International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print)

ISSN 2200-3452 (Online)

Pioneering in Language & Literature Discovery

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International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature

All papers on which this is printed in this book meet the minimum requirements of "Australian International Academic Centre PTY LTD". All papers published in this book are accessible online. Editors-in-Chief

• Associate Professor John I. Liontas, University of South Florida, USA • Dr. Zosia Golebiowski, Deakin University, Melbourne campus, Australia • Professor Jayakaran Mukundan, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia

Managing Editor Seyed Ali Rezvani Kalajahi Journal Information ISSN 2200-3592 (Print) ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) ISBN: 978 -600-5361-84-1 Website: www.ijalel.org E-mail: editor@ijalel.org Publisher Australian International Academic Centre PTY. LTD. 59/48 Eucalyptus Drive Maidstone, VIC 3012 Australia Phone: +61 3 9028 6880 Website: http://www.aiac.org.au Hardcopy Provider Digital Print Australia 135 Gilles Street, Adelaide South Australia 5000 Australia Phone: +61 (0)8 8232 3404 Website: www.digitalprintaustralia.com LuLu Press Inc. also provides hardcopies of IJALEL.

2012 – 2014 © IJALEL No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photo print, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publisher.

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Editors-in-Chief Associate Professor John I. Liontas, TESOL University of South Florida, USA

Dr. Zosia Golebiowski, TESOL Deakin University, Melbourne Campus, Australia

Professor Jayakaran Mukundan, ELT University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia

Managing Editor Seyed Ali Rezvani Kalajahi, TESL, AIAC, Australia

Senior Associate Editors Professor Hossein Farhadi, Assessment University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA

Professor Haifa Al-Buainain, Applied Linguistics Qatar University, Qatar

Professor. Ali Miremadi, Language, Linguistics California State University, USA

Associate Professor Yuko Goto Butler, Educational Linguistics University of Pennsylvania, USA

Professor Kazem Lotfipour-Saedi Ottawa University, Canada

Associate Professor Kimberley Brown, Applied Linguistics Portland State University, USA

Professor Mohammad Ziahosseini, Linguistics Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran

Associate Professor Mojgan Rashtchi, Applied Linguistics IAU North Tehran Branch, Iran

Professor Cem Alptekin, Applied Linguistics Bogaziçi University, Turkey

Associate Professor Parviz Maftoon, TEFL IAU, Science & Research Branch, Tehran, Iran

Professor Biook Behnam, ELT IAU Tabriz, Iran

Associate Professor María-Isabel González-Cruz, English Studies University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), Spain

Professor Juliane House, Applied Linguistics University of Hamburg, Germany

Associate Professor John W. Schwieter, Linguistics Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada

Associate Professor Huai-zhou Mao, Applied Linguistics Changji University, China

Associate Professor Moussa Ahmadfian, English Literature Arak University, Arak, Iran

Professor Zdenka Gadusova, Foreign Language Teaching Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia

Associate Professor Zia Tajeddin, Applied Linguistics Allameh Tabataba'i University,Tehran, Iran

Professor Simin Karimi, Linguistics University of Arizona, USA

Associate Professor Christina Alm-Arvius, Linguistics Stockholm University, Sweden

Professor Mats Oscarson, English Language Education University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Associate Professor Wan Roselezam Wan Yahya, Literature University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia

Professor Meixia Li, Linguistics Beijing International Studies University, China

Associate Professor leyli Jamali, English Literature IAU Tabriz, Iran

Professor Ruzy Suliza Hashim, English Literature Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia

Associate Professor Ali S. M. Al-Issa, Applied Linguistics Sultan Qaboos University, Oman

Professor Ruth Roux, Applied Linguistics El Colegio de Tamaulipas & Universidad Autonoma de Tamaulipas, Mexico

Associate Professor Ahmad M. Al-Hassan, Applied Linguistics Petra University, Amman, Jordan

Professor Kourosh Lachini, Applied Linguistics University of Qatar, Qatar

Associate Professor Seyyed Ali Ostovar-Namaghi, TEFL Shahrood University of Technology, Iran

Professor Sebnem Toplu, English Literature Ege University, Turkey

Associate Professor Khalil Motallebzadeh, TEFL IAU, Mashhad, Iran

Professor Eugenio Cianflone, TEFL University of Messina, Italy

Associate Professor Yolanda Gamboa, English Literature Florida Atlantic University, USA

Professor Roger Barnard, Applied Linguistics The University of Waikato, New Zealand

Associate Professor Xitao Fu, Applied Linguistics Zhanjiang Normal University, China

Professor Khalid Alseghayer, Applied Linguistics Imam University, Saudi Arabia

Associate Professor Fatemeh Azizmohammadi, English Literature IAU Arak, Iran

Associate Editors Dr. Christopher Conlan, Applied Linguistics Curtin University, Australia

Dr. Usaporn Sucaromana, TEFL Srinakharinwirot University, Thailand

Assistant Professor Massimiliano Spotti, Applied Linguistics Tilburg University, Netherlands

Assistant Professor Ramin Akbari, ELT Tarbiat Modares University, Iran Assistant Professor Anne Dragemark Oscarson, Language Assessment

University of Gothenburg, Sweden Assistant Professor Ahmed Gumaa Siddiek, ELT Shaqra University. KSA

Assistant Professor Ibrahim Abdel- Latif Shalabi, English Literature Isra University Amman, Jordan

Assistant Professor Reza Kafipour, ELT Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

Assistant Professor Saeed Yazdani, English Literature IAU Bushehr, Iran

Dr. Vahid Nimehchisalem, TESL University of Malaya, Malaysia

Assistant Professor Shaofeng Li, Applied Linguistics University of Auckland, New Zealand

Assistant Professor Natasha Pourdana, TEFL IAU Karaj, Iran

Assistant Professor Sasan Baleghizadeh, TEFL Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

Assistant Professor Nooreen Noordin, TESL University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia

IJALEL Editorial Team

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Assistant Professor Hossein Pirnajmuddin, English Literature University of Isfahan, Iran

Assistant Professor Nasrin Hadidi Tamjid, Applied Linguistics IAU, Tabriz, Iran

Assistant Professor Javanshir Shibliyev, Linguistics Eastern Mediterranean University, Cyprus

Assistant Professor Roselan Baki, TESL University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia

Assistant Professor Masoud Zoghi, TESL IAU Ahar, Iran

Assistant Professor Md. Motiur Rahman, Applied Linguistics Qassim University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Assistant Professor Rachel Adams-Goertel, Composition & TESOL Pennsylvania State University, USA

Assistant Professor Yousef Tahaineh, Applied Linguistics Al-Balqa Applied University, Amman -Jordan

Assistant Professor Arshya Keyvanfar, TEFL IAU North Tehran Branch, Iran

Assistant Professor Efstathios (Stathis) Selimis, Psycholinguistics Technological Education Institute of Kalamata, Greece

Dr. Ferit Kılıçkaya, ELT Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Turkey

Dr. Karen Janet McKinney, English Literature Girne American University, Cyprus

Assistant Professor Karim Sadeghi, TEFL Urmia University, Iran

Assistant Professor Irene Theodoropoulou, Applied Linguistics Qatar University, Qatar Assistant Professor Bilge Öztürk, Linguistics

Kocaeli University, Turkey Dr. Minoo Alemi, Applied Linguistics Sharif University of Technology, Iran

Dr. Obaid Hamid, Applied Linguistics The University Of Queensland, Australia

Assistant Professor Nader Assadi Aidinlou, Applied Linguistics IAU Ahar, Iran

Assistant Professor Touran Ahour, TEFL IAU Tabriz, Iran

Dr. Jeannet Stephen, Applied Linguistics Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia

Distinguished Advisors Professor Brian Tomlinson, Material Development Leeds Metropolitan University, UK

Professor Dan Douglas, Applied Linguistics Iowa State University, USA

Professor Charles Goodwin, Applied Linguistics University of California, Los Angeles, USA

Professor Roger Nunn, Communication The Petroleum Institute, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Professor Hossein Nassaji, Applied Linguistics University of Victoria, Canada

Professor Jalal Sokhanvar , English Literature Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

Professor Susan Gass, Linguistics Michigan State University, USA

Professor Claire Kramsch, Applied Linguistics University of California, Berkeley, USA

Advisors Dr. Ian Bruce, Discourse Analysis and Genre Studies The university of Waikato, New Zealand

Dr. Steve Neufeld, ELT Middle East Technical University, Cyprus

Dr. Kristina Smith, ELT Pearson Education , Turkey

Dr. Sepideh Mirzaei Fard, English Studies National University of Malaysia

Dr. Shadi Khojasteh rad, Applied Linguistics University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia

Dr. Atieh Rafati, ELT & literature Eastern Mediterranean University, Cyprus

Dr. Saeed Kalajahi, English Literature IAU Tabriz, Iran

Dr. Majid Hamdani, Educational Technology University Technology of Malaysia, Malaysia

Dr. Meryem ÖZDEMİR, ELT Çukurova University, Turkey

Dr. Oytun Sözüdoğru, ELT University of York, UK

Reviewers Dr. Marilyn Lewis, Language Teaching DALSL, The University of Auckland, New Zealand

Dr. Noelia Malla García, English Literature Complutense University of Madrid, Spain Assistant Professor Omid Akbari, TESL

Imam Reza International University, Iran Assistant Professor Ali H. Al-Bulushi, Applied Linguistics Sultan Qaboos University, Oman

Assistant Professor Hassan Soleimani, Applied Linguistics Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

Dr. Shannon Kelly Hillman, Applied Linguistics University of Hawaii, Hawaii

Assistant Professor Isa SPAHIU, Linguistics International Balkan University, Macedonia

Dr. Yasemin Aksoyalp, ELT Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland

Assistant Professor Azadeh Nemati, ELT IAU, Jahrom, Iran

Dr. Ali KARAKAŞ, ELT University of Southampton, UK

Dr. İsmail Zeki Dikici, ELT Muğla University, Turkey

Dr. Ebrahim Samani, TESL University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia

Dr. Mahdi Alizadeh Ziaei, English Literature The university of Edinburgh, UK

Dr. Melchor Tatlonghari, TESOL The University of Santo Tomas , Manila, The Philippines

Dr. Ruzbeh Babaee, English Literature University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia

Dr. Bakhtiar Naghdipour, ELT Eastern Mediterranean University, Cyprus

Dr. Inayatullah Kakepoto, ELT Quaid-e-University of EST(Sindh), Pakistan

Dr. Bora DEMİR, ELT Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey

Dr. Hossein Saadabadi, TESL University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia

Dr. Kenan DİKİLİTAŞ, ELT Gediz University, Turkey

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Dr. Haleh Zargarzadeh, English Literature Urmia University, Iran

Dr. Carlous Muluh Nkwetisama, ELT University of Maroua, Cameroon

Dr. Orkun Janbay, ELT Qatar University, Qatar

Dr. Farid Parvaneh, English Literature IAU, Iran

Dr. Tin T. Dang, Applied Linguistics Vietnam National University, Vietnam

Dr. Erdem AKBAS, ELT University of York, UK

Dr. Gerry Loftus, ELT University of Buckingham, UK

Dr. Saeed Rezaei, TEFL Allameh Tabataba’i University Tehran, Iran

Dr. Abdolvahed Zarifi, TESL Yasouj University, Iran

Dr. Jerome C. Bush, English Education Yeditepe University, Turkey

Dr. Gandhimathi Subramaniam, Language & Literature Anna University Coimbatore, India

Dr. Mohammad Javad Riasati, TESL IAU Shiraz, Iran

Dr. Cecilia Chu, English Linguistic Studies Hong Kong Institute of Education, China

Dr. Farah Ghaderi, English Literature Urmia University, Iran

Dr. Angela Khristin Brown, English Literature College of Southern Nevada, USA

Dr. Neslihan Önder Ozdemir, ELT Uludağ University, Turkey

Dr. John Wallen, English Literature University Of Nizwa, Oman

Dr. Ali Asghar Yousefi Azarfam, TESL IAU Tabriz, Iran Dr. Reza Vaseghi, TESL

University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia Dr. Ashraf Atta Mohamed Safein Salem, ELT Omalia University, Egypt Dr. Naemeh Nahavandi, TESL

IAU, Tabriz, Iran Dr. Sima Modirkhamene, ELT Urmia University, Iran

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Vol. 3 No. 1;Table of Contents Articles Contributory Role of Collaborative Assessment in Improving Critical Thinking and Writing

Mansoor Fahim Mowla Miri Yaghoub Najafi 1 The Roles of the Speed and Accuracy of Morphological Processing in the Reading Comprehension of Spanish-Speaking Language Minority Learners

Jungjun Park Rebecca Wiseheart Michaela Ritter 12 Exploring the Relationship between Chinese First Year University Students’ Beliefs about Language Learning and Foreign Language Anxiety

Runhan Zhang 28 Towards the Reconfiguration of Language Education for the Nigerian Child

Boniface Igbeneghu 45 The Interface of Error Types, Teacher’s Feedback, and Students’ Uptake

Abdolsaleh Zoghi Jahanbakhsh Nikoopour 54 An Ontological Vindication of Darl’s Existential Authenticity from a Heideggerian Point of View

Fazel Asadi Amjad Reza Kazemifar 63 The Language of Revolution and the Power of Storytelling in The Pregnant Widow

Alaa Alghamdi 72 Critical Discourse Analysis of the Appeals in English Women’s Advertisements

Cao Shuo Huili Wang Yucui Wang 79 The Role of Input in First Language Acquisition

Mehry Haddad Narafshan Firooz Sadighi Mohammad Sadegh Bagheri Nasrin Shokrpour

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The Impact of a Strategies-Based Instruction on Iranian EAP Students’ Reading Strategy Use: Developing Strategic EAP Readers

Seyyed Hossein Kashef Ambigapathy Pandian Sima Modir Khameneh 92 Exploring the Self-efficacy Beliefs among the High Achievers in Writing

Ilyana Jalaluddin 100 The Relationship between EFL Teachers’ Critical Thinking Skills and Vocabulary Learning Strategy Instruction across Gender

Mehrak Rahimi 107 Distant Fathers: Disjointed World of George Eliot

Tahira Jabeen Liu Naiyin 115 ‘Praise to the Emptiness’ Locating Home in the Arab Diaspora

Sandhya Rao Mehta 124 A Practical Corpus-based Approach to Teaching English for Tourism

Nuria Edo Marzá 129 Barthes’ Irreversible Codes: An Intertextual Reading of James Joyce’s “Araby”

Seyed Ali Booryazadeh Sohila Faghfori 137

January 2014

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The Actuality, Inefficiency, and Needs of EFL Teacher-Preparation Programs in Saudi Arabia Khalid Al-Seghayer 143

Verb-Noun Collocation Proficiency and Academic Years Fatemeh Ebrahimi-Bazzaz Arshad Abd Samad Ismi Arif bin Ismail Nooreen Noordin

152

Personal Problems and English Teachers: Are They Always Bad? Muhd Khudri Johari Nur Zaimah Jamil 163

EFL Learners’ Beliefs about Language Learning along Gender, Further Education in Language Institutes & Different Proficiency Levels

Naemeh Nahavandi Jayakaran Mukundan 170 The Effects of Embedding Information Technologies within ELT on EFL Learners’ Motivation and Interest

Shaker Al-Mohammadi Emira Derbel 181 Prepositions and ESL Learners: the Malaysian Scenario

Norwati Roslim Jayakaran Mukundan 187 The Tyranny of Cybernetics in Kurt Vonnegut’s Player Piano

Ruzbeh Babaee Wan Roselezam Bt Wan Yahya Shivani Sivagurunathan 195 Characteristics of Effective EFL Instructors: Language Teachers’ Perceptions Versus Learners’ Perceptions

Negar Hajizadeh Neda Salahshour 202 EFL Learners’ Negotiation of Meaning

Samira Saeed Rashid Al Hosni 215 Structural Analysis of Lexical Bundles in University Lectures of Politics and Chemistry

Hadi Kashiha Chan Swee Heng 224 From Slang to Acceptability: Style-Shifting Variation in English Language Usage by Students of CRUTECH, Calabar, Nigeria

Mercy Ugot 231 Self-regulation from Educational Psychology to L2 Pedagogy: an Alternative to Language Learning Strategies

Maryam Banisaeid Jianbin Huang 240 The Use of Personal Pronouns: A Comparison between Iranian and Malaysian Dyads

Seyed Yasin Yazdi-Amirkhiz Kamariah Abu Bakar Karim Hajhashemi 245 Poetical Theory

Angela Brown 249

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Contributory Role of Collaborative Assessment in Improving Critical Thinking and Writing

Mansoor Fahim

Department of Foreign Languages and Literature, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Southern Allameh st., Tehran, Iran E-mail: dr.mfahim@yahoo.com

Mowla Miri (Corresponding author)

Department of Foreign Languages and Literature, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Southern Allameh st., Tehran, Iran E-mail: molamiri84@gmail.com

Yaghoub Najafi

Semnan University, Iran E-mail: yaghoubnajafi@yahoo.com

Received: 20-08-2013 Accepted: 24-09-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.1 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.1 Abstract Instilling critical thinking skills in language learners’ mind and enhancing second language writing are gaining momentum in the field of English language teaching. Though some approaches to meeting these objectives have been proposed, review of the literature revealed that the contributory role of collaborative assessment in fostering critical thinking and second language writing has been overlooked to date. Thus, this study was conducted to delve into this issue. To this aim, two intact intermediate EFL classes in Iran, each of which contains 18 learners, were included in the study; they were randomly assigned to Student-Student (S-S) collaborative assessment and Teacher-Student (T-S) collaborative assessment groups. After receiving six sessions of treatment, both groups wrote an essay on an IELTS topic. Results of the study indicated that collaborative assessment, regardless of its type, has the potential to foster critical thinking and writing proficiency. Further, it came to light that S-S collaborative assessment group significantly outperformed the T-S collaborative assessment group in terms of gains in critical thinking and writing proficiency. In light of the findings, language teachers are suggested to involve learners in collaborative assessment processes; further, some suggestions are offered at the end to show some fruitful avenues for further research. Keywords: collaborative assessment, critical thinking, second language writing 1. Introduction Language assessment can play a monumental role in fostering language learning along with its primary role i.e. measuring learning outcomes. Some researchers are rightly of the opinion that assessment has not grabbed a worthy attention as a learning and developmental tool rather it has been primarily deployed as an evaluative instrument (e.g. Chau, 2005; Gardner, 1999). Gardner points out that “rather than being imposed externally at odd times during the year assessment ought to become part of the natural learning environment. As much as possible it should occur ‘on the fly’, as a part of natural engagement of one in learning situation” (p. 102). Further, he opines that it is more likely to introduce assessment explicitly at initial stages; however, as some time passes by, it is better to let the wealth of assessment “occur naturally on the part of student and teacher, with little need for explicit recognition or labeling on anyone’s part” (p. 102). One type of assessment having the potential to assess and foster learning in general and language learning in particular is collaborative assessment. Collaborative assessment (CA) highlights mutual goals (working towards a mutually acceptable assessment

grade), dynamic exchange of information (presenting, defending and elaborating views on the grade by tutor and student) and role interdependence (emphasizing individual accountability for meaningful exchange to take place) as key characteristics of collaboration. (Chau, 2005, p. 27)

Further, instilling critical thinking in learners’ minds has been at the top of educational agenda for a long time, but recently, foreign language teaching research has practically recognized its critical importance in language learning and has thought of different ways to introduce into language classrooms. For instance, Kabilan (2000) proposed involving in pedagogy of the questioning as a fruitful approach; in a similar line, Zainuddin and Moore (2003) argued that engaging in a structured controversial dialogue technique is conducive to critical thinking development. In summary, the bottom line of the bulk of research highlights that teachers should primarily concentrate on activities entailing

IJALEL 3(1):1-11, 2014 2

forming relationships, compare and contrast, classify, evaluate, rank, identifying right from wrong, facts from opinion, cause and effect, bias, to give reasons for causes, to foresee consequences, making inferences and summary, generalizations, interpret, identifying main, supporting and detailed ideas as well as making decisions and solving problems. (Mahyuddin et al, 2004, pp. 24-5)

Considering the enumerated features of helpful activities into account, one can draw the conclusion the collaborative assessment has the potential to pave the ground for involving learners in activities provoking the employment of critical thinking skills. Additionally, convincing body of research has offered considerable evidence for the positive role of alternative assessment in developing second language writing (Cheng & Warren, 2005), but the share of collaborative assessment in enhancing writing skills has been not addressed up to now. Thus, this study was set up to delve into the potential of collaborative assessment in fostering critical thinking and second language writing in Iranian context. 2. Review of the related literature 2.1 Alternative assessment Brown and Abeywickrama (2010) assert that though some criticisms are leveled against alternative in assessment on the grounds that they demand a substantial amount of time and cost on the part of all stakeholders in language learning process. They are worth the time and cost since they can offer markedly greater washback and authenticity. Brown and Hudson (1998) put forward that alternatives in assessment are beneficent because they are of the potential to make learners use language creatively in real-world situations. Further, they assist learning by taking both products and processes of learning into account while traditional testing is primarily concerned with learning products. Additionally, alternatives in assessment direct learners’ attention to their weak and strong points by doing so, in fact, learners’ higher-level thinking skills will be targeted. Finally, it is worth mentioning that Brown and Abeywickrama hold that alternatives in assessment deepen learners’ insight into assessment criteria and raters’ characteristics. 2.2 Collaborative assessment Gardner asserts that “all assessment should be undertaken primarily to aid students. It is incumbent upon the assessor to provide feedback to the students that will be helpful at the present time- identifying areas of strength as well as the weakness …” (p. 103). As a category of alternative assessment, collaborative assessment has attracted that attention of very few SLA studies. Collaborative assessment aims to involve learners to reach a consented score with those who have scored their performances. In fact, the learners learn to self-evaluate their own performance and compare it with an external rater’s evaluation, whether a peer or teacher and when they find a difference between these two kinds of evaluation, they seek opportunities to discuss it and reach mutual agreement. It is held that involving in such evaluative process can make a positive contribution to language learning (Chau, 2005). In the same way, Dickinson claimed for the successful role of collaborative assessment where learners find opportunities to mull over the criteria and ponder on their own performance (1996 as cited in Chau, 2005). Even though, collaborative assessment seems a fecund ground for critical thinking and second language writing research, very few studies have addressed this issue up until now. 2.3 Second Language writing and assessment Second language writing is a complicated skill in which learners should orchestrate different cognitive and linguistic resources to come up with a coherent text. Which individual differences mainly account for variety in writing processes and the quality of the written product have been less investigated by SLA researchers (Kormos, 2012). Additionally, Kormos points out that second language writing is an activity which takes a long time and demands concentration and determination. To meet learners’ writing objectives, recently some researchers have argued for the role of assessment in fostering writing skill (e.g. Massa, 1997). Massa points out that there "is a need to redefine the objectives of writing assessment, moving it from a punitive, gatekeeping tool that

measures deficits, to a facilitative tool that informs novice academic writers of the characteristics of clear expression of thought, informs teachers of students' potential, and informs the classroom curriculum". (87)

2.4 Critical thinking Critical thinking is defined as "the ability to analyze facts, generate and organize ideas, defend opinions, make comparisons, draw inferences, evaluate arguments and solve problems” (Chance, 1986, p. 6). In another attempt to offer a definition pertinent to academic milieu, Gieve (1998) points out that learners should "examine the reasons for their actions, their beliefs, and their knowledge claims, requiring them to defend themselves and question themselves, their peers, their teachers, experts, and authoritative texts, both in class and in writing" (p. 126). Facione (1990) condenses all common themes of such attempts to come up with the following definition of critical thinking. We understand critical thinking to be purposeful, self-regulatory judgment which results in interpretation,

analysis, evaluation, and inference, as well as explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, or contextual considerations upon which that judgment is based. (1990, p. 2)

Fahim and Pezeshki (2012), similarly, put forward that critical thinking requires reasoning and thorough refelction and rejects blind acceptance of others’ opinions. 2.5 Critical thinkers’ characteristics Those marked as critical thinkers move with reason, Siegel (1990) points out. They do not take things for granted; they make a pause and cast a healthy doubt on what they are going to do (Sofo, 2004). Additionally, Paul and Elder (2006)

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assert that critical thinkers meet the following criteria when they reason: clarity, relevance, logicalness, accuracy, depth, significance, precision, breadth, and fairness. Hopper (2003) states that “a critical thinker is constantly asking questions, trying to distinguish between fact and opinion. Not about memorizing, but analyzing all sides of an issue to find more in the situation than the obvious and makes assertions built on sound logic and solid evidence” (p.37). In one of the best endeavours in this regard, Ennis (1993, p. 179) mentions that critical thinkers examine the authenticity and reliability of information sources, pinpoint the reasons and tenets of arguments and evaluate their soundness, formulate their opinions and defend them logically; further, they try be open to reasons and shed light on issues by posing pertinent and shrew questions. In a similar line of inquiry, Wood (2002) contends that critical thinkers are those who are keen to probe all perspectives open-mindedly; they welcome dangers and opposing ideas since they are on a quest for truth. 2.6 EFL and critical thinking Integrating critical thinking skills into language learning programs has been supported on some grounds recently. Shirkhani and Fahim (2011) highlight that learners having a higher degree of critical thinking can manage more successfully to evaluate and monitor their own work. Additionally, previous research shows that there is a high correlation between critical thinking skills and language learning and proficiency (Liaw, 2007). Arend (2009) states that "although critical thinking is a goal of … education, instructors may not often be using the most effective methods to encourage students to use critical thinking strategies" (p. 2). Concerning language teaching, sowing and fostering the seeds of critical thinking in language learners’ minds has been a peripheral objective for language teaching methodologies even for communicative language teaching (Kabilan, 2000; Pica, 2000). Thus, it incumbent upon teachers, as pointed out by Lipman (2003), to put more store on making critical thinking as an integral part of language learning and assessment. 2.8 Collaborative assessment and critical thinking Yuretich (2004) articulates that classroom activities which involve learners in posing and reflecting on questions, discussing over the questions in groups as well as rationalizing and explicating their answers to their peers push learners to move toward more advanced levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. Likewise, Smith (1990) holds that engaging learners in activities requiring arguments and challenges in a respectful atmosphere can be conducive to cultivating critical thinking. It can be induced that collaborative assessment has the potential to engage learners in meaningful arguments with either their peers or teachers. The learners should analytically evaluate their own or their peers’ writings so as to rationally score or rescore texts. It is apparent that collaborative assessment demands identifying and focusing on a point of conflict, analyzing the evidence for pinpointing the reasons behind the conflict by resorting to inductive and deductive logic. The traces of these factors can be identified in critical thinkers’ characteristics. Pithers and Soden (2000) assert that critical thinking entails a number of abilities such as identifying a problem and the assumptions on which it is based, focusing on the problem, analyzing, understanding and making use of inferences, inductive and deductive logic, and judging the validity and reliability of assumptions and sources of data. Thus, it seems that involvement in collaborative assessment has the potential to set a fertile ground for cultivating critical thinking. 2.9 Statement of the problem and research questions Only a few studies (e.g. Chau, 2005) have addressed the potential of collaborative assessment for fostering language development in general and writing proficiency in particular. Additionally, as aptly raised by Shirkhani and Fahim (2011), the introduction of critical thinking into EFL curriculum is in its infancy and still growing. Needless to say, it is incumbent on EFL teachers to use the materials and activities which implant and foster critical thinking in EFL learners. Shirkhani and Fahim opine that teachers should assist learners to grow critical thinking via teaching material and classroom activities. Classroom activities should have the potential to set the ground for learners to express their ideas, reflect on their learning outcome and processes, and get involved in continuous interaction and communication with their classmates, teachers, and others both within the borders of the classroom and out of them (Kusaka & Robertson, n.d.). One of the possible classroom activities speculated to make a contribution to cultivating and raising critical thinking is collaborative assessment, whether teacher-student or student-student collaborative assessment. Additionally, second language writing has been unanimously considered as a highly complicated and frustrating skill, since language learners should manage to orchestrate a wide range of skills such grammar, vocabulary, mechanics, and content simultaneously to come up with a coherent piece of writing. In spite of its salient importance and frustrating complexity, Zhang (2008) holds that instructing second language writing “has been an overlooked and underrepresented aspect of L2 writing research” (p. 133). Thus, this study was set up to cast some empirical light on the effect of collaborative assessment on developing writing proficiency and critical thinking skills in Iranian context. More specifically, the study addressed the following questions:

1. Does collaborative student-student assessment lead to any significant change in critical thinking of Iranian EFL intermediate learners?

2. Does involving in collaborative teacher-student assessment bring about any significant gains in critical thinking of Iranian EFL intermediate learners?

3. Is there any difference in the effect that student-student and teacher-student collaborative assessments impose on the gains in critical thinking of Iranian EFL intermediate learners?

4. Does collaborative student-student assessment bring about any gains in writing proficiency of Iranian EFL intermediate learners?

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5. Does collaborative student-student assessment give rise to any gains in writing proficiency of Iranian EFL intermediate learners?

6. Is there any difference in the effect that student-student and teacher-student collaborative assessments impose on the gains in writing proficiency of Iranian EFL intermediate learners?

3. Method 3.1 Participants and context This study was carried out in Iran where despite all compelling evidence for effectiveness of alternative assessment, the most prevalent approaches to evaluation are administered teacher-led which this case permeates through both formative and summative assessment at all education levels. Two intact classes of Iranian EFL students at intermediate level of language proficiency took part in this study. They enrolled in an English institute, but in two different branches, at the same time. They have covered the same materials with the same teacher over the past two years so it was supposed that they are somehow homogeneous. To gain more assurance, their achievement scores for the previous terms were consulted; it came to light that their means were not significantly different. The classes were randomly assigned as student-student collaborative assessment group (N = 18) and teacher-student collaborative assessment group (N = 18). It is worthy to point out that their age ranged from 15 to 18 years old. 3.2 Tasks Six IELTS writing tasks from the general module were selected and given to three groups. These tasks were chosen on the account that IELTS writing tasks enjoy acceptable degrees of validity and reliability (Charge & Taylor, 1997). Second, the participants were prospective IELTS test takers; therefore, doing these tasks was in line with their objectives. It was speculated that working on these tasks encourage the participants to take the tasks more seriously and involve themselves in collaborative assessment. 3.3 Tests Two writing tasks from the general module were considered as pre- and post-tests. As the pre-test both classes were asked to write an essay containing at least 150 words in 30 minutes. Both of them wrote their essays in class time without receiving any help from other peers or students. After the treatment, both groups sat for the post-test lasting for 30 minutes in class time. They were required to write an essay on the given task entailing at least 150 words. Test topics are as follows: Pre-test: Education is recognized as vital to the future of any society in today's world. Governments throughout the world should make education obligatory for all children between the ages of 5 and 15. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement? Post-test: The idea of going overseas for university study is an exciting prospect for many people. But while it may offer some advantages, it is probably better to stay home because of the difficulties a student inevitably encounters living and studying in a different culture. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement? Give reasons for your answer. 3.4 Analytical scoring checklist To help learners evaluate writing tasks more consistently and rationally, the scale developed by Jacob et al. (1981) was adopted in the current study. On the basis of the scale, the writing tasks are scored on five dimensions each of which bears different points: ‘content’ (30 points), ‘language use ‘(25 points), ‘organization’ (20 points), ‘vocabulary’ (20 points), and ‘mechanics’ (5 points). The analytical scoring was selected to serve the objective of the study on the account that they could “provide more detailed information about a test-takers performance in different aspects of writing” (Weigle, 2002, p.114); it is argued that analytical scoring facilitates rater training i.e. novice raters can more easily figure out how to give appropriate weight to different aspects of writing task; additionally, “analytical scoring is particularly useful for second-language learners, who are more likely show a marked or uneven profile across different aspects of writing (Weigle, p. 120). Another grounds on which the analytical scoring scale was opted for is providing the possibility for making more decisions on the part of raters; thus, the probability of provoking controversies over the scores between the first and second raters could be increased. In other words, holistic scoring allows learners to make only one decision while analytical scoring allows the learners to make five decisions on five dimensions of writings; thus, every decision can give rise to a cognitive conflict which are conducive to critical thinking and help the learners to gain a deeper insight into writing processes. 3.5. Critical thinking test The Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA) was used in this study to gauge learners’ critical thinking both prior and after the treatment. More specifically, form A of this test including ‘Inferences’, ‘Recognition of Assumptions’, ‘Deduction’, ‘Interpretation’ and ‘Evaluation of Arguments’, each category entailing 16 items with two to five alternatives, was employed . The test is not subject-specific and takes one hour to be answered. Watson and Glaser (1980) report that its test-retest reliability is acceptably high (r = 0.81) and, similarly, the reliability coefficient of its Persian translation estimated by Cronbach’s Alpha was very high (α = 0.85). This appraisal was adopted to fulfill the objectives of the current study on the ensuing grounds: first, “it has construct validity in that its five sections correspond closely to the primary skills identified by major theorists in the area” (Floyd, 2011, p. 292). Second, a good

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number of studies have provided convincing evidence for its considerable validity (e.g. Gadzella et al., 2006; Hashemi & Zabihi, 2012). 3.6 Procedures Once having received the participants’ consent to take part in the study, the Critical Thinking Appraisal was administered to both classes to answer in 60 minutes. Additionally, they were asked, as the writing pre-test, to write an essay containing at least 150. It is worthy to add that both classes sat for the pre-test in class without receiving any help from others. Later on, both classes were instructed how to evaluate writing according to an analytical scale since it is unanimously held that evaluation gets much fruitful for the students who know how to offer and use evaluative feedback (Berg, 1999; Min, 2006). For example, Stanley (1992) pointed out that the trained learners were more successful than untrained learners in giving precise responses and they were more ready to respond the feedback they received in revision phase. In each of the collaborative classes, the second researcher distributed and explained the checklist to students; then, a prepared sample of writing scored according to the analytical scoring checklist was given to both groups. The teacher elaborated on the reasons behind the given scores in detail. To hone their assessing skill, another piece of writing was given to the learners; upon the learners’ finishing scoring, the teacher wrote the scores he has allotted to different aspects of the writing on the board. Then, he asked the learners to compare both sets of scores and discuss the points of difference. They all were given time to put forward their arguments and defend their own scoring. The teacher tried to push them toward casting healthy doubt on both sets of scores by posing questions. In fact, the teacher endeavored to assist the learners to perceive all steps of collaborative writing assessment since it requires to be “modeled, explicitly taught, and controlled” (Reid, 1993, p. 157). Students were given another two pieces of writing scored analytical according to the scale to score and offer their reasons for assigning their scores. If a difference was found between the learners’ scores and those of the teacher, the learners had time in the following session to negotiate on the point of controversy with the teacher and defend their choices in class. Teacher-Student (T-S) collaborative assessment class was asked to write six pieces of writing which were initially scored by teacher on the basis of the analytical scale. Later on, the learners were asked to score their own writing according to the same scale and pinpoint where they disagree with teacher’s scores. Later on, each student was given three minutes to discuss the points of difference and defend his own position against teacher’s scores. They both worked in collaboration to settle differences and develop mutual intersubjectivity and agreement on the final score. In the cases that their attempts failed to reach mutual agreement, the learner was given the opportunity to sleep on it for a while and discuss it the other following session or send his/her arguments via email. For Student-Student (S-S) collaborative assessment group, the learners were supposed to write on the same six topics. Students’ pieces of writing were collected and distributed to their peers. Each student was asked to score his peer’s writing on the basis of the analytical scale given to them. They were cautioned to be fair and objectives since the papers would be reviewed by the teacher and in the case of flagrant carelessness or bias they would be discredited. In the next phase, each learner appraised his own writing on the basis of the scale and took on the points of difference in scoring. Finally, on two settings of four minutes learners given the opportunity to discuss the points of difference and reach a compromise. However, if their attempts failed to negotiate a compromise and mutual understanding, they were given the opportunity to discuss it for two minutes in the following session. After the study, a semi-structured interview was held with both classes to delve into their reactions to the use of collaborative assessment and their opinions about the merits and demerits of collaborative assessment. 4. Results and discussions 4.1 Results for the first and second questions The first two questions were raised to explore whether collaborative assessment can increase gains in critical thinking. In order to pinpoint whether both types of collaborative assessment could impose some effects on developing critical thinking skills, two paired-samples t-tests were conducted on the results. As viewed in Table 1, descriptive statistics for both t-tests revealed that collaborative assessment has made a change in the gains in critical thinking for both groups. Table 1. Descriptive statistics for the effect of collaborative assessment types on CT

Mean N Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

Pair 1 CT Pre-t of S-S 29 18 5.88 1.38

CT Post-t of S-S 41.50 18 6.27 1.47

Pair 2 CT Pre-t of T-S 28.66 18 5.56 1.31

CT Post-t of T-S 33.50 18 6.46 1.52

Additionally, the inferential statistics unveiled that both types of collaborative assessment gave rise to significant gains in critical thinking. The first paired-samples t-test was run to evaluate the effect of S-S collaborative assessment on critical thinking. There was a statistically significant increase in critical thinking from Time 1 (M = 29, SD = 5.88) to

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Time 2 (M = 41, SD = 6.27), t (17) = -20. 61, p < .05 (two-tailed). The eta squared statistic (.96) indicated a large effect size. The second paired-samples t-test showed that T-S collaborative assessment led to significant increase in gains in critical thinking from Time 1 (M = 28.66, SD = 5.56) to Time 2 (M = 33.50, SD = 6.46), t (17) = -6.40, p < .05 (two-tailed). Further, the eta squared statistic (.71) showed a large effect size. Table 2. The effect of collaborative assessment types on gains in CT

Mean Std.

Deviation Std. Error

Mean

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

Lower Upper Pair

1 CT Pre-t of S-S - CT Post-t of S-S -12.50 2.57 .60 -13.77 -11.22 -20.61 17 .00

Pair 2

CT Pre-t of T-S - CT Post-t of T-S -4.83 3.20 .75 -6.42 -3.24 -6.40 17 .00

The results of the paired-samples t-test revealed that S-S collaborative assessment has successfully managed to enhance critical thinking. This finding, in fact, gave more credence to the collaborative learning and assessment claim’s that cooperation has the potential to instill and improve critical thinking on the grounds that learners find opportunities o freely involve in reflective evaluation (Saito, 2008). The findings, further, can be explained on Rezaie et al.’s (2011) claim that involving learners in opportunities demanding self- and peer-assessment push them to grow and practice critical thinking skills; “Students should be given a chance to assess not only themselves but also others to enhance their critical thinking ability” (p. 775). Another possible reason behind the findings could be the fact that collaborative assessment sets the scene for self- and other evaluation on the basis of sound criteria and logically sufficient reasons supported with evidence. In fact, each of the learners had the chance to gather evident and establish an evaluative position about his peers or himself and be ready to defend his own position against probable arguments; therefore, the learner got involved in the components of critical thinking such as inferencing and evaluation. Additionally, collaborative assessment offered them opportunities to argue for or against an evaluative position. They were either question poser or replier. Collaborative assessment cultivated the ground for identifying the problems, analyzing the problem by resorting to inductive and deductive reasoning and working toward a mutual objective. That is, learners in both groups reviewed their writing in retrospect and compared and contrasted their own scores with those of the teacher or their peers; whenever they identified a distinct difference, they formulated it as a problem to be analyzed and elucidated by accruing data from different part of the text or the general picture of writing. These processes were cyclic and learners went through them in treatment time. They hone the skill to cast a healthy doubt on self- and other evaluation and do not take evaluation for granted. They grew the habit to ask questions and to be questioned about their evaluative judgments. Another plausible explanation behind the efficacy of collaborative assessment in enhancing critical thinking is its potential to provoke a discussion or debate among students. This genuine debate works as a strong impetus for cultivating and raising critical thinking skills since it is controversial and pertinent to class and syllabus, learners know about the points of discussion in advance so they can reflect upon it and formulate their arguments and defenses on the basis of solid evidence. The enumerated characteristics of discussions resulting from engaging in collaborative assessment are recognized as discussion features contributing to development of critical thinking (Rezaie et al., 2011). The results also can be attributed to the potential of collaborative assessment in involving learners in a kind of problem solving activity. Buskist and Irons (2008) articulate, in order to foster critical thinking, it is incumbent upon teachers to engage learners in problem solving both in and out of the classroom. It was observed that collaborative assessment pushed learners to detect the problems, elaborate on by relying on robust evidence, defend them against other opponent views and finally try to settle them down. It can be concluded that since collaborative assessment has a problem posing and problem solving nature, it can act as a stimulus to critical thinking. The results of the study, further, lend some support to Smith’s (1990) claim that involving or observing a situation demanding critical thinking and reasoning in an atmosphere on the basis of respect rather than power can assist critical thinking development. Collaborative assessment pave the ground for doing activities requiring critical reasoning and thinking in a friendly and respectful environment. 4.2 Results and discussion for the third question This question sought to compare the effect of two types of collaborative assessment on gains in critical thinking. To meet the objective of this question, an independent samples-t-test was conducted on the results for the critical thinking post-test. Descriptive statistics in Table 3 unveiled that there was a mean difference for gains in critical thinking as a result of collaborative assessment type.

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Table 3. Descriptive statistics for the effect of two types of collaborative assessment on CT

collaborative assessment

type N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean CT growth S-S 18 41.50 6.27 1.47

T-S 18 33.50 6.46 1.52 The independent samples t-test, as portrayed in Table 4, showed that there was a significant difference for S-S collaborative assessment (M = 41.5, SD = 6.27) and T-S collaborative assessment (M = 33.5, SD = 6.46); t (34) = 3.69, p < .05 (two-tailed). The magnitude of the differences in the means was very large (eta squared = .28). That is, the S-S collaborative assessment group significantly outperformed the T-S group in terms of development in critical thinking. Table 4. Comparing the effect of two types of collaborative assessment on CT

Levene's Test for Equality of Variances t-test for Equality of Means

F Sig. t df Sig. (2-tailed)

Mean Difference

Std. Error Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the

Difference Lower Upper

CT growth

Equal variances assumed .28 .59 3.76 34 .001 8.00 2.12 3.68 12.31

Equal variances not assumed

3.76 33.96 .001 8.00 2.12 3.68 12.31

This question intended to compare and contrast the effect of two kinds of collaborative assessment, namely, student-student and teacher-student collaborative assessment. The results of the study highlighted that S-S collaborative assessment was more conducive to fostering critical thinking skills. This finding is justifiable on some possible grounds. First, it was noticed that initially learners were more relaxed to challenge their peers’ evaluative judgments than those of their teacher, because they have been grown up in an education system that teachers have had the final say in evaluation. In Iranian education system, this is the teacher who is in charge of evaluation and learners are hardly ever allowed to take part in assessment and challenge teachers’ evaluative authority. Thus, as voiced by participants in T-S collaborative assessment, they thought that it was useless to disagree with teacher’s scores since he most probably would not change his minds; additionally, it was pointed out that the teacher is very skillful at scoring, so he rarely makes mistakes. One of the repetitive current themes in semi-structure interview was that teachers are skillful at evaluating and scoring students’ works. One of the students voiced that At the beginning of this method, it was really difficult for me to argue against teachers’ evaluative decisions

because I have never did so previously and I thought that it was impolite; further, I wondered whether the teacher would change his mind if I express my disagreement about his scoring. It took some time that I noticed the teacher is ready to listen to our complaints about the scoring and change the score in cases that we were right and argue logically and persuasively. When I talked to my classmates after the class, they pointed out that they had experienced the same concerns at the outset of the class. However, when we realized that the teacher pay respect and credit to those arguing for their own deserved score, we were prompted to evaluate our writing on the basis of the scale more attentively and discuss the identified points of difference with the teacher.

Though it took some time for T-S group to discuss the points of the difference, S-S group was more relaxed to challenge their peers’ evaluative judgments from the beginning of the class. The results of the interview indicated that learners in S-S group considered themselves equal to their own peers, so they expected their peers to make mistakes in evaluation process. Additionally, S-S group recurrently articulate that they believed that they could change their peers’ decisions, if their arguments rooted in logic and solid evidence. One of them, for instance, highlighted that, I thought that we could affect our peers with convincing reasons. Whenever I found a distinct difference

between my peers’ scoring and what I deserved to get, I collected required evidence by perusing my own writing and scoring it according to the checklist and easily discussed it in the next session.

Another explanation behind the superiority of S-S collaborative assessment over T-S collaborative assessment probably resides in the fact that S-S assessment involved learners in two evaluation phases i.e. self- and other-evaluation whereas T-S collaborative assessment deprives the learners of other evaluation processes. That is to say, S-S group initially had the opportunity to evaluate their peers’ writing and answer their questions, if any question was raised; later on, they were offered the opportunity to get engaged in their own evaluation and discuss the points of difference.

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To summarize, engaging in S-S collaborative assessment was more fruitful than T-S collaborative assessment in honing critical thinking skills owing to the fact that learners gain more opportunities to critically analyze their own work and received scores. 4.3 Results for the fourth and fifth Questions These two questions were raised to probe whether two types of collaborative assessment had any effect on gains in second language writing. Two paired samples t-tests were run on the results of pre- and post-test writing tests to fulfill the objectives of these two questions. Table 5. Descriptive statistics for the effect of collaborative assessment types on writing

Mean N Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean S-S

collaborative assessment

Writing Pre-t of S-S 41.33 18 5.90 1.39 Writing Post-t of S-S 64.55 18 8.65 2.04

S-T collaborative assessment

Writing Pre-t of T-S 41.27 18 6.14 1.44 Writing Post-t of T-S 55.16 18 7.51 1.77

The first sample t-test was carried out to evaluate the effect of S-S collaborative assessment on writing development. There was a statistically significant increase in writing proficiency from Time 1 (M = 41.33, SD = 5.9) to Time 2 (M = 64, SD = 8.65), t (17) = -21.68, p < .05 (two-tailed). The eta squared statistic (.96) indicated a large effect size. The second paired-samples t-test indicated that T-S collaborative assessment gave rise to significant increase in gains in writing from Time 1 (M = 41.33, SD = 6.14) to Time 2 (M = 55.16, SD = 7.51), t (17) = -14.27, p < .05 (two-tailed). Additionally, the eta squared statistic (.92) showed a very large effect size. That is to say, the changes in dependent variable are highly attractable independent variable, collaborative assessment. Table 6. The effect of collaborative assessment types on gains in writing

Paired Differences

t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean

Std. Deviation

Std. Error Mean

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

Lower Upper Pair

1 Writing Pre-t of S-S - Writing Post-t of S-S -23.22 4.55 1.07 -25.48 -20.95 -21.61 17 .00

Pair 2

Writing Pre-t of T-S - Writing Post-t of T-S -13.88 4.12 .97 -15.94 -11.83 -14.27 17 .00

The results for these questions provided some evidence for Saito’s claim that “peer involvement in assessment holds tremendous potential for learning” (Saito, 2008, p. 554). It seems possible that these gains were accrued due to the point, as mention by Saito, that involvement in collaborative assessment prompted reflective learning via observing self and others’ performances and getting more awareness about performance and evaluative criteria. Learners were inspired to evaluate and re-evaluate their own or peers’ writings reflectively on the basis of the scoring scale. Additionally, in line with Chau, these results can be ascribed to the fact that the learners managed to develop a critical awareness toward evaluative criteria. For example, one of them voiced that This study helped me to find out on which criteria my writing have been measured so far. Frankly speaking, I was unaware of such criteria prior to this class but involvement in collaborative assessment allowed me to compare teacher’s scoring with mine to get a better understanding of evaluating my writing. Previously I only received my paper with a score and some underlined parts or corrections. When knowing about the scale, I made my best to meet the criteria to improve my work and gain a high score. I am not merely concerned with grammatical accuracy while writing; I pay heed to vocabulary, content, cohesion and coherence, and mechanics. Further, from now on, I run my eyes over my writing to check to what extent I have observed the criteria before handing in my writings. Moreover, the findings are justifiable on the plausible grounds that involving in collaborative assessment equipped learner with a sense of shared responsibility. As pointed out about peer evaluation, cooperative assessment “encourages learners and teachers to regard assessment as a shared responsibility” (Azarnoosh, 2013, p. 8). Learners experienced that they had a say in evaluation process which is listened to and respected. This point was verified by a number of participants; as a good case in point, one of the learners put forward that

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I was really delighted to see that I have a right to participate in evaluating my own work and I had the opportunity to change my teacher’s score. It is very enjoyable to argue for what you deserve and see the fruits of your logical strong defense. When I convinced my teacher to change my score, I felt proud of myself.

In summary, the results can be explained by drawing on Azarnoosh’s argument that “focusing on peers' strengths and weaknesses can enhance students' learning, raise their level of critical thinking, and lead them to autonomy” (2013, p. 8). 4.4 Results and discussion for the sixth question This question aimed to compare the effect of S-S and T-S collaborative assessment on developing writing proficiency. As can be viewed in Table 7, descriptive statistics indicated that there is a difference between the means for post-test scores. Thus, the inferential statistics were consulted to see whether the difference was significant. Table 7. Descriptive statistics for the effect of two types of collaborative assessment on writing

collaborative assessment

type N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

WT growth 1 18 64.55 8.65 2.04 2 18 55.16 7.51 1.77

The results of independent-samples t-test demonstrated that there was a significant difference in scores for S-S collaborative assessment group (M = 64; SD = 8.65) and T-S collaborative assessment group, M = 55. 16, SD = 7.51; t (34) = 3.47, p < .05 (two-tailed). The magnitude of differences in the means (mean differences = 9.38, 95% CI: 3.89 to 14.88) was large (eta squared =. 41). Table 8. Comparing the effect of two types of collaborative assessment on writing

Levene's Test for Equality of Variances t-test for Equality of Means

F Sig. t df Sig. (2-tailed)

Mean Difference

Std. Error Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the

Difference Lower Upper

WT growth

Equal variances assumed .163 .68 3.47 34 .001 9.38 2.70 3.89 14.88

Equal variances not assumed

3.47 33.34 .001 9.38 2.70 3.89 14.88

The results for the superiority of S-S collaborative assessment over T-S collaborative assessment can be explained on the following reasons. The superiority of S-S collaborative assessment might be due to the fact that it opened the doors for the learners to detect strong and weak points of their peers’ writings and learn important lessons from them. This point is well manifested in one of the students’ words having the possibility to evaluate a good learner’s writing. I was lucky to read Saman’s writings two times. His works, in fact, showed the way of coherent writing to me.

He taught me how to make a link between my sentences and paragraphs. Whenever I put the pen to paper the other times, I visualized Saman’s writing. How he started, supported and finished his ideas emerged in my mind.

Another possible reason for outperformance of S-S group can be the time spent on collaborative assessment. Learners in S-S had about ten minutes to discuss the controversies over their own writing and their peer writings that they had scored while the learners in T-S had only three minutes to collaborate with the teacher to settle the conflicts. Additionally, as pointed out previously, the learners in the S-S collaborative assessment group were more inclined to collaborate with their peers rather than the learners in T-S collaborative assessment group to interact with their teacher. Therefore, having stronger inclination and more time offered the S-S group to perform better than T-S group. 5. Conclusions This study investigated the effect of two types of collaborative assessment on fostering critical thinking and writing proficiency. It came to light that S-S and T-S collaborative assessment were able to foster critical thinking and writing proficiency. Additionally, the results of the study revealed that S-S collaborative assessment was more effective than T-S collaborative assessment in developing critical thinking and writing proficiency.

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In light of the findings, language teachers are encouraged to instruct learners on how to carry out collaborative assessment and give more credence to S-S collaborative assessment which entails self- and peer-assessment as well as reflection. Further, materials developers are suggested to assign some parts to teaching the principles of collaborative assessment. However, a number of caveats need to be noted regarding the current study. First, this study lacked a control group; thus, it cannot be claimed that collaborative assessment is more effective than other types of assessment. Further, the sample included in the study was not selected randomly; therefore, the generalizability of the results should be done with caution. Finally, some fertile avenues for further research are worth mentioning. Due to dearth of empirical studies on the potential of collaborative assessment for fostering different dimensions and components of language learning processes, further research are required to explore this issue. Since this study was primarily quantitative in nature, qualitative investigation of dialogues during collaborative assessment can be a fruitful ground for prospective studies. Additionally, the effect of some individual factors such as gender and learners’ proficiency learners on collaborative assessment results is an interesting point for further investigation. Acknowledgments We take the opportunity to express our heartfelt thanks to the learners who wholeheartedly followed the procedures all throughout the study. References Arend, B. (2009). Encouraging critical thinking in online threaded discussions. Journal of Educators Online, 6(1), 1-23. Azarnoosh, M. (2013). Peer assessment in an EFL context: attitudes and friendship bias. Language Testing in Asia, 3 (11), 1-10. Berg, E. C. (1999). The effects of trained peer response on ESL students’ revision types and writing quality. Journal of Second Language Writing, 8, 225–241. Brown, H. D., & Abeywickrama, P. (2010). Language assessment. Principles and classroom practices (2 Ed.). White Plains, NY: Pearson Education. Buskist, W. & Irons G.J. (2008). Simple strategies for teaching your students to think critically. In D. S. Dunn, J. S. Halonen, and R. A. Smith (Eds.), Teaching critical thinking in psychology: a handbook of best practices (pp.49 -57). UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Cha, J. (2005). Effects of collaborative assessment on language development and learning. Language Learning Journal, 32, 27 - 37. Chance, P. (1986). Thinking in the Classroom: A Survey of Programs. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University. Charge, N., & Taylor, L.B. (1997). Recent developments in IELTS. ELT Journal, 51, (4), 374-380. Cheng, W., & Warren, M. (2005). Peer assessment of oral proficiency. Language Testing, 22, 93–121. Elder, L., & Paul, R. (2004). Critical thinking and the art of close reading (part IV). Journal of Developmental Education, 28(2), 36-37. Ennis, R. H. (1993). Critical thinking assessment. Theory into Practice, 32 (3), 179-186. Fahim, M., & Pezeshki, M. (2012). Manipulating Critical Thinking Skills in Test Taking. International Journal of Education, 1 (4), 153-160. Falchikov, N. (1986). Product comparisons and process benefits of collaborative peer group and self assessments. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 11, 146–165. Falchikov, N., & Goldfinch, J. (2000). Student peer assessment in higher education: A meta-analysis comparing peer and teacher marks. Review of Educational Research, 70, 287–322. Floyd, C. B. (2011). Critical thinking in a second language. Higher Education Research and Development, 30, 289–302. Gadzella, B. M., & Baloglu, M. (2003). Psychometric properties of Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal for a sample of education majors. Psychol Rep, 92 (3), 1249-1254. Gardner, H. (1999). 'Assessment in context'. In Murphy, P. (Eds.), Learners, learning and assessment (pp. 90-117). London: Paul Chapman Publishing. Gieve, S. (1998). Comments on Dwight Atkinson's "A critical approach to critical thinking in TESOL". TESOL Quarterly, 32(1), 123-129. Gokhale, A. A. (1995). Collaborative learning enhances critical thinking. Journal of Technology Education, 7 (1). Retrieved on Jan 14, 2008 from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/v7n1/pdf/gokhale.pdf.

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International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

The Roles of the Speed and Accuracy of Morphological Processing in the Reading Comprehension of Spanish-

Speaking Language Minority Learners

Jungjun Park (Corresponding author) Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Baylor University

PO Box 97332, Waco, TX 76798, United States Tel: 1-254-710-3289 E-mail: jungjun_park@baylor.edu

Rebecca Wiseheart

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, St. John’s University 8000 Utopia Parkway, Queens, NY 11439, United States

Tel: 1-718-990-2709 E-mail: wisehear@stjohns.edu

Michaela Ritter Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Baylor University

PO Box 97332, Waco, TX 76798, United States Tel: 1-254-710-4745 E-mail: michaela_ritter@baylor.edu

Received: 19-08-2013 Accepted: 27-09-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.12 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.12 This study was supported by two intramural grants from the Vice Provost for Research at Baylor University (Young Investigator Development Program and University Research Committee) awarded to the first author. Abstract This study examines morphological awareness performance in 27 low-SES Spanish-English bilingual students in Grades 4 through 7. Given that 1) reading fluency is a strong predictor of reading comprehension and 2) bilingual students with poor comprehension are often slow, albeit accurate readers, the primary goal of this study was to investigate the extent to which speed of morphological processing contributes to both reading fluency and reading comprehension in bilinguals. First, comparisons of accuracy and response times indicated that monolinguals significantly outperformed bilinguals on every measure. Further, hierarchical regression analyses showed that morphological processing speed makes significant, unique contributions to both text reading fluency and reading comprehension which are at least equal to those made by morphological processing accuracy. These results underscore the important role of morphological processing efficiency in reading comprehension and suggest that interventions targeting the speed of morphological processing may improve reading comprehension skills for bilingual students. Keywords: Morphological awareness, language-minority students, reading comprehension, reading fluency 1. Introduction 1.1 Overview The majority of American children who fail to meet public education standards in reading are children who either 1) live in poverty or 2) come from minority language households and are learning to speak English at the same time they are learning to read it (Lesaux, 2006); unfortunately, membership in the second category often overlaps with membership in the first category. These populations are at high risk for late emerging reading difficulties, especially in the area of reading comprehension (August & Shanahan, 2006; Kieffer & Lesaux, 2012; Lesaux & Kieffer, 2010). The enrollment of “language-minority” learners of English who are bilingual but with limited English proficiency has been increasing in early child education programs nationwide (Hernandez, Denton, & Macartney, 2007). Achievement data suggest that even though typically developing language-minority learners from low-income families in the primary grades can develop grade-appropriate word reading skills, their reading comprehension scores are often well below average for their grade-level (Menken, 2008). Indeed, these bilingual learners not only lag far behind their peers, but the gaps grow as children advance through the upper grade levels (Reardon & Galindo, 2006). Thus, understanding which components of reading comprehension are unique to bilingual students is critical to the task of creating high-quality reading education and effective intervention strategies. Towards that goal, our primary focus in this study is on a particular dimension of metalinguistic knowledge—derivational morphological awareness—that is now understood to be important for reading comprehension (Deacon,

IJALEL 3(1):12-27, 2014 13 2011; Deacon & Kirby, 2004; Roman, Kirby, Parrila, Wade-Woolley, & Deacon, 2009), especially in the later stages of reading development (Carlisle, 2000). We sought to investigate the nature and extent of the relationship between derivational morphological awareness and bilingual children’s reading skills. Specifically, we examined the unique and distinct contributions of the two constructs of morphological awareness (i.e., accuracy and speed) to reading fluency and reading comprehension for Spanish-English speaking bilingual learners from families of low socioeconomic status (SES). 1.2 Relationships between morphological awareness and reading skills In recent years researchers have given increasing attention to the cognitive underpinnings of word decoding and the importance of two relevant metalinguistic abilities for successful word-level reading: phonological awareness and morphological awareness. Phonological awareness refers to the ability to recognize, identify, and manipulate phonological units such as syllables, rimes, and phonemes and its pivotal role in the development of word reading is now clearly established in the literature and represents the most robust cause of early reading failure (Park & Lombardino, 2012; Park, Lombardino, & Ritter, 2013; Snow, Burns, Griffin, 1998; Wagner & Torgesen, 1987). The past decade has seen a resurgence of evidence that the ability to manipulate the internal structure of words (i.e., morphological awareness) is significantly related to reading skills beyond phonological awareness (Carlisle, 1995; Deacon & Kirby, 2004; Fowler & Liberman, 1995; Roman et al., 2009). Morphological awareness refers to the metalinguistic, conscious understanding that words are compiled of individual morphological units (i.e., morphemes) which can be analyzed, synthesized, and manipulated in various ways (Carlisle, 1995; Derwing, Smith, & Wiebe, 1995; Kuo & Anderson, 2006). Morphological units can be inflectional or derivational. Inflectional morphemes signal grammatical relationships such as plurality, possessive, and past tense (e.g., girl-s, girl-’s, walk-ed), whereas derivational morphemes form new words by changing the meaning of the root word (e.g., happy à un-happy) and often its grammatical category (e.g., home-less is the adjective form of the noun home). According to Koda, Takahashi, & Fender (1998), morphological composition or decomposition is clearly more systematic for inflectional morphemes than derivational morphemes. In other words, inflectional formation is straightforward since there is a one-to-one correspondence between inflectional morphemes and the distinct grammatical functions (e.g., ‘-ed’ always signals past tense), whereas derivational formation sometimes requires sophisticated knowledge of fairly complex one-to-many correspondence between morphemes and their meanings (e.g., noun formation through multiple suffixes such as -ance, -ment, -tion, -ity, -al, or negative word formation through multiple prefixes such as dis-, a-, in-, im-, ir-, un-, anti-, non-). Although limited in quantity and scope, the current research on morphological awareness with monolingual English-speaking students above third grade shows that morphological awareness is a significant predictor of both word reading (Carlisle, 2000; Carlisle & Katz, 2006; Fowler & Liberman, 1995; Roman et al., 2009; Singson, Mahony, & Mann, 2000; Verhoeven, Baayen, & Schreuder, 2004) and reading comprehension (Carlisle, 2000; Deacon & Kirby, 2004; Nagy, Berninger, & Abbott, 2006; Tong, Deacon, Kirby, Cain, & Parilla, 2011) even when the confounding effects of phonological awareness and word level reading skills are controlled. Of note, Carlisle (2000) found that morphological awareness skills accounted for 43% and 55% of variance in reading comprehension for third graders and fifth graders, respectively. In the same vein, several recent bilingual studies have found that morphological processing skills of bilingual children are significantly lower than those of English-speaking monolingual controls (Carlo et al., 2004) and reading of derived words and performance on morphological awareness tasks correlate strongly with both word reading (Carlisle, 1995; McBride-Chang, Shu, Ng, Meng, & Penney, 2007; Zhang et al., 2010) and reading comprehension in bilingual children (Abu-Rabia, Share & Mansour, 2003; Kieffer & Lesaux 2008, 2010; McBride-Chang et al., 2003; Nagy, Berninger, & Abbott, 2006; Nagy, Berninger, Abbott, Vaughan, & Vermeulen, 2003; Pasquarella, Chen, Lam, Luo, & Ramirez, 2011, Ramirez, Chen-Bumgardner, Geva, & Kiefer, 2010; Shu, McBride-Chang, Wu, & Liu, 2006; Zhang & Koda, 2012). Though the precise relationship between morphological awareness and reading comprehension is still unclear (Kuo & Anderson, 2006), one possible explanation is that morphological decomposition, a process of parsing a polymorphemic word into a stem and constituent morphological affixes, is a critically important skill by which children can decipher the meaning of previously untaught words (Carlisle, 2007; Taft & Kougious, 2004). Once a base word and other affixes in a derived word are efficiently decomposed and recognized (e.g., internationally à inter-, -nation-, -al-, -ly), a synthesis of the meaning and grammatical functions of these morphological units will facilitate lexical inference (Koda, 2008). Thus, explicit morphological awareness is known to be one of the determinants of efficient lexical access at word- level (through morphological decomposition) that contribute to text- level understanding (reading comprehension). A further possible explanation is that morphological awareness supports reading comprehension by allowing the reader to quickly and efficiently extract semantic and syntactic information from derivational morphology, thereby freeing up cognitive resources for higher level reading comprehension processes, such as making textual inferences and constructing mental models (Kuo & Anderson, 2006; Kieffer et al., 2013). For example, knowledge that words with a common root share the same lexical core meaning would facilitate vocabulary learning and semantic inference (i.e., beauty-beautiful-beautify), as would knowledge of the various derivational morphemes expressing various functional or lexical meanings such as agent (i.e., teach-er, magic-ian), lexical relations (i.e., clue-less, dis-like), or part-of-speech (insert-ion, hand-ful). Academic textbooks above third grade are replete with derivationally complex words. Students in upper elementary grades are exposed to an increasing number of these morphologically complex unfamiliar words; indeed, by 5th grade, approximately 40% of new words children encountered in academic texts are polysyllabic derived words (Nagy, Osborn,

IJALEL 3(1):12-27, 2014 14 Winsor, & O’Flahavan, 1993). Hence, the relationship between morphological processing and reading achievement is one that may not be apparent in younger children but strengthens as children progress in school (Tong et al., 2011). Thus, to contribute to a growing body of research morphological underpinnings of reading, we focus on derivational morphology, which becomes increasingly important after Grade 3 once children begin “reading to learn”. 1.2 Limitations in previous research Several methodological issues limit our current understanding of how morphological awareness contributes to reading comprehension. First, there have been few systematic approaches to investigate the multifaceted aspects of morphological processing skills and their impacts on reading: the constructs of accuracy and speed. Unfortunately, most of morphological awareness research to date has focused primarily on the accuracy component of explicit morphological awareness tasks and understanding its relationship with reading skills. The reason for this is undoubtedly that measurement of speed of morphological processing present additional challenges to the researcher, who must use a software program and related devices while controlling for various technical issues in the design of experiments. Though several researchers have used timed reading of morphologically complex words as an indicator of morphological awareness, to our knowledge, only one study has directly investigated the role of speed of morphological processing (Leong, 2000). Using a computerized morphological awareness task (e.g. base-form production), Leong (2000) found that slower students had a tendency to perform lower on a standardized spelling test. Thus, there remains a dearth of evidence regarding the role of morphological processing speed in reading outcomes. In the present study, we used computerized multiple experimental formats for measuring both accuracy and speed components of morphological processing. The importance of rapid morphological processing is in line with Perfetti’s verbal efficiency theory (Perfetti, 1988), which emphasizes a strong association between speed of accurate word reading and text comprehension. Similarly, our approach implicates not only explicit awareness of derivational morphology, but also automaticity or efficiency of morphological processing as being intricately involved in reading comprehension. Secondly, only a few bilingual studies (Goodwin et al., 2011; Kieffer, Biancorosa, & Macilla-Martinez, 2013; Ramirez, et al., 2011) have focused on the relationship between derivational morphology and outcome measures of text level reading fluency. Thus, it is still unknown whether or not morphological awareness has effects on reading efficiency beyond the lexical level (Keiffer, et al., 2013). The few studies examining the effects of morphological awareness on text level fluency in Spanish-speaking bilingual children report mixed results. While Ramirez and her colleagues (2011) found a direct relationship between morphological awareness and reading fluency, Goodwin et al. (2011) found the relationship to be mediated by vocabulary. Most recently, Kieffer and colleagues (2013) showed that morphological awareness made an indirect contribution to reading comprehension through both vocabulary and text fluency, but not via word reading fluency, implicating that morphological awareness may affect single word reading differently from reading of connected text. Given the well-established relationship between text reading fluency and reading comprehension (Dowhower 1987; Fuchs, Fuchs, Hosp, & Jenkins, 2001; Strong, Wehby, Falk, & Lane, 2004; Tractenberg, 2002), along with the fact that over 60% of bilingual readers demonstrate slow yet accurate reading performance (Lesaux & Kieffer, 2010), understanding the effects of morphological awareness skills on reading fluency in bilinguals clearly has far-reaching practical implications. Based on the conjecture that fluent text reading would require rapid morphological decomposition of words so that the visual analysis of the constituent morphemes can be mapped into lexical representation within minimal time, we hypothesize that that the two constructs of morphological processing (i.e., accuracy and speed) are dissociable and have distinct effects on reading fluency. Finally, previous research has primarily used tasks in which the test items were presented only orally rather than in written form. Given that explicit knowledge of printed morphemic units is an important construct of morphological awareness and the association between morphological awareness and literacy skills would be most clearly demonstrated when the test items are presented in written form, studies employing written morphological awareness tasks are warranted. To better understand the impact of graphomorphological awareness (i.e., morphological awareness as it relates to written language; Nagy, Kuo-Kealoha, Wu, Li, Anderson, & Chen, 2002) on reading outcomes, we employed two written production tasks of morphological awareness: Morpheme Blending and Morpheme Generation. 1.3 The present study To summarize, it has been established that morphological awareness predicts reading comprehension in bilingual learners and this relationship is probably mediated by vocabulary. It is also well established that 1) language-minority learners are often accurate but slow readers and 2) deficits in reading speed can lead to deficits in reading comprehension. So, in addition to poor morphological awareness, slow processing of written morphology may also contribute to reading comprehension difficulties in these children. The current study was designed to investigate the contribution of derivational morphological knowledge to text reading fluency and comprehension focusing on both accuracy and speed (i.e., processing latency) measures in a group of Spanish-speaking language-minority learners in the upper elementary grades (i.e., Grade 4 to 7) using two experimental written morphological awareness tasks. Specifically, we examined the extent to which the contributions of these two constructs of morphological processing to reading fluency and reading comprehension are separable and distinct in these bilingual students. The present study addresses several methodological issues in previous studies by employing only written morphological tasks rather than oral ones and by using chronometric production tasks. Analyzing both accuracy and reaction time (RT) scores generated by two computerized experimental procedures, this study was designed to address the following research questions:

IJALEL 3(1):12-27, 2014 15 1. Controlling for grade, how do the measures of accuracy and speed of morphological processing in Spanish-

speaking bilingual language-minority learners compare to that of English-speaking monolingual controls? 2. To what extent does the accuracy of morphological processing affect bilingual language-minority learners’

performances in reading fluency and reading comprehension over and above the contributions made by nonverbal IQ, grade, phonological awareness, vocabulary, and word-level reading?

