a set of multiple-choice
the student must write down what it is. questions) with the scores of the same stu-
There are of course many other tech- dents on a set of essays graded by a team
of examiners. The correlation is .74, which
niques, 2 but these may be considered is close enough to suggest that the saving
a representative sample. Of course, in time is worthwhile, unless of course we
are planning to interpret the scores as
2 See, for details, Robert Lado, Language though they had 100 percent validity. And
Testing (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1961), on this see Paul Holtzman’s paper in
or Rebecca Valette, Modern Language NAFSA Studies and Papers, English Lan-
Testing: A Handbook (New York: Har- gauge Series, Number 13: ATESL Selec-
court, Brace and World, 1967). ted Conference Papers (1967).
90 TESOL QUARTERLY
on the items and technique, the rest of referring to its inability to test a de-
the task of preparation is simple. And fined body of material; we are not
interpretation is straightforward, too. saying anything about what should
As long as the test is a representative constitute that material. That is the
sample of items, its result will say, task of the syllabus or textbook writer.
“This student scored sixty percent on Now, there are clearly cases when the
the test; he knows sixty percent of distinction between test writer and
the words on the list.” If the test is textbook writer are blurred. One such
a diagnostic test, we will know what case is when the test writer is trying
words need be taught; if an achieve- to evaluate achievement in something
ment test, we will know how effective that has not in fact been specified.
our teaching has been. What has made He then has to do the textbook writer’s
test preparation and interpretation so job of specification before he can pre-
simple has been that we have been pare an achievement test. This hap-
able to ask a question to which there pens when one has a set of materials
is a quantifiable answer. We have not that can be listed as items and pat-
asked whether or not the student terns, but one wishes to test the ability
knows English vocabulary, but rather of the students to know more than the
how many of the words on this list he items or patterns they have been
knows. Our results are clear, for they taught. For example, one may wish
say he knows a given percentage of to find out about a student’s ability
the words in Lesson Eleven of the text- to speak naturally on a topic other
book. than those he has been trained for in
Basic to this relative simplicity was memorized dialogues, or to use pat-
the existence of a list of items to be terns with words other than those
tested. Clearly, such lists are not included in the pattern drills. But in
available for all tests used in control such cases, we are really moving out
of instruction. But it is equally clear of the realm of achievement tests, and
that effective teaching depends on the into the area of proficiency, the second
availability of clear specifications. Nor- class of tests. These cases in fact set
mally, we have a syllabus or textbook the limit; the first class in its purest
or both, with lists of vocabulary, form consists of tests defined not only
grammatical structures, etc. With functionally but also operationally—
such a syllabus or textbook, test functionally, in that they are used in
making is straightforward. A control the control of instruction, and opera-
of instruction test is concerned with tionally, in that they are tests prepared
the question, “Have the items listed on the basis of specifications of be-
in the syllabus or textbook been havior or items that have been pre-
learned to some criterion level?” It pared, independently of the test, as
is not concerned with what should be part of the development of materials,
learned. It would be wrong to include textbooks, and syllabus.
in a test of this class items that are The second class of foreign-language
not included in the syllabus. tests is defined functionally as tests
When we say then that an achieve- used primarily in the control of a sub-
ment test is not a good one, we are ject’s career. They serve to make
LANGUAGE TESTING 91
described in the rating scales, should to develop simpler tests (e.g., the over-
first be developed as yardsticks. The all proficiency test using redundancy
second stage then involves taking I have been working on11), and so ulti-
cheaper procedures, of whatever kind, mately justify the expense of the
and correlating them with the more ex- validation procedures.
pensive measures. The degree of corre- The central problem of foreign-lan-
lation will show the value of the ad hoc guage testing, as of all testing, is valid-
tests and make clear the degree of ity. With tests of the first class, used
doubt that must be kept in their in- by classroom teachers in the control
terpretation. of instruction, this problem is not seri-
The exact nature of these more prac- ous, for the textbook or syllabus writer
tical tests is not important; one would has already specified what should be
presume that they would be similar tested. With tests of the second class,
to many of the tests presently being it remains a serious difficulty, for we
used,10 but they would permit of greater have not yet found a way to character-
confidence in use, greater possibility ize knowledge of a language with suf-
of improvement (for we could then be ficient precision to guarantee the valid-
in a position to speak about improving ity of the items we include or the
the validity of an objective test), and types of tests we use.
greater refinement in interpretation.
It is probable that we would be able
11 Bernard Spolsky, Bengt Sigurd, Masa-
hito Sato, Edward Walker, and Catherine
10 John Carroll, for instance, has investi- Arterburn, “Preliminary Studies in the De-
gated the correlation between the FSI Ab- velopment of Techniques for Testing Over-
solute Language Proficiency Ratings and all Second Language Proficiency,” Inter-
the MLA Foreign Language Proficiency national Review of Applied Linguistics,
Tests for Teachers and Advanced Students. (in press).
EDITOR’S NOTE:
The papers of Donald M. Topping and Edgar Wright were
presented at the TESOL Convention in March, 1968 in a section
meeting entitled “Literature in the ESL Program.” The following
statements by the chairman of the section, John Povey of the
University of California at Los Angeles, serve to introduce them
well.
articulated by human beings; (3) and rather lengthy hey-day. But now,
these noises recur in highly restricted with the exception of a few diehards,
and systematic patterns within a given they are accepted by most people as
speech community; (4) every human commonplace. Many, including most
being learns one of these systems linguists, would view them as trivial,
(sometimes two) at a very early age; for it has become sadly obvious that
(5) the system becomes habitual as the approaches demanded by these
the child matures; (6) learning a guidelines are effective only on the
new language involves learning a new most elementary level of intensive
set of habits; (7) old habits will language teaching. They serve well to
interfere with the new habits one is bring a new, untarnished student from
trying to acquire when learning a new zero proficiency to something higher
language; (8) language is a viable than zero. But the level of proficiency
phenomenon, subject to natural evolu- that is possible to achieve through
tionary changes just as every other these methods is far below that which
living thing in nature. we know to be adequate for any sig-
Operating from these tenets—and nificant communication.
there are others—what are some of The problem that consistently
the basic guidelines that linguists plagues the teacher of second lan-
brought to the problems of language guages is what to do after mimicry
teaching and learning? Some of them and memorization of dialogues, pat-
might be stated as follows: tern practices, and substitution drills.
(1) Since language is noise, it should Where does he turn to find the re-
be taught as such: hence, the aural- sources, devices, and techniques to
oral approach. (2) Since the noises take him beyond this primary level of
occur in highly restricted patterns, language instruction—the fun part—
they are presented as such: pattern to a level which will enable the stu-
practice. (3) Since language becomes dent to function effectively in the
a kind of habit, it is presented in such second language? I refer to that group
a way as to instil habits: mimicry of students usually classified as inter-
and memorization. (4) Since old mediate or advanced.
habits interfere with new habits which Solutions have been proffered from
the learner is trying to acquire, the a variety of sources. “Total immer-
predictable areas of interference are sion in the community,” cry the heu-
chosen by scientific method for special ristic psychologists. “Start them on
concentration: contrastive analysis. good elementary level readers,” drone
(5) Since language is a viable phe- the Educationists. “Let us lead the
nomenon, the language of the present students through the rich and varied
speech community which gave it world of the literature,” sing the poets.
birth—today’s language—is that which Meanwhile, the linguist has retired to
is taught. his re-write rules and distinctive fea-
These guidelines to language teach- tures, for the problem is no longer his.
ing, as offered by linguists, at one Unfortunately, none of the proffered
time seemed quite bold, even revolu- solutions has met with much success.
tionary. They enjoyed a full-blown The immersion scheme is like dropping
LINGUISTICS OR LITERATURE 97
defined by our English Departments— guage and a tradition that are totally
to help a foreign student tune in on alien to him, while our own native-
the contemporary American scene born students look upon courses in
that he is attempting to cope with, literature as dreary requirements that
then we are deluding ourselves. Rip must be fulfilled for graduation? This
van Winkle does not reflect my Ameri- is but a dream of the poor literary
can culture anymore than the Pony acolyte who finds himself in the novel
Express reflects our system of trans- situation of having to teach his lan-
porting mail. What our literature re- guage because he is a native speaker,
flects-even that of ten years ago—is and because there are more foreign
tradition, a past stage in the evolution students who need training in lan-
of American culture. The student who guage than there are students of
needs to learn about contemporary literature. His job is part of the ap-
American culture does not need to dig prenticeship of the literary guild. Un-
up the fossils of past eras. That sort fortunately, this situation is wide-
of study is for the specialist. And spread, and is not likely to change
we can hardly expect the student of in the immediate or near future. We
a second language to do the work of must leave the literary experience for
a specialist, particularly when his pri- those who seek it, and stop inflicting
mary concern is to acquire a tool it on the reluctant students who are
that will help him to specialize in turned on by other things.
something of his own choosing. It is clear that the mere inclusion
There still remains one significant of literature in any second language
plea for the inclusion of literature. We program is not going to fill the gap
must “help students realize the liter- alluded to earlier in this paper, a gap
ary experience.” 9 Just what is meant that is recognized by all. Students
by the literary experience, I’m not must learn to read selections beyond
quite sure. Is this what the instructor the sentence and paragraph level, and
of the sophomore survey class expects they should be learning something
the students to have when he carefully about the culture in which they are
explicates the imagery of Shelley’s now, or anticipate, trying to function.
