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Title
An EFL teacher as a broker in the exam-dominated classroom of learning English
Presenter
Li-Miao Debbie Huang
Faculty of Arts and Education, Deakin
University, Melbourne, Australia
Abstract:
Previous studies conducted in different Asian contexts of learning English, including Taiwan, indicated that washback effect is found to affect not only language teaching (Chen, 2003; Cheng, 1997, 2004; Shohamy, Donitsa-Schmidt, & Ferman, 1996; 1993) but also learners’ attitude toward learning English (Cheng, 1998; Lumley & Stoneman, 2000). For Taiwanese students, passing exams while learning English can be either positive or negative to L2 motivation. For those learners who can do well in exams feel a sense of achievement and thus feel motivated to learn English. However, the sense of achievement in exams may not necessarily be available to all of the learners. Under such circumstances, how can these learners be motivated to learn English again, particularly being proficient in English is widely considered critical for individuals to have a prospect as well as for Taiwan to compete with its neighbouring countries? On the other hand, washback effect can affect an EFL teacher in a way that his/her teaching practice in the language classroom primarily focuses on what can help students pass exams.
Recently, understanding L2 motivation in the language classroom has drawn on the concept of investment, reconceptualized by Norton (2001; 1995). According to Norton, immigrant learners’ investment in the classroom learning English or in creating an opportunity to speak English outside the classroom can be best understood from their investment in the desired identity in relation to the English language. Pittaway (2004) further proposed a collaborative model between the teacher and learners in the classroom, for the application of the notion of investment to the language classroom. In this model, the teacher is compared to a financial investor and broker in stock markets in order to help learners gain a return on their investment in target language learning.
Though the current researcher knows well that passing exam is inevitable for the students and that she cannot resist the responsibility to help students succeed in exams, in this study, she tried playing the role as a broker (Pittaway, 2004) in two English classrooms (one is in a comprehensive secondary school and the other is in a University of Technology), by presenting the information about the global community of English now being defined as a lingua franca (ELF). This presentation was done through a specially designed 9-session curriculum (2 hours for each session) with the help of videos and a number of websites, which were drawn from the inner circle, outer circle, and expanding circle countries. The findings show that, after being exposed to the global community of ELF users, most of the research participants wanted to invest in an ideal self who can speak English confidently somewhere in the global community with other members. In turn, their investment led to the following changes: a) they understand that the primary goal of learning English is not to pass exams but to be able to use this language; b) more importantly, they realize that learning and using English can harmoniously support each other, forming a positive cycle; c) their motivation to learn and use English (e.g., attitude or effort) is found to be driven internally from their desire to fulfil the ideal self using English well.
Chen, L.-M. D. (2003). Taiwanese Junior High School English Teachers' Perception of the Washback Effect of the Basic Competence Test in English. Unpublished thesis, Ohio State University.
Cheng, L. (1997). How Does Washback Influence Teaching? Implications for Hong Kong. Language and Education, 11(1), 38-54.
Cheng, L. (1998). Impact of a Public English Examination Change on Students' Perceptions and Attitudes Toward Their English Learning. Studies in English Evaluation, 24(3), 279-301.
Cheng, L. (2004). The Washback Effect of Public Examination Change on Teachers' Perceptions Toward Their Classroom Teaching. In L. Cheng & Y. Watanabe (Eds.), Washback in Language Testing: Research Contexts and Methods (pp. 147-170). London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Lumley, T., & Stoneman, B. (2000). Conflicting Perspectives on the Role of Test Preparation in Relation to Learning. Hong Kong Journal of Applied Linguistics, 5(1), 50-80.
Norton, B. (2001). Non-participation, Imagined Communities and the Language Classroom. In M. Breen (Ed.), Learner Contribution to Language Learning: New Directions in Research (pp. 159-171). Harlow, England: Pearson Education.
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Pittaway, D. S. (2004). Investment and Second Language Acquisition. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies: An International Journal, 1(4), 203-218.
Shohamy, E., Donitsa-Schmidt, S., & Ferman, I. (1996). Test Impact Revisited: Washback Effect Over Time. Language Testing, 13(3), 298-317.
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Bio :
Li-Miao Debbie Huang is currently a PhD candidate, Deakin University, Australia. She just submitted her thesis for external examination and is waiting for positive results. She has been teaching English in an academic secondary school for 16 years. Her interest lies in how Taiwanese EFL learners can be helped to learn English from their own motivation by using the concept of English as a lingua franca (ELF).
contact asian_efl_journal@yahoo.com
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