3. To what extent does the speed of morphological processing affect bilingual language-minority students’ performances in reading fluency and reading comprehension over and above the contributions made by nonverbal IQ, grade, phonological awareness, vocabulary, and word-level reading?

2. Method 2.1 Participants A total of 54 children who were enrolled in local public schools in a southwestern area of the U.S. participated in this study. Children were recruited for one of two groups: Spanish-English speaking bilingual students (BL group, n = 27) and monolingual controls speaking English only (ML group, n = 25), who were matched to bilingual participants on age, gender, and nonverbal IQ as closely as possible. Participants ranged in age from 9;3 (years;months) to 13;1 (M = 11;6, SD = 1;4) and were enrolled in fourth through seventh grade. The average grade was 5;5 (SD = 1;4). As noted earlier, the choice of grades 4 to 7 is linked to the children’s extensive exposure to written texts containing a plethora of morphological complex words and the pedagogical emphasis on explicit morphological instruction about target derivational morphemes in these grades. Informed consent was obtained in compliance with our institutional review board’s guideline for the protection of human subjects. Each participant was compensated $20 for their participation. General criteria. Participants in both groups had to meet the following inclusion criteria: (a) no reported history for frank neurological damage, and emotional/psychological disability; (b) normal nonverbal intelligence skills; (c) no identified needs for special education per parent report; (d) scores within the normal range on measures of English oral language in order to guarantee that they had appropriate language skills for participating in experimental tasks in English; and (e) passed a pure-tone hearing screening at 25 dB HL (i.e., American National Standards Institute, 1989) at 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz at the time of testing. The Test of Nonverbal Intelligence - 4th Edition (TONI-4; Brown, Sherbenou, & Johnsen, 2010) was administered to assess participants’ cognitive abilities. For children in the BL group, the group mean was 101.7 (SD = 11.81) and for those in the ML group, the mean was 107.2 (SD = 12.83). Participants’ receptive and expressive spoken language skills in English were assessed using the four core subtests of the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-4 (CELF-4; Semel, Wiig, Secord, 2004), including Concepts and Following Directions, Recalling Sentences, Formulating Sentences, and Word Classes. The test results indicated that all children possessed language skills within the normal range as indexed by standard composite language scores. For children in the BL group, the group mean was 94.92 (SD = 8.85), and for those in the ML group, the group mean was 103.11 (SD = 12.83). Participants’ characteristics on demographic and background variables are shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Participants’ characteristics on demographic and background variables Variables BL group (n = 27) CA group (n = 25) Gender (male/female) 13/14 12/13 Parental SESa 3.1 (1.29) 7.2 (2.51) Age (year;months)b 10;8 (1;5) 11;2 (1;4) TONI-4b 101.7 (11.81) 107.2 (12.83) TVIPb 94.95 (16.17) N/A CELF-4 (CLS)b 96.92 (11.11) 103.11 (12.83) n for each grade 4th grade 10 11 5th grade 8 8 6th grade 8 5 7th grade 1 1 Note. TONI-4 = Test of Nonverbal Intelligence - 4th Edition; TVIP = Test de Vocabulario en Imagenes Peabody. CELF-4 (CLS) = Composite Language Score on the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-4. aMeasured by Hollingshead (1975)’s 9-point Occupational Status Scale (means and standard deviations). bmean (standard deviation).

Bilingual participants. A total of 27 Spanish-speaking bilingual children (13 males, 14 females) who met the eligibility criteria participated in this study. First, these children had experienced early sequential bilingualism. Early sequential bilinguals are defined as children who were dominantly exposed to a single minority language from birth as a first and primary language (L1) and began to learn L2 (English) as the dominant language after they had been enrolled in English-only instructional programs at age 4 to 6 (Kohnert, Bates, & Hernandez, 1999; Jia, Kohnert, Collado, & Aquino-Garcia, 2006). These bilingual participants in our study received formal school instruction in English beginning in Kindergarten and had approximately 4 to 8 years of consistent exposure to English. In their classrooms, use of Spanish was minimal and the focus was not on Spanish language and literacy development.

IJALEL 3(1):12-27, 2014 16 Second, participants in the BL group came from families of low-SES. In this study, SES was coded using Hollingshead (1975)’s 9-point Occupational Status Scale for the occupation for the primary income-maker in the household. The Hollingshead Occupational Scale ranges from 1 (menial jobs) to 9 (major professional jobs). The mean SES score for the bilingual subject was 3.1 (SD = 1.29), corresponding to the lower SES category. In addition, 79% of children in this group were enrolled in their school’s free or reduced price lunch program. Third, bilingual participants were required to have standard scores no less than 1 SD on a Spanish receptive vocabulary test to rule out the potential for language learning difficulty in their L1. The Test de Vocabulario en Imagenes Peabody (TVIP; Dunn, Padilla, Lugo, & Dunn, 1986) was administered by two bilingual testers to assess Spanish receptive vocabulary. The TVIP is a standardized single word receptive vocabulary test for Spanish. Norms for the TVIP were developed with Spanish-speaking monolingual students in Mexico and Puerto Rico. The BL group’s mean standard score on the TVIP was 94.95, SD = 16.17 (range = 86.7 to 122). Last, these children ranged between the ages of 9;9 and 13;7 (years;months), with a mean age of 10;8 (SD = 1;5). Parental and child interviews indicated that Spanish was the primary language used by the family. Parents’ interview also indicated that the majority of participants (i.e., 92%) were from working-class families who spoke a Mexican dialect of Spanish. Monolingual participants. Twenty five monolingual controls (12 males, 13 females) came from English-speaking homes. They had not been exposed to other languages either in the home or at school. None of these children had any history of developmental difficulties in the areas of speech, language, reading, or general cognition. These children ranged between the ages of 9;3 and 13;3 (years;months), with a mean age of 11;2 (SD = 1;4). The ethnic make-up of the control group participants was 24 (96 %) Anglo and 1 (4 %) Asian American. The Hollingshead (1975) index of SES indicated a predominantly upper middle-class sample (M = 7.2; SD = 2.51). Independent sample t-test revealed no significant differences between the two groups for all nonverbal IQ and chronological age. However, because we deliberately selected bilingual participants from low SES families, participating families’ SES was significantly higher in the CA group than the BL group (p < .01). 2.2 Measures To answer our first research question, participants in both groups were administered a battery of experimental tasks of morphological awareness. Additionally, bilingual subjects were administered a battery of standardized tests of reading fluency (word- and text-level) and reading comprehension along with three control variables that were used in the regression analyses on literacy measures (i.e., receptive vocabulary, phonemic awareness, and untimed word reading accuracy). 2.2.1 Morphological awareness Two computerized written tasks of morphological awareness were used to measure children’s knowledge of English derivational morphology: Morpheme Blending and Morpheme Generation. Both tests were run on a software program, DirectRT version 2012 (Empirisoft Corporation, 2012) installed in an IBM laptop computer (Dell Latitude 6400). For both tasks, each participant was seated in a normally illuminated room facing a 21-inch computer monitor. Participants wore a set of headphones (Sony MDR-7506), through which detailed oral instructions and examples were provided. These oral instructions were recorded by a female native speaker of American English in a sound-proof room. All of the written trial and testing items were presented on the monitor using 24-point Arial font. A highly sensitive microphone attached to the headphone detected the participants’ verbal responses and relayed RTs to the computer. The subjects were instructed to say the words as quickly as possible without sacrificing accuracy. For both tasks, a set of 6 practice trials were provided. The examiner repeated these practice items as many times as needed until the participant completely understood the task. Accidental voice key activations, voice key failures, or incidental verbal responses were recorded by the tester. Both accuracy scores and RT measures were obtained for each correctly answered trial. Time taken from initial presentation of written stimulus to onset of verbal production was the RT. In order to ensure that these tests measured the participants’ morphological awareness rather than vocabulary knowledge and reading skills, all stimuli words were taken from a third grade history textbook. Each trial began with five, 500-ms fixation dots at the center of the monitor and a short beeping sound. The stimulus item immediately followed the dot and remained on the screen for 6000 ms, or until the participant provided a verbal response, whichever was shorter. RTs times longer than these cutoff points were coded as ‘no response’ and DirectRT presented the next item automatically. The interstimulus interval was 1000 ms before the presentation of the next fixation dots. Morpheme Blending. The Morpheme Blending task adopted from Casalis, Colé, and Sopo (2004) measured each participant’s morphological combination ability. On this task, two or three incorrectly sequenced morphemes were presented on the computer monitor simultaneously. These morphemes consisted of one base morpheme and one or two derivational affixes (e.g., ly, friend à friendly; ble, un, comfort à uncomfortable). The participants were instructed to reorder and combine these morphemes to construct a new derivational word, and pronounce the word as quickly as possible. Each participant was provided with 6 practice items, which were followed by the 40 experimental items presented in four experimental blocks of 10 items. Participants received one point for each correctly answered item and the total points were 40. Split-half reliability of the accuracy and scores measured by Spearman-Brown corrected coefficients were adequate for the whole group (Cronbach’s alphas = .86 and .82) and for the BL group (Cronbach’s alphas = .84 and .81) and the ML group (Cronbach’s alphas = .87 and .82), respectively. The 40 testing items are shown in the appendix A. Morpheme Generation. The second morphology awareness task, Morpheme Generation, was also a written task. This

IJALEL 3(1):12-27, 2014 17 task was adapted from the Derivational Suffix Test (Mahony, 1994; Singson, Mahony, & Mann, 2000), which has been used frequently in the literature (Apel, & Thomas-Tate, 2009; Carlisle, 1995; Folwer & Liberman, 1995; Kieffer & Lesaux, 2012). First, the participants were asked to silently read an isolated base word and then complete an incomplete sentence containing a blank at the end by saying aloud a morphological derivative of the base morpheme (e.g., “humor”, “His joke was very ___”). For each trial, both the base word and the frame sentence were presented simultaneously on a computer monitor. The test comprised 24 written items in addition to 6 practice items. Speed of morphological generation as well as accuracy of the verbal responses was assessed. Each correctly derived word received one point and the total point of this test was 24. Among these 24 items, only 6 of the answers required a phonological change of the base word (e.g., science à scientist) and the remaining items did not. To prevent placing an unnecessary verbal memory load, all of the frame sentences were shortened and grammatically simplified. This task also showed adequate estimates of split-half reliability coefficients for the accuracy and RT scores (with Spearman-Brown correction) for the whole group (Cronbach’s alphas = .81 and .80) and for the BL group (Cronbach’s alphas = .79 and .78) and the ML group (Cronbach’s alphas = .82 and .81), respectively. The 24 testing items are shown in the appendix B. 2.2.2 Reading measures Word-level reading fluency. To assess word reading fluency for single words, a subtest of the Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE; Wagner, Torgesen, & Rashotte, 1999a), Version A, was administered: Sight Word Efficiency (SWE). On the SWE subtest, participants are asked to read aloud as many words as possible in a limited time (i.e., 45 seconds). The SWE subtest is a reliable measure of accuracy and speed in reading phonetically regular and irregular words. Split-half reliability coefficients for students age 9 to 13 exceed .90. Text-level reading fluency. We administered the Gray Oral Reading Test-4 (GORT-4; Wiederholt & Bryant, 2001) to assess the text reading fluency. The GORT-4 consists of 12 reading passages that increase in the length and complexity of sentences, grammatical structures, and vocabulary level. In this standardized, norm-referenced test, reading fluency is represented as a composite score of two components: rate and accuracy. The participants’ reading of the passage is timed in seconds (i.e., a measure of rate), and the number of deviations from the printed text while reading (i.e., a measure of accuracy) is recorded. The publisher reports high split-half reliability of .92 for the fluency measures. Reading comprehension. Students also completed an untimed standardized test of reading comprehension, Passage Comprehension subtest from the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test–Revised (WRMT-R, Form H; Woodcock, 1987), which measured silent reading comprehension. For this subtest, the participants were asked to read a short paragraph silently and provide a missing word to fill in the blank in the printed paragraph. Mean split-half reliability coefficient for students aged 9 to 13 exceeds .09. 2.2.3 Control variables Scores on the following tests were used as control variables in the regression analyses. Receptive vocabulary task. We administered the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Fourth Edition Form A (PPVT-4; Dunn & Dunn, 2006) to assess the participant’s comprehension of single words by requiring them to point to a colored picture that corresponds to the word orally presented by the tester. According to the test manual, the PPVT-4 has an excellent average split-half reliability of .93 across age. Phonemic awareness task. We used the Elision subtest from the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP; Wagner, Torgesen, & Rashotte, 1999b), in which children were asked to listen to a spoken word, delete a syllable or phoneme in either the initial, final, or medial position of the word, then produce the new word. The CTOPP has an average reliability coefficient of .82. Untimed word reading accuracy. The Word Identification subtest of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-Revised, Form H (WRMT-R; Woodcock, 1987), was selected to control for the effect of word reading accuracy on text-level reading measures. This subtest consists of 106 words that varied in spelling-to-sound regularity and familiarity. Participants are asked to read isolated single words in an untimed manner. Testing is discontinued after six consecutive errors. Students earn 1 point for each correctly pronounced word. The split-half reliability for grades 1 to 9 ranges from .91 to .98. 2.3 Procedures and interrater reliability The participants were assessed in the spring and the fall of the school year. Both initial screening for inclusion criteria and subsequent testing were conducted by one of five trained graduate research assistants, who were majoring in communication sciences and disorders. These graduate examiners participated in six, two-hour training sessions that included specific instruction on test administration. Testing was administered individually over two sessions in a quiet therapy room. Each session took approximately 75 min to complete and the order of test administration was counterbalanced. In order to ensure the quality and fidelity of the research, all testing sessions were supervised by two speech-language pathologists who were certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) for a minimum of 50 % of the time. Additionally, two trained reliability coders checked the raw and standard scores for 50% of the entire sample and conducted an item-by-item comparison of their respective responses to each item administered in the battery. A reliability score was calculated for each variable by dividing the number of agreements by the number of disagreements plus agreements and multiplying by 100. Interrater agreement was 95.2% agreement for raw scores and 98.5% agreement for standard scores.

IJALEL 3(1):12-27, 2014 18 3. Results 3.1 Data treatment and statistical analysis Prior to the statistical analyses, the following types of unusable RTs were eliminated. First, RTs obtained from trials in which the participant’s vocal response failed to trigger the voice key or accidental extraneous sound activated the voice key were removed. Second, RTs from outlier trials were also removed from the data. In this study, two categories of outlier trials were considered: (1) lower outliers defined as any RTs shorter than 100 ms and (2) upper outliers defined as RTs that were two standard deviations longer than the mean RT. Thus, 57 out of 3,328 items (1.7%) were considered as mechanical errors (37 items) or outliers (20 items). After excluding all outliers and unusable RTs associated with mechanical errors, mean RTs for correct responses and accuracy scores (percentage of correct items) were calculated across subjects. The two groups’ accuracy scores were distributed well above the level of chance (i.e., 50%) for both morphological awareness tasks. Indeed, initial Shapiro–Wilk tests for normality revealed that they were not normally distributed, so an arcsine transformation was applied to the proportions of accurate responses. Similarly, a log transformation was applied to the RT data because statistical examinations of the RT scores revealed that these data were not normally distributed as well. All statistical analyses were performed using the transformed data. 3.2 Group performance on morphological awareness tasks A summary of data for morphological awareness tasks is provided in Table 2, including means and standard deviations for the accuracy and RT responses broken down by group and task. Table 2. Morphological awareness data (means and standard deviation) in terms of percentage accuracy and reaction times (RTs) for correct responses, F-statistics, and effect sizes

Morphological awareness tasks

Group Fa p ηρ2 BL ML

M SD M SD Morpheme Blending Accuracy (%) 91.65 4.35 95.43 3.69 7.765 .008 .137 RT 2574.44 639.46 1735.68 580.95 18.159 .000 .270 Morpheme Generation Accuracy (%) 83.73 7.79 91.00 7.67 19.624 .000 .186 RT 4520.07 950.36 3253.76 971.92 19.908 .000 .292 Note. Reaction times (RTs) are in milliseconds. BL = bilingual group (n=25), ML = monolingual controls (n = 27). aF statistics in the analyses of covariance (df1 = 1, df2 = 49). To test whether the two groups differed on morphological awareness skills, accuracy and RT data were analyzed separately using a one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) in which participants’ grade was the covariate. Even though the two groups did not significantly differ in age, participants’ grade was covaried because morphological awareness measures have a strong dependence on the amount of exposure to complex words in written text (Carlisle, 2003). Only correct responses were analyzed for RT. An a priori alpha level of .05 was set for the detection of significant group differences and partial eta squared (ηρ2) was calculated to reflect the strength of the significance (Cohen, 1988). Accuracy Data. Results of one-way ANCOVAs for accuracy scores indicated significant main group effects for both tasks, F (1,49) = 7.765, p = .008 (Morpheme Blending) and F (1,49) = 19.624, p < .001 (Morpheme Generation). As expected, even though the two groups’ percentage scores had almost reached ceiling for both experimental tasks, the overall performance of the BL group was significantly less accurate than that of the ML group on both morphological awareness tasks under time pressure. Of note, a slightly larger effect size was noted for Morpheme Generation task (i.e., BL: 85.41% accuracy; ML: 91.65% accuracy; ηρ2 = .186) than Morpheme Blending task (i.e., BL: 91.75% accuracy; ML: 95.43% accuracy; ηρ2 = .137), suggesting that Morpheme Generation task was more difficult to perform for bilingual participants due to the complexity of generating a new derivational word appropriated for a certain semantic context. RT Data. Further, one-way ANCOVAs for RT data revealed that there were significant RT differences between the two groups for both Morpheme Blending, F (1,49) = 18.159, p < .001 (BL group: M = 2574.44, SD = 639.56; ML group: M = 1735.68, SD = 580.96), and Morpheme Generation, F (1,49) = 19.9108, p < .001 (BL group: M = 4372.07, SD = 950.36; ML group: M = 3253.76, SD = 971.92), indicating that the BL group was significantly slower than the ML group on both tasks. The effect sizes were of small magnitude for both tasks, but the effect for the Morpheme Generation task was slightly larger (ηρ2 = .312) than that for Morpheme Blending (ηρ2 = .270). 3.3 Bivariate correlations The second and third questions concerned the relationship between bilingual participants’ morphological awareness and reading measures. Table 3 presents the means and standard deviations of the BL group on the reading measures and selected control variables.

IJALEL 3(1):12-27, 2014 19 Table 3. Means and standard deviations of reading measures and control variables for regression analyses (only for the bilingual participants)

Tasks M SD

Reading variables Word-level fluency (TOWRE)a 102.52 12.76 Text-level fluency (GORT-4) 8.56 3.01 Reading comprehension (WRMT-R)b 95.15 10.55 Control measures for regression Nonverbal intelligence (TONI-4) 101.70 11.81 Receptive vocabulary (PPVT-4) 96.63 15.04 Phonological awareness (CTOPP) 9.15 3.51 Word identification (WRMT-R) 96.30 11.97 Note. TOWRE = Test of Word Reading Efficiency; GORT-4 = Gray Oral Reading Test-4; WRMT-R = Woodcock Reading Mastery Test–Revised; PPVT-4 = Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-4 Form A; CTOPP = Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing. aSight Word Efficiency subtest of the TOWRE. bPassage Comprehension subtest of the WRMT-R.

Table 4 is a matrix of partial intercorrelations, controlling for participants grade, among the measures of reading, morphological awareness, and control variables (e.g., phonological awareness, grade, nonverbal IQ, vocabulary, and word-level reading accuracy). Modest to high correlations were found between measures of morphological awareness and reading skills and most correlations were significant. The only nonsignificant correlation was noted between word reading fluency and Morpheme Blending accuracy. In particular, accuracy scores for both morphological awareness tasks were significantly correlated with the reading comprehension subtest (i.e., Passage Comprehension), with r’s ranging from .60 to .63. Slightly smaller but similar strength of correlations were noted between accuracy scores and text reading fluency (i.e., GORT-4 Fluency), with r’s ranging from .51 to .59. Further, the accuracy component of morphological awareness showed somewhat weaker relationship with word reading fluency (i.e., TOWRE SWE) (r ranging from .37 to .44). Impressively, RT scores on both tests showed significant and negative correlations with all of the reading measures (r ranging from -.41 to -.66, ps < .01). It was specifically predicted that the processing latency measures (i.e., RT scores) would show stronger correlations with the reading fluency measures than the accuracy scores. As expected, an inspection of the coefficients revealed that RT scores have significant correlations of highest magnitude with the text reading fluency scores (i.e., GORT-4), r ranging from -.59 to -.66 (ps < .01). The correlations between RT scores and the word reading fluency scores (i.e., TOWRE) were significant but not as strong (r = -.41 to -.46, ps < .01). Of note, the RT scores were more strongly correlated with text reading comprehension (r = -.57 to -.58, ps < .01) than word-level reading fluency. RT scores on the Morpheme Generation test tended to have stronger correlations with all three reading measures (r = -.46 to -.66, ps < .001) than those on the Morpheme Blending task (r = -.41 to -.59, ps < .01). 3.4 Hierarchical regression analysis A series of hierarchical regression analyses were conducted for the BL group to determine unique variance explained by morphological awareness measures. In order to assess the unique variance accounted for by each construct of morphological awareness, we aggregated performance on the four morphological awareness measures into two composite scores (i.e., Accuracy and RT composites). These composite scores were generated by computing z scores for each task. The z scores for the accuracy and RT measures were then averaged across the tasks to create composite accuracy and RT composite scores, respectively. The order of the variables entered in the regression equation was as follows. The nonverbal IQ scores (i.e., TONI-4) and grade were entered in Step 1. In Step 2, scores on receptive vocabulary task (i.e., PPVT-4) were entered to control for the influence of vocabulary skills in text comprehension and reading fluency. In Step 3, scores on the Elision (CTOPP) were entered to control for the effects of phonological awareness. Composite scores on the morphological awareness tasks were entered in Step 4 interchangeably to evaluate whether it could add to the explanation of variance in reading fluency and reading comprehension over and above the effect of background variables and reading-related predictors (thus there were two separate regression models for each reading outcome). The results of the regression analyses are presented in Table 5 and Table 6. For each of the three reading variables, we report the standardized beta coefficient from the step at which the predictor was first entered the regression model and the proportion of incremental variance at each step. The bottom two lines show the effect of each morphological awareness variable entered interchangeably at the last step.

IJALEL 3(1):12-27, 2014 20

Table 5. Results of hierarchical regression analyses predicting reading outcomes

Steps Predictors

Word reading

fluency

(TOWRE SWE)

Text reading fluency

(GORT-4)a

Text

comprehension

(WRMT-R)b

β ΔR2 β ΔR2 β ΔR2

1. .08* .11* .08*

Nonverbal IQ (TONI-4) .37* .38* .36*

Grade .26 .06 .11

2. Receptive vocabulary (PPVT-4) .62* .15* .79** .29** .74** .31**

3. Phonemic awareness (CTOPP) .47** .14** .41** .11** .44** .07*

4a. Composite accuracy (MA) .05 .02 .33** .09** .29** .07**

4b. Composite RT (MA) -.21* .05* -.36** .11** -.29** .07**

Note. TONI-4 = Test of Nonverbal Intelligence - 4th Edition; PPVT-4 = Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-4; CTOPP = Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing; TOWRE SWE = Sight Word Efficiency subtest of the Test of Word Reading Efficiency; GORT-4 = Gray Oral Reading Test-4; WRMT-R = Woodcock Reading Mastery Test–Revised; MA = morphological awareness aGORT-4 Fluency composite scores. bPassage Comprehension subtest. *p < .05; ** p < .01.

Table 6. Results of hierarchical regression analyses predicting text-level reading outcomes with word reading accuracy variable as an additional predictor variable

Steps Predictors Text reading fluency

(GORT-4) Text comprehension

(WRMT-R) β ΔR2 β ΔR2

1. .11* .08* Nonverbal IQ (TONI-4) .38* .36* Grade .06 .11

2. Receptive vocabulary (PPVT-4) .79** .27** .84** .31** 3. Phonemic awareness (CTOPP Elision) .41** .11** .44** .07* 4. Word reading accuracy (Word Identification) .81** .28** .71** .21** 5a. Composite accuracy (morphological awareness) .21* .05* .29* .02* 5b. Composite RT (morphological awareness) -.39* .06* -.31* .02*

Note. TONI-4 = Test of Nonverbal Intelligence - 4th Edition; PPVT-4 = Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-4; CTOPP = Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing; GORT-4 = Gray Oral Reading Test-4; WRMT-R = Woodcock Reading Mastery Test–Revised. *p < .05; ** p < .01.

IJALEL 3(1):12-27, 2014 21 The first three steps accounted for between 27 to 46% of the unique variance of the outcome variables. Consistent with previous research (Beck & McKeown, 1990; Torgesen, Rashotte, & Alexander, 2001), vocabulary contributed a significant amount of variance in text reading fluency (27%) and text comprehension (31%). Most importantly, the hierarchical regression analyses revealed first that the RT composite explained unique variance for all reading variable after controlling for the effects nonverbal IQ, grade, vocabulary, and phonemic awareness. Specifically, the highest amount was for the GORT-4 scores (11%, p < .01), a task most clearly requiring rapid and automatic morphological decomposition of multimorphemic words. The second amount was for the Passage Comprehension subtest (7%, p < .01) and the lowest (4 to 5%, p < .05) was for the word reading fluency subtest (i.e., TOWRE), which contained very few derivational word items. Further, the accuracy composite explained a comparable amount of variance in Passage Comprehension scores (7%, p < .01) and an only slightly smaller variance in GORT-4 scores (9%, p < .01). By contrast, the RT composite scores accounted for a smaller amount of unique variance in word-level reading fluency (5%), but accuracy composite scores made no significant contribution to word reading fluency variables. This suggests that the effects of morphological awareness skills were larger for the text-level measures than the word reading fluency measure. Two further hierarchical regression analyses explored whether the morphological awareness skills affected text reading fluency and reading comprehension above and beyond the effects of word reading accuracy. All variables were entered in the same order as previous analyses except that the word reading accuracy scores (i.e., Word Identification) were entered in Step 4. Thus, morphological awareness composite scores were entered in Step 5a and Step 5b. Table 6 displays the results of these two analyses. In both analyses, morphological awareness still accounted for a small but significant amount of variance in text-level reading measures in each analysis (4 to 5%), indicating that it contributes to text-level reading above and beyond the effect of word reading accuracy. 4. Discussion In this investigation, we measured both accuracy and speed (RTs) components of morphological processing to test whether Spanish-speaking language-minority students from low SES backgrounds perform derivational morphological awareness tasks with the same facility as their English only classmates. We also explored the extent to which morphological awareness skills contributed to reading fluency (word- and text-level) and reading comprehension skills of bilingual participants using two written tasks of morphological production: Morpheme Blending and Morpheme Generation. Previous morphological awareness research has exclusively focused on understanding the effects of morphological awareness accuracy on reading comprehension, primarily through the mediating role of vocabulary. This is obviously an important endeavor: in the data reported here, which converge with numerous previous reports, we find that vocabulary contributes approximately one third of the variance to reading fluency (29%) and to reading comprehension (31%). Beyond the effects of vocabulary, however, our results show that Spanish-English bilinguals were significantly less accurate than their monolingual classmates on both morphological awareness tasks when the participants’ grade was controlled. A slightly larger effect size was obtained for the contextualized task (i.e., Morpheme Generation), presumably because of higher levels of linguistic subskills that are required to process the semantic information of words, contextual knowledge, and syntactic knowledge. We also found that the accuracy component of morphological awareness makes unique contributions to text processing—both fluency (9%) and comprehension (7%)—but not to single word reading fluency. These results are consistent with studies that reported similar amounts of variance of text-level tasks had been explained by morphological awareness accuracy (Kirby et al, 2012). An additional series of questions in the present study concerned the extent to which morphological processing efficiency, defined here as speed of accurate responses, contributes to outcome measures of reading fluency and comprehension. We report two main findings. First, bilingual participants processed this morphological information significantly slower than their English-only classmates even though many bilingual participants’ morphological processing accuracy scores reached ceiling (i.e., 92% for Morpheme Blending task and 84% for Morpheme Generation task, respectively). Indeed, the effect sizes of group differences were larger for the RT measures than for accuracy measures. Secondly, over and above the effects of phonological awareness and controlling for the effects of nonverbal IQ, grade, vocabulary, speed with which bilingual readers processed morphological units makes significant contributions to both text reading fluency (11%) and text comprehension (7%). Considering the number of our control variables in the regression analyses, this was a substantial contribution. We also found that morphological processing efficiency continued to have significant effects on text-based tasks above and beyond the effects on word reading accuracy (see Table 6), albeit small ones in terms of variance explained (4 to 6%). Thus, our data extends the previous research by demonstrating that morphological processing latency (or efficiency) is another vital construct of morphological processing that is as important to text-level reading skills as the accuracy component, especially in the upper grades. 5. Theoretical and Practical Implications As the findings presented here reveal the unique and significant role that morphological processing efficiency plays in reading comprehension, we concur with several researchers who have implicated previous versions of Perfetti’s lexical quality hypothesis (LQH; Perfetti & Hart, 2001) as a useful framework for investigating the role of morphological knowledge in reading comprehension. The LQH emphasizes that comprehension of text is intricately related to the quality of multiple representational features of lexical items, including orthographic, semantic, and phonological information. The general implication of this is that strong representations of words allows for efficient “low cost” processing at the lexical level (i.e., morphological decomposition), which frees up “high cost” cognitive resources needed for text integration and comprehension.

IJALEL 3(1):12-27, 2014 22 Relatedly, Taft (2004) argued that decomposition of words into morphemic constituents during text reading is required for all multimorphemic words (see also Caramazza, Laudanna, and Romani, 1988, for an earlier discussion). Studies investigating processing of written morphology have also demonstrated that efficient decomposition of printed words into morphemes heavily relies on the quality of orthographic representations of morphemic units of words (Rastle & Davis, 2008). Thus, poor orthographic representations are often implicated as being causally related to difficulties in morphological decomposition, leading to both fluency and comprehension problems in children who have amassed much less reading experience than their peers. Bilingual children from low SES backgrounds may have underdeveloped orthographic representations because of their lack of rich experience with text that is critical to the development of high quality orthographic representations and this may explain why bilingual children in our sample were outperformed by monolingual control children on both accuracy and speed measures of morphological awareness. Further, bilingualism creates additional, unique constraints, as well. It is often reported that bilinguals perform slower than monolinguals on lexical retrieval tasks due to competition that arises between simultaneous activation of two competing lexicons (Grosjean, 2001; Marian & Spivey, 2003). Such competition, by itself, could also be the source of lexical interference, which in turn has negative effects on fluency and comprehension. In addition to the competition inherent to processing two languages, however, we conjecture that there may be something very specific about derivational morphology which adds to this competition at the lexical level. By definition, words with derivational morphology are derived from other words. Derived forms such as likely, liken, likelihood, and likeness, for example, are minimally differentiated from one another in terms of their orthographic, phonological, and semantic representations. So, while all readers must negotiate the interference created by derived word forms, this additional interference may become additive in bilingual readers who may have relatively impoverished sensitivity to orthographic features of words. If this is the case, and if lexical quality is developed through contextual reading experience, it is quite possible that bilinguals need more experience (i.e., more practice) processing words with derivational morphology than their monolingual peers. This remains a question for future research. Findings from this study suggest that beyond implementing structural analysis work, which focuses on understanding the meaning components of morphological units, interventions targeting morphological processing speed may prove to be an important additional focus of instruction for low SES bilinguals. Goodwin and Ahn (2010) found that morphological awareness treatment has significant moderate effects on a variety of reading outcome measures, including improved morphological awareness, phonological awareness, and vocabulary; however, effect sizes for reading comprehension were not as robust. Our data suggest that reading comprehension could be enhanced by improving morphological processing speed. In two recently meta-analyses which examined the effects of morphological treatment on a number of reading outcomes (Bowers, Kirby, & Deacon, 2010; Goodwin & Ahn, 2010), a variety of morphological awareness treatment paradigms were evaluated (e.g., identifying patterns and rules of morphological units and relating morphology to vocabulary and grammar); yet, none of these included treatment focused specifically on improving morphological processing fluency. Thus, this is an area of reading intervention that currently seems to be lacking. 6. Limitations and Future Directions A few limitations are of note. The first concerns our outcome measures. Because all of our morphological tasks were timed, accuracy scores were derived under time constraints. While this methodology renders the most valid morphological processing efficiency scores, and yielded accuracy findings that were consistent with previous research, it may have affected the total number of accurate responses and/or biased the findings to artificially align with reading outcome measures that were also timed (i.e., text reading fluency). Future studies should perhaps use multiple morphological processing measures, both timed and untimed. Second, with respect to the hypothesis that poor lexical representation of morphological units are related to morphological processing in bilinguals, the effects of orthographic knowledge, along with phonological and semantic knowledge should be considered. Third, along with Kieffer et al. (2013) we also interpret the relationship between morphological processing and single word reading with caution because the task used (i.e., TOWRE Sight Word Efficiency) contains very morphologically complex words. In future studies, we suggest that a single word reading task also include more morphologically complex words. Despite these limitations, results from this investigation are in line with many recent studies which show that morphological processing is an important sub-skill of reading for students transitioning into the middle school years. We found that for text reading fluency and reading comprehension, morphological processing speed contributes at least equally to the contributions made by morphological processing accuracy. Because morphological processing speed makes significant unique contributions to text reading fluency and comprehension, an important subject of future research is to examine the effects of fluency practice on reading comprehension using morphologically complex words. References Abu-Rabia, S., Share, D., & Mansour, M. (2003). Word recognition and basic cognitive processes among reading-disabled and normal readers in Arabic. 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1. sing er 2. certain un 3. like dis 4. possible im ity 5. ence exist 6. able comfort 7. happy un ness 8. accept un able 9. ment agree dis 10. understand mis 11. able un comfort 12. courage dis 13. ment place re 14. ly friend 15. ness fool ish 16. able avail 17. ful success ly 18. pre view 19. health y un 20. fear ness less 21. ness fit 22. ful ly care 23. al arrive 24. less care ness 25. possible ity 26. cover dis y 27. ly polite im 28. ation educate 29. ly thank ful 30. ness faith ful 31. un able 32. expect un ed 33. dom free 34. able un forgive 35. ary second 36. hood neighbor 37. move re al 38. honest dis 39. history ly ical 40. ship friend

IJALEL 3(1):12-27, 2014 27 Appendix B. Test items on the Morpheme Generation task

1. friend: At school, I have a lot of ____. 2. big: The tiger was big, but the elephant was _____. 3. quick: Jonny had to finish homework ______. 4. beauty: That flower is _________. 5. play: My brother is a golf _______ 6. run: She is a great ______. 7. friend: Everybody likes John because he is very _____. 8. mystery: The dark glasses made the man look ______. 9. success: Last year, our business was quite _______. 10. fame: The singer was very _____. 11. wash: Put the laundry in the _______. 12. science: Einstein was a great _____. 13. courage: All of the soldiers were very __________. 14. love: Look at this dog. She is so ______! 15. invent: iPad is an amazing _____. 16. free: Thanks to our ancestors, America now has ___. 17. create: Thomas Edison was very ______. 18. danger: Driving a car during the night is very ______. 19. attend: Students were talking in class and not paying ____. 20. color: The rainbow was ______. 21. decide: Finally, Mr. President made a big ____. 22. humor: His joke was quite _______. 23. believe: John has a very strong ____ in God. 24. fool: Your decision was very _____.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Exploring the Relationship between Chinese First Year University Students’ Beliefs about Language Learning and

Foreign Language Anxiety

Runhan Zhang School of Foreign Studies, Central University of Finance and Economics

Beijing, P.R. China E-mail: zhangrunhan_nora@hotmail.com

Received: 18-08-2013 Accepted: 29-09-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.28 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.28 Abstract The aims of the study are to investigate what beliefs Chinese university first-year English majors have about language learning, whether they report anxiety about studying English, and whether there is a relationship between their beliefs and language anxiety. Two questionnaires were used in this study – Tanaka’s beliefs questionnaire and Horwitz’s Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale. A series of statistical analyses were carried out on the responses. The results revealed that the Chinese university first-year English majors held four types of beliefs, namely Approach to Learning English, Self-efficacy and Confidence in English, Formal and Structured Learning, and Ease of Learning English. Comparing the means of all items in the beliefs questionnaire, it seemed that the respondents held a strong belief in the importance of learning vocabulary for them to speak English well. The respondents also reported some anxiety about learning English. However, it was interesting that the overall mean of their anxiety scores was lower than the means in previous studies. This study also found that there was no significant relationship between the participants’ beliefs and their language anxiety, which echoed the results of Kunt’s (1997) study, but two beliefs factors and several items were found to weakly correlate with the anxiety. Keywords: Chinese first year students, language learner beliefs, foreign language anxiety, relationship 1. Introduction Previous research suggests that learners’ unrealistic beliefs about language learning may lead to anxiety (Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope, 1986; Horwitz, 1988; Young, 1991) and at the same time anxiety can influence learner beliefs (Bandura, 1982). However, little empirical research has directly examined this relationship. In particular, no study has examined this relationship in China ‘which has the largest number of EFL learners in the world’ (Liu, 2006). Therefore, one purpose of the study is to describe beliefs about language learning and foreign language anxiety respectively among Chinese first-year university students majoring in English, who just began their university-level studies and where learning English was their most important task. The other purpose is to examine the relationship between these two constructs in this EFL context. 1.1 Learner Beliefs about Language Learning There is as yet no consensus on the definition of learner beliefs. In applied linguistics, learner beliefs about language learning are generally defined as learners’ ideas or opinions about various aspects of language learning (Horwitz, 1986; Truitt, 1995; Kunt, 1997). Tanaka (2004) discussed beliefs and learner beliefs in the framework of social psychology. From a social psychology perspective, beliefs are thought to be ‘the associations or linkages that people establish between an object (e.g., English) and various attributes (e.g., difficult, an important language, should be learned by everyone)’ (Tanaka, 2004, p.7). Icek Ajzen’s theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1985, 1988, 1991, 1996, 2002) proposes that ‘individuals’ beliefs are mainly formed by their direct experience with the belief object in a specific context, and are more or less affected by perceived social pressure or social norms’ (Cited in Tanaka, 2004, p.22). Learners’ beliefs about language learning could be also considered as social constructs and thus they are influenced by the social context of learning such as the general exposure of learners to the target language, the roles of the target language, and general perceptions about the value of the target language (Spolsky, 1989). Learner beliefs about language learning should be ‘task-specific as well as context-specific’ and they ‘exist independently of their general epistemological beliefs (i.e., beliefs about the nature of knowledge and learning in general)’ (Tanaka, 2004, p.23). The classification of learner beliefs is also controversial among researchers of second language acquisition. Previous studies were conducted with different groups of learners and revealed a number of different categories of learner beliefs. Tanaka’s (2004) review concluded there were three ways to identify the dimensions of learner beliefs: logically-derived categories (e.g. Horwitz, 1987; Wen & Johnson, 1997), focusing on similarities and differences in items and semantic coherence within a category; empirically-derived categories (e.g. Yang, 1992; Park, 1995; Truitt, 1995; Kunt, 1997), using statistical procedures,

IJALEL 3(1):28-44, 2014 29 such as factor analysis; and inductively-derived categories (e.g., Wenden, 1986), based on qualitative data such as semi-structured interviews, open questionnaires and diaries. Tanaka proposed a fourth way to generate belief categories based on a detailed observation of the categories shown in previous studies and an extensive review of the literature regarding learner beliefs. Adopting this fourth way, Tanaka (2004) proposed three types of beliefs which may exist among Japanese students: beliefs about analytic learning, which ‘emphasise the explicit study of the target language as a linguistic system’ (Tanaka, 2004, p.90); beliefs about experiential learning, which ‘emphasise the importance of learning by using the target language for communicative purposes in authentic situations’ (Tanaka, 2004, p.90); and affective states (beliefs about personal factors), which include self-efficacy, confidence, how they feel when using the language, how they evaluate their progress, and so on. Tanaka’s (2004) way of categorising learner beliefs may be called deductively-derived categories. Tanaka developed a 27-item questionnaire to explore Japanese students’ beliefs about language learning both in Japan and in a study-abroad context (New Zealand). The following table summarises some of the categories demonstrated by previous studies conducted in Asian context, in which English is learned as a foreign language. Table 1. Categories of Learner Beliefs about Language Learning from Previous Studies

Study & Participants

Categories 1 2 3 4 5

Logically-derived categories Wen & Johnson (1997), 242 Chinese university EFL students

Attibutions of Success (Effort or Inborn Ability)

Management Form-focused Meaning-focused Mother (Importance of Instruction Instruction Tongue Planning Avoidance Study, etc.)

Empirically-derived categories Yang (1992)*, 505 Taiwanese university EFL students

Self-efficacy Value & FL Aptitude Formal & & Expectation Nature of Structured Learning Learning

Park (1995)*, 332 Korean university EFL students

Motivation & Self-Efficacy Learning FL Aptitude Formal English & Social Spoken Interaction English

Truitt (1995)*, 205 Korean university EFL students

Value & Self-Efficacy Correctness Ease of Nature of &Confidence & Formal Learning Learning in speaking Learning English

Kunt (1997)*, 554 Turkish Cypriot university EFL students

Value& Self-efficacy & Ease of Importance Social Nature of Confidence Learning of Interaction Learning in Speaking English Formal English Learning

Kunt (1997)*, 328 Turkish-Cypriot university EFL students

Value & Social Self-Efficacy FL Aptitude Nature of Interaction & Confidence Learning in Speaking English

Sakui & Gaies (1999), 1296 Japanese tertiary EFL students

Contemporary Traditional Quality & FL Aptitude Orientation to Orientation to Sufficiency of & Difficulty Learning Learning FL Education

Inductively-derived categories

Benson & Lor (1999), 16 University EFL students in Hong Kong

Work Method Motivation Self Learning (Personal (Approach to Situation Effort) Learning)

Deductively-derived categories

Tanaka (1999 & 2004)**, 69 Japanese university first-year English majors

Analytic Experiential Affective Learning Learning States (Personal Factors)

Note. Source: Tanaka (2004), p.45 EFL: English as a foreign language FL: Foreign Language * Used BALLI (Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory) designed by Horwitz (1981). ** Used the same beliefs questionnaire as the present study.

IJALEL 3(1):28-44, 2014 30 1.2 Foreign Language Learning Anxiety Researchers view anxiety as a central problem in learning and have proposed various different ways to define it. Scovel (1978) defined anxiety as ‘a state of apprehension, a vague fear’ (p.134). Spielberger (1983) defined anxiety as ‘the subjective feeling of tension, apprehension, nervousness, and worry associated with an arousal of the autonomic nervous system’ (p.1). According to Brown (1987), anxiety is ‘associated with feelings of uneasiness, self-doubt, apprehension, or worry’ (p.106). After reviewing the few scattered studies on this construct, MacIntyre and Gardner (1991) proposed three approaches to investigate anxiety; namely trait, state, and situation-specific. The trait perspective ‘considers anxiety as a general personality trait that is relevant across several situations’, while the state viewpoint is ‘interested in the here-and-now experience of anxiety as an emotional state’. The situation-specific approach ‘examines the specific forms of anxiety that occur consistently over time within a given situation’ (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991: p.87). In short, situation-specific anxiety is the anxiety experienced in a certain type of situation. The situation-specific approach to studying foreign language anxiety has gained acceptance among many anxiety researchers (e.g., MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991). Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1991) were the first among the pioneers who recognised that foreign language anxiety is a form of situation-specific anxiety (i.e., an individual’s tendency to be anxious in a particular time and situation). Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1991) conceptualised foreign language anxiety as a ‘distinct complex of self-perceptions, beliefs, feelings, and behaviours related to classroom language learning arising from the uniqueness of the language learning process’ (p.31). They argued ‘communication apprehension, test anxiety and fear of negative evaluation provide useful conceptual building blocks for a description of foreign language anxiety’ (Horwitz et al., 1986, p.128). Oh (1990) also agreed that foreign language anxiety is a ‘situation-specific anxiety students experience in [the] classroom which is characterized by negative self-centered thoughts, feelings of inadequacy, fear of failure, and emotional reactions in the classroom’ (p.56). Horwitz and her colleagues then developed the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) to measure foreign language anxiety in terms of the three aspects mentioned above and it has come to be widely used in foreign language learning research. This is a self-report instrument, eliciting responses of anxiety specific to foreign language classroom settings. Foreign language anxiety can play both debilitating and facilitating roles in language achievement. ‘Facilitating anxiety motivates the learner to “fight” the new learning task; it gears the learner emotionally for approval behavior’, while ‘debilitating anxiety motivates the learner to “flee” the new learning task; it stimulates the individual emotionally to adopt avoidance behavior’ (Alpert & Haber, 1960, p.139). However, studies using the FLCAS to investigate different language groups learning different languages showed a constant negative relationship between foreign language anxiety and language achievement (Horwitz et al., 1986; Philips, 1992; Aida, 1994; Young, 1986; Truitt, 1995; Kunt, 1997; Le, 2004), which implies that anxiety most often plays a debilitating role rather than a facilitating role. As MacIntyre and Gardner (1991) pointed out, foreign language anxiety can interfere with learners’ efforts to learn a language and it can also ‘interfere with the acquisition, retention and production of the new language’ (p.86). It is thought to be ‘one of the best predictors of success in the second language’ (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991, p.96), namely lower anxiety can promote more successful learning. Investigating EFL learners’ anxiety is quite meaningful for researchers and teachers who have to think about ways to reduce learners’ anxiety when faced with some language learning situations (e.g., the foreign language classroom). 1.3 Learner Beliefs about Language Learning and Foreign Language Learning Anxiety Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986) were among the first to suggest that learners’ unrealistic beliefs about language learning may cause their anxiety. Young (1991) also proposed that learner beliefs about language learning are a possible source of foreign language anxiety. Bandura (1982) thought beliefs about self-efficacy may be a source of anxiety. He claimed that anxiety together with emotional states may influence beliefs about self-efficacy. The results of several empirical studies partially support the above opinions. In Horwitz’s (1989) study of 34 beginner Spanish students, she found that students who believe they have aptitude in learning foreign languages are less anxious than students who believe they lack such aptitude. Truitt (1995) conducted a study among 204 Korean EFL students enrolled in undergraduate English courses in Seoul, Korea. The instruments used were Korean versions of BALLI (Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory designed by Horwitz in 1981) and FLCAS. The relationship between learner beliefs and anxiety was examined by using correlations and multiple regression analyses. A significant correlation was found between two beliefs factors (i.e., Self-efficacy and Confidence and Ease of Learning English) and foreign language learning anxiety. ‘Korean EFL learners who are self-confident about their English ability and believe that they will be learning English well tend to have less anxiety than their peers without such confidence’ (Truitt, 1995, p.104). Oh (1996) investigated learner beliefs about language learning and language anxiety among 195 American university first- and second-year students learning Japanese. The instruments used in the study were also BALLI and FLCAS. The correlations and multiple regression analyses showed that two belief factors were significantly correlated with foreign language learning anxiety, however, the size of the variances of these two factors was small in the multiple regression model, indicating a weak relationship between these two constructs. Later Kunt (1997) conducted a study investigating the relationship between these two constructs among 882 Turkish students learning English in the preparatory schools of two universities located in North Cyprus. One group consisted of 554 students from Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) and a second group consisted of 328 students from Near East University (NEU). BALLI and FLCAS were used in the study. The results of correlations and multiple regression analyses indicated that there was no strong relationship between learning beliefs about language learning and language anxiety but only one

IJALEL 3(1):28-44, 2014 31 beliefs factor (i.e., Self-efficacy and Confidence) in one group (i.e., EMU) was found to have a negative relationship with language anxiety. Although the results in all these empirical studies pointed to either a weak or no relationship between learner beliefs about language learning and foreign language anxiety, it could not be denied that ‘the beliefs language students bring to [the] classroom contribute to anxiety reactions’ (Horwitz, 1989, p.58). 2. Research Questions Based on what was mentioned above, this study addresses the following three research questions: 1. What beliefs do Chinese university first-year English majors have about language learning? 2. Do Chinese university first-year English majors report experiencing foreign language learning anxiety? 3. Is there any relationship between the Chinese university first-year English majors’ beliefs about language learning and their levels of anxiety when they learn English? 3. Methods 3.1 Participants The participants in this study were native speakers of Chinese studying English as a foreign language in China. They were 151 first-year undergraduate students majoring in English language and literature at two important universities in China; 12 male and 139 female. Data were collected at the beginning of October 2010, when the first-year students had been at university for just one month or so. There were 100 who attended a university in Beijing and 51 who attended a university in Canton. 3.2 Instruments The present study used two questionnaires to help answer the research questions: the Learner Beliefs Questionnaire (see Appendix A) and the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) (see Appendix B). The beliefs questionnaire was adapted from the three-section questionnaire used in Tanaka’s (2004) study mentioned above. The questionnaire used in the present study retains the 27 closed questions used in Tanaka’s questionnaire. The participants were asked to indicate how strongly they agree or disagree with each item. The five-point Likert scale technique was used. The validity of the questionnaire was examined and described explicitly in Tanaka’s (2004) study. The results of his study showed that the questionnaire was a valid instrument for investigating learner beliefs. The original version of this questionnaire was in English and it was translated into Chinese by using the backwards translation method in order to ensure the consistency of the meaning conveyed with the original one. The Chinese version was administered to the participants in the present study. The FLCAS questionnaire adopted the items used in Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope’s Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS). This scale had been administered previously in a number of separate studies and its validity was ensured. It consists of 33 items investigating students’ foreign language classroom anxiety from three aspects: (1) communication apprehension; (2) test anxiety; and (3) fear of negative evaluation. The original versions of these two questionnaires were in English, but in this study they were translated into Chinese and the Chinese versions were administered in order to avoid the Chinese students misunderstanding the content. Both the Chinese and English versions of each are attached. 3.3 Procedure The Canton students were first gathered together to complete the two questionnaires. They did the beliefs questionnaire first, followed by the FLCAS. Ten days later, the students in Beijing were gathered together in a large classroom to complete the two questionnaires. All the participants finished the questionnaires under supervision and the return rate of the questionnaires was 100%. 3.4 Data Analysis The Statistical Program for Social Sciences Version 19 was used to analyse the data. The statistical procedures included the following: reliability analysis, descriptive analysis, factor analysis, correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis. For all analyses, alpha was set at 0.05. 4. Results 4.1 Reliability Reliability is measured in terms of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, which indicates the internal consistency of the data. According to DeVellis (1991), values ranging from 0.65 to 0.70 indicate an acceptable reliability, while Cronbach’s alpha value ranging from 0.70 to 0.80 indicates a fairly good reliability and thus a very good consistency. Table 2 shows the reliability values of the two questionnaires. The alphas were 0.75 for the beliefs questionnaire and 0.76 for the anxiety questionnaire, indicating that the reliability of both questionnaires was fairly good in this particular sample. Table 2. Reliability (N=151)

Items Reliability Beliefs Anxiety

27 33

.75

.76

IJALEL 3(1):28-44, 2014 32 4.2 Descriptive Statistics of the Questionnaires Table 3-a presents means, ranges and standard deviations of the scores for the two questionnaires. The table shows that the means of the beliefs questionnaire and the FLCAS questionnaire were 97.5 (total possible score 135) and 92.5 (total possible score 165) respectively. The distribution of the scores for each questionnaire was reflected by the standard deviations. Both SDs were small, indicating that there was not much difference among the participants in the beliefs they held or their anxiety levels. Comparatively, there was more variation in the students’ anxiety (SD=10.85) than in their beliefs (SD=8.61). In order to help compare the anxiety levels among students in the present study with learners in previous studies using the FLCAS, the means of those studies are also demonstrated. Table 3-b shows the figures. Table 3-a. Descriptive Statistics for the Two Questionnaires (N=151)

Mean Max. Min. SD Beliefs Anxiety

97.5 126 74 92.5 126 65

8.61 10.85

Table 3-b. Means in Studies Using the FLCAS

Mean Participants Present study Horwitz (1986) Aida (1994) Truitt(1995) Kunt (1997) EMU Kunt (1997) NEU

92.5 94.5 96.7 101.2 89.4 90.8

151 Chinese university first-year English majors 108 American students of Spanish

96 American students of Japanese 204 Korean EFL students 554 Turkish EFL students 328 Turkish EFL students

Note. There were two groups in Kunt’s (1997) study. EMU refers to the students from the Easten Mediterranean University and NEU refers to the students from the Near East University. 4.3 Factor Analysis of Learner Beliefs Questionnaire A principal factor analysis and then a subsequent factor analysis were conducted on the responses to the beliefs questionnaire in order to reduce the variables into several manageable factors and to address the first research question concerning the learner beliefs held by Chinese university first-year English majors. Factor analysis ‘is a statistical method used to find a small set of unobserved variables (also called latent variables, or factors) which can account for the covariance among a larger set of observed variables (also called manifest variables)’(Albright & Park, 2009, p.2). Principal Factor analysis was first done with a Varimax rotation. Nine factors were obtained with eigenvalues equal to or greater than 1. Nine factors are far too many, hence a ‘scree plot’ was used to select the factors that significantly represent the total variance. When the scree-plot test was applied, four factors seemed to meet the criteria and thus four of them were selected. See Appendix C for details. The method of Principal Axis Factoring was then conducted with the four selected factors. Table 4 demonstrates the results, indicating that the items loaded on four different factors. This solution accounted for 40% of the total questionnaire variance. The items which had a loading of 0.40 or higher were used for interpretation of the factors. It could be seen that seven items loaded on Factor 1 (e.g., ‘I can learn well by speaking to others in English’) with loadings that ranged from 0.40 to 0.68. The items with high loadings on Factor 1 seemed to have in common the idea that the approach to learning English is very important, including using English outside class, reviewing what they have been taught in class etc. Thus, Factor 1 was labelled ‘approach to learning’, which had been found among Hong Kong students in Benson and Lor’s (1999) study mentioned in Table 1. The Cronbach’s alpha for Factor 1 was 0.73. Six items loaded on Factor 2 (e.g., ‘It is possible for me to learn to speak English very well’) with loadings from 0.40 to 0.78. These items indicated the respondents’ belief that they had the potential to speak English well and understand everything in English. Therefore, this factor was labelled ‘self-efficacy and confidence in English’, beliefs found among the EFL students in several studies mentioned in Table 1 (e.g., Truitt, 1995; Kunt, 1997). The reliability alpha for Factor 2 was 0.75. Factor 3 had five items loaded on it (e.g., ‘I can learn English well by following a textbook’) with loadings from 0.41 to 0.61. These items revealed that students held common beliefs about formal and structured learning. Hence, this factor was labelled ‘formal and structured learning’, which had been found among the EFL students in several studies mentioned in Table 1 (e.g., Yang, 1992; Truitt, 1995). The reliability value of this factor was 0.56. Just two items loaded on Factor 4 (‘It doesn’t matter if I make mistakes when speaking with others in English’) with loadings from 0.43 to 0.47. Students seemed to believe that they can learn English well if they learn it without any pressure. Thus, this factor was labelled ‘ease of learning English’, which had been found among EFL students in several studies mentioned in Table 1 (e.g., Truitt, 1995; Kunt, 1997). The reliability value of this factor is 0.32. All reliability alphas of these factors were acceptable except that of Factor 4, where the relatively low number of items (two items) may explain the low reliability (Yang, 1992).

IJALEL 3(1):28-44, 2014 33 Table 4. Promax Rotated Matrix with Requesting Four Factors

Component Eigenvalues % of Variance Cumulative % 1 4.903 18.159 18.159 2 2.538 9.401 27.569 3 1.949 7.217 34.777 4 1.604 5.941 40.718

1 2 3 4 Item 1 0.679 -0.109 -0.200 0.307 Item 2 -0.126 0.112 0.149 -0.092 Item 3 0.384 0.126 0.051 0.192 Item 4 0.127 -0.108 0.410 0.091 Item 5 0.143 -0.125 0.140 -0.400 Item 6 0.183 -0.156 0.023 0.465 Item 7 0.433 -0.124 0.267 -0.306 Item 8 0.046 0.462 0.282 0.111 Item 9 0.392 0.060 0.026 -0.231

Item 10 0.576 0.002 0.110 0.138 Item 11 0.404 -0.076 0.226 -0.155 Item 12 0.388 -0.037 0.036 0.171 Item 14 -0.195 0.045 0.453 0.252

Item 15 0.075 0.066 0.238 0.432 Item 16 0.120 0.205 0.151 0.327 Item 17 -0.222 -0.121 0.456 0.017 Item 18 -0.008 0.096 0.503 -0.093 Item 19 0.569 0.053 -0.038 0.033 Item 20 -0.051 0.629 0.091 0.063 Item 21 0.227 0.469 -0.096 0.131 Item 22 0.571 0.102 -0.050 -0.111 Item 23 -0.062 0.778 -0.042 -0.088 Item 24 0.608 0.203 -0.212 -0.045 Item 25 0.135 0.401 0.050 -0.172 Item 26 0.045 0.567 -0.159 -0.090

Table 4 (Continued) Item 27 0.020 0.146 0.223 -0.295

Extraction Method: Principal Axis Factoring Rotation Method: Promax with Kaiser Normalization a. Rotation converged in 14 iterations.

4.4 Descriptive Statistics for Items in Beliefs Questionnaire Table 5 (a–d) shows the descriptive statistics of each item in the beliefs questionnaire including frequency analysis, mean (M) and standard deviation (SD). The highest value for each item is 5. The higher the value, the more strongly the student holds the belief. As a whole, students scored Factor 1 the highest (M=4.00), followed by Factor 2 (M=3.94) and then Factor 4 (M=3.09). They seemed to place the lowest importance on Factor 3 (M=2.94). In terms of Factor 1, students scored Item 24 the highest (M=4.21), followed by Item 19 (M=4.08). They did not demonstrate much difference on Item 7 (M=4.03) and Item 1 (M=4.02). They scored Item 22 the lowest (M=3.88). All SDs were rather small, indicating that there was not much difference in the students’ opinions. Turning to Factor 2, students seemed to hold very strong beliefs on item 25 (M=4.38) regarding the importance of learning vocabulary for them to speak English well. They also strongly believed that they could learn to speak English well (Item 23, M=4.26). Students scored Factor 3 the lowest (M=2.94) compared with the other factors. Within Factor 3, they scored item 17 the highest (M=3.46), indicating that they held the strong belief that they could understand everything if their teachers explained important points in their native language. In Tanaka’s (2004) study, the participants’ scores for all items were much lower than in the present study except on items 19, 22, 25, 4, 17, 6 and 15. Participants in Tanaka’s study seemed to hold stronger beliefs in their ability to use English, and in that English learning could be done for pleasure than the participants in the present study.

IJALEL 3(1):28-44, 2014 34 Table 5-a. Factor 1 (Total Mean: M=4.00)

Items 5 4 3 2 1 Mean SD I can learn well by speaking with others in English. (Item1)

31.8% (48)

43.7% (66)

19.2% (29)

5.3% (8)

0% (0)

4.02 (M) .85 (M) 4.13 (T) .66(T)

Important to review what’s been taught in class. (Item 7)

32.5% (49)

48.3% (73)

10.6% (16)

6.6% (10)

2% (3)

4.03(M) .94(M) 4.14(T) .71(T)

I can learn English well by listening to radio or watching TV in English. (Item 10)

16.6% (25)

56.3% (85)

19.2% (29)

7.9% (12)

0% (0)

3.81(M) .80(M)

4.33(T) .68(T) Memorisation is a good way. (Item 11)

25.2% (38)

57% (86)

10.6% (16)

6.6% (10)

0.7% (1)

3.99(M) .83(M) 3.71(T) .89(T)

I can learn well by using English outside class. (Item 19)

19.2 (29)

69.5 (105)

11.3 (29)

0% (0)

0% (0)

4.08(M) .55(M) 4.16(T) .70(T)

I can learn well by reading English magazines or newspapers.(Item 22)

17.2% (26)

58.3% (88)

19.9% (30)

4.6% (7)

0% (0)

3.88(M) .74(M) 3.91(T) .61(T)

I can learn well if I try to think in English. (Item 24)

33.8% (51)

54.3% (82)

11.3% (17)

0.7% (1)

0% (0)

4.21(M) .66(M) 3.68(T) .92(T)

Table 5-b. Factor 2 (Total Mean: M=3.94)

Items 5 4 3 2 1 Mean SD Able to understand everything read in English. (Item 8)

13.9% (21)

35.8% (54)

36.4% (55)

12.6% (19)

1.3% (2)

3.48(M) 0.93(M) 2.81(T) 0.69(T)

Able to understand everything the teacher says. (Item 20)

10.6 (16)

37.7% (57)

41.1% (62)

9.3% (14)

1.3% (2)

3.47(M) 0.86(M) 3.25(T) 0.76(T)

It’s okay to guess if I don’t know a word. (Item 21)

31.1% (47)

52.3% (79)

11.9% (18)

4% (6)

0.7% (1)

4.09(M) 0.80(M) 3.58(T) 0.74(T)

It’s possible for me to speak English very well. (Item 23)

43% (65)

45% (68)

8.6% (13)

1.3% (2)

2% (3)

4.26(M) 0.83(M) 3.12(T) 0.80(T)

In order to speak English well, it is important to learn vocabulary. (Item 25)

41.1% (62)

56.3% (85)

2.6% (4)

0% (0)

0% (0)

4.38(M) 0.54(M) 4.42(T) 0.72(T)

It’s possible for me not to get nervous when speaking English. (Item 26)

27.8 (42)

47.7 (72)

20.5 (31)

2.6 (4)

1.3 (2)

3.98(M) 0.84(M) 2.48(T) 1.04(T)

Table 5-c. Factor 3 (Total Mean: M=2.94)

Items 5 4 3 2 1 Mean SD I can learn English well by writing down everything in my notebook. (Item 4)

0.7% (22)

12.6% (59)

31.1% (60)

43% (9)

12.6% (1)

2.46(M) 0.89(M) 2.65(T) 0.80(T)

Learn English well by following a text book. (Item 13)

2% (3)

16.6% (25)

44.4% (67)

32.5% (49)

4.6% (7)

2.79(M) 0.85(M) 2.74(T) 0.90(T)

I should not be forced to speak in English class. (Item 14)

5.3% (8)

17.2% (26)

24.5% (37)

39.7% (60)

13.2% (20)

2.62(M) 1.08(M) 2.61(T) 0.91(T)

Explain important things in my first language so I can understand everything. (Item 17)

15.9% (24)

41.1% (62)

20.5% (31)

18.5% (28)

4% (6)

3.46(M) 1.09(M) 3.52(T) 0.87(T)

I can learn English well in a class where the teacher maintains good discipline. (Item 18)

8.6% (13)

39.7% (60)

35.1% (53)

13.9% (21)

2.6% (4)

3.38(M) 0.922(M) 3.23(T) 0.97(T)

Table 5-d. Factor 4 (Total Mean: M=3.09)

Items 5 4 3 2 1 Mean SD It doesn’t matter if I make mistakes when speaking with others in English. (Item 6)

8.6% (13)

29.1% (44)

20.5% (31)

33.8% (51)

7.9% (12)

2.97(M) 1.14(M) 3.30(T) 1.17(T)

I can learn English well if I’m studying just for pleasure. (Item 15)

13.9% (21)

21.9% (33)

36.4% (55)

25.2% (38)

2% (3)

3.21(M) 1.04(M) 4.25(T) 0.91(T)

IJALEL 3(1):28-44, 2014 35 Note: (1) 5=Strongly Agree, 4=Agree, 3=Neutral, 2=Disagree, 1=Strongly Disagree

(2) M and T: M refers to the means and standard deviations in the present study, while T refers to the means and standard deviations in Tanaka’s (2004) study.