“Hymn to Intellectual Beauty”? Or, If the first of these is our primary
is it the experience that the vast ma- goal, then we need to concentrate on
jority of our native English-speaking language. If the second, then we
students get as they pore over the should explore the available materials
ever-increasing number of “ponies” produced by scholars of our contem-
and “Outlines of Literature” at the porary society—namely, psychologists,
off-campus book stores, so as to avoid sociologists, and anthropologists. If
reading anything original that falls it is the tradition we wish to impart,
into the category of literature? Is it in addition to language, then let us
not highly unrealistic to expect a stu- utilize the available clearly written
dent of agriculture, botany, or even
history texts.
linguistics to undergo some sort of
It is my contention that our pri-
esoteric literary experience in a lan-
mary obligation to the student is to
9 Scott, p. 490. teach language skills above and be-
100 TESOL QUARTERLY
yond those reached through the famil- structions which are essential to his
iar aural-oral methods. These skills linguistic growth? Memory and pat-
must include the ability to read and tern practice only help to scratch the
write long, complex constructions surface of a new language. It is be-
which the graduate student, or even neath the surface that the student
professional, is likely to encounter. must be led, towards what is now
In addition, we must give our students commonly referred to as the deep
cultural orientation to the society in structure. We cannot hope to teach,
which they are attempting to function, or even expose the student to the in-
either vicariously, as in an overseas finite number of surface recombina-
learning situation, or actually, as in tion of the deep structures of the
most of our university environments. language. Even Shakespeare, in all
The medium of literature, in the tra- of his plays and sonnets, used only
ditional sense of the term, cannot ful- a small fraction of the surface struc-
fill either of these demands. tures available to him. Since famil-
For the cultural orientation, I would iarity with all of the complex surface
expect the student who is living in the constructions of a language is not a
United States to assume a good por- reasonable goal, it is our responsibility
tion of the responsibility himself. Let as language teachers to teach some-
him take a few deep breaths of the thing of the processes involved in en-
life around him. It may consist of coding and decoding the surface re-
the crackling air at a Saturday foot- combination of the relatively small
ball game, the weighty atmosphere number of deeper level syntactic
of a learned debate, or the heady, structures.
sweet smoke of a pot party. Precisely At the present time, the materials
what he inhales is not so important for doing this are extremely limited
as the variety. It’s all American, and and unsophisticated. If they are to
that is what it’s all about. If we want be developed and refined to the point
to supplement his cultural experiences where the average teacher of a second
with reading, then we should make language can put them to good use,
available such source material as the it will be necessary for the theoretical
Davenport News and the Los Angeles linguists to come down out of their
Times, the Watchtower and Ramparts, trees and upper level strata to teach
the sermons of Billy Graham, Stokeley us more about the generative processes
Carmichael, and Mario Savio. Our stu- in our language so that they can be
dents are much more likely to want to transmitted, not by theory, but
read of the Pueblo rather than “The through practice to the teachers and
Open Boat,” or of the siege of Hue learners of second languages. Until
instead of The Red Badge of Courage. this happens, we either continue to
These are the reflectors of contem- pattern practice ourselves ad nauseum,
porary America, the America that our or we plunge hopelessly into the end-
students need to know. less morass of literature, unable to see
If not from literature, where is the our way out of the entanglements of
student going to get the needed ex- embedments, deletions, and transfor-
perience in the reading and writing mations of adult language, literary
of the more complex language con- or not.
Vol 2 No 2 June 1968
tional value or their pleasure value concerned with the play’s poetry, but
or the mixture of the two. The cul- with the fact that its language is a
ture, then, is the context of situation context indicator which is misread.
in which literature occurs; literature If we distort the language context,
is a linguistic reaction of a special sort then we shall inevitably distort or
to the context. The culture will lay misinterpret or only partly realise the
down, dictate if you like, the appro- meanings related to the language,
priate language reaction to a particular whether the meanings are of fact or
event. Sometimes, very rarely, as of attitude or emotion.
with the use in religion of Sanskrit Within specific situations we need
or Classical Hebrew or until recently also to be aware of the particular
Latin, a special language quite di- register. I use the term “register”
vorced from the first language will be within its development in British lin-
used. Here it is the use, the cere- guistics to mean the formal character-
mony, that is important, and for the istics of language—whether of vocabu-
listeners, as well as for the users, there lary or syntax or, in speech, of tone,—
is no literary value involved; ceremony imposed by a particular situation; for
is all. But where the first language example, the situation of being a
is involved, the effect rests on a rela- mourner at a funeral or a guest at
tionship between the culture and a a bright cocktail party, or being an
norm of language. If we are native employee talking to the boss. We
speakers we appreciate this relation- all know that appropriate registers
ship, which occurs as deviations from will enforce a shift in social dialect;
the norm. The appreciation is, for we modify our language to suit oc-
the commoner situations, intuitive casions. Sometimes the shift is small,
(just in the way that, as Chomsky sometimes very noticeable. The for-
pointed out, we intuit what a well- mality scale suggested by Martin
formed sentence is), but the intuition Joos,l ranging through five types from
is only apparent. In reality it is “frozen” to “familiar,” considers one
learned behaviour, just as language area of this phenomenon. Our reading
itself is learned behaviour. And if of literature depends very much on our
we haven’t learned the language ability to distinguish registers as we
properly or fully, or if we haven’t read, and of course on the writer’s
learned the culture properly or fully, ability to record them accurately.
then we can’t intuit these relation- This is a very sophisticated linguistic
ships properly. For example, anyone feat, one that is normally beyond the
who has studied Shakespeare’s The scope of even a well-advanced second-
Tempest with Africans knows that language student.
they see the relationships in the play So far I have stressed the close
as colonial ones: Prospero is the im- relationship between language and cul-
perialist, Caliban is the native, the tural or social context. This is spelt
island is a colony. Who can blame out at some length in the recent Re-
them! But—and this is my point— port of the Royal Commission on
what gets lost is one aspect of the
1 The Five Clocks (New York: Harcourt,
language. I am not at the moment Brace and World, Inc., 1967).
