Vol 05 No 1 TESL Reporter

              1 I

CT V
NL
g

teaching english as a raymn d language seco n
vol
5

no

1 I

laie hawaii

fall 1971

SUMMARY OF USOE PROJECT

he0084
by

gerald dykstra
11 11 I I

TESL materials development center is referred to here in 1I terms of P problem restated in the form of a series of questions underlying the
1 I

the product of the

establishment of the project 1l 11 Ii background oilII findings i i 1l
problem

form useful responsive environments for pupil speakers

of second or foreign language learning m B can pupil participation in such communication be as intensive as it is in pattern practice classes can pupil listeners

were a number of questions underlying the establishment of the project the primary ones are listed here c an A Can nonpredictable purposeful communication be incorporated into instructional materials for the early stages

there

this summary report is reprinted in the TESL reporter because of its value for ESL
teachers and current interest in situational communication in second language learning it has not been previously available except in the official terminal report of project no HE 084 grant no SAE 7 10027 january 7 10 027 n e a ga o g in vessttiiga tto r

summary of USOE project he0084 page by gerald dykstra

CONTENTS

1967

gerald dykstra principal

1

listening comprehension
phrase by alice C pack

page 5

for the purpose

normal work order in the english noun
page 6

ELI library skills

an evaluation of a CCH spring class
page 8 page 10

by betty crethar

japanese groups in summer session

of the materials project communication means that the individual speaker is to have mulitple choices of linguistic content n that he is to participate in a situation in which he has a purpose superordinate to that of language practice and that only by the use of recently presented or newly learned language forms will he be able to accomplish his superordinate purpose his hearers are not able to predict his linguistic choices but are nevertheless required to respond overtly to his linguistic signals by selecting one of a range of potential responses when the speaker repeatedly and consistently accomplishes his purpose without the necessity of repetition or extraneous signals like translation communication is to be assumed

page 2
C

can materials so constituted form

viable classroom materials and can they be made pedagogically useful D will supporting modes be needed in a program that emphasizes the

clear that pattern presentation and pattern practice promising as these were from the start did not constitute the ultimate

communication mode

how can

supporting modes also more nearly simulate
reading instruction for young children include from the early stages emphasis on rapid silent reading with overt response F are the widely used successful techniques of oral language instruction applicable to primary school writing instruction in the form of exercises that start with models and draw pupils in graduated steps from full reliance to no reliance on a model G Is the communication mode also applicable to writing and to reading H what research can be started within the framework of this project to help determine the nature of the differences that are both necessary and sufficient in provision of materials for different cultures one ultimate goal of this type of research is to determine the nature and language E

out of classroom functional

use of

can second language

instruction immediately a closer relevance to language function seemed essential subsequent reaction to the shortcomings of other foreign language materials that also emphasize pattern practice but do not succeed in going significantly beyond bears out this early response to the intensive

development in second language

professional meetings show growing communication as
acceptability
a

course

recent presentations

at

awareness of possibilities and distinct interest in developing materials with nonpredictable functional use of

criterion tor

lesson for this type of materials as subsequently developed in the TESL materials development project was presented in one of the community laboratory schools of the kaimosi teacher training college in kenya
college entrance reading comprehension and reading speeds the dissatisfaction with writing ability and the indirect approaches used in teaching these skills suggested development more nearly parallel with direct oral approaches that were proving more successful of oral ability the assumption of the necessity of completely separate sets of materials based on contrastive analysis for every different language background was shown e mpirically to require research on the nature of valid and on differences required applications of contrastive analysis this undercuts the earlier assumption that contrastive anaylsis clearly showed its own application somehow related to this is the desirability of exploring the application of studies of language universals and the extent of possible core materials for presentation to students from more than one language background with separate materials where the core proves empirically unsatisfactory w the world wiide extension of teaching
gerald dykstra active teaching and learning of spoken english Ili TEACHER EDUCATION vol 111 no lI iiI a 2 november 1962 pp 134 139 34 139

the prototype

the dissatisfaction with

extent of the valid applications of contrastive analysis in materials
development another is to determine the nature the possible extent and the relative usefulness of a common core set of materials designed for a wide range of cultures J Is international cooperation feasible in research and development work related to these questions