4.5 Correlations and Multiple Regression Analyses for Learner Beliefs and Anxiety In order to address the third research question, Pearson’s correlation analysis was conducted to examine the relationships between learner beliefs and anxiety. Table 6 presents the results. Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) ‘is the standard measure of the linear relationship between two variables’ (Cohen, et al.,2003,p.28). According to Cohen (1988 and 2003), a correlation coefficient ranging from .10 to .29 is thought to represent a weak or small correlation; a correlation coefficient ranging from .30 to .49 is considered a moderate correlation; and a correlation coefficient of .50 or larger is thought to represent a strong or large correlation. Therefore, no significant relationship was found between learner beliefs and anxiety, but two relationships were found between two particular factors of learner beliefs and anxiety. Factor 2, concerning beliefs about self-efficacy and confidence, was found to have a significant negative relationship with anxiety, however, the coefficient was low (r=-0.183) indicating the relationship was weak. It was surprising to find a significant positive relationship between Factor 3, regarding beliefs about formal and structured learning, and anxiety but the relationship was also weak. In order to investigate which factor could best predict language anxiety, a Stepwise multiple regression analysis was administered. Table7 demonstrates the results. From this table, it could be seen that Factor 3 together with Factor 2 could predict anxiety (F=9.923, P<.05). The value for the multiple R when predicting foreign language anxiety from beliefs factors 3 and 2 was .344. R Square (R2) indicates the proportion of the variance in the dependent variable which is accounted for by the model. However, it ‘tends to somewhat over-estimate the success of the model when applied to the real world, so an Adjusted R Square value is calculated which takes into account the number of variables in the model and the number of observations (participants) our model is based on’ (Brace, Kemp& Snelgar, 2006,p.209). Accordingly, it can be seen from Table 7 that Factor 3 and Factor 2 of learner beliefs could only account for 10.6% of the variance in the foreign language anxiety scores in this sample indicating the size of the variances of these two factors was small in the multiple regression model. This table also shows the respective beta values of Factor 3 and Factor 2. ‘Beta value is a measure of how strongly each predictor variable influences the dependent variable’ and ‘the higher the beta value the greater the impact of the predictor variable on the dependent variable’ (Brace, Kemp& Snelgar, 2006,p. 208). Hence, in the case of this sample, Factor 3 seemed to be a better predictor of foreign language anxiety (Beta=0.297, p<.05). Table 6. Correlations between Learner Beliefs and Anxiety.

Anxiety

Learner beliefs 0.021

Factor 1 -0.089

Factor 2

Factor 3

Factor 4

-0.172*

0.298**

0.088

**p<0.01 *p<0.05

Table 7. Stepwise multiple regression analysis for foreign language anxiety

Model Beta t Sig. (p)

Factor 3 .297 3.854 .000

Factor 2 -.172 -2.224 .028

R=.344 R²=.118 Adjusted R²=.106 F=9.923 Sig.=.000

Note. Method: Stepwise (Criteria: Probability-of-F-to-enter <= .050, Probability-of- F-to-remove >= .100)

Predictors: Factor3, Factor 2 (Learner Beliefs)

Dependent Variable: foreign language anxiety

4.6 Correlations and Multiple Regression Analysis of Learner Beliefs Items and Anxiety Pearson’s correlation analysis was carried out again to investigate the relationships between each item in the two questionnaires. Table 8 presents the results. Seven relationships were found between scores on learner beliefs items and scores on anxiety. It was quite interesting to find that not all the relationships were negative. Among all the correlations four were negative (i.e., item 1, item 16, item 20 and item 26 had negative relationships with anxiety) and four were positive (i.e., item 4, item 14, item 17 had positive relationships with anxiety). However, in all cases the coefficients

IJALEL 3(1):28-44, 2014 36 were low (less than 0.29), indicating all the relationships were weak. In order to explore which item(s) could predict language anxiety, I then conducted a multiple regression analysis of learner beliefs items to anxiety using a Stepwise method. Table 9 demonstrates the results. The model with five items (items 26, 16, 14, 12 and 1) seemed to predict language anxiety. However, the Adjusted R square of this model was low, it could only account for 20.7% of the variance of language anxiety, pointing to weak relationships between learner beliefs items and language anxiety. Item 26 (i.e., ‘It is possible for me not to get nervous when speaking English’) seemed to be the best predictor of language anxiety (Beta=-0.234, p<.05). Table 8. Correlations between Learner Beliefs Items and Anxiety

Anxiety Item 1 -0.219** Item 2 Item3

0.139 -0.064

Item 4 Item 5 Item 6 Item 7 Item 8 Item 9 Item 10 Item 11 Item 12 Item 13 Item 14 Item 15 Item 16 Item 17 Item 18 Item 19 Item 20 Item 21 Item 22 Item 23 Item 24 Item 25 Item 26 Item 27

0.169* -0.044 0.048 0.088 -0.041 -0.008 -0.150 0.109 0.131 0.110 0.222** 0.090 -0.269** 0.238** 0.140 -0.074 -0.179* -0.105 -0.089 -0.089 -0.083 0.041 -0.269** 0.117

**p<0.01 *p<0.05

Table 9. Stepwise multiple regression analysis for foreign language anxiety Model Beta t Sig. (p) Item 26 Item 16 Item 14 Item 12 Item 1

-.234 -.232 .201 .193 .-.173

-3.137 -3.106 2.725 2.529 -2.209

.002

.002

.007

.013

.029 R=.484 R²=.234 Adjusted R²=.207 F=8.794

Sig.=.000 Note. Method: Stepwise (Criteria: Probability-of-F-to-enter <= .050, Probability-of- F-to-remove >= .100) Predictors: Item 26, Item 16, Item 14, Item 12, Item 1 (Learner Beliefs) Dependent Variable: foreign language anxiety

5. Discussions and Conclusions To investigate the first research question, regarding what beliefs Chinese first-year English majors have about language learning, I used the beliefs questionnaire designed by Tanaka (2004). As reviewed above, there are four ways to categorise learner beliefs, namely logically-derived, empirically-derived, inductively-derived and deductively-derived. Tanaka (2004) adopted the fourth way and identified three types of learner beliefs among Japanese EFL learners at home and abroad. The present study adopted the empirically-derived method and I used Principal Component analysis as well as subsequent factor analysis to explore what beliefs Chinese first-year English majors held about language learning. Four types of learner beliefs were revealed among the students; ‘approach to learning English’, ‘self-efficacy and confidence in English’, ‘formal and structured learning’ and ‘ease of learning English’. The results reveal that the students generally share a belief that approaches to learning English are very important for them to learn English well. They also believe that they will be able to learn to speak English very well. Chinese learners have been described as quiet and reluctant to ask questions or express their own opinions publicly (Ballard & Clanchy, 1991). However, the emergence of the category of learner beliefs in self-efficacy and confidence may indicate that Chinese EFL learners are beginning to change their ways and they may be more active in expressing themselves nowadays. Compared with

IJALEL 3(1):28-44, 2014 37 formal and structured learning, Chinese university first-year English majors held stronger beliefs on the importance of learning English for pleasure. Looking at the items in each factor closely, there seemed to be odd items in Factor 2. Odd items here refer to those items which seemed to express different ideas from other items. In Factor 2, items 21 (‘It’s okay to guess if I don’t know a word’) and 25 (‘In order to speak English well, it is important to learn vocabulary’) seemed to be about learning strategies more than self-efficacy and confidence. However, if we think about them carefully, it is not difficult to find that ‘it’s okay to guess’ also reveals something of the learners’ confidence, because ‘guessing strategy’ is often studied in research on L1 reading and ‘it is the only reasonable way for L2 learners to learn enough words to form suitably large active and passive vocabularies’ (Dycus, 1997, p.2). In other words, if students think it is okay to guess, it means they are confident in their vocabulary and they believe that they can guess. In terms of their common beliefs in the importance of English vocabulary, we may treat it as a source of their self-efficacy and confidence in speaking English. Examining the items in Factor 1, different ways of learning English were revealed, including learning English through using English outside the classroom, reading English, watching or listening to English programmes and memorising. These first-year English majors seemed to allocate the lowest scores to memorising and gave relatively higher scores on items relative to using English outside the classroom, which indicated that the Chinese students believed that using English was more effective than memorising for them to learn English well. Two reasons may explain why students have stronger beliefs on items relative to learning English well through using English more than through structured learning. The first may be attributed to the teaching methods adopted at universities nowadays. Universities in China began to adopt communicative methods 20 years ago, especially for English majors. The requirements for English majors are much higher than for students studying English not as their major subject because ‘proper and efficient’ communication rather than ‘can-do communication’ is emphasised. The second reason for their stronger beliefs in learning English through using it may be that the English environment is better than before. Nowadays, students have more English resources to enable them to learn English well, including English-language TV programmes, movies, magazines and online resources. Students can even access programmes made in English-speaking countries. In the meantime, due to the fact that China has opened to the outside world and the economy is developing very fast, more and more people from English-speaking countries come to China, to learn Chinese, to teach English and to do business. Therefore, students have more chances to use English inside and outside the classroom and they are more willing to communicate with the outside in order to learn English well rather than following textbooks or learning grammar alone. Comparing the students’ scores on the items in the beliefs questionnaire in the present study with those in Tanaka’s (2004) study, the students seemed to share some common beliefs no matter whether they were Japanese or Chinese. For example, the two groups both gave high scores to item 25: ‘In order to speak English well, it is important for me to learn vocabulary’. In both studies, students scored relatively low for the items in Factor 3 labelled ‘formal and structured learning’ in the present study Turning to the second research question, in terms of whether Chinese university first-year English majors reported experiencing anxiety about foreign language learning, the answer should be yes. The students in this study reported that they experienced anxiety, but with a mean relatively lower than that of subjects in several previous studies (refer to Table 3-b). Specifically, the FLCAS mean score of the students in this study was 92.5, which was lower than those of Horwitz’s (1986) study of American students of Spanish (M=94.5), Aida’s (1994) study of American students of Japanese (M=96.7), and Truitt’s (1995) study of Korean EFL students (M=101.2). The mean was only slightly higher than that of Turkish-speaking EFL learners in Kunt’s (1997) study (M=89.4 and M=90.8). The results indicate that Chinese university first-year English majors are less anxious about learning English in the context of the English classroom compared with students in several other studies, but they showed a little more anxiety than the Turkish EFL students. In terms of the relationship between Chinese university first-year English majors’ beliefs and foreign language learning anxiety, the results were really far from conclusive. Two belief factors were significantly correlated with foreign language anxiety. One of the relationships was negative (Factor 2 and anxiety) and the other one was positive (Factor 3 and anxiety). The results seemed to indicate that the stronger the students’ beliefs in self-efficacy and confidence, the less anxious they were. However, those students who believed learning English well should be through formal and structured learning seemed to be more anxious than students who did not have such beliefs. For the beliefs items, five items were significantly correlated with anxiety. Items 26, 16 and 1 had negative relationships with anxiety, while items 14 and 17 had positive relationships with anxiety. Items 26 and 16 seemed to have the strongest negative correlations with anxiety relative to other items, which indicated that students who believe it is possible for them not to get nervous when speaking English and who are satisfied with their progress in English tend to have less foreign language learning anxiety than their peers without such beliefs. Here it was interesting to find that students who believe that they should not be forced to speak in the English class and who prefer their English teachers to explain important things in their first language in order for them to understand everything tend to be more anxious than those students who do not have such beliefs. On the whole, the correlation coefficients between either factors or items and foreign language anxiety were quite small (r<0.30). In the multiple regression models, both the factor model and the item model could only account for a small amount of variance of foreign language anxiety. All the signs point to a very weak relationship between learner beliefs and foreign language learning anxiety. The weak relationship may be attributed to the relatively small sample size in this study, as Oh (1996) suggested.

IJALEL 3(1):28-44, 2014 38 5.1 Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research This study has some limitations. The sample size in this study is relatively small (N=151). Hence, a larger sample size is suggested for further studies. Also, the data eliciting instruments utilised in this study were self-report questionnaires. Other data collection methods could be used in order to gain different perspectives on the phenomena examined in this study. Finally, the choice of subjects for this study was limited to first-year university students who were English majors, which may limit the generalisability of the results of this study. Therefore, students at different stages in their education and those learning English while majoring in other subjects could be involved in further studies. References Aida, Y. (1994). Examination of Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope’s construct of foreign language anxiety: The case of students of Japanese. Modern Language Journal, 78, 155-68. Albright, J.J. & Park, H.M. (2009).Confirmatory Factor Analysis using Amos, LISREL Mplus, SAS/STAT CALIS*. Retrieved 10 September 2011 http://www.indiana.edu/~statmath/stat/all/cfa/cfa.pdf Alpert, R. & Haper, R. (1960). Anxiety in academic achievement situations. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 61, 207-215. Ajzen, I. (1985). From intentions to actions: A theory of planned behaviour. In J. Kuhl & J. Beckmann (Eds.) Action control: From Cognition to Behaviour (pp.11-39). Berlin: Springer-Verlag. Ajzen, I. (1988). Attitudes, Personality, and Behaviour. Buckingham UK: Open University Press. Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behaviour. Organisational Behavior and Human Processes, 50 (2), 179-211. Ajzen, I. (1996). The directive influence of attitudes on behaviour. In P.M. Gollwitzer & J.A. Bargh (Eds.), The Psychology of action: Linking cognition and motivation to behavior (pp.385-403). New York: Guilford Press. Ajzen, I. (2002). Contructing a TpB questionnaire: Conceptual and methodological considerations. Retrieved 13 September 2011: http://socgeo.ruhosting.nl/html/files/spatbeh/tpb.measurement.pdf Ballard, B. and Clanchy, J. (1991) Teaching Students from Overseas: A Brief Guide for Lecturers and Supervisors. Melbourne: Longman Cheshire. Bandura, A. (1986). The exploratory and predictive scope of self-efficacy theory. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 4, 359-373. Benson, P. & Lor, W. (1999). Conception of language and language learning. System, 27(4), 459-472. Brown, H.D. (1987). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Clément, R. & Gardner, R.C. (2001). Second language mastery. In H. Giles & W.P. Robinson (Eds.), The New Handbook of Language and Social Psychology (2nd ed.). London: Wiley. Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (second ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Cohen, J. et al. (2003). Applied Multiple Regression/Correlation Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (3rd Edition). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. DeVellis, R.F. (1991), Scale Development, Theory and Applications. London: Sage. Dycus, D. (1997). Guessing word meaning from context: Should we encourage it? Literacy Across Culture, 1(2),1-2. Gardner, R.C. & Lambert, W.E. (1959). Motivational variables in second language acquisition. Canadian Journal of Psychology. 13, 266-72. Gardner, R.C. & Santos, E. (1970). Motivational variables in second language acquisition: A Philippine investigation. Research Bulletin, No. 149. University of Western Ontario. Horwitz, E.K. (1986). Preliminary evidence for the reliability and validity of a foreign language anxiety scale. TESOL Quarterly, 20, 559-562. Horwitz, E.K. (1987). Surveying student beliefs about language learning. In A.L. Wenden & J. Rubin (Eds.),Learner Strategies in Language Learning (pp. 119-29). Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall. Horwitz, E.K. (1988). The beliefs about language learning of beginning university foreign language students. Modern Language Journal, 72(iii), 283-294. Horwitz, E.K. (1989). Recent research on second language learners: Beliefs and anxiety. Texas Papers on Foreign Language Education, Special Edition. Horwitz, E.K., Horwitz, M.B. & Cope, J. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 70, 125-32. Horwitz, E.K., Horwitz, M.B. & Cope, J. (1991) Foreign language classroom anxiety. In E.K. Horwitz and D.J.Young (Eds.), Language Anxiety: From Theory and Research to Classroom Implications (pp. 27-36).Englewood Cliffs, NJ:

IJALEL 3(1):28-44, 2014 39 Prentice Hall. Kunt, N. (1997). Anxiety and beliefs about language learning: A study of Turkish-speaking university students learning English in North Cyprus. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Texas, Austin. Le, J.Y. (2005). Affective characteristics of American students studying Chinese in China: A study of heritage and non-heritage learners’ beliefs and language anxiety. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Texas, Austin. MacIntyre, P.D. and Gardner, R.C. (1991). Anxiety and second language learning: toward a theoretical clarification. In E.K. Horwitz and D.J. Young (Eds.), Language Anxiety:From Theory and Research to Classroom Implications. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Oh, J. (1990). On the relationship between language anxiety and reading English as a foreign language among Korean university students in Korea. Unpublished doctoral dissertation University of Texas, Austin. Oh, M.-J. T. (1996). Beliefs about language learning and foreign language anxiety: A study of American university students learning Japanese. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Texas, Austin. Park, G. (1995). Language learning strategies and beliefs about language learning of university students learning English in Korea. Unpublished doctoral thesis. University of Texas, Austin. Philips, E. (1990). The effects of anxiety on performance and achievement in an oral test of French. Unpublished doctoral thesis. University of Texas, Austin. Sakui, K., & Gaies, S. (1999). Investigating Japanese learners’ beliefs about language learning. System, 27, 473-492. Scovel, T. (1978). The effect of affect: A review of the anxiety literature. Language Learning, 28, 129 -142. Spielberger, C.D. (1983). Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press. Spolsky, B. (1989). Conditions for Second Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Tanaka, K. (2004). Changes in Japanese students' beliefs about language learning and English language proficiency in a study-abroad context. Unpublished doctoral thesis. University of Auckland, New Zealand. Truitt, S.N. (1995). Anxiety and beliefs about language learning: A study of Korean university students learning English. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. The University of Texas, Austin. Tudor, I. (2001). The Dynamics of the Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wen, Q. & Johnson, R. (1997). L2 learner variables and English achievement: A study of tertiary-level English majors in China. Applied Linguistics, 18(1), 27-48. Wenden, A. (1986). What do second language learners know about their language learning? A second look at retrospective accounts. Applied Linguistics, 7, 186-201. Wenden, A. (1987). How to be a successful learner: Insights and prescriptions from L2 learners. In A. Wenden and J. Rubin (Eds.), Learner Strategies in Language Learning (pp. 103-117). Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall. Yang, N. (1992). Second language learners’ beliefs about language learning and their use of learning strategies: A study of college students of English in Taiwan. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Texas, Austin. Young, D.J. (1986). The relationship between anxiety and foreign language oral proficiency ratings. Foreign Language Annals, 19 (5), 439-445. Young, D.J. (1991). Creating a low-anxiety classroom environment: What does language anxiety research suggest? Modern Language Journal, 75 (4), 426-439. Appendix A Questionnaire A I would like to invite you to help me by answering the following questions concerning your beliefs about English learning. Your answers will be collected, analysed and used in my research. This is not a test, so there are no “right” or “wrong” answers. I’m interested in your personal experience and opinion. Please give your answers sincerely as only this will guarantee the success of the investigation. Thank you very much for your help! Name:_________ (Your name will not be shown in any published papers) Questions Related to Learning English In this questionnaire, you will find a total of 27 statements related to learning English. After reading each statement, circle the response 1 (strongly disagree), 2 (disagree), 3 (neutral, neither agree nor disagree), 4 (agree), or 5 (strongly agree) that tells to what extent you agree or disagree with the statement.

IJALEL 3(1):28-44, 2014 40 Strongly agree= 5, Agree= 4, Neutral= 3, Disagree=2, Strongly disagree= 1 1. I can learn well by speaking with others in English. 5 4 3 2 1 2. If I am permitted to make mistakes in English, 5 4 3 2 1

it will be difficult for me to speak correctly later on.

3. I can learn well if I try to study English outside 5 4 3 2 1 class on my own. 4. I can learn English well by writing down 5 4 3 2 1

everything in my notebook. 5. In order to speak English well, it is important for 5 4 3 2 1

me to learn grammar. 6. It doesn’t matter if I make mistakes when 5 4 3 2 1

speaking with others in English. 7. In order to learn well, it is important for me 5 4 3 2 1

to review what I have been taught in the English class.

Strongly agree= 5, Agree= 4, Neutral= 3, Disagree=2, Strongly disagree= 1

8. I should be able to understand everything 5 4 3 2 1 I read in English.

9. In order to learn well, it is important for me 5 4 3 2 1 to try to think about my progress in English.

10. I can learn well by listening to the radio or watching 5 4 3 2 1 TV in English.

11. Memorisation is a good way for me to learn 5 4 3 2 1 English.

12. I can learn English well by living in an English- 5 4 3 2 1 speaking country (e.g. New Zealand).

13. I can learn English well by following a textbook. 5 4 3 2 1 14. I should not be forced to speak in the English class. 5 4 3 2 1 15 I can learn English well if I am studying just for 5 4 3 2 1

pleasure. 16. I am satisfied with my progress in English so far. 5 4 3 2 1 17. I would like my English teacher to explain 5 4 3 2 1

important things in my first language so I can understand everything.

18. I can learn English well in a class where 5 4 3 2 1 the teacher maintains good discipline.

19. I can learn well by using English outside class. 5 4 3 2 1 20. I should be able to understand everything the 5 4 3 2 1

teacher says in the English class. 21. It’s okay to guess if I do not know a word 5 4 3 2 1

in English. 22. I can learn well by reading English magazines 5 4 3 2 1

or newspapers. 23. It is possible for me to learn to speak 5 4 3 2 1

English very well. 24. I can learn well if I try to think in English. 5 4 3 2 1 Strongly agree= 5, Agree= 4, Neutral= 3, Disagree=2, Strongly disagree= 1 25. In order to speak English well, it is important for 5 4 3 2 1

me to learn vocabulary. 26. It is possible for me not to get nervous when 5 4 3 2 1

speaking English. 27. I would like my English teacher to correct 5 4 3 2 1

all my mistakes.

The End Thank you for your cooperation.

IJALEL 3(1):28-44, 2014 41

附录 A （Beliefs Questionnaire Chinese Version） 调查问卷 我想邀请您回答一些您学习英语过程中关于学习信念方面的问题。我将对您的回答进行分析，并把它们用于我的博士论文中。这不是一项测试，没有正确和错误答案之分。我对您的学习经历和个人观点非常感兴趣。因此，您只需要诚实地回答以下问题。您的回答将决定该研究的成功与否。 非常感谢您的帮助和合作！ 姓名:__________ (您的名字不会显示在任何发表的文章中) 本部分包含了27个陈述性问题。每读完一个问题后，请在1（很不同意）,2（不同意），3（不确定），4（同意），5（很同意）中选择一个符合您对该陈述认可程度的选项。 1= 很不同意 2= 不同意 3= 不确定（既不同意也不反对） 4= 同意 5= 很同意 1.通过与别人用英语交谈，我能学好英语。 1 2 3 4 5 2.如果允许我在使用英语时犯错误，之后我将很难准确地说好英语。1 2 3 4 5 3.如果我试图自己在课外学习英语的话，我能学好英语。1 2 3 4 5 4.通过把所有的东西都写在笔记本上，我能学好英语。1 2 3 4 5 5.想说好英语，学习语法对我来讲很重要。1 2 3 4 5 6.当我与别人说英语的时候犯些错误是没什么关系的。1 2 3 4 5 7.想学好英语，回顾在英语课上被教授的知识对我来讲很重要。1 2 3 4 5 8.我应该有能力理解所有我在英语中读到的东西。1 2 3 4 5 9.想学好英语，试着想想我在英语中的进步对我来说很重要。1 2 3 4 5 10.通过听广播和看电视，我能学好英语。 1 2 3 4 5 11.记忆对我学习英语是个好方法。1 2 3 4 5 12.通过在国外生活，我能学好英语。1 2 3 4 5 13.通过认真学习一本教科书，我能学好英语。1 2 3 4 5 14.我不应该被强迫在英语课堂上说英语。1 2 3 4 5 15.如果我仅仅是因为乐趣而学习英语，我能学好英语。 1 2 3 4 5 16.到目前为止，我对我英语上的进步感觉很满意。1 2 3 4 5 17.我想让英语老师用我的母语解释重要的东西以便我能明白所有的东西。1 2 3 4 5 18.在老师能维持好纪律的课堂上，我能学好英语。1 2 3 4 5 19.通过在课外使用英语，我能学好英语。1 2 3 4 5 20.我应该能明白老师在英语课堂上说的所有东西。1 2 3 4 5 21.如果我不知道一个英语单词，猜测是不错的方法。1 2 3 4 5 22.通过阅读英语杂志和报纸，我能学好英语。1 2 3 4 5 23.我有可能说一口流利的英语。1 2 3 4 5 24.如果我试着用英语思维，我能学好英语。1 2 3 4 5 25.想学好英语，学习词汇对我来讲很重要。1 2 3 4 5 26.在说英语的时候步紧张对我老说事有可能性的。1 2 3 4 5 27.我想让英语老师纠正我所有的错误。1 2 3 4 5

再次感谢您的合作！

Appendix B Questionnaire B

I would like to invite you to help me by answering the following questions concerning your reasons for learning English. Your answers will be collected, analysed and used in my research. This is not a test, so there are no “right” or “wrong” answers. I’m interested in your personal experience and opinion. Please give your answers sincerely as only this will guarantee the success of the investigation. Thank you very much for your help! Name: ______ (Your name will not be shown in any published papers) Questions Related to English Learning In this section, you will find a total of 30 statements related to English learning. After reading each statement, circle the response 1 (strongly disagree), 2(disagree), 3(neutral, namely neither agree nor disagree), 4(agree) or 5(strongly agree) that tells to what extent you agree or disagree with the statement.

IJALEL 3(1):28-44, 2014 42 Strongly agree= 5 Agree=4 Neutral= 3 Disagree=2 Strongly disagree= 1

1. I fell in love with English at first sight, 5 4 3 2 1 without particular reasons.

2. I began to study English because my parents/ 5 4 3 2 1 school required me to learn it.

3. Before entering university, my purpose in learning 5 4 3 2 1 English was mainly to obtain high scores in the university entrance examination.

4. Before entering university, my effort at English 5 4 3 2 1 learning depended to a large extent on test scores.

5. Before entering university, my effort at English 5 4 3 2 1 learning depended to a large extent on whether I liked my English teacher or not.

6. After entering university, my effort at English 5 4 3 2 1 learning depended to a large extent on test scores.

7. After entering university, my effort at English 5 4 3 2 1 learning depended to a large extent on whether I like my English teacher or not

8. After entering university, my effort at English 5 4 3 2 1 learning depended to a large extent on the quality of English classes.

9. After entering university, my effort at English 5 4 3 2 1 learning depended to a large extent on the quality of English textbooks. Strongly agree= 5 Agree=4 Neutral= 3 Disagree=2 Strongly disagree= 1

10. After entering university, my effort at English 5 4 3 2 1 learning depended to a large extent on whether

I like the fellow students in the English class. 11. An important purpose for my English learning 5 4 3 2 1

is to obtain a university degree. 12. The direct objective of my English learning is 5 4 3 2 1

to obtain high scores in examinations for the purpose of going abroad or career development in China.

13. Learning English is very important for me, 5 4 3 2 1 because English is a very useful tool in contemporary society.

14. Learning English can give me a sense of 5 4 3 2 1 achievement.

15. I learn English in order to facilitate other academic 5 4 3 2 1 subjects.

16. Only with good English skills can I find a good job 5 4 3 2 1 in the future.

17. I learn English so as to catch up with economic and 5 4 3 2 1 technological developments in the world.

18. I learn English because I am interested in English 5 4 3 2 1 speaking peoples and their cultures.

19. I have a special interest in language learning. 5 4 3 2 1 20. Out of my love of English songs/movies, I have 5 4 3 2 1

developed a great interest in the language. 21. I learn English just because I like this language. 5 4 3 2 1 22. I learn English in order to let the world know 5 4 3 2 1

more about China. 23. Out of my love of English literature, I have 5 4 3 2 1

developed a great interest in the language. 24. Only when I have good command of English can 5 4 3 2 1

I contribute well to China’s prosperity.

IJALEL 3(1):28-44, 2014 43 Strongly agree= 5 Agree=4 Neutral= 3 Disagree=2 Strongly disagree= 1

25. Only when I have good command of English can 5 4 3 2 1

I live up to the expectations of my parents. 26. I learn English in order to find better education 5 4 3 2 1

and job opportunities abroad. 27. I learn English so that I can go abroad to experience 5 4 3 2 1

English-speaking cultures. 28. The ultimate purpose of my English learning is to 5 4 3 2 1

live permanently in English-speaking countries. 29. Acquiring good English skills is a stepping-stone to 5 4 3 2 1

one’s success in life. 30. Fluent oral English is a symbol of good education 5 4 3 2 1

and accomplishment.

The End Thank you again for your help and cooperation!

附录B：（FLCAS Chinese Version）

我邀请您回答一些关于您学习英语原因方面的问题。我的博士论文将使用并分析您的回答。这不是一项测试，没有正确和错误答案之分。我对您的学习经历和个人观点非常感兴趣。因此，您只需要诚实地回答以下问题。您的回答将决定该研究的成功与否。 非常感谢您的帮助和合作！ 姓名:__________ (您的名字不会显示在任何公开发表的文章中) 本部分包含了30个陈述性问题。每读完一个问题后，请在1（很不同意）,2（不同意），3（不确定），4（同意），5（很同意）中选择一个符合您对该陈述认可程度选项。 1= 很不同意 2= 不同意 3= 不确定（既不同意也不反对） 4= 同意 5= 很同意 1. 我对英语一见钟情，说不出有什么特别的原因。 1 2 3 4 5 2. 我开始学英语是因为父母/学校要我学。 1 2 3 4 5 3. 上大学前学习英语，主要是为了升学考试。 1 2 3 4 5 4. 上大学前，我学英语的劲头很大程度上取决于我的学习成绩。 1 2 3 4 5 5. 上大学前，我学英语的劲头很大程度上取决于是否喜欢英语老师。 1 2 3 4 5 6. 上大学后，我学英语的劲头很大程度上取决于我的学习成绩。 1 2 3 4 5 7. 上大学后，我学英语的劲头很大程度上取决于是否喜欢英语老师。 1 2 3 4 5 8. 上大学后，我学英语的劲头很大程度上取决于英语课的质量。 1 2 3 4 5 9. 上大学后，我学英语的劲头很大程度上取决于所用的教材。 1 2 3 4 5 10. 上大学后，我学英语的劲头很大程度上取决于是否喜欢我的英语班。1 2 3 4 5 11. 我学英语的一个重要目的是获取大学毕业证书。 1 2 3 4 5 12. 我学英语的直接目的是在出国或国内升学、求职考试中取得好成绩。1 2 3 4 5 13. 学好英语对我很重要，因为它是当今社会非常有用的交流工具。 1 2 3 4 5 14. 学好英语能让我获得成就感。 1 2 3 4 5 15. 我学习英语，是为了更好地学习其他专业。 1 2 3 4 5 16. 学好英语，将来我才可能找到一份好工作。 1 2 3 4 5 17. 我学习英语是为了了解世界各国的经济、科技发展情况。 1 2 3 4 5 18. 我学习英语是因为对英语国家的人以及他们的文化感兴趣。 1 2 3 4 5 19. 我对语言学习有特别的爱好。 1 2 3 4 5 20. 对英语歌曲/电影的爱好使我对英语产生了很大兴趣。 1 2 3 4 5 21. 我学习英语是因为我喜欢这门语言本身。 1 2 3 4 5 22. 我学习英语是为了让世界了解中国。 1 2 3 4 5 23. 对英语文学作品的爱好使我对英语产生了很大兴趣。 1 2 3 4 5 24. 学好英语，我才能很好地为中国的富强尽力。 1 2 3 4 5 25. 学好英语，我才能不辜负父母的期望。 1 2 3 4 5 26. 我学习英语是为了出国寻找更好的受教育和工作机会。 1 2 3 4 5 27. 我学习英语是为了出国亲身体验英语国家的文化。 1 2 3 4 5 28. 我学习英语是为了最终移民外国。 1 2 3 4 5 29. 英语是人生前进路上一块重要的敲门砖。 1 2 3 4 5 30. 讲一口流利的英语，是教育程度和修养的象征。 1 2 3 4 5

IJALEL 3(1):28-44, 2014 44 再次感谢您的合作！

Appendix C Principal Component Analysis and Scree Plot

Table: Promax Rotated Component Matrix Component Eigenvalues % of Variance Cumulative %

1 4.903 18.159 18.159 2 2.538 9.401 27.569 3 1.949 7.217 34.777 4 1.604 5.941 40.718 5 1.509 5.589 46.307 6 1.317 4.876 51.183 7 1.251 4.632 55.815 8 1.074 3.987 59.794 9 1.021 3.780 63.574

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Item1 .129 .337 .067 .224 -.187 .483 -.237 .092 .296 Item2 -.018 .009 .163 .171 .016 .037 -.056 .021 -.840 Item3 .231 .375 .075 .100 .119 .424 -.402 .021 -.144 Item4 -.002 -.055 .794 .008 .040 .074 -.026 .157 -.081 Item5 -.085 .173 .220 -.683 .046 -.025 .191 .149 .051 Item6 .004 -.009 .213 .285 .028 -.034 -.276 .033 .600 Item7 -.010 .226 .385 -.229 .031 .555 .466 -.118 .029 Item8 .603 .228 .263 -.074 .196 .048 -.013 -.200 .074 Item9 .137 .068 -.019 -.061 .081 .801 .096 .210 -.108 Item10 .078 .810 .140 .050 .047 .026 -.041 .030 -.066 Item11 .006 .231 .261 -.182 .172 .218 .019 .633 .002 Item12 .045 .118 .216 .458 -.140 .125 .114 .564 .162 Item13 .090 .295 .581 .013 .310 .000 .317 .090 .127 Item14 .064 -.006 .242 .106 .575 -.176 -.175 .027 .069 Item15 .047 .155 .124 .799 .177 -.083 .164 -.013 .009 Item16 .304 .387 .240 .105 .099 -.022 -.317 -.409 -.035 Item17 -.219 -.152 -.017 .009 .744 .171 .008 -.064 -.073 Item18 .049 .187 .027 -.007 .658 .044 .343 .119 -.008 Item19 .143 .682 -.123 .003 .053 .062 .037 .283 .140 Item20 .754 .055 .182 -.027 -.042 -.004 -.078 -.036 -.031 Item21 .587 .244 -.104 .198 -.082 .197 .046 -.039 .163 Item22 .179 .716 .018 -.099 -.130 .178 .178 -.029 -.059 Item23 .763 .049 -.078 .061 -.089 .067 .048 .187 -.069 Item24 .348 .470 -.030 .080 -.262 .298 .103 .226 .057 Item25 .487 .150 .020 -.199 .055 .025 -.117 .554 -.189 Item26 .594 .121 -.347 .148 -.060 .073 .230 .143 .055 Item27 .100 .071 .057 .068 .079 .057 .772 .049 -.129

Figure: Scree Plot of Nine Components

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Towards the Reconfiguration of Language Education for the Nigerian Child

Boniface Igbeneghu

Department of European Languages University of Lagos, Nigeria

Tel: +234-8023276578 E-mail: boigbeneghu@yahoo.co.uk; bigbeneghu@unilag.edu.ng

Received: 18-08-2013 Accepted: 06-10-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.45 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.45 Abstract In this article, we examine the extant language policies, with particular regard to the Nigerian Child. We take a profound look at the National Policy on Education 1977, the UNICEF Annual Report 1995, the National Policy on Education 1998, the National Policy on Education 2004, the National Policy for Integrated Early Childhood Development in Nigeria 2007, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, the Nigeria Millennium Development Goals Report 2010, etc. We seek to appraise the strengths and weaknesses of these policies in order to determine the extent to which they are beneficial to the Nigerian child in the context of plurilingualism and globalization. This appraisal is done employing a tridimensional framework: hindsight, insight and foresight perspectives. We argue for the reconfiguration of language education aimed at functional plurilingualism for the Nigerian child. Recommendations are made in view of enhancing the prospects of functional plurilingualism for every Nigerian child, who will consequently be competent to contribute meaningfully towards the development of Nigeria in particular and mankind in general. Keywords: Nigerian child, National Policy on Education, language education, Millennium Development Goals, functional plurilingualism 1. Introduction That the child is the future of every nation is incontrovertible. This explains why it behoves the nation to assume fully its responsibility of ensuring that the educational development of children empowers them to be able to contribute meaningfully and optimally to national and global development. There is also no doubt that the immense development evident today in the western world is a product of the importance accorded child education several centuries ago, rooted in a revered tradition whereby teachers were appointed by aristocratic families to educate and mould children in such disciplines as Philosophy, Classical Languages, History, Music and Literature. Education was thus aimed at an all-round development of the child in line with the famous Descartian statement: “Men sana incopore sano” meaning “a sound mind in a sound body.” With the benefit of hindsight, this objective is not very distant from that of the Universities, which were to evolve later as centres of moral and intellectual training of “Philosopher-Kings”, equipped adequately to rule their societies effectively. It is pertinent to observe that in a pluralistic linguistic community, like Nigeria with no less than 500 languages (indigenous and foreign) in contact and within the wider context of a global village with several thousands of languages, a no less lofty objective is desirable for the Nigerian child. This implies that language education will only be purposeful for the Nigerian child if it is reflective of language diversity and if it aims at national development and peace. 2. The Nigerian Child’s Right to Purposeful Education Both the U.N. Convention and the O.A.U. Charter recommend that children’s right should cover the areas of child survival, child development and child participation. Categorically, the U.N. Convention and the O.A.U. Charter state that “every child (male or female) is entitled to receive compulsory basic education and equal opportunity for higher education depending on individual ability ” (UNICEF Annual Report 1995:5-12). Accordingly, the goals of child education, as espoused by the UN and the O.A.U (UNICEF Annual Report, 1995:12), are as follows:

(a) Prepare the child for a responsible life in the society (b) Promote and develop the child’s personality, talents, mental and physical potentials to the maximum level (c) Enhance positive societal norms and tradition values (d) Foster respect for individual freedom. (e) Contribute to the preservation of national unity, territorial integrity, African solidarity and international peace.

It is widely acknowledged that, at independence, Nigeria inherited a legacy of qualitative education. The only University at that moment, the University College, Ibadan was established in 1948 as a colonial campus of the University College, London. The quality of education offered by the University College, Ibadan was comparable to

IJALEL 3(1):45-53, 2014 46 what was obtainable at every other reputable University in the world. Furthermore, at Ibadan, the Premier of the Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, introduced in 1958 the Free Primary Education in the entire region. The result of these developments is the leading educational pedestal in Nigeria occupied till date by the erstwhile Western Region, which has since metamorphosed into the present day South West Nigeria, Edo State and Delta State. The first Federal Government scheme designed to enhance child education in Nigeria was the Universal Primary Education scheme introduced in 1976 by the military regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo. The scheme provided free primary education for all children in Nigerian schools. It however recorded little success and suffered immense setbacks afterwards because successive governments did not demonstrate the political will to ensure its continuity. Secondly, though free, participation was not compulsory for all children of school-going age. On his second coming to power, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo introduced, in 1999, the Universal Basic Education (UBE) scheme. This was done in consonance with the spirit of the Education for All (EFA) of 1990 to which Nigeria is a signatory and that of the education component of the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In 2000, 189 nations made a pledge to free people from extreme poverty and multiple deprivations. This pledge turned into the Millennium Development Goals (henceforth MDGs) with the target date of 2015 and eight components. The eight components of the MDGs are as follows:

1) Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger 2) Achieve universal primary education 3) Promote gender equality and empower women 4) Reduce child mortality 5) Improve mental health 6) Combat HIV/AIDS malaria and other diseases 7) Ensure environmental sustainability 8) Develop a global partnership for development

To achieve Goal 2, universal primary education, it is hoped that by 2015, children everywhere will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling. (cf. www.un.org/milleniumgoals/education.html) Unfortunately, however, the UNDP MDGs Report 2013 reveals that too many children are still being denied their right to primary education and that the world, by 2015, might not meet the goal of universal primary education. Further, the report states that in 2011, 57 million children of primary school age were out of school and more than half of these out-of-school children live in sub-saharan Africa. With specific regard to the Nigerian child, the Nigeria Millennium Development Goals Report (2010:4) released by the Federal Government of Nigeria reports in its executive summary that “in a major step forward, nearly nine out of ten children, 88.8% are now enrolled in school”. We observe that this net enrolment ratio in primary education of 88.8% is certainly a remarkable improvement when compared with the ratio of 68% recorded in 2000, the take-off year of the MDGs. It is however instructive to point out that this figure is not equitable to all parts of the country as further indicated by the Nigeria MDGs Report (2010:4): Nevertheless, regional differences are stark…In particular, progress needs to be accelerated in the north of the country if the target is to be met. This implies that the rate of primary education enrolment in the Southern part of the country is higher than that of the Northern part of Nigeria. It is also important to note that the survival rate, which refers to the percentage of pupils who complete primary education, has been on a steady decline: 97% in 2000 but 72.3% in 2008. As we have earlier submitted above, the introduction of the Universal Basic Education (henceforth UBE) scheme in 1999 by the civilian government of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was aimed at fulfilling its commitment to the Education for All (henceforth EFA) of 1990 and at satisfying the education component (Goal 2) of the UN MDGS. The UBE scheme (National Policy on Education 2004:7) stipulates that: Basic education shall be of 9-year duration comprising 6 years of primary education and 3 years of junior secondary education. It shall be free and compulsory. It is imperative to remark that that unlike the Universal Primary Education (henceforth UPE) scheme of the 1970s, the UBE scheme, right from its inception, is designed to be not only free but also compulsory for all children of school-going age. This therefore serves to correct the major deficit that we alluded to in the UPE scheme. Further, the vision statement of the UBE scheme, as contained in the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Standard Action Plan (2004:6), is as follows:

IJALEL 3(1):45-53, 2014 47 At the end of the nine years of continuous education, every child that passes through the system should acquire appropriate levels of literacy, numeracy, communication, manipulative and life skills and be employable, useful to himself or herself and the society at large by possession of relevant ethical, moral and civil values. The statement above suggests that the UBE scheme is envisioned to equip the Nigerian child with skills and values that will make him or her to be self-reliant, innovative, creative, humane and of good moral conduct for the benefit of mankind in general. It is also significant to observe that the introduction of the UBE scheme has led to the replacement of the 6-3-3-4 system by the 9-3-4 system of education in Nigeria. However, the UBE scheme has not been insulated from a number of problems. First, the scheme has been denied sufficient funds, by the Nigerian government, required to carry out effective monitoring, supervision and evaluation of the progress of its activities. It is sad to note that most of the funds available for its projects and activities are derived directly from grants by the World Bank and the United Nations Development Project (UNDP). Closely related to the above is the lack of political will by the Nigerian government to adequately fund the educational sector in general. This is attested to by the frequent industrial strike actions often embarked upon by the trade unions such as the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) in the Primary and Secondary schools, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) in the Polytechnics, and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in the Universities, to mention but a few. Whereas the UNESCO recommends a national annual budgetary allocation of 26% for the educational sector by all countries of the world, Nigeria, in the 2013 budget, allocated a paltry 8.5% for education as against higher allocations for the same purpose by some other African countries: 31% by Ghana, 23% by Kenya and 27 % by Uganda! Meanwhile, in 2007, a supplementary policy, the National Policy for Integrated Early Childhood Development in Nigeria (henceforth NPIECDN) was formulated. The then Minister of Education, Dr. Sayyad Abba Ruma, presented the policy as an integrated approach designed for children of age 0 to 5 years. In his foreword to the NPIECDN, Dr Ruma affirms that: The ultimate aim in the provision of early childhood care and development is to provide care for the child while the parents are at work and to prepare the child for further education. This integrated approach will definitely ensure improved care and support for the growing child thereby giving it a good head start in life. The justification for the formulation of this policy is significant and compelling. According to the NPIECDN (2007:2), the state of child education in Nigeria is not cheering: 30% of 6 to 11 year old children are not in school. Besides, less than 20% of children of ages 0 to 5 years are not attending any form of organized child care or pre-school programme. The policy (NPIECDN 2007:13) thus aims at working in concert with the UBE Act, which provides for the establishment of integrated early childhood development day care and crèche centres in public primary and junior secondary schools in Nigeria. In addition, the NPIECDN (2007:17) recommends the introduction of the “child into the social world, using your mother tongue with pride.” This endorses the use of the mother tongue in educating children of ages 0 to 3. However, no language is recommended for educating children of ages 3 to 5. This, to our mind, is a shortcoming of the policy. We shall return to this later. To conclude this section, we wish to suggest some solutions in order to mitigate some of the major policy shortcomings identified above. First, the Federal Government should increase considerably its annual budgetary allocation to education in the light of the 26% recommendation by UNESCO. This will help to shore up the prospects of producing qualitative educated youths for the future. The current trend of relying on grants by the World Bank and the UNDP for the funding of the UBE scheme projects should be discontinued. Incentives should be provided by the Nigerian government to address the problems of declining enrolment ratio by the children of school-going age and that of poverty-driven declining survival rate of pupils in the basic education. In the true spirit of free education, free tuition, free books, free school uniforms, free lunch, free medical treatment, free raincoats during rainy season, and free transport should be provided. More schools should be built and made accessible to children. Allied issues like child labour in farms, marketplaces, etc, child prostitution and the engagement of children in street hawking, alms begging during and after school hours should be legislated against and appropriate sanctions imposed on culpable parents and guardians. The need to not only train adequate manpower and teachers for all levels of education (from basic to tertiary) but also to highly remunerate them can never be overstressed.

IJALEL 3(1):45-53, 2014 48 3. Language Education and the Nigerian Child Nigeria`s policy on language education is contained in the various versions of its National Policy on Education and the National Policy for Integrated Early Childhood Development in Nigeria. On language education for the Nigerian child, the National Policy on Education (1977: 9) states that: In addition to appreciating the importance of language in the educational process, and as a means of preserving the people’s culture, the Government considers it to be in the interest of national unity that each child should be encouraged to learn one of the three major languages other than his own Mother-Tongue. In this connection, the Government considers the three major languages in Nigeria to be Hausa, Ibo and Yoruba. We consider the selection of the three major Nigerian languages for learning in schools to be quite disturbing in a multi-ethnic and a multilingual country. More widely-spoken languages, which we can refer to as “semi-major Nigerian languages”, ought to be included in this list. Bamgbose (1978:65) identifies about 513 languages and clusters in Nigeria. Although some linguists put the figure at about 400, what is clear is that the selection of only three languages does appear to be inadequate and non-representative of all the Nigerian languages. For pre-primary education, the National Policy on Education (henceforth NPE) (1977:10) states, among other things, that “Government will ensure that the medium of instruction will be principally the mother-tongue or the language of the immediate community.” This implies that the early childhood/pre-primary school pupils ought to take all their subjects in a Nigerian language: either their mother-tongue or the language spoken in their environment. The policy thus favours the acquisition of Nigerian languages by children. A demerit of this policy is that there is no room for the teaching and learning of foreign languages by the pupils, particularly, within the context of globalization. Meanwhile, it should be noted that, for primary education, the scope of language acquisition is broader. The NPE (1977:13) specifies that:

Government will see to it that the medium of instruction in the primary school is initially mother tongue or the language of the immediate community and, at a later stage, English.

Notice the addition of English at the primary school level. The recommendation for primary education is similar to that of the secondary education (NPE 1977:17), which reads:

In selecting two Nigerian Languages, students should study the language of their own area in addition to any of the three main Nigerian Languages, Hausa, Ibo and Yoruba, subject to availability of teachers.

English is classified as a core subject, compulsory for all students, while French and Arabic languages are simply non-vocational electives. But the recommendation is quite objective in the use of the phase “subject to availability of teachers” because what perhaps was the main problem of implementing this policy since inception was the shortage of teachers of Nigerian Languages. The erstwhile National Institute for Nigerian Languages located at Aba, in Abia State seemed not to have lived up to expectation in terms of training and producing sufficient teachers for Nigerian languages. The study of Nigerian languages at childhood is a necessary tool for preserving our cultural heritage and identity, but the selection of only three of these languages out of a plethora of indigenous languages is faulty. Moreover, the ancillary status accorded foreign languages such as French and Arabic cannot be convincingly justified. We therefore argue for a broad-based language policy as opposed to the restrictive policy contained in the NPE 1977. We shall return to this soon. To demonstrate the resolve by the late Nigerian military Head of State, General Sanni Abacha to implement his 1996 declaration that French shall be the second official language of Nigeria, the NPE 1977 was radically revised and a new version published as the National Policy on Education (henceforth NPE) 1998. The NPE (1998:9) declares that: For smooth interaction with our neighbours, it is desirable for every Nigerian to speak French. Accordingly, French shall be the second official language in Nigeria, and it shall be compulsory in schools To this end, the NPE (1998:13) states that in the primary schools, three languages shall be compulsory for the pupils to learn, namely, (i) the language of the immediate community (ii) English and (iii) French. A similar recommendation is made for children in both the junior secondary and senior secondary schools. In the junior secondary school, the NPE (1998:18) specifies that the compulsory subjects to study shall include four languages, viz, (i) English (ii) French (iii) the language of the immediate community to be studied as L1 and (iv) another major Nigerian language to be studied as L2. In the senior secondary school, the compulsory subjects, according to the NPE (1998:20), shall include three languages which are English, French and another major Nigerian language.

IJALEL 3(1):45-53, 2014 49 In our opinion, the NPE 1998, despite its imperfection, presents the best prospects so far in the history of Nigeria for the teaching and learning of the French language by the Nigerian child. It stands out as a well thought-out policy, geared towards equipping the Nigerian child with the knowledge of French right from the primary school to the end of the secondary school education. Its imperfection, however, is the preclusion of the Nigerian child in the early childhood/pre-primary school from the same enterprise at an impressionable age which linguists have agreed to be most appropriate for multiple language acquisition. We shall return to this later. In 2004, the NPE (1998) was also revised. The revision, which led to the publication of the National Policy on Education (2004), was primarily a response to some major systemic changes in the educational sector. The UBE scheme, a nine-year programme, was introduced to run from primary to junior secondary school. With regard to language education, the NPE (2004:4) states that: For smooth interaction with our neighbours, it is desirable for every Nigerian to speak French. Accordingly, French shall be the second official language in Nigeria and it shall be compulsory in primary and junior secondary schools but non-vocational elective at the senior secondary school. French thus suffers a policy reversal, at the secondary school level, to the NPE 1977 status: a mere non-vocational elective from the compulsory subject status it enjoys in the NPE 1998. It is important to observe that such frequent policy reversals and policy somersaults have been the bane of the Nigerian educational sector since independence and account largely for the slow pace of national development. Besides, as we observed in the NPE 1977, in the NPE 1998, as well as in the NPIECDN 2007, no mention is made of French as one of the languages to expose the Nigerian child to at the early childhood/pre-primary educational level. Article 14(c) of the NPE (2004:5) states that at the early childhood/pre-primary education, “Government shall ensure that the medium of instruction is principally the mother tongue or the language of the immediate environment.” Also as demonstrated in the NPE 1977 and in the NPE 1998, the NPE 2004 favours the acquisition by the Nigerian child of other Nigerian languages apart from the three major Nigerian languages. To this end, the NPE (2004:5) envisages, in article 14 (c) to:

i) develop the orthography of many more Nigerian languages ii) produce textbooks in Nigerian languages

It should however be noted that, as at moment of writing this article, very few Nigerian languages have been adequately documented in terms of orthography and grammar. The National Institute of Nigerian Languages, Aba, Abia State, whose primary assignment was to realize these objectives was curiously scrapped in 2006 and subsequently subsumed in 2007 to become a centre in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, because of a petty political acrimony between the then president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, and Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, the then governor of Abia State. This development epitomizes the frequent policy reversals and policy somersaults that have often characterized the educational landscape in Nigeria. As contained in the NPE 1998, the NPE (2004:8) affirms that the compulsory subjects in the primary school shall include four languages namely, (i) language of the environment (ii) English (iii) French and (iv) Arabic. The NPE (2004:9), in sections 19 (e) and 19 (f), adds as follows: (e)The medium of instruction in the primary school shall be the language of the environment for the first three years. During this period, English shall be taught as a subject.

(f) From the fourth year, English shall progressively be used as a medium of instruction and the language of the immediate environment and French shall be taught as subjects. Above, we observe that French, the proposed second official language in Nigeria is rightly accorded the status of a taught compulsory subject in the primary school, which is the first six years of basic education. During the final three years of basic education, which is the junior secondary school, the NPE (2004:12) recommends that the core subjects shall include four languages namely, (i) English (ii) French (iii) language of the environment to be taught as L1 where it has orthography and literature. Where it does not have, it shall be taught with emphasis on oralcy as L2 and (iv) one major Nigerian language other than that of the environment. Notice that while the recommendation on English and French remains the same as that of the NPE 1998, some modifications are introduced in the NPE (2004) regarding the approach to the teaching of Nigerian languages: a certain degree of flexibility is advocated to truly reflect the actual state of documentation of the Nigerian languages to be taught. In the senior secondary school, the NPE (2004:13-14) presents the core subjects to include only two languages: English and one major Nigerian language. French is listed as a non-vocational elective. We need to note that this development signifies a return of French to its status in the NPE 1977. While it is difficult to rationalize this policy reversal and

IJALEL 3(1):45-53, 2014 50 policy somersault, it remains an incontestable fact that the goal of making the Nigerian child a global functional multilingual is clearly inhibited. It has been observed that language development in children is one of the most remarkable accomplishments, which occur during the first years of life. There are two sides to it: productive speech, which means the speech a child produces, and receptive speech, which means how a child receives and understands speech. According to Schickedanz & Forsyth (1993: 210-227), productive speech during the first year of life is called prelinguistic. It involves no use of words. It includes crying and cooing at four months of age. From five months to eight or ten months, most children begin to combine consonants with vowel in alternate forms like “mama mama” or “dada dada.” This is known as babbling. The first real word said by a baby is often to call a very familiar object or person. The first word may be a simplification of an adult word for example “foo” instead of “food,” “wayer” instead of “water.” The child has thus advanced from being incomprehensible to being comprehensible; in other words, from prelinguistic to linguistic. At about fourteen to eighteen months of age, most children learn to use the suprasegmental features of adult language, for example, intonational patterns. The final stage of speech production is between eighteen and twenty four months of age, like, “No want,” “Mummy rice” “Daddy car” “Where bottle?” Brown (1973) refers to this as Toddler’s Telegraphic speech because it is similar to the way telegrams are constructed. After this stage, most children learn to be able to construct full sentences. The second side of language development, as earlier mentioned, is receptive speech. Infants can differentiate between human speech and other sounds as early as from one month of age (cf. Eimas et al, 1971; Harris & Coltheart, 1986). But they respond more positively to infant-directed speech otherwise known as “Motherese” than to adult-directed speech (cf. Cooper & Aslin, 1990). From 12 months of age, infants understand much more of what is said than what they themselves can actually say. Theories of language acquisition can be categorized into two: external versus internal factor or nurture versus nature factor. The external or nurture factor is anchored on the Learning Theory expounded principally by B. F. Skinner (1957). According to this theory, language is primarily learned from and influenced by contact with the environment, a kind of operant conditioning consisting of a stimulus emitting a response. Language is not innate in human beings. If we learn and speak our mother tongue, it is because it is spoken around us. According to learning theorists, the three main techniques involved in language acquisition are imitation, reinforcement and punishment or negative feedback (Schickedanz & Forsyth 1993: 221). It should, however, be pointed out that the demerit of the Learning Theory is that it cannot account for the ability of children to generate sentences they have never heard nor uttered before. The internal or nature factor is related to the Nativist Theory, which in turn is anchored on Chomsky’s Generative Grammar. Inspired perhaps by his famous critical review of B. F. Skinner (1957) Learning Theory espoused in Verbal Behaviour (1957), Chomsky`s Generative Grammar holds that the child is endowed with an innate Language Acquisition Device (LAD) (Chomsky 1957, 1965). This enables a child to derive a grammar from the language he or she hears. A child is born knowing how to construct grammar, Chomsky claims, just as birds are born knowing how to fly (Schickedanz & Forsyth 1993: 221). In spite of all criticisms, it seems that the Nativist Theory is able to account sufficiently for the innateness of the LAD. It accounts therefore for the linguistic competence of children to “on the basis of a finite and accidental experience with language, produce or understand an indefinite number of new sentences ” (Chomsky 1957:15). It also accounts for the attested universal nature and orderly progression of language development in human beings. In every language, the learning process follows certain paths and language structures are attested in the same sequential order. This underpins the concept of Language Universals. It is our belief that every child has the ability to learn as many as five languages because of his or her cognitive malleability because, as Chomsky (2007: 3) posits, the human “genetic endowment sets no limits on the number of attainable languages.” For example, in the schools of Louisiana in the 18th and 19th centuries, French was used for classes in all subjects and other activities in the mornings. In the afternoon, until dinner, only English was spoken. Thanks to this, every scholar in Louisiana is perfectly bilingual (Bressand, 1996:2). Another example is Lebanon which, for about 150 years now, has been operating a bilingual educational system. Arabic and French were the idioms of instruction at the outset. Since independence in 1943, there has been a change to Arabic and English. The system has ensured that educated Lebanese are all perfect bilinguals (Bressand, 1996:3). Also in Saarland, Sarrebruck became, perhaps, the first bilingual University (German and French) in Europe because, just after the Second World War, Emil Straus, the then Minister of Education, in a bid to introduce bilingualism, “imported” about 100 young teachers from France with a strict order to speak only French as the language of instruction and communication to the pupils in nursery schools and primary schools (Bressand, 1996:11). The need for a plurilingual Europe has gained prominence since the mid 80s. In 1984, the Ministers of Education of the European Community countries recommended a “practical command of two languages in addition to the mother tongue” (Bressand, 1996:7). In 1993, 60 delegates (ministers, language educators and diplomats), drawn from all the countries in Europe, signed the European Charter for Plurilingual Education. The charter expressed that, in addition to the mother tongue, another European language should be spoken to the children in Kindergarten. A certain number of subjects should be taught in the two languages. Towards the end of primary school, a second modern language should be introduced so that at the end of compulsory schooling, a student will be able to speak three languages “which should be the normal range of linguistic ability of every European citizen” (Bressand, 1996:34). The signatories concluded by sounding a note of warning (Bressand, 1996:35):

IJALEL 3(1):45-53, 2014 51 The signatories wish to remind all the European Ministers of Education and culture of how history will judge them if the European Institutions and Governments do not turn their backs on monolingualism and linguistic imperialism, and rapidly take concrete steps to instigate the plurilingualism which could prove to be a cohesive factor in uniting Europe and opening it up to the outside world.

The statement above justifies the call for a plurilingual Europe. André Martinet explains the reasons in clearer terms in his preface to José Herreras`s book, Language Learning in the European Community Countries, as follows:

First of all, why opt for European plurilingualism? The English speakers are in no way concerned about this, for they can just trust to present trends, working to their advantage. However, the fact that English dominates the world scene in no way implies that either within the European Community as it is today, or in the no doubt wider form it will have one day, it will become the only language of community between the member states. The use of a language has profound cultural implications. There has long been a strong European Culture, to which Great Britain has brought a great deal, just as have all the other countries in the community. All the languages spoken in Europe have been and remain the vectors of European culture, and we would all be the poorer if we were to sacrifice any one of them.

And recently, precisely on May 22 2008, the Council of the European Union resolved, inter alia, to preserve the linguistic diversity of Europe and to respect the parity among European languages. But the desire to have a plurilingual Europe is being done within the context of globalization. European countries are now interested in the teaching and learning of non-European languages by children in European schools. Article 3 of the Council of the European Union official journal puts it succinctly by inviting member states to:

promote the learning of their national languages in other member states including through greater use of distance learning technologies, and encourage the learning of less widely used European languages, and non-European languages.

If Europeans believe that Europe will be better placed as a plurilingual community rather than as a monolingual entity, it is our conviction that Nigerian children will be more useful to their country, in particular, and to the world, in general, if the language policy is modified to make them functional plurilinguals. In the 18th and 19th UNESCO General Conference (1974-1976), resolutions were adopted in favour of bilingual education. This was followed by the creation, in October 1998, by the UNESCO Executive Board, of a Consultative Committee on Linguistic Pluralism and Plurilingual Education (Le monde bilingue, 1999:26). It should also be noted that in many Francophone West African Countries like Côte d’Ivoire, Bénin Republic, Cameroon (already officially bilingual) and Togo, a bilingual language education policy has been adopted in all schools: French and English are compulsory subjects in the school system from primary school through secondary school to Baccalaureat level (i.e. HSC or GCE A/L equivalent). In effect, for early childhood/pre-primary education in Nigeria, we propose the introduction of four languages for instruction and communication, as follows : (i) the mother tongue; (ii) English as the first official language; (iii) French as the second official language; and (iv) the Nigerian language spoken in the immediate community. The mother tongue should enjoy the pride of place in the classroom but where the pupils come from different ethnic groups, as is often the case in urban areas in Nigeria, the language of the immediate community should be used. The use of the Mother Tongue is preferred for several reasons. First, it has been observed that most children of “elite” parents in Nigeria attend private nursery schools where English is the only language of instruction and communication. Similarly, at home, “elite” parents communicate with their children in English, perhaps, as a status symbol. This tendency is quite detrimental to the future of our indigenous languages. The adoption of mother tongue in Nursery School will, therefore, help to preserve our ethnic identity and cultural heritage. Second, the use of the mother tongue will facilitate the acquisition of language universals by the child. This will in turn make the acquisition of other languages by the child an easy task. This is based on the minimalist assumption by Chomsky (1995:388) that:

Languages have no rules at all in anything like the Traditional sense … there are universal principles and an array of options (parameters) as to how they apply. There is a single computational system (CHL) for language and only limited lexical variety in its application to different languages.

We argue that English should be retained as the first official language on grounds of convenience or expediency and as a result of our historical relationship with the language. The reasons for supporting French, the second official language, are: 1. It is the second most widely spoken language in the world. 2. It is the lingua franca of our neighbouring countries. 3. It will facilitate trade and commerce with our neighbouring countries. Nigeria therefore stands to be the greatest beneficiary of such economic activities because of our immense human and industrial resources.

IJALEL 3(1):45-53, 2014 52 The fourth language we propose for instruction and communication at the early childhood/pre-primary education is the Nigerian language of the immediate community. This is needed by the Nigerian child for survival purpose and for boosting interpersonal relations and national unity. For basic (primary to junior secondary) education and senior secondary education, we argue that the four languages introduced at the early childhood/pre-primary education should be vigorously maintained. This will help to make the Nigerian child a functional multilingual in the future. Besides, it will certainly enhance the cognitive, imaginative and creative competences of the Nigerian child for other academic fields like science, technology, medicine, law and philosophy, psychology, to mention but a few. For according to Claude Hagège (1996:16): As far as unilingual children introduced sufficiently early to a second language are concerned, numerous studies show they are ahead of their contemporaries in their ability to deal with the abstract. 4. Conclusion The child remains the pivot of the future and growth of every nation. As a developing nation, empowering the Nigerian child through purposeful education has become rather imperative. The Language Policy as contained in the current National Policy on Education (2004) is seen to be working at cross purposes with this objective because, as we have seen above, of its restrictive nature. It does not take advantage of the child’s cognitive malleability and innate aptitude for plurilingualism with regard to the acquisition of Nigerian and foreign languages. Some francophone West African countries have made French and English compulsory subjects in their school system. The story is the same in Louisiana: French and English have been compulsory in the school system since the 18th century. In Lebanon, it was at the outset, Arabic and French but recently Arabic and English due to a policy shift. In some communities in Germany, for example, Saarland, German and French have been adopted since the post world war era. And more recently, European countries have adopted plurilingualism that seeks to accommodate both European and non-European languages. We submit that the Nigerian child will be more useful to her or his country in particular and to the world in general, in the areas of economic, social, diplomatic and technological developments, if we tread a similar path. Therefore, we argue for the reconfiguration of language education in Nigeria. Theoretically, our argument is anchored on Brown (1973) post toddler’s telegraphic speech hypothesis according to which a child from the age of twenty four months is able to construct sentences, having been innately endowed with, following Chomsky (1957, 1965), a Language Acquisition Device that prepares him or her to grapple easily with, according to Chomsky (1995), language universals which are similar in human languages and which, as postulated by Chomsky (2007: 3), sets no limit on the number of languages that can be acquired by the child. From the early childhood/pre-primary education to senior secondary education, we propose that the Nigerian child should learn at least four languages, particularly, her or his mother tongue, English, French and the language of the immediate community. It is our belief that this model will enable the country to produce functional plurilinguals who will be nationally and globally relevant. References Bamgbose, A. (1978). Models of Communication in Multilingual States. West African Journal of Modern Languages. 3, 60-65. Bressand, J. M. (Ed.) (1966). Peace through Languages. Besançon: Peters Louvain. Brown, R. (1973). A First Language. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Chomsky, N. (1957). Syntactic Structures. The Hague: Mouton and Co. Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. Chomsky, N. (1995). The Minimalist Program. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. Chomsky, N. (2007). Approaching UG from Below. In U. Sauerland & H-M. Gartner (Eds.) Interfaces + Recursion = Language? ( pp. 1-29). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Cooper R., & Aslin, R. (1990). Preference for Infant Directed Speech in the first month after Birth. Child Development. 61( 5), 1584-1595. Council Conclusions of 22 May 2008 on Multilingualism. Official Journal C140, 06/06/2008 P.0014-0015. Eur-lex.europa.eu/lexuriserv. Retrieved on 01/06/2013 Eimas, P., Siqueland, E., Jusczyk, P., & Vigorito, J. (1971). Speech Perception in Infants. Science New Series. 171(3968), 303-306. Federal Republic of Nigeria. (1977). National Policy on Education. Lagos: NERDC Press. Federal Republic of Nigeria. (1998). National Policy on Education. Lagos: NERDC Press. Federal Republic of Nigeria. (2004). National Policy on Education. Lagos: NERDC Press. Federal Republic of Nigeria. (2007). National Policy for Integrated Early Childhood Development in Nigeria. Lagos: NERDC Press. Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. (2010). Nigeria Millennium Development Goals Report 2010. www.mdgs.gov.ng. Retrieved on 01/06/2013

IJALEL 3(1):45-53, 2014 53 Hagège, C. (1996). The Demands of Plurilingualism. In J. M. Bressand (Ed.). Peace through Languages. Besançon: Peters Louvain. Harris, M., & Coltheart, M. (1986) Language Processing in Children and Adults: an Introduction. London and New York: Routledge. Millennium Development Goals. www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/mdgoverview/. Retrieved on 01/06/2013 Schickedanz, J., & Forsyth, P. (1993). Understanding Children. California: Mayfield Publishing Company. Skinner, B. F. (1957). Verbal Behavior. Harvard: Harvard University Press. United Nations Children Fund. (1995). UNICEF Annual Report 1995. Unicef Press. United Nations Millennium Development Goals. www.un.org/milleniumgoals/education.html Retrieved on 01/06/2013.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

The Interface of Error Types, Teacher’s Feedback, and Students’ Uptake

Abdolsaleh Zoghi (Corresponding author)

Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran E-mail:Abdolsalehzoghi@yahoo.com

Jahanbakhsh Nikoopour

Islamic Azad University, Tehran North Branch, Iran E-mail: Nikoopour2000@gmail.com

Received: 24-08-2013 Accepted: 06-10-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.54 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.54 Abstract The present study is an attempt to investigate the frequency of different types of errors committed by EFL learners and the most prevalent types of errors, the types of corrective feedback do EFL teachers provide primarily in their classes and the students’ reaction followed by feedback, and the combination of corrective feedback and learner uptake leading to negotiation of form. To perform this study, an observational, analytical and descriptive study was conducted. For collecting data, six classes with 6 different instructors were chosen. The number of participants was 60 female students who were at intermediate level from two subsidiaries of Jahad Language Institutes in Karaj, Albourz Province. Homogeneous groups of language learners were selected. Each class was observed for 5 sessions and the interactions among students and instructors in different classes were recorded. The coding scheme was according to Lyster and Ranta’ (1997) model with some additional parts. Two other types of feedback were added, translation and multiple feedback. Also a combination of errors, multiple errors, was added. The analysis of the database showed that among five types of errors, i.e. phonological, grammatical, lexical, multiple errors and L1, the phonological and grammatical errors were committed primarily by students (43% and 30% respectively). From eight types of feedback given to learners, explicit feedback and recast were the most frequent types of feedback provided by the instructors. Finally, four types of feedbacks including elicitation, clarification request, metalinguistic feedback and repetition of errors led to student uptake: self repair and peer correction.

