School of Language and Culture

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https://hdl.handle.net/10292/554

The study of language, society and culture is at the core of the broad spectrum of knowledge known as the humanities. AUT's School of Language and Culture focuses on language in its widest sense — creative writing, English and its relationship with new media, translation and interpreting, international studies and the importance of intercultural competencies, discourse analysis and language teaching.

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The value of an explicit pronunciation syllabus in ESOL teaching
(AMEP Research Centre, Macquarie University, 2003) Couper, Graeme
This article reports on an action research project which investigated the value of systematically and explicitly incorporating a pronunciation sub-syllabus within the overall syllabus of a full-time post-intermediate level ESOL course. This pronunciation syllabus involved raising each individual learner’s awareness of their difficulties with pronunciation and of the main features of spoken English in general. IIt then attempted to systematically and explicitly instruct learners in theses features, at both the segmental and suprasegmental levels, and to encourage learners to practise and monitor their pronunciation. The effectiveness of the syllabus was examined through pre- and post-course tests of pronunciation and through a survey of students' reactions to the syllabus and their beliefs regarding the teaching and learning of pronunciation. The results showed that clear gains were made, and that learners believed both that teachers should teach pronunciation, and that the particular approach taken here had been of value.
An exploratory investigation of the effects of form-focused instruction on implicit linguistic knowledge
(Applied Linguistics Association of New Zealand, 2004) Roach, K.; Bitchener, J.
It is, arguably, implicit linguistic knowledge rather than explicit linguistic knowledge that is the goal of second language acquisition. The question arises, however, of how such knowledge can be tested (R. Ellis 2003). This article reports on an exploratory investigation of issues associated with measuring the effects of form-focused instruction (FFI) on the acquisition of implicit linguistic knowledge in an intact pedagogical context. The study involved 19 elementary-level adult learners of English who received planned focus-on-forms instruction on the Past Simple tense and who were subsequently tested for both immediate and sustained gains. The results of the study indicate that form-focused instruction may have been effective in promoting immediate gains but that there was no sustained effect. However, such an interpretation is considerably weakened by the fact that the control group statistically outperformed the instructional group. Such a result may be indicative of the aim to preserve ‘ecological validity’ (van Lier 1988) at the expense of rigorously controlling extraneous variables when conducting research of a quasi-experimental nature. The study, however, raises a number of issues that future researchers should take into account when designing further investigations of implicit linguistic knowledge.
Pedagogical options for teaching grammar
(Password, 2004) Roach, K.
No abstract.
Reflective practice and action research as a source of pre-service and in-service professional development and classroom innovation: burden or benefit? myth or reality?
(AUT University, 2005) Denny, HG
The concept of the teacher as reflective practitioner and teacher as researcher of his/her own classroom practice now has a long 20th and 21st century tradition and is promoted widely in the teacher education literature of recent years. But does it have real benefits for teacher skill development and innovation in classroom practice? This paper describes the outcomes of two research projects. The first examines the effectiveness of a reflective practice exercise carried out by both pre-service and inservice English teachers at AUT. The other follows the development of a collaborative action research project in which teachers reflected on and took steps to improve the teaching of casual conversation in their own classrooms. The paper will draw conclusions about the benefits and constraints for teachers of both reflective practice and the more formal action research, examining to what extent they help teachers to develop skills and encourage innovation in the classroom. Recommendations are made for future practice to support both reflective practice and its formalisation as action research.
Developing an English language/literacy course for adult deaf learners: insights from the chalk-face
(AUT University, 2005) Roach, K.
This paper offers insights into the teaching of literacy / English language to adult learners who are severely and profoundly deaf. The paper builds on an earlier study (Denny 2002), which documents the inclusion of Deaf learners in an adult migrant ESOL program at the School of Languages, Auckland University of Technology, and the subsequent establishment of a Deaf only Literacy / English language course (Roach 2002, Thompson forthcoming). The present paper draws on the on-going reflections of the course developer / classroom teacher over a period of 4 years. A number of themes are identified and these are explored in relation to (1) adult literacy (2) bilingual education (3) ESOL methodology (4) curriculum development and (5) teacher decision-making. Practical suggestions are made that may help guide others in what is essentially uncharted territory.
Improving the teaching of casual conversation through collaborative action research - a 'Leap in the Dark' or a 'Shot in the Arm'?
(AUT University, 2005) Denny, HG; Roskvist, A.; Englefield, B.