THE OTHER WAY ROUND 103
are more accustomed to consider under levels; language at the level of litera-
the heading of “form.”) As native ture uses patterns which can cope
speakers we intuit deviations from the with registers, emphases, all those in-
normal patterns, or nuances of mean- dications which we lump together as
ing in the choice of one pattern rather language effects and which are con-
than another, of the active rather than veyed with, if not altogether by, the
the passive voice, for example. We syntactic patterns and the relationships
can probably sense as well as any between them. Look at this from the
great deviation from normal sentence reverse side, from the viewpoint of an
lengths over a stretch of discourse. African writing English who can con-
We will be aware if some special sen- trive all sorts of patterns in his ver-
tence pattern is given prominence; nacular but has not quite got the
we note it as a style marker. We hang of how to handle the appropriate
respond with added attention to the patterns in English. Many African
use of an inversion. We can mess languages, for example, have a special
about with the position of subordinate tense, a narrative tense that is only
clauses or drop adverbs into carefully used when a sequence of events is
chosen positions. And so on. We can being recounted in the past. The use
do this because we have control of of this tense will automatically switch
both the sentence elements and the on in a listener the response of “lis-
permutations of combination. Alter- tening to narrative” and will heighten
natively, we may admit that we can-
the cumulation of intensity. Now we
not achieve an effect we want, agree-
read a paragraph from a novel written
ing instead to admire someone who
can. At least we are able to appreciate in English:
when the effect is achieved. Then came the war. It was the first
big war. I was then young, a mere
The second-language speaker can
boy, although circumcised. All of us
do only a limited amount of this, were taken by force. We made roads
either in practice or response. Now and cleared the forest to make it pos-
this is not a matter of correct or in- sible for the warring white to move
correct English, or of good or bad quickly. The war ended. We were all
English; it is a matter of carrying the tired. We came home worn out. . . 5
language beyond the level of being a The apparent naivety of the short
simple vehicle for factual information. sentences and groups, the repetition
I had better note in passing that when of the patterns, have the hall-marks
actually incorrect English is used, this of an attempt to recreate in English
is obviously the negation of a lan- the effect of the narrative tense. To
guage art, unless the incorrectnesses a degree it works, and it is certainly
are selectively and deliberately used not “incorrect” English. But this
to create some sort of new or dialect isn’t the best way to do it with Eng-
pattern—as with the novels of Tu- lish syntax. Yet one suspects that
tola. 4 But to return to information for an African the style would be much
foretelling: the narrative form would ity to use and be at ease with a suf-
be suggested. ficiently wide sample of language po-
Poetry raises the problems of lan- tential. Which reflection brings us
guage in more concentrated manner. directly face to face with that terrible
Tradition has it that this is the high- term “style.” It should by now be
est literary art. It is certainly the possible to see that the word style
art that displays, and therefore de- stands for two quite distinct things:
mands, recognition of the most subtle (a) the effects that a language use
and complex uses of language re- can create, and (b) the means used to
sources. It also places a very special create those effects, or, to use psycho-
emphasis on phonological patterns, linguistic jargon, the affective and the
of metre, sound, and so forth. I would effective aspects of language. To ex-
state quite bluntly that very few of pect appreciation of the effects with
even the best second-language speak- insufficient knowledge of the language
ers have much idea of what the met- is to come close to the position of
rical and stress patterns do in a poem. those ardent aesthetes who claimed
What then are we supposed to do with that one did not need any knowledge
a poem if we handle it as literature, of Greek to realise that Homer, when
i.e., as something more than the para- read aloud, was great poetry.
phrase of what is paraphrasable. We have to ask whether we need,
These patterns, with the effective rela- then, to give up the study of litera-
tionship of the patterns to meaning— ture in the second-language context.
let alone the aesthetic pleasure in the (You will notice that I avoid the ex-
handling of the rhythm and words— pression “the teaching of literature”;
are language uses that are lost to the one can only teach the skills requisite
majority of native English speakers. to the understanding.) I don’t think
Africans appreciate poetry and have so, but we do need to bear in mind
much of it; appreciation of it is far certain requirements:
more general than among English 1. That, in the words of Halliday,
speakers by comparison, for in the Macintosh, and Strevens “no
vernacular the art of oral narrative, student [should be] pushed into
and with it poetry, is part of the literary work until he has suf-
general culture. But I hold it useless ficient linguistic ability to under-
to expect speakers of English as a stand, enjoy and appreciate the
second language to appreciate poetry literary texts that he will be
in English at more than a very lim- studying.” 6 This raises all sorts
ited level. of problems about levels of text.
What applies more obviously to 2. That attempts to inculcate
poetry applies in reality to all the “taste,” to imply that such and
language qualities of literature. En- such a piece of writing is “beau-
joyment of the art, understanding of tiful” or “moving,” are meaning-
the fact that art is being used, sensi- less until a student can recog-
tivity to the effects or meanings
created by the art, are developments 6 The Linguistic Sciences and Language
Teaching (London: Longmans, 1964), pp.
from an already existing basis of abil- 184-185.
106 TESOL QUARTERLY
nize the basis for such remarks. but at this level things really fall
Instead we should examine the apart.
manner in which particular lan- We really know precious little about
guage uses operate, so that styl- the literary effects which the new dia-
istic principles such as those of lects of English can produce within
register, syntactic patterning, the language community of the dia-
and collocations are both theo- lect, any more than we know much
retically understood and can be- about the ways in which literary val-
gin to be applied in practice. ues within the vernaculars are eval-
We therefore should think of uated. Monographs such as that by
teaching—now I can use the M. J. and S. F. Herskovits, which
word “teach’’—principles of lan- prefixes the stories collected in their
guage analysis applicable to style, Dahomean Narrative,7 show that every
and then to work out ways of language community has its own, often
extending the range of language highly sophisticated, awareness of
use to exemplify them. literary values, but that these are
3. That anyone handling literature strictly related to the social context
in the second-language context and to the language potentials which
should be aware of linguistic are themselves part of the culture.
principles and their relation to Literature is a convention, both in the
the analysis of style. widest social or cultural sense and in
There are many other points that the narrower linguistic sense; it is a
I could make, but I shall content my- convention, or rather a system of con-
self with one more. Many nations are ventions, that we have to learn. This
now producing literature using En- means that we have to work at the
glish. This is normally evaluated in language conventions, to move first
one of two ways: (1) as though it through the stage of knowing the com-
were written in standard English in- ponents of the language and then the
stead of being written in say, Ghana- range, potential, and possibilities for
ian English or Philippine English— choice among the components, before
though we have accepted such varia- we move through language into litera-
ture. Let me conclude with a couple
tions as American English and Aus-
of quotations. The first has to do with
tralian English. This leaves us wide
the art of architecture; it is from Sir
open to misinterpreting the literary
Kenneth Clark’s book on The Gothic
qualities (let alone the meaning)
Revival: 8
carried by that particular dialect; and
The language of a new style must be
(2) in an even worse way—patron- learnt gradually, and only when a great
isingly, without any real attempt at many objects in that style have been
evaluation. This is the “isn’t it clever collected and examined from an en-
tirely non-aesthetic standpoint, can we
to do so well when it isn’t his own begin to look at them as works of art.
language” approach. There is a third
way I had better mention, which con-
7 (Chicago: Northwestern University Press,
sists of failing to distinguish between 1958.)
a dialect use and incorrect English; 8 (London: Penguin, 1964.)
THE OTHER WAY ROUND 107
The ethnologists made possible an ap- This comes from The Portrait of a
preciation of negro sculpture; the Lady:
pietists did the same for fifteen cen-
tury painting. Madame Merle was not superficial—
not she. She was deep; and her na-
We might add that the linguists will ture spoke none the less in her be-
need to do the same for styles. Note haviour because it spoke a conventional
the reference to a “non-aesthetic language. “What is language at all but
standpoint.” a convention?” said Isabel. “She has
My second quotation is not only, the good taste not to pretend, like some
people I have met, to express herself by
I hope, opposite, but allows me to original signs.”9
fall back with a sigh of relief into the
arms of impeccable authority. What 9 (New York: Houghton, Mifflin Co.,
greater authority than Henry James! 1891) , p. 167.
Vol 2 No 2 June 1968
Institute, Professor Fries, the staff, facts of the loss of final n in the in-
and the new intensive course students flections of early Middle English looks
gathered every eight weeks year after to be even less valuable than a game
of checkers. But the scientist has
year for a lecture by Professor Fries learned that sound knowledge and un-
which was intended to give the in- derstanding can rest only on a broad
coming students a notion about lan- basis of established facts, and he knows
guage. He spoke of the nature of it is impossible to estimate in advance
language learning, and Bob Lado the importance of any fact. Time after
time he has witnessed the overthrow
translated into Spanish. I can hear of widely accepted theories and ex-
it now, and can even remember Bob’s planations which were too hastily
Gallego Spanish: reached and not honestly earned by
“La ciencia linguistica es una ciencia patient investigation of all the facts.5
bastante reciente . . .“ But I wanted I shall resist the temptation to re-
here to mention his comments on late that quotation to some of the
learning a language in a foreign (that things which are going on in linguistics
is, American ) culture. He used to di- and language teaching today. After
vide travelers to another country into all, the quotation first appeared in
four groups: the sentimental tourist 1927, before some of the current prac-
who believes that everything in the titioners were born. In this connec-
new culture is marvelous, and un- tion, I think Dr. Fries would have
critically approves it; the ultrana- approved of Masefield’s lines:
tionalist, who believes that his own Adventure on, for from the littlest clue
Has come whatever worth man ever
country comprehends the best of all knew;
possible worlds; and the statistician The next to lighten all men may be
who wants to know the cold facts— y o u .6
what the population is, the number of A question which comes up often
births and deaths, the percentage of in English teaching here in the United
divorce, and the like. Dr. Fries, how- States, but perhaps more often abroad
ever, always finished with, and rec- is I’m a native speaker of English.
ommended, the artistic approach to a Why can’t I teach it? Isn’t it enough
foreign culture—entering into the cul- to be a native speaker? One answer,
ture, not with the notion of approval from an article called “As We See It”:
or disapproval, but with the desire to The native speaker . . . unless he has
understand. This, he felt, was a nec- been specially trained to observe and
essary ingredient in the learning of a analyze his own language processes,
finds great difficulty in describing the
foreign language. I can hear him special characteristics either of the
now . . . . sounds he makes or of the structural
He had an answer, too, to those who devices he uses. His comments about
said I want something practical. Do his own language more often mislead
rather than help a foreigner.7
I really need to investigate the history
of a language, to learn everything 5 Teaching of English, p. 104.
about a language before I get into a 6 John Masefield, “The Ending,” Poems,
classroom? What I need is technique. Part Two (New York: The Macmillan Com-
pany, 1953) p. 471.