Keywords: corrective feedback, different types of feedback, uptake

1. Introduction Learner’s errors and feedbacks followed an error are two significant parts of learning process; therefore, coping with errors and understanding how to tackle them could be considered as a means at teachers’ disposal to know how to assist learners. It is through the corrective feedback that students become aware of their inadequacies and are assisted to overcome the problems they face in their language learning experience. There have been a large number of researches done in the field of feedback types, such as, Carrol & Swain (1993), Dekeyster (1993), Lyster (2004), Lyster & Ranta (1997), Mackey (2000), Mackey & Oliver (2002), Mackey & Silver (2005), Nassaji (2009), Nassaji & Swain (2002), and Takimoto (2006) investigated the effectiveness of corrective feedback. Havranek (2002), Havraneck & Ceink (2001), and Oliver (1995, 2000) investigated their studies on the realm of corrective feedback about the factors which are noticeable to promote or impede language learning.

Sheen (2004) stated that the effectiveness of corrective feedback on language acquisition could be measured directly and indirectly: 1) Immediate post-tests (Carrol & Swain,1993; Long et al., 1998); 2) delayed post-tests (Doughty & Varela,1998; Han, 2002; and Macky & Philip,1998); 3)learner perception/noticing of corrective feedback by means of (stimulated) recall ( Macky et al., 2000; Philip, 2003); and 4) uptake (Ellis et al.,2001; Lyster, 1998b; Lyster & Ranta,1997; Mackey et al.,2003; Panova & Lyster, 2002; Suzuki, 2004; Sheen, 2004; Sheen, 2006; and Tsang, 2004) .

1.1 Definition of Corrective Feedback Corrective feedback is defined as the case when “negative or positive evidence” to errors are provided to help learners repair the erroneous form based on linguistic correctness and precision (Lyster & Ranta, 1997; Suzuki, 2004). Chaudron (1977) defines it as “any reaction of the teacher which clearly transforms, disapprovingly refers to, or demand improvement of the learner utterance” (p.31). It is described by Lightbown & Spada (2003) “as any indication to a learner that his/ her use of the target language is incorrect” (p.172), it is classified into two categories based on the way

IJALEL 3(1):54-62, 2014 55 they are corrected, explicitly and implicitly. Ellis (1994) maintained that the terms “correction” “repair” and “feedback” are often used to refer to general area of error treatment. Long (1978) distinguished two terms of feedback and correction; he notes that feedback refers to the process of giving students information so that they can tell whether their production or comprehension of the language is correct, while correction refers to the result of feedback or its effect on learning. Long (1996) provided a more comprehensible view of feedback and mentioned that the provided input for the learner can be divided to two broad categories of positive and negative evidence. Positive evidence is defined as providing the model of the target language which is acceptable and grammatical and it is divided to two subcategories of authentic and modified input and model, whereas negative evidence is providing direct and indirect information about what is unacceptable in target language.

1.2 Uptake

Uptake is defined by Lyster & Ranta (1997) as “a student’s utterance that immediately follows the teacher’s feedback and that constitutes a reaction in some way to the teacher’s intention to draw attention to some aspects of the student’s initial utterance” (p.49). Carroll & Swain (1993) stated that uptake provides an opportunity to learners to practice what they have learned and fill the gap in their interlanguage. Panova & Lyster (2002) believed that the notion of uptake helps the researchers recognize different degrees of the learners’ participation while they are corrected. Smith (2005) shortened the definitions of uptake mentioned by Ellis et al. (2001a) as follows:

1. Uptake is student move.

2. The move is optional.

3. The uptake move occurs in episodes where learners have a demonstrated gap in their knowledge.

4. The uptake move occurs as a reaction to some preceding move in which another participant either explicitly or implicitly provides information about a linguistic features. (p. 407-432)

1.2.1 The Benefits of Uptake

Uptake has been interpreted to function differently on the part of some researchers. It serves as a predator of general performance of examinee on the test (Loewen, 2005); it could result in a focus on the learners’ output (Lightbown, 1998); it contributes to fluency (Swain, 1995); and it provokes the reanalysis and change of non-target form in learners’ production while they form new hypothesis and try to test them (Lyster, 1998a).

1.2.2 Successful and Unsuccessful Uptake

Ellis et al. (2001b) made a difference between two uptakes, successful & unsuccessful. He defined successful uptake as a type in which learners try to show their potential to challenge the information offered, for example, by attempting to paraphrase instructor’s information or by trying to utilize the information correctly in their production. This is opposite to the unsuccessful uptake in a way that learners try to appreciate the instructor’s information or simply repeat what the instructor had mentioned. Some scholars believe that this kind of reaction can be considered as uptake since they are a reaction to the instructors’ utterance, but in the perspective of some others, they are unsuccessful uptake due to not contributing to an analysis of information by the learners.

1.3.1 Recast

Recast is defined by Lyster & Ranta (1997) as “the teacher’s reformulation of all or part of a student’s utterance, minus error” (p.46). Ellis et al., (2006), Han (2002), Long (1996), Lyster & Izquierdo (2009), Lyster & Mori (2006), McDonough & Mackey (2006), Mackey (2000), Nabei & Swain (2002), Nicholas et at., (2001), Philip (2003), and Sheen (2006) investigated their studies in the field of recast. In most of mentioned studies, recast was appeared as the least effective corrective feedback in terms of successful uptake.

1.3.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Recast

Several studies have been done to indicate the merits and effectiveness of recast (Long, 2006; Saxton, 2005): a) recasts appear where the negotiators participate in a “joint intentional focus” in some meaning-based communication(Long2006; p.114); b)recast as a type of corrective feedback contributes to learner’s attention and encouragement; c)recast is understood by the learners, therefore it gives more information to the learners, leading to an understanding of “form-function mapping”(Doughty,2001); d) recast does not hinder communication since it has a reactive nature. Hence compared with explicit corrective feedback, it proved to be widely used and more effective.

However, some other researchers notify some demerits in opposition to recast: a) it is believed by some scholars as an ineffective type of corrective feedback and rarely facilitate in target language development; besides it is left unnoticed by the learners (Lyster,1998a; Panova & Lyster, 2002); b) another issue raised against recast is due to its ambiguous nature since it might be considered as reparaphrasing of the learners’ utterance (Long, 2006; Lyster & Ranta, 1997;

IJALEL 3(1):54-62, 2014 56 Morris & Tarone, 2003; Nicholas et al, 2001); and finally c) recast rarely leads to repair since in recast, the learners without being given a chance to modify their output, are provided with the correct form of language. (Loewen and Philip, 2006).

1.4 Purpuse And Research Questions Lyster & Ranta (1997) studied the relationship between different corrective feedbacks and learner uptakes. Their studies gave a systematic picture of student-teacher interactional moves, including the types of feedback provided for different types of errors and the types of feedback leading to uptake. Their studies indicated that as far as the learner uptake was concerned, spite the high frequency of recast, it was the least effective type of teacher feedback. Lyster & Ranta’s study was carried out with young learners sitting at elementary level in French immersion classroom. Hence, it seems that there is a need to investigate a study in EFL context with English learners sitting at intermediate level to examine if the results confirm the Lyeter & Ranta’ study. Furthermore, in the present study the instruction is a mixture of both meaning-based and form-based; whereas, in Lyster & Ranta’s was meaning centered. Therefore, the present study aims to shed light on the answers to the following research questions.

1: what are the different types of errors committed by EFL learners and what types of errors are the most prevalent?

2: What types of corrective feedback do EFL teachers use mostly in their classes and what is the students’ reaction to them?

3: What combination of corrective feedback and learner uptake can lead to negotiation of form?

2. Method

2.1 Participants and Setting This study was conducted in 6 classes with six different teachers. There were 60 students (about 8-12 students in each class). The participants were female adults aged 23-29 sitting at intermediate level in two branches of Jahad Language Institutes in Karaj. All students did not have any experience of being in target language environments either for a short time or a long time. The learners were studying English for two reasons, to be able to cope with their daily needs at work and to succeed at their university subject matters for their higher education. To assess the participants’ level of proficiency, PET was administered to 85 learners at the beginning of the study. Before administering the test to the major group, the test was first piloted in a smaller group of students, consisting of 34 students whose proficiency level was similar to that of the main participants of the study. The reliability of the objective parts of the proficiency test was estimated through KR-21 formula which was 0.87. The teachers were selected based on their willingness to cooperate in this study. All instructors were foreign language learners and their mother language was Persian. All had either BA or MA degrees from state universities in Iran with a score of 7 or upper in IELTS exam.

2.2 Instrumentation In this study, the interaction between teacher and students was recorded by means of a high-quality recorder. Then all interaction was transcribed for the purpose of data analysis. Students in each class were interviewed by the researchers to indicate their attitudes toward the way they were corrected. The researchers also got some information about each student’s L1, background knowledge of English, the aim of learning English, and having the experience of spending time in target language environment or not. It is worth mentioning that this intimate interview between the researchers and students was conducted at the end of the term to avoid any impact on students’ interaction in the class.

2.3 Procedure

Having made sure of the homogeneity of the participants, the researchers observed and recorded about 45 hours of six teachers’ classes in two branches of Jahad language Institutes for 6 weeks. First, the interaction between teacher and students was recorded by a high-quality recorder. Second, the recorded voices were transcribed. Third, all students’ errors were identified and classified into different types. Fourth, all types of teachers’ feedback following learners’ errors were identified and their effects on students’ learning (uptake) were examined. Finally, the researchers analyzed the data. 2.4 Collecting Data A modified version of Lyster& Ranta’s (1997) model was utilized for coding data; in this model (Fig.1), the process starts when a learner commits at least an error followed by either teacher’s corrective feedback or topic continuation. In the case of providing feedback from teacher, it could be either followed by uptake or topic continuation. Learners’ non target utterance is either repaired or remained as a needs repair utterance. It is worth mentioning that two categories of feedback types, including, translation and multiple feedback, and one category to error types, namely, multiple error were added to Lyster & Ranta’s category.

IJALEL 3(1):54-62, 2014 57

The Process of Error Management (Adopted from “Corrective Feedback and Learner Uptake: Negotiation of Form in Communicative Classrooms,” By Lyster and Ranta, 1997).

Figure 1. This model was modified by the researchers in two parts, Learner Errors and Corrective Feedback 3. Results After analyzing the data, five types of error including phonological, grammatical, lexical, multiple errors, and unsolicited use of L1 were recognized. Figure 2 presents the percentage of each type of errors committed by students. Among these 5 types of errors, phonological errors were committed by students mostly and unsolicited use of L1 was the least one (43% and 6% respectively).

IJALEL 3(1):54-62, 2014 58

Figure 2. The Percentage of each Error Type

Figure 3, gives us a general view about the percentages of different feedback types given to students while committing errors, including recast, explicit correction, clarification request, metalinguistic feedback, elicitation, repetition, translation and multiple feedback. This graph also gives a percentage of those errors which were not provided feedbacks since instructors did not want to stop their students’ speech. As the graph illustrates, 38% of errors received no feedback. Explicit correction and recast were two most frequent feedback types used by the instructors (20 and 16 % respectively). In comparison to other types of feedback, metalinguistic feedback and elicitations are two feedback types that occurred the least (both 2%).

38%

16% 20%

3% 2% 2%11%

4% 4%

Figure 3. The Percentage of Different Types of Feedback

Figure 4 summaries the findings of this study in terms of students’ total number of errors, teachers’ provision of feedback, uptake moves-repair and needs repair. In this study, 1064 error episodes were found by the researchers in which 401 (38%) error cases were left without feedback. 663 (62%) students’ errors were provided by 7 types of feedback and a combination of feedbacks (multiple feedback). After the students were provided different types of feedback, they either paid attention to teachers’ feedback (uptake) or they did not (no uptake). From 663 teachers’ feedback, 167 (25%) of feedbacks remained without uptake. This graph shows that approximately 40% of students’ errors did not receive feedback by the instructors. The reasons for this ignorance or not giving feedback may be due to some factors such as topic continuation, not interrupting students’ flow of speech, and motivating students to continue talking. From among 663 numbers of feedbacks offered, 496 had uptake, whereas 167 of teachers’ feedbacks were not paid attention to by students.

Figure 4. The Frequency of Occurrence of Errors, Feedbacks, and Uptakes

1064

663

401496

167

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Error Feedback No Feedback Uptake No uptake

IJALEL 3(1):54-62, 2014 59 The following Graph (Figure 5) presents a better picture of uptake. The whole percentage is shown in terms of no uptake and uptake, repair and needs repair. The first column graph indicates those feedbacks remained with no uptake (25%). The second and third column graphs revealed the percentage of uptake divided into two categories, repair and needs repair. 75% of teachers’ feedback led to uptake, 40% repair and 35% needs repair.

0.00%

0.20%

0.40%

No uptakeRepair

Needs Repair

25%

40%35%

Figure 5. The Percentage of No uptake, Repair and Needs repair

3.1 Comparing the Frequency and Percentage of Uptake in this Study with Lyster and Ranta`s Study Table1, illustrates the frequency of repair, needs repair, and no repair. As it was mentioned before, 25% of the teachers’ feedbacks led to no feedback which was different from Lyster & Ranta’s (1997) study in that 0.45% of feedback provided by teachers in their study was left without uptake. This showed that in this study, students were more motivated to respond to teachers’ feedback either in repair or needs repair form. Table 2, shows that in Lyster and Ranta’ study, the total percentage of repair was 0.27% while in the current study it was 0.40% showing the higher rate of learning. Based om Lyster and Ranta’s findings, the participants were not interested in replying to 69% of recasts and 50% of explicit feedback and for other types of corrective feedback including repetition (22%), metalinguistic feedback (14%), and clarification request (12%). It is worth mentioning that Lyster & Ranta did not consider two types of feedback; namely, translation and multiple feedback- due to the scarcity of these two types of feedback. Table 1. The frequency and percentage of uptake in relation to corrective feedback type

Table 2. Uptake following corrective feedback in Lyster and Ranta (1997)

3.2 Analyzing Error Types Receiving Feedback

Table 3 presents the percentages of error types receiving feedback types. The data revealed that phonological and grammatical errors were mostly provided by explicit and recast. Lexical errors received mostly explicit feedback

Learner uptake

type

Corrective Feedback Type Recast Explicit

correction

Clarification request

Metalinguistic feedback

Elicitation Repetition Translation Multiple feedback

Total

Repair 28 16%

80 37%

24 78%

14 70%

22 88%

60 51%

28 62%

10 27%

266 40%

Needs repair

61 36%

103 48%

2 6%

3 15%

3 12%

26 22%

17 38%

15 41%

230 35%

No uptake

83 48%

33 15%

5 16%

3 15%

0 0%

31 27%

0 0%

12 32%

167 25%

Total 172

100%

216 100%

31 100%

20 100%

25 100%

117 100%

45 100%

37 100%

663 100%

Learner uptake

type

Corrective Feedback Type Recast Explicit

correction Clarification

request Metalinguistic

feedback Elicitation Repetition of

error Total

Repair 66 18%

18 36%

20 28%

26 45%

43 46%

11 31%

184 27%

Needs repair

49 31%

7 14%

44 60%

24 41%

51 54%

17 47%

192 28%

No uptake 260 69%

25 50%

9 12%

8 14%

25 0%

8 22%

310 45%

Total 375

100%

50 100%

73 100%

58 100%

94 100%

36 100%

663 100%

IJALEL 3(1):54-62, 2014 60 (32%).The least feedback provided for lexical were multiple feedback and metalinguistic. (0 and 2.5% respectively). Multiple error and unsolicited use of L1 received mostly recast. Both error types received no repetition feedback (0%).

Table 3. The frequency and percentage of error types leading to feedback

Learner Error

Teacher Feedback Recast Explicit

Correction Clarification Request Metalinguistic Elicitation Repetition Translation Multiple

feedback Total

Phonological

65

23% 94

34% 9

3% 4

2% 7

3% 60

22% 21 7%

17 6%

277 100%

Grammatical

41

20% 61

29% 11

5% 9

4% 8

4% 48

23% 14 7%

17 8%

209 100%

Lexical

37

33% 44

39% 8

7% 3

2.5% 6

5.5% 9

8% 5

5% 0

0% 112

100%

Multiple error

18

48% 8

22% 1

3% 2

5.5% 2

5.5% 0

0% 3

8% 3

8% 37

100%

L1 error

11

40% 9

32% 2

7% 2

7% 2

7% 0

0% 2

7% 0

0% 28

100%

Total

172 26%

216 33%

31 4%

20 3%

25 4%

117 18%

45 7%

37 5%

663 100%

4. Discussion Analyzing the first research question and data obtained from figure 2, five types of errors were observed including phonological (43%), Grammatical (30%), lexical (13%), multiple errors (8%) and unsolicited use of L1 (6%). The phonological and grammatical errors were observed to be the two most prevalent types of errors. The frequency of occurrence of L1 and gender errors was low in this study. The low rate of gender error might be due to proficiency level of student. Another possible reason might be attributed to the feedback type the participants received since the errors were mostly corrected through peers and self repair and not through teacher feedback. Analyzing the frequency and percentage of eight types of feedback showed that explicit feedback was the most frequent type of feedback (32%), and metalinguistic feedback as the least frequent feedback type (3%). The findings of the study were not in parallel with the results of Lyster and Ranta’ (1997) study in that recast was recognized as the most frequent type of feedback (55%) and the least was repetition(5%). However in this study, recast was the second most frequent type of feedback (26%). Also it is worth mentioning that the result of this study was inconsistent with Sheen’s (2004) study since he reported recast as the most frequent type of feedback. The findings of this study showed that recasts led to the lowest rate of uptake which is in parallel with Sheen’s (2004) result. The researcher believed that the proportion of recasts contributing to uptake and repair could be influenced by the context in which they are used. In other words, recasts may lead to uptake in contexts where the focus is primarily on recast and through the use of reduced or partial recasts students’ attention are directed towards linguistic form rather than meaning. Moreover, the classroom observation showed that some teachers were reluctant to use clarification, elicitation, and other types since they thought these feedback types were time consuming and needed more patience. In the current study and Lyster and Ranta’s study, elicitation, metalinguistic feedback, clarification request led to the greatest amount of uptake by providing the students the opportunity to self correct. Recast, despite its high frequency, led to the lowest amount of uptake (16%). Probably this could be attributed to the ambiguity of recast (Lyster, 1998b). In other words, recast might be confusing to the learners and they might be confused whether the instructor was correcting the error or repeating the correct form or rephrasing their utterance. Another reason could be their proficiency level since some researchers emphasized that the effectiveness of the recast would be increased at advance levels (Doughty & Varela, 1998). In some cases, it was observed that the students understood the intended aim of the teacher’s provision of recast but not utter anything. It is worth mentioning that in some cases, instructors took the opportunity from students for reaction to recast. Regarding the third research question, the result indicated that four types of feedback including elicitation, clarification request, metalinguistic feedback and repetition of error led to student-generated repair (self-repair and peer correction). The findings were consistent with that of Lyster and Ranta’s (1997) study. In deed, similar to their study, the current study’s data revealed that the feedback-uptake sequence helped the learners engage more actively when the teachers do not provide the correct form to the learners, as recasts and explicit correction do, students attempted to reformulate their erroneous utterance more actively. This might mean that these four types of feedback are potentially more useful in helping learners notice their linguistic inadequacies. Due to the importance of giving feedback and the little information provided to instructors on the issue of error correction, the result of this study could be helpful for instructors since most of them are unaware of the beneficial effects of different types of feedback. Since in this study the frequency of repair (self and peer repair) was low in spite of their high effectiveness in learning a language, some teachers took this valuable opportunity from their students to correct their errors by themselves or their classmates, so it is highly recommended to instructors before correcting students’ errors, give a chance to correct themselves or their classmates. Even after the individual student and class have failed to provide self-correction, it is still not recommended to give student the correct form. The instructor can repeat the incorrect utterance and, by pausing

IJALEL 3(1):54-62, 2014 61 immediately before or after the error, highlight it in the hope that there will be sufficient help to encourage a student to produce the correct answer. Although recast is considered as the second most frequent type of feedback in this research, the effectiveness of this feedback type in leading to uptake is low, so instructors are recommended to use this type of feedback less than others or to combine it with other feedbacks; for example with elicitation: S: I am agree with Sarah about this problem of society. (Error-grammar) T: Really, do you agree with Sara about cultural problems of family? Sarah I am agree or I agree? (Feedback-Recast and Elicitation) S: Sorry sir. I agree. (Uptake- repair-self) In the above example, the instructor mixed two implicit and explicit feedback types to raise the effectiveness of feedback and inform the student of her error. The current study was carried out at intermediate level; therefore the next study could be replicated at elementary or advance level. The present study could be done by the instructors teaching to children to explore which type of feedback has the most effect on children in different ages, gender, and language proficiency. In this study, the classifications of errors was based on Lyster & Ranta’s category. The other studies could be done with other categories of errors e.g. errors related to stress, intonation, register, omissions and appropriacy. Classroom observation indicated that some instructors used other way(s) of correcting such as facial expression, delay error correction, …., so the future studies could consider more types of feedback. Since this study was carried out among male and female instructor, it seems that female students were more comfortable, motivated, and confident to negotiate with female instructors; they had more tendency to receive feedback especially explicit feedback from the instructors with the same gender. The next studies could be done to examine the effect of gender on receiving feedback in EFL context as a moderator variable. The current study was carried out to investigate the immediate effect of 8 feedback types; therefore the long term effect of each feedback type could be some decent topics for further research. And finally, further studies could be carried out to investigate the relationship between different types of corrective feedbacks given by instructors and the learners’ level of competency and proficiency. References Carroll, S., & Swain, M. (1993). Explicit and implicit negative feedback: an empirical study of the learning of linguistic generalizations. 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International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

An Ontological Vindication of Darl’s Existential Authenticity from a Heideggerian Point of View

Fazel Asadi Amjad

Faculty of Humanities, Department of English Language and Literature Kharazmi University of Tehran, Iran

E-mail: asadi@mail.khu.ac.ir

Reza Kazemifar (Corresponding author) Faculty of Humanities, Department of English Language and Literature

Kharazmi University of Tehran, Iran Tel: (+98)919-092-7651 E-mail: kazemifar@yandex.com

Received: 23-08-2013 Accepted: 07-10-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.63 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.63 Abstract Many existential theorists have discussed the contrasts between the notions of authentic and inauthentic lives, among whom Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) is very influential. The present paper aims at proving William Faulkner’s (1897-1962) main character, Darl, in his novel, As I Lay Dying (1930), authentic from a Heideggerian point of view. Once the theoretical grounds are laid in detail, the analysis begins with focusing on the individual character, goes on by ontologically individualizing him, and finally proves his existential nonconformity with emphasis on the affective side of his Being rather than its rational side. After unveiling his nonconformity, it will be revealed that this nonconformity is unique to him, and this fact is among the factors making him authentic from a Heideggerian point of view; for what Heidegger calls authentic existence is achieved only when a means is discovered to rescue the individual from doing “as One does” to doing as he chooses to do himself. Freedom and responsibility, which are expanded upon, are the means by which Darl proves himself authentic. Keywords: Martin Heidegger, existentialism, phenomenology, William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying, Darl 1. Introduction Pre-Heideggerian ontology was concerned with the kinds of entities existing. The big metaphysical questions were the ones like “does God exist?” or “does such a thing actually exist?” (Gelven, 1989, p. 6). These questions were usually answered by making things fall into classes or genera, or what Aristotle called categories (Inwood, 1997, p. 16). But this required, as Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) believed, to know what existence means before putting the entities under such labels. Of course a great philosopher like Aristotle, for example, distinguishes between prote ousia and the rest of the beings predicating it through his ousiology (Sheehan, 2005, p. 193); but Heidegger’s question regarding the meaning of Beingi is much more fundamental: “what does it mean to be?” He wants to know what it means to exist at all. Heidegger’s basic diagnostic about the errors of his predecessors is that “their failure to pose the question of Being correctly is caused by and is itself a failure of authenticity” (Mulhall, 2005, p. 33). He makes ontology precede epistemology and is suspicious of the three elements involved in epistemology, i. e. knower, known, and their relation, knowing (Inwood, 1997, p. 13). Epistemology asks about the entities while ontology inquires into the meaning of Being. By Being Heidegger does not mean beings or entities, but that Being Aristotle considered ambiguous and many others considered universal, self-evident, or undefinableii. Pre-Heideggerian philosophers always liked homogenizing the being of entities. To name one among many, Descartes recognizes the difference between res cogitans, the thinking thing, and res extensa, the other extended things. Heidegger proposes that such a mistake is due to the fact that they always focus on individual entities (beings) and ignore the context in which they lie. The remedy to this kind of misconception was Heidegger’s concept of vorhanden which elaborates on one of the ways we see the world and makes the relationships crystal-clear (Inwood, 1997, p. 19). Heidegger considers the Being-questioniii, Seinsfrage, the most fundamental question in philosophy. It is the most important thing to know the meaning of Being, or what it means to be. Heidegger emphasizes that meaning precedes entity, “for the meaning ultimately explains the entity” (Gelven, 1989, p. 8). Seinsfrage “is concerned with what it is that makes beings intelligible as beings”, i. e. what it means to be. Therefore Heidegger has opened a new way in philosophy which he himself calls fundamental ontology. Fundamental ontology is “the study of the ‘meaning of Being’ (der Sinn von Sein) as the foundation of the entire edifice of philosophy” (ibid). The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy distinguishes between “regional ontology”, which is the ontology of a certain domain, e. g. biology, and “fundamental ontology” (Wheeler, 2013).

IJALEL 3(1):63-71, 2014 64 How can the Seinsfrage be approached? According to Gelven (1989), Heidegger believes that “only man can reflect upon what it means to be” and “Being can be realized or analyzed only through the self-reflective consciousness of human existence”; Gelven continues, “the only way in which Heidegger’s analysis of human existence can provide a foundation for the question of Being is that the term ‘Being’ be read within the context of his thought” (p. 19). We see it is meaningless to separate the study of man from the study of the Seinsfrage, according to Heidegger. We have a vague awareness of our own existence, but this vague awareness should be made explicit. He uses the term Dasein (Da (here/there) and Sein (to be)) for a being which can inquire into its own Being. For Dasein’s way of Being is existence, “a human being always embodies an understanding of its being”, Dreyfus (1995) confirms and goes on to say that this understanding of Being is exclusively Dasein’s idiosyncrasy (p. 16). Heidegger uses the word to refer to both the Being of humans and the entity of humans who have this Being (Inwood, 1999, p. 42). Heidegger uses the word existenz to indicate the kind of existence which is only applicable to Dasein, and the word existentia to indicate the existence of other entities (Heidegger, 2001, p. 67). Dasein’s existenz refers to the fact that only Dasein can stand back from, observe, and be aware of its existence. The ways through which Dasein becomes aware of its existence are the existentials. The existentials are a priori (which are necessary and natural attitudes of mind) and will be discussed later. The a priori knowledge precedes experience and makes it possible. They are necessary and guarantee universal validity. Categories and existentials are both a priori, the former imposing order on things other than the mind, the latter the mind itself. Existentials are applicable to the modes of Being (not beings) through hermeneutic phenomenology (Gelven, 1989, p. 55). Reviewing different kinds of philosophical investigation, ontic and ontological, is important in Heideggerian philosophy as well. In considering the differences between ontic and ontological investigations, the ontic factical roles oppose the ontological existentials and the ontic factual properties oppose the ontological categories. “Existential understanding is a worked-out understanding of the ontological structures of existence, that is, of what it is to be Dasein”; and “existentiell understanding is an individual’s understanding of his or her own way to be, that is, of what he or she is” (Dreyfus H. L., 1995, p. 20). In describing Dasein, Heidegger asserts that “Dasein is ontically distinctive in that it is ontological” (16). Dasein is ontically, ontologically and fundamentally prior, because of its existence and its ability to be asked about such an existence and providing the foundation for all philosophy by the questioning of its existence, respectively (Heidegger, 2001, p. 34). It also should be taken into consideration that Dasein’s essence lies in its existence. This means that the concept of Dasein rejects Sartre’s view of man that man’s existence precedes his essence. And as a final note, the mineness (eigen, own) of Dasein, this hermeneutic self-reflection, indicates the availability of the object of inquiry. Heidegger applies the term eigentlich, authentic, for “the mode of Dasein’s existence in which one is aware of one’s own existence,” (Gelven, 1989, p. 50), while the term uneigentlich, inauthentic, is used to indicate the mode in which one is not aware of one’s own existence. In this latter kind of existence, one sees one’s self simply as others see it, which is other than one’s existence. The distinction between authentic and inauthentic lays the ground for the analysis of the existentials (ibid). 2. Theoretical Grounds 2.1 Existentialism “None of the great existentialist tomes contains the word ‘existentialism’”, Cooper (1999) writes in the first page of his book (p. 1). The word “existentialism” was coined by Gabriel Marcel (1889-1973), to refer to Sartre’s philosophy; but Sartre, at first, rejected the label. Jean-Paul Sartre, Simon de Beauvoir (1908-86), Karl Jaspers (1883-1969), Albert Camus (1913-60), Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-61), Marcel himself, and Heidegger are among the famous existential philosophers. The roots of this philosophy are said to be in the works of the two enfants terribles of the nineteenth century, Soren Kierkegaard (1813-85) and Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900). Dreyfus (2006), in an article, traces the roots of the movement and makes a comparison between traditional philosophy and existential philosophy; “existential thinking defines itself in opposition to the philosophical tradition,” and suggests that the best way to find out what existentialism is “is to lay out the essence of traditional philosophy from the point of view of the existentialists” (p. 139). Many others, among them novelists like Kafka and Dostoyevsky (1821-81), took the label quickly. Phenomenology and existentialism are two of the main philosophical movements of the twentieth century. “While phenomenology and existentialism are independent movements, they are compatible in principle and, indeed, that they have ‘at least enough affinity for fruitful cooperation’”, Wrathall and Dreyfus (2006) quote Hubert Spiegelberg (p. 1). They continue that Heidegger considered his own work as “true to the genuine spirit of phenomenology,” although he stopped referring to his work as “phenomenological”. It was in order to distance himself from Husserlian phenomenology which is “a reflective, descriptive clarification of eidetic features” (Crowell, 2006, p. 11). Existentialism begins its analysis with the existing individual – being engaged in a world. The emphasis is more on the affective side of the human being than its rational side. What is unique to the individual should be unveiled. Human freedom and responsibility are focused upon. The goal of this freedom and responsibility is to live authentically. Existentialism is non-subjective, non-objective, anti-essentialist, anti-empiricist, and anti-rationalistic in their absolute senses of the words (Wrathall & Dreyfus, 2006, p. 4). 2.2 Heideggerian Hermeneutic (Existential) Phenomenology Being, in ontology for Heidegger, is just like space and time in empirical intuition for Kant. It is not thematic. The beings are thematic, but the Being is not. Hence, Heidegger believes, phenomenology is the way of access to, and the demonstrative manner of determination of, what is to become the theme of ontology and “only as phenomenology, is ontology possible” (Heidegger, 2001, p. 60) and “all philosophy must be phenomenology” (Inwood, 1999, p. 159).

IJALEL 3(1):63-71, 2014 65 Dasein’s understanding of Being also is not thematic. Phenomenology brings the structure of this non-thematic understanding under the light and makes it explicit while Dasein encounters beings. In contrast to Husserl’s pure phenomenology, Heidegger proposes hermeneutic phenomenology which involves interpretation. The understanding of Dasein’s of its Being (which occurs as existential facts) is to be made explicit ontologically. “Hermeneutik is now not interpretation, but the doctrine or study of interpretation” and Heidegger “uses Hermeneutik to mean ‘interpretation’, interpretation of ‘facticity’, that is of our own Dasein” (p. 87). Husserl’s phenomenology was to achieve a vision of consciousness totally untainted by interpretations or systems, i. e. “to let the facts speak for themselves, as it were” (Gelven, 1989, p. 38), which reminds us of Husserl’s famous motto, Zu den Sachen Selbst! But Heidegger’s phenomenology is hermeneutic, i. e. interpretive (Heidegger, 2001, p. 62). Here, the contrast between the two philosophers shows up more prominently. Hermeneutic phenomenology only applies to “a case in which the facts were not in principle separate from the meanings of facts” (Gelven, 1989, p. 39). So this method is to be only applied to the question of existence, and in this kind of inquiry, the non-thematic meaning of an existential fact is made thematic. It must be shown how a particular existential fact (like fear) relates to the whole of Dasein’s existence. It is shown what it means to be afraid, for example, by indicating how fear relates to the Seinsfrage. This procedure is circular, but not unacceptable. From a whole, vague, and unanalyzed experience we proceed to the part, i. e. a particular existential, and then to a new whole, i. e. the ontological understanding of existence. 3. Discussion As I Lay Dying (1930) is among William Faulkner’s (1897-1962) shortest works and tells “the story of the death and burial of Addie Bundren from multiple perspectives” (Fargnoli, Golay, & Hamblin, 2008, p. 45). “Experimental in both subject and narrative structure”, Head (2006) writes, the novel is “divided into 59 short interior monologues” (p. 45) and “as readers, we sift through the voices to find out whom to trust, which version of narrative to believe” (Towner, 2008, p. 24). Darl is Anse’s and Addie’s second son. He is “intelligent”, “imaginative”, “jealous”, and “mentally unstable” (Fargnoli, Golay, & Hamblin, 2008, p. 51). This mental instability is our clue to the existential authenticity of Darl. Many existential theorists have discussed the contrast between the notion of authentic and inauthentic life (Kaufman, 1975, p. 50). Heidegger makes it clear that “our daily being-in-the-world is inauthentic in that it is seldom in our control. What he calls authentic existence is achieved only when a means is discovered to rescue the individual from doing ‘as One does’ to doing as he chooses to do himself” (Calhoun, 1963, p. 5). In this case, Darl’s mental instability is that “means” Heidegger is speaking about, and his final madness is the consequence of his freedom. 3.1 Actuality and Possibility The authentic mode of existence, being aware of the meaning of existence, is concerned with possibility and the inauthentic mode with actuality. Dasein’s actual conditions are determined and unchangeable.

“Why aint I a town boy, pa?” I said. (Faulkner, 1957, p. 86) They are inevitable. Dasein is aware of its actuality; but at the same time Dasein is aware of its possibilities to be something else; so at the same time Dasein is free and has freedom. Both modes, actuality and possibility, are important to Dasein. Heidegger analyzes these modes phenomenologically and lets them reveal themselves in the fullness of their own significance. He believes that the two modes are equally primordial (Gelven, 1989, p. 78) and after this description, he brings and unifies the two terms under one existential, i. e. Sorge, care. The mode in which Dasein’s actuality is revealed is called Befindlichkeit or “state-of-mind” (Heidegger, 2001, p. 172), and the mode in which Dasein’s possibilities are revealed is called Verstehen or “understanding” (Heidegger, 2001, p. 183). They are both existentials, and equiprimordial, but Heidegger puts more significance on possibility than actuality (possibility is prior to actuality). Metaphysics puts actuality prior to possibility and considers it more real, for metaphysic’s concern is with beings (Seiende) not Being (Sein). But Heidegger considers possibility more meaningful (he is to discover the meaning of Being). Although possibility is more important than actuality, to be authentic needs being aware of the actuality as well. 3.1.1 Befindlichkeit It has roughly been translated to “state-of-mind”. This existential helps Dasein find itself thrown in a world in certain situations and determined by conditions. Vardaman is a worthy example of one being aware of one’s actuality and thrownness:

“Why aint I a town boy, pa?” I said. God made me. I did not said to God to made me in the country. If He can make the train, why can’t He make them all in the town because flour and sugar and coffee. (Faulkner, 1957, p. 86)

The thrownness (Geworfenheit) is revealed through this existential. This disclosure (Erschlossenheit) matters to Dasein and is of importance to it (Heidegger, 2001, p. 176). Darl finds himself losing his mother and although it matters to him, he cannot help it:

“Jewel,” I say, “do you know that Addie Bundren is going to die? Addie Bundren is going to die?” (Faulkner, 1957, p. 52)

And finally he finds his mother dead, and again the actuality of condition cannot be changed: Jewel, I say, she is dead, Jewel. Addie Bundren is dead. (Faulkner, 1957, p. 70)

Or Jewel finds himself in a family in which the mother is pestered and tormented by the other members:

IJALEL 3(1):63-71, 2014 66 It’s because he stays out there, right under the window, hammering and sawing on that goddamn box. Where she’s got to see him. Where every breath she draws is full of his knocking and sawing where she can see him saying See. See what a good one I am making for you. I told him to go somewhere else. (Faulkner, 1957, p. 22)

Therefore state-of-mind discloses Dasein’s actual here (Da), which is a fact with an unknown part: why and for what ends is Dasein there in the world? By this existential Dasein has its moods; Dasein is always in a mood. Thus moods reveal facts with unknown parts to Dasein about its thrownness in the world. We are both fated and free; and we should tune ourselves into the world as a whole. We should fit into the world comfortably or not. This way of determined Being is called Stimmung or mood. Through moods we are attuned (Gestimmtsein) in the world (Heidegger, 2001, p. 172). They are not under our control and cannot be made to happen. Finally, finding ourselves in certain moods is called Befindlichkeit. Moods are a priori and their unintelligibility makes our existence intelligible. State-of-mind is the proof that the world matters to Dasein. There should be a mode of human existence prior to the occurrence of any fact that would make that occurrence significant as a fact, and hence facts can matter to Dasein. This mode should be prior to the fact, hence is an existential (again state-of-mind). Therefore moods reveal Dasein’s concern for the facts as facts. Through moods Dasein relates to the givenness of its world. Dasein, as is free, projects possibilities. This projection is equiprimordial to Befindlichkeit (Heidegger, 2001, p. 185). Authentic existence cannot exterminate the influence of its state-of-mind, but it can transcend it. State-of-mind belongs to Dasein and is one of its essential characteristics. Darl is fearing his mother’s death when he disbelievingly asks “do you know Addie Bundren is going to die?” (Faulkner, 1957, p. 52). Fear is one of the modes of state-of-mind (mood). It’s discovered. It “has already disclosed the world, in that out of it something like the fearsome may come close” (Heidegger, 2001, p. 180). It means that there always is something in the world which can intimidate us and we are closely concerned with the world. Hence we are always open to this threat, or as Gelven says, it’s “a way of Being in the world so that a part of it can threaten us. (…) Fear is not, then, reduced to a mere and occasional moment of weakness” (Gelven, 1989, p. 85). Fear is rather an important revelation of the truth that to be is, for Dasein, an issue. “For it is not possible to explain fear unless it matters for Dasein to be” (ibid). Fearing is feasible due to Dasein’s possession, as an existential, of state-of-mind. Dasein’s existence is determined by a concern for what is, and what is is a mode of its existence. Darl talks about his actuality after the death of his mother:

“Then what is your ma, Darl?” I said. “I haven’t got ere one,” Darl said. “Because if I had one, it is was. And if it is was, it cant be is. Can it?” “No,” I said. “Then I am not,” Darl said. “Am I?” “No,” I said. I am. Darl is my brother. “But you are, Darl,” I said. “I know it,” Darl said. “That’s why I am not is. Are is too many for one woman to foal.” (Faulkner, 1957, p. 127)

And finally through the very Befindlichkeit Darl becomes aware of his own ‘Da’ and questions the awareness of his brother, Jewel:

I dont know what I am. I dont know if I am or not. Jewel knows he is, because he does not know that he does not know whether he is or not. (Faulkner, 1957, p. 105)

3.1.2 Verstehen Verstehen, or understanding, is the existential which makes Dasein aware of its possibilities. This a priori existential reveals the manner in which Dasein exists. It is not restricted to cognition. It tells us both how we think and how we are; thinking is only one of the functions of Being. Understanding reveals to Dasein its existence-structure, and only through such revelation can Dasein use this existential in its purely cognitive function. Understanding makes Dasein able to be. Gelven writes, “my own existence is a possibility stretching out before me, about which I concern myself, and over which I have some control. I not only exist, but my ability to exist is a part of my mode of existing” (Gelven, 1989, p. 87). Understanding is rooted in Seinkonnen, i. e. Dasein’s ability-to-be. The possibilities are not computed by the cognition and then to be applied to Dasein’s situation; but they are owned by Dasein before being known to it. Of course to have possibilities requires being aware of them. Understanding is a kind of Entwurf, projection. Dasein’s primordial relation to the world is ready-at-hand, or “available for use” as “equipment” (Malpas, 2003, p. 153). This is a relationship of for-the-sake-of. It means that Dasein uses the world for its own sake. The world also should present itself to Dasein in order to be used by it. Hence the world continually presents itself to Dasein’s projections (possibilities). The world presents itself to us as “possible ways of service” (Gelven, 1989, p. 88). Heidegger insists that “the purely cognitive functions of understanding are generated from the existential awareness of possibilities, and that this awareness itself is based on being able to exist in various ways” (ibid). This means to philosophy a challenge to epistemology, because the latter considers cognition independent of freedom. Dasein projects possibilities. This projection itself is another existential; hence the projection of the possible ways of existence before Dasein by itself is

IJALEL 3(1):63-71, 2014 67 another one of Dasein’s characteristics. So we take Dasein into consideration not factually but factically, i. e. ontologically. Dasein is factically more than what it factually is; because it is more in terms of its possibilities than in terms of its actualities. Dasein is always looking ahead (Heidegger, 2001, p. 309). Thinking presupposes possibilities (possibilities are prior to thinking) and possibilities are also prior to experience. So from where do possibilities come? Indeed from the existence-structure of Dasein. Being able to think of possibilities requires Dasein to have the ability to do it. Epistemology cannot be purely worked out by cognition. Cognition is secondary to existential aspects of Dasein. Now, how does one relate to the two demesnes? Of course through existence. Heidegger believes, “pure reason is impossible without existential significance: I think of possibilities because I have possibilities and because I find myself to be a nest of possibilities” (Gelven, 1989, p. 91). Dasein finds itself in the world in two ways, state-of-mind and understanding, which are equiprimordial. The former is concerned with “Da” and reveals to Dasein its facticity while the latter reveals to Dasein its existence (through possibilities). We also see possibilities have two kinds of meaning, existential and cognitive, the first of which being prior to the second. Heidegger begins with an account of how one’s possible ways-to-be reveal themselves and how this manner of existing becomes manifest as meaningful assertions. So Dasein’s existence precedes its knowing of it. What understanding projects (i. e. possibilities), interpretation works out. Interpretation “makes explicit what is already within the range of human awareness” (Gelven, 1989, p. 94). World as ready-at-handiv is interpreted. Interpretation has three constituents: the as-structure, the fore-structure, and the meaning. Up to here, it should be kept in mind that “Dasein, through understanding’s projection of possibilities, makes explicit to us what is to be interpreted” (ibid). Interpretation makes the as-structure explicit. As-structure indicates the usability (in-order-to) of a thing while being dealt with in a ready-at-hand mode. The use of a thing is already there in it and interpretation makes it explicit, to see the thing as that thing. Meaning, on the other hand, is the “understanding” becoming aware of the “as-structure”. It is understanding a thing as a thing. Word meaning is a derivative kind of meaning. Gelven indicates that Heidegger considers meaning a mode of Being in the world:

I can at times focus upon the ways in which I make use of the world. When such focusing occurs, the specific manner in which that part of the world becomes available to me is made explicit. When such explication occurs, I say that the way in which I make use of the world is meaningful. Meaning, then, is a mode of my Being here in a world (Gelven, 1989, p. 98).

One of the things Dasein uses in a ready-at-hand manner is the language. Accordingly, in a part of the novel, Addie says:

I learned that words are no good; that words don’t ever fit even what they are trying to say at. When he was born I knew that motherhood was invented by someone who had to have a word for it because the ones that had the children didn’t care whether there was a word for it or not. (Faulkner, 1957, p. 221)

Addie agrees with Heidegger’s opinion that meaning is prior to words, for we first have meaning and only then put them into words. Therefore verbal meaning is a derivative form of existential meaning. Addie’s judgments have, in a derivative sense, meaning. They derive propositional meaning from existential meaning. Thus here is a shift from readiness-at-hand to presence-at-hand: Addie sees the words (or language) not as (hermeneutical as) is used, but as (apophantical asv) is known mere theoretically. We should beware that when the apophantical “as” occurs, i. e. the apophantical use of language analysis, the doors to fundamental ontology are closed. 3.1.3 Rede The whole language (Sprache) is based on talk (Rede) (Heidegger, 2001, p. 203). The latter is the existential basis for the former. Talk is existentially significant. There’s an existential situation in communication which is more important than the words. Vardaman cannot understand Darl’s suggestion of Jewel’s illegitimacy:

“Jewel’s mother is a horse,” Darl said. “Then mine can be a fish, cant it, Darl?” I said. Jewel is my brother. “Then mine will have to be a horse, too,” I said. “Why?” Darl said. “If pa is your pa, why does your ma have to be a horse just because Jewel’s is?” (Faulkner, 1957, p. 127)

Talk is “essentially a characteristic of Daseins interrelating to each other, intrigued by the commerce of things in the world and the many subtle relations with other humans” (Gelven, 1989, p. 104). Sentences are expressions of the existential manner through which Dasein relates to the world; they are derived, not primordial. This being derived is two steps backward: the existential ground is talk and the expression of talk is language. Language is used (ready-at-hand). When Daseins speak to each other, they do not hear the words, but the message. Language is used in order that our talk be made explicit. Daseins need their talks, what Vardaman lacks in our case, in order to use language for communication.

IJALEL 3(1):63-71, 2014 68 3.1.4 Verfallen Fallenness is not concerned with something sinful or reprehensible. It is the case when Dasein (as frequently does) loses its awareness of itself and is absorbed in the inauthenticity of the anonymous “they” (Heidegger, 2001, p. 220). Hence Dasein is fallen from its awareness of itself. That is unawareness of the Seinsfrage. Gelven writes:

(…) Heidegger has shown that the phenomenon of inauthenticity is not merely a vague and general feeling of alienation, but a very specific mode of human existence, which is open to inquiry. (…) [It is important that] such an analysis can be done (Gelven, 1989, p. 109).

In the following discussions the un-fallenness of Darl is approached to. 3.1.5 Dread In everyone’s life, there are moments of “uncanny”vi (Heidegger, 2001, p. 203) and surreal experience when one finds everything in the world alien and strange. The world loses its significance and one reflects on one’s existence. Normal daily concerns do not matter to us and we find ourselves independent of our normal concerns. This state is called Angst by Heidegger and translated as anxiety by Macquarrie and Robinson (Heidegger, 2001, p. 227). Actually it is not an experience because it is not concerned with anything external. It only removes us from our daily and normal concerns and lets us think deeply about our terrifying existence. Heidegger’s practice is done phenomenologically, existentially, and ontologically, respectively. Heidegger distinguishes between dread and fear. Fear does have an external object that is feared. But what’s the external object and cause of dread? Nothing, or what Heidegger calls Nichts, Nothingness (Heidegger, 2001, p. 232). Actually it’s our very existence which bothers us in dread. Heidegger goes on to see what the existential meaning of Nothingness is: Dasein, by reflecting upon its possibilities, becomes aware of its finitude. The awareness of death, unlike our other experience, is not concerned with the continuation of our existence. Nothingness cannot be the object of an experience but is existentially important. Even death cannot be a substitute for Nothingness, because it’s feared. Nothingness is to be aware of being able not to be. Heidegger writes, “Nothingness is the Not of beings, and is hence to be as experienced from beings” (Heidegger, 2001). In explicating this sentence, Gelven comments:

Nothingness – that is, the awareness of being-able-not-to-be (…) – is the “Not” of beings; (…) It is through the rejection or the transcendence beyond mere entities that both Being and not-being can be existentially significant (Gelven, 1989, p. 117).

Darl’s comments on being aware of his and others’ Beings can be remembered, and the role of dread can be seen; he is no longer in the they-mode and daily concerns do not matter to him. In the following except Darl is individualized by dread:

I don’t know what I am. I don’t know if I am or not. Jewel knows he is, because he does not know that he does not know whether he is or not. He cannot empty himself for sleep because he is not what he is and he is what he is not. Beyond the unlamped wall I can hear the rain shaping the wagon that is ours, the load that is no longer theirs that felled and sawed it nor yet theirs that bought it and which is not ours either, lie on our wagon though it does, since only the wind and the rain shape it only to Jewel and me, that are not asleep. And since sleep is is-not and rain and wind are was, it is not. Yet the wagon is, because when the wagon is was, Addie Bundren will not be. And Jewel is, so Addie Bundren must be. And then I must be, or I could not empty myself for sleep in a strange room. And so if I am not emptied yet, I am is. (Faulkner, 1957, p. 106)

Dread is an existential through which we become aware of Nothingness. It is a state-of-mind (says what and where you are). It reminds Dasein of its thrownness. But is this thrownness concerned with Being-in-the-world? The world, in dread, is alien to Dasein. Dread focuses on Daseins as individuals, hence individualizes people. The awareness of individuality reveals one’s “possibilities”. Dread puts before Darl, himself, naked:

Darl has gone to Jackson. They put him on the train, laughing, down the long car laughing, the heads turning like the heads of owls when he passed. “What are you laughing at?” I said. “Yes yes yes yes yes.” (Faulkner, 1957, p. 322)

Daseins have possibilities as Darl had: either to be genuinely themselves or to lose themselves again in the “they”. Darl decides to set fire to the barn (Faulkner, 1957, p. 295) and be that he himself chooses and not to be in they-mode. Dread is the uncanny awareness of the self as free to be authentic or inauthentic. Through dread consciousness becomes aware of itself as consciousness. It isolates Dasein from its environment and gives it choices on how to be. Darl, individualized, talks to himself:

“Is it the pistols you’re laughing at?” I said. “Why do you laugh?” I said. “Is it because you hate the sound of laughing?” They pulled two seats together so Darl could sit by the window to laugh. One of them sat beside him, the other sat on the seat facing him, riding backward. One of them had to ride backward because the state’s money has a face to each backside and a backside to each face, and they are riding on the state’s money which is incest. A nickel has a woman on one side and a buffalo on the other; two faces and no back. I dont know what that is. Darl had a little spy-glass he got in France at the war. In it it had a woman and a pig with two backs and no face. I know what that is. “Is that why you are laughing, Darl?” “Yes yes yes yes yes yes.” (Faulkner, 1957, p. 323)

IJALEL 3(1):63-71, 2014 69 3.1.6 Sorge We saw that Heidegger needs the as-structure to find meaning. Therefore we should have an existential which focuses on Dasein as Dasein to find the meaning for Dasein. This single unifying existential is called Care (Sorge) (Heidegger, 2001, p. 237). Gelven says that “if there were no unitary existential, there could be no basis for going beyond the simple enumeration of existentials, and there would then be no more possible link between the mere analysis of everydayness and the ontological ground that lies at its foundation” (Gelven, 1989, p. 112). Examining the phenomenon of dread phenomenologically steers us to the primordial existential, named care. Heidegger uses the term to describe “that aspect of Dasein’s existence that concerns the way in which its own being is an issue for it” and is thus tied tightly to Dasein’s “mine-ness” or “own-ness” (Malpas, 2003, p. 154). Care is Dasein’s Being. Whatever Dasein does is a kind of caring. In the moments of increased caring (such as love, guilt, etc.), Dasein’s individuality is amplified. Dasein is forced to stand back and reflect upon itself. The world is alienated. Dread individualizes Dasein. The main characteristic of understanding was to project possibilities. Through the awareness of its own possibilities, Dasein projects before itself the choices of authenticity and inauthenticity. Heidegger calls this structure, in which what it means to be is an issue for Dasein, Being-ahead-of-itself. This Being-ahead does not signify the future of Dasein, but its existing qualities that make its future significant. Being-ahead-of-itself is not a random and arbitrary freedom. The world has limitations. Darl had to set fire to the barn surreptitiously. Darl as a Dasein doesn’t forget his actuality. Heidegger defines Dasein as Dasein as, “Ahead of itself Being already in the world as Being alongside entities encountered within the world” (Heidegger, 2001, p. 237). That’s care. Care is divided into “caring about” (Besorgen; concern) and “caring for” (Fursorge; solicitude). Darl as Dasein cares about things such as the water bucket, but cares for other Daseins, like his mother. What it means for Dasein to be is to care. 3.2 Authenticity and Inauthenticity To begin this part, we would like to define authenticity as Carman does in his article as “being true to oneself” and “to be honest with oneself” and being “inwardly sincere” (Carman, 2006, p. 229). What is authentic, i. e. eigentlich, is “what is most Dasein’s own” (Carman, 2005, p. 285). This inner sincerity does not refer to any transcendental moral authority such as God, and Carman (2006) says that “its intrinsic moral value is not obvious,” and it is noted that this sincerity is not just telling the truth about oneself, but “to present oneself sincerely”, and this self-presentation “must appear spontaneous and natural;” then he confesses that “authenticity, in any event, seems to lack the performative ambiguity bound up with the idea of sincerity, inner or outer” (p. 230). Authentic self is the basis from which freedom and choosing occur. Freedom is the determining factor in authentic existence. It has two main characteristics: it “places a terrible burden on the free man, often forcing him to seek almost any means to avoid its full significance,” and it “isolates the free man from the comfort and security of an ordered existence” (Gelven, 1989, p. 157). Cash confirms Heidegger but chooses the they-mode way of Being:

It’s like it aint so much what a fellow does, but it’s the way the majority of folks is looking at him when he does it (Faulkner, 1957, p. 296).

For the inauthentic self, choices are already chosen, and in this case the majority of people do it. It is noteworthy to remind the readers of Sartre’s “bad faith” which is his “thesis about the unwillingness of human beings to acknowledge their being radically free in this sense” (Olafson, 2006, p. 269) Freedom is the ultimate locus of authenticity. The source of authenticity lies in the range of that which is already (if vaguely) understood. Dasein has a basic understanding-of-Being (Sein-severstandis, to understand what it means to be), but this understanding is not thematic and should be made thematic through interpretation. The way we can focus on Darl’s authentic self is its voice of conscience:

“Why do you laugh?” I said. “Is it because you hate the sound of laughing?” (Faulkner, 1957, p. 323) There’s something authentic about the awareness of a guilty self. The self becomes aware of itself as responsible. A decision should be made. Dasein can choose to deny the freedom of choice and say that it is guilty because something made it do something wrong; it was not its own action, but that wrong action is forced upon Dasein. So Dasein denies its guilt to itself, as Cash does in exonerating himself:

It wasn’t nothing else to do. It was either send him to Jackson, or have Gillespie sue us, because he knowed some way that Darl set fire to it. I dont know how he knowed, but he did. Vardaman seen him do it, but he swore he never told nobody but Dewey Dell and that she told him not to tell nobody. But Gillespie knowed it. But he would a suspicioned it sooner or later. He could have done it that night just watching the way Darl acted (Faulkner, 1957, p. 295).

Therefore, in this case, Dasein avoids becoming aware of its self (inauthenticity). But Dasein has another choice. It can accept its guilt and consider itself deserving the consequences of its guilt, as Darl does:

Darl has gone to Jackson. They put him on the train, laughing, down the long car laughing, the heads turning like the heads of owls when he passed. “What are you laughing at?” I said. “Yes yes yes yes yes.” (Faulkner, 1957, p. 322)

Darl, from the beginning of the novel is existentially free and faces the consequences of this freedom only later in the story. In a lecture delivered at the University of Virginia in 1957, Faulkner relates, “Darl was mad from the first. He got progressively madder because he didn’t have the capacity—not so much of sanity but of inertness to resist all the catastrophes that happened to the family” (Fargnoli, Golay, & Hamblin, 2008, p. 51). In another place he calls the novel a “tour de force” (Anderson, 2007, p. 45) which itself indicates the inevitability of the world.

IJALEL 3(1):63-71, 2014 70 Darl as a Dasein accepts that he is responsible. In this case Dasein’s existence is authentic. An authentic Dasein is always willing to hear the voice of conscience. An inauthentic self lacks the awareness of what it means to be. Guilt, as an existential, is prior to morals. Morals do not determine guilt, but guilt determines the morals. Dasein first feels a call to be good and authentic, and then finds a way to satisfy that desire and hence a moral code is established. Conscience is a call. The self calls the self to call about the self and call the self to the self itself. The calling self is in dread and is unheimlich (not-at-home, uncanny); This self is distanced from the they-self. This self calls the self which is lost in the they-self. The call is to make the self abandon the company of the they-self (Gelven, 1989, p. 163). The calling is about the self in the sense that conscience awakens an awareness of the mode of existence in which the self finds itself – authentic or inauthentic. The call is to the self to ask it to be authentic or inauthentic. Cash calls his own self (Faulkner, 1957, p. 296) but tries to justify himself and so is made inauthentic. But Darl has chosen his way which proves to be authentic. Heidegger admits that to be guilty is a negative form of existence and this guilt contains a Not. This Not is the “Not” of Dasein’s finitude. Hence to be guilty is the basis of a “notness” (Nichtigkeit; nullity) for Dasein. This notness means as all of Dasein’s possibilities are what can be, so too are they what cannot be (to be [honest] is a possibility like not to be [honest].) Dasein is able to exclude possibilities or accept them. So Dasein is always guilty. It means that as long as Dasein is, it is in such a way as to be the ground for not being in such a way. Thus we see that self calls the they-self to be authentic or not to be authentic; “the latter possibility is grounded in Dasein’s being the basis of a notness – guilt” (Gelven, 1989, p. 165). Now let’s turn to existentiality. What is projected in conscience? Being guilty. Among Dasein’s possible ways of existence is to be guilty. Dasein is the ground for its notness. Dasein is responsible for what Dasein is. Darl is responsible for what he himself is and finally faces the music. Guilt is Dasein’s ownmost. As was mentioned, the state-of-mind that discloses conscience is dread. The form of discourse that discloses conscience is keeping silent (reticence). We must hear the call. The inauthentic mode of discourse is loudness. Although most of the events are narrated by Darl, it should be remarked that he is one of the most reticent characters in the story and most of his monologues are streams of consciousness. Heidegger calls the disclosure of conscience Entschlossenheit (very similar to Erschlossenheit, disclosedness) or what Macquarrie and Robinson have translated as resoluteness (Heidegger, 2001, p. 314). To be authentic Dasein must be resolute, free to choose its way of existence. Authenticity is resisting conformism. Cash is not authentic in this sense. He cannot be himself and cannot help being a conformist (in the following excerpt, the phrase “in a clean way” suggests more focus on conformism and the they-mode):

But I thought more than once before we crossed the river and after, how it would be God’s blessing if He did take her outen our hands and get shut of her in some clean way (Faulkner, 1957, p. 296).

And he finally comes to the conclusion that: And I reckon they aint nothing else to do with him but what the most folks say is right (Faulkner, 1957, p. 296).

And it is not irrelevant to quote Carman (2006) talking about Heidegger’s authenticity that: Even the most authentic existence therefore presupposes some normative social background or other, whereas what characterizes the undifferentiated and inauthentic modes is their routine and desensitized conformity to the average understanding that happens to prevail in society (p. 234).

“Authenticity is coming into one’s own,” (ibid) and is consisted of two elements, “resoluteness” and “forerunning”. To be resolute is to “remain sensitive to the unique demands of the concrete ‘situation’ (Situation), as opposed to subsuming it under generic rules and categories of thought, thus reducing it to a mere ‘general state of affairs’ (allgemeine Lage) and responding with rigid, preconceived attitudes and behaviors” (ibid). Note that the authentic self is in the world and with the others. Dasein alone is responsible for the way it exists and Cash confirms that only Darl was responsible for what he did, “It wasn’t nothing else to do. It was either send him to Jackson, or have Gillespie sue us” (Faulkner, 1957, p. 295). Conscience and guilt are grounds for the authentic manner of existence. A resolute Dasein is guilty and is aware of it and wants to have a conscience. The nature of this realization and awareness makes Dasein resolute. Guilt and conscience “focus, then, upon authentic existence, which has been phenomenologically interpreted as ‘anticipatory resoluteness’” (Gelven, 1989, p. 167). 4. Conclusion Darl is the character narrating most of the story. Faulkner makes him a cruel and at the same time good character, though he may be an unreliable narrator. He torments Jewel and Dewey Dell and has an unstable personality, but Faulkner entrusts in him the only description of Addie’s death in the novel. Darl dreams and records his various musings and “that the material world trumps the imaginative one in this way suggests Faulkner’s abiding interest in the fate of the artist in the world” (Towner, 2008, p. 26). This paper approached the authenticity of Darl, under the shadow of Seinsfrage, ontologically, as it was Heidegger’s most important question in philosophy. Darl was studied as a Dasein whose Being mattered to him. Only then a range of existentials has been investigated, in the order of the most general one, Being-in-the-World, to the most specific, Sorge. It has also been said that the authentic self is the basis from which freedom and choosing occur. Freedom was the determining factor in the authentic existence and placed “a terrible burden on the free man” and isolated “the free man from the comfort and security of an ordered existence” (Gelven, 1989, p. 157). This same occurred to Darl and he lost his position in society because of his nonconformist ideas and actions. This nonconformity was the result of his freedom and resulted in the responsibility followed. His authentic life was the final conclusion.