There is, in recent TESOL literature, much encouragement for teachers to undertake Action Learning and Action Research in order to improve teaching and develop research skills. But how practical and beneficial is this in a New Zealand tertiary setting where teachers of EAL have high teaching and administrative workloads and large classes? This paper describes the process of setting up a collaborative action research/learning project in which a group of teachers of adult EAL migrants focused on investigating the teaching of casual conversation in English. It surveys the literature that informed the research both on teacher research and the teaching of casual conversation in English and examines the benefits for teaching and for research skill development, the challenges, and the constraints of such an undertaking. Two members of the group outline briefly their action research into the teaching of aspects of casual conversation and describe specific strategies that helped learners in their own classroom contexts.
Preparing EAL students for the interactional demands of mainstream group assessment projects
(TESOLANZ, 2006) U, A.; Strauss, P.
For NESB (Non English Speaking Background) students, the adjustments required to study successfully at a tertiary institution are varied and taxing (Myles & Cheng, 2003). Probably the greatest difficulty they encounter is overcoming the lack of the appropriate linguistic and cultural knowledge needed for meaningful interaction both in and outside the mainstream classroom (Myles & Cheng, 2003; Zou, 1998). In this article, we review research at our university investigating the challenges facing this cohort and their lecturers. This research indicates that many of these students have great difficulty with oral communication in English and are uneasy about interacting in groups, particularly with their ESB (English Speaking Background) peers. Obviously, this difficulty impacts negatively on their participation in group assessment projects commonly used at our university. Many NESB students find it difficult to participate in the meetings which are an essential part of group projects and often feel sidelined or belittled particularly by their ESB counterparts. We discuss possible reasons for this state of affairs and make suggestions as to how EAP (English for Academic Purposes) lecturers can prepare NESB students to become more successful in their interaction in group projects.
Teaching writing to students from Asia: linking approach and motivation
(Language Centre, Hong Kong Baptist University, 2006) U, A.; Toh, G.
This article is based on a study of the motivation and perceived outcomes of students from non-English speaking backgrounds enrolled in the English for Academic Study program at the Auckland University of Technology. It discusses the implications of the findings for tutors responsible for teaching writing. The findings indicate that that the motivation and immediate needs of those students are mainly instrumental, to write assignments and projects in a university environment, while the long-term goals are to use language in the workplace. For such students, we argue that a writing program will need to cater for generic forms acceptable to academic as well as real (often business) world readership. We also argue that while introducing an element of ideological critique is important when teaching writing, it does not seem to immediately help students with actual use or application of the genres relevant in real world situations. However, when considering long-term goals, the article looks at how the work of academic literacies thinkers can help alert students to power and ideological aspects of writing. The discussion in this article could also be generalized for the teaching of writing in ESL and EFL contexts.
Can busy classroom teachers really do action research: an action research study in an EAL [English as Additional Language] tertiary setting
(Applied Linguistics Association of New Zealand, 2006) Denny, HG
Recent literature in general and language teacher education has promoted the benefits of empowering teachers to be in control of their professional development and curriculum development through reflection on practice and classroom based action research. The ‘teacher as researcher’ and ‘teacher as reflective practitioner’ movements are strongly influential in teacher education practice at present (Zeichner, 2001). Edge (2001) argues that action research augments the traditional notion of teachers as professionals who take theory and realize it in practice to include the notion of teachers as professionals who generate theory from practice. But how realistic for busy classroom teachers working in New Zealand conditions is classroom action research? Is this activity useful for such teachers and under what conditions is it possible? This paper describes an action research project carried out to investigate these questions. The participants in the study were a group of EAL classroom teachers at an Auckland tertiary institution, themselves undertaking classroom based action research into the teaching of casual conversation. Significant benefits are reported for teaching and research skill development, but there are also constraints. Recommendations are made with respect to the optimum design and resourcing of such teacher action research projects.
Code-switching and language maintenance as reflected in the daily communication among Chinese in Auckland
(AUT University: CNKI, 2006) Yu, S
Traditional study on code-switching has mainly been focusing on three aspects of this phenomenon: its social function and meaning, psycholinguistic mechanism, and grammatical constrains involved. This paper, however, investigates code-switching in relation to language shift and language maintenance. The results show that, regardless of the children’s general family background, their parents’ jobs and their English language proficiency, if the parents use English, the children’s use of English will be rapidly increased. Moreover, there is an “upgrading” in children’s language choice towards English. Combined with other analysis, this study seem to suggest that family/home is where the first language is acquired and it is also the last place to maintain their ethnic language among the young immigrants. Parental strategies employed in responding to their children play an important role.