He said: 7 Charles C. Fries, “As We See It,” Lan-
To many of us the recording of the guage Learning, I, 1 (January, 1948), 13.
THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS 111
I can remember Dr. Fries’s delight of content vocabulary will then come
when he came upon an actual example rapidly and with increasing ease.8
of a foreign speaker of English who And the final common question:
verified the claim that a trained for- Language teaching is a combination
eign speaker can teach better than of many elements—the teacher, the
an untrained native speaker. In his text, the test, the curriculum, the
travels he found an English teacher class, the course. Where should we
who spoke English atrociously—she begin? Which of these elements is
was very fluent, yet her pronunciation most basic? And the answer accord-
was so bad she could hardly be under- ing to Fries:
stood. Because she was fluent, she . . . only with satisfactory basic mate-
rials can one efficiently begin the study
would have had great difficulty in of a foreign language. No matter what
unlearning her bad habits and substi- happens later, the ease and speed of
tuting good ones. But she had been attainment in the early stages of the
learning of a language will depend
trained. So, when she entered the primarily upon the selection and se-
classroom, she was able to control— quence of the materials to be studied.
consciously—her pronunciation, and That, from “As We See It,” in Lan-
give her students a good model for guage Learning. And, again:
one brief hour. And her students came The most efficient materials grow out
out of the class pronouncing English of a scientific descriptive analysis of
the language to be learned carefully
better than she would ever be able compared with a parallel descriptive
to do. analysis of the native language of the
Then the often discussed question: learner. Only a comparison of this
kind will reveal the fundamental
When can I say I have learned a trouble spots that demand special
foreign language? What does it mean exercises and will separate the basically
to say I know a foreign language? important features from a bewildering
mass of linguistic details.10
How long should it take? He says:
For his dedication to his work and
A person has “learned” a foreign for his leadership in his field, the Uni-
language when he has . . . first, within
a limited vocabulary mastered the versity of Michigan gave Professor
sound system (that is, when he can Fries a citation on the occasion of the
understand the stream of speech and twenty-fifth anniversary of the En-
achieve an understandable production glish Language Institute there. It
of it) and has, second, made the struc- said, in part:
tural devices (that is, the basic ar-
rangements of utterances) matters of Professor Fries’s entire professional
automatic habit. This degree of mas- life [was] devoted to the English lan-
tery of a foreign language can be guage and to persons desiring to ex-
achieved by most adults, by means of tend their command of it . . . Among
a scientific approach with satisfactorily his chief contributions to English-
selected and organized materials, with- language pedagogy were the freeing of
in approximately three months. In that descriptive grammar from the semantic
brief time the learning adult will not 8 Charles C. Fries, Teaching and Learning
become a fluent speaker for all occa- English as a Foreign Language (Ann Arbor:
sions but he can have laid a good, ac- University of Michigan Press 1945), p. 3.
curate foundation upon which to 9 I, 1 (January, 1848) 12.
build, and the extension of his control 10 Ibid., p. 13.
112 TESOL QUARTERLY
Even between those of us who speak States and Canada, some did manage
what we like to think is the same to attend from Australia and from
language communication is not always England. But this was a meeting of
satisfactory. There is the account of teachers of English to native speakers
the American who had rented an En- of English. It is also true that the
glish car to tour the byways of the British Council and the United States
western counties. On one narrow lane Information Agency have held joint
in Devonshire he was suddenly con- official meetings on both sides of the
fronted by another car that had just Atlantic in order to explore avenues
rounded a curve and was bearing down of cooperation throughout the world
upon him. Politely he pulled over to in the common enterprise of teaching
the left—the left, of course—until he English to non-English speakers.
scraped the hedgerow and thus al- Both the organization which Dr.
lowed enough space for the other car William R. Lee helped to found in
to pass. As it did so, the driver, a England and our own TESOL are
woman, leaned over and shouted to very, very new. Neither organization
him the one word, “PIG!” Now that’s is bound by precedent and tradition
strange, he thought, as he pulled back to operate within prescribed and cir-
onto the road and picked up speed to cumscribed patterns. Each, on the
round the bend. He couldn’t figure contrary, was established with clear
out what he had done to justify her recognition of the expanding demands
calling him that. Sometimes really for TESL and TEFL teachers and
mysterious, these English! Then, as teaching, and of the need for new
he tooled round the curve at a fast ideas and fresh approaches in meeting
clip, he drove his little car into a large those demands. I anticipate the day
pig lying in the middle of the lane. when a TESOL representative will
It is true that the first international meet with the British association and
conference on the teaching of English another day, not too far distant, when
was held last August. Although most a way will be found to hold an inter-
of the 800 teachers who gathered in national conference which a substan-
Vancouver came from the United tial number of the members of both
organizations will be able to attend.
* This paper was presented at the TESOL I look forward to other areas of co-
Convention, March 1968. operation, such as the mutual availa-
Mr. Allen, Professor of English and Lin- bility of publications for all members
guistics at the University of Minnesota, and perhaps even joint sponsorship of
and President of TESOL during its first materials of common concern and of
year (1966-67), edited the book of readings
entitled Teaching English as a Second Lan- studies and other projects. The pres-
guage (McGraw-Hill, 1965) and is the au- ence of Dr. Lee at the 1968 TESOL
thor of TENES: A Survey of the Teaching Convention must specify only the be-
of English to Non-English Speakers in the
United States (NCTE, 1966). ginning of a permanent close associa-
113
114 TESOL QUARTERLY
tion between TESOL and the British assignment in some foreign country,
Association of Teachers of English as faculty wives and AAUW members
a Foreign Language. volunteering to help with the English
The formation of our two sister of the wives of foreign students, and
organizations we can consider an im- English-speaking volunteers in bilin-
portant step toward further profes- gual Headstart programs or the like.
sionalization of an activity that only Our problem here is threefold: to
recently had begun to be thought of expand the facilities for obtaining
as professional at all, that is, the approved professional preparation for
teaching of English to people, of any future teachers, to develop at least
age anywhere, whose first language minimal professional awareness and
was something other than English. competence in the thousands of teach-
And such professionalism is our com- ers who now lack any kind of back-
mitment, our objective, our goal. ground for this specialized kind of
To say this is not to advocate the teaching, and to bring professional
reductio ad absurdum that no one help to the volunteers.