IJALEL 3(1):63-71, 2014 71 References Anderson, J. D. (2007). Student Companion to William Faulkner. Greenwood Publishing. Calhoun, R. J. (1963). Existentialism, Phenomenology, and Literary Theory. South Atlantic Bulletin, 4-8. Carman, T. (2005). Authenticity. In H. L. Dreyfus, & M. A. Wrathall, A Companion to Heidegger (pp. 285-296). Blackwell Publishing. Carman, T. (2006). The Concept of Authenticity. In H. L. Dreyfus, & M. A. Wrathall, A Companion to Phenomenology and Existentialism (pp. 229-239). Blackwell Publishing. Cooper, D. E. (1999). Existentialism, A Reconstruction. Blackwell Publishing. Crowell, S. (2006). Husserlian Phenomenology. In H. L. Dreyfus, & M. A. Wrathall, A Companion to Phenomenology and Existentialism (pp. 9-30). Blackwell Publishing. Dreyfus, H. L. (1995). Being-in-the-World: A Commentary on Heidegger's Being and Time, Division I. The MIT Press. Dreyfus, H. L., & Wrathall, M. A. (2006). The Roots of Existentialism. In H. L. Dreyfus, A Companion to Phenomenology and Existentialism (pp. 137-161). Blackwell Publishing. Fargnoli, N. A., Golay, M., & Hamblin, R. W. (2008). Critical Companion to William Faulkner: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts on File. Faulkner, W. (1957). As I Lay Dying. Vintage International. Gelven, M. (1989). A Commentary on Heidegger's Being and Time. Northern Illinois University Press. Head, D. (2006). The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge University Press. Heidegger, M. (2001). Being and Time. (J. Macquarrie, & E. Robinson, Trans.) Blackwell Publishing. Inwood, M. (1997). Heidegger: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. Inwood, M. (1999). A Heidegger Dictionary. Oxford: Blakwell Publishing. Kaufman, W. (1975). Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre. New York: Penguin Publishing. Malpas, J. (2003). Martin Heidegger. In R. C. Solomon, & D. Sherman, The Blackwell Guide to the Continental Philosophy (pp. 143-162). Blackwell Publishing. Mulhall, S. (2005). Heidegger and Being and Time. New York: Routledge Press. Olafson, F. A. (2006). Freedom and Responsibility. In H. L. Dreyfus, & M. A. Wrathall, A Companion to Phenomenology and Existentialism (pp. 263-270). Blackwell Publishing. Sheehan, T. (2005). Dasein. In H. L. Dreyfus, & M. A. Wrathall, A Companion to Heidegger (pp. 193-213). Blackwell Publishing. Towner, T. M. (2008). The Cambridge Introduction to William Faulkner. Cambridge University Press. Wheeler, M. (2013, March 21). Martin Heidegger. Retrieved 2013, from The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2013/entries/heidegger Wrathall, M. A., & Dreyfus, H. L. (2006). A Brief Introduction to Phenomenology and Existentialism. In H. L. Dreyfus, & M. A. Wrathall, A Companion to Phenomenology and Existentialism (pp. 1-6). Blackwell Publishing. Notes i Being (capital B), das Sein, indicates the inquiries into what it means to exist, but being (small b), das Seiende, indicates the entities. ii Heidegger rejects all of the above-mentioned characteristics attributed to Being in his first introduction to Being and Time. iii Die frage nach den sinn von Sein. iv Heidegger insists on readiness-at-hand because Dasein cannot understand the meaning of things independently of its existential awareness. Heidegger denies the possibility of ‘objective meaning’, therefore, ‘meaning and interpretation take their significance in readiness-at-hand’ (Gelven, 1989, p. 101). v It means, for example, to see a pen not as (hermeneutical ‘as’) an object to write with, but as (apophantical ‘as') an object in the world with certain characteristics. vi The German word for ‘uncanny’ is unheimlich which means ‘not-at-home. In English it means very strange and difficult to explain. Dread is uncanny. When Dasein is not at home, it reflects on its own Being, not that of the ‘they’.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

The Language of Revolution and the Power of Storytelling in The Pregnant Widow

Alaa Alghamdi

Department of Languages & Translation

Taibah University, Medina, Saudi Arabia

E-mail: alaaghamdi@yahoo.com

Received: 20-08-2013 Accepted: 10-10-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.72 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.72 Abstract Martin Amis uses the language of revolution to describe the newly altered social circumstances at the height of the sexual revolution in his semi-autobiographical novel The Pregnant Widow. The concept of a ‘language of revolution’ as well as second- and third-wave feminist scholarship is applied to a textual analysis of the novel. Amis’s brand of satire creates a sense of displacement and challenges existing perceptions about gender, culture and sexuality, exposing them as constructed and changeable norms. Moreover, it becomes clear that the author is skeptical about the benefits of the sexual revolution for either gender, and that he views its liberating aspects as unfulfilled, particularly for women. Given that Amis names one of his characters Scheherazade, evoking the legendary heroine of The Arabian Nights, the importance of storytelling in the novel is also examined and found to be a potentially redeeming force. Keywords: Martin Amis, sexual revolution, feminism, satire, gender, revolution 1. Introduction In his 2010 semi-autobiographical novel The Pregnant Widow, Amis recaptures the sense of newness and the abrupt shift in society that came about as the result of the sexual revolution by using what is, indeed, the language of revolution in the political sense. As the author is an exceptionally accomplished humorist and incisive social commentator, it will come as no surprise that this work is no nostalgic ode to the liberation of the self but a complex analysis, its amusing storyline leading us further into a contemplation of sexual politics. What is surprising, however, is the germ of optimism that exists at the heart of this fundamentally desultory account. At some level it seems the author is still waiting for the revolution to fulfill itself. His nostalgic account of the summer adventures of his youthful protagonist Keith is therefore both confessional and analytical, righting the wrong that occurs when we take amorous matters too lightly. As in other work, Amis’s primary tool is satire – his own brand, in which he subtly shifts the frame within we view events, rendering them still familiar but indisputably altered. 2. Research Focus and Methodology Particularly in its early stages, as the scene is being set, Amis’s narrative is shot through with the use of language perhaps more suitable for political revolution, either real or fictional. One is reminded, for example, of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, with its ample references to the contrast between a familiar past and a radically changed, dystopian present. At the same time, a historical account of the communist revolution in China or indeed the French Revolution would capture this same awareness of a sharp dividing line between past and present, with dangers lurking in the present as new standards must be quickly adapted. These new standards are fact, but still require constant, cautious reminders as the characters begin to settle into the unfamiliar circumstances. This use of language, often too subtle to qualify as parody but too pronounced to be anything but deliberate, is in keeping with the larger theme announced in the first line of the novel: “This is the story of a sexual trauma”. i Any revolution indicates the re-imagining of both individual and collective identity. Indeed, in the aftermath of a revolution, it may become difficult or impossible to distinguish between the two, as collective change creates a corresponding demand for a shift in individual self-assessment. Following the Cultural Revolution in China, for example, there was a need to recalibrate the language in order to effectively "… code new social facts, although old social norms can also be discerned in the new formulae, thus showing that social changes are built on a previous social order"ii. Because language is used universally, the societal shift is created and re-created every time one speaks, listens, writes or reads, particularly if there is political pressure to adopt changes. However, since the time of the French Revolution, socio-political dogma has also sought to place emphasis on the individual, providing him or her with new lenses and tools with which to view himself. In his introduction to a series of articles about the intersection of language and revolution, Halfin relates that in modern times: "... the question of the Self arose... A project of self-recreation had begun in earnest: New German, New Jew, New Man, New Woman...”iii. The concept of a ‘language of revolution’ will be applied to Amis’s The Pregnant Widow, in order to unpack and examine the author’s intention behind the conceit. A close textual analysis and deciphering of the allusion and

IJALEL 3(1):72-78, 2014 73 symbolism in the novel, coupled with an analysis of Amis’ style of satire, will be used to support an interpretation of the overt and subtle messages of the work. In addition, views and interpretations of the sexual revolution, which form the socio-historical backdrop for the novel, will be examined and applied through the use of social criticism from second- and third-wave feminist scholarship. 3. Revolution and its Aftermath The ‘language of revolution’ support changes in one’s conception of the self or of society. Of course, these cannot occur universally at will. Rather, their adaptation inevitably takes time, and during this adjustment period things may seem new and strange. Within both historical non-fiction and fiction, we encounter a litany of ‘rules’ governing these shifts, letting both characters and readers know and absorb what has taken place. This is precisely what we can observe at the start of Amis’s novel, and to a lesser extent throughout. Of course, here again, the author’s skillful satire plays a role, presenting for our consideration a set of ‘rules’ or circumstances that appear bizarre until we stop and consider how familiar they actually are. Much is made, for example, of Lily’s desire and ultimate failure to “act like a boy”, an endeavor that apparently requires a certain type of distinctly female attire:

Lily and Keith broke up because Lily wanted to act like a boy. That was the heart of the matter: girls acting like boys was in the air, and Lily wanted to try it out... Lily had her hair restyled, and bought lots of miniskirts and cut-off culottes and halter tops and see-through blouses and knee-length patent leather boots and hoop earrings and kohl eyeliner and all the other things you needed before you could act like a boy. And Keith just stayed the same.iv

By stating “girls acting like boys was in the air and Lily wanted to try it out”, Amis lets us know of a disquieting, though attractive, shift in circumstances. It is immediately obvious, however, that not only a practice but a basic gender-based definition has been altered. Lest we assume that it is the female role that has become more malleable, however, Amis also makes it clear that a threat to the feminine is still in the process of being vanquished. The sexual revolution, presumably, has some role in this, though we are not yet sure how effective a role. The dust has not yet settled and it appears that people of both genders are confused and re-establishing their place. Violence may not be imminent, but is not far away either in terms of time or place. "I suppose drugging girls was your only hope - back then. That was how you did it", a character remarks; ‘back then’ – before the sexual revolution – already seems far-offv. Without the new standard of licentiousness, it already seems difficult to conceptualize how one ‘did it’ – presumably, how one found a sexual partner. Of course, the reference to ‘drugging girls’ is deliberately disturbing, suggesting sexual assault in an echo of an earlier discussion, during which an Italian cultural heroine is introduced: “Kidnap and rape, in Sicily, provided the alternative route to confetti and wedding bells. Franca Viola challenged this”vi. As we learn, it had been the law and custom in Sicily that girls who were raped marry their rapist, allowing him to escape prosecution. That state of affairs, however, is in the process of change thanks to Franca Viola, who “… didn’t go to the church. She went to the police station in Palermo. And then it was national news. Incredible girl"vii. Contextualized within a discourse on the sexual revolution, Viola’s action is magnified and politicized: “She changed everything. Now Milan and Turin are partly civilized. Rome is beginning to get better"viii. While the original premise of a girl’s brave stand against oppressive tradition reads as factual with regard to one individual, the exaggeration of her accomplishment elevates it to political status. The figurative truth of the statement provides a bridge between the factual and the somewhat hyperbolic, and between the personal and political. Having established the political connotations of the sexual revolution, Amis imbues the change of circumstances with a feeling of urgency and the implication that survival may depend on conformity to the new standards. The discussion of female beauty, for example, has a connotation of a high-stakes situation, even if we aren’t sure precisely what those stakes may be. Lily says: "I'd give up some of my intelligence for a little more beauty - but girls aren't supposed to say that now”ix. The idea is expanded through an ensuing discussion:

Girls need looks even more now. You'll see… it's not just about what kind of husband you can pull… You're wrong. Looks matter even morex.

Of course, the emphasis on looks has been established since the very start of the narrative, through the narrator’s inclusion of a character’s body measurements following mention of their names. This is a double entendre of sorts, as it confers on the individual a sort of alternative moniker or code name, the futuristic connotations of which evaporate as we quickly decipher the meaning of the numbers. The juxtaposition of the familiar and unfamiliar, of the realistic and hyperbolic, creates the impression of a brave new world in which a new set of rules must be learned and navigated. A political revolution carries with it equal measures of danger and hope. It is a radical overturn of previous powers and circumstances, so that, in some cases, those on top are now on bottom, and vulnerable. A revolution opens possibilities for some, but endangers others who now find themselves on the wrong side of the law. The device highlights the seriousness of sexual politics. Indeed, from the start of the novel, intimations of danger abound, as Lily and Scheherazade, entering town, are “engulfed” by young menxi. That this is more than mere admiration is established by Keith’s desire to protect or rescue the young women, and by the stark statement: "They probably hate us out there too.

IJALEL 3(1):72-78, 2014 74 But at least they want to fuck us"xii. That the nature of the hostility between the genders is taken for granted rather than analyzed strengthens the impression of an inevitable competition and antipathy. All of these factors lead us to the consideration that Amis is actually asking us to think of the sexual revolution as a 'real' revolution, not a natural blossoming or liberation, but an overthrow of one set of values for another - a cultural revolution of sorts. This conclusion is relatively easy, but the real question is to what end the author does so. What does he want us to realize regarding the sexual revolution and the cultural changes of the 1960s and 70s? Perhaps the primary purpose is to destabilize and therefore have us question our existing assumptions, in recognition of the fact that, as the famous saying goes, history is written by the victors. There is considerable tendency on the part of any new regime to promote the idea of its own inevitability, God-given right, or right according to natural law. After all, ever since Freud, the awareness of repressed appetites and the dangers of repression have been widespread. What could be more natural than the gradual dispelling of those culturally imposed constraints, freeing the individual from the bonds of both patriarchy and archaic moral standards? Amis asks us to consider that such views exist as a result of a set of carefully orchestrated and therefore inevitably biased values. Amis's narrator, in the present day looking back upon his past and the lifestyle he embraced during that summer in Italy, is in one sense an apostate or a devil's advocate, refusing to glorify the seemingly paradisiacal circumstances and remaining – just as the younger Keith seems fixated on the social mores of the past through his reading of literature. However, he is not necessarily a counter-revolutionary. Rather, I believe, he is looking for a critical examination of what has occurred so far so that the revolution may continue. Whereas the starting point is the representation of a shining era within an idyllic setting, pitfalls are identified almost immediately:

Here they were in the She Decade - but they were all of them in the cusp of Narcissus. They were not like their elders and they would not be like their youngers. Because she could remember how it was before: the lighter weight on the individual, when you lived your life more automatically... They were the first that ever burst into that silent sea, where the surface is a shield that burns like a mirror...xiii

This short, dense passage captures the unique opportunity and challenges of Keith and his cohorts. The mention of Narcissus suggests the trap of self-involvement, while the description of the ‘silent sea’ creates a numinous scene of rebirth. 4. Gender Trouble A suggested conflation between the sexual revolution and feminism or women’s liberation is not unique to Amis’s revisiting of the era, of course, but it is open to question, particularly in retrospect. Many scholars at the time accepted the idea that the sexual revolution profoundly changed society and the individual. In a paper presented at a Symposium on the Sexual Revolution sponsored by the New York Society of Clinical Psychologists in March 1969, Feldman calls it a “fundamental change in our way of life” by which “we have all already been affected, possibly much more than we realize”xiv. However, Feldman also suggests that a movement beyond conventional homosexual pairing and toward a kind of autonomy has been brought about by the change in society. He describes the shift as follows:

The manner in which the youngsters dance tells us something about them as sexual beings. They have moved away from sexual contact in the frame of a relationship, as exemplified in the 'couples dancing' which was male dominated, stylized and romantic. Now, each freely uses his body as he wishes to give himself pleasurexv.

Feldman also refers to the “erosion of roles all around us”xvi, characterizing the era as one that has liberated the individual from the male-dominated and stylized ritual and sharply prescribed roles of an earlier time. However, in retrospect, the observation is more often that behavior is at odds with stated viewsxvii. Indeed, one of Amis’s primary arguments is that the sexual revolution has failed to fulfill its implied goal of liberating women. In a recent interview in which he recalls the era, Amis states: “The first thing they should have done is hammer down that men and women would do 50/50 in the home… women don't have it all, they do it all”. The novel, however, suggests inequalities and more pernicious dangers. In fact, Amis entangles the reader in the complexities of gender politics and in his portrayal of Keith, Lily and Scheherazade, their actions and their stated viewpoints. We are unsure, for example, whether Amis is subverting the notion of essentialism or confirming it with his descriptions of ‘girls acting like boys’. Judith Butler in Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity addresses the ‘performability’ of gender, pointing out that gender-based identity is always socially constructed rather than an essential characteristic of a person. The appropriating of gendered behaviors at will certainly suggests a repudiation of essentialism, but it also suggests that there are stable and definable characteristics demarcating male and female. The concept settles uneasily in a layer of irony that is soon over-plastered by others. Looks were more important now, as Lily and Amis’s narrator state several times. Yet how can this be so, if antiquated social norms that kept women subjugated by the power of the male and of patriarchy have been overturned?

IJALEL 3(1):72-78, 2014 75 If looks matter more now – and even if appearance is conceptualized as a source of social power, or a type of currency - it may follow that the empowerment of women is still an unfulfilled promise. Authors writing around the time of the sexual revolution recognized this fact. Germaine Greer in The Female Eunuch, and Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique both endorse the view that the pressure to adopt a feminized, conventionally attractive appearance is a tool of subjugation. Freidan points out that the ‘feminine mystique’ that was promoted by media in the 1950s and 60s was largely the invention of men, and was planned and executed with a specific, coercive purpose in mind – to confine women within the domestic sphere. Greer argues that the co-opting of the female image alienates women from it. However, in the Foreword to the 1999 edition of the book, she cautions against orthodoxy in the rejection of conventionally feminizing elements. She states, for example, "Bras are a ludicrous invention…but if you make bralessness a rule, you're just subjecting yourself to yet another repression"xviii. Liberation may come only when prescribed or enforced standards cease to exist or to be followed, not when they are simply reversed. In the early 1990s, Naomi Wolf’s The Beauty Myth puts forward the idea that they tyranny of conventional feminine beauty is in fact a tool that has evolved in order to further women’s subjugation in response to the strides that feminism has made. Although aspects of Wolf’s argument resemble that of her predecessors, her thesis was new. She argues, in effect, not that the emphasis on feminine beauty is a remnant of patriarchal oppression, but that it is in fact a newly actualized tool in the arsenal – or, at least, a tool newly honed and sharpened, and ready to take on the task of imposing internalized limits on women. Michel Foucault talks about the concept of societal standards forming an internalized set of rules capable of controlling and shaping behavior. The brutality of these controls in turn suggests that the sexual revolution was indeed much more than a matter of liberation and opening. Any liberation carries with it the possibility – if not the certainty – of a corresponding backlash of oppression. Thus, as Amis points out, we need to consider that the sexual revolution is or was perhaps a true, bloody, take-no-prisoners revolution, because to deny that is to ignore the devastating potential of sexual politics. The language of revolution is used to soothe the spirit and promote stability after upheaval. By displacing us within a familiar reality Amis forces us to examine whether we have fallen prey to this language of revolution. This linguistic displacement is the tool he uses to take us over that threshold. 5. The Thousand and One Nights Once there, what are we to discover? Through his structured tale and multifarious literary references, Amis suggests that storytelling – and retelling- has an unimpeachable function, in that it is capable not only of conveying nuanced meaning , but of holding it up to the light. For a start, Amis’s use of the name Scheherazade naturally invokes The Arabian Nights. Just like Franca Viola, who made a stand against the sacrifice of girls to male lust and violence, the legendary Scheherazade was a liberation heroine herself, putting an end to the nightly killing of young women as a sacrifice to a king’s power and distrust of the female. The original story carries with it ample evidence of patriarchal oppression, of course, including the notion that these young women’s lives are expendable, forfeit to a king’s whim or pleasurexix. In the traditional story, Scheherazade puts an end to this ultimate expression of female exploitation through cleverness, knowing that more than corporeal attraction is needed to make sure that she does not join in the fate of the young women who came before her. At the same time, of course, Scheherazade merely works within the system; she wastes no time attempting to revolutionize it. She does not openly question the right of the King to use young women as grist for the mill of his desire and revenge; she merely devises something that will stop the diabolical turning of that mill. It is effective at least in part because she does work within the system presented to her. Famously, Scheherazade's stories are her salvation. Trapped in the throes of a male power she could not control or even plead with, the fabled Scheherazade does the only thing she can do, holding the king’s interest after night. Failing to hold the interest of the male is the cardinal sin because it exposes the female to her greatest peril, and male violence is associated at least in some small part with ennui and lack of fulfillment. We might speculate, of course, as to what this male restlessness consists of and is caused by. It is such a stark contrast to that mainstay of society, the stable family unit and the determination that humans view themselves as socially, if not inherently, monogamous. The King’s lust for variety in The Arabian Nights is of course hectic and dysfunctional, and extreme expression of heterosexual and patriarchal behavior that is malignant in its ability to threaten the social order and must therefore be corrected. In invoking Scheherazade, is Amis suggesting that the sexual revolution itself gave rise to a similar out-of-control and ultimately harmful capriciousness of desire? Or, since in the original story it is the King’s cuckoldry that precipitates his murderous acts, is female promiscuity – spoken of in positive terms in the novel – actually a dangerous trap? The storytelling of Scheherazade in The Arabian Nights is a tale of obligation and of powerlessness as much as of the woman's cleverness. The stories are perhaps just another song and dance, another spell to be woven. If his attention can be held the woman can have life. If not, then she will be destroyed. What is curious, of course, in Amis’ story, is that Scheherazade does not play the role of her legendary namesake, but clearly represents an invitation on the part of the author to decipher the meaning of her presence in the narrative. Scheherazade tempts Keith with the most elementary of means – her physical presence, her availability, and the tension that is created by her presence and accessibility in the face of Keith’s commitment to Lily. Her role in the novel is predictable enough within the context of its basic premise – the licentious summer in the lives of these young people at the height of the sexual revolution. Yet she is clearly also a disturbing figure, for the protagonist if not for the reader; she is the source of Keith’s sexual trauma, an experience that “…ruined him for twenty years”. In an interview, Amis states with regard to the sexual revolution "it was quite necessary and a great thing - but sort of a trauma for everybody” – and this trauma or ‘wound’, as he also defines it, is embodied, at least in part, in the character of Scheherazade.

IJALEL 3(1):72-78, 2014 76 Perhaps the similarity between Amis’ Scheherazade and her legendary predecessor is that, in both stories, she represents an interruption in the customary way of doing things, and a divergence in a different direction – one which also constitutes for the male protagonist a confounding of his original intent. Yet there is something unsatisfying about that interpretation. It would lead us to view what happens in The Pregnant Widow as a mere reversal of the old tale – desiring monogamy, Keith is confounded and outfoxed by the (ironically) rather mute figure of this new Scheherazade, a woman whose physical appearance and availability tell their own stories. The interpretation is not without validity, but it is unsatisfying because it fails to address an element central to both the original story and Amis’s narrative – arguably, it is also one that characterizes the conventional conception of the sexual revolution itself. And that element, again, is the importance of stories and storytelling. Meanwhile, throughout the narrative of his summer in Italy, we see Keith reading various classics of English literature, finding fault with them because of their lack of relevance to their present, rearranged circumstances. He reads and dismisses Clarissa as ridiculous or unrealistic because, as he remarks to Lily, "Clarissa's a nightmare.... it's taking him two thousand pages to fuck her"xx. The observation does not wholly discourage him, however, in what appears to be a search for something elusive and lost. During the summer, he also reads his way through Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Vanity Fair and others. When one considers the hidden desperation that must underlie the original Scheherazade’s nightly telling of tales, one can sense a similar desperation in Keith’s sequential reading, retelling and ultimate rejection of classic romantic stories from literature. A similar suspense is present – will there be enough in the stories to hold his interest so that a status quo can be maintained, and a crisis forestalled? Of course, in this case, the answer is no. Thus, Keith’s seeking out of stories has a futility to it that dispels the cleverness of the original Scheherazade. In a sense, her role was to demonstrate to the king that a woman can be more than just a body. She holds the king at bay with her storytelling rather than with the seduction of her physical being. Were she regarded on the basis of her physical presence, her survival would be far from guaranteed because she is demonstrably replaceable. Once she is valued for her intellect and talent as a storyteller, she becomes a distinct individual and replacing her is no longer an option. Thus, she is able to survive. In his sequential reading of stories of the past, is Keith, as well, trying to stave off the replaceable and perishable qualities of the flesh, and finding, to his despair, that it is becoming harder and harder to do so? If that is the case, of course, we must find solace in the fact that he ultimately narrates his own story, giving the permanence of narrative structure to his search, and preserving the trauma within his story so that he it cannot be annihilated by it. In this sense we realize, too, that the original Scheherazade’s task was symbolic as well as practical; storytelling not only staves off death for her, but offers a kind of immortality. Amis acknowledges this – indeed, seems to depend upon it – but also refers to the dangerous knowledge of the possible death of stories due to shifting social circumstances that may kill their relevance. Although Keith’s analyses of classic literature are often amusing, they are, of course, also intended to be disturbing and indicative of his difficulty in orienting to new circumstances, and inability to return to the old. The novel itself offers relief because, somewhere in its unwieldy structure and melding of past and present, it is a meta-fictional structure large and complex enough to contain his experience. This success points out another way in which storytelling offers hope for stability in the face of change – its ability to evolve, in addition to its inherent immortality. After all, the continued interest and therefore the success of the stories of the original Scheherazade lay in her inventiveness – in the fact that she was continually wracking her brains to come up with them. Is Keith’s desire for a story that will hold his interest so that his own life can be saved, or is he more concerned for the fate of the girls, in the sense that the disturbing expendability of the sexual partner after the sexual revolution may somehow be halted? Does his own sense of victimization by the new sexual standards – so curious and even amusing, initially, as it flies in the face of what we think we know about the male desire for promiscuity - come from an empathy with his (and Amis’s) sister, whom the author clearly regards as a true casualty of that societal shift? That in itself might be grounds for Keith’s (Amis’s) more complex longing for a quintessential Scheherazade. Much as young Keith physically desires the Scheherazade of his summer in Italy, he courts himself with stories, trying and failing to fulfill the lost archetype. Having somehow internalized the lesson of the legendary Scheherazade, he wants more than bodies – although, of course, his concurrent lust for the physical and the ease with which that may now be fulfilled also traumatizes and injures his flailing sense of self. It is with a sense of halfhearted relief that we find, so late in the story, that the narrator is in fact the older Keith – relief because he has survived to tell a tale of his own, and halfhearted because we can see so clearly at a distance the unfulfilled aspirations of the younger Keith, and what he has lost by living on the other side of the line that the sexual revolution has drawn through social history. The notion of the Scheherazade-style sequential storytelling has another, more oblique parallel within the story, and it is here, perhaps, that the most hopeful message lies. When one refers to a general historical commentary on the sexual revolution, what is most striking is the degree to which it is defined by a series of influential texts – texts which both capture the changing moral and social standards, and subsequently become agents of revolution by spreading the changing values. Key texts which are cited as agents of the sexual revolution typically include both literary works such as Fanny Hill and Lady Chatterley’s Lover (as well as various other works by DH Lawrence), memoir conceptualized as narrative (for example, the works of Anais Nin and Henry Miller), and finally culminate in the 60s and 70s with nonfiction works promoting sexual education and openness, such as those of Kinsey and Masters and Johnson. As both agents and markers of social change, these books (and many others) show a consistent trajectory, starting with the challenging of boundaries met by censure and censorship and continuing on to the persistent overcoming of boundaries, and, finally, a frank openness with regard to sexual matters. If one were to personify the sexual revolution, it, too, might

IJALEL 3(1):72-78, 2014 77 amount to a version of Scheherazade, weaving story after story in order to dispel resistance and finally change a paradigm. Tangentially, it is also interesting to note that although the sexual revolution is primarily associated with the 1960s and 70s, according to some historians it was not the first but the second such revolution, the first having taken place in the 1920s when standards of social behavior and sexual relations were similarly relaxed. The conservativism of the post-WWII era may have necessitated a further thrust of the revolution, but it is clear from its literary antecedents, too, that the beginning of the movement is rooted in the early twentieth century. Of course, Amis and his narrator have an awareness of this, the very place where they are staying having been frequented by DH Lawrence, for example, and leading us to question Keith’s preoccupation with the literature of the pre-Lawrence era, when the works of the ‘first’ sexual revolution may have provided a more useful compass. Of course, if the objective is to produce a sense of futility and disconnection in Keith’s literary searching, pre-twentieth century literature is more suitable for the task. Lawrence is treated by the author with a mixture of amusement and familiarity that brands him as a compatriot of sorts, albeit one facing different challenges from the other side of a historical divide. For example, the narrator states:

The police were always abnormally interested in DH Lawrence. It wasn't only Lady Chatterley that caught their attention: so did The Rainbow (Obscenity) and so did Women in Love (libel). And so did a very late book of verse (grossly indecent, according to the Home Secretary; nauseous and disgusting, according to the Director of Public Prosecutions). Sufficiently gay, deep down, to be thrown behind bars in the first place, Lawrence nonetheless ignored the ridicule of his friends and called this collection Pansies - a pun, he said, on penseesxxi.

Yet Lawrence is vindicated even as fun is poked at him. The “abnormal interest” of the police is a transferred epithet of sorts, as the notion of abnormality may have been applied to Lawrence himself and his range of sexual interests during his historical era. Transferring this notion of abnormality to the police, however, has a dual purpose; it reflects what may be considered objective truth – which at the same time casts aspersions on the police themselves for their level of interest in what they would probably consider deviant literary preoccupations and lifestyle – and it sets the expectation and assumption that both narrator and reader are on the side of the historical divide that would consider the persecution of Lawrence, rather than Lawrence himself, ‘abnormal’. The phrase “sufficiently gay, deep down, to be thrown behind bars” connotes a similar marker of changing standards. The statement is satirical in that it displaces an outmoded (but historically accurate) concept into the current time, in a matter-of-fact language that is discordant enough from current standards that it provokes an incredulous reaction from the reader. The moment of incredulity is closely followed by the realization that it would have been accurate within a certain historical period. The fact that we thus engage actively with the statement – grapple with it for a moment, as it were – gives it much more power than a statement that is more obviously contextualized within a past time. For example, if Amis had simply stated “During Lawrence’s lifetime, homosexuality was a crime”, chances are we would have glossed over the statement, given that it is common knowledge. Because Amis catches us off guard, however, we are forced to consider the concept of homosexuality as a crime with fresh eyes, and, hopefully, to overthrow it all over again. Thus we participate in a facet of revolution. We cannot fail to notice that the treatment of Lawrence is gentler than that of Keith’s assessment of earlier literature – or of Amis’s treatment of Keith. There is a perhaps grudging admiration, in the passage above, of Lawrence’s boldness in choosing the title “Pansies” for his book. The mention of the official judgment on his books as ‘obscene’ or ‘libelous’ is not an argument for us to accept these judgments – rather it is part of the ‘abnormality’ of the legal persecution of Lawrence. There is a world of difference between the mildly humorous summary of Lawrence’s work and Keith’s fatuous comment regarding Clarissa. The latter shows a sharp dissonance between what Keith is reading and the time he lives in, offering little possibility for a meeting of the minds between the two. Keith’s comment is ignorant, but there is no suggestion of redeeming features of Clarissa or its author. The gentler treatment of Lawrence suggests that he may indeed have something of value to say. In his day, Lawrence argued for sexual openness and a loosening of tight moralistic standards but (despite abnormal prosecution by the police) did not suffer the confusion of a widespread social change shifting the relationship between men and women. Amis’ comment that the sexual revolution was “quite necessary and a great thing”xxii is coherent with his implied acceptance of Lawrence’s life and work; however, his refusal to accept the social changes unquestioningly highlights the difficulties that ensued following the shift – the fact that, in a sense, society has bungled and continues to bungle these admirable ideas. Hence the continued need for storytelling. Scheherazade’s task is still incomplete; the survival and thriving of the female (and male) is still not assured. Storytelling itself is nowhere near as easy as Scheherazade made it seem, but Amis’s narrator demonstrates his willingness to try his best. In examining the rift that a revolution leaves in society as well as the crumbling ground on either side of it, completing the aims of the revolution and rectifying its liabilities becomes possible, though never, of course, assured. A textual analysis of The Pregnant Widow, its use of satire and the language of revolution, and its social antecedents uncovers the real work that Amis is doing in this regard. The symbolism of the title motif, the pregnant widow, suggests the impossibility of a seamless transition between one era and another; by the time the ‘widow’s child is born, it progenitor is dead and buried if not forgotten. That unborn child embodies the past in the future while the widow herself is the bridge between the two, with the arduous prospect of birth standing between the present and that eventual outcome. Amis’s novel captures the transient moment while seeking to transcend it.

IJALEL 3(1):72-78, 2014 78 References Amis, M. (2010). The Pregnant Widow. Toronto: Alfred A. Knopf. Butler, J. (1990). Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge. Feldman, E. (1969). “The Sexual Revolution”. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy 2 (1), 54 – 56. Foucault, M. (1976, 1979). The History of Sexuality Volume 1: An Introduction. Translated by Robert Hurley. London: Allen Lane. Friedan, B. (2013). The Feminine Mystique (50th Anniversary Edition). W.W. Norton & Company. Ghosh, M. (2005). "When Dreams travel: "Writing Back" to the Arabian Nights". In Kundo, Rama. Studies In Women Writers In English Volume 2. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. Greer, G. (2009). The Female Eunuch. New York: HarperCollins. Halfin, I. (2002). Introduction, Language and Revolution: Making Modern Political Identities. Cummings Center Series. New York: Routledge. Martin Amis The Pregnant Widow (Interview). Youtube. Available: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqSNj7UmOs0 McLean, K. (2004). “Negotiating (Non)Monogamy: Bisexuality and Intimate Relationships”. Journal of Bisexuality 4(1-2), 83 – 97. Robinson, I. E. and Jedlick, D. (1982). “Change in Sexual Attitudes and Behavior of College Students from 1965 to 1980: A Research Note”. Journal of Marriage and Family 44(1), 237-240. Robinson, V. (1997). “My baby just cares for me: Feminism, heterosexuality and non monogamy”. Journal of Gender Studies 6(2), 143-157. Smith, T. W. (1990). “A Report: The Sexual Revolution?” The Public Opinion Quarterly 54(3), 415-435. Treas, J. (2002) “How Cohorts, Education, and Ideology Shaped a new Sexual Revolution on American Attitudes Toward Nonmarital Sex, 1972-1998”. Sociological Perspectives 45(3), 267-283. Wolf, N. (2009). The Beauty Myth. New York: HarperCollins. Yuan, J.F; Kuiper, K., and Shaogu, S. (1990). “Language and revolution: Formulae of the Cultural Revolution”. Language in Society 19 (1): 61- 79.

Notes: i Amis 2010, p. 1 ii Yuan et al 1990, p. 61 iii Halfin 2002, p. 5 iv Amis 2010, p.23 v Amis 2010, p.54 vi Amis 2010, p.15 vii Amis 2010, p.15 - 16 viii Amis 2010, p.16 ix Amis 2010, p.35 x Amis 2010, p.35 xi Amis 2010, p.11 xii Amis 2010, p.14 xiii Amis 2010, p.67 xiv Feldman 1969, p. 54 xv Feldman 1969, p.53 xvi Feldman 1969, p.54 xvii Treas 2002, p.267 xviii Greer 2009 xix Ghosh 2005, p.32 xx Amis 2010, p.39 xxi Amis 2010, p.24 xxii Amis interview

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Critical Discourse Analysis of the Appeals in English Women’s Advertisements

Cao Shuo (Corresponding author)

School of Foreign Languages, Dalian University of Technology

2# Linggong Road, Ganjingzi District, Dalian, 116023

Tel: 86-0411-84707346 E-mail: mollycao1977@gmail.com

Huili Wang

School of Foreign Languages, Dalian University of Technology

2# Linggong Road, Ganjingzi District, Dalian, 116023

Tel: 86-0411-84707346 E-mail: huilipegasus@gmail.com

Yucui Wang

School of Foreign Languages, Dalian University of Technology

2# Linggong Road, Ganjingzi District, Dalian, 116023

Tel: 86-0411-84707346 E-mail: nancy623happy@yahoo.com.cn

Received: 06-09-2013 Accepted: 14-10-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.79 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.79 The research is financed by China’s Fundamental Research Fund for Central Universities, (DUT12RW402). Abstract The improvement of women’s social status has witnessed an increase of products and services specially designed for women and, therefore, an upsurge of related female advertisements. The extant studies mostly concentrate on the pragmatic analysis of advertising discourses and explore the implicit implications of gender and ideology in female advertisements. This research, by putting female advertising discourse in a commercial setting and case-studying the most sellable English fashion magazine, aims to figure out whether reason appeals or emotional appeals are more prevailing. Based on Halliday’s System-Functional Linguistics, advertisement appeals are studied through examining the quantitative relationship of the occurrences of Material process and Mental process. The advertising data are collected from the women magazine COSMO, including 50 pieces of full-page advertisements about fashion and beauty in 2011 and 2012. Firstly, the Wordsmith tool extracts the verbs and calculates the frequency of verbs. The Material process to Mental ratio is 7 to 3, which basically supports that there are more reason appeals in English women advertisements. Then, every sample as well as its context is studied for Critical Discourse Analysis, and the results verify the conclusion that English women’s advertisements employ more reason appeals. In light of the findings, recommendations are offered on how to build successful advertising discourses for women’s products. Keywords: Advertisement, Material process, Mental process, Critical Discourse Analysis 1. Introduction In modern society, advertising has pervaded every corner of our daily life so that some people even believe that the air we breathe is made up of hydrogen, oxygen and advertising. Advertising language is the core part of advertisements, by which customers learn the information of commodity and services. A good piece of advertisement can help make successful persuasion. There are many advertisements considered peculiar to women, especially in fashion and beauty. With an enormous upsurge of interest in the studies of adverting discourses, there have been many researches on women advertising discourses. Most of those studies and researches on this subject have been devoted to the major levels of language organization in advertisements, including phonology, graphology, lexis and syntax (Vestergaard and Schroder, 1985). Harris and Jackson (1983) mentioned its cognitive features in Information processing research in advertising. Aman (1982) analyzed the cultural and anthropological dimensions of advertising discourses. And similarly Anthony (1993) referred to the status of advertising as a genre or register of discourse. Working within the tradition of critical discourse analysis,

IJALEL 3(1):79-85, 2014 80 Williamson (1978) explored the political and ideological significance of advertising discourse and, from this perspective, special attention had been paid to the representation of gender in advertisements. Different from these referenced pragmatic explorations of advertising discourses, this study focuses on the appeals of advertising discourses. As early as in 1974, Bernste theoretically studied the strategies and goals of modern marketing in which a key binary distinction is drawn: “reason” advertising and “tickle” advertising. The “reason” advertising suggests a motive or reason for purchase and has more reason appeals, while the “tickle” advertising suggests humor, emotion and mood and has more emotional appeals. This topic is recently touched upon by Simpson (2001), who explored and established certain features of advertising discourse. The development of these criteria has led to the hope that advertisements’ appeals can be systematically studied based on the linguistic criteria and related marketing recommendations can be made. The present research combines qualitative and quantitative analyses in the study of the vocabulary of the most sellable women’s magazines in order to examine whether women advertisements focus on “reason” appeals or on emotional appeals. Specifically, I investigate the most frequent vocabularies (mainly verbs) of the magazines by establishing two corpuses and analyze the quantitative relationship of the occurrences of material process and Mental process. The quantitative results offer insights used for a more detailed analysis in which I examine the ideological weight of specific words in their linguistic context. 2. Methodology This research aims to find out what are women’s appeals in English advertisements and, therefore, a large number of authentic language data are necessary. For this purpose, a corpus is built to show the numerical relationship of the two appeals. And the Transitivity of System-Functional Linguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis are employed for a further study of the corpus. The details are as follow: 2.1 Tool In the present study, Wordsmith (5.0) is employed as the main tool of analysis. Concord, Wordlist and Keyword are the core functions of the software. Concordance is built based on Concord. Concordance is a list of target words extracted from a given text, or a set of texts and is used to indicate the context where the word is used. Wordlist tool lists all the words that are different from the text corpus in an alphabetically or frequency order. Therefore it clearly shows the lexical similarities and differences of texts. It proves to be effective for the study. 2.2 Data This study collects 50 pieces of full-page women advertisements from 2011 to 2012 about fashion and beauty from COSMOPOLITAN, short as COSMO. COSMO is one of the most popular women magazines, whose contents include interpersonal relationship, health, career, entertainment stars and fashion and beauty. The data collected focus on fashion and beauty, a topic women are most commonly concerned with. The length of texts varies from 2 to 106, with a total of 1915 words. 2.3 Research procedures Wordsmith is used to conduct quantitative analysis in this paper. The results can statistically show the relationship of verbs in women advertisements related to “reason” and “emotion”. To deep into the context on the discourse level, the CDA (Critical Discourse Analysis) is applied. CDA, the most effective analysis tool, has been used in a variety of linguistics settings, among which transitivity has been discussed as an analysis tool. As a part of the ideational function of language in Halliday’s System-Functional Linguistics, it deals with process types, participants and circumstances in the grammar of the clauses, which are the main three components in a process. There are six types of process: material process, mental process, relational process, behavioral process, verbal process and existential process (Halliday, 2000:107). In the paper, the first two types of process are examined, because they can reflect, directly and clearly, the appeal types. Material process is a process of doing. It expresses the notion that some entity “does” something—which can be done to some other entity. The one that does the deed is called ACTOR and the other one that the deed is directed at is GOAL (Halliday, 2000:107). Verbs characterized by material process can be categorized as reason appeal, such as description of products. The tablets also contain biotin, which is necessary for healthy hair growth, as well as copper, that may help maintain a normal pigmentation of the hair, preventing gray hair. In contrast, Mental process is the process of sensing. The two participants in mental process are SENSER and PHENOMENON. The SENSER is the conscious being that is feeling, thinking and seeing. The PHONOMENON is that which is sensed—felt, thought and seen. It may be well defined as perception process (seeing, hearing and so on), affection process (liking, fearing and so on) and process of cognition (thinking, knowing, understanding and so on) (Halliday, 2000:107). Verbs of this quality belong to the emotion appeal, such as descriptions of feelings when customers use products. You’ll look and feel awesome fast. Through the study of the quantitative relationship of the verbs that occur in the advertising discourse, the paper finds the quantitative relationship of Material process and Mental process, which is the key to figuring out the appeals of English

IJALEL 3(1):79-85, 2014 81 women’s advertisements. If the majority of verbs are of the Material process, then the persuasion uses more reasons, while if it’s not, then persuasion uses more emotions. 3．Data and Results 3.1 Data Analysis by Wordsmith According to the theory of transitivity, verbs are the core of the process from which process type and related appeal types can be judged. Thus Wordsmith tool firstly displays the frequency of verbs in the 50 samples as shown in Table 1. Table 1. The frequency of verbs

Word (v.) Freq. % Word (v.) Freq. % can 14 0.61 design 3 0.13 wear 11 0.48 discover 3 0.13 get 10 0.43 loss 3 0.13 feel 8 0.35 made 3 0.13 look 8 0.35 prove 3 0.13 help 6 0.26 stop 3 0.13 make 6 0.26 strength 3 0.13 like 5 0.22 study 3 0.13 have 5 0.22 take 3 0.13 has 5 0.22 boost 2 0.09 create 5 0.22 care 2 0.09 fit 4 0.17 contain 2 0.09 love 4 0.17 damage 2 0.09 run 4 0.17 imagine 2 0.09 stretch 4 0.17 protect 2 0.09 clean 3 0.13 promise 2 0.09 stimulate 2 0.09

To study the quantitative relationship of verbs, we have to extract them and judge to which type of process they belong. If the verb expresses the notion that some entity “does” something which can also be “done” to some other entity, it is a process of doing. It is Material process. On the other hand, if the verb is a sense verb: feel (like, fear and so on), think (know, understand and so on) and see (see, hear and so on), it is a process of sensing. It is Mental process. A summary is shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Verb categorization and its frequency Types of process Material process Mental process The verbs occurred in the process wear, get, help, make, have, has, create,

run, strength, clean, design, discover, made, stop, study, take, boost, contain, damage, protect, stimulate

feel, look, like, fit, love, prove, care, imagine, promise

The number of the tokens 21 9 The percentage of the tokens 70% 30% The number of the occurrences 87 36 The percentage of the occurrences 70.73% 29.27%

As shown in Table II, both in the percentage of tokens and in the percentage of occurrences, Material process accounts for about 70%, being in the majority. It means that in the English women’s advertisements, the application and frequency of Material process are more prevailing than those of Mental process. And from the results, it can be found that in the English women’s advertisements, there are more occurrences of reason appeals than emotional appeals. However, there are some limitations in the application of Wordsmith. The accurate result of Wordsmith is based on a large number of corpora and some past participles, passive voices and –ing form of verbs cannot be detected only according to the frequency of verbs. What’s more, Wordsmith only displays the occurrences of the verbs, unable to show their attribute, a notional verb or an auxiliary. Here are two examples. There are a lot of things women would rather have on their minds than their pantiliner. So thin and absorbent. You’ll forget you’re wearing a liner. Wonderfully forgettable. (sample 2) It’s the most important thing you’ll put on today. New. DayWear SPF 15. Now with the most effective anti-oxidant power ever. Anti-oxidants. What’s good for your body can also be good for your skin. That’s why it’s important to wear

IJALEL 3(1):79-85, 2014 82 DayWear. Our proprietary Super Anti-Oxidant Complex is so powerful, no anti-oxidant we have researched comes close- plus it defends against every key type of skin- aging free radical. This advanced moisturizer visibly diminishes first signs of aging like fine, dry lines and dullness. In fact, 96% of women said their skin left smoother, fresher and healthier instantly. (sample 19) Both in sample 2 and sample 19, the verb “have” occurs. The “have” in sample 2 is a notional verb, which means “have or possess, either in a concrete or an abstract sense”. It is a Material process. While the “have” in sample 19 is an auxiliary, which doesn’t make any sense in the process. It is neither Material process nor Mental process. Given the results that have been achieved and to make an accurate analysis, a further study is carried out that goes into the linguistic context of advertising discourse. The use of transitivity is explored under the framework of CDA. 3.2 The Analysis of the Use of Transitivity Halliday said, “Material process is the process of external world, while Mental process represents the inner experience” (Halliday 2000: 107). The analysis of the data concerns the occurrences of the two main types of process in transitivity, Material process and Mental process. The detailed analysis is shown in Appendix 1 with the verbs in the Material process underlined with “ ” and the verbs in the Mental process underlined with “ ”. There are all together 198 occurrences of the two types of process, with 151 pieces of Material process and 47 pieces of Mental process.

Table 3. The occurrences of Material process and Mental process. Types of process Material process Mental process The number of occurrences 151 47 The percentage of occurrences 76.26% 23.74%

Similarly, the result of Table III is very close to that of Table II: Material process holds a percentage of more than 70%, taking up the majority of the advertising discourse. Unlike the result of Table II, the data in Table 3 is more accurate, in that it has analyzed every form of verbs in the samples: past participles, passive voices and –ing form and attribute of the verbs. Thus, this result verifies the finding that there are more reason appeals than emotional appeals in English women’s advertisements. And to conduct a deeper analysis of the quantitative relationship of Material process and Mental process, these two types of process are classified into different categories according to their percentage. As Table IV shows, there are four categories: i) the samples containing only Material process; ii) the samples containing Material process with more than 50%; iii) the samples containing only Mental process; iv) the samples containing Mental process with more than 50%.

Table 4. Classification of the 4 categories Classification of category Number of occurrences Percentage Only Material process 21 42%

78% Material process more than 50%

18 36%

Only Mental process 6 12% 22% Mental process more than

50% 5 10%

There are 21 samples containing only Material process in the 50 samples of English women advertisements in contrast with 5 samples containing Mental process. And the sum of samples in which Material process is in the majority is 39, with a percentage of 78%. These data are a solid support to the conclusion that reason appeals are more evident in the English women’s advertisements. In the analysis and collection of data, a phenomenon cannot be ignored that the number of words in the sample indicating Material process as the majority is larger than that of Mental process, as shown in Table 5.

Table 5. Word Number in samples Number of words in a sample

Mental process in the majority

Material process in the majority

Proportion of Mental process

Less than 30 words 9 16 36% 30 — 50 words 1 9 10% More than 50 words 1 14 6.67% Largest number of words 63 107

As can be seen, most of samples in which Mental process take up the majority are less than 30 words, while more than a half of the samples in which Material process is in the majority have more than 30 words. And the proportion of Mental

IJALEL 3(1):79-85, 2014 83 process is getting smaller with the increase of words in a sample. When the number of the samples increases in the sample, Material process is more commonly used in the advertising discourse. 4. Discussion 4.1 Implications of the dominance of Material process in English women’s advertisements After the data analysis, we come to the conclusion that Material process is in the majority in English women’s advertisements with a rough proportion of 70%. Two reasons contribute to the phenomenon that women appeal more to reasons than to emotions in the English women’s advertisements. Firstly, materiality is the essential attribute of the world. Material process is the main type of process that is used to describe the world and the matters. To attract the target buyers and persuade them to purchase the commodity, advertisers have to provide enough information about the products. Thus as the process of external world, Material process is the main tool to describe the products’ appearance, shape, size, function, effect and so on. Secondly, it is a prejudice on women. According to Yu’s Gender Ideology in Advertising Discourse—A Critical Discourse Analysis (2009), the proportion of Mental process in women’s advertising discourses is bigger than that in man’s an shown in Table 6.

Table 6. The number of the occurrences and percentage of the occurrences of Material process, Mental process and Relational process (Yu, 2009)

The number of the occurrences/the percentage of the occurrences

Men’s advertising discourses Women’s advertising discourses

Material process 91 71.65% 98 64.91% Mental process 5 3.94% 11 7.28% Relational process 31 24.41% 42 27.81%

As shown in Table VI, the percentage of Mental process in women’s advertising discourses almost doubles that of man’s. Women, compared with men, are thought to enjoy more emotional appeals than reason appeals. From a traditional point of view, advertisers tend to think that men are more independent and able to understand the logical description of products, while women care more about their inner experience and feelings, but are less independent and decisive. What’s more, without a detailed analysis of the advertising discourse, the readers of advertisements cannot find this implicit rule and it has become what customers always take for granted. Therefore, this stereotypical thinking that there are more Material process in men’s advertisements while more Mental process in women’s advertisements might lead to the misunderstanding that women go after more emotional appeals. 4.2 Strategies in English women’s advertisements As Material process makes a proportion of as high as 70% of the occurrences of process in advertising discourses, the use of Material process plays an important part in advertising discourses. In addition, the female liberty movement led more and more women to have the chance of education as men. They have as much knowledge as men. Therefore, some strategies concerning Material process play important roles in advertising discourses. 4.2.1 The use of figures The use of specific figures can make the description more accurate, scientific and convincing. Advertisements are designed to introduce the products and services so as to impress the customers so that they can decide to make purchases. The use of figures is very effective method in advertisements. 24 hour intensity. Tattoo tenacity. Dare to wear our longest-lasting shadow. Our ink technology creates super-saturated color. Cream gel smoothes on for vibrant color that does not fade. Dare to get inked. In 10 shades. (Sample 8) Sample 8 is an advertisement of Maybelline cream gel. In this sample, there are two figures: “24” and “10”. There are 24 hours in a day, and “24 hour intensity” shows that the effect of this cream gel can last all day, which is a very attractive promise for ladies. “10” is used to describe the effect of cream gel which can be as inked as 10 shades. The use of the two figures is impressive and gives an objective image of the products. 4.2.2 The suitable collocation of Material process and Mental process As we have found that the proportion of Material process and Mental process in the English women’s advertisements is 7:3, the producers of women’s advertisements should take this number into consideration. The Material process describes the products’ appearance, shape, size, function, effect and so on, while the Mental process pay attention to the inner experience and feelings of women. The collocation of these two kinds of process consists of both the reason appeal and emotional appeal, which is supposed to be more comprehensive and balanced such as the Sample 13 and Sample 27. I had a bad fall and ended up with a large cut along my shin bone. I like to wear skirts and dresses so I was worried about having a scar in such a noticeable place. Just as the wound was healing, I read an article in a magazine in which a celebrity swore by Bio-Oil. I was skeptical, but I thought it was worth a try. I faithfully followed the directions for

IJALEL 3(1):79-85, 2014 84 using Bio-Oil, and my scar is now less noticeable. I feel confident wearing skirts and dresses again, and I have Bio-Oil to thank. (Sample 13) Feel it. Wear it. Love it. Discover the hold of a longwear in the luxury of a lipstick. Color that grabs hold of you and doesn’t let go. (Sample 27) 4.2.3 The illustrative list of facts and logical reasoning As a practical style of literature form, the facts are more important and authentic compared with the stack of rhetoric and marketing methods in advertising discourses. To make the facts logical, easy to understand and impressive is important for a good advertisement. An illustrative list of facts and logical reasoning can clearly display the use and effect of the product or service, which might as well make a successful persuasion of purchase. And Sample 16 is a good example. The Hair Volume tablets are a new invention for hair. Hair Volume contains the special Procyanidin B-2 growth factor from apples- a natural ingredient that may stimulate the hair cells to grow. The tablets also contain biotin, which is necessary for healthy hair growth, as well as copper, that may help maintain a normal pigmentation of the hair, preventing gray hair. The tablets finally contain extracts of millet, silica and vitamin Bs, which increase hair growth and volume. (Sample 16) There are four facts in the sample: i) special Procyanidin B-2 growth factor from apples →stimulate the hair cells to grow; ii) biotin →necessary for healthy hair growth; iii) copper → help maintain a normal pigmentation of the hair, preventing gray hair; iv) extracts of millet, silica and vitamin Bs →increase hair growth and volume. The list of facts clearly shows the customers the elements of the Hair Volume tablets: special Procyanidin B-2 growth factor from apples, biotin, copper and extracts of millet, silica and vitamin Bs and the effects of the product: stimulate the hair cells to grow, healthy hair growth, maintain a normal pigmentation of the hair, preventing gray hair and hair growth and volume. The list of elements and effects makes this advertisement very specific and impressive. The targeted customers who are in need of hair volume may easily remember this advertisement and get the information of the product. It is clear, easy to understand, impressive and attractive to the purchasers. 4.2.4 Contrastive study with the like products It is a commonly used strategy in advertisements to make a contrastive study between the target product or service and the like products or service alike, which is also effective and practical. In the advertisements, advertisers display the strong points of the product or service through the contrast with the like one to impress and attract the target customers so as to make successful persuasions of purchases. Through the contrast, those famous brands with big market shares can show their advantages, while those emerging brands with small market shares can highlight their unique features to improve the product image. Perfectly cut to reveal amazing brilliance, there’s no better diamond than hearts on fire. And no better time to finally get one. (Sample 3) Pro Clinical Hydroxycut is the latest weight loss innovation from the Hydroxycut brand, an established industry leader with a commitment to excellence that has stood for over 16 years. This powerful formula has a key ingredient combination clinically proven to help subjects lose more weight than dieting alone. In fact, where all groups followed a calorie- reduced diet, the average weight loss with the key ingredients was 20.94 lbs. vs. 1.70 lbs. with placebo in a 12-week study, and 16.50 lbs. vs. 1.73 lbs. in an 8-week study. (Sample 18) In Sample 3, there is the comparative form “better”. It gives the customers a message that the “hearts on fire” is the best diamond in the world and it is a right choice to buy it. This expression is positive and promotes the sales of products. 5. Conclusion The paper aims to find out the appeals in English women’s advertisements: more reason appeals or more emotion appeals under the framework of Corpus Linguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis. And the results of analysis indicate that the occurrences of Material process to Mental process ratio is approximately 7 to 3, which means that Material process is in the overwhelming majority. Therefore, a conclusion can be reached that in English women’s advertisements there are more reason appeals than emotional appeals. And as a practical style, advertising discourses aim to make the products or services more attractive and impressive so as to make persuasions of purchases. Some strategies are necessary, especially from the aspect of Material process. 1) The use of figures The prior task of advertisements is to gain the trust and acceptance of the customers for the products or service so as to make a successful persuasion of purchase. And the use of specific figures can avoid too much use of the comparative and superlative forms of adjectives, which will improve the credibility of the products or service. It also can make the description more accurate, scientific and convincing. The use of figures is very effective method in modern women advertisements. 2) The suitable collocation of Material process and Mental process

IJALEL 3(1):79-85, 2014 85 An appropriate proportion of Material process and Mental process can satisfy both the reason appeals and the emotional appeals of women in advertisements. And the collocation of the two types of process with the proportion of 7:3 proves to be comprehensive, effective and convincing. 3) The list of facts and logical reasoning Compared with the stack of rhetoric and marketing methods, the most convincing part of an advertisement is about facts. The list of facts and logical reasoning makes the description of products or service logical, easy understanding and impressive, which is important for a good advertisement. 4) The contrast with the similar products It is a commonly used strategy in advertisements to make a contrast between the target product or service and its alike products or service, which is very effective and practical. In the advertisements, the advertiser displays the strong points of the product or service through contrasting the item with the similar ones to impress and attract the target customers so as to make successful persuasion of purchase. References Aman, R. (1982). “Interlingual Taboos in Advertising: How Not to Name Your Product”, in Pietro, R.J. Di, ed., Language and the professions, Norwood, NJ, Ablex, 215-224. Anthony, B. (1993). “The Genre of Advertising”. Revue Belge de Philologie et d’I-Iistoire 71,719-732. Bernstein, D. 1974. Creative Advertising: For this You Went to Oxford?: a Personal Textbook of Advertising [M]. London: Longman. Halliday, M. A. K., & Webster J. (2009). The Essential Halliday [C]. Continuum International Publishing Group, London & New York, 110. Halliday, M. A. K. (2000). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, Beijing & Edward Arnold (Publishers) Limited, London. Harris, Richard Jackson, ed., (1983). Information Processing Research in Advertising. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Hunston, S. (2002). Corpora in Applied Linguistics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Simpson, P. (2001). ‘Reason’ and ‘tickle’ as pragmatic constructs in the discourse of advertising [J]. Journal of Pragmatics 33(4). pp: 589-607. Vestergaard, T., & Kim, S. (1985). The Language of Advertising, Blackwell, Oxford. Williamson, J. (1978). Decoding Advertisements: Ideology and Meaning in Advertising. Marion Boyars, London. Yu, J. (2009). Gender Ideology in Advertising Discourse—A Critical Discourse Analysis, master’s dissertation, Fujian Normal University.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

The Role of Input in First Language Acquisition

Mehry Haddad Narafshan (Corresponding author)

Department of Foreign Languages, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz Branch, Shiraz, Iran

Tel: 00989133986239 E-mail: mnarafshan@yahoo.com

Firooz Sadighi

Department of Foreign Languages, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz Branch, Shiraz, Iran

Tel: 00989177040178 E-mail: firoozsadighi@yahoo.com

Mohammad Sadegh Bagheri

Department of Foreign Languages, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz Branch, Shiraz, Iran

Tel: 00989171140529 E-mail: bagheries@gmail.com

Nasrin Shokrpour

English Department, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

Tel: 00989173162815 E-mail: shokrpourn@gmail.com

Received: 10-09-2013 Accepted: 19-10-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.86 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.86 Abstract The current study investigates the accessibility of a systematic pattern to Iranian infants learning their first language, and also it is a try to show the effect of the quantity of input on first language acquisition. To these aims, two case studies were carried out on six Iranian infants learning Persian as their first language. The participants of the first study were three infants acquiring their first language in Iran being followed for 12 months (24-36 months) to see if they all passed the same pattern in language development. The participants of the second study were three infants (who were exposed to less input) acquiring their first language in Iran being followed for 12 months (24-36 months) to see if the language development was affected considering the amount of input they were exposed to. In-depth interviews, observations, audio and video recordings, notes and reports were used to collect the data for this study. The data collected for each infant was analyzed separately, and the stages of development were reported for each infant accordingly. The findings support the claim that the process of language acquisition depends on an innate language ability which holds that at least some linguistic knowledge exists in humans at birth, and also the input that learners receive plays a very important role in the language acquisition since the input activates this innate structure. Keywords: language acquisition, first language, infants, input 1. Introduction It is clear that infants learn language with remarkable speed, but how they do it remains a mystery. The unbelievable way in which young children acquire their first language has long fascinated linguists and developmental psychologists. Language is a skill that infants master by the age of three with incredible ease and speed, despite the complexity of the task (Lust, 2006). The question is: What types of mechanisms underlie the acquisition of first language system? Saffran et al. (1996) believed that because of the richness and complexity of the language system, it seems impossible that children could ever learn their first language structure. It is difficult to believe, because of the complex nature of human languages, and limited cognitive abilities of the infants, that they are able to acquire most aspects of language without being explicitly taught. Children, within a few months of birth, understand the grammatical rules of their native language without being explicitly taught, as one learns grammar in school. This puzzle attracts a great number of studies to the domain of first language acquisition. The amazing ability of language learning by infants and the constraints on the input make first language acquisition a long-standing debate. A major question in understanding language acquisition is how these capacities are picked up by infants from what appears to be very little input (Doughty & Long 2003). A range of theories of language acquisition have been proposed in order to explain this apparent problem. These theories include innatism and psychological nativism in which a child is born prepared in some manner with these capacities, as opposed to other theories in which language is simply learned as one learns to ride a bike (Pinker, 1994). The conflict between traits human is born with and those that are the product of one’s environment is often referred to as the “Nature vs. Nurture" debate. As is the

IJALEL 3(1):86-91, 2014 87 case with many other human abilities and characteristics, it appears that there are some qualities of language acquisition that the human brain is automatically wired for (a “nature” component) and some that are shaped by the particular language environment in which a person is raised (a “nurture” component) ( Pinker, 1984). 2. Research Questions The purpose of this study is to explore the stages of linguistic development (24-36 months) passed by Iranian infants acquiring their first language (Persian), compared with different amounts of input being received. Specifically, the study has focused on two primary objectives: 1. What syntactic stages (24-36 months) are passed by Iranian infants to acquire their first language (Persian)? 2. How can the quantity of input affect the stages of linguistic development (24-36 months) passed by Iranian infants to acquire their first language (Persian)? 3. Methodology 3.1 Participants This study addressed the infants acquiring their first language in Iran. Three infants (Arad=boy, Asal and Bahar=girl) were followed for 12 months; all these infants grew up in the similar condition (they had no sibling, their parents worked out in the morning and were at home in the afternoon, they were with their grandmothers in the morning). The infants were chosen as typical examples of other infants to be the representative sample of Iranian infants. In addition, three infants (Ziba=girl, Nima and Hamid=boy) whose mothers were dumb were followed for 12 months; all these infants grew up in the similar condition (they had no sibling, their mothers were dumb, they were with their mothers in the morning, and their fathers were at home at night). These six infants were studied for a period of 12 months to investigate the accessibility of a systematic pattern to Iranian infants learning their first language, and also to show the effect of the quantity of input on first language acquisition. 3.2. Procedure The data collected for each infant was analyzed separately and the stages of development were reported for each infant accordingly. The infants who received normal input were compared to see if the steps followed by all these infants were the same or not, then the infants who had received less input were compared to see if the steps followed by all these infants were the same or not. And also, the normal and less input received infants were compared to see the differences in syntactic development according to the amount of input being received. To check the infants’ reaction to the stimuli, changes in infant sucking rate, the infant head turn, looking and listening time, direction of head turn, and the preferential looking paradigm were used.In this study, these methods were used whenever it was possible. 3.3 Data Collection and Data Analysis Case study data analysis generally involves an iterative, spiraling, or cyclical process that proceeds from more general to more specific observations. In this study, data analysis began informally during interviews or observations and continued during transcription, when recurring themes, patterns, and categories become evident. Once written records were available, analysis involved the coding of data and the identification of salient points or structures. This case study was a developmental descriptive one. Data gathering for all the cases started from the first day of their birth (both the mothers and the researcher were involved in the process of data collection) using in-depth interviews, observations, audio and video recordings, notes and reports. There was data reduction (selecting, focusing, simplifying, abstracting, transforming); as with most case studies the researcher was faced with a load of data. So after the data was collected, it was reduced and then organized. The data was displayed in an organized and compressed way to make conclusion. Interpretations and inferences were made through discussing, analyzing, and comparing the data (noting irregularities, patterns, explanations, possible configurations, propositions). It can be summarized that data followed the process of transcription, coding, analysis and presentation of results to make the final conclusions. 4. Results and Discussion 4. 1 Language development in first language acquisition by Iranian infants (24-36 months old) 4.1.1. (24-26 months old) When the three infants were 24 months old, they began to form content word combinations in their own productions, used word order of simple NNV sentences to determine agent / patient (maman bastani khord, Asal biscuit mikhad, pishi ghaza mikhad). When the three children were 24 months and two weeks old, they made some negative vebs (nadarim, nemikham, nemishe, nasuzi, nandazi), and made imperatives (boro, bogu, beshin). At their 24th month, they seemed to have a word for almost everything. At this stage, for the children comprehension of basic grammatical operations became evident, and simple sentences as well as coordinate and adjoined or embedded sentences started to be used and understood (mother: miduni chera babai azat narahat shode? bara einake ke shekastam).When they were 25 months old, they were sensitive to auxiliary / inflection dependencies (maman dare mire, baba mikhad bekhabe, tutua daran miran). They used verb inflections in their own productions (man bazi kardam, toham bazi kardi?). There was object permanence in the sentences produced by the three infants when they were 25 months old (babai man o dust nadare, boro khune maman bozorgi, maman pishi ro beshur, ame Bahar ro dust nadare). When the three infants were passing the last days of their 25th month, they used present progressive (nini dare bazi mikone, dai dare mikhune). For the three infants, early language-specific constraints on word order and structure were evident, although the utterance length was constrained (Bahar bastani dust dare, baba man o mibare park). For the three children, at their 25th month,

IJALEL 3(1):86-91, 2014 88 rhythm and fluency were often poor, and volume and pitch of voice were not yet well-controlled. Aarad could make longer sentences using the right structure than the two other girls when he was passing the last days of his 25th month (boro khune maamaan bozorgi beshin gerye kon). The following figure shows the importance of the quantity of input in syntactic development.

4.1.2. (26-28 months old) As the three infants entered their 26th month, there was a gradual release on length constraint as words began to be combined into sentences, and they were making early word combinations (ab midam be pishi). When the three infants were 26 months old, utterances were usually one, two, or three words long and family members could usually understand them. As they entered their 27th month, development of semantic scope operations in syntax was gradual (they knew how to use a transitive verb ( kifo bede be man), and an intransitive verb (maman bekhab). During their 27th month, they could understand and produce 50-1000 words. When the three infants were 27 months old, past tense was used (baba raft, ketab oftad), and they could make the imperative verbs negative (bokhor: nemikhoram, salam kon: salam nemikonam). The following figure illustrates the importance of the quantity of input.

4.1.3. (28-30 months old) When the three infants entered their 28th month, complex syntax, with various forms of embedding and transformations, appeared as early sentences grew in length (fek mikoni chera un aghae narahate). When they were 28 months and three weeks old, they could use pronouns correctly (man, to, una, ma, un), and the plural form (pishiha, bacheha).They could also make longer questions using relative questions (maman chera meshki pushidi? Maman chi mikhori?). When the three infants were 29 months old, they used some forms of adverbs (farda, dishab, dobare, alan). Development continued for operations involving integration of language-specific lexicon and syntactic computation (e.g. gholbede / begu) when the three infants were 28 months old. The three children could understand two stage commands (kafshato dar biar bad bezareshun tu jakafshi), and understood contrasting concepts or meanings (e.g. hot/cold, stop/go, in/on) when they were 29 months old. The role of the amount of input can be seen in the following figure.

Figure 4.1. Input frequency and language development in first language acquisition by Iranian infants (24-26 months old)

Figure 4.2. Input frequency and language development in first language acquisition by Iranian infants (26-28 months old)

IJALEL 3(1):86-91, 2014 89

Figure 4.3. Input frequency and language development in first language acquisition by Iranian infants (28-30 months old)

4.1.4. (30-32 months old) At this stage, when the three infants were 30 months old, syntax continued to grow. “My” and “mine” were beginning to emerge (mamane man, male man) when the three children were 30 months and 20 days old. When the three infants entered their 21st month, their vocabulary was expanding rapidly; they seemed to learn a new word every day. The three children began to use complete 2-4 word sentences to communicate with family members from the first days of their 31st month. At this stage of language development, as they were getting close to their 32nd month, the three children understood and used adjectives “khanume chagh, pishie zesht”. They could also use please, and I’m sorry (maman lotfan baram bastani bekhar, bebakhshid maman nadidamet).They could use past continuous (maman dashti ba baba harf mizadi man akh shodam), and they could make the simple past form of the verb themselves (mother: chi mikhai bokhori? – hamun ghazai diruz khordam). The importance of the frequency of input is shown in the following figure.

4.1.5. (32-34 months old) At this stage, as the three children were 32 months old, comprehension of basic operations of complex syntax and knowledge of ambiguity emerged. They were using some plurals and past tenses correctly. Aarad could use “wish” and “if” structures when he was 32 months and 18 days old (kashki to babam budi, age to mamanam nabudi ye mamane khub miavordam), but Bahar used these structures when she was 32 months and 25 days old, and Asal did it when she was 33 months old. The three children could use adverbs of manner (dandune maman beshedat dard mikone) when they were 33 months old. Lexical, semantic and pragmatic knowledge continued to develop in language-specific interaction with the syntax of the language. They could use the future form ( mother: begu chekar kardi? – khob migam). The way that language development is affected by the amount of input is shown in the following figure.

Figure 4.4. Input frequency and language development in first language acquisition by Iranian infants (30-32 months old)

Figure 4.5. Input frequency and language development in first language acquisition by Iranian infants (32-34 months old)

IJALEL 3(1):86-91, 2014 90 4.1.6. (34-36 months old) When the three children were 34 months old, certain language-specific properties of grammar, syntax/semantics interactions, and lexicon/syntax interactions continued to develop. At their 35th month, sentences that the three children could produce were becoming longer as the children could combine four or more words (maman dolphin mige emruz narim birun, mother: inaro nakan kharab mishan -: khob kharab beshan). Higher order semantics (e.g. logical connectives and quantifiers) continued to develop. Integration of pragmatic, semantic and syntactic factors continued to develop. The effect of the amount of input on language development is shown in the following figure.

5. Conclusion According to the findings of the first case study, the children followed a systematic pattern. They all followed the same path of development. Children did not learn language accidentally. If a Language Faculty is present in the initial state, then we would have an explanation for how and why the epistemological primitives of language knowledge occur so early, and for why principles and parameters of syntax appear to guide early language development. Children appear predisposed to analyze the speech stream in order to discover critical syntactic units. So infants appear biologically predisposed to analyze these acoustic properties in just the right way for syntax acquisition. Just the existence of an innate ability can be an answer to such an unbelievable ability. But the findings of the second case study, comparing the infants who received normal input and the infants who received less input, showed some important points which highlighted the important role of input in first language acquisition. Comparing these infants with the infants who received less input, they both followed the same process, but for the children who received less input the process happened with some delay and more slowly. Among the children who received less input, Ziba was more sensitive to the language and started the language sooner than the two other infants because all the time television and radio were on in her environment morning to late at night, and also in the mornings her cousin came to their house twice a week and spoke with her. Among the children who received normal input, Arad was more sensitive to the language and started the language sooner than two other participants of this study, and passed the steps of this system faster and easier. It can be because he was exposed to two languages before and after birth (Persian & English), and also his grandmother talked to him more than two other infants being involved in this study. Arad’s mother started to speak in English again after one year, and it was so interesting that Arad could understand English but could not answer or produce English. It can also be another support to the existence of an innate ability in language acquisition and a support to prove that input is necessary to trigger that innate ability. Asal was also more sensitive and started the language sooner than the other girl (Bahar) because her mother and father read different story books for her in the morning and at night. The findings show that innate knowledge of grammar itself is not sufficient. Language acquisition is not only an innate process, and it does not come from language faculty alone, but is due to a complex interaction of input and the internal system, together with many other factors. It is important to consider that the frequency of input is highly significant, and there has to be a sufficient quantity of input review. A small amount of input may cause language comprehension, but language production will be delayed until the learner receives enough amount of input. Therefore, the input is not merely a trigger which operates the internal mechanisms controlling the language acquisition process, but a necessary condition for successful language acquisition. References Arnon, I. (2010). Re-thinking child difficulty: the effect of NP type on child processing of relative clauses in Hebrew. Journal of Child Language. 37 (1), 27–57. Brandt, S., et al. ( 2009). The discourse bases of relativization: An investigation of young German and English-speaking children’s comprehension of relative clauses. Cognitive Linguistics. 20 (3), 539–570.