Group assessments: dilemmas facing lecturers in multicultural tertiary classrooms
(Taylor and Francis, 2007) Strauss, P.; U, A.
'Group is good, and group is good for curing all social ills' was the cynical observation of one of the lecturers in this study. Her comment reflects the uneasiness of lecturers at tertiary institutions with the notion that the educational advantages of group assessments far outweigh the disadvantages, and that such an approach promotes the integration of minority groups in multicultural universities. The dilemmas facing lecturers in multicultural tertiary classrooms are reflected on in this paper, when they adopt group assessment as a means of evaluation and highlight those challenges that often jeopardize the successful implementation of this type of practice.
In a manner of speaking: assessing frequent spoken figurative idioms to assist ESL/EFL teachers
(Elsevier, 2007) Grant, L
This article outlines criteria to define a figurative idiom, and then compares the frequent figurative idioms identified in two sources of spoken American English (academic and contemporary) to their frequency in spoken British English. This is done by searching the spoken part of the British National Corpus (BNC), to see whether they are frequent on both sides of the Atlantic, or more common in one country or the other. It also compares the figurative idioms identified as frequent in two British idiom dictionaries to see whether their frequency of occurrence in the BNC justifies their ‘frequent’ label. The main aim of the frequency comparisons is to help teachers decide which, if any, are useful to teach to EFL/ESL students so pedagogical implications are also discussed briefly.
Meeting the needs of visiting in-service EFL teachers from China
(AUT University; VUW, 2007) Conway, C; Richards, H
Providing short term intensive professional development courses that successfully meet the needs of course participants can be a challenging task. This paper discusses a tailor- made programme for visiting overseas teachers to a New Zealand university. It presents the pedagogical principles underpinning the course, and the considerations and processes taken in designing the course to meet participants’ needs. The paper discuss the extent to which these needs were met on the course as well as looking at how the learning was applied once the teachers were in back in their teaching context in China. It concludes with the language teacher educators’ insights into establishing and meeting needs, the value of reflections and the effectiveness of learning transfer.
Early signs of language shifting among recent Chinese immigrants in New Zealand
(AUT University, 2008) Yu, S
Recently, learning Chinese as foreign language (CFL) is becoming more and more popular around the world. However, promoting Mandarin among tens of millions of overseas Chinese has not been given enough attention. Research shows that language shift happens within three generations with minority immigrants (Fishman, 1991). Yet, less attention has been paid to how this process has actually happened. Based on the observation and monthly recorded data from eight families in Auckland, it has been found that, within 28 months after their arrival, the amount of Mandarin Chinese used at home is decreasing sharply; In terms of daily communication function, English is taking over Mandarin Chinese to express negation, greeting and gratitude; Parental interactive strategy also tends to be moving towards bilingual or even English. These are important signs of language shifting. Actions need to be taken for mother tongue maintenance.
Teaching conversation and negotiation skills using teacher-made, semiscripted conversation models (New Zealand)
(TESOL, 2008) Denny, H; Burns, A; Burton, J
No abstracts in this publication.
Teachers' perceptions of the value and their practices in teaching pragmatics including the use of authentic texts
(AUT University, 2009) Denny, H; Basturkmen, H
Research shows that even learners with advanced levels of grammatical competence may still experience pragmatic difficulties (Bardovi-Harlig & Dornyei, 1998) and that some form of explicit instruction is helpful for acquisition (Kasper & Roever, 2004). The investigation was conducted in a tertiary level educational setting in Auckland. Data for the study were drawn from questionnaires and interviews with teachers from a range of academic, vocational and community focused English language programs. In this paper, we provide a summary of the objectives and design of the study and we focus on findings related to three key issues: areas in which pragmatics-focused materials are seen as lacking; barriers to teachers’ use of authentic texts in teaching pragmatics and the methods and activities teachers use in teaching pragmatics, including a range of methods and activities that are well known and some that are less well known. This research has been funded by AKO Aotearoa and it is the preliminary stage of a broader scale action research project in which teachers working as research participants develop and evaluate their own pragmatics-focused materials based on authentic listening texts.