should legally be entitled to teach a Our British colleagues have been at
single English word to non-English this sort of thing much longer than
speaking persons without having ob- we have. With the formation of the
tained a license to practice. To say British Council after the Second
this is, however, to support the devel- World War there was recognized a
opment of a profession with minimal group of teachers professionally com-
standards of academic preparation mitted to teaching English abroad as
with a built-in responsibility for the their permanent occupation. These
maintenance of those standards and people developed a substantial body
for the protection of sound practices of practical knowledge, empirically ac-
in application of those standards in quired and tested, that enabled them
actual teaching and publishing and to utilize their basic university educa-
research. tion in the day-to-day situations of
The medical profession has its re- the English classroom in India, Ni-
search scientists, its specialists, and geria, Ceylon, and elsewhere through-
its family doctors; and it also has vol- out the world. Much of this knowledge
unteer nurses’ aids. In our field we appears in that rich repository over
already have a small group of pro- the years, the periodical English Lan-
fessionally prepared specialists and guage Teaching, founded in 1946 and
teachers, a tremendous number of edited by Dr. Lee since 1961. But
relatively unprepared teachers, as well formal academic preparation for this
as an additional group of volunteers— admittedly professional work began
dedicated amateurs (our own nurses’ somewhat later in the United King-
aids ) —all of whom will need profes- dom. For some time it was confined
sional direction and help if they are to to the Institute of Education of the
work adequately within their own University of London, where Dr. Lee
limited capacity. For some time to himself taught, then it became avail-
come we will have American military able at Exeter and the University of
wives pulled into an English-teaching Edinburgh, and more recently it has
THE PROS HAVE IT 115
been offered at Leeds and the new In 1963–64, according to a report
university in Sussex. of the Center for Applied Linguistics,
In the United States, on the con- seven institutions offered the doctor-
trary, it was the academic preparation ate in English as a second language
that first gained prominence, although or in some other field with ESL as
it was devoted almost exclusively then a concentration. In 1966, the year of
to the training of teachers and pros- the last report from CAL, the total
pective teachers from other lands. I was eight. In 1963 eighteen institu-
refer, of course, to the initial activity tions offered the M. A., directly or
of the English Language Institute at through some other department; in
the University of Michigan. More 1966 the total had jumped to twenty-
than to any other person it is to the four. In 1963 four institutions offered
Institute’s founder, the late Charles an undergraduate major leading to a
Carpenter Fries, that we must attrib- bachelor’s degree; in 1967 ten had
ute the beginning of the professional such an undergraduate program. Ac-
point of view in this country. It was tually, the picture is brighter than
Fries who realized that the teachers that, for six of the less substantial
of English to speakers of other lan- programs reported in 1963 had van-
guages needed to know something ished by 1966 and fifteen stronger new
about principles of language learning, ones had been established. Since 1963
contrastive analysis, phonetics, and still other institutions have opened up
linguistic structure, and that they graduate and undergraduate programs.
needed controlled practice in teaching The Catholic University in Puerto
under critical observation. It was Rico and Hunter College have intro-
Fries who thus developed this coun- duced certificate programs; Sacred
try’s first program leading to a degree Heart College in Puerto Rico and the
in English as a second language. Church College of Hawaii have de-
The rush of foreign students to this veloped undergraduate majors in En-
country after the Second World War glish as a second language; and George
affirmed the need for adequately Washington University, Illinois Insti-
trained instructors, so that gradually tute of Technology, and Pacific Union
other institutions began to offer the College have begun to enroll students
necessary specialized training, always in master’s programs.
then on the graduate level and usually The TESOL Newsletter received
as either a master’s program or short- last week reveals that Hunter College
term emergency certificate program. and Ohio State University should be
Five years ago Albert Marckwardt added to the list of schools with an
reported to the National Advisory M.A. program. And I think that I
Council on Teaching English as a might use this occasion to announce
Foreign Language that the next ten that at long last my own institution,
years presented a critical need not the University of Minnesota, will be-
for classroom teachers abroad but for gin in September to offer a program
teacher-trainers, experienced persons leading to the master of arts in teach-
with graduate preparation and the ing English as a second language. The
ability to direct the work in teacher- minor in this program will also be a
training colleges. certificate program. We are very for-
116 TESOL QUARTERLY
tunate in being able to bring to Min- teacher preparation in the next few
nesota as director of this new program years.
and as professor of linguistics and Two years before TESOL was born,
English Betty Wallace Robinett, edi- the Center for Applied Linguistics
tor of the TSEOL Quarterly. And we submitted to the U.S. Office of Edu-
are glad that she will be able to con- cation a proposal for a similar, though
tinue her editorship by bringing the less elaborate, study for the purpose
Quarterly office with her. of ascertaining the minimal compo-
This growth in the number of pro- nents in the training of the teacher
grams is good and desirable; but it of English as a second language. Cir-
also creates a new problem. Descrip- cumstances led to the rejection of the
tions in bulletins, of course, are never proposal, but these circumstances had
quite adequate, but it may well be nothing to do with its merits. The
suspected that the increased popu- need was admitted.
larity of English as a second language What I would present now is a two-
as a teaching field has led to the de- fold proposal. First, our organization
velopment of at least a few programs should, as its inherent responsibility,
that are someting less than substan- seek funds from the U.S. Office of
tial. I suggest that the time is at Education or elsewhere to conduct a
hand for our new profession to police study leading to the establishment of
itself. With growth comes responsi- guidelines for the preparation of the
bility; and if we do not accept that teacher of English as a second or as
responsibility, no other group will. a foreign language. These guidelines
Some of you are familiar, I am sure, will, of course, vary according to the
with the recently published guidelines ultimate teaching position—whether
for the preparation of teachers of En- the prospective teacher will deal with
glish. Over a two-year period, with elementary children in this country
the support of a grant from the U.S. or abroad, or teach foreign students
Office of Education, a nation-wide in the United States, or act as a
series of conferences involving con- language consultant in a school system
cerned persons of all kinds was held in this country, or serve as a teacher
by three cooperating organizations— trainer or program director here or in
the Modern Language Association, the other countries. Let me observe that
National Council of Teachers of En- if we undertake such a project, we
glish, and the National Association of will be following through upon a spe-
Departments of Teacher Education cific request made to TESOL in a
and Certification. The resulting guide- decision taken by the National Ad-
lines, published last autumn, clearly visory Council on the Teaching of
and specifically set forth the minimal English as a Foreign Language at its
desirable background in language, meeting in May, 1967. That Council
composition, and literature, for the also has recognized the need for
prospective teacher of English and standards.
language arts in our elementary and Second, I propose that our organi-
secondary schools. They will have a zation, Teachers of English to Speak-
profound effect upon regular English ers of Other Languages, prepare now
THE PROS HAVE IT 117
for the time when, upon the comple- been trained in a program accredited
tion of a guideline study, it can be- by TESOL.”
come an accrediting agency to certify After the matter of preparation, the
the quality of those programs pur- second aspect of the threefold prob-
porting to train TESL and TEFL lem is that concerning teachers now
teachers. If we are to develop real in service who face pupils from non-
professional integrity, we must seize English speaking homes. If they are
the opportunity, while we are a young elementary teachers, they have been
and developing profession, to plan for prepared to do almost everything ex-
the establishment and the mainte- cept meet this responsibility. If they
nance of minimal standards of pro- are English teachers in junior or senior
fessional competence. high school, they have been prepared
Do not mistake me. No more than to teach English only to native speak-
some of you would I like to see a ers. What of them?
monolithic and uniform set of re- Much of the picture is still far from
quirements established throughout the bright. True, it is encouraging to
country. I am for diversity; I am for note the steps taken in New York
freedom to experiment, freedom to to develop a detailed syllabus for these
draw upon opportunities existing in teachers to use and to provide some
special local situations. But I also am inservice training. It is encouraging
for standards of quality and for the to follow the work of Elizabeth Ott’s
sound building of programs upon the project in Texas. It is encouraging to
basis of minimal standards. note the continuing inservice training
I have already made this joint pro- activity in Miami. But there still is
posal to the Executive Committee. I too little constructive support by cities
believe that the case is clear and the and states for real inservice training
need is imperative. If we are to be a in ESL for teachers already on the
profession, we must have standards firing line. Administrators still are
that the professional worker meets. reluctant to recognize the foreign lan-
If we are to be a profession, some guage problem in their communities
agency must establish those standards. as one demanding the attention of
If we are to be a profession, some people with special professional com-
agency must recognize appropriately petence.
those institutions that acceptably pre- The brightest spot may well be that
pare teachers to meet those standards. provided by the federal government.