Figure 4.6. Input frequency and language development in first language acquisition by Iranian infants (34-36 months old)

IJALEL 3(1):86-91, 2014 91 Chomsky, N. (1959). A Review of B. F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior. Language, 35, 26-58. Chomsky, C. (1969). Acquisition of Syntax in Children from 5 - 10. Cambridge: MIT Press. Chomsky, N. (1975). Reflections on Language. New York: Random House. Chomsky, N. (1981). Lectures on Government and Binding. Netherlands: Foris Publications. Chomsky, N. (1986). Knowledge of language: Its nature, origins and use. New York: Praeger. Chomsky, N. (1991). Linguistics and cognitive science: Problems and mysteries.Cambridge: Blackwell. Chomsky, N. (2002).On nature and language. New York: Cambridge University Press. Diessel, H. ( 2004). The Acquisition of Complex Sentences. New York: Cambridge University Press. Diessel, H., & Tomasello, M. ( 2000). The development of relative clauses in spontaneous child speech. Cognitive Linguistics.11 (1–2), 131–151. Doughty, C. J., & Long, M.H.(2003). A handbook of second language acquisition. Malden: Blackwell. Duff, P. (2007). Case study research in applied linguistics. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Kidd, E., et al. (2007). Object relatives made easy: a cross-linguistic comparison of the constraints influencing young children’s processing of relative clauses. Language and Cognitive Processes ,22, 860–897. Lust, B. (2006 ). Child language: acquisition and growth. New York: Cambridge University Press. O'Grady, W. (2005). How children learn language. New York: Cambridge University Press. Pinker, S. (1984). Language learnability and language development. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Pinker, S. (1994). How could a child use verb syntax to learn verb semantics? Lingua, 92, 377-410. Saffran,J.R.,Aslin,R.N.,&Newport,E.L.(1996).Statistical learning by 8-month-old infants.Science,274,1926-1928. Saffran,J.R.(2003).Statistical language learning:Mechanisms&Constraints.Current Directions in Psychological Science,12,110-114.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

The Impact of a Strategies-Based Instruction on Iranian EAP Students’ Reading Strategy Use:

Developing Strategic EAP Readers

Seyyed Hossein Kashef (Corresponding author)

School of Languages, Literacies, and Translation

Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Penang, Malaysia

E-mail:mhkashef@gmail.com

Ambigapathy Pandian

School of Languages, Literacies, and Translation

Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Penang, Malaysia

E-mail: ambiga@usm.my

Sima Modir Khameneh

Faculty of Humanities, Urmia University

West Azerbaijan, Urmia, Iran

E-mail:s.modir@urmia.ac.ir

Received: 20-09-2013 Accepted: 21-10-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.92 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.92 Abstract Underperformance of students in EAP reading comprehension has been an issue of concern for teachers, syllabus designers, and curriculum developers in general and for EAP practitioners in particular. In spite of the fact that considerable efforts have been made to improve reading comprehension of students through strategies instruction over past decades, EAP students however have not benefited much from learning strategies. Thus, this study intended to investigate the impact of a Strategies-Based Instruction (SBI) on undergraduate students’ reading strategy use in an EAP context. Taking an instructional model from strategies taxonomy of Oxford (1990; 2001), it was assumed that in contrast to conventional EAP reading methods, SBI would be more effective in encouraging reading strategy use and as a result developing reading comprehension of EAP students through encouraging the use of effective strategies and skills. To do so, 80 freshman undergraduate students were chosen as the participants of this study who were in two intact classes. After administration of a pre-test, treatment (22 sessions, 2 sessions per week), and a post-test, the collected data was analyzed using t-test to examine the effect of the proposed method of instruction. The results of the analysis showed that the teaching intervention had a significant effect on students’ reading strategy use. The findings have implications for teachers encouraging effective reading comprehension instruction through the use of strategies in EAP teaching contexts. Keywords: Strategies-based instruction; EAP; learning strategies; reading strategies; reading comprehension 1. Introduction Research in reading comprehension has highlighted the methods of teaching English learners to implement a variety of strategies in order to read better. Recently, a considerable attention in second and foreign language reading research has been given to strategies instruction (Bahmani, 2009). Reading strategies and skills are appealing since they indicate how readers coordinate their interaction with written text and the way these strategies and skills assist text comprehension. Reading strategies can be explained as how readers interact with a task, how they obtain meaning from what they read and what they do when reading comprehension is difficult. At the same time, reading skills are utilized within reading strategies context. In fact, strategies tend to reduce demands of working memory through easing comprehension process (Hudson, 2007). There has been a great body of research on reading and reading instruction which has brought about remarkable developments in first language contexts particularly in instructional techniques to train strategic readers; however, in second or foreign language contexts, it has not made as much progress (Grabe & Stoller, 2002; Hudson, 2007). This is partly because of the fact that a variety of distinct contexts exist for second and foreign language reading instruction that no set of research findings can be assumed to be utilized similarly to all of them (Hudson, 2007). In addition, according

IJALEL 3(1):92-99, 2014 93 to Grabe and Stoller (2002), less research support and limitations in conducting long-term research studies, lack of continuous and adequate practice to develop reading skill also bring about barriers in second language reading studies. Notably, reading has been considered as the most important skill for second and foreign language learning in tertiary educational settings (Dheib-Henia, 2003; Pritchard and Nasr, 2004; Huang, 2006; Rahmani, 2009; Bahmani, 2009; Akkakoson, 2012). Undoubtedly, it is through reading that knowledge is transferred and students can gain information about professional written texts and discourse in their specific fields of study (Pritchard and Nasr, 2004). However, in higher education institutes of many Asian countries where English for Academic Purposes (EAP) is taught as a compulsory course subject to undergraduate students of different fields of studies who find reading as their most required EAP skill (Huang, 2006; Moslemi, Moinzadeh, and Dabaghi, 2011), many students, being either second or foreign language learners of English (ESL/EFL), yet are faced with underperformance in reading comprehension (Huang 2006, Phakiti, 2006, Pritchard and Nasr, 2004). In a similar vein, the reading comprehension problem exists in EAP context of Iran in which the main objective of EAP courses is developing reading comprehension of students to read academic texts in their specialty area (Hayati, 2008; Farhadi, Sajadi Hezaveh, and Hedayati, 2010; Erfani, Iranmehr, and Davari, 2010). Although remarkable educational and financial investments have been made on EAP programs, the majority of students cannot accomplish improving their reading comprehension in EAP classes (Eslami, 2010). Among many influential factors leading to inefficiency of EAP courses, teaching methodology is of a great concern. As stated by Behroozizad, Nambiar and Amir (2012), language classes in Iran are commonly instructed through traditional approaches including translation, repetition, and memorization of the courses. Similarly, EAP classes lack skillful and innovative teachers who can implement communicative approaches in the classroom (Hayati, 2008). As pointed out in the literature, traditional Grammar-Translation Method (GTM), which is an outdated and inefficient method in improving reading comprehension of students, is still the main methodology practiced in EAP contexts (Pritchard and Nasr, 2004; Hayati, 2008; Mazdayasna and Tahririan, 2008; Ajideh, 2009; Erfani et al., 2010; Farhady et al., 2010; Atai, 2011). As a result, students are still lagging behind and underperformance in reading comprehension test performance is a challenging problem existing among Iranian undergraduate students. Therefore, this study has significant contributions for curriculum developers, syllabus designers, teachers and learners involved in EAP contexts particularly in EFL situations who are attempting to upgrade the current status of EAP learning in tertiary educational contexts. As a proposed approach, strategies-based instruction can elicit more attention to the development of reading comprehension through strategies use and students improvement in terms of effective EAP courses and encourage innovative teaching methods. 1.1 Literature Review Since the outset of post-method period, TESOL methodology experienced some considerable amendments; however, such modifications have seldom been implemented in ESP contexts. Few studies have focused on the significance of EAP teaching methodologies and the need for fundamental changes of instructional approaches in an attempt to develop reading comprehension and more specifically reading strategies of EAP students. To provide an adequate foundation and background for the current research, some recent studies conducted in the realm of EAP and reading strategies are reviewed in this section. In a study by Ajideh (2009), he aimed to present the influential role of teaching methodology and learning strategies as a result of teaching and curriculum reform in his article. He intended to highlight the differences between ESP and general English study through stating that although choosing language specification and teaching content is necessary for ESP course, instruction on learning strategies which leads to autonomous learning should be considered as fundamental for ESP course. Ajideh (2009) mentioned that the advent of ESP coincided with the introduction of communicative language teaching supporting a practical view toward learning English. Then, he criticized the two language use models of ESP proposed by Widdowson (1983) suggesting that ESP should be considered as an approach not a product which provides a certain methodology and material, but it should focus on language learning and learner needs as stated by Hutchinson and Waters (1987). Ultimately, he concluded that there should be a great effort to foster learning autonomy in ESP courses in Iranian academic teaching context. In this regard, teaching learning strategies, particularly metacognitive strategies, should play an important role in ESP classes to promote learning autonomy. Similrly, Hayati and Jalilifar (2010) investigated the impact of reading skills instruction through implementing TBLT on EAP learners’ reading comprehension. To do so, they selected 42 MBA students and randomly assigned them to experimental and control groups as participants. Four reading skills including, scanning, skimming, contextual clues, and critical reading were taught through task-based language teaching to the experimental class, whereas the common translation method was taught to the control group. Then, they examined the participants’ reading micro-skills at the end of instruction period using t-test formula. The findings represented that the learners in the experimental group who received reading skills instruction through TBLT performed better than the students of the control group demonstrating a higher academic performance and successful reading comprehension. As another attempt to develop reading comprehension of EAP students, Iranmehr, Erfani, and Davari (2011) also explored the effect of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) on reading comprehension of EAP learners. They assumed that TBLT can bring about better learning conditions for EAP learners since it encompasses the use of language concentrating on the outcome of the activity rather than the language used to achieve that outcome. Furthermore, criticizing the running inefficient instruction methods common in Iranian ESP context, they intended to

IJALEL 3(1):92-99, 2014 94 conduct a study to investigate the influence of TBLT as an alternative instead of commonly applied method called Grammar Translation Method (GTM) on reading comprehension of Iranian EAP students majoring in chemistry at two universities of Iran. To this end, they chose two homogeneous groups as the experimental and control groups at each university as the participants of their study. The students in the control groups were supposed to read the texts, translate them into Persian, and answer some traditional forms of reading comprehension questions; however, learners in the experimental groups studied the same texts but with task-based instruction and they were supposed to complete the exercises given in Willis' TBLT framework. Then, after a pre-test-treatment-post-test procedure, t-test was utilized to examine the impact of TBLT on students’ performances. The findings displayed that it is advantageous to practice TBLT as an effective approach in EAP instruction context in order to improve reading comprehension of students. As another recent study in strategies-based instruction sub-field, Aghaie and Zhang (2012) examined the effect of direct reading strategies instruction on Iranian EFL students’ reading performance taking a quasi-experimental design with a control group and a treatment group. They exploited Chamot and O'Malley's (1994) cognitive and metacognitive strategies taxonomy. Following a strategy-based instruction for four months, the t-tests results revealed a significant improvement in the reading comprehension and reading strategy use of the students in the treatment group. In addition, the findings indicated that teaching of strategies developed autonomous reading behaviors of learners. In conclusion, the current study highlighted the role of teaching methodology in EAP contexts and added to the previous body of research on EAP instruction as an attempt to improve the current reading comprehension problem of EAP learners in Iranian EFL context. To this end, it examined how the proposed intervention called strategies-based instruction can influence reading comprehension of EAP students in Iranian tertiary education context through encouraging their strategy use. In doing so, the following research question was formulated to serve the objective pursued in this study: RQ: To what extent does strategies-based instruction affect Iranian EAP students’ reading strategy use? 2. Method The current research adopted an experimental pre-test post-test control group design to explore whether a strategies-based instruction has any significant effect on EAP students’ reading strategy use. To do so, two EAP classes were chosen out of 20 available classes from a governmental university through cluster random sampling. Then, they were randomly assigned to be a control group or an experimental group. 2.1 Participants The participants of this study were 80 freshmen undergraduate students of engineering studying at Urmia University of Technology which formed two intact classes of 40 students and were randomly assigned to the experimental group and control group. They were homogeneous in terms of their age range (18-20), university entrance exam English score, and English background measured by means of a background information questionnaire. In addition, the two groups had almost similar mean scores in their initial reading strategy use assessed as the pre-test through the strategy use questionnaire prior to the experiment. To make sure the equivalence and comparability of the pairs, extreme scores were discarded from the sample. 2.2 Instruments Two instruments were utilized in this study for data collection. A brief description of these instruments is given in the following: A background information questionnaire adapted from Mackay and Gass (2005) was employed to select homogeneous participants and control as many intervening variables as possible. It was believed that a rigorous control of variables such as attitudes, age, language proficiency, and English language experience in the language learning contexts should be made to get more generalizable findings as much as possible. Furthermore, a self-report Likert-scale items questionnaire was utilized in this study to examine the effect of instruction on reading strategy use of EAP students after implementation of the treatment. Oxford’s (1990) Strategies Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) was adapted for the development of the questionnaire because of its wide use and proven reliability in ESL/EFL strategy studies in Asia (Lee, 2007; Sun, 2011). The questionnaire included 24 Likert-scale items. It was given to the students at the beginning of the study as a pre-test and at the end of the study as a post-test. To ensure the appropriateness of the questionnaire, its reliability and validity was measured prior to the study. The reliability result of the questionnaire using Cronbach’s alpha formula revealed an acceptable range (r=0.82). In addition, the content validity of the questionnaire was also checked and confirmed by three experts in the field. In addition, for the implementation of strategies-based instruction as the treatment, the book ‘Select Readings’ 2nd Edition written by Linda Lee, Erik Gundersen, and Jean Bernard (2011) and published by OUP was used. This four-level American English reading course uses carefully selected and high interest reading texts to empower students read effectively. It contains a range of exercises before and after reading aiming at developing reading skills, examining comprehension and improving vocabulary knowledge. 2.3 Procedure The participants formed two EAP classes that were held two sessions (approximately 90 minutes) a week. The experimental class was taught through a strategies-based instruction while the control group only received the traditional reading method (GTM) for 22 sessions. All the data was collected during an academic semester in almost 4 months. In the beginning, the background questionnaire was given to the learners to ensure the homogeneity of the participants and control the intervening variables as much as possible. In addition, reading strategy use questionnaire

IJALEL 3(1):92-99, 2014 95 was administered as the pre-test in order to examine students’ strategy use before the treatment. Then, the treatment was implemented. The treatment involved a strategies-based method of EAP reading instruction which takes into account knowledge and instruction of reading strategies in an attempt to empower learners to reach their desired target defined as successful reading comprehension in the curriculum. This research aimed to see if such a method can affect students’ reading strategy use and make strategic EAP readers at the end of the course. In order to provide learners with certain reading strategies required during reading comprehension, reading strategies, driven from Oxford (1990; 2001), were instructed as effective tools to develop strategic and successful readers. The teacher devoted the first session of the class to introducing and teaching the reading strategies. Then, he tried to point out the important role of these strategies and skills in dealing with different types of academic English texts. Finally, he modeled a number of reading strategies, including skimming and scanning, summarizing, note taking, inferencing, organizing, guessing meaning, using clues, and identifying text organization and guided the students to utilize them. Simultaneously, the teacher considered learners’ interest and emotions during the instruction as the principles of learning-centered approach. He tried to keep the students’ interest in the course through some techniques such as applying pair work and group work, giving students’ time to think, emphasizing more on process rather than product. In addition, following the principles of learning-centered approach of ESP instruction as proposed by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) and Jordan’s EAP (1997), the teacher took into account learners’ existing knowledge and skills since these learners had already a high proficiency in their native language, thus, their knowledge in their native language was utilized to make them improve in EAP reading comprehension. Furthermore, considering learners’ interests as another influential factor, whenever students felt bored, the instruction was stopped for a while, and depending on the syllabus, it was ended or resumed after a short break. 3. Findings Prior to carrying out statistical analysis for the post-test data, both the descriptive and inferential analyses were carried out for the data obtained from the pre-test reading strategy use scores of the two groups in order to make sure whether the two groups were homogeneous. After ensuring the comparability of the two groups based on the pre-test results, descriptive statistics as well as inferential statistics were conducted for the post-test scores on the two groups. Table 1 displays the descriptive statistics’ results for the pre-test and post-test reading strategy use administered to both the experimental and control groups before and after the treatment. Table 1. Descriptive statistics of the reading strategy use scores

Group Test N Min Max Mean SD

Experimental Pre-test 40 27 93 58.82 17.17

Post-test 40 42 98 71.12 14.98

Control Pre-test 40 32 95 59.90 15.87

Post-test 40 32 97 60.87 15.81

As it can be observed in Table 1, the two groups had almost similar scores on their reading strategy use in the pre-test. However, according to the post-test scores, the two groups had different reading strategy use. Figure 1 shows the change in the mean scores of each group from the pre-test to the post-test.

Figure 1. Reading Strategy Use Mean of the Groups

It should be emphasized that, according to the descriptive analysis of reading strategy use, the difference in the mean scores between the experimental and control group in the pre-test is very small, however, this difference is considerable

IJALEL 3(1):92-99, 2014 96 in the post-test and needs to be examined whether it is significant or not. Ultimately, to determine the significance of this difference, inferential statistical analysis was again performed. Having ensured the homogeneity of the two groups in terms of reading strategy use, the independent-samples t-test was employed to compare the means scores between the experimental and control group and the paired-samples t-test was further conducted to compare the pre-test and post-test scores within each group intending to examine if any change had taken place in students’ reading strategies use at the end of the course. Notably, the result of the independent-samples t-test conducted to compare the experimental and control group on their strategy use after the implementation of the treatment demonstrated a significant difference between the two groups (t(78)=2.97, p=.00). It was displayed that the experimental group had a significant improvement in their scores (M= 71.12, SD=14.98); however, the control group did not turn out to have any significant increase in their scores (M=60.87, SD=15.81). Table 2 shows the results of the independent-samples t-test conducted on the post-test reading strategy use scores of the two groups. Table 2. Independent-samples t test for the post-test reading strategy use

Group N Mean SD t df P Experimental 40 71.12 14.98

2.97 78 .00 Control 40 60.87 15.81

Furthermore, paired-samples t-test was used to make comparisons within each respective group measuring the impact of the intervention on the students’ scores. The results summarized in Table 3 revealed a significant increase in the reading strategy use scores of the experimental group from the pre-test (M=58.82, SD=17.17) to the post-test (M=71.12, SD=14.98, t(39)=-5.62, p=.00). On the other hand, the paired-samples t-test indicated no significant increase in the reading strategy use scores of the control group before (M=59.90, SD=15.87) and after (M=60.87, SD=15.81, t(39)=.42, p=.67) being taught with the common traditional method. Therefore, it can be implied that the experimental group had a considerable development in their use of reading strategies because of receiving strategies-based EAP instruction and that the change in the experimental group’s scores did not occurr by chance. Table 3 shows the results of the paired-samples t-test for the two groups. Table 3. Paired-samples t test for the reading strategy use scores

Group Time N Mean SD t df P

Experimental Pre-test

40 58.82 17.17

-5.62 39 .00 Post-test 71.12 14.98

Control Pre-test

40 59.90 15.87

-.42 39 .67 Post-test 60.87 15.81

As seen in Table 3, the experimental group’s mean score (M=71.12) is significantly higher than the mean of the control group (M=60.87) in the post-test. Thus, it can be inferred that the improvement in the reading strategy use mean scores of the experimental group was to a large extent and it was caused because of the independent variable’s impact. Ultimately, to check for the effect size of the independent variable, namely, strategies-based EAP instruction on the dependent variable, namely, reading strategy use, the effect size statistic was conducted which is usually assessed by eta squared. Mainly, eta squared amounts can be divided into three effect sizes: .01 for small effect, .06 for average effect, and .14 for large effect given by Cohen (1988, cited in Pallant, 2005). The effect size calculation using eta squared turned out to be number .10 indicating nearly a large variance brought about by the independent variable ( i.e. strategy based EAP instruction). Otherwise stated, the eta squared showed that 10 percent of the variance in reading strategy use was caused by the instruction. Moreover, the eta squared estimation to assess the effect size of the instruction within the experimental group for paired-samples t-test revealed a very large effect (d=.44). In conclusion, it can be implied that the strategies-based instruction explained a very large amount of variation in reading strategy use scores of the students. In other words, the eta squared .44 demonstrated that 44 percent of the change and variation in the reading strategy use as the dependent variable is explainable by the manipulation of the treatment, namely, strategies-based EAP instruction as the independent variable in the experimental group. In sum, Iranian undergraduate students who receive strategies-based EAP instruction show a considerable improvement in their reading strategy use in contrast to their peers who receive conventional reading instruction. Additionally, the students who are taught through traditional reading instruction are not likely to improve in their reading strategy use since they do not receive any instruction on strategies which, in turn, leads to their unfamiliarity of reading strategies and finally inability to use them in reading comprehension tasks.

IJALEL 3(1):92-99, 2014 97 4. Discussion and Conclusion The findings support the idea proposed by Carrell (1996, 1998) stating that successful use of a reading strategy depends on the knowledge of how to implement that strategy which was provided through a strategies-based instruction in this study. In other words, successful strategy users are both aware and flexible in the use of different reading strategies needed to accomplish a task. This study is in line with the previous studies conducted over 20 years asserting that learning strategies improve college students’ language skills particularly their reading skill helping them to improve in their reading tasks (Chamot & Kupper, 1989; O’Malley & Chamot, 1990; Taraban, et al., 2004; Phakiti, 2006; Cubukcu, 2008; Ajideh, 2009; Bahmani, 2009; Hayati & jalilifar, 2010; Sun, 2011; Motallebzadeh & Mamdoohi, 2011; Aghaei & Zhang, 2012). The findings also confirm the fact that there is a distinction between successful and unsuccessful readers maintaining that successful readers are able to employ the strategies more efficient and frequent than less successful ones as stated by Block (1986). Thus, having stated the role of strategy use in reading comprehension, the significance of a strategies-based instruction can be justified in an attempt to make strategic EAP readers. It can be concluded that when students are exposed to reading strategies instruction, they become aware of the strategies and techniques that can be used in understanding the reading texts better and they can view the passage as a whole unit in which knowledge of the parts can be gained through considering the preceding and following sections of the text. They can also learn that problem in understanding part of a passage can be compensated by the knowledge of other related sections in the text and using surrounding texts to guess the meaning. Having achieved an awareness of reading strategies, students can have a better command of a variety of techniques they can use for a successful and full reading comprehension by practice. Therefore, the strategies-based approach proposed in the present study compensates for some of the weaknesses of the Iranian undergraduates in EAP reading comprehension. It helps the students to quit their traditional ways of reliance on grammatical structures and vocabulary in reading comprehension considering the whole text more important than its parts. In addition, the proposed intervention helps teachers provide learners with the explicit instruction of strategies in an attempt to enable them overcome reading comprehension difficulties and become strategic readers. Finally, it integrates reading strategies instruction with a learning-centered EAP approach, which takes into account the learners interests and attitudes in their learning process making use of their existing abilities, to strengthen the learners to gain the maximum benefit for improving their reading comprehension. On the other hand, this study supports the idea that ESP is more concerned with practice and methodology than theory and syllabus design (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987; Watson Todd, 2003) restating that a strategies-based instruction can contribute to a shift in EAP teaching paradigm in different ways: from teacher-centered language-based EAP to learner-oriented EAP and from grammatical analysis and translation of a text to implementing knowledge of reading strategies and skills to comprehend the text. Through the strategies-based instruction, teachers can identify students’ weaknesses in reading comprehension and try to make the necessary efforts to solve the problems as much as possible. Teachers can figure out whether or not the students utilize strategies in reading comprehension and also discover which aspects of reading comprehension are challenging for the learners or which sections are not fully considered by them. Then, they can emphasize that successful reading comprehension would not take place unless some appropriate techniques and strategies are considered and implemented systematically. It is also worth mentioning that, based on the findings of the present study, adequate time is required to develop discipline specific reading skills and encourage content reading aiming to make students ready for reading independently. Furthermore, the truth is that a majority of our students in EFL contexts come from a teacher-centered learning background where it is thought that grammar translation language teaching results in rapid learning outcomes in EFL classrooms. However, teaching strategies is time consuming for a teacher who needs to take more time and effort in preparing, processing, and monitoring the instruction. Therefore, learners require adequate assistance to change their status from being fully dependent on the teacher, as it was in the rigid teacher-dominant classroom style, to the state of independence in the target language reading matching to the principles of the learning-centered strategies-based instruction. To reach this end which is expressed as learner autonomy, reading techniques should be introduced first to students; in addition, they should be provided with sufficient and appropriate opportunities to work on these techniques and have a good command of their use which are beneficial for success in reading comprehension. References Aghaei, R., & Zhang, L.J. (2012). Effects of explicit instruction in cognitive and metacognitive reading strategies on Iranian EFL students’ reading performance and strategy transfer. Instructional Science, 40 (6), 1063-1081. Ajideh, P. (2009). Autonomous learning and metacognitive strategies essentials in ESP class. English Language Teaching, 2 (1), 162-168. Akkakoson, S. (2012). Raising Strategic Awareness of Thai EFL Students of Science and Technology Disciplines through Metacognitive Strategy Training. 3L; Language, Linguistics and Literature, The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 18(4), 35-47. Atai, M. R. & Nazari, O. (2011). 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IJALEL 3(1):92-99, 2014 98 Bahmani, M. (2009). The use of meta-cognitive strategies among Iranian EFL learners with varying levels of proficiency in reading comprehension. Unpublished master's thesis, Urmia University, Urmia Behroozizad, S., Nambiar, R. M., & Amir, Z. (2012). The relationship between language learning strategies and teacher’s mediating role. 3L; Language, Linguistics and Literature, The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 18(2), 35-48. Block, E. (1986). The comprehension strategies of second language readers. TESOL Quarterly 20, 463-494. Carrell, P. L. (1996). Second language reading strategy training: What is the role of metacognition? Department of Applied Linguistics and ESL, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA. Carrell, P. L. (1998). Can reading strategies be successfully taught? The Language Teacher (online), 22(3), 55 paragraphs. Available: http:// Langue. hyper. chubu.ac.jp./jalt/pub/tlt/98/mar/carell.html. Chamot, A. U., & Kupper, L. (1989). Learning strategies in foreign language instruction. Foreign Language Annals, 22(1),13-22. Cubukcu, F. (2008). How to improve reading comprehension through metacognitive strategies. Journal of International Social Research, 1, 84-93. Dhieb-Henia, N. (2003). Evaluating the effectiveness of metacognitive strategy training for reading research articles in an ESP context. Journal of English for Specific Purposes, 22, 387–417. Farhady, H., Sajadi Hezaveh, F., & Hedayati, H. (2010). Reflections on foreign language education in Iran. TESL-EJ, 13 (4). Retrieved January 1, 2012, from http://www.tesl-ej.org Erfani, S.M., Iranmehr, A. & Davari, H. (2011). Deepening ESP Reading Comprehension through Visualization. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2, (1), 270-273. Eslami, Z. R. (2010). Teachers’ voice vs. students’ voice: A needs analysis approach to English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in Iran. English Language Teaching. 3 (1), 3-11. Grabe, W., Stoller, F. L. (2002). Teaching and researching reading. Longman: Pearson Education. Hayati, A.M. (2008). Teaching English for Special Purposes in Iran: Problems and suggestions. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 7, 149-165. Hayati, A.M., & Jalilifar, A. (2010). Task-based teaching of micro-skills in an EAP situation. Taiwan International ESP Journal, 2(2), 49-66. Hyland, K. (2006). English for Academic Purposes: an Advanced Resource Book. Routledge Applied Linguistics. Huang, S.-C. (2006). Reading English for Academic Purposes. What situational factors may motivate learners to read? System, 34, 371–383. Hudson, T. (2007). Teaching second language reading. New York: Oxford University Press Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (1987). English for Specific Purposes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Iranmehr, A., Erfani, S. M., & Davari, H. (2011). Integrating Task-based Instruction as an Alternative Approach in Teaching Reading Comprehension in English for Special Purposes: An Action Research. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 1(2), 142-148. Jordan, R. R. (1997). English for Academic Purposes. Cambridge Books Online: Cambridge University Press. Lee, K. (2007). Strategy awareness-raising for success: Reading strategy instruction in the EFL context. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Maryland, College Park, United States -- Maryland. Lee, L., Gundersen, E., & Bernard, J. (2011). Select Readings (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Mackay, A., Gass, S.M. (2005). Second language research: methodology and design. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers. Mazdayasna, G., & Tahririan, M. H. (2008). Developing a profile of the ESP needs of Iranian students: The case of students of nursing and midwifery. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 7(4), 277-289. Moslemi, F., Moinzadeh, A., & Dabaghi, A. (2011). ESP needs analysis of Iranian MA students: A case study of the University of Isfahan. English Language Teaching, 4 (4), 121-129. Motallebzadeh, K., & Mamdoohi, N. (2011). Language learning strategies: A key factor to improvement of TOEFL candidates' reading comprehension ability. International Journal of Linguistics, 3 (1), 1-10. O'Malley, J.M., & Chamot, A.U. (1990). Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. O’Malley, J M., Chamot, A. U., Stewner-Manzanares, G., Kupper, L., & Russo, R. P. (1985). Learning strategies used by beginning and intermediate ESL students, Language Learning, 35(1), 21-46. Oxford, R. L. (1990). Language learning strategies: What every teacher should know. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle. Oxford, R. L. (2001). Language learning styles and strategies. In M. Celce-Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (3rd ed., pp. 359-366). Boston: Heinle & Heinle/Thompson International.

IJALEL 3(1):92-99, 2014 99 Pallant, J. (2005). SPSS Survival Manual (3rd ed.). A step by step guide to data analysis using SPSS for windows (Version 12) (2nd ed.). Maidenhead, Berkshire: Open University Press. Phakiti, A. (2006). Modeling cognitive and metacognitive strategies and their relationship to EFL reading test performance. Melbourne Papers in Language Testing, 1, 53-95. Pritchard, R. M. O., & Nasr, A. (2004). Improving reading performance among Egyptian engineering students: principles and practice. English for Specific Purposes, 23, 425-445. Rahmani, M. (2009). The effect of note-taking Strategy Training on Reading Comprehension and Recall of Iranian EFL learners. Unpublished master's thesis, Urmia University, Iran, Urmia. Sun, Li-En. (2011). A study of the effects of reciprocal teaching as a reading strategy instruction on metacognitive awareness, self-efficacy, and English reading comprehension of EFL junior high school students. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, La Sierra University, Riverside, CA. Taraban, R., Kerr, M., and Rynearson, K. (2004). Analytic and pragmatic factors in college students’ metacognitive reading strategies. Reading Psychology, 25, 67–81. Watson Todd, R. (2003). EAP or TEAP? Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 2(2), 147-156. Widdowson, H.G. (1983). Learning Purpose and Language Use. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Exploring the Self-efficacy Beliefs among the High Achievers in Writing

Ilyana Jalaluddin (Corresponding author)

English Department, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication

Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Malaysia

Tel: +60389468938 E-mail: ilyana@upm.edu.my

Received: 10-09-2013 Accepted: 22-10-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.100 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.100 Abstract Learners form their self-efficacy beliefs by interpreting information primarily from four sources namely performance accomplishments, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, and emotional arousal. It is important to recognize the four cognitive nature of self-efficacy because the cognitive appraisal of information from the four sources will influence self-efficacy and it cannot be evaluated based on one source per se (Lane, Jones & Stevens 2002). This article explores the four sources of self-efficacy among the high achievers in writing course. In analysing the finding, Z-scores were derived from each self-efficacy component score based on the aggregate mean and the standard deviation of the class. Findings show high frequency of negative z-value reported for Specific Progress (SPR) and Social Feedback (SF). Meanwhile, high frequency of positive z-value is found in the General Progress (GPR) and Physiological States (PS) components. Based on the finding, pedagogical implications, limitations and directions for further research are presented. Keywords: writing self-efficacy, writing skills, L2 high achiever writers 1. Introduction Socio-cognitive framework posited that all the aspects of engagement as well as learning and achievement are related to self-efficacy. This means thatself-efficacy can lead to more engagement to proceed with the writing tasks and, subsequently, to more learning and better achievement in writing. However, the relations also flow back to self-efficacy over time. Accordingly, the more learners are engaged, and especially the more they learn and the better they perform, the higher their self-efficacy. Conversely, the more the learners feel confused with the topic and less assistance received from environmental factors, the lower their self-efficacy will be. Hence, the arrow for motivational engagement flow back to self-efficacy from learning and achievement. This can be represented by Figure 1 below;

Figure 1. A general framework for self-efficacy, engagement, and learning.

Perceived self-efficacy thus occupies an essential role in the causal structure of Social Cognitive Theory because self-efficacy beliefs affect adaptation and change not only in their own right, but through their impact on other determinants (Bandura 1997). According to Pajares and Valiante (2008), the self-efficacy that the learners come to hold about their capabilities in their writing skills will influence the choices they make and the course of action they pursue. This shows that learners actually select writing tasks and activities in which they feel competent and confident to carry out, and they will avoid those in which they do not feel confident at all. Unless they believe that their actions will have the desired consequences, they will have little incentives to engage in those actions (Pajares & Valiante 2008). This implies that writing efficacy beliefs play a key role in shaping the course of lives taken, by influencing the types of activities and environments learners choose to get into.

IJALEL 3(1):100-106, 2014 101 Furthermore, self-efficacy beliefs help to determine “how much effort learners will expend on an activity, how long they will persevere when confronting obstacles, and how resilient they will be in the face of adversity” (Pajares & Valiante 2008:159). Here, efficacy beliefs play a central role in the self-regulation of motivation through goal challenges and outcome expectations. It is partly on the basis of efficacy beliefs that learners choose what challenges to undertake, how much effort to expend in the attempt, and how long to persevere in the face of obstacles and failures. Thus, learners with a strong sense of personal competence in a writing task will most probably approach difficult tasks as a challenge to be mastered rather than as threats to be avoided. According to Pajares and Valiante (2008:159), “learners with high self-efficacy have greater intrinsic interest and deep engrossment in activities, set themselves challenging goals and maintain strong commitment to them, and heighten and sustain their efforts in the face of failures”. Moreover, they are more quickly to recover their sense of efficacy after failures or setbacks, and attribute failures to effort or deficient knowledge and skills that are acquirable (Bandura 1997). Finally, self-efficacy beliefs also influence thought patterns and emotional reactions (Pajares & Valiante 2008). Thus, learners with low writing self-efficacy may believe that writing is tougher than it really is and thus fosters anxiety, stress, and a narrow vision of how best to solve a problem. According to Schunk (2003), learners who do not feel confident about their writing, may not feel the corresponding positive feeling of self-worth because they take no pride in their writing accomplishment. Obviously, such affective reactions can powerfully influence the level of accomplishment that one finally achieves. This function of self-efficacy can also create the type of self-fulfilling prophecy in which a learner may accomplish what he or she believes can be accomplished, that is, the perseverance associated with high self-efficacy which is likely to lead to increased performance that in turn raises his or her sense of efficacy and spirit (Pajares 1995; 2002). In sum, based on the discussion above, it shows that writing efficacy influences learners’ behaviour in three ways. First, they influence choice of behaviour. Learners engage in tasks in which they feel competent and confident, and avoid those in which they do not. Secondly, they help determine how much effort a learner will expend on an activity and how long a learner will persevere. The higher the sense of writing efficacy, the greater the effort expenditure and persistence are in the writing process. Finally, writing self-efficacy beliefs influence learners’ thought patterns and emotional reactions. Learners with low self-efficacy may believe that writing is tough task, a belief that fosters stress and a narrow vision of how to solve a problem. High self-efficacy, on the other hand, creates feelings of serenity in approaching difficult tasks (Pajares 1995). Given the significant influence of self-efficacy has on learning, it is thus very important to develop and maintain one’s self-efficacy in writing. Nevertheless, according to Klassen (2002), in almost all of the studies that included direct comparisons of levels of efficacy beliefs, whether the studies compared pairs of cultural groups (e.g. Pastorelli et al, 2001) or a large number of cultural groups (e.g. Scholz et al, 2002), self-efficacy beliefs were typically higher for participants from Western than for the participants from Asian. Thus, it is important to investigate self-efficacy beliefs in a Malaysian setting where the culture and learning environment are different. This paper will specifically focus on the high achievers group in a writing course and examines the four hypothesized self-efficacy sources in detailed. In comparison to previous research, the present study quantitatively examined each component of self-efficacy to describe the thought and belief of skilled writers in a writing course rather look at it as an overall level of self-efficacy. It is hoped that by looking at these high-achiever, the question of ‘what motivates them to be a high achiever in writing’ can be explained. 2. Purpose of the study The study aims to investigate writing self-efficacy characteristics in writing among tertiary learners and specifically, the discussion of the article focuses on these two research questions;

1. What is Universiti Putra Malaysia(UPM) learners’ writing self-efficacy level? 2. What are the implications that writing self-efficacy has on teaching and learning of writing skills?

3. Literature Review There are four sources that need to be considered when evaluating self-efficacy. Learners form their self-efficacy beliefs by interpreting information primarily from four sources: 1) performance accomplishments, 2) vicarious experiences, 3) verbal persuasion, and 4) emotional arousal. Thus, these four sources will be discussed in detail by relating them closely to writing in the next sections. 3.1 Enactive mastery experiences (performances) Of these four information sources, research has shown that enactive mastery experiences are the most influential source of efficacy information because they provide the most direct, authentic evidence that an individual can gather the personal resources necessary to succeed (Bandura 1997). As one might expect, past successes raise efficacy beliefs, while repeated failures, in general, lower them (Bandura, 1977). This can be applied in writing context where leaners who experience success in the writing tests or examinations in the past, mayhave higher self-efficacy beliefs in writing. However, when repeated failures occurred in the writing tasks, the learners may see writing as difficult task and have low self-efficacy beliefs to engage in the writing activities. However, the influence of performance successes and failures is a bit more complex than this. For example, “after strong efficacy expectations are developed through repeated success, the negative impact of occasional failures is likely to be reduced” (Artino 2006:3). Thus, the effects of previous failures in writing on personal efficacy really also depend on the strength of individuals’ existing efficacy beliefs, as

IJALEL 3(1):100-106, 2014 102 well as the timing of failures with respect to the totality of their performance experiences. In other words, later failures may not negatively impact writing efficacy beliefs to the same extent as earlier failures might if the writer manages to heal back or improve their self-efficacy. Methods used to develop performance accomplishments include teacher’s modelling of writing process, performance desensitisation, and performance exposure by the teacher (Strauser 1995). 3.2 Observation of others (vicarious experiences) While experienced mastery has been shown to produce the most powerful influence on efficacy beliefs, individuals can also learn by observing the successes and failures of others. Pajares (2002) described vicarious experiences as a significant model in one’s life which can help instill self-beliefs that will influence the course and direction that life will take. This means that by observing successful performances, the individual comes to believe that he or she can also perform the writing task effectively. “Bandura asserted people who have been observed would normally be treated as model, and the learning process through the observation of the model’s behaviours known as modelling” (Mok Soon Sang 2008:80). For example, learners are likely to develop the belief that ‘I can do that’ when a highly regarded teacher models excellence in an academic endeavour or writing activities. Bandura’s (1997) process of observation can be depicted in Figure 2 below;

Figure 2. Process of observation learning (Modelling)

According to Bandura (1977, 1997), vicarious experiences can generate efficacy beliefs in observers that they too can attain success through persistence and effort. Efficacy is also increased when an individual observes a variety of models achieving success, instead of just one model (Strauser, 1995). 3.3 Social persuasion A third source of efficacy information comes from verbal persuasion or social message that people receive from others. Similar to vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion also perhaps has less influence on writing self-efficacy compared to performance accomplishments (enactive mastery experience). Such social persuasion nevertheless is widely used by teacher in the classroom to help learners believe that they can actually cope with difficult situations. As mentioned earlier, many Malaysian learners feel that writing is a difficult task. Therefore, social persuasion is important to boost their confidence in writing. According to Pajares (2002), learners can recall something that was said to them (or done to/for them) previously that had a profound effect on their confidence throughout the rest of their life. Successful social message from teachers will cultivate learners’ beliefs in their capabilities, while at the same time ensuring that envisioned success is attainable (Pajares, 2002). However, self-efficacy is easily weakened if failures are experienced. Here, teachers play an important part in the development of an individual’s self-beliefs (Pajares & Valiante 2008). “Verbal suggestions by the teacher, exhortation, self-instruction, and interpretative treatments are strategies that may frequently be used in the classroom” (Strauser, 1995:8). 3.4 Physiological states The fourth and final source of efficacy information comes from learners’ own physiological and emotional feedback during performance, particularly those involving physical activities. For example, according to Bandura (1977, 1997), individuals interpret stress reactions (e.g. increased heart rate, sweating, hyperventilation, and feelings of anxiety and fear) during demanding tasks as signs of vulnerability. Similarly, when Malaysian learners look at writing as a demanding task and feel fear towards it, it can affect their performance. When learners experience aversive thoughts and fear about their capabilities, those negative affective reactions can themselves trigger the stress and agitation, and causing inadequate performance (Pajares 2002a, 2002b). For example, if anxiety is experienced in performing a writing task, that emotional arousal may be interpreted by the learner that he or she is not coping effectively. In order to decrease emotional arousal and increase efficacy expectations, the use of attribution, relaxation, feedback and symbolic exposure by the teacher are methods which can be used (Strauser, 1995). 4. Method and data source 4.1 Participants and Procedures Participants were 33 final year undergraduate learners majoring in Applied Linguistics and Literature. There were 13 boys and 20 girls comprising of 6 Bachelor of Arts (Literature) and 27 Bachelor of Arts (English studies) students. Instruments were group administered in the individual classes. During the first class period, learners were asked to complete the writing self-efficacy (WSE) questionnaire. Directions and individual items were read aloud by the administrator. Throughout the course that was 14 weeks, the learners were asked to write five assignments and two evaluators were involved to assess and determine the level of writing skills. Based on the assignment scores and proficiency background, eight students were identified as high achievers in writing. These eight learners will be the focus of discussion in this paper. Their level of writing self-efficacy will be analysed whereby Z-score is utilized to allow the researcher compare the four different concepts of self-efficacy.

IJALEL 3(1):100-106, 2014 103 4.2. Instruments The aim of this study is to analyse in depth the writing self-efficacy level of the high achiever in writing and the implications that we may draw from this connection. Based on these aims, writing self-efficacy questionnaire was used for the purpose of the discussion. 4.2.1 Writing self-efficacy This study used Writing Self-Efficacy (WSE) questionnaire to measure the learners’ writing self-efficacy. The questionnaire was adapted from Writing Self-Efficacy Scale prepared by Bottomley, Henk and Melnick (1998). The questionnaire was administered during the first and final week of the research period. It consisted of 37 items that were based on the four scales proposed by Albert Bandura (1986) when measuring one’s self-efficacy as displayed in Table 1 below. The four scales are General (GPR – Question 3, 6, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19) and Specific Progress (SPR – Question 21, 24, 28, 30, 33, 35, 37), Observational Comparison (OC – Question 1, 4, 8, 11, 15, 20, 22, 25, 29), Social Feedback (SF – Question 5, 9, 10, 13, 27, 32, 36), and Physiological States (PS – Question 2, 7, 23, 26, 31, 34).

Table 1. Bandura’s elements of self-efficacy in questionnaire

Items in Questionnaire Bandura’s elements of self-efficacy General Progress (GPR) and Specific Progress (SPR)

Enactive mastery experiences (performances)

Observational Comparison (OC) Observation of others (vicarious experiences)

Social Feedback (SF) Social persuasion Physiological States (PS) Physiological states

4.2.2 Writing tasks During the course, learners were asked to produce a 3-4 pages essay for each written assignment. The written assignment ranged from argumentative essay discussing about the speech delivered by important people by looking at how effective the speech was, narrative writing by using humour element to enhance writing skills and factual writing by focusing on imaginary elements and effectiveness of song to convey messages. In total, five assignments managed to be produced by the learners in this writing course. The learners’ composition scripts were important because they provided data on the learners’ writing proficiency level and indicated relation with writing self-efficacy. According to Pajares (1995, p.10), “researchers in the field of composition believe that although a timed, in-class writing sample is an imperfect reflection of writing ability, it is the most reliable measure available to measure writing development”. 4.3 Pilot study A pilot study was carried out on 30 Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) students. An analysis using the reliability test – Cronbach’s Alpha (ɑ) was conducted to ensure the reliability of the constructs. The reliability of all question items in the questionnaire was at a high level depicting .949. A strong reliability was also reported for each construct in this study that is .954(PS), .838(OC), .808(SF), .801(PR). 4.4 Data Analysis The study required quantitative data analyses. Descriptive statistical analysis was used for the quantitative data. 4.5 Test score standardization After all the WSE scores from learners were tabulated, the raw scores had to be standardized in order to make the comparison of the scores achieved by the group comparable. There were three sets of scores used in this process: the aggregate mean, the standard deviation and the Z-scores. In this study, as using the former two could only allow researcher to compare scores within the normal distribution, the researcher had to use Z-scores, because Z-scores allowed the researcher to compare two scores that are from different distributions with different means and standard deviations. 5. Result The discussion of this paper will centre on the high achiever learners’ belief in writing ability. In order to select the high achiever writers, the researcher had to choose learners who obtained band 5 to 6 in Malaysian University English Test (MUET) examination. Apart from that, the learners’ achievement were observed where five writing tasks were given to the learners and assessed by two different evaluators to determine their level in writing skills. Overall, 8 students were observed to be consistently scored A (80% and above) in all assignments given and all seven of these students were the only students who achieved Band 5 for MUET and one of them achieved IELTS Band 7. These 8 students’ writing self-efficacy were then assessed by looking at five different sources of writing self-efficacy namely General Progress (GPR), Specific Progress (SPR), Physiological States (PS), Observational Comparison (OC) and Social Feedback (SF). Z-scores were derived from each self-efficacy component score based on the aggregate mean and the standard deviation of the class. Below are the results of writing self-efficacy of the high achiever group:

IJALEL 3(1):100-106, 2014 104 Table 2. WSE scores achieved by high achievers

Subject ID

SELF-EFFICACY SOURCES GPR SPR PS OC SF

score z-score score z-score score z-score score z-score score z-score 1 32 +0.041 26 -0.46 24 +0.064 31 +0.45 24 -0.33

2 28 -0.87 22 -1.58 17 -1.57 29 +0.49 23 -0.58 3 33 +0.27 27 -0.19 29 +1.23 28 -0.15 25 -0.083 4 39 +1.63 29 +0.37 27 +0.996 31 +0.45 27 +0.42 5 35 +0.72 30 +0.65 30 +1.46 30 +0.25 29 +0.92 6 33 +0.27 24 -1.02 25 +0.3 29 +0.049 26 +0.17 7 38 +1.41 35 +2.05 30 +0.64 41 +2.47 32 +1.67 8 32 +0.041 33 +1.49 24 +0.064 26 -0.56 26 -0.33

Total z-score

+3.512 +1.31 +3.178 +3.449 +1.857

Generally, Table 2 above shows the Z-scores of each individual within the Writing class group. It can be seen that even though there are some upwards and downwards of Z-scores among the individuals within this group, the overall Z-scores for each sources of self-efficacy is going upwards reaching 1.3 to 3.5 above the aggregate mean indicating higher than the mean performance. The scores for GPR, PS and OC are actually outside the region between -2 and +2. These scores perhaps happened due to the special characteristics of groups selected for the discussion of this paper. Where else, the Z-scores for SPR and SF fall between +1 and +2 which indicates a quite good performance or within the range of the highest level of self-efficacy. However, when comparing the individual scores in detail, it can be seen that highest frequency of negative z-value is reported for SPR and SF where half of the subjects obtained -.08 to -.58 for SF and -.10 to -1.6 for SPR. The Z-scores range for both SPR and SF indicate a range between -2 and -1 which means that it is quite bad performance or within the lower range of self-efficacy. Here, in terms of SPR, the low z-scores indicate that the learners feel that their choices of words, descriptions and order of sentences are not better than before even though they did performed very well in all written assignment and examination. Apart from that, they also do not feel that their writing is clearer and interesting than before. Meanwhile, in terms of SF, the negative and low z-scores portrays that majority of the high achiever learners, despite their high achievement in writing, they still feel their parents and people around them do not think they can write well. On the other hand, the highest frequency of positive z-value is in the GPR and PS components with minimum positive z-score of +.041 and maximum of +1.63 for GPR. PS indicates a minimum positive z-score of +.064 while the maximum value is +1.46. Altogether five GPR z-scores and five PS z-scores are considered as the typical performance of high achiever as the z-score within the range of -1 and +1. Meanwhile two values of z-score from GPR and PS respectively falls between +1 and +2 indicates a quite good performance. Frequent positive z-scores give the pictures that high achievers feel that overall they can write simple sentences with good grammars and organization. They also feel that they need less teachers’ help to write than they used to. While, the frequency of positive value for PS lends a picture that high achiever do actually feel really comfortable while writing and it makes them relax and feel good when they express thought in writing. In sum, psychologically, these high achievers see writing as a mean of enjoyment and in touch with their inner self. Among the eight high achiever learners, only one learner that is Subject 2 who scored negative z-score for almost all components of self-efficacy (GPR -.87, SPR -1.58, PS -1.57 and SF -.58). This shows that Subject 2 scored very low on GPR, SF, and quite low on SPR and PS. Subject 2 only portrays a high score on OC (+.49) higher than the mean performance indicating that Subject 2 only thinks she or he is better in writing when compared to her/his friends or classmates. On the basis of this information, it can be seen that despite the low perception towards own skills, this high achiever still feels highly better in writing when involved comparison with friends or fellow classmates. 6. Discussion and Implication 6.1 High achiever and social factors perception There are several specific characteristics found among these high achievers. Firstly, high achievers in this study undervalue their skills in writing despite the good marks that they obtained in examination and assignments. They feel that their vocabulary, sentence structure and essay structure are not good enough. This phenomenon perhaps can be explained by Wigfield and Karpathian as cited in Sanjay Kumar Nayak and Masroor Jahan (2010) that young children's understanding of competence changes with age, such that with increasing age, self-concepts of ability are likely to be less positive. Thus, it is important for an educator to help learners make their appraisals more accurate by monitoring their self-efficacy. Zimmerman, Bonner and Kovach (1996) as cited in Sara Katz and Gaby Shoshani (2010) recommend a method of monitoring students' self-efficacy by rating their self-appraisals on the graph that their actual test results are plotted. In this way, students immediately see when they have misjudged their own competence and can adjust their standards the next time they appraise their ability to perform a task (Sara Katz and Gaby Shoshani, 2010).

IJALEL 3(1):100-106, 2014 105 Apart from that, these high achievers also have different perception towards people around them. Based on the scores, they obviously feel that they haven’t meet the expectation of the adults whereby they think adults such as their parents and teachers are not perceiving them as good writers yet. On the other side of the coin, this may perhaps in turn becomes the inner motivation for these high achievers to constantly improve their writing and not just satisfy with the average achievement. This is perhaps consistent with Shashi Kala Singh (2013) analysis on the high and low achiever college learners’ characteristics. He found out that high achievers actually have high anxiety and high adjustment in different situation. This is actually a good thing as it provides the motivation learners require to exert effort completing assigned schoolwork and preparing to take examination (Shashi Kala Singh, 2013) Despite, the negative perception that they have regarding adults’ impression on their performance, majority of the high achievers in this study indicate high self-efficacy in terms of social assistance. Firstly, these high achievers do not need teacher’s assistance to improve further. This is perhaps an indication that high achievers find themselves equally competent and independent to succeed the proposed tasks and are also equally confident in their responses. This finding is also consistent with Chungui Qiao and Helen Mc Naught (2007) reports on the high achievers of high school learners in New Zealand whom found that high achievers need less help from their teachers in comparison to the lower achiever groups. Besides finding teacher’s assistance as less important, these high achievers also believe that they are more capable and can perform well than their peers. This is different when they compare to the adult’s perception towards them. Consequently, it can be concluded that the high achievers still appreciate their cognitive abilities where they think they can perform well than their fellow classmates. 7. Conclusion Despite the specific findings of the high achievers’ writing self-efficacy, it is worthy of notice to emphasize that the findings of this study should be interpreted by taking into account the limitation that is the specific context of this study. This is because efficacy beliefs are context-specific and this study was only been conducted in a public university in Malaysia and the discussion only centred on a particular group of learners. Thus, this imposes a particular setting and characteristics to the study. It may not be generalized to other population. Nevertheless, the present study can be a step toward understanding high achievers’ beliefs about their writing competence and their actual performance in academic contexts. Further research is needed to address how it is that writing beliefs impact the learning the writing skill and how far high achievers’ writing self-efficacy are consistent with their actual performance. Moreover, further research is needed to investigate a bigger context where generalization can be applied to other population. Acknowledgements The author wish to thank Dr Roslina Abu Bakar for helping with the technical set up throughout data collection period. Thanks are also due to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shamala a/p Paramasivam for all her support for this research. References Artino, Anthony, R.J. (2006). Self-efficacy beliefs from educational theory to instructional Practice. [Online] Available: http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWEBPORTAL Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W.H. Freeman & Company. Bottomley, D., Henk, W., & Melnick, S. (1998). Assessing children’s views about as writers using the writer self – perception scale. The Reading Teacher, 51(4), pp.286-291. Chungui Qiao and Helen Mc Naught (2007). Evaluation of Project K. Centre for Social Research and Evaluation, pp.1-26. Deborah E. Burns , Scott E. Johnson & Robert K. Gable (1998) Can we generalize about the learningstyle characteristics of high academic achievers?, Roeper Review, 20(4), pp.276-281. Katz, S. &Shoshani, G. (2010). Self-efficacy appraisal and performance of low and high TEFL college achievers: A mixed method study. Shaanan College Annual, 15, pp.E29-E21. Klassen, R. (2002). Writing in early adolescence: A review of the role of self-efficacy beliefs. Educational Psychology Review 14: 173-203. Lawrence, J., Ashford, K. & Dent, P. (2006) Gender differences in coping strategies of undergraduate students and their impact on self-esteem and attainment Active Learning in Higher Education, 7(3), pp.273–281 Linnenbrink, E.A. & Pintrich, P.R. (2003). The role of self-efficacy beliefs in learner engagement and learning in the classroom. Reading and Writing Quarterly, 19, pp.119-137. Mok Soon Sang (2008). Educational pyschology & pedagogy: Learner and learning environment. Selangor: Penerbitan Multimedia Sdn. Bhd. Pajares, F & Valiante. (2008). Self-efficacy beliefs and motivation in writing development. In Macarthur, C.A, Graham, S., Fitzgerald, J. (ed.). Handbook of writing research, pp158-170. New York: Guilford Press.

IJALEL 3(1):100-106, 2014 106 Pajares, F. (1996). Self-efficacy in Academic Settings. Review of Educational Research, 66, pp.543-578. Pajares, F. (2002a). Electronic sources: Self-efficacy beliefs in academic contexts: An outline. [Online] Available: http://des.emory.edu/mfp/efftalk.html Pajares, F. (2002b). Gender and perceived self-efficacy in self-regulated learning. Theory into Practice, 41, pp.116-125. Pastorelli, C., Caprara, G.V., Barbaranelli, C.,Rola, J., Rozsa, S. & Bandura, A. (2001). The structure of children’s perceived self-efficacy: A cross-national study. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 17, pp.87-97. Sanjay Kumar Nayak and Masroor Jahan (2010). Cross-sectional analysis of psychological aspects of adolescent underachievers Industrial Psychiatry Journal. 19(2), pp.105–110. Scholz, U., Gutierrez-Dona, B., Sud, S. & Schwarzer, R. (2002). Is general self-efficacy a universal construct? Psychometric findings from 25 countries. European Journal of Psychological Assessment,18, pp.242-251. Schunk, D.H. (2003). Self-efficacy for reading and writing: Influence of modelling, goal setting, and self-evaluation. Reading and Writing Quarterly 19, pp.169-172. Shashi Kala Singh (2013) Anxiety and Adjustment Pattern of High and Low Academic Achievers. Global Research Analysis (GRA) Research Paper, pp.25-26. Strauser, D. (1995). Applications of self-efficacy theory in rehabilitation counselling. Journal of Rehabilitation,61(2), pp.7-11.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

The Relationship between EFL Teachers’ Critical Thinking Skills and Vocabulary Learning Strategy

Instruction across Gender

Mehrak Rahimi (Corresponding author)

Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Lavizan, Tehran, 1678815811, Iran

Tel: 98-21-2297-0035 E-mail: mehrakrahimi@yahoo.com

Maryam Soryani

Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Lavizan, Tehran, 1678815811, Iran

Tel: 98-21-2297-0035 E-mail: soryani77@yahoo.com

Received: 21-09-2013 Accepted: 24-10-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.107 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.107 Abstract The purpose of this study was investigating the relationship between Iranian EFL teachers’ critical thinking skills and teaching vocabulary-learning strategies to their students. Additionally, it explored the difference of the strength of correlation between critical thinking skills and vocabulary learning strategy instruction across gender. California Critical Thinking Test- form B and Yu-Ling’s inventory of teaching vocabulary-learning strategies were administered to 90 Iranian EFL teachers. The results showed that strategy instruction significantly and inversely correlated with analysis (r=-.27), inference (r=-.22), and inductive reasoning (r=-.3) skills, while the correlation was not significant considering evaluation (r=-.11) and deductive reasoning (r=-.089) skills. Moreover, the difference between correlation of vocabulary learning strategy instruction and inference skill was statistically significant when male and female participants were compared (Zobs=2.24). Keywords: critical thinking skills, vocabulary, learning strategies, EFL teachers 1. Introduction The way we think affects all aspects of our private and social life and education is not an exception. Human beings think differently and teachers who have key roles in education do so. Recently proper attention has been given to the ways teachers think (Calderhead, 1987) and now teaching is more characterized as a thinking activity (Richards & Farell, 2005). Critical thinking is an important concept in education and is generally defined as the ability to think rationally and make good decisions in doing something or believing something (Ennis, 2011). Critical thinking includes special skills to identify a problem, analyze it, and make inferences to solve it. It also requires judging the validity and reliability of assumptions and sources of data, making decisions based on specific reasoning criteria, and applying inductive and deductive logic (Pithers & Soden, 2000; Diestler, 2001). In the information age, thinking plays an important role in one’s success (Huitt, 1998) as a person who thinks critically can ask suitable questions, gather relevant information, and come to reliable conclusions about the world and thus live more successfully (Center for Critical Thinking, 1996). Meaningful education has to prevent learners from unreflective learning and provide them with the tools necessary to understand the world they live in (Chaffee, 1985). In this framework, teaching is defined as “a complex interaction including subject matter, content, teacher and student characteristics, pedagogy, resources, and learning context” (Campbell, 2000, p. 50). Therefore, in highly technical society which is developing moment by moment, and with students who are getting educated in this society, there is a need to teachers who can address students’ needs and the time of teachers who blindly follow the syllabus is over (Ghaemi & Taherian, 2011). The educational system is in need of creative teachers who always incorporate better teaching styles and strategies to be more effective and successful. Critical thinking has a significant role in higher education and is considered one of the main concerns in mainstream education (Halpern, 1999; Gelder, 2005). Critical thinking has also received a significant attention in second and foreign language learning (Atkinson, 1997) as it is suggested that critical thinking and all its possible effects on language learning are well worth investigating (Nour Mohammadi, 2012). However, most research in this regard has explored the effect of critical thinking on language learners (e.g., Faravani, 2006; Barjesteh & Vaseghi, 2012) and literature has not paid much attention to language teachers’ critical thinking skills and their effects on language teachers’ instructional behavior. Therefore, in the current study the relationship between teachers’ critical thinking skills

IJALEL 3(1):107-114, 2014 108 and vocabulary learning strategy instruction in EFL classes has been investigated. The study seeks answers to the following questions: 1. Is there any relationship between EFL teachers’ critical thinking skills and the teaching of vocabulary-learning

strategies to their students? 2. Is there any difference between the strength of correlation of critical thinking skills and vocabulary-learning strategy

instruction across gender? 1.1 Critical Thinking There is no standard or universally accepted framework to describe or evaluate the construct critical thinking (Myrick, 2002). Literature offers a variety of definitions for critical thinking that differ to some extent (Atkinson, 1997) but have noticeable overlap if one scrutinizes them carefully (Davidson, 1998). In early definitions, critical thinking was considered as “learning how to ask and answer questions of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation” (Paul, 1985, p. 37) that “encompasses two interconnected processes, namely, identifying and challenging assumptions, and imagining and exploring others” (Brookfield, 1991, p. 229). Critical thinking was also considered to be “the educational cognate of rationality” (Siegel, 1988, p. 32) and the “reasonable and reflective thinking that is focused upon deciding what to believe and do” (Norris & Ennis, 1989, p. 3). Later more dimensions have been added to the construct and it can be regarded as:

• the scientific method applied by ordinary people to the ordinary world to solve problems (Schafersman, 1991); • an active and systematic cognitive strategy to examine, evaluate and understand events; make decisions on the

basis of sound reasoning and valid evidence (Levy, 1997); • “reflective thinking involving the evaluation of evidence relevant to a claim so that a sound conclusion can be

drawn from the evidence” (Bensley, 1998, p.5); and • “the use of those cognitive skills or strategies that increase the probability of a desirable outcome,….thinking

that is purposeful, reasoned, and goal oriented” (Halpern, 2003, p.6). Critical thinking is viewed as a process rather than an endpoint or objective (Petress, 2004) that leads to high quality decisions and judgments through analysis, assessment and reformulation of thinking (Giancarlo & Facione, 2007). Critical thinking has been found to be a tool of inquiry and thus it is very helpful both in education and life as a critical thinker is well-informed, open-minded, flexible, honest, careful in making judgments, skillful in seeking relevant information, and focused in inquiry (Diestler, 2001; Halpern, 2003; Petress, 2004). While some scholars believe that critical thinking is a part of individuals’ genetic make-up, research shows that critical thinking skills are both teachable and learnable (Halpern, 1993). It is also suggested that improving critical thinking skills among special groups of students who want to pursue certain professions such as nursing, law, medicine, and teaching is a paramount concern (Bessick, 2008). When teachers are trained on how to improve their critical thinking skills, they can transform these skills to their students by bringing tasks that need critical thinking and reasoning; and by modeling how to solve problems using critical thinking skills (Beyer, 1987). 1.2 Critical Thinking and Language Learning In the history of educational psychology, close relationships between language and thinking skills have been recognized by theorists and educators (Piaget, 1971; Vygotsky, 1962). Supplemental instruction in critical thinking and abstract reasoning skills are considered as one of the tools that help students to improve learning outcomes at all levels (Stern, 2001). The importance of promoting higher-order thinking skills in language classrooms has also been the focus of interest among language experts (Chamot, 1995). As students learn critical thinking skills through content course instruction (Fisher, 2001), integrating problem solving activities that need critical thinking in language classes is of vital importance. In this way, how to think rather than what to think is emphasized (Barjesteh & Vaseghi, 2012) and students are encouraged to participate actively in language classes. Research shows that critical thinking skills are related to English overall proficiency (Rashid & Hashim, 2008), reading comprehension ability (Fahim, Bagherkazemi, & Alemi, 2010), vocabulary knowledge (Fahim & Komijani, 2010), and use of language learning strategies (Nikoopour, Farsani, & Nasiri, 2011). It is also evident that teachers play a key role in promoting students’ critical thinking skills as “teaching is a complex activity that is influenced by many elements of teacher quality. Teachers and teacher quality is a powerful predictor of student performance” (Ghaemi & Taherian, 2011, p.9). Therefore, in order to affect students’ critical thinking ability, teachers should be trained to improve their thinking skills. Critical thinking instruction helps teachers to make a shift from using mechanical activities to problem solving types in their classes (Bessick, 2008). Possessing critical thinking abilities helps teachers become more successful and effective language teachers (Birjandi & Bagherkazemi, 2010; Ghaemi & Taherian, 2011). 1.3 Vocabulary Learning Strategies Learning strategies are defined as “behaviors and thoughts that a learner engages in during learning …. [which are] intended to influence the learner’s encoding process” (Weinstein & Mayer, 1986, cited in Ellis, 1994, p. 315) or “behaviors of a learner that are intended to influence how the learner processes information” (Mayer, 1988, cited in

IJALEL 3(1):107-114, 2014 109 Lessard-Clouston, 1997, p. 11). Learning strategies can be employed in all types of teaching and learning such as mathematics, science, history, languages and even in driving both in classroom settings and in more informal and practical learning environments (Lessard-Clouston, 1997). Since the early 1980s, a string of research has focused on finding the characteristics of a good language learner. The findings of these studies show that good language learners have distinctive characteristics that differentiate them from other learners; the most important one has been reported to be a high level of language learning strategies awareness and use in processing language input and producing the output (Rahimi & Katal, 2012). Therefore, scholars have tried to specify learning strategies learners use during the process of language learning in reading (Mokhtari & Reichard, 2002), listening (Vandergrift, Goh, Mareschal, & Tafaghodtari, 2006), and speaking (Zhang & Goh, 2006). In this framework, vocabulary learning strategies are considered as a subcategory of language learning strategies and are defined as

knowledge about the mechanisms (processes, strategies) used in order to learn vocabulary as well as steps or actions taken by students (a) to find out the meaning of unknown words, (b) retain them in long-term memory, (c) recall them at will, and (d) use them in oral or written mode (Catalan, 2003, p. 56).