1I I1

background

the background of the questions listed as
representative of the problem includes
simultaneous consideration of scholarship and school curriculum and heuristic alert teaching practice of the following summary comments most refer to historical background and some to conceptual explanation as well upon completion of the revised intensive course series for speakers of spanish at the university of michigan in the 1970s it was

fruitful

creative dissatisfactions

english to speakers of other languages t suggested the desirability of exploring further the extent of currently possible international in cooperation experimentation and curriculum development this type of cooperation has often been proposed but it has commonly failed to materialize in any significant extended way research on a central core and divergences as necessary seemed a good starting point insofar as a variety of language backgrounds would be and cultural necessary for any culturally differentiated feedback on divergences from a core that might be indicated qualified advisers for the project were readily obtained from another country readiness for cooperative endeavor had been shown in many countries

findings representative findings stemming from the work of project personnel and relating to the questions listed at the beginning of this summary statement include those presented here the lettered divisions here correspond I to those listed under section 1 problem and reference should be to those questions A one hundred fifty communication activities which follow the necessary one hundred fifty presentations have been selected as substantially meeting the requirements of the criteria established for such activities by internal appraisal it is determined that nonpredictable purposeful communication can be incorporated into was materials instructional this fact that by substantiated the communication as operationally defined was repeatedly accomplished in the field locations r i ng A fortuitous discovery after designung each tenth communication activity to serve as a test was that every activity not merely every tenth one served as a proper test of language ability the full significance of this dawned gradually altogether the activities form a set of programmatically graduated tests linguistically more valid for an english language teaching program than sets which elicit markings on paper or which measure control of sub elements of language production eg or pronunciiatton nc a or sub elements of language recognition in lieu of checking on ability to communicate and
111 III

page 3 comprehend messages that are cued by no edic ct b l controlled but prn preditaable situations the one hundred fifty communication activities accepted for the program use vocabulary that correlates with objects which are formed by using plastic pieces an alternative program using vocabulary that correlates with items made from materials available in nearly all environments has been illustrated and demonstrated B by using pupil responders in the communication situation only after appropriate presentations effective responsive environments have been set up in these successful language production by one pupil is regularly followed by an n in gu appropriate and desired overt non llinguiistic response incorrect language production is followed by responses not sought by the child speaker clearly established and known goals non liinguiistic in nature are in lng u s these instances not attained the activity breaks down and the pupil must start again with such responsive environments and with a properly progrramed sequence it is rogamme not necessary for the teacher to hear c orrect production of the point being c practiced in order that reinforcement may take place nor is it necessary for the teacher to hear errors in the use of the point being practiced in order that the errors be detected in this situation with pupils forming effective and useful responsive environments for pupil speakers a multiple unit design in the classroom is feasible the amount of speaking and response to speaking is high the density of pupil participation while not quantitatively measured in the project is anecdotally recorded as being lower than in good choral pattern practice higher than in

individualized pattern practice and
qualitatively superior to both
C

with minimal presentation and a minimum of artificial practicing it is possible to move directly into functioning use of the language provided situations are carefully selected materials so constituted do form viable classroom materials the best tryout centers for this project have been those where teachers had the benefit of guidance from a person who knew the rationale and operation of the activities

page 4

children in aiyetoro nigeria responded significantly better to oral instructions from

their teachers after

one year of nd d communication activities than diid their

of a given limited but not controlled situation experiment was limited to use of
the oral communication actiiviittiiesswiitth a v ewh es ages substitution of written messsage for oral messages A degree of success is indicated parallel to that for oral communication activities but to make it maximally significant as a writing program the need s equenc ng for separate dequenciing is indicated H the research initiated by the project to check into the possibility of determining the nature of curricular differences required by different cultures took the form of trying a single core set in a variety of cultural settings adverse