Empowering the apprentice academic: teaching writing at postgraduate level
(Equinox Publishing Ltd, 2009) Sachtleben, A; Strauss, P; Turner, E
Tertiary institutions offer a variety of provision for postgraduate students aimed at the development of academic writing skills. This article using a series of workshops and individual tutorials designed specifically for students engaged in writing theses and exegeses in certain discipline areas in a large New Zealand university. It outlines and reflects on the process of identifying and analysing relevant information for the design, content and on-going development of the workshops. This includes supervisors’ expectations, students’ needs and feedback, as well as the features of published texts and unpublished theses and exegeses. The post-workshop tutorial provision is underpinned by the two key principles of dialogue to assist clarity of expression, and encouragement for students to express their own voice. The experience gained from this work has led to the development of a discipline specific online paper for students in their first year of postgraduate study.
Teaching and learning L2 pronunciation: Understanding the effectiveness of socially constructed metalanguage and critical listening in terms of a cognitive phonology framework
(University of New England, Armidale, NSW, 2009) Couper, Graeme
This thesis investigates the processes learners go through in learning the pronunciation of a second language, and how teachers can facilitate these processes. Its focus on the cognitive has led to the development of general teaching principles and the development of theory. It brings theory and practice together by using practice to inform theory and theory to re-inform practice. A broad multi-disciplinary approach has been taken, drawing on insights from phonology and L2 speech research, pronunciation pedagogy, and theoretical insights from SLA (Second Language Acquisition), socio-cultural theory and educational psychology, and bringing these together under a unifying theory of Cognitive phonology. The empirical evidence to support both the theoretical and practical conclusions reached is provided through a progressive series of qualitative and quantitative studies. These studies all focus on difficulties in pronouncing syllable codas, i.e. epenthesis (the addition of a vowel) and absence (inappropriate omission of a consonant), in the context of adult high-intermediate level ESOL students resident in New Zealand. The first study explores the effect of different techniques and learners' ways of understanding pronunciation, and establishes some of the groundwork required before critical variables can be isolated, defined and tested. The second study takes a group of just four students and closely observes how they form new phonological concepts. This leads to the isolation of variables for further investigation. Both of these studies find that significant progress is made and retained over time. The third study tests experimentally for the effect of two key variables isolated and defined in the second study: Socially Constructed Metalanguage (SCM) and Critical Listening (CL). This tightly controlled study finds both variables have a positive impact on pronunciation learning. This thesis finds there is a role for form-focused instruction and corrective feedback in pronunciation learning. While this is in line with many views within SLA theory, it is only by turning to Cognitive Phonology that the necessary distinctions can be drawn between types of instruction in order to reveal what it is that makes explicit instruction effective. These theoretical insights are shown to have practical applications for the classroom.
IELTS and an English for academic study programme: points of similarity and areas of divergence
(CLESOL, 2009) Turner, E; U, A; Cartner, H; Jenner, C; Mann, E; Brown, A
This paper describes an analysis of assessments on a preparatory, English for academic study (EAS) programme at a New Zealand university and of IELTS tests. The university accepts students with the required Band 6 overall in IELTS, and also those who graduate from the EAS programme with Grade B and above for its undergraduate programmes. Other institutions also accept this EAS certificate as evidence of English language proficiency. However, as far as we are aware there has been no formal comparative study of the points of similarities and areas of divergence between IELTS and such programmes. The identification of similarities and differences allows for a detailed profile of the knowledge, skills, and competencies acquired by students who successfully complete such pre-sessional programmes, as compared with students who have completed an IELTS preparation programme. It is anticipated that the information provided, will be of benefit to academic English and literacy practitioners.
How much does parental language behaviour reflect their language beliefs in language maintenance?
(John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2010) Yu, S
It has been widely accepted that parental language beliefs play a crucial role in language maintenance. Studies show that Chinese immigrants are not exempted from language shift although they are frequently reported cherishing their language as an important part of their culture. This paper attempts to find out how parental language beliefs reflect their daily language behaviour. Eight recent Chinese migrant families had 60 minutes of conversation recorded each month for one calendar year. Their language use has been analyzed and compared with the information gathered from a home language use questionnaire. Results show that there is a substantial gap between parental language beliefs and their actual language behaviour. Although the parents state they strongly support mother tongue maintenance, within 28 months, the use of mother tongue had dropped significantly and there is very little evidence showing much effort from the parents to prevent this from happening. This could be either because they want their children to keep their first language but do not know how to do this, or, their language beliefs are different from their behaviour. This should raise methodological issues regarding how to interpret parental language beliefs properly in the research area.

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