Several types of vocabulary learning strategies have been found to be used by good language learners (e.g., Ahmed, 1989; Sanaoui, 1995). Accordingly, some researchers have proposed classifications of vocabulary learning strategies. Gu and Johnson’s (1996) classification, for instance, consists of seven dimensions and categories of learning strategies including metacognitive regulation (selective attention), guessing (using background knowledge), dictionary (looking-up strategies), note taking (meaning-oriented), rehearsal (using word lists), encoding (association/elaboration), and activation strategies. Another classification for vocabulary learning strategy was proposed by Nation (2001). This taxonomy consists of three main strategies, namely: planning (choosing what to focus on and when to focus on it), sources (finding information about words), and processes (establishing knowledge). Similarly, Lin’s (2001) taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies includes three categories of metacognitive strategies (advanced preparation, selective attention, monitoring, self-management), cognitive strategies (written/verbal repetition, segmentation, phonics application, association, resourcing, predicting), and social-affective strategies (asking for help, cooperation). A comprehensive inventory of vocabulary learning strategies has been developed by Schmitt (1997). He extracted vocabulary-learning strategies from Oxford’s (1990) taxonomy of general language learning strategies and categorized them into two groups of discovery and consolidation strategies. While the former includes those strategies that are used to determine the meaning of new words when encountered for the first time (determination and social strategies), the latter contains those strategies that are used to consolidate meaning when encountered again (cognitive, metacognitive, and memory and social strategies). Social strategies are included in both categories since they can be used for both purposes. 1.4 Vocabulary Learning Strategies Instruction Explicit learning strategy instruction essentially involves the development of students’ awareness of the strategies they use, teacher modeling of strategic thinking, student practice with new strategies, student self-evaluation of the strategies used, and practice in transferring strategies to new tasks (Oxford, 1990; Chamot, Barnhardt, El-Dinary, & Robbins, 1999; Grenfell & Harris, 1999; Harris, 2003). It is suggested that teachers should implement explicit strategy instruction in their classes instead of teaching strategies in a separate specific course (Chamot, 2004). “Learners need instruction to widen their range of strategies and use them. This training has the role of changing knowledge into skill. It is the independent use of these strategies which is the ultimate goal of strategy instruction” (Bastanfar & Hashemi, 2010, p. 162). A number of models for teaching learning strategies in both first and second language contexts have been developed (e.g., Oxford, 1990; Chamot, et al., 1999; Grenfell & Harris, 1999; Graham & Harris, 2003; Harris, 2003) and the role of teacher is of paramount importance in all of them. The teacher has the role of a diagnostician who identifies students’ current learning strategies (Cohen, 1998); acts as a trainer, model, and coach who models, names, and explains strategies to students (Chamot, 2005); and ultimately evaluates students’ use of strategies (Grenfell & Harris, 1999). Strategy training is a complex process and the way teachers manage strategy instruction guarantees the success of such training (Chamot, 2004). In spite of the important role teachers play in strategy instruction, very few studies have probed into the role of teachers’ characteristics in vocabulary learning strategies instruction. 2. Method 2.1 Participants The participants of this study were 90 Iranian EFL teachers who worked in high schools of Tehran in academic year 2012-2013. The sample was selected based on the convenient sampling. Of the sample 64 (71%) were female and 26 (29%) were male teachers. Their age ranged from 23 to 56 (mean=32.95). Fifty-six teachers (62.2%) had BA degrees and 34 of them (37.8%) had MA degrees in TEFL. Their experience of teaching English ranged from 1 to 30 years (mean= 10.06).

IJALEL 3(1):107-114, 2014 110 2.2 Instruments The data collection instruments were: 1. California Critical Thinking Skill Test -Form B (CCTST) 2. Yu-Ling’s Inventory of teaching vocabulary-learning strategies to students (Yu-Ling, 2005) 2.2.1 CCTST The Persian version of CCTST- form B was used to assess EFL learners’ critical thinking skills as form B of CCTST is suitable to test critical thinking at levels above high school and adults (Facione, 1990). These 34 items measure five categories of critical thinking ability namely, analysis (9 items), evaluation (14 items), inference (11 items), deductive reasoning (16 items), and inductive reasoning (14 items). Each is a multiple choice item designed to be scored dichotomously, with one correct answer and three or four distracters. The reliability of this test using KR20 has been reported to be .78 to .80 (Fasione, 1990). Khodamorady et al. (2006) have translated this test into Persian and have reported satisfactory construct validity for the scale. They reported reliability of .62 for the whole test and .71 for analysis, .77 for evaluation, .77 for inference, .71 for deductive reasoning, and .71 for inductive reasoning respectively. The reliability coefficient of CCTST in the current study was calculated using KR20 and turned out to be .69. 2.2.2 Inventory of teaching vocabulary-learning strategies Yu-Ling’s inventory of teaching vocabulary learning strategies has 30 items that asks EFL teachers to identify which vocabulary-learning strategy they most frequently teach to their students in their English classes (Yu-ling, 2005). These items explore the instruction of four types of learning strategies by teachers, namely memory strategies (14 items), cognitive strategies (4 items), metacognitive strategies (2 items), and determination strategies (2 items). Each item is anchored on a 6-point Likert scale from 1 (never) to 6 (always). The items of the scale have been abstracted and adapted mainly from the taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies compiled by Schmitt (1997). The reliability of the scale was found to be .89 in the current study. 2.3 Procedure Prior to the study, Yu-Ling’s inventory of vocabulary-learning strategies was translated into Persian. It was back-translated and then checked by three TEFL experts to ensure the clarity of wording. The Persian version of CCTST-Form B (Khodamoradi, et al., 2006) was also checked and the wordings of a few items and distracters were changed to make it more suitable for the context and culture of Iran. Both questionnaires were administered among EFL teachers who worked in high schools of the capital, Tehran. Ninety questionnaires were filled completely and were used for the final data analysis. 3. Results In order to answer research question number 1 and find the relationship between critical thinking skills and teaching vocabulary learning strategies, Pearson Correlation technique was used. As Table 1 shows, strategy instruction is significantly correlated with analysis (r= -.27, p<.01), inference (r= -.23, p<.05), and inductive reasoning (-.3, p<.01); but the correlation is not significant considering evaluation (r=-.11) and deductive reasoning (r=-.089). Table 1. Correlation Matrix of Strategy Instruction and Critical Thinking Skills

Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6

1. Strategy instruction 1 -.272** -.112 -.226* -.089 -.300**

2. Analysis 1 .242* .516** .392** .639**

3. Evaluation 1 .478** .861** .479**

4. Inference 1 .627** .845**

5. Deductive reasoning 1 .441**

6. Inductive reasoning 1

** Correlation is significant at 0.01 level * Correlation is significant at 0.05 level In order to answer research question number 2 and find the difference between the strength of correlations of critical thinking skills and vocabulary strategy instruction across gender, Pearson Correlation technique and Fisher’s Z were used.

IJALEL 3(1):107-114, 2014 111 Table 2. Correlation Matrix of Strategy Instruction and Critical Thinking Skills by Gender

Variables Gender 1 2 3 4 5 6 1. Strategy instruction Female 1 -.150 -.018 -.065 .035 -.159

Male -.516** -.316 -.542** -.377 -.541** 2. Analysis Female 1 .095 .414** .283* .547**

Male .519** .726** .633** .781** 3. Evaluation Female 1 .531** .850** .493**

Male .374 .891** .457* 4. Inference Female 1 .678** .819**

Male .517** .909** 5. Deductive reasoning Female 1 .439**

Male .458* 6. Inductive reasoning Female 1

Male As the correlation matrix shows, the correlations between critical thinking skills and vocabulary instruction were not statistically significant when female participants were considered; however, the correlations of vocabulary instruction with analysis (r=-.516, p<0.01), inference (r=-.542, p<0.01), and inductive reasoning (r=-.541, p<0.01) were statistically significant among male participants. The result of Fisher’s Z transformation showed that the difference in the correlation between vocabulary learning strategy instruction and inferencing skill for the two groups (males and females) was significant. Table 3 summarizes the value of Zobs for the differences among correlations.

Table 3. The values of Zobs

Correlations Zobs

Analysis-Strategy instruction 1.7

Evaluation- Strategy instruction 1.2

Inference- Strategy instruction 2.2*

Deductive reasoning- Strategy instruction 1.4

Inductive reasoning- Strategy instruction 1.8

4. Discussion The goal of the present study was investigating the relationship between EFL teachers’ critical thinking skills and vocabulary learning strategy instruction. The findings suggest that teaching vocabulary learning strategies has a negative and significant relationship with analysis, inference, and inductive reasoning skills. In other words, those teachers who are more critical thinkers teach language learning strategies less frequently to their students. The strongest negative correlation was found between strategy teaching and inductive reasoning (r= -.3). It means that those who were better decision makers in the context of uncertainty based on analogies, case studies, prior experience, statistical analyses, simulations, hypotheticals, and familiar circumstances and patterns of behavior chose fewer strategies to teach from the questionnaire that they were asked to fill in. In other words, they evaluate their teaching contexts based on their thinking power and then decide about what to teach. The next significant correlation was found between strategy instruction and analysis (r= -.27). People with strong analytical skills attend to patterns and details, identify the elements of a situation, and determine how those parts interact. Thus, these teachers think that one size does not fit all and the contextual variables should be specified when strategy instruction is going to be implemented in language classes. A significant correlation was also found between strategy instruction and inference skill (r= -.22). Generally, people who have high inference skill draw better conclusions from reasons and evidence. Thus, it can be concluded that more critical thinkers are more careful and critical teachers in choosing the strategies from the given questionnaire. They might better analyze the learning condition and their students’ abilities and styles, draw better inferences, and as a result teach other techniques/strategies they find more suitable for their students. They might be better reflective teachers and creatively make new strategies they have inferred to work better for vocabulary learning of their students. Research shows that the low quality of teaching English as a foreign language in Iran is related to five main factors including student-related, teacher-related, school-related, materials-related, and curriculum-related factors (Rahimi & Nabilou, 2009). As teachers with more critical thinking ability are skillful problem solvers and have exclusive power to identify the problem and choose practical solutions, they may figure out these problems better than teachers with lower critical thinking abilities, and thus avoid strategy instruction. One important challenge Iranian EFL teachers face in their

IJALEL 3(1):107-114, 2014 112 classes is the lack of time. As teaching vocabulary strategies needs extensive teaching and long-term plan, critical thinkers may prefer to spend the time of the classroom on using other techniques to help their students get better results. This actually has been supported by research, as critical thinking skills help teachers to be more successful and teach more efficiently (Birjandi & Bagherkazemi, 2010; Ghaemi & Taherian, 2011). Further, it was found that the negative relationship between male teachers’ inference skills and vocabulary learning instruction was stronger than that of female teachers. Mixed findings have been reported with respect to the role of gender in critical thinking skills and dispositions (Facione, 1990; Walsh & Hardy, 1999). While some studies show that gender cannot predict individuals’ critical thinking skills, it is suggested that women sometimes feel that critical thinking “is synonymous with ‘male logic’, a thought process they find adversarial uncomfortable, and alienating” (Browne, Kubasek & Harris, 1989, p.227). It has also been found that men are more analytical than women (Facione, Sanchez, & Facione, 1994) and generally score higher in critical thinking skill tests (Leach & Good, 2011). Thus, it is possible that male teachers intentionally avoided strategy instruction as “strategy training is a complex process which requires committed and informed teachers who spend an extended period of time working with learners” (Bastanfar & Hashemi, 2010, p. 161). In other words, male teachers with higher critical thinking ability were more aware of the contextual constraints and challenges of teaching English and thus preferred to use teaching techniques that work better in their context of teaching, instead of strategy instruction. 5. Conclusions The findings of the present study revealed that vocabulary-learning strategy instruction was inversely related to inductive reasoning, analysis, and inference skills. It was also found that male teachers with higher inference skills used less vocabulary-learning strategies in their classes. The results show that critical thinking skills can give teachers deep insights into the impact of contextual constraints on their teaching effectiveness. Teachers with higher critical thinking abilities are more careful about choosing teaching techniques and materials that can guarantee effective teaching and better learning outcome. 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International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Distant Fathers: Disjointed World of George Eliot

Tahira Jabeen (Corresponding author)

School of Foreign Languages, East China Normal University

500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, P.R. China

Tel: 0086-13524231638 E-mail: wee4t@yahoo.com

Liu Naiyin

School of Foreign Languages, East China Normal University

500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, P.R. China

Tel: 0086-13361996995 E-mail: naiyinliu@hotmail.com

Received: 26-08-2013 Accepted: 24-10-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.115 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.115 Abstract The article discusses distant fathers in the novels of George Eliot within the context of the nineteenth century. In the nineteenth-century Britain, the father’s role is best defined by Nelson, “authority, guidance and financial support”. (Natalie 2011, p.155) The article is devoted to explore the distant or absent fathers, which means no guidance, protection, and financial support to the children. The absence might be the consequences of many aspects relating to fathers. The father could be absent either physically or emotionally. The article argues that Eliot seeks and yearns for a perfect fatherhood by showing some shortcomings of the father and its effects on the lives of their children. Keywords: George Eliot, distant fathers, nineteenth century 1. Introduction In the nineteenth-century Britain, the father’s role is best defined by Nelson, “authority, guidance and financial support.” (McKnight 2011, p.155) So, the absence of the father means no guidance, protection and financial support to the children. In the nineteenth century, the distant and stern fathers emanated from the working-class and the middle-class men who had to spend long time away from the home and returned too tired to be involved in any activity, which John Tosh calls the “flight from domesticity”. (Tosh 1999, p. 175) Most of the fathers in George Eliot’s fiction, in Natalia B. Cole’s words, are “absent, distant, ineffectual and tyrannical”. (Cole 2011, p.33) These fathers either have no concern about the lives of their children, or they are absent physically. In the next section, the barren presence of the fathers will be discussed. 1.1 Futile and Barren Presence: Thais Bede, Squire Cass and Mr. Transome’s departed existence This section discloses the reasons and consequences of the barren presence of the fathers in George Eliot’s novels. Active and passive fathers give to the domestic life a different color. In Silas Marner Squire Cass, in Adam Bede Thais Bede and in Felix Holt: The Radical Mr. Transome are the examples of barren presence who have no concern over what is going on in their children’s lives. In Silas Marner the titular character, as an affectionate father and Mr. Squire Cass as a reckless father are paralleled. Though Silas Marner, the fostering father of Eppie, is often juxtaposed with Godfrey Cass, the biological father of Eppie, Squire Cass, the father of Godfrey Cass can be compared with Silas Marner as a father in terms of attentive and responsible fathers. In Silas Marner, the behavior of the fathers regarding their responsibilities towards their children represents two extremes of social class within the village of Raveleo. The double plot of the novel centers around two households, Marner’s cottage by the stone-pits and the Cass manor, the Red House. The Cass family, headed by Squire Cass, is very prosperous in the village of Raveleo, “characterized by a popular myth of jollity and an opposed underlying actuality” (Mike 2003, p. 98) and there is no domestic affection in the hearth. Squire Cass is ‘the greatest man in Raveleo’, who “kept his sons in idleness”. (SM p. 32) He is a landowner and does not earn the money from his own labor. His sons are idle too and involved in immoral activities. Dunstan, the elder son, spends his time in swapping animals and betting. Mr. Cass spoiles his sons not out of affection but out of negligence. The Cass family is very prosperous but cannot buy affections and values. On the other hand, Silas Marner, lives in a ramshackle cottage is the lowliest member of Raveleo society, and despite the fact that he is not the biological father of Eppie, proves himself a responsible father. This juxtaposition of fathers, belonging to different classes, shows the demoralization of the upper class and industriousness of the lower class.

IJALEL 3(1):115-123, 2014 116 In Cass family, there is a gap between the father and the sons. The implacability of Mr. Squire Cass, the father makes Godfrey, the son hesitant to face him and tell about the death of Wildfire, the horse which he owns. The father claims, “I’ve been too good a father to you all’ and ‘I never threw a horse down in my life.” (SM p.88) He, instead of being involved in the troubles of his son, complains about the current financial crises:

I am short o’cash as a roadside pauper. Why the country wouldn’t have leg to stand on. Prices ‘ud run down like a jack and I should never get my arrears, not if I sold all fellow up. (SM p.85)

He is in want of money and is shocked to learn about the death of the horse. He claims to be ‘too good a father’, but he is concerned about the loss only and does not enquire about his son Dunsey, who has been riding the horse, even after next two days when he does not return home. Thus, Mr. Squire Cass the “departed father” (SM p.182) remains aloof from the lives of his children and focuses only on his financial gains and losses. He fulfills the role of a provider but neglects his responsibilities as guide and protector. Another distant father is Mr. Transome in Felix Holt, who is decrepit and has no participation in the household. Harold Transome, his son, after returning from Glasgow becomes the Radical but the father remains apart from the current domestic developments around him. He lives in a limited world of his own as Mrs. Transome says, “he will be like a distracted insect, and never know where to go, if you alter the track he has to walk in”. (FH p.20) It is because of his reserved nature that in the whole story, there is no communication between the father and the son. When his son Harold comes home, he asks his mother about the father and goes to see him but there is no description of their meeting. Harold Transome also says about the father, “what a wreck poor father is! Paralysis, eh? Terribly shrunk and shaken—crawls among his books as usual, though.” (FH p.17) Thais Bede in Adam Bede is another example of distant father who does not show up in the story, and we learn from the conversation of the other characters that he is alcoholic. His absence from the home and his incomplete work to build a coffin makes his son Adam angry. Later, he is found dead under a willow tree. All these distant fathers once have been good providers for their children. However, now they are aloof from their children’s lives and because of their barren presence, their sons, Adam Bede, Godfrey Cass and Harold Transome become the father figures for their own fathers, and the filial duties are reversed. When Godfrey offers money to his father, he could not say anything but “staring at his son in amazement” because he is unable to guess in narrator’s words, “what could have caused the inversion of filial duties”. (SM p.50) Almost the same situation is present in Bede family where the father is absent because of his alcoholism and Adam becomes the care giver to the father. “I know there is duty to be done by my father, but it isn’t my duty to encourage him in running headlong to ruin”. (AB p.18) Once his father has been active, as Adam recalls the vanishing days when his father could build a wonderful pigeon house at Braxton parsonage or could give his son “an uncommon notion o’ carpenting.”(AB p.46) Mr. Thais Bede, who dies because of alcoholism, is the burden on his family. “It is clear that Thais’ loss is seen rather as a blessing than as an occasion of deep sorrow for the Bede family”. (Barbara 2003, p.108) His death is rather a source of a sigh of comfort for the family. Mr. Irwin says, “Poor old Thais! I should have been glad for the load to have been taken off my friend’s Adam’s shoulders in a less painful way”. (AB p.70) The three fathers discussed above are distant fathers parted from the lives of their children. In these families, the presence of the mothers, to some extent fills the gap created by the aloofness of the fathers. In the nineteenth-century “mothers were to be relied upon for personal care and emotional”. (Davidoff & Hall 2002, p.335) These three novels describe three different cases of parents. In Silas Marner, in Cass family, there is no mother at all and the home has no centrality. “The Red House was without the presence of a wife and a mother who is the fountain of wholesome love and fear in parlor and kitchen.” In Cass family the father and sons ‘take their breakfast in the different times. There was no pleasant morning greeting between them; because “the sweet flower of courtesy is not growth of such homes as the Red House”. (SM p.84-85) There is no maternal benevolence in the home so everyone lost the centrality and “the hearth has no smiles”. (SM p.81) The daughter-in-law to be is expected to be “a fine change” and she “would be a saving to old Squire”. (SM p.33) Godfrey also attracted to “neatness, purity and liberal orderliness of the Lammeter Household”.(SM p.81) And after fifteen years of gap in the story of the novel, much has changed in the ‘dark wainscoted parlour’ and ‘wifeless reign of old Squire Cass.’ Nancy, the wife of Godfrey Cass brings “into the Red house the habits of filial reverence and preserved sacredly in a place of honor these relics of her husband’s departed father”. (SM p.182) As a daughter she brings reverence for the father and the family gets integration and centrality because of a mother figure. In Felix Holt and Adam Bede Eliot represent strong mothers as compared to fathers. These mothers try to make the decision for their future instead of fathers whose presence is barren in both novels. In Felix Holt Mrs. Transome who manages the Transome estate, dominates her husband. The son, Harold and his mother often discuss the political situation and because of the egoistic nature, the mother wants her son to act according to her advice, but she becomes disappointed when she finds that her son became the Radical. The narrator points out that Harold left her when he was a boy; she perhaps indulged in the dream that he would come back a boy. (FH p.108) She tries to keep her hold on the private sphere as well as on the public sphere by dictating her son. She is shocked when he takes the rein of the estate in his hand and announces to stand for parliament election as a Radical candidate by breaking the tradition with family politics. In Adam Bede and Felix Holt, there are powerful mothers, but they have different approaches to deal with their sons. Mrs. Transome in Felix Holt wants her son to consult her in everything while Lisbeth Bede in Adam Bede, though a

IJALEL 3(1):115-123, 2014 117 vigorous old woman, she is aware of his sons’ feelings and helps them to achieve their goals. Lisbeth Bede takes care of her husband and worries about his alcoholism. On the other hand, Mrs. Transome has no concern for her husband, who ‘paused in his work and shrank like a timed animal looked at in a cage where flight is impossible’ whenever his wife “appears in the doorway”. (FH p.100) But this attitude of hers is not supported by the writer. She changes in through the time. When Harold comes back he does not pay attention to her advices. Her despair over her changing situation deepens when Harold treats her insensitively.

Mrs. Transome was forced from centre to periphery, from dream of self to the feeling for others. In this way, she shrank, her vision extended and she attained to a significant stage of growth in her character. (Dalal 2006, p.74)

It is Mr. Transome’s senility, which makes Mrs. Transome to manage and head the Transome estate, during her son’s absence. The father’s “diminished masculinity and authority” (Cole 2011, p.172) restricted him to his library and playing with his grandson, Harry. His activities are described by the narrator:

There was Old Mr. Transome with a cord around his waist, playing a very poor-paced horse for a black-maned little boy about three years old, who was urging him on with loud encouraging noises and occasional thumps from a stick. (FH p.128)

According to Natalie, the imagery of “poor-paced horse” shows the submission and weakness. (Cole 2011, p.172) It is his own weakness that the mother assumes the father’s economical role and continues using her authority to shape the son’s political career. It is the son Harold, who decides to fulfill the father’s role of authority, which his father has lost long ago. The motherless sons of Squire Cass are made idle by their father. Though Mr. Thais Bede and Mr. Transome once have been active and did a lot for their children, eventually they are withdrawn from the mainstream of the home. Mr. Transome has no more roles in his son’s political life, and the mother is too egoistic to be followed by the son. Now Mr. Transome’s ‘being like a distracted insect’ in his wife’s remarks and his “crawling among books” in Harold Words and “a timid animal in a cage” also show his escapism from the outer life which he cannot face. It is disclosed when Harold finds his origin as son of Mr. Jerym, the lawyer of family estate. Mr. Transome, in other words, has no ability to manage his home and be an empire of the household loses his masculine pride and thus could not fulfill the norms of masculinity, which were set by the society of the time. In John Tosh words:

To establish a home, to protect it, to provide for it, to control it, and to train its young aspirants to manhood, have usually been essential to a man’s good standing with his peers. Masculinity, after all, was essentially about being master of one’s own house…..indeed rule as ‘father’ embodied the primary meaning of term ‘patriarchy’.(Tosh.1999. 8)

Thus, George Eliot’s homes are not perfect without a benevolent mother and responsible father. Lisbeth Bede in Adam Bede proves herself an impeccable mother, but the home still needs the father’s involvement. In Felix Holt, the decrepit father and authoritative mother make the scene even worse. In Silas Marner, the father neglects his role of the guide and the protector and home has no centrality without a mother or mother figure. These inactive and distant fathers belong to different social classes by which George Eliot highlights the upset resulted by the absence of any authority. To bring forth this upset she operates with law of consequences in Silas Marner, where father after two generations reach at the point where they are ‘almost as helpless as an uprooted tree’. As the result this family tree stops growing further when Eppie rejects her biological father. Mr. Transome’s account occupies a small portion in the whole story of Felix Holt, where ‘Radicalism’ demands a proactive struggle for the political change. The withdrawnness of Mr. Transome from the world around him shows loosing Transomes’ hold from the political power. This declination of Transomes later comes obvious when Harold Transome‘s true identity is revealed. He stands for the Radicalism but his “snobbish opportunism” and using unfair means to win elections contrasts Felix Holt’s honesty and “genuine political significance”. (Pinion. 1981, p.156-7) Eliot stresses through Transome’s story that for the political reform, power should not be given to dishonest and ignorant men. Mr. Transome’s inactiveness and his barren presence leave no way to maintain Transome state. It goes to Holts where Felix Holt makes the ‘Radicalism’, unlike Harold, not a career but a cause to bring reformation. His address shows the realization of the lack of the parental authority on the whole, “there is low sense of parental duties in the nation at large.”(FH p. 145) In Adam Bede by showing the aloofness of father Eliot emphasizes on the sense of duty. Thais Bede, the father, losses respectability as well as authority because of negligence of his duties and become a burdensome weight by embarrassing the family with his drunkenness. (AB p.47) Adam takes the place of an authorial figure, who has a strong sense of duty towards his brother and mother, as Dinah’s says, “Adam is like the patriarch Joseph, for his great skill and knowledge and the kindness he shows to his brother and parents.” (AB p.87) By these inactive fathers Eliot brings forth the damage done by the absence of any authority or father figure with in the family as well as on the broader level of society. For this purpose, she operates with the law of consequences in Silas Marner, shows the supremacy of good over evil in Felix Holt and more importantly the sense of duty as a crucial element for the betterment of the society in Adam Bede. In George Eliot novels, there are some children who are independent and do not have the guide and protection of the father. The next section is about these children and will describe their situation without a father or father figure.

IJALEL 3(1):115-123, 2014 118 1.2 Dorothea and Lydgate: The Independent and Self- determining World of Middlemarch In the nineteenth-century father had the roles of guidance, protecting and providing for his children. This section will deal with the children who do not have fathers to guide and protect them. They are independent and face many hardships to reach at the maturity to take right decisions for them. In George Eliot’s novels, we can find different cases of fathers in relation to their roles. In The Mill on the Floss, Mr. Tulliver fails to give his children a bright future because of his own shortsightedness, but Mr. Wakem, the father of Philip having a practical and professional approach for his son’s future proves himself a true guardian for his son. Silas Marner in Silas Marner proves himself a loving father and nurturer, and grows up the parentless Eppie. There are passive fathers, i.e. Mr. Squire Cass in Silas Marner, Thais Bede in Adam Bede and Mr. Transome in Felix Holt: The Radical who remain aloof from the lives of their children. In Middlemarch, the protagonists’ fathers die long before the opening of the story. They have to decide and determine their own future. The story of Middlemarch revolves around the lives of Dorothea Brooke and Lydgate, who being independent, take decisions for themselves and suffer due to their own weaknesses and eventually reach to the stage of self-realization. They both want to shape historical change in the direction of enlightenment but having no guidance they come across to many hardships. Their struggles to fulfill their aims without any guardian is shown in the comments of the narrator, ‘a social life which seemed nothing but a labyrinth of petty courses, a walled-in maze of small paths that led no whither, the outcome was sure to strike others as at once exaggeration and inconsistency. (M p.13) The use of ‘labyrinth’ and ‘maze’ shows the complexities of the world in which they live without any guiding signs towards their destinations. Dodrothea Brooke is a passionate and zealous lady who wants to fulfill her aims despite of the social restrictions. In the prelude, she is regarded as Saint Theresa of the Victorian age. She wants an “epic life” and wants to contribute to the society where “women were expected to have weak opinion”. (M p.7) So, to fulfill her aim, she yearns for an authoritative and absolute hand to assist her. Her vehement nature makes her “impatience of her uncle’s talk or his way of ‘letting things be’ on his estate”. She needs an authority which can approve her intellectuality. Her uncle Mr. Brooke who is her guardian too, fails to provide such an authority and cannot even acknowledge her ambitions. Knoepflmacher judges Mr. Brook in these words:

It is Mr. Brooke’s failure to provide for nourishment of a different sort which, I think, lends him his importance. As we shall soon see, George Eliot actually holds Mr. Brooke responsible for Dorothea’s plight. Totally incapable of perceiving any pattern or design in human events, he fails to provide the hungry imagination of his older niece with that large vision of relations which she desperately needs and desires in order to live in an intelligible universe. As impotent in rescuing a poacher from a death sentence as he is in rescuing Dorothea from her self-willed martyrdom as Casaubon’s wife, Mr. Brooke lacks authority. Mr. Brooke cannot furnish his niece with the mental and emotional provisions she requires. Mired in a confusing present, he forces Dorothea to turn to Casaubon as her provider and thus causes her to become mired in a dead and destructive past. (Knoepflmacher 1975, p.56)

Thus Dorothea’s uncle, Mr. Brook proves to be a shallow person as guardian to his niece. So, when she meets Mr. Casaubon, she is attracted to him because of his intellectuality. Dorothea, though well-educated, still she is very naïve to judge people and unaware of the complications of the outer world. Dorothea’s decision to marry Mr. Casaubon also leaves other people of Middlemarch in surprise. When Sir James Chettam tells Mrs. Cadawallader about Dorothea’s decision, she calls it ‘horrible’. And for her Mr. Casaubon is “no better than a mummy… who has one foot in the grave”. Everyone is talking about ill-fitted and inappropriate marriage in opposing metaphors, like: Casaubon as a dry, old and Dorothea as a young blooming girl. She regards Dorothea’s age not fitting to take a decision like this and this time her guardian should have his role. “Brooke ought not to allow it: he should insist on its being put off till she is of age. She would think better of it then. What is a guardian for?” In Sir James views it is useless to expect any better solution from Mr. Brooke, the guardian of Dorothea. He says, “As if you could ever squeeze a resolution out of Brooke!” (M p.47) The writer also highlights the efforts of stopping this marriage by Sir James and the dysfunctional guardian in the beginning of chapter 8 in these words:

Oh, rescue her! I am her brother now, And you her father. Every gentle maid

Should have a guardian in each gentleman. (M p.55) Sir James expresses his exasperation in these words, “she is too young to know what she likes. Her guardian ought to interfere. He ought not to allow the thing to be done in this headlong manner”.(M p.56) On the other hand, Mr. Brooke, the guardian of Dorothea, is an admirer of Mr. Casaubon and cannot see if this marriage is going to be ill matched. He is silly enough to think, “it was perhaps better for her to be early married to so sober a fellow as Casaubon”. (M p.54)

IJALEL 3(1):115-123, 2014 119 Dorothea Brooke possesses the ideal nature of Saint Theresa, but the existing social phenomenon restricted her to exert her own ambitions and play her role to change the society. She wants to do something recognizable like building cottages for the poor and founding a school. In this regard, for the approval of her proposals, she needs an authority in the form of a father or father figure. The authority, which has been provided by her parents who are dead now, can shape her life and help to fulfill her aims. In the confusing world of Middlemarch, she finds Mr. Casaubon the appropriate person who can understand her aims and can assist her to fulfill them because in the patriarchal society of the nineteenth century, women were seen having no vision and weak opinions. In Patricia’s views, Dorothea submerged in the father figure to be acknowledged by the others. “Dorothea mistakenly believes her truest path towards fulfillment lies in committing herself to a father figure”. ( Patricia 1990, p.42.) She has always been anxious to have a father who can guide but her uncle Mr. Brooke failed to provide her such authority because of his own shortcomings and …thus the only solution available to her is to marry someone who can be appropriate to her wishes. For her, marriage lies in the devotion to find an authority or a father figure. She says, “The really delightful marriage must be that where your husband was a sort of father and even could teach you even Hebrew if you wish it.”(M p.8) She was impressed by the intellectuality of Mr. Casaubon and through him; she wanted to serve humanity. She felt her energies and capabilities insufficient because she is not confident about her plans to build houses for poor and founding a school. Later, it is proven that Mr. Casaubon’s intellectuality is just shallow, and he cannot write a book which he claimed to write. As Patricia says:

In Middlemarch Casaubon’s intellectual and emotional aridity underscores the lack of strong father figures in the community at large. No Knightly exists to endow the community with a sense of authority on which it may depend. (Patricia 1990, p.136)

Dorothea seeks this authority from her uncle Mr. Brook but being distracted and disappointed; she turns to Mr. Casaubon but she is again embarrassed and shocked totally to find no authority and guide to fulfill her aims. Dorothea’s shortcoming to judge him made all other people astonished but her own happiness is shown in narrator words as “child like reclining in the lap of divine consciousness”. (M p.36) The metaphor of child explains further that she is not having enough maturity to take a big decision like this. She was possessed with the sense that an ideal life is opened to her. Her decision made her uncle and sister Cilia surprised. Celia, who already has expressed her disliking for Mr. Casaubon, could not believe at first about the engagement. Dorothea calls Celia ‘commonest mind’ when Celia points out some irritating habits of Mr. Casaubon. But the ‘commonest mind’ ironically came true to Dorothea’s understandings and Celia’s comment ‘commonest minds must be rather useful’ became the reality. Her decision to marry Casaubon is to have an authority and strength but her decision to marry with Will Lidsaw is to complete her personality. Her sufferings are because of her immature decisions and her day dreaming about an ideal life gives her an experience to see life realistically. Casaubon wants her to be a submissive wife, but she refused to act accordingly because she wants herself to be defined. Lydgate is another example of independent youth, who suffers because of his own weaknesses and inability to make a decision contemplatively. As D.S. Dalal says, “he came to be entangled in the ordinary affairs of life and unwittingly lost sight of his youthful vision.” (Dalal. 2006, p.81) Having no authority and father, he “was still in making and there were both virtues and faults capable of shrinking and expanding”. (M p.124) About his early life and his ambitions and aims the narrators tells, “he was one of the rarer lads who make up their minds that there is something particular in life which they would like to do for its own sake, and not because their fathers did it”.(M p.118) His independence from any patriarchy and authority is proved in his professional enthusiasm and his “youthful belief in his bread winning work”. (M p.120)

Lydgate’s spot of commonness lay in the complexion of his prejudices, which, in spite of noble intentions and sympathy, were half of them such as are found in ordinary men of the world; that distinction on mind which belonged to his intellectual ardour, did not penetrate his feeling and judgment about furniture, women, or the desirability of its being known without his telling that he was better born than other country-surgeons. (M p.125)

This ‘spots of commonness’ leads him to be puppet in the hands of Blustrode and Rosamond. Lydgate as a doctor proved his potentials by his cure of Mrs. Bulstrode, Fred Vincy, Nancy Nash and Casaubon from their ailments. His enormous vision is clear in his manifesto of making a hospital which is ‘special destination for fevers.’ The hygienic condition, poor ventilation and polluted water of the period gave birth to infectious diseases. There was a group of Victorians who brought health reforms but it was not expanded till Middlemarch yet. (Furst 1993, p.354) He was interested in the nature of fevers and wanted to continue Bichat’s (1771-1809), a French anatomist and physiologist work to know about the fundamental knowledge.(M p.123) But he couldn’t judge Middlemarch and has been treated as a stranger because he came from outside. Despite of his smartness in his field, he remains innocent about interlocking intrigues when he was to appoint chaplain for the hospital. Bulstrode directs that Mr. Tyke should be chosen to supersede Mr. Farebrother, who has so far attended to the patients’ spiritual needs. Lydgate, trying to be “circumspect,” replies, “as a medical man I could have no opinion on such a point,” and says, “nothing to do with clerical disputes.” (M p.130) Because of his individualism, he loses the support of people of Middlemarch. He is totally self-made man and is

IJALEL 3(1):115-123, 2014 120 unaware of familial and communal obligations and focuses on his aim of medical reforms at any cost. He wants to be free from the entanglements of the social obligations but later gets frustrated. “Poor Lydgate! or shall I say, Poor Rosamond! Each lived in a world of which the other knew nothing”. (M p58) Both Dorothea and Lydgate have unrealistic and idealistic idea of the marriage. Dorothea’s ideal is a great soul while Lydgate wants little more beauty than an ornament. Their marriages fail due to misinterpretation and false expectations from their partners. Both fight for the noble cause, but they do not have any guidance or authority to show the right way to deal with their objectives. They have the talent but they need proper insight to fight with hardships and complication which lay on their ways:

Each of those Shining Ones had to walk on the earth among neighbours who perhaps thought much more of his gait and his garments than of anything which was to give him a title to everlasting fame: each of them had his little local personal history sprinkled with small temptations and sordid cares, which made the retarding friction of his course toward final companionship with the immortals. (M p.175-6).

They both need the assistance to reach at their destinations but with great caution from ‘temptations and sordid cares’ with avoiding from them totally. They faced problems because of their own weaknesses. The whole social phenomenon served as a patriarchy to which they need to fight to reach at their aims. The ill matched marriages of them took them out from their illusions to the path of self-realization and to the real world. They are best explained in the narrators’ words, “Reformers, martyrs, revolutionists are never fighting against evil only; they are also placing themselves in opposition to good” (M p.365). Finally, Lydgate gains the excellent practice, and “he had done what he once meant to do”. (M p.685) Dorothea’s acts were just ‘mixed result of noble and young impulse’ but what she has done is an example of living ‘Dorotheas’. To reach at the level of maturity, they paid the price by sufferings. Dorothea and Lydgate’s surrogate fathers do not take their fatherly duties seriously and disappoint their children “with emotional distance, arbitrary exercises of authority weak guidance or no guidance at all, and deny needed financial support”. (Cole 2011, p.175) Eliot shows that when authority is denied the children go through many hardships to reach at the goals which could be accessible if they could have provided the fatherly guidance. There is another father who cannot claim his child and thus remains in the state of denial for fifteen years. The next section will deal with this case of the father represented by George Eliot. 1.3 Denial and Striving for Being Father: Godfrey Cass in Silas Marner

“A child, more than all other gifts That earth can offer to declining man,

Brings hope with it, and forward-looking thoughts.” —William Wordsworth

These lines of Wordsworth, used as the epigraph in Silas Marner, show that Eliot considers child to bring out a feckless man from spiritual desolation and dejection to the life full of hope and delight. In the first two parts of this chapter absence of fathers and impact of it on the children is shown in the George Eliot’s novels. This part will show a father who has been distractive and inattentive to his daughter for the fifteen years and now wants to claim her. The other absent fathers discussed above are not entirely absent. They somehow or the other are present and make efforts for their children in their past, before the opening of the stories. Their presence can be seen in their children, e.g. Adam Bede is made a carpenter by his father. His father helps him to be able to earn his living and be a provider in his future. Mr. Squire Cass in Silas Marner, though neglects his responsibility as a guide, he is well provider for his sons. Mr. Transome in Felix Holt manages to educate his son and sends him for higher education. In Silas Marner, the paralleled but interlocking stories of Silas Marner and Godfrey Cass reflect that how great is having a child far a father. The both stories are interconnected by the child Eppie, whose biological father does not claim her to be his child, while Silas Marner adopts her and she becomes the centre of his life. The biological father, Godfrey, to whom the child comes at the New Year Eve, does not have courage to claim his own child while the same child becomes the God’s gift to Silas. Godfrey plays with the chance and wants to marry Nancy despite of his secret marriage with Molly, the mother of the child. He thinks that his confession can make his life unhappy. When he sees his own child in the arms of Silas Marner, he “with white lips and trembling”(SM p139) is speechless and tries to hide his embarrassment. He is horrifyingly cruel to desire that Molly “might not be dead”(SM p.139). His high status in the society does not allow him to confess that Molly was his wife and he is the father of the child. He is “a man whose happiness hangs in duplicity”(SM p.140) and he plays with chance and being incapable of action just wait for the consequences, “hoping for some unforeseen turn of fortune, some favourable chance which would save him from unpleasant consequences”. (SM p.126) He hopes that if Molly has died then, Dunstan, his brother who blackmailed him about his secret marriage, cannot do any harm. At that time, there was no “active inquiry and registry of their marriage”. (SM p.145) So the current system also provides him an escape to claiming his child and doing fatherly duties. His denial of his own child reflects the moral degradation of the upper class of Raveleo. He is divided because being the biological father of the child he does care for it.

IJALEL 3(1):115-123, 2014 121 The wide-open blue eyes looked up at Godfrey’s without any uneasiness or sign of recognition: the child could make no visible [or] audible claim on its father; and the father felt a strange mixture of feelings, a conflict of regret and joy... when the blue eyes turned away from him slowly, and fixed themselves on the weaver’s queer face. (SM p.144)

He feels the child’s cry “as if some fibre were drawn tight within him”. (SM p.141) He gives Silas half-a- guinea for the clothes for the child. His disclamation of his daughter proved to be a generation breaker because later he could not have children from his second wife Nancy. George Eliot shows the law of the consequences in Silas Marner, firstly, Godfrey becomes the victim of his own weaknesses and secondly, Silas’s gold stolen by Dunstan Cass came back in the form of the second Cass’s daughter in his home, “it seemed as if there was a gold on the floor in front of the hearth”. (SM p.135) His weakness lies in his timidity and moral courage and his marriage to Nancy Lammeter is proved barren. The interlocking plots of Silas Marner show the social divisions but there is interconnection which has crucial importance for the father’s role. Silas Marner the titular character is uplifted, while Godfrey Cass diminished as a father. “Godfrey, who has succumbed to his temptation, spends his life doing penance for his youthful wrong-doing”. (Cohen 1983, p.414) After fifteen-year gap in the novel, we see the Godfrey is desperate without a child. Now he is in striving to have a child and seeing his childlessness as retribution. He confessed his sin to his wife and wishes to adopt his own daughter, Eppie. For this purpose, they both go to Silas’s home to discuss the matter. The debate between the biological father and nurturing father which is called the ‘trail-scene’ by Davis Carrol in George Eliot and the Conflict of Interpretations reflects that being a father seeks some sacrifices. (Carrol 1992, p.150) “It’s my duty, Marner, to own Eppie as my child, and provide for her. She’s my own child; her mother was my wife. I’ve a natural claim on her that must stand before every other”. (SM p.224) His assertion of the claim to have Eppie is fully rejected by Silas. Silas, who before fifteen years was feeble and distressing, now stands in front of Godfrey the son of a land owner. This strength and confidence are given to him by his fatherly devotion, and Eppie’s love for him. Godfrey does not know that “Silas would rather part with his life than with Eppie”. (SM p.188) Now he can challenge Godfrey. “Then, sir, why didn’t you say so sixteen years ago, and claim her before I’d come to love her?” And later, “You’re coming now and saying ‘I’m her father’ does not alter the feelings inside us. It’s me she’s been calling her father ever since she could say the word.” (SM p. 255) Eppie also denies vehemently to going with Godfrey and wants to stay with Silas. Nancy also tries to make Eppie to decide in the favor of her biological father. “What you say is natural, my dear child- it’s natural you should cling to those who’ve brought you up,’ she said gently; “but there’s a duty you owe to your lawful father.” (SM p.234) Later, Godfrey is even contradicted by his wife Nancy because she comes to know that Eppie’s happiness is with her nurturing and dutiful father.

To adopt a child, because children of your own had been denied you, was to try and choose your lot in spite of Providence: the adopted child, she was convinced, would never turn out well, and would be a curse to those who had willfully and rebelliously sought what it was clear that, for some high reason, they were better without. (SM p.217)

He wants her to “make a lady of her; she is more fit of it than for a rough life”.(SM p.201) He is proud to be part of upper class and of his wealth which can make Eppie to have a prosperous life than this rough life at the cottage of Silas. It is after sixteen years he revealed that Eppie must have a high standard of life. His superiority does not mean anything for Silas because of his moral courage. So, Godfrey cannot escape from the consequences, so he decides to face his childlessness as a reward of his evil deeds. His plan to claim his child shows his redemption.

Godfrey Cass’s redemption through some kind of moral turning is equally laden with ambiguities. His redemption comes through acknowledging past sins of commission and omission – not only his unacknowledged wife and child but, even more, his failure to recognize the latter after the mother’s death. Godfrey’s redemptive confession to his wife of his past marriage and unacknowledged fatherhood is occasioned by the discovery of his criminal brother’s corpse and the painfully accumulated gold stolen from Silas. (Fleishman 2010, p.108)

Godfrey embodies the victim of weakness and chance. After the death of his secret wife he avoids claim his child and thinks that the confession will not bring happiness in his life. He does not want to lose the chance to marry Nancy to maintain his high social status. But after the passage of time he comes to claim her daughter and promised to “be an intimate and benevolent father very different from the distant and tyrannical Cass senior”. (Cole 2011, p.163) his promise shows not only the acceptance of his own rejection of duties but also realization of his own father’s inactiveness as a father. Komya Ayaka in her study relates the weaknesses of fathers to Eliot’s own biographical details. Komya argues that Eliot makes fostering fathers successful rather than biological fathers because she had conflict with her own father. (Ayaka 2006, p.23) On the contrary, I argue that Eliot representation of father cannot be restricted to her own past

IJALEL 3(1):115-123, 2014 122 because even her fictional fathers’ success or failure is beyond their nature of relationship they have with children. By the representation of inactive, distant and absent father Eliot tries to show the weaknesses of fathers and their inability to guide the passionate youth of the time. Though she has a conflict with her father for some time, it is not only one factor which shaped her depiction of fathers as stern in her fiction. It is not Eliot alone who showed such fathers. Most of her contemporary writers were giving the same picture about the fatherhood in the nineteenth century. According to Valerie Sanders, “Victorian literature and life writing are full of stern fathers who are alien and other in their children’s limited understanding”. (Sanders 2009, p.187) Through these different aspects of fatherhood and showing the weaknesses and strengths of fathers, Eliot seeks and yearns for an ideal father because for her, the father is not to avoid and escape. Her presentation of fatherhood brings up the problems of patriarchy and authority of the father and aims to finding ways to refine it without shunning it. References Primary Sources Eliot, G. (1994). Adam Bede. Penguin Books, England. ---- (1996). Daniel Deronda; London, Wordsworth Classics. ---- ( 1994). Middlemarch. Wordsworth Classics, London. ---- (1994). Silas Marner. Penguin Books, England. ---- (1994).The Mill on the Floss. Penguin Books, England. Secondary Sources Ayaka, K. (2006). “George Eliot’s Fantasy on Parenthood”. Liberal Studies, Meiji University.402 21-35. Bailey, J. (2010). “A Very Sensible Man: Imagining Fatherhood in England c.1750–1830”. History, 95: 267–292. Bissell, T. C. (1951). “Social Analysis in the Novels of George Eliot”. ELH . 18 221-239. Broughton, T. L. & Helen, R. eds. (2007). Gender and Fatherhood in the Nineteenth Century. Palgrave Macmillan. Carroll, B E. (1999). I Must Have My House in Order: The Victorian Fatherhood of John Shoebridge Williams. Journal of Family History. Vol. 24. 3 275-304. Carroll, D. (1995). George Eliot: The Critical Heritage. London: Routledge. Cohen, M. F. (1998). Professional Domesticity in the Victorian Novel: Women, Work and Home, Cambridge University Press. Cole. N. B. (2011) “The Right ‘O Things by my Own Fireside: Masculinity and Fatherhood in George Eliot’s Fiction”. In Fathers in Victorian Fiction. ed. Natalie McKnight. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 153-184. Cotton, D. (1987). Social Figures: George Eliot, Social History and Literature Representations. University of Minnesota. Eliot, G. (1855). Evangelical Teaching: Dr. Cumming.” [online] Available: http://www.unz.org/Pub/EliotGeorge-1908v03B-00265 Emerick, Ann Patricia. (1990). Irresistible Forces: Father/daughter Romance in 19th-Century Fiction. The University of Oklahoa, Norman. George, E. (2009). Evangelical Teaching: Dr. Cumming”. The Essays of George Eliot. Ed. Nathan Sheppard. The Project Gutenberg. P-64. [online] Available: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28289/28289-h/28289-h.htm#citation64 Hadley, G. (2009). “Introduction.” Daniel Deronda. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Haight, G. S. (1968). George Eliot: A Biography. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. Haight, G.S. (1985). Selections from George Eliot’s Letters. New Haven: Yale University Press. Hardy, B. (1954).“The Moment of Disenchantment in George Eliot’s Novels.” The Review of English Studies, New Series, 5 254-264. Hardy, B. (1970). Critical Essays on George Eliot. Barnes and Nobel: New York. Ingham, P. (2003). The Language and Gender and Class: Transformation in Victorian. Routledge, London. John R. R. and Jerry, H. (1985). “George Eliot’s Illegitimate Children.” Nineteenth-Century Fiction 40:175-186. John, P. M. (1980). “The Turn of George Eliot’s Realism.” Nineteenth-Century Fiction, 35 171-192. John, T. (1999). A Man’s Place: Masculinity and the Middle-class Home in Victorian England. Yale University Press. Knoepflmacher, U.C.(1975). “Middlemarch: An Avuncular View.” Nineteenth-Century Fiction 30 53-81. Leonore, D. and Catherine, H. (2002) Family Fortunes: Men and Women of the English Middle Class. 1780–1850. rev. edn, London and New York. McKnight, N. (ed.) (2011). Fathers in Victorian Fiction. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

IJALEL 3(1):115-123, 2014 123 Nelson C. (2007) Family Ties in Victorian England. Praeger Publishers. Pell, N. (1982). “The Fathers’ Daughters in Daniel Deronda” Nineteenth-Century Fiction 36. 4 424-45. Pinion, F. B. (1981). A George Eliot Companion. London: The Macmillan Press. Sadoff, F. D. Monsters of Affection: Dickens, Eliot & Bronte on Fatherhood. John Hopkins University Press, London. 1982. Sanders, V. (2009). The Tragi-Comedy of Victorian Fatherhood. Cambridge University Press. Tosh, J. (1999). A Man’s Place: Masculinity and the Middle-class Home in Victorian England. Yale University Press. Wilt, J. (1987). “He Would Come Back: The Fathers of Daughters in Daniel Deronda” Nineteenth-Century Literature 42. 3 313-338. Zwinger, L. (1991). Daughters, Fathers, and the Novel: The sentimental Romance of heterosexuality. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

‘Praise to the Emptiness’ Locating Home in the Arab Diaspora

Sandhya Rao Mehta

Sultan Qaboos University

P.O. Box 42 Postal Code 123

Al Khod, Oman

E-mail: Sandhyamehta4@gmail.com

Received: 18-09-2013 Accepted: 01-11-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.124 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.124 Abstract This paper explores the continuing negotiations which occur among the diasporic communities to arrive at definitions of home within the new geographical spaces occupied by them. Using the liminal and hybrid theories of Avtar Brah, Stuart Hall and their literary manifestations in Salman Rushdie and Meena Alexander, it explores the notion of home among the Arab diaspora in The United States, particularly as expressed by women writers. Using the specific example of Mohja Kahf’s the girl in the tangerine scarf, this study examines the way in which Muslim women in the diaspora struggle to find multiple possibilities of ‘home’. It presents the possibility that the inability to establish a final home could be a literary tool for the creative artist to examine multiple identities and inhabit marginal spaces in ways which are imaginative and hopeful rather than being zones of loss and longing. Keywords: the girl in the tangerine scarf, Mohja Kahf, home, diaspora, Arab women writers, literature 1. Introduction One of the most endearing narratives of the diasporic experiences in history is the Zoroastrian movement from Persia, fearing persecution by the Arabs around 641 CE. Arriving to the western shores of India, these travelers sought refuge under the Hindu kingdom of King Jadhav Rana. The anecdote goes on to say that the king sent them a bowl full of milk to show that the kingdom was full and could not accommodate more people. Upon receiving this bowl, the migrants added sugar to the milk and sent it back; meaning to show that they would dissolve into the milk without affecting its quality in any way, and, if at all, they would in fact, sweeten the milk, in this case, the new land (Pocha, 2007). Such essentialist notions of diaspora have long been problematized and in fact questioned if not rejected outright in favor of more painful, nostalgic metanarratives of loss, displacement and memory that frame contemporary discourses on diaspora. These are aptly expressed, in part, by Meena Alexander, a poet who has seen numerous homes and for whom travelling represents a form of increasing alienation and marginalization: “I am a woman cracked by multiple migrations. Uprooted so many times she can connect nothing with nothing” (Alexander, 1993:3). This is echoed by reminiscences by writers like Lisa Majaj who reminds herself and others that who she is, is fundamentally connected to the land she has left behind: “I am the wheat stalk, and I am/the olive. I am plowed fields young/with the music of crickets,/I am ancient earth struggling/to bear history’s fruit,” she asserts in a poem entitled ‘Claims’ (Kadi, 1994:84). These early expressions of diaspora which codified and privileged notions of loss and displacement read the experience of travel and living in a new homeland in terms of a metaphysical conflict of geographical space and subjective expressions of a shared experience. This is part of the literature of loss as expressed in works like Arabian Jazz by Diana abu-Jaber or the anthology of reminiscing narratives Food for our Grandmothers edited by Joanna Kadi. It is also part of the wider group of diasporic writers such as Bharati Mukherjee, Amy Tan and Maxime Kingston for whom the land left behind is not only fertile, pure and ripe with possibilities but is in fact capable of standing up to the vagaries of the present day home. May Mansor Munn finds this to be true in her piece ‘Homecoming’ where she invokes the purity of the land she had left behind, Ramallah: “Once in this place of memory, shops opened mornings and afternoons, stone walls and buildings were free of politics, and instead of gunfire, the honking of cars disrupted equilibrium in the streets” (Kadi: 94). 2. Understanding home and diaspora: Emerging contexts Diaspora with its attendant associations of loss, displacement and the reality of marginal existence are, of course part of the historical metanarrative of travel and migration as shown by Paul Gilroy’s studies of black American experience of slavery and even Stuart Hall’s depictions of Caribbean experience in America. In this sense, emigration, exile and diaspora in its many forms have seen various avatars and transformations in the last few decades. The trajectory of diaspora studies have ranged from the collective acknowledgment of an ‘old country’ emphasizing notions of memory, displacement and marginality as expressed in Safran’s (1991) use of scattering and original community memory and

IJALEL 3(1):124-128, 2014 125 Cohen’s focus on “the positive virtues of retaining a diasporic identity” (Cohen, 2008: 7). To this notion of travel and identity is also added Stuart Hall’s exploration of the various ‘routes’ the diasporic journey must take to create home from the untold stories of the past:

This is the Africa we must return to – but by another “route”: What Africa has become in the New World, what we have made of “Africa”: “Africa” – as we retell it through politics, memory and desire (Hall, 1999: 242).

Into this discourse of memory and exile, of course, is added the "baggage of memories and land left behind" (Rushdie, 1992: 19) that Salman Rushdie had so well caught and exemplified in his depiction of exilic experience in Imaginary Homelands. The notion that homelessness could be celebrated, exulted in and become itself a site for imagination and creativity was a position which soon became popular with immigrant writers for whom home did not only stand for the ideal ‘other’ but also second and third generation migrant children whose memories of home were largely numbed by the succession of years and increasing emotional distance from the land left behind. Rushdie expresses this famously when he says:

Sometimes we feel that we straddle two cultures:at other times that we fall between two stools. But however ambiguous and shifting this ground may be, it is not infertile territory for a writer to occupy (Rushdie, 1992: 19).

This is taken up by critics like Chelvea Kanaganayakam for whom the distance and imagination that exile and immigration provides is not only ripe, but in fact absolutely imperative for the literary imagination. Exile, in this sense, becomes a literary trope to explore life in the margins, and within exile, home must be created. As he states in an early essay on Michael Ondaatje: "If the experience of exile inevitably involves division, it also affords the perception of complex connections that question and subvert prevailing structures" (Kanaganayakam, 1992: 34). Discourse on diasporic identities and homeland become more layered and complex when set in the context of the Middle East, not least owing to the historical associations of the term ‘diaspora’ with the scattering of the Jewish community in biblical times. The Arab diaspora that resulted from the return of the Jews to this part of the world remains largely unexplored for its literary possibilities. Layla Al-Maleh begins her introduction to a collection of essays by saying that "[t]he irony of Anglophone Arab literature is that it did not gain attention or attain recognition until the world woke up one day to the horror of the infamous 9/11, and asked itself who those ‘Arabs’ really were" (Al-Maleh, 2009: 2). As Evelyn Shakir suggests, the focus on Arab-American writing has primarily been on the iconic writers of the early part of the twentieth century who were primarily trying to integrate into American society by showing, for example, "that Syrians were not so alien, after all" (Shakir, 1997: 9). The women's narratives of diaspora remained largely silent until Shakir’s Bint Arab brought focus to the untold tales of the new immigrants seen through the eyes of a diverse variety of women whose struggle with the question of who they really were identified much of their experience in America. As she explains: "But once they come to this country, a great silence descends. Very little is available on what happens to them (or happened to their predecessors) and even less on the lives of their daughters" 10). According to her, much of the conflict for the Arab Americans continues to be the "tug of war between attachment to the land of their birth (the United States) and anger or frustration at American policies in the Middle East. Though men also face these conflicts, they take on special meaning for women, female and Arab, they may feel doubly victimized" (10). This conflict is further explored by critics like Layla Al Maleh who examines the way in which Arab women writers like Faqir, Soueif, Ghandour and Abuleila have used their individual migrations to explore political and social realities. Diaspora, in this sense, is an essential condition for exploration and criticism. Maleh concludes that “Diasporic experience certainly leaves its powerful imprint on this literature, and the authors use it to offer their own reformulations of culture and subjectivity. No longer beholden to the dictates of the ‘home’ community, they benefit from their positions as ‘outsiders/insiders’ and enter into a dialogue with past and present, the distant and the near” (Maleh, 2009: 15). Equally, home is thus an entity from which one can escape, but it is not always a home to which one creatively and consciously arrives. In this sense, home is at once a literary trope with nostalgic, essentialist possibilities, but it is also that which is sought out without much success. According to Barbara Lampert, "[t]here seems to be a greater sense of security and stability in migratory subjectivity than in a nostalgic search for a mythic home. In much of the literature, there is little desire to return, despite the fact that many aspects of life in the host community are not as they were in the original community" (26). 3. Exploring home in Arab literature The positioning of home in the consciousness of the diasporas has been a central point of concern for the exiles and refuges and émigrés for whom the nostalgic catapulting triggers memories at once beautiful and evocative of innocence and an Edenic sense of simplicity and conformity. Theresa Saliba narrates a conversation with her grandmother: "Was Lebanon beautiful? 'Yeee!' she said, then lapsed into memories and ramblings in Arabic, the only language that could express her country’s beauty. Every time I wanted to experience Lebanon, she lapsed into sounds I could not decipher, as if a country cannot be translated to any other language except that which is native to it" (Kadi, 1994: 11). This is also reflected in Kadi’s own explanation of the title of her anthology, Food for Our Grandmothers: "Reading through a pile of manuscripts that had recently arrived in the mail, I was struck by the incredible number of them centering around our grandmothers and what they had given us’. She goes on to reflect that "there are things I once took for granted whose

IJALEL 3(1):124-128, 2014 126 beauty, endurance and usefulness now astound me. Thankfully I am at a point in my life where I did not take the following stories for granted" (24). In the meanwhile, home continues to inhabit a privileged space, not because the essentialist notions of belonging and identity are possible within the framework of this symbol, but because it itself becomes a symbol for what the diaspora may seek to express. As Avtar Brah asks:

Where is home?On the one hand ‘home’ is a mythic place of desire in the diasporic imagination. In this sense, it is a place of no return, even if it is impossible to visit the geographical territory that is seen as the place of ‘origin’. On the other hand, home is also the lived experience of a locality. Its sounds and smells, its heat and dust, balmy summer evenings…all this, as mediated by the historically specific everyday of social relations (Brah, 1996: 192).

It has thus become the endeavor of the immigrant ‘other’ to negotiate between the nostalgic versions of the land left behind with its accompanying associations of loss, memory and displacement with the more interactive possibility of turning this very border into a site for imagination, privileging itself into a position where exile itself becomes a site of knowledge, of creative possibilities and where the immigrant becomes uniquely gifted –gifted with the ability to straddle two different, often opposing worlds. This is the overlapping area made so relevant and popular by Homi Bhaba as the ‘third space’: "For me the importance of hybridity is not to be able to trace two original moments from which the third emerges, rather hybridity to me is the ‘third space’, which enables other positions to emerge" (Bhaba, 1994: 211). In Bhaba, hybridity is of course the unique position diametrically opposing the essentialism of exile and fixed identities. In terms of finding home, Lampert links the effort with the inevitable realization that ‘home’ too, is often created in these spaces of the in-between and often, not a fixed reality. Speaking of the writings of Diane Abu-Jaber, Rachlin and Mohja Kahf she says: "These author’s insightful, though understudied texts demonstrate why the desire for home is no longer an external search, but rather internal, individual, and more importantly, invented. In these texts, home is imagined, geographically, it exists nowhere"( Lampert, 2008: 4). While the intricacies of reading between hybridity, diaspora and ethnicity are confronted and sought to be hammered into an underlying fixity, a closer look at a representative work of this diasporic experience may reveal something of the notion of home that is increasingly becoming part of the narrative of hybrid existence Mohja Kahf is a second generation immigrant whose parents had migrated to America while they were children. Her assumption of the form of the bildungsroman, of growing up to adulthood in America as the central agency for her narratives on the diaspora, as she continually exhults in the marginality of her existence provides much of the distance required to grow as a writer. Mohja Kahf’s appropriation of being homeless is immediately declared in the title to the section dedicated to her in Susan Muaddi Darraj’s Scheherazade’s Legacy, "Poetry is my Home Address’. Kahf here describes the influences she had as a growing writer and cites the example of Ghanian writer Abena Busia who once performed in traditional Ghanian dress, inspiring her, she says, to perform her own poetry unabashedly, being ‘that immigrant-princess-diva-poet I so love to be at times" (Darraj, 2004: 14). But it is in her most defining fiction that the search for the meanings of home and the resultant quest to find a meaningful center spurs the characters to confront the complexities of their existence and establish a version of home within that third-space of belonging and identity. 4. Exploring migration: Mohja Kahf's literary creations Mohja Kahf’s involvement with the diasporic experience and her subsequent quest for the implications of the home and not-home are etched out in her early collection of poems entitled E-mails from Scheredzade in which she examines the space that exists between Arabs and Americans. Clearly, America has not become home to many of the Arabs, nor is the terse relationship between the host nation and the immigrants easily solved. Kahf’s own attitude to her native country Syria is ambivalent at best: "Syria is saving some cherries/In a bowl for me…/I am sure that if I went back to Syria/there would be music,/and all the melodrama of a Hindi movie" (Kahf, 2003: 42). The call of the native country and the detachment which the persona desires seem at odds with each other, the tension finally remaining unresolved in spite of the absence of any real relationship between the poet and the host nation. Home, it appears from this collection, is not going to be made very easily. It is a site that is familiar to Khadra, Mohja Kahf’s Syrian protagonist in the Girl in the tangerine scarf. Struggling as she is with the twin forces of parental expectations with its associated conservatism and her flirtations with varying forms of Islam at different stages of her youth, Khadra symbolically represents the struggle, not only of Islam but more particularly, of Muslim women growing up in America. The daughter of Dawa representatives at Indianapolis, Khadra’s experiences show the oxymoronic condition of calling a place of avoidance and sin, home; of crying with disappointment at being forced to take on American citizenship, of being made to belong to a land she seems to have been unwillingly brought to and in which she has to carefully negotiate the realities of her life. When caught playing with some boys her mother screams, "Do you think we are American? Do you think we leave our children wandering in the streets? Is that what you think we are? Then she burst into sobs” (Kahf, 2006: 66). This apparent contradiction as voiced by Khadra’s mother encapsulates the notion of living away from home, a condition resented, and yet, unchangeable in the eyes of the Wajdys for whom America will always remain a place of sin and moral corruption. All around Khadra, the predominant note is that of danger and suspicion. Khadra is thus made to trapeze delicately between the two realities of America the way it is according to the picture painted by her parents

IJALEL 3(1):124-128, 2014 127 and the memory of another land that could be – a religious land of purity that the Dawah center was trying to emulate in the new country. "Anger lurked everywhere," the young Khadra is warned when, as a child, she innocently eats a candy that she is told has pig in it: "And it was too late to throw it up. Khadra was tainted forever. If she lived, that is. Too ashamed to tell her parents, she waited in horror for the bugs to grow in her stomach and eat her guts out" (13). It is from this vantage of literal visions of Islamic code that Khadra grows, experimenting and, very often, assuming the righteousness of her faith – a faith that is not yet tested against the realities of dialogue and questioning. Inevitably, the veil plays a significant role in her own bildungsroman, the abandoning of it never a real option but the tightening and blackening of it expressing much of the literal nostalgia characteristic of the diaspora. It requires a physical journey to the roots, a pilgrimage to Mecca where the family hopes to discover the purest form of Islam that she gets her rudest shock. By not being able to pray and by having her pristine experience of prayer destroyed by the advances of young Saudi boys who accuse her of being a prude as they try to flirt with her in the desert beyond their homes, she realizes that the spiritual home was couched in corruption and ruin and that Mecca could never exist as a center of her being. Khadra returns with a devastated vision of the Islam she has so long harbored respect for and had been taught to emulate:

Khadra was glad to be going home. ‘Home’- she said, without thinking. She pressed her nose against the airplane window. The lights if Indianapolis spread out on the dark earth beneath the jet. The sweet relief of her own clean bed awaited her thee – and only thee, of all the earth (177).

This assimilative tendency that responds to the shock of disappointment and the collapse of hitherto cherished values, however, cannot last long as it does not completely justify the role Khadra seeks out for herself as the hyphenated American. With her subsequent marriage to a Kuwaiti student who objects to her riding a bicycle as being unfeminine to her choice of abortion as a solution to her failing marriage, Khadra’s choices are couched in a realm that is personal yet political and religious at the same time. Her acceptance of Juma’s proposal is taken as an opportunity to find ‘home’, at this moment, still seen as a physical reality in terms of a return. She does marry and briefly go to Kuwait but finds that the home of her in-laws evokes none of the sense of pleasure and peace she had hoped to achieve through marriage: “Khadra realized with a start that she (her mother in-law) was referring to the house in the family compound that would be Juma’s when he returned. ‘ours, when we return’ she mentally corrected herself” (220). It is at this time of emotional abyss (“Where do you go when the first part of your life is coming to an end, and you don’t know what is yet unborn…?) that Khadra chooses to go back to Syria in search of emotional and personal fulfillment and meaning, having rejected, and having been rejected by the twin forces of separation and assimilation. Her stay in Syria with her aunt Teta is, in a sense, her search for roots. This quest introduces her, not only to her parents’ disturbing past but also to the mythic poet friend who, apart from being her own alter ego, challenges her deeply ingrained assumptions and forces her to see beyond the immediate contradictions of her life:

You still think of God as some Big Parent in the Sky, don’t you? He demanded. Again, she was surprised at how he seemed to be able to speak right into her mind’s conversation. ‘Waiting with a logbook of all your misdeeds to punish or reward you? All those hoary ancient guilt trips and self-flagellations for such a tired notion. Not worth a Syrian dime.

‘But then what? Without that, I’m lost’ she protested. ‘Be lost then. Better lost than false.’ (192)

Khadra’s return to America appears to be couched in terms that reveal not only her openness to experiments but also the acceptance of multiple realities that oppose her Dawah existence. Oscillating between the two furthest points of religious renewal, she chooses to not-choose. With an array of Islamic variations from her husband’s conservative brand of patriarchy and her friend Joy’s form of experimental Islam, through the sufi and Iranian versions, Khadra opens out and chooses to leave the entire experience unresolved and unanswered, leaving the road to further exploration. The lasting image of the novel is couched in terms of a car race – itself a revolutionary gesture but one that entwines Khadra’s future and her realization of an embrace that is open and, in her worlds, of pure surrender: “Is she out of the race? No!- she’s back cries the announcer. She’s regrouping – I’m regrouping too, Khadra thinks with elation and is full of gratitude…” (444). Her choice of photography as her vocation also rises from her ability to read between the hyphens, recognizing the contradictions that have become an important part of her life. 5. Conclusion Going back to a literal home or its imaginary equivalents posits the notion of belonging into the contested site of diaspora. . The possibilities that journeys provide are only modes of expression and articulation, of taking a position, or perhaps of deliberately not taking one, an act that makes the occupation of the third space at once real and compelling. In spite of the layering of immigrant experience, it is inevitable that a position be taken, however, of being an insider looking outward and backward or being the privileged outsider with knowledge of the inside. Being Janus-faced and being able to assume the vacuity of marginal existence and turn it into an eloquent space that empowers and enlightens may be a possible way out of the binaries of inside and outside, marginal and center, but it is not without its problems. The repercussions of such hybrid identities have not been sufficiently noted, for the tendency to retain a vacuum in the third space, of leaving the alternatives so open as to make a kind of homecoming implausible is a consideration that the

IJALEL 3(1):124-128, 2014 128 literature of the diaspora will have to contend with. In the meanwhile, what emerges most successfully in this novel is the notion of homelessness as a literary trope, one that enables the artist to exult in the very act of not-belonging and see, within that vacuum, the possibilities for a newer kind of life and home.