older companions who had studied english for two years evidence indicates that taking children into early functioning use of the language can be made pedagogically useful D communication in the restricted sense used here is not enough by itself to simulate the range of situations in which oral language is commonly used songs et physical education activities playless and improvisations were developed and pllannne a an ed to illustrate other modes by which communicating language as well as language that is phanic in na ture and is not at rogammed appropriate to presentation in progrramed communication activities may be presented in situations that simulate as in the playlless or parallel as in the songs y et out of classroom use of language E tryouts indicate empirically that silent reading can be started successfully at very early stages immediately after an oral presentation silent reading was not tried without oral presentation and practice differential response to increasingly complex segments was a basic feature of the design in the reading presentations this work is being continued without benefit of project support except for limited e x e i mentt enn exppremiemaaaiiont and the development of a r n to small set of materials for children following upon completion of a program in cursive handwriting developed by the project G the idea of reading selecting compiling and transmitting prepared messages for reading and responding by a communication was added early in the course of the project materials of this type are unknown outside the project and very limited within findings are positive on the feasibility and work is being continued

dr gerald dykstra is presently a professor at the university of hawaii and principal planner for the language arts for elementary
schools at the hawaii curriculum

center

recipient in situations requiring

comments from tryout centers were almost invariably on activities not clearly and simply operable where a given activity went badly in one area it went badly elsewhere the songs on the other hand were enthusiastically received at each tryout center there was no adverse comment anywhere on the geometrical abstractions which were designed to represent real objects and which were made by the children themselves using plastic pieces of various shapes the only clearly identified cultural differences were such as the anticipated special difficulty in west africa in distinguishing bed and bird in an early version of a communication activity that had been pointedly designed to include this problem as a check on differential feedback
J tryouts for TESL project materials have been held in japan new guinea peru ethiopia and nigeria as well as in saipan f puerto rico hawaii new mexico texas mississippi and new york about one third of the advisers for the project were british and consultation with them was somewhat

privately by project staff relative

effectiveness is undetermined an intended part of the project from the first was preparation and experimentation with an approach to writing which incorporates purposeful communication requiring responses unpredictable except from the written message which itself is unpredictable and develops out of the needs

more frequent than with their american counterparts the only serious threat to

ready international cooperation came from within one of the major institutions sponsoring the project where it was stated thattttthe international aspects of the project ha i e ah might jeopardize years of careful work in cultivating a relationship with africa by a senior and highly respected professor in the institution empirically it is determined that international cooperation is possible in materials development evidence includes

consultation

international collaboration in tr youts as outlined in the project quarterly reports there are vast gaps in the materials field and many interesting and potentially rewarding areas have been opened up to be

british colleagues

page 5 pages and correspondence with

and extensive

identification contribution

imaginatively developed

of a few of these

specific
is

a

listening comprehension
A
A

c listening comprehension excercise

which takes only five minutes at the beginning of each classsperriiod has proven as pernod itself with increased aural comprehension immediate student attention additional background information for students and the elimination of roll calling in the classroom short articles are selected from current magazines newspapers science digests etc about five to eight short multiple answer or true false questions are written about information in the article these should be written for understanding rather than for factual inconmation although numbers may f rn be useful to debermdne whether the student 6 et e n i n he has associated quantities with tthe information small sheets of paper with numbers and choices are distributed and when class time arrriivees the teacher immediately starts r vs reading the article and follows with the questions the article is read at normal speed pauses between phrases and clauses may be necessary for beginning classes and there are no repeats eithrr ffor the article or l her he efoorr the questions students write their names on the papers which are collected as soon as the last question has been read later the roll is marked from the papers usually the students are anxious to hear the answers so the teacher reads the correct response withitth eaanssw er selection after vocabulary lh nw discussion may be helpful to the st udent

developed by the director of the english language institute at the church college of hawaii

following is a recent article used for this purpose

animal farm

reprinted by permission from TIME the New ma weekly newsmagazine copyright time
inc 1971 four new security guards last week not to contain the wildness within the cages but to protect the animals from the inhumanity of man in the past two years the zoo z0 0 the director of the detroit z oo hired

australian wallaby left the protection of its mothers pouch and was stoned to death a duck died with a steellaipped arrow in its et breast A pregnant reindeer miscarried after firecracker hurling youths bombed the frantic animal into convulsions visitors have been observed dropping lighted cigar butts on the backs of alligators watching the ashes bum through the reptiles skin the n breaking into laughter when the he continued page 12

population has been victimized by deliberate acts of brutality A baby