I look forward to the time when the Each year more opportunities have
prospective language arts consultant been opened for teachers and super-
can say to a superintendent of schools, visors to take intensive work in an
and the prospective instructor in En- NDEA Institute in English as a sec-
glish as a second language for foreign ond language. This coming summer
students can say to a dean, and a seventeen such institutes will be
prospective teacher abroad can say to funded by the U.S. Office of Educa-
a contracting agency such as USIA tion, providing openings for 680 teach-
or AID or a foreign college, “I have ers of Spanish, French, Indian, and
118 TESOL QUARTERLY
and plan and guide such programs. for so far the Congress has not passed
You who are departmental chairmen, any enabling legislation providing
supervisors, and consultants, you who funds to implement this act.
have any responsibility for bilingual Well, there is much more to be
education, have here a rich oppor- said about going—and growing—pro-
tunity to improve the teaching where fessional. I would like to say some-
you are. Some of you have said that thing about the third aspect—that of
on the local level money has been bringing professional help to the vol-
lacking for what you know should be unteer teachers in adult education and
done. But now you can get it if you to the many who are individually
have a program that can be approved. bearing the burdens of tutoring for-
TESOL itself a year ago found that eign visitors or new citizens. Since
it could not go through with its plan publishers do not see this as a lucra-
to make available teams of two or tive market—though I think they are
three consultants for week-end TESL wrong—this is a peculiar responsi-
workshops. But now a local school bility of TESOL to see that sound
system can set up such a workshop materials are prepared and are made
and finance it with a federal grant, available to these people.
probably through the state depart- I would like to discuss also the re-
ment of education. cent growth of research in language
Another federal source of help as learning and the special attention to
we move toward professional stan- bilingual problems in that area. I
dards in our field is the Education would like to point to the growing
Professions Development Act, PL 90- number of theory and methods books
35, enacted June 29, 1967, which pro- for teachers, and the rising quality
vides grants for fellowships for teach- of textbooks reflecting recent research
ers of bilingual children and for and scholarship.
teachers’ institutes. (See Richard L.
But I would have to give two other
Light’s article elsewhere in this issue. )
talks to deal with those topics; and
The new feature is that an institute
I have used up my allotted time.
held by a college or university must
In this paper I have tried to sug-
now be approved by the appropriate
state agency, so we have now a new gest that as a new organization we
responsibility for acquainting our state have inherited much that created a
departments of education with the foundation for a solid profession of
needs of the bilingual situation in our teaching English as a second language,
states. and that as a new organization we
A third source of federal help is have the charge of building upon that
still only a promise. We had hoped foundation. The needs long recognized
for a great deal when last year Con- for sound English teaching overseas
gress enacted the International Edu- and in this country to our foreign
cation Act, with its provisions for visitors and now recognized with re-
teaching English to foreigners—in- spect to our own people in this coun-
cluding teachers, scholars, and stu- try will never be met as they should
dents. But this act is only on paper, be met until all of us concerned with
120 TESOL QUARTERLY
the needs—today and in the years to fessional preparation. Only then can
come—accept the challenge of being we reasonably expect to attain the
professional. We must help to formu- high standards we can now project in
late guidelines demanding high stan- both teaching and teaching materials.
dards of professional preparation, and Let us keep on going—and grow-
we must be prepared to accredit insti- ing— professional. After all, the pros
tutions purporting to offer that pro- have it.
Vol 2 No 2 June 1968
intent is to continue support of the all funds allocated for fellowships and
thirteen categories, including ESOL, institute programs will be directed to
at least to the 1967–1968 level. The needs in the education of the disad-
authority for the fellowship program vantaged. Since in most schools in the
is expanded so that projects may now United States children who do not
include graduate fellowships directed have a command of standard English
to any graduate degree, including the are clearly disadvantaged, programs to
Ph.D. They may also include funds train persons working in English as a
for the development and strengthening second language are unavoidably in-
of advanced training programs in the cluded under this priority.
colleges and universities. Another priority concerns those
The EPDA has also broadened eli- projects which are directed to training
gibilities for sponsorship of projects teachers and others in subjects that
so that states and local educational are in critically short supply. Train-
agencies as well as colleges and uni- ing programs in English as a second
versities can design projects to train language again are clearly aimed at
teachers and others. The guidelines such a priority group. The TENES
encourage these organizations to make survey has provided ample evidence
an application for one of the three of the shortage of well trained teachers
types of Educational Personnel De- of English as a second language in
velopment grants available-planning, the schools; results of the survey in-
pilot, or operating. The planning dicate that one of the greatest needs
grants—generally for less than $10,- is for training those teachers who have
000—are primarily to assist those in- had little or no formal work in sub-
stitutions and agencies that have not jects helpful in teaching English as a
participated in Federal programs in second language. The types of pro-
the past because they lacked the re- grams supported under the NDEA
sources for the development of ex- tend to bear this out—thirty-seven of
cellent proposals. Grants for pilot the forty-one ESOL institutes sup-
projects will also be available, par- ported have been designed for teachers
ticularly for innovative programs for with little or no formal training in
which there is little evidence available linguistic or English-as-a-second-lan-
of effectiveness of the approaches to guage methodology.
be used. Where sufficient evidence of The third national priority sug-
the effectiveness of the plan does exist, gested in the guidelines is for projects
then there need be no pilot phase in directed to “particularly acute training
the program, and immediate applica- needs in education.” Included in this
tion may be made for an operating category are school administrators,
grant. trainers of teachers, auxiliary school
Three national priorities for train- personnel, and personnel for pre-school
ing educational personnel are set in programs. Few ESOL institutes under
the new guidelines. The number one the NDEA have been specifically de-
priority is for programs to train per- signed to reach these groups. It is
sons to work with the disadvantaged— likely, however, that school adminis-
the guidelines specify that one third of trators in areas with large populations
SOME NEW OPPORTUNITIES 123
of non-English-speaking children, for Institutes under the NDEA have
example, could benefit from a program generally had informal arrangements
designed to acquaint them with some with organizations outside of the col-
of the special problems faced by these leges and universities. The institutes
children and what can be done to help to train teachers of English as a sec-
them. ond language to American Indian chil-
Of the three national priorities sug- dren, for example, have generally had
gested in the new guidelines—disad- informal arrangements with the Bu-
vantaged youth, national shortages, reau of Indian Affairs for such matters
and acute training needs in the edu- as selection of participants and use of
cation professions—the ESOL insti- facilities. But there have been few
tutes have been clearly involved in formal arrangements for joint planning
the first two. and operation of ESOL institutes under
A number of program features are the NDEA. One exception is the con-
specifically encouraged in the new sortium of four colleges and univer-
guidelines, and the ESOL institutes sities working with the New York City
under the NDEA have anticipated Board of Education to train teachers
many of them. One of the criteria to of English as a second language in New
be used in evaluating projects, for York City in the summer of 1968. This
example, is the extent to which rele- type of arrangement, where each or-
vant work and practice teaching are ganization has a meaningful contribu-
integrated into training programs. Vir- tion to make, is encouraged under the
tually all of the ESOL institutes have EPDA.
had a practice-teaching component The extent to which projects at-
and many have provided experience tempt to improve on past experience
in development or adaptation of ma- through new and innovative ap-
terials for ESOL. In this respect they proaches is also a criterion to be used
have generally been ahead of institutes in evaluating proposals under the new
in other fields supported by the act. This does not mean that the
NDEA. Although the trend for all guidelines are urging innovation for
institutes has clearly been in the di- the sake of innovation, or that every-
rection of more such practical courses, one must constantly come up with
it has been estimated that of the 1,000 something new. It does mean that the
institutes in all fields conducted in the guidelines do not preclude the notion
summers of 1966 and 1967, only about that there is room for new approaches
half had components designed to show to training educational personnel un-
classroom applicability of the subject der the EPDA. Although most ESOL
matter being taught. institutes have followed a typical pro-
Another feature encouraged under gram design which includes courses in
the new guidelines is the use of com- linguistics, methodology, cultural an-
binations of resources such as State thropology, and others, there have
educational agencies, local educational also been innovations under the
agencies, departments within colleges NDEA. Among these are an ESOL
and universities, and other organiza- institute held overseas; a program de-
tions, in the planning and operation signed to train teachers in preparation
of a program. of ESOL materials; several programs
124 TESOL QUARTERLY
to help teachers work more effectively uation of individual projects are also
with children who speak a non-stan- called for under the new guidelines.
dard dialect of English; and an in- Such evaluations will be an essential
stitute which has provided a social element in considering continuation of
internship experience allowing par- project funding each year and will be
ticipants to spend short periods of especially critical in the decision to
time with minority group families. move from the pilot to the operating
Such developments are encouraged un- stage.
der the EPDA; with increased flexi- These are some of the outstanding
bility in the guidelines a wide variety features of the guidelines for pro-
of program designs is possible. Donald posals under the EPDA, and there are
Bowen, who has worked closely with others. But the essential message is
the institute program since its incep- that if you have identified a need in
tion, has in a recent article, made a training educational personnel and if
number of very useful suggestions for you have a design for an effective
improving such training. 2 His sug- program to meet that need, there is
gestions—nine in all—range from en- a good chance that the program will
couragement of more academic year be eligible for support under the
programs in ESOL to increasing EPDA. Guidelines for preparation of
course offerings in some programs to proposals under this act may be ob-
include advanced instruction in areas tained from the Bureau of Educational
such as sociolinguistics and psycho- Personnel Development, U.S. Office of
linguistics. Any of his suggestions, Education, Washington, D.C. 20202.
with a few possible exceptions, could A second law of interest to the spe-
be incorporated in projects under the cialist in English as a second language
EPDA. is the Bilingual Education Act. This
Another feature called for in proj- act is designed to meet the special
ects under the new act is some pro- educational needs of children 3 to 18
vision for the strengthening of ongoing years of age inclusive who come from
programs in the host institution. Proj- environments where the dominant
ects which will train teachers and at language is other than English. Nu-
the same time bring about change in merous surveys have documented the
the regular program of the institution educational problems of these children
are encouraged. Such changes are ob- and persuasive arguments have been
viously preferable to the continuing made in favor of bilingual education
need for massive retraining of recently to help them. 3 Now the Bilingual
graduated teachers who have not been
adequately prepared for work in Eng- 3 See for example The Invisible Minority
might copy the title and the first and (A. A long time and a lot of
last sentences after reading them money.)
orally and observing punctuation, How long has Don been farming
capitalization, and spelling. As they on his own?
write, the teacher supervises and helps (A. Ever since his father died
them correct their work. The students twelve years ago.)
should also be helped to observe how What did he have to do in order to
the first sentence initiates the subject buy new machinery, new fertilizers,
matter of the paragraph and the last and new feeds?
sentence sums up what the paragraph (A. He had to borrow money.)
says. When does he hope to pay off all
his loans?
COMPLETION—Paragraph 2, p. 51.
(A. In a few years.)
The teacher copies on the chalk- Note: If the questions are not care-
board one or two sentences, such as fully worded, the students will
that below. The students copy each have to formulate answers with
sentence, filling the blanks by refer- little or no help from the text-
ring to the textbook. book.
On many. . . . . . . farms. . . . . . . now
Example: How did Don get new
furnish percent of the . . . . . . . . . ,
machinery?
labor. . . . . . . . percent and
(A. He borrowed money.)
percent.
The students here have to substitute
DICTATION—Paragraph 12, p. 39. borrowed for had to borrow. If they
can make this kind of conversion,
The students read this paragraph
they do not need drill-type writing.
aloud and discuss it with the class
under the teacher’s guidance. They WRITING A PARAGRAPH BY
are then assigned the paragraph to
ANSWERING QUESTIONS—
study at home for a dictation lesson Paragraph 1, p. 37.
the next day. On the following day,
the teacher dictates the paragraph, The students answer the questions
and the students write. Then the stu- below orally first. Then they might
dents open their books and correct write the answers in the form of a
their work under the teacher’s super- paragraph on the chalkboard as a
vision. group composition or write individu-
ally with the teacher circulating to
ANSWERING QUESTIONS— help them correct their mistakes as
Paragraph 8, p. 53. they write.
The teacher puts questions such as What is Dick Mallory? (If the ques-
those below on the chalkboard. The tion were, “What does Dick Mallory
do?” it would be more difficult to
students answer the questions orally
and then write the questions and answer.)
answers. Where is his office?
What does it take to develop a Does he live in the city?
modern farm? Where does he live?
WRITING TO LEARN 129
What is his life tied to whether he his life is tied to machines. He repre-
is at home or at the office? sents modern man in the machine age.
What does he represent?
FILLING BLANKS—Paragraph 12,
SUBSTITUTION p. 39.
The students might take the para- The teacher copies sentences such
graph written in the preceding exer- as those below on the chalkboard.
cise and substitute the italicized The students read the sentences aloud
parts with information about a friend several times. Then the teacher erases
or relative, or each might rewrite it the italicized words, and the stu-
about himself. In either case they dents copy the sentences supplying
would have to supply a great deal and, the words from memory.
without help, would probably make Although Dick is used to the noise
many mistakes. A group paragraph at his office, he still looks forward to
could be developed on the chalkboard the end of the day when he can re-
and left there for the students’ turn to his house in the quiet suburb.
guidance. For relaxation he may mow the lawn
Dick Mallory is a book publisher. or repair a piece of furniture.
His office is on the fourteenth floor Drill-type writing exercises are de-
of a sky scraper in the center of New ceptively simple looking, but they are
York City. He does not live in t h e not easy for beginning students re-
city. He lives in a white house in a gardless of age and academic back-
suburb. Whether he is at home or in ground in their own language. Ob-
the city his life is tied to machines. viously, students who can do inde-
He represents modern man in the pendent writing without making the
machine age. errors typical of speakers of their na-
The resulting paragraph might tive language are beyond the stage
read: at which drill-type writing is profitable
John Gonzalez is a lawyer. His office for them, and they are ready to be
is on the tenth floor of an office build- taught written English with the meth-
ing in the center of Manila. He does ods and materials appropriate for
not live in the office building. He native English-speaking students of
lives in a big house in Forbes Park. comparable age and academic back-
Whether he is at home or in his office ground.
Vol 2 No 2 June 1968
The primary purpose of this paper the students to carry on the entire
is to present a method for conducting question-answer dialogue on their own,
a vocabulary class. This method will, acting only as a monitor to correct
in addition to helping the students student errors.
learn vocabulary, also help them de- The amount of time devoted to
velop their reading comprehension, Stages One and Two should be judged
aural comprehension, and fluency in by the teacher. I suggest, however,
asking and answering questions.1 that Stages One and Two be com-
Students who can profit from this pleted as quickly as possible, with five
technique are those who have learned classroom hours per stage being suf-
how to produce and answer questions, ficient for a class of up to ten students.
since their oral performance in class The remainder of the course should
often consists of questioning and an- be spent in Stage Three.
swering. I shall classify questions in All three stages involve questions
this paper as yes-no questions, ques- and answers about the contents of
tions using question words, and alter- the reading passage which lead the
native choice questions. students to an understanding of the
The technique proposed here is meanings of the vocabulary under
characterized by three stages. The study. The students reply in chorus
first two stages which are not repeated with short answers. In Stage Two the
after they have been completed pre- teacher helps individual students ask
pare the students for the third stage. the questions and requires answers in
After this stage is reached, it is con- complete sentences by the other stu-
tinued throughout the course. In dents. In Stage Three the role of the
Stage One the teacher demonstrates teacher is reduced to that of a monitor
a particular method of teaching vocab- who intercedes only when mistakes
ulary and reading comprehension con- are made in the question-answer dia-
sisting of a question-answer dialogue. logue between the students.
Stage Two is a trial and error period To clarify the use of this classroom
during which the teacher acts as a technique I will present a series of
prompter and assists the students in questions about a single sentence
forming the same types of questions which might be encountered in a read-
which he demonstrated in Stage One. ing selection. I will then explain in
In Stage Three the teacher allows detail the operation of each stage in
the teacher’s technique, and comment
Mr. Palmer is a Teaching Fellow and upon observed students’ reactions.
Research Assistant in Testing at the En-
glish Language Institute of the University Finally I will discuss problems which
of Michigan. might be encountered in applying this
technique and suggest some possible
1 I would like to thank Dr. Ruth Hok and
modifications.
Mr. John Upshur for their comments in
the course of writing this paper. “On the morning of May 20, 1927,
130
TEACHING VOCABULARY 131
Charles A. Lindbergh took off from a proceeds to the second sentence, and
muddy airfield in New York and so on, until the reading selection is
headed for Paris.” 2 completed.
A large number of questions can
QUESTIONS : be asked about this rather simple
(1) Who took off for Paris? sentence. Some questions help the stu-
(2) When did Lindbergh take off? dents arrive at meanings of words
(3) How did he travel—by boat? such as muddy and take off. The tech-
(4) When a plane takes off, does nique is to use alternative choice ques-
it rise or fall? tions (4, 7, 8) which will lead them
(5) Where did Lindbergh take off to the correct meaning of the words.
from? If some students choose the wrong
(6) Where was the airfield located? answer, they are usually corrected im-
(7) Was the airfield made of ce- mediately by their classmates and
ment or dirt? change their answers to the correct
(8) Was the dirt wet or dry? ones. If the students do not agree,
(9) Where was Lindbergh going? then the teacher must explain or illu-
(lo) Does the paragraph say that he strate the meaning of the word and
arrived later in Paris? retest for comprehension.
Other questions (questions with
Stage One question words: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9) help
On the day before the reading pas- the students establish the time, place
sage is to be taught in class the and manner of the action in the sen-
teacher reads it aloud to the students. tence. These questions are similar to
They are told to look it over again at the questions asked in reading compre-
home. The next day the teacher reads hension tests, and their value should
the first paragraph aloud. Then he be obvious. The final question (yes-
reads the first sentence again to an- no type) is a bit more difficult in that
ticipate pronunciation problems and it asks the students to distinguish be-
focus attention on a single sentence. tween stated information and infor-
He then proceeds to ask a series of mation which would be known from
questions (above) which lead the stu- another source. This type of question
dents to an understanding of the forces the students to read carefully
meanings of words and their gram- and analytically.
matical relationships. These questions From classroom experience I have
require only short answers such as found that group answers at this stage
“Lindbergh” (1), or “May 20, 1927” are more stimulating than individual
(2). The students keep their books responses since group interaction leads
open so that they can locate the an- the students to the correct answers
swers. Upon completion of the ques- without constant teacher correction.
tions on the first sentence the teacher It also requires each student to par-
ticipate fully in answering each
2 James V. Thompson, “Wings Across the question.
Atlantic,” American English Reader, ed. Minimal advance student prepara-
Grant Taylor (New York: Saxon Press,
1960) , pp. 218-223. tion is necessary at this stage since
132 TESOL QUARTERLY
books are kept open, and the ques- teacher did in Stage One. He should
tions and group answers in themselves also look up unfamiliar words in a
teach the students the meanings of dictionary and be prepared to explain
the vocabulary words. For this pur- the meanings of any of the words in
pose the alternative choice questions his paragraph if he is asked to do so
are especially useful. by the other students.
How does the class react to this The following day the teacher reads
teaching method? First and most im- the first paragraph aloud, then repeats
portant, the students do not get bored, the first sentence. The student-ques-
for they are constantly being chal- tioner then asks his questions. At first
lenged to give answers, and the ques- the student will have some difficulty
tions can be asked quickly to keep in asking questions as the teacher did.
their attention. Second, the answers To assist him the teacher can write
required are within their grammatical a list of question words on the black-
ability (being short answers), so the board before class and prompt the
students do not become frustrated. student when he has difficulty. Also
Third, they are learning the vocabu- in Stage Two a shift is made from
lary in context and do not generally short answers by the class as a whole
need to write out definitions for words to complete sentence answers by the
in order to remember the meaning. individual students. The student ques-
Fourth, they are exposed to common tioner asks one question of each stu-
mistakes made by their classmates dent, going around the class until
and learn from hearing the corrections he has completed his questions about
and reasons for the corrections, both his paragraph.
of which they often supply themselves. In summary, the following are the
At the completion of Stage One the seven steps to be followed in Stage
students have seen how to ask ques- Two:
tions about sentences and have been (1) The teacher reads the para-
given practice in reading comprehen- graph aloud, then repeats the
sion and vocabulary building. The first sentence (students’ books
teacher has acted as a model and open).
demonstrated what the students will (2) The student-questioner asks as
themselves be required to do in Stage many questions as he can about
Two. that sentence with prompting
from the teacher for assistance
Stage Two in selecting an appropriate
Stage Two requires the first shift question type to use. The stu-
from the teacher as questioner to the dent-questioner asks his class-
student as questioner. The entire se- mates for answers, one question
lection is read aloud by the teacher to each student.
the day before it is to be studied in (3) Each class member answers
class. Each student is asked to pre- the question put to him with a
pare intensively at home one para- complete answer.
graph in the story so that he can ask (4) If the answer is incorrect, the
questions about each sentence as the student-questioner corrects it,
TEACHING VOCABULARY 133
English per se in the Teaching English and the Rhythm of Class Activity,”
Speech section, nor are there any les- is to be found in the Methods and
son plans to follow. But Nida points Techniques section. In this section,
out the necessity of listening to and also, Sibayan reminds us that pattern
learning to hear the significant sounds practice need not consist of meaning-
of the new language; Haden explains less repetition.
the use of phonetic alphabets in lan- Australia offers a practical study in
guage teaching; and Bolinger discusses contrasts between Spanish and En-
intonation contours that probably do glish phonology, and some grammati-
not operate as grammar signals. Care- cal signals—again in terms helpful to
ful studies on the interference of the the teacher just beginning to look at
first language at the phonological level language from a structural standpoint
are introduced in the overview with and just beginning to understand the
these words: need for contrastive descriptions.
Modern linguists accept the uniqueness The testing section presents useful
of a given language. The fact, how- information about breaking down lan-
ever, does not, according to Haugen, guage testing into manageable parts
preclude recognition of the overlapping
so that the examiner will not be con-
phonemes, not only between dialect
groups but also between language founded by too many kinds of per-
groups. Haugen’s point is then de- formance in one test. In the same
veloped in extenso by Weinreich. These section, however, John Carroll points
two can do much to prevent identifica- out that some times an “integrative
tion of the foreign speaker as one
test” is needed when students are
having a ‘defective speech’ and hence
a candidate for ‘remedial speech’ in a from many different language back-
speech clinic. grounds and the need is to find out
how the student is getting along in
(If administrators and speech depart-
the language. Here total comprehen-
ments would ponder that last sen-
sion of sentences keyed to pictures is
tence, much misdirected energy might
advocated. Paterno, on the other
be avoided.)
hand, carefully classifies and cata-
Echoes of the meeting between lin- logues, with examples, the many pos-
guists and language teachers at Ann
sible and desirable divisions of lan-
Arbor in July 1957 are found at the
guage testing.
end of Virginia French Allen’s useful
presentation of the necessary tailoring Teaching English as a Second
of language to the learner’s needs in Language covers the representative
preparing reading material for him. writing through 1965 of professionals
Specific drills to ensure control of in this rapidly growing profession. A
grammatical relationships are spelled companion volume has been promised,
out by Harold King, while farther on and so rapid is the proliferation of
in the book, Lois Robinson demon- publication in this field, sequels could
strates techniques for controlling the well continue to appear year after
written language. Earl Stevick’s by year.
now famous contribution to the better This text is useful to many teachers
use of classroom time, “Technemes in many ways. It has proved its worth
136 TESOL QUARTERLY
137
Publications Received
Audio-Lingual English (Semi-Self In- 1968). Washington, D. C.: Center for
structional Laboratory Course) Dem- Applied Linguistics.
onstration Kit #1. New York: Collier- Language Sciences, Number 1 (May,
Macmillan International, 1967. 1968). Indiana University, Research
Bulletin of the Survey of Language Use Center for the Language Sciences.
and Language Teaching in Eastern TEFL: A Bulletin for the Teaching of
Africa, I, 3 (May, 1968). Nairobi, English as a Foreign Language. Bei-
Kenya. rut, Lebanon: Center for English
CEA Critic, XXX, 6 ( M a r c h , 1 9 6 8 ) , Language Research and Teaching at
7 (April, 1968), 8 (May, 1968). the American University. II, 2 (March,
English as a Second Language News- 1968) .
letter, I, 4 (May, 1968). San Diego, Wise, Sheldon, ed. Spoken English for
California: ESL Demonstration Cen- Turks, Book Fifteen (Lessons 71-75),
ter. Book Sixteen (Lessons 76-80). Istan-
ERIC, Clearinghouse for Linguistics Bul- bul: Robert College, 1967.
letin No. 3 (March, 1968) and No. Thomas, Hadley A. Innovations in Indi-
4 (May, 1968). Washington, D. C.: an Education. Tuba City, Arizona:
Center for Applied Linguistics. Tuba City Elementary School, 1968.
The Journal of the Association of Eng- Thomas, Hadley A. The Teacher Aide
lish Teachers, V, 3 (December, 1967) Program. Tuba City, Arizona: Tuba
and VI, 1 (April, 1968). Asunción,
Paraguay.
City Elementary School, 1968.
Language Learning, XVIII, 1 and 2 Workpapers in English as a Second
(June, 1968). Language (April, 1968). University
Language Research in Progress, 6 (April, of California, Los Angeles.
138