References Alexander, M. (1993). Fault Lines: A Memoir. New York Feminist Press. Bhabha, H.H. (1994). The Location of Culture. London: Routledge. Brah, A. (1996). Cartographies of Diaspora: Contesting Identities. London: Routledge. Cohen, R. (2008). Global Diasporas: An Introduction. New York: Routledge. Durraj, Susan, M. (2004). Scheherazade’s Legacy: Arab and Arab Women on Writing. Westport: Praeger. Gilroy, P. (1993). The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double-Consciousness. MA.: Harvard University Press. Hall, S. (1999). “Cultural Identity” in Braziel, Jana Evans & Mannur, Anita. Theorizing Diaspora. 2003. MA: Blackwell Publishers. 232-246. Kahf, M. (2003). E-mails from Scheherazade. Florida: University of Florida Press. Kahf, M. (2006). the girl in the tangerine scarf. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers. Kadi, Joanna ed. (1994). Food for our Grandmothers: Writings by Arab-American and Arab-Canadian Feminists. Boston: South end Press. Kanaganayakam, C. (1992). “A Trick with a Glass” in Canadian Literature 132 (Spring): 33-42. Lampert, Barbara, H. (2008). Voices of New American women: Visions of home in the Middle Eastern American women’s writing. Madison: University of Wisconsin. Macleod, J. (2000). Beginning Post colonialism. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Maleh, L.A.l. (2009). Arab Voices in Diaspora: Critical Perspectives on Anglophone Arab Literature. Cross/Cultures, 115. Amsterdam: Rodopi. Pocha, J. (2007). ‘Indian Zoroastrians: The Vanishing Breed. CALS World-Archeological & Cultural News of the Iranian World. Web. 24 May 2011. Rushdie, S. (1992). Imaginary Homelands. London: Penguin Classics. Safran, W. (1991). Diasporas in modern societies: Myths of homeland and return. Diasporas: A Journal of Transnational Studies, 1, 83-99. doi. 10.1353/dsp.1991.0004. Shakir, E. (1997). Bint Arab. London: Praeger.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

A Practical Corpus-based Approach to Teaching English for Tourism

Nuria Edo Marzá (Corresponding author)

Departamento de Estudios Ingleses, Universitat Jaume I

Avenida Sos Baynat s/n, 12071, Castellón, Spain

Tel: 0034 964 72 96 12 E-mail: nedo@ang.uji.es Received: 10-09-2013 Accepted: 02-11-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.129 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.129 Publication framed within the Research Project awarded by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (former Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación), Reference FFI2011-2472, “Análisis léxico y discursivo de corpus paralelos y comparables (español, inglés y francés) de páginas electrónicas de promoción turística”. 2011-2014. Abstract The benefits derived from the use of corpora in the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) class seem out of question nowadays despite being a challenging task both for teachers and learners. Learning through a corpus-based approach or “data-driven learning” (DDL) (Johns 1986, 1994) allows students to get used to hands-on learning, thus promoting an inquiry-based approach leading them to discover patterns in authentic language use and making them linguistic researchers (Johns 2002) able to solve present and future linguistic needs of different nature with ease and autonomy. Accordingly, the main aim of the research presented is twofold: firstly, to show the students of the ESP subject “Introduction to English for Tourism” the multiple applications and benefits that the use of a specialised corpus may have in the learning process of a foreign specialised language. With this aim, the 25 students who took part in the pilot study reported were presented the COMETVAL1 corpus (Corpus Multilingüe de Turismo de la Universidad de Valencia), a specialised multilingual and multi-genre data base on tourism. In this initial stage, a workshop with different corpus activities was prepared to make students familiar with COMETVAL’s functioning, functionalities, and possible future professional applications. Secondly, students responded a questionnaire designed ad hoc to know their perceptions about the use of specialised corpora in class –exemplified with COMETVAL’s workshop– and about their potential particular interest in devising, compiling and exploiting a similar specialised corpus in and for the class both for teaching/learning and future professional purposes. Results show that students seem to feel positively motivated towards the use of corpora in class, specifically by the fact of having direct access to real, non-biased language samples from different genres; they do also find frequency and collocation-related data particularly interesting as well as linguistic patterns comparison between languages. In addition, students acknowledge the potential of autonomously relying on a specialised corpus for future professional queries. Keywords: corpus, data-driven learning (DDL), English for tourism, English for Specific Purposes (ESP), COMETVAL 1. Introduction 1.1 Theoretical framework According to Breyer (2008), teaching is a field in which technology has not had a strong impact, especially if compared with other areas. However, in the last 30 years the use of corpora in the classroom –understood as collections of naturally-occurring language texts, chosen to characterise a state or variety of a language (Sinclair, 1991) – has started to develop and research has shown that it can help improve students’ language proficiency (Varley, 2008). In fact, corpus benefits have actually been proven in studies on the teaching and learning of vocabulary by Cobb (1997), Cresswell (2007) and Stevens (1991). For instance, in the specific case of concordancing, it has not only proven to be a useful way “to mimic the effects of natural contextual learning” (Cobb, 1997, p. 314), researchers have also highlighted its usefulness for error correction in foreign or second language writing (Bernardini 2004; Chambers 2005; Gaskell & Cobb, 2004; Gray, 2005). In the same way, the benefits derived from the use of corpora in the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) class seem out of question nowadays. In Belcher’s words (2006, p. 142), corpus-based analyses “pushes students toward empirically based understanding of language used for specific purposes” at the same time that they nicely complement existing reference works and may provide information which a dictionary or grammar book may not provide. In fact, given the specificity of ESP, many available materials in the form of textbooks are not easily adaptable to real learners’ needs

IJALEL 3(1):129-136, 2014 130 because of being too broad (Harwood, 2005). In addition, this kind of pre-elaborated material supposed to fit everybody’s needs tends to be too artificial and lacks a final communicative objective and a consideration of students’ specific features and necessities. The use of corpora in class as a regular -but not exclusive- practice constitutes one of the best and most feasible alternatives for surpassing these problems and for making the most of ESP teaching and learning:

The corpus-based approach […] provides a means of handling large amounts of language and keeping track of many contextual factors at the same time. It therefore has opened the way to a multitude of new investigations of language us (Biber, Conrad and Reppen, 1998, p. 3).

Despite being a challenging task both for teachers and learners, using authentic and real-life examples with L2 learners is much more beneficial than using examples made up by the teacher, which do not foster real-life use of language (Madalena, 2001). In fact, McEnery and Wilson (1996) argue that foreign language teachers tend to produce or use simplified examples which do not reflect real-life use and which will, consequently, raise difficulties for students when confronted with real, more complex language that sometimes they are simply incapable of processing. In addition, learning through a corpus-based approach or “data-driven learning” (DDL) (Johns, 1986, 1994) makes it necessary and allows teachers to create classroom materials and activities to address specific class needs. In the same way, DDL allows students to get used to hands-on learning with authentic materials, thus promoting an inquiry-based approach leading them to empirically discover patterns in authentic language use and confronting the learner as directly as possible with the data, making him/her a linguistic researcher (Johns, 2002). In this way, students acquire the skills and are provided with the tools to be able to solve present and future linguistic needs of different nature with ease and autonomy. Making students aware of the potential and mechanics of corpus use is the necessary step prior to teaching and learning through a corpus-based approach. In this way they will experiment and better understand, for instance, the importance of “appropriate lexico-grammatical patternings with consideration of various contextual and situational features of the discourse for the notions and functions one wishes to convey” (Flowerdew, 2008, p. 133). Moreover, students will get to know that corpora are invaluable resources when it comes to raise their awarenesss of language and textual patterning of genres (Tribble, 2002). Nonetheless, despite its many advantages and benefits, students do also need to be aware of the possible limitations or shortcomings of corpus linguistics since, as Bennett (2010) states, corpus linguistics is not able to provide all possible language at one time –no matter how planned or large a corpus is, it cannot be representative of all language–, it is not able to provide negative evidence, so that it can only tell us what is present in the corpus, and it is not able to explain why something is the way it is, it simply tells us what it is. 1.2 Objectives The main aim of the paper here presented is twofold: firstly, to present to the students of the subject “Introduction to English for Tourism” from the Bachelor’s degree in Tourism at Universitat Jaume I in Castellón (Spain) the multiple applications and benefits that the use of a specialised corpus exploited with a suitable concordancing program may have in the learning process of a foreign specialised language as well as its many applications from a future professional perspective. With this aim in mind students were presented the COMETVAL (note1) project and corpus and worked with a representative subsection of it (specifically of its English and Spanish subcorpora) through a series of pre-elaborated, “hands-on-corpus” tasks. Secondly it was the researcher’s objective to know students’ perceptions about the use of specialised corpora in class derived from their own, first-hand experience previously acquired. With this aim in mind, students responded to a questionnaire on corpus use for teaching and learning purposes, that is, about its usefulness, difficulties, advantages and shortcomings as perceived by students aimed at determining the feasibility of compiling and using a specialised corpus in class designed and created ad hoc for the subject by the students. Accordingly, the main aim of this study was to make students aware of and familiar with alternative and productive ways of learning a foreign specialised language, emphasising the need to “learn real language use from real language use” in a practical and empirical manner which fixes knowledge in a more durable and meaningful way. 1.3 The Multilingual corpus on Tourism of Valencia: COMETVAL Students were thus introduced to corpus linguistics by showing them firstly what a corpus is and why it might be useful. This was done by presenting in class the corpus COMETVAL (Corpus Multilingüe de Turismo de la Universidad de Valencia), framed within an ambitious project aimed at getting to know better the discourse of tourism in order to strengthen the sector from a linguistic perspective. COMETVAL is stored in a specialised multilingual (Spanish, French and English), and multi-genre data base whose design and content allows its exploitation for terminological, discourse and metadiscourse analysis and translation purposes among others. COMETVAL includes institutional and private web pages related to the promotion of the industry of tourism. However, in this study we have focused on the independent subsection of COMETVAL devoted to the macrogenre “hotel webpage” (according to Calvi’s (2010)) categorisation for considering it the most useful one for our students. This big subsection of COMETVAL devoted to hotel web pages has a total of 7,577,102 words distributed into the different varieties of languages of work: American English, Irish English, UK English, American Spanish, Spanish from Spain, France French and Canadian French. The representative subsections of the corpus presented to students to work

IJALEL 3(1):129-136, 2014 131 with corresponds to a 750,000-word sample from the UK English part of the corpus and to a 750,000-word Spanish (from Spain) subcorpus employed for comparison purposes. Students were also shown how COMETVAL’s data base includes many fields and subfields allowing the user to filter very specific information. Among the fields, we find those related to administrative organization and identification such as those of title of the document, link, ID number of the register and researcher introducing the register. The source, location and language are also included as well as the genre and macrogenre each sample belongs to. Apart from this, the text itself together with the specific field and subfields dealt with in it are also included as well as the category of the establishment and the kind of addressee, among others. 2. Method 2.1 Participants and instruments The research was conducted in two two-hour sessions (four hours in total) in a class with 25 students with a presumed B1 level (according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) and 6 computers available with the concordance program WordSmith Tools 5.0 (WST) (note 2), the one chosen for corpus exploitation and analysis. 2.2 Procedure The procedure followed comprehended the following stages: Firstly, in an initial session, the COMETVAL project was presented to students by showing them the data base in which it is stored, how it works, its functionalities, the languages it works with and the different fields and subfields contained in each register. In fact, they were explained how COMETVAL allows users to filter the kind of data they want to work with. They were shown how, for instance, if they were interested in retrieving texts dealing with hotel facilities in high category hotels with the variety American English they would have had to do a search according to the parameters American E + Facilities (instalaciones) + high category hotel (hotelero alto). The search was carried out in class in order to illustrate the explanation. Secondly, students were explained that in order to work with a concordance program (in this case the aforementioned WST 5.0), COMETVAL’s texts need to be exported to a plain text format. Since COMETVAL is a corpus belonging to a research group and therefore not open access, I retrieved only a part of it for students to work with in class: a 750,000-word UK English subcorpus plus a 750,000-word Spanish (from Spain) subcorpus (for comparison purposes). Therefore, students did not work with the whole COMETVAL but with a representative and big enough sample of it. Thirdly, students were arranged in 5 groups of 4 and a group of 5 in the 6 computers available with a WST 5.0 licence. Previously, students had been asked to read a simple tutorial about the basic use of WST. At the end of the session a brief hands-on, warming-up practice –in which results interpretation was also explained– was carried out with WST, more specifically with its application Concord, the one our activities were focused on. In the fourth stage, during the second session, students, who had a folder with the corpora to work with in the desktop of their computers, started to work with a series of corpus familiarisation and exploitation tasks, namely 5 brief tasks (shown in the results section) with which to explore the potential of corpus usage both for teaching and learning purposes and for prospective professional use. Finally, after the corpus familiarisation and exploitation tasks, students were asked about their impressions on corpora use –its usefulness, perceived difficulty, etc.– and about their views on the possibility of compiling and exploiting corpora in class as a regular practice. The questionnaires designed for such purpose and the results obtained are also presented in section 3. 3. Results and discussion 3.1 Corpus familiarisation and exploitation activities developed in class The resulting activities designed and developed in order to familiarise students with corpus linguistics and in order to show them its usefulness for teaching and learning purposes are the ones below. A brief outline of the results obtained or to be obtained has also been included. Obvioulsy, the corpus students worked with was a written one so that these activities are mainly (but not only) intended at improving the written competence of students. Summary of activity 1: The adjective friendly is becoming increasingly used and common among hoteliers and hotel web pages to designate that their hotels are showing kind interest and goodwill towards specific types of clients. Get familiar with the use of this term by answering questions 1 to 4:

1. How many concordance lines can you find with the term “friendly”? Do you think it is a relevant term in the field? Why? Why not?

282 concordance lines were retrieved with the term friendly. Students all agreed, due to its frequency and thus to its relatively common use in the corpus, that it was a relevant term in the field.

2. Obviously, you will find many R1 collocates for “friendly” in the corpus (of the “staff” (friendly staff) or “atmosphere” (friendly atmosphere kind). Focus now on L1 collocates (without dismissing R1 ones) and note down what other things or aspects can be “friendly”. Note down the number of instances of each L1 collocate in the corpus in order to identify the most frequent friendly-type collocations.

The results obtained are the ones shown in Table 1.

IJALEL 3(1):129-136, 2014 132 Table 1. L1 collocates for the search word “friendly”

L1 Search word R1 Family (132)

friendly

Hotel, holiday park, resort, dinner, services, guesthouse, inn, value hotel, etc.

Pet (29) Places, establishment, cottages, hotel, inn, guesthouse. Dog (12) Areas, rooms. Gay (1) Hotel. Wheelchair (5) Hotel, hotel access. Cyclist (1) Hotel. User (1) Booking. Child (5) Areas, menus, hotel.

Table 1 shows, for instance, resulting collocations of the “family(-)friendy hotel” or “pet(-)friendly establishment” type together with the frequencies of joint occurrence between the L1 collocate and the search word.

3. Look at the concordance lines obtained and discuss in small groups the most suitable Spanish translation for

the term “family friendly hotel”. Among the options discussed by students, we find: HOTEL apropiado/adecuado/apto para familias, amigo de las familias, amigable para las familias, para toda la familia, para familias, hotel familiar.

4. Use the Spanish version of the corpus and look for the possible translations mentioned in 3. According to corpus results, are the translations proposed a reflection of real use?

Some of them were and some were not. According to students, frequency criteria indicate the preferred uses (in bold): HOTEL familiar (56) HOTEL para toda la familia (28)

HOTEL para familias (13) HOTEL apropiado (5) /adecuado (2) /apto(0) para familias, HOTEL amigo de las familias (0) HOTEL amigable para las familias(0) Summary of activity 2:

1. Brainstorming: Imagine you are writing an e-mail to a client, how would you ask a client to ask you whatever he/she may need?

These were some of the answers provided by students: Do you have any question? If you have a question, tell me. I can answer your questions. I can help you with your questions.

2. Look for as many synonyms for the word question as you can. These were mostly the terms retrieved: question, query, doubt, inquiry and enquiry.

3. Using Concord, look for the word question (and the synonyms found in 2) in the corpus. Do not forget to add an asterisk (*) at the end of the search word (for query, inquiry and enquiry use quer*, inquir* and enquir*) so that the program retrieves both singular and plural forms. Note down all the expressions that in your opinion may be useful for you to know in order to ask clients about their questions or doubts:

Some of the concordance lines obtained and thus some of the responses given were the ones listed below. As previously mentioned, students were also encouraged to create a sort of manual of useful phrases for everyday use at work in different situations.

IJALEL 3(1):129-136, 2014 133

Summary of activity 3:

1. In Spanish, the verbs hospedar, acomodar o alojar (“to accommodate” in English) have either a pronominal use or are followed by the Spanish preposition “a” (which in English tends to be “to”). Which of the two options below is the correct one?

The hotel accommodates to 150 guests this week. Option chosen by 16 students. The hotel accommodates 150 guests this week. Option chosen by 9 students.

2. Check in the corpus the use of the verb “to accommodate” and note down some significant concordance lines that illustrate its use. Check whether your answer to 1 was correct.

3.

4. You have probably also come across the expression “accommodate up to” among the concordance lines retrieved. What is its meaning according to the corpus? Note down a couple of these examples for you to keep.

Students deducted from the examples in the corpus that “accommodate up to” means alojar/acomodar/hospedar HASTA X personas/comensales, etc.

Summary of activity 4:

1. Look for the adjectives most frequently used to describe location by introducing the search word “location*” in WST.

In this case the students came across adjectives such as perfect, ideal, quiet, rural, lakesite, dazzling, peaceful, great, incredible, superb, prime, desirable, central, etc. This simple kind of activity allows them to enlarge their vocabulary knowledge and enrich their positive evaluative language, so important in the tourism industry. Summary of activity 5:

1. The verb “to contact” (understood as ponerse en contacto (getting in touch with somebody through social interaction)) may cause some trouble among Spanish students. In your opinion, is the following sentence correct or incorrect? Contact with me if you want more information.

19 students believed it to be incorrect whereas 6 students considered it correct. 2. Look for the word “contact” in the corpus and note down some evidence of the correct use of the word. Note

down as many patterns as you can with the word “contact”. Was your answer to question 1 correct?

Contact + D. O.

Contact for:

Contact on:

3. Is there any instance in which “contact with” is correct?

Yes, with the structure “keep in contact with” (mantenerse en contacto con alguien).

IJALEL 3(1):129-136, 2014 134 3.2 The prospective compilation and use of a specialised corpus in class: the questionnaire on students’ perceptions In the final stage of the research students were administered and responded an anonymous questionnaire designed ad hoc to know about their perceptions on the use of specialised corpora in class and about their particular interest in devising, compiling, implementing and exploiting a similar specialised corpus both for teaching/learning and future professional purposes.

Table 2. Questionnaire administered to students and number of responses provided for each item. PART 1 – Perceptions and opinions about COMETVAL and corpus familiarisation activities.

1 No

2 Dubious

3 Yes

1. Do you find COMETVAL useful for you as a student? 0 4 21 2. Could COMETVAL be useful for you as a future tourism

professional? 2 4 19

3. Do you find it useful the way COMETVAL’s data base has been designed (its layout)?

2 5 18

4. Do you find having access to corpora in different languages useful?

0 0 25

5. Do you find having access to different genres useful? 0 0 25 6. Do you find COMETVAL’S data base manageable? 1 9 15 7. Do you find concordance software useful? 1 4 20 8. Do you find concordance software manageable for students? 2 7 16 9. Would you be able to work with concordance software on your

own? 2 8 15

10. Can a corpus help you to identify new and relevant uses of a word and their possible translation? (Task 1)

0 3 22

11. Can a corpus help you to identify and use set expressions in order to express yourself more naturally? (Task 2)

0 2 23

12. Can a corpus help you to find out the correct way of using a verb avoiding (incorrect) literal translations? (Task 3)

0 1 24

13. Can a corpus help you to make your discourse more adequate and vivid by providing, for example, instances of evaluative language (adjectives) in use? (Task 4)

0 2 23

14. Can a corpus help you to check whether a given use of language is correct and how to use it correctly? (Task 5)

0 1 24

PART 2 – Perceptions and opinions about the possibility of compiling and using ad hoc corpora in class on a regular basis.

1 No

2 Dubious

3 Yes

15. Would you find the use of corpora designed ad hoc useful for you as a student?

2 1 22

16. Would you find the use of corpora designed ad hoc useful for you as future tourism professional?

4 1 20

17. Would you like to participate in the compilation of a corpus for teaching/learning purposes?

2 8 15

18. Would you find it useful to use corpora in class on a regular basis?

3 0 22

19. Would you like to be taught only with a corpus? 15 4 6 20. Would you like to be taught combining textbook exercises,

corpus tasks and other resources? 0 0 25

21. Can a corpus help you gain competence in speaking? 0 3 22 22. Can a corpus help you gain competence in writing? 0 2 23

As may be observed in Table 2, the questionnaire designed shows a very simple three-item scale for the 22 items posed. The questionnaire included two separate but complementary parts according to the objectives of the study. The resulting number of responses obtained for each of the items has been included in Table 2 to make results fully available and illustrative Regarding the perceptions and opinions about COMETVAL and the concordance software familiarisation activities carried out in class, most students seemed to understood the scope and potential of corpus use since they acknowledge

IJALEL 3(1):129-136, 2014 135 the usefulness of COMETVAL for both present (learning) and future (professional) purposes (items 1 and 2). Most students do also see the benefits of storing corpora in multi-field registers allowing for quick and meaningful information retrieval –based on language, genre, etc.- so that they, once again, acknowledge the benefits of COMETVAL’s layout and retrieval possibilities (items 3 to 5). Nonetheless, 9 students are dubious about the manageability of COMETVAL (item 6). As regards concordance software, despite the fact that WST is not the most user-friendly of concordancers, 80% of the students find it useful, 64% find it manageable and 60% of them believe they would be able to work with it on their own (items 7 to 9). Finally, items 10 to 14 in the first part of the questionnaire tried to make students reflect about the purpose and usefulness of the familiarisation activities carried out in class. The vast majority of students agreed that a corpus is a useful tool in order to identify new and relevant uses of a word and their possible translation, identify and use set expressions in order to express themselves more naturally, find out the correct way of using a given word (thus avoiding incorrect literal translations) and make their discourse more adequate and vivid by providing instances of, in this specific case, evaluative language (adjectives) in use. As regards the second part of the questionnaire devoted to perceptions and opinions about the possibility of compiling and using ad hoc corpora in class on a regular basis, the majority of students find the use of corpora useful for them both as students and as prospective tourism professionals (items 15 and 16). 60% of them would like to participate in the compilation of a corpus for teaching/learning purposes (item 17). 88% of the students would you find it useful to use corpora in class on a regular basis but only 24% of them would like to be taught exclusively with a corpus (items 18 and 19). Nonetheless, 100% of the students agreed that they would like to be taught combining textbook exercises, corpus tasks and other resources and the vast majority also agreed that a corpus could help them gain competence in both speaking and writing (items 20 to 22). Accordingly, to sum up, results show that, in general, students feel positively motivated towards the use of corpora for learning purposes. They specially like the fact of having direct access to real, non-biased language samples from different genres; they feel motivated by the many and different searches that can be undertaken due to the inclusion of retrieval categories and they do also find particularly interesting collocational results as well as the data derived from the comparison between English and Spanish patterns. In addition, students acknowledge the potential and benefits of autonomously relying on a specialised corpus for future professional queries and seem positively motivated towards this possibility even though they prefer not to be taught exclusively with a corpus but with a combination of methods. Students seem positively motivated towards compiling and using a corpus in class because a great majority of them do believe it could help them to improve their linguistic competence, specifically as regards their oral and written skills. Results show then a general positive attitude towards the study and, hence, towards the use of a corpus-based approach for ESP teaching and learning, which could be translated into a combination of traditional and corpus-based methods. 4. Conclusion As suitably formulated by Aston (2000, p. 16) “language pedagogy is increasingly designing its own corpora to its own criteria”. We do not know exactly how these criteria will develop in the next few decades. One thing that we can be sure of, however, is that the field of corpus linguistics and language teaching has an exciting future that both researchers and teachers can, and should, look forward to. ESP is probably one of the most characteristic applications of corpus linguistics, with or through which the areas of register, lexicogrammar and phraseology can be analysed also in specific discourse. Corpus linguistics and terminotic tools offer the possibility of introducing students to a hands-on, task-based approach to ESP –in the case of this study, the language of tourism– that makes them more aware of real language use and makes them more autonomous and as well as deductive and even curious. As has tried to be shown throughout this study, the possibilities offered by corpus analyses are varied and complementary, these including the possibility of verifying certain hypotheses about languages, finding support examples or counter examples, using a corpus as a reference, seeing whether certain instances are possible or which one is more natural, answering specific questions of certain words, phrases and structures, knowing where the problems are or what should be taught, extracting generalisations and comparing languages among many others Learning through a corpus allows students to get involved in a “self-discovery” process that enhances active and lasting learning. They have the possibility of analysing the language in vivo and not “canned” in aseptic and artificial text books and this is something students appreciate if we help them to understand the mechanics of corpus exploitation and analysis. Obviously, learning through a corpus-based approach implies a necessary ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) component translated into the need of using computers and software concordance programs which are not always available or are not always feasible. However, if the material means needed are at students and teachers’ disposal, data-driven learning is probably one of the most effective, meaningful and long-lasting ways of learning and students seem to perceive it in the same way. In the researcher’s opinion and according to the results obtained all through this research, if students know “how” to retrieve and interpret data from a corpus, they will easily draw conclusions, relate data and make generalisations as regards language use, something which will make them more autonomous and reflective in their way of approaching any foreign language. References Aston, G. (2000). Corpora and language teaching. In L. Burnard & T. McEnery (Eds.), Rethinking Language Pedagogy from a Corpus Perspective (pp. 7-17). Frankfurt: Lang.

IJALEL 3(1):129-136, 2014 136 Belcher, D. (2006). English for specific purposes: Teaching to perceived needs and imagined futures in worlds of work, study, and everyday life. TESOL Quarterly, 40, 1, 133-156. Bennett, G. R. (2010). Using corpora in the Language Learning Clasroom: Corpus Linguistics for Teachers. Michigan ELT. Bernardini, S. (2004). Corpora in the classroom: An overview and some reflections on future developments. In J. McH. Sinclair (Ed.), How to use corpora in language teaching (pp.15-36). Amsterdam: Benjamins. Biber, D., Conrad, S & Reppen, R. (1998). Corpus linguistics: investigating language structure and use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Breyer, Y. (2008). Learning and teaching with corpora: Reflections by student teachers. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 22(2), 153-172. Calvi, M.V. (2010). Los géneros discursivos en la lengua del turismo: una propuesta de clasificación. Ibérica, 19: 9-32. Cobb, T. (1997). Is there Any Measurable Learning from Hands-on Concordancing? System, 25(3), (pp. 301-315). Cresswell, A. (2007). Getting to ‘Know’ Connectors? Evaluating Data-driven Learning in a Writing Skills Course. In E. Hidalgo, L. Quereda and J. Santana (eds.), Corpora in the Foreign Language Classroom (pp. 267-288). Amsterdam: Rodopi. Chambers, A. (2005). Integrating corpus consultation in language studies. Language Learning and Technology, 9 (2), 111-125. Gaskell, D., & Cobb, T. (2004). Can learners use concordance feedback for writing errors? System, 32, 301-319. Gray, B. E. (2005). Error-specific concordancing for intermediate ESL/EFL writers. Retrieved January 18, 2013 from http:// dana.ucc.na4.edu/~bde6/coursework/Projects/PedagogicalTip/homepage.html. Harwood, N. 2005. What do we want EAP teaching materials for? Journal of English for AcademicPurposes, 4: 149-161. Johns, T. (1986). Microconcord: A Language-learner’s Research Tool. System 14(2), 151_162. Johns, T. (1994). From Printout to Handout: Grammar and Vocabulary Teaching in the Context of Data-driven Learning. In T. Odline (Ed.), Perspectives on Pedagogical Grammar (pp. 27-45). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Johns, T. (2002). Data-driven Learning: The Perpetual Challenge. In B. Kettemann & G. Marko, Teaching and learning by doing corpus analysis (pp. 107-117). Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Teaching and Language Corpora, Graz 19-24 July, 2000. Flowerdew, L. (2008) Corpus-Based Analyses of the Problem-Solution Pattern. A phraseological Approach. Amsterdam/Philadelphia, John Benjamins Publishing Company. McEnery, T. &Wilson, A. (1996). Corpus Linguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Maddalena, S.R. (2001). An investigation into how corpus analysis may be used in the second language classroom to solve some of the problems surrounding non-native speakers’ understanding of seemingly synonymous words. Retrieved August 15, 2013 from ERIC database. Stevens, V. (1991). Concordance-based Vocabulary Exercises: A Viable Alternative to Gapfillers. In J., Tim & P. King (Eds.), Classroom Concordancing (ELR Journal 4), (pp. 47-63). Sinclair, J. (1991). Corpus, Concordance, Collocation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Tribble, C. (2002). Corpora and corpus analysis: New windows on academic writing. In J. Flowerdew (Ed.) Academic Discourse (pp. 131-149). Harlow, England, Longman. Varley, S. (2008). I’ll just look that up in the concordance: Integrating corpus consultation into the language learning environment. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 22 (2), 133-152. Notes Note 1. COMETVAL is the acronym for Corpus Multilingüe en Turismo de Valencia. Note 2. The author is aware of the fact that WordSmith Tools is not probably the most user-friendly concordance program currently available but believes it to be the one with the greatest potential and this is the reason for having used it.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Barthes’ Irreversible Codes: An Intertextual Reading of James Joyce’s “Araby”

Seyed Ali Booryazadeh (Corresponding author)

Department of English Language and Literature, Vali-e-Asr University, Rafsanjan, Iran

E-mail: seyedalibooryazadeh@yahoo.com

Sohila Faghfori

Department of English Language and Literature, Vali-e-Asr University, Rafsanjan, Iran

E-mail: Sohila_faghfori@yahoo.com

Received: 22-09-2013 Accepted: 02-11-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.137 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.137 Abstract Roland Barthes believes that semiology is the study of how language embodies the world. Semiotic codes, the paths of this embodiment, accordingly arouse his attention. Barthes in a structural analysis of Balzac’s “Sarrasine” in S/Z expounds five types and functions of these codes: proairetic (basic narrative actions); hermeneutic (narrative turning points); cultural (prior social knowledge); semic (medium-related codes) and symbolic (themes). This research in a parallel manner explicates that “Araby,” one of the most widely read of James Joyce’s short stories, is abounded with two of these irreversible codes (proairetic and hermeneutic). The present study furthermore tries to show how with resort to a series of signs and the idea of intertextuality a literary text can provide probable answers for some ambiguous and questionable lexias that comprise the story’s hermeneutic code. It demonstrates that not only can the text of “Araby” be encoded by the same criteria Barthes encoded “Sarrasine” but also Joyce himself presents particular names for these codes. Keywords: semiology, hermeneutic code, proairetic code, intertextuality, gnomon, simony, Araby, Dubliners 1. Introduction Semiology, one of the most fruitful concepts derived from structuralism, becomes for Roland Barthes a perspective that questions other established disciplines. Barthes in S/Z demonstrates that “the world we perceive is one not of “facts,” but rather of “signs about facts,” which we encode and decode ceaselessly from signifying systems to signifying system” (Waugh, 2006, p. 271). He develops his semiological method of reading the sign systems of culture after the work of Roman Jakobson, a Russian linguist who believes that creation and explication of texts depends on codes. Semiology, generally defined as the science of signs, in fact becomes the study of codes, the systems into which the signs are organized. In S/Z Barthes as a structuralist and due to the “principle of parsimony” (Chandler, 2007, P. 149) enumerates five codes employed in literary texts. One of these codes is proairetic code. This code is derived from the concept of proairetic:

The ability rationally to determine the result of an action, we shall name this code of actions and behaviour proairetic (in narrative, however, the discourse, rather than the characters, determines the action). This code of actions will be abbreviated ACT; furthermore, since these actions produce effects, each effect will have a generic name giving a kind of title to the sequence, and we shall number each of the terms which constitute it, as they appear. (Barthes, 1970/1990, P. 18)

According to Barthes all the events of a text are “codable,” which means capable of being encoded and named. Robert Scholes (1982) respectively states that “We recognize actions because we are able to name them” (p. 99). In practice, Barthes applies some principles of selectivity and claims that “the proairetic sequence is never more than the result of an artifice of reading” (1970/1990, p. 19): that is to say they are recorded during the process of reading; therefore, their only definitive characteristic is the name they are given. Additionally, Proairetic code is irreversible: it governs the reader’s construction of the plot, and it is mostly defined by its relationship to other same items appearing earlier or later in the text. The other irreversible code that Barthes deals with it is hermeneutic code. This code consists of

all the units whose function it is to articulate in various ways a question, its response, and the variety of chance events which can either formulate the question or delay its answer; or even, constitute an enigma and lead to its solution. (1970/1990, p. 17)

IJALEL 3(1):137-142, 2014 138 In Culler’s (1975) words, “The hermeneutic code involves the logic of question and answer, enigma and solution, suspense and peripeteia” (p. 203). This code is also the most pervasive code that can be found in detective and open-ended fictions, the fictions whose central elements are suspense and ambiguity. Intertextuality can sometimes be an applicable key to these locks. The concept of intertextuality that the literary terms of allusion, quotation, and adaptation are conceived as its subcategories was in the first place introduced by Julia Kristeva (1986). It means that each text exists in relation to others. In fact, texts are more indebted to other texts than to their own creators. Since for structuralists language pre-exists individualism, intertextuality represents broader influences than the influences of writers on each other. In other words, it counterpoises the singularity, uniqueness, or originality of the texts and authors. In this respect Barthes (1977) refers to the writer of a text as an orchestrator of “already written” one rather than as its originator. In his point of view

A text is . . . a multidimensional space in which a variety of writings, none of them original, blend and clash. The text is a tissue of quotations . . . The writer can only imitate a gesture that is always anterior, never original. His only power is to mix writings, to counter the ones with the others, in such a way as never to rest on any one of them. (p. 146)

According to Barthes in order to reveal the codes of a text the best way is dismantling the text into lexias or textual signifiers of changing length that have a specific effect or function different from that of neighbouring stretches of text. Then, these textual signifiers should be scrutinized with minute detail. Therefore, this research according to the applied methodology in S/Z initially divides the text of “Araby” into several lexias in order to elucidate the structural components that carry a nonverbal message. With having recourse to the first lines of Dubliners this study meanwhile shows that Joyce allocates particular names to these codes. 2. Discussion “Araby,” the last story of childhood trilogy of Dubliners, recapitulates the moral paralysis which Joyce feels to suffocate the spirit of Dublin. It thematically seems to contain archetypal patterns of “The sisters” (a quest for the father surrogate), and “An Encounter” (the heroic archetype of quest). “Araby” furthermore is an initiation story in which the unnamed juvenile and innocent boy unknowingly sets off his journey for the station of knowledge and spiritual adulthood. Accompanying the little boy along the story and with the help of the signs which have not seemed to be conveyable to him yet, the idea that the people of this world are forlorn and their souls are incarcerated is disclosed. With having recourse to “a central apple tree” (Dubliners 23) in the garden behind the house which draws an analogy between the yard and the Garden of Eden, “Araby” can also be an allegory of man’s fall. Likewise, “Araby”

appears in Book 4 of Paradise Lost and is associated with the Garden of Eden; Milton compares the sensual impact upon Satan of the newly created paradise on earth with the effect upon sailors of the scented breezes from the “spicie shoar/Of Arabie.” Joyce’s story similarly suggests a link between Araby and Eden. (Doloff, 1995, p. 113)

From the beginning, the little boy tries to set free himself from the different bondages of society: “I had hardly any patience with the serious work of life” (Dubliners 26). This emancipation struggle-epitomized as a voyage toward East through most stories of Dubliners-is analogous to that of Stephan Dedalus in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man but in a nascent chapter of life. Seemingly, like the former (as Stephan Dedalus is followed through Ulysses) “Araby” as a portrait of the artist in juvenescence ends in an uncertainty and frustration. From the first act of the story when the Christian Brothers School literally emancipates the boys, the concept of thraldom versus freedom divulges. This concept becomes more conspicuous in the actions and expressions of the boy: he walks up to Mangan’s steps “resignedly”; “Every morning” he in a prone posture (signifies his acquiescence) in the front parlour watches her door; he incessantly conjures up her brown image; her name is “like a summons” to him (Dubliners 24); in his prayers he unconsciously eulogizes her as deity; it is nebulous for him that why he sometimes dissolves into tears, and his body is “like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires” (Dubliners 25). As it is observed through lexias, the boy is enslaved and obsessed with the Mangan’s sister thought, and his actions signify the inferred thraldom and represent the proairetic code of captivity. Mangan’s sister, the other main character of the story, is the raison d'etre of the boy’s infatuation. When she holds one of the spikes, the little boy feels she is that exorcizing force standing above him like Jesus. Just like Dante’s love for Beatrice in The Divine Comedy, through the boy’s eyes she is a kind of heavenly love which purifies itself from the carnal to the sublime, “a love able to transcend the mundane, manifest itself in the abstracts, and finally resolve itself in the fervent religious intensity necessary for union with God” (Collins, 1968, p. 96). But the depiction of Mangan’s sister and unfeigned nature of her actions which the little boy fails to behold besmirches her sanctity. The descriptions of her actions including tossing “the soft rope of her hair,” peering “up and down the street,” holding “one of the spikes” and “turning a bracelet round and round her wrist” (Dubliners pp. 24-25), and illustration of her posture ranging from “The light from the lamp opposite our door caught the white curve of her neck” to “the white border of a petticoat, just visible as she stood at ease” (Dubliners 25) to her brown raiment (Beatrice’s was white) signify those of Mary Magdalene, a prostitute whom Jesus casts out seven devils from her soul. About Mary Magdalene Haskins (1995) writes “That the woman wears her hair loose is another sign of her fallen status, as only prostitutes wore their hair thus in public” (p. 16). Moreover, with resort to Matthew 27:3 (New Testament of the King James Bible): “Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elder,” Mangan’s sister’s silver bracelet becomes a sign in the story that represents the Judas’ silver. The

IJALEL 3(1):137-142, 2014 139 application of the word “rope” for her hairs instead of lock also signifies crucifixion, the death of an illusion. Since “Araby” connotatively deals with illusion and reality, Mangan’s sister “can be compared to and contrasted with Stephen Dedalus’ “vision” in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man which gave to him a “profane” joy and led him from religion to art” (Collins, 1968, p. 97). These signs in addition to unveiling Mangan’s sister’s worldly features and invalidating her divine aspects evince the theme of betrayal-crucifixion. Through her it is possible to sum up signs which authenticate and lead to the proairetic code of “simony.” The word “simony,” that to accompaniment of “gnomon” and “paralysis” (Dubliners 3) appears in the first lines of Dubliners, in Catholicism stands for the act of buying or selling ecclesiastical services, but it also connotes the dehumanizing or debasement of love, religion, and the intellect. Similar to code of paralysis this code is dominant in the stories. The “simony” or moral paralysis of Dublin is first seen from the child’s limited, naïve point of view to which it appears (in the figures of paralyzed priest of “The Sisters” and the pervert of “An Encounter”) as something mysterious because not yet experienced or understood and is finally penetrated at the end of “Araby” as mere shabby vanity, where the boy is confused about lust and love. Phillip F. Herring (1987) says that “‘Araby’ teaches a lesson: not that lovers are fools, or that romantic feeling is only for experienced lovers, but that love is both spiritual and carnal” (p. 33). This confusion continues up to “The Boarding House” where Mrs. Mooney makes use of the word “business” (Dubliners 59) instead of marriage, a “mercenary search for an advantageous sum” (Boysen, 2008, p. 163). As it is demonstrated in the pictures below, “Araby” is the debut of a geographical precision that continues in other stories such as “Two Gallants” and comes to a climax in Ulysses (1922). The boy’s downward journey from his uncle’s house toward bazaar which simultaneously accompanies and signifies his fall from innocence represents the proairetic code of fall. This code becomes stronger in “Two Gallants” and reaches to its pinnacle in “The Boarding House” when Bob Doran without hope and in a paralytic manner descends the stairs to acquiesce in Mrs. Mooney’s plan and reparation: “He longed to ascend through the roof and fly away to another country where he would never hear again of his trouble, and yet a force pushed him downstairs step by step” (Dubliners 63). These signs in different stories help corroborate codes, and like some detective stories help render some recondite ambiguities answerable, or provide plausible clues for filling the missing parts of story. 1. Picture of boy’s route to Araby 2. Picture of Lenehan and Corley’s routes

Although unlike a detective fiction it seems that there is no query in the beginning of “Araby,” by resistance against the definite conclusion, it invites the readers to a challenge for filling the gap. Likewise, all the stories of Dubliners as part of modern fiction contain some kind of absence, enigma, ambiguity and indeterminacy. The nature of this lack of clarity in an expression or in a situation is much analogous to the rhetorical figure of aporia: the stalemate that resides at the core of any text. As Marian Eide (2004) states “aporia that is Beckett’s mark of uncertainty, invalidation, and even hopelessness ”for Joyce betokens “the undermining of determinate meaning, the path that gives way, all of these are intellectual opportunities for creativity, for path breaking, for the entertaining of possibility from within the impossible” (P. 30). However, sometimes there is a probable answer for the elliptical conundrums and ambiguities in the stories, and it allocates to itself the particular name and code of epiphany. Joyce occasionally sheds light on some ambiguities in his novels too, but sometimes there are no clarifications since Joyce does not feel a need to complete them. In the opinion of Herring (1987) when the discourse normally does not decipher these states of aesthetic suspension, “readers are invited to fill the gap by speculating about what is missing, such as what happened in an important scene omitted from a plot sequence” (p. xii). This omission forces the reader to the recursive process of rereading this and other stories of Dubliners in order “to find solutions that will never have the assurance of discursive truth” (Scholes, 1982, p. 102). With resort to the first lines of Dubliners the situations, conversations, and omissions of the plot that cannot easily be understood can be ingredient of a “gnomon” code. As mentioned in Book II of Elements, Euclid’s mathematical and geometric treatise,

A gnomon is the part of a parallelogram which remains after a similar parallelogram has been taken away from one of its corners. The smaller parallelogram is considered to be the absently present form and its relation to the bigger-but-incomplete one endorses a symbolic, rather micro-macrocosmic, absence/presence pattern which has served Joyce to build a notional/functional foundation in his fiction. (Ghahreman, 2013, p. 159)

IJALEL 3(1):137-142, 2014 140 Similarly, there are physical objects in “Araby” that denote a gnomic sketch. For example,

The layout of the street, so carefully described, consists of a row of houses on either side, forming a rectangle, so that the vacant house at the end, “detached from its neighbours in a square ground,” serves as the removed portion of a gnomonic parallelogram whose flawed remainder will be the setting of the story. (Robinson, 1987, p. 388)

Therefore, the code of “gnomon” is a hermeneutic code that refers to significant absences of Dubliners. According to the obscure situation and strange behaviour of Father Flynn this code first of all appears in “The Sisters.” From “The Sisters” onward, gnomon codes dominate most stories of Dubliners and other works of Joyce as well (For instance, in Exiles the nebulous liaison of Bertha with Robert Hand in a love triangle from which Bertha’s husband Richard Rowan is omitted for the most part). The first gnomonic part of the childhood trilogy is about the name of characters and narrative point of view. The stories like Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven,” one of the most mysterious narratives, have the anonymous first person narrators that make it difficult to comprehend what relationship the narrator has with the other characters. In “Araby” moreover to the boy, Mangan’s sister is premeditatedly unnamed. That the girl has no other name than Mangan, causes curiosity and impels more dwelling upon that name. James Clarence Mangan (1803-49) was a jingoist Irish poet who dedicated his famous poem “The Dark Rosaleen” to Ireland. Though allegedly a love poem, it is an allegorical poem in which a hero comes to save Ireland from the English. Also, the men of God in the poem aid to remove Ireland from backwardness and inferiority. The protagonist of “Araby” also in a knightly manner and as a courtly lover carries his patriotic “chalice” of love among the most unromantic places and through the most unsentimental foes. Since the first application of “chalice” is in “The Sisters,” it is a sign that portends like Father Flynn the protagonist will despondently at the end drop his chalice, the small globules of hope, love, and patriotism that he can no longer hold in Dublin. Later in the story his straightforward uncle relates the poem of “The Arab’s Farewell to His Steed” which its connotation put emphasis on his dejected outcome. This background, an implied metaphor about the name of Mangan and the protagonist’s chivalric manner signify that Mangan’s sister represents Ireland herself. Because the only light of the story is associated with her, she can also be a kind of deity (though formerly in this study she represents the betrayer Judas and Mary Magdalene before purgation). The other gnomonic part is related to the protagonist’s not remembering the purpose of his journey to bazaar. For a precise answer to this gnomon it is mandatory to have a brief look at Dante’s The Divine Comedy. Like Chaucer who with having recourse to The Divine Comedy relates his House of Fame, Joyce’s most likely utilization of this intertextual matter casts light on “Araby.” In the first line of Dubliners the sentence “There was no hope for him this time” (p. 3) shows that Joyce deliberately applies a literary allusion to Dante’s Inferno: “Abandon every hope, you who enter” (Dante, 1555/1996, p. 55). Like Dante, the protagonist of The Divine Comedy, the protagonist of “Araby” idealized a Beatrice and then strays (Dante approached Beatrice from the romantic and courtly aspect of love to a divine personification of her, but the little boy first moves toward Mangan’s sister as divine and then takes cognizance of the fact that his interest is thoroughly romantic). When he arrives at Araby, his shilling is taken by a worn out doorman who is seemingly a kind of Charon. In Greek mythology, Charon is the ferryman of Hades who carries souls of the newly deceased from the world of the living to the world of the dead. For his work he must be paid with a coin. After entering Araby, like Dante in Inferno who knows the past and future but not the present, the protagonist cannot recall the grounds of being there. And like Dante’s soul his soul is condemned to hell since the story ends on disconsolate signs in darkness: “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger” (Dubliners 29). The connotation of darkness in this indelible spell of mind reminds one of a salient idea in Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus the King: the idea of love’s being blind, and when the reality reveals, the blindness of an illusion leads to a view of darkness. Furthermore, the “big hall” (Dubliners 28) of Araby accompanying darkness connotes

the spacious Hall” of Satan’s council (1.762) in the “darkness” (2.377) where Belial and the others convene. The darkness in the last sentence in which the boy “sees” himself so painfully may also recall the “darkness visible” of Milton’s Hell, which “[s]erv’d only to discover sights of woe” (1.63-64). (Doloff, 1995, p. 114)

In aspect of story-telling structure the story has a gnomic plot too: it has a beginning and middle, but it seems to have no end. According to Aristotle, the plot of a story must follow an ordered sequence: “The order of a unified plot, Aristotle pointed out, is a continuous sequence of beginning, middle, and end . . . we feel satisfied that the plot is complete” (Abrams, 1990, p. 226). The completeness of a work brings pleasure for the readers; consequently, the feeling of relief and tranquility revolves around them. When the reader solves the suspense of the story, he achieves the pleasures of reading, but “Araby” hangs its readers in the air and the result is losing the satisfaction. Like the boy, reader is left in the dark and incapable of finding out what the protagonist’s “anguish and anger” is about. Is it that he misses his plan of buying something special for Mangan’s sister? Or does he recognize in watching the adults’ flirting that his chivalric dreams and love for her are actually lust? The possibility of a yes or no answer to each of these questions is “precisely what lends these stories their enduring power. Joyce does not give us easy answers. Instead, he challenges us to search for them ourselves” (Bulson, 2006, p. 38). This ellipsis can also be a gnomon of perspective. Because Joyce revelations appear objectively not subjectively, they obey such an aesthetic distance. An intertextual reference to Paradise lost provides a probable answer to this gnomonic epiphany. This gnomic term is also used by Belial, the fallen angel in paradise lost who has accepted his defeat diplomatically. Joyce’s choice of words “a creature driven and derided by vanity” (Dubliners 29) reverberates the status of the fallen angels, signify that

IJALEL 3(1):137-142, 2014 141 of the boy and amazingly revitalize the proairetic code fall in the last line of story. Moreover, declaring the rolls that other characters plays in the creation of the boy’s anguish and anger and his fallen position is of a great importance. His uncle, who is intoxicated even at the sacred nights, talks to him bluntly and by reciting “The Arab’s Farewell to His Steed” foreshadows the end and postpones his visit to Araby; his aunt who at the end of story takes the boy part does not seem very supportive or compassionate; Mrs. Mercer, a pawnbroker widow like the two men who counts money on a salver evokes mammonism and materiality, and the young saleswoman at the bazaar while wrangling with young gentlemen proclaims “O, I never said such a thing! . . . O, there is a . . . fib!” (Dubliners 28). This gnomic dialogue, especially utilization of the word “fib” that is charged with significance, replaces the little boy’s fantasies of love in terms of chivalric romance with the trivial actuality of ordinary flirtation. There is a quite similar elliptic dialogue in the passage of Stephen Hero (1944) that epitomizes the code of simony: Stephen beholds a couple standing before “those brown brick houses” and eavesdrops on their conversation:

The Young Lady (drawling discreetly) . . . O, yes . . . I was . . . at . . . the . . . cha . . . pel . . . The Young Gentleman (inaudibly) . . . I . . . (again inaudibly) . . . I . . . The Young Lady-(softly) . . . but you’re . . . ve . . . ry . . . wick . . . ed . . . . (p. 118)

In aspect of feminine character “Araby” is also much identical to the final section of Homer’s Book III of The Odyssey where Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, descry the palace of Menelaus and Helen. In quest of a father the boy of “Araby” and Telemachus are homogeneous and the four women in “Araby” (the boy’s aunt to a lesser extent) coalesce to delineate Helen, the destroyer of men. Stunningly enough, here Telemachus story without satisfying him ends despondently too. 3. Conclusion Joyce, the lord of words and disguise, created an enigmatic texture for the readers to interpret. The readers’ plight when encounter with gnomonic structures resuscitate the experiences of the characters that themselves are entangled with interpretive questions in the story. Although an interpretation, no matter how conclusive and practically dependable, remains always a generation disparate from that to which it is addressed, it helps to have a better understanding and outlook of the text. Intertextuality as an interpretive and semiotic appliance verifies that each text exist in relation to others. Furthermore, it states that texts provide contexts and codes within which other texts may be created and interpreted. Here the intertextual study of “Araby” demonstrates that it reflects many voices, not just that of Joyce: it has a multidimensional space in which a variety of none original writings blends. On that account, Joyce in his polyphonic and all-encompassing “Araby” amalgamates writings and counters them with each other, but his power implicitly lies in the fact that he does not rest on any one of them. Each story of Dubliners contains some kind of ambiguity, absence and enigma that make them mysterious for readers and instigate their sense of curiosity. With a resort to the first lines of Dubliners it can be inferred that Joyce allocated to these enigmas the name of gnomon. In fact, Joyce instead of utilizing the word of hermeneutic inserted the word “gnomon” in the text as a sign that can be associated and followed by the subsequent signs in later stories. The code of gnomon is actually that of hermeneutic Barthes applied in S/Z, the code that refers to missing information of a story. Furthermore, the major Proairetic code of the story that this study authenticates is the code of simony. Simony that denotatively means the selling of material goods for spiritual benefit, through the course of signs connotes the vulgarization, debasement and denigration of religion, romance, and the intellect. Therefore, gnomon and simony can be considered as great irreversible codes (the type of codes that Barthes specified in S/Z) around which the whole sign system of the text turns. They also have strong affinities with the other distinguished codes of “Araby” such as paralysis, captivity or fall. References Abrams, M. H. (1990). A Glossary of Literary Terms. London: Thomas Heinle. Alighieri, D. (1996). The Divine Comedy (Robert M. Durling, Trans.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Barthes, R. (1977). Image–Music–Text. London: Fontana Press. Barthes, R. (1990). S/Z (Richard Miller, Trans.). Oxford: Blackwell. Boysen, B. (2008). The Necropolis of Love: James Joyce’s Dubliners. Neohelicon 36 (1), 157-169. Chandler, D. (2007). Semiotics: The Basics. (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. Bulson, E. (2006). The Cambridge Introduction to James Joyce. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Collins, B. L. (1968). “Araby” and the Extended Similie. In Peter K. Garrett (Ed.), Twentieth Century Interpretations of Dubliners (93-99) Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc. Culler, J. (1975). Structuralist Poetics: Structuralism, Linguistics and the study of Literature. London and New York, NY: Routledge. Doloff, S. (1995). Aspects of Milton’s Paradise Lost in James Joyce’s “Araby.” James Joyce Quarterly, 33 (1), 113-115. Ghahreman, O. (2013). James Joyce’s “An Encounter”: From the Perversion of an Escape to the Perversion of the Fatherhood. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 2 (2), 158-164.

IJALEL 3(1):137-142, 2014 142 Haskins, S. (1995). Mary Magdalene Myth and Metaphor. New York, NY: The Berkley Publishing Croup. Herring, P. F. (1987). Joyce’s Uncertainty Principle. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Joyce, J. (2005). Dubliners, Webster’s Thesaurus (Ed.). San Diego: ICON Group International, Inc. Joyce, J. (1944). Stephan Hero. London: Jonathan Cape Limited. Robinson, D.W. (1987). The Narration of Reading in Joyce’s “The Sisters,” “An Encounter,” and “Araby.” Texas Studies in Literature and Language, 29 (4), 377-396. Scholes, R. (1982). Semiotics and Interpretation. New Haven, London: Yale University Press. Waugh, P. (2006). Literary Theory and Criticism: An Oxford Guide. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

The Actuality, Inefficiency, and Needs of EFL Teacher-Preparation Programs in Saudi Arabia

Khalid Al-Seghayer

Al Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

E-mail: alseghayer@yahoo.com

Received: 29-09-2013 Accepted: 04-11-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.143 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.143 Abstract Designing an effective English-teacher-preparation program and the provision of providing ongoing support and professional development opportunities are key compounding factors in preparing knowledgeable and competent English teachers linguistically and pedagogically as well as in facilitating their professional growth throughout their mammoth teaching journeys. This paper presents an in-depth discussion of the current training available to Saudi English teachers and reviews the changes that English-teacher-preparation programs have undergone over the years. Then, a pre-service and in-service teacher-preparation program will be proposed in addition to a continuing professional development program for Saudi EFL teachers. Finally, a number of key issues will be highlighted to ensure the effectiveness of the proposed training program. Keywords: Continuing professional development program, Modifying the EFL Teacher-Preparation Program, Pre-service and in-service teachers’ preparation program, Professional development programs, and Training Saudi English Teachers 1. Introduction Article Fifty of the Educational Policy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia states that students should learn (i.e., be taught) at least one foreign language to be able to interact with people of other cultures for the purposes of contributing to the message of Islam and serving humanity. This article delineates the rationale for the teaching of the English language in Saudi schools, where the learners’ ability to communicate with foreign language speakers ranks as a priority. Hence, it seems reasonable to claim that policy-makers, stakeholders, and other decision-making bodies in Saudi Arabia view the English language as an important tool for the development of the country in terms of both international relations and scientific-technological advancement. In Saudi Arabia, English has the official status as the primary foreign language, and the country continues to show considerable interest in English language programs. English language currently asserts several functions and enjoys an eminent status in various sectors at all levels within Saudi Arabia’s society, politics, and economy. This perceived growing value of English surfaced in conjunction with the rapid economic development of Saudi Arabia, including the rising number of pro-social establishments and significant changes in the social fabric in recent years. In addition, education has expanded in all directions to support economic growth on industrial and commercial bases. The flux of foreign manpower, the ever-evolving positive attitude of the Saudi people toward English, and the presence of various media sources cannot all be left out if an accurate picture of the current status of the English language on the soil of Saudi Arabia is to be presented. English is the only foreign language taught in Saudi Arabian public schools. It is also mandatory for learning in the majority of private schools and universities. Governmental officials and employees at national industrial institutions are obligated to speak fluent English. At the primary, intermediate, and secondary levels, and in all grade levels in private schools, English is also taught as a core subject. At universities, students whose majors are other than English studies are required to take an introductory English course. English is used as instruction delivery language in most university departments in areas such as science, medicine, engineering, allied health, and technical subjects. This emphasis on the English language is very important to ensure Saudi Arabians are competitively educated and trained on international level. Regardless of such an important status and multiple functions of the English language in Saudi Arabia, the key players, i.e., Saudi EFL teachers, are inadequately trained to prepare students to be good English learners. It is publicly acknowledged that the proficiency level of the majority of Saudi Arabia’s English teachers is insufficient to the degree that they barely understand the materials that they are attempting to teach to students. Questions have also been raised regarding the competency of those who teach at elementary schools. Critics especially question their capability to teach at this particular school level and wonder about the extent to which they can deal effectively with critical aspects of primary school teaching, including classroom management, progress monitoring, clinical assistance, and care giving. A

IJALEL 3(1):143-151, 2014 144 large proportion of Saudi teachers of English in elementary schools have not received any training in teaching English to young learners. The goals of the discussion are outlined into the following four guiding questions:

1. Are there changes in the way Saudi English teachers were trained in the past compared with the current training?

2. What are the factors behind the overall inefficiently of the current EFL teacher-preparation programs? 3. What are the most common traits lacked by the Saudi English teachers? 4. What needs to be done to bring constructive improvement to the

current EFL teacher-preparation programs in Saudi Arabia? 2. How English Teachers Are Trained in Saudi Arabia The training of prospective Saudi English teachers initially began in early 1970’s, taking a direction distinct from the second phase, which took place in the early 1980’s and continues to the present time. In 1970, the Minister of Education developed a training program for those wishing to become English teachers. The program required high school graduates to first study English for one academic year and sit afterward for a comprehensive exam. Upon passing successfully the exam, qualified candidates for English teachers were then offered the opportunity to study in some British universities for 100 weeks to earn a teaching certificate, which qualified them to teach English at the intermediate school level (Ibrahim, 1985). From the early 1980’s to the present time, English teachers in Saudi Arabia were trained through programs offered by the English departments at various Saudi university colleges of education and colleges of arts, or in four-year English programs at various colleges. These programs prepare Saudi instructors to teach English at the elementary, intermediate, and secondary levels in public schools. Graduates of these programs are awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. Over the course of four-years, prospective teachers are exposed to linguistics, teaching methodology, English literature, and education courses. At the outset, in some universities, these students must first enroll in an intensive program for one or two semesters. Upon successful completion of this program, students are matriculated in the actual academic mainstream English program, where they take courses in linguistics, phonology, morphology, syntax, English literature, teaching methods, and additional education courses. Therefore, aspiring teachers attending English language preparation programs, as depicted in Figure 1, are required to undertake the following: (a) take basic education courses to fulfill university or college requirements; (b) take courses prescribed by the department of English, including those of skill-building courses, general linguistics courses, applied linguistics courses, and English literature courses; and (c) take elective courses of their choices. It is noteworthy that the total number of courses and the number of courses in each of these foregoing categories may vary from one institution to another. The methodology courses that come under the category of applied linguistics courses—or, to be more precise, English-teaching methods—constitute no more than three courses, due to the condensed nature of courses depicted above. This includes the introductory and the first teaching method courses, and a teaching practicum course tagged on in the last semester of the English academic program, which accumulates approximately eight credit hours depending on the policy of each individual English department where these courses are offered. The offered English teaching-methods courses represent no more than 10% of the total courses offered by English departments in colleges and universities.

Figure 1. Training programs offered by the English department various Saudi university colleges of

education and colleges of arts, or in for-year English programs at various colleges

IJALEL 3(1):143-151, 2014 145 Generally speaking, the emphases of the English department’s courses differ according to levels. For instance, first- and second-year-level courses concentrate on developing candidate teachers’ language skills, including listening comprehension, reading, writing, speaking, and language areas, such as grammar and vocabulary development. This focus is based on the assumption that aspiring teachers are not expected to have sufficient competency in English when they first enroll. These courses also contribute to future teachers’ abilities to be taught introductory courses on English literature and linguistics. During their third and fourth years, prospective teachers are introduced to more advanced subject area courses together with methodology courses. Students are thereby exposed to English literature courses, including the history of English literature, poetry, novels, drama, and literary criticism, and linguistics courses, such as semantics, syntax, and phonology. They also take advanced courses in translation, advanced writing, and grammar, along with courses in English-teaching methods. The final semester of the preparation program is designated as a practicum, in which prospective teachers are assigned to teach for one semester in an intermediate or secondary school under the supervision of one of their advisors. It is important to note that the faculty members of the English language teaching programs are drawn from many countries. Some of them are Saudis, while others are either from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, or various Islamic and Arab countries. Most of the local professors have earned their doctoral degrees in applied linguistics in American and British universities. Currently, 14 universities in Saudi Arabia offer foreign language teacher preparation programs for both men and women through the English departments in colleges of education and colleges of arts. Graduates receive a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. In 2008, although there are no official statistics on the total number of graduates, it is believed that this number reached approximately 1,500. In addition, there are 33 preparation programs for English teachers throughout the country. These programs assume the responsibility for training female teachers. In 2008, an estimated 900 female English teachers are believed to have earned bachelor’s degrees. Additionally, there are 18 teachers’ colleges, each of which is currently attached to a local university, that award bachelor’s degrees in English. In 2008, 200 students earned a bachelor’s degree in English through such colleges (Teachers College: From Start to Progressing, 2009). It is worthy of note to indicate that although these preparation programs work toward the common goal of preparing and training Saudi English teachers, each has its own unique programs and requirements, leaving no chance for having a common thread of philosophy and developing national standards and guidelines that govern and direct the major issues equated with the process of preparing and training Saudi future English teachers. According to 2010–2011 statistical figures, as shown in Table 1, there were 21,532 English teachers in Saudi public schools (3,808 at the elementary level; 10,461 at the intermediate level; and 7,263 at the secondary level). There were 3,681 Saudi teachers (97%) and 127 non-Saudi teachers at the elementary level. While there were 9,840 Saudi teachers (94%) and 621 non-Saudi teachers at the intermediate level, the total number of Saudi English teachers in secondary schools was 6,700 (92%), versus the total of 563 non-Saudi teachers (Statistical Department, Ministry of Education, 2009). The average student-to-teacher ratio per class was approximately 20 to1; typically, the teacher was responsible for approximately 150 to 200 students.

Table 1. Number, Gender, and Nationality of English Teachers in Each School Level

N Level Nationality Gender Total Saudi Non-

Saudi Male Female

Saudi Non-Saudi

Saudi Non-Saudi

1 Number of teachers in the elementary level

3,681 127 1,400 84 2281 43 3,808

2 Number of teachers in the intermediate level

9,840 621 4,600 325 5,240 296 10,461

3 Number of teachers in the secondary level

6,700 563 2,770 533 4,000 30 7,263

Total 21,532 3. Modifying the Direction of the EFL Teacher-Preparation Program English-teacher-preparation programs have undergone constant and several significant changes over the years. In the early 1980s, the primary emphasis of such programs was on teaching English literature, while linguistics and English skills received little attention (Sheshsha, 1982). Al-Hajailan (1999) noted that recent directional changes have taken place, whereby knowledge of linguistics and a command of language skills have been emphasized. As a result,

IJALEL 3(1):143-151, 2014 146 preparation programs have begun to designate a large proportion of credit hours to language improvement and linguistics. Despite these endeavors, other areas should be taken into account as well. In particular, fewer literature courses should be offered, and the number of methods courses for English teaching should be increased. There should also be a greater emphasis on developing the communicative competence of prospective English teachers during their college careers and linking them to schools where they can gain more experience and learn from in-service teachers (Zaid, 1993). This call was also later echoed by several researchers (Safer, 2002; Al-Hazmi, 2003; Al-Seghayer, 2005, 2011; Khan, 2011; Zohairy, 2012; Rahman & Alhaisoni, 2013) who promote the implementation of a systematic approach to Saudi EFL teacher-preparation programs because the current programs are inadequate for the preparation of Saudi EFL teachers, especially with regard to disciplinary knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and technological pedagogical knowledge. Disciplinary knowledge includes, for example, the history of language-teaching methods, second-language acquisition, sociolinguistics, phonology, syntax, discourses analysis, applied linguistics, and other areas as well. Pedagogical content knowledge, on the other hand, includes curriculum planning, assessment, reflective teaching, classroom management, teaching the four skills, and so on. Technological pedagogical knowledge involves the ability to effectively integrate the available technological resources into language teaching. The necessity of such a need training and professional development for prospective Saudi English teachers lies in the fact that Saudi EFL teachers gain more confidence and enable them to enhance other additional skills that are needed in their profession by talking to colleagues in schools and through working with other experienced teachers. They also develop their classroom competence through their own past experiences as students as they perpetuate the way in which they were taught and by emulating their former teachers, who serve as role models. This emulation arises from the failure to offer aspiring teachers a systematic in-service training program; therefore, aspiring teachers must pursue their own professional development informally while discharging their day-to-day duties. A substantial number of Saudi EFL teachers are professionally and linguistically incompetent and do not have a firm grasp of methods of teaching language elements. They do not possess enough theoretical background knowledge pertaining to the main factors that affect second-language learning, such as motivation, attitudes, aptitude, and age. The same problem is common in the area of knowledge of existing language-teaching methods, particularly modern methods and types of language testing. The incompetency also appears in teachers’ insufficient knowledge of strategies to teach language elements, including the four skills, grammar, and vocabulary. In addition, testing techniques and the use of educational aids and technology are insufficiently employed in English classrooms. English teachers also have limited experience in material design, evaluation, adaptation, and implementation. The problem escalates if one considers that many of the teachers are not proficient in English. An unpublished study carried out by the Ministry of Education (2005) confirmed this claim and indicated that both intermediate and secondary English teachers graduated from college without proper training in EFL, and are therefore neither competent in English nor in the affair of teaching it. The study’s results showed that the average TOEFL score of the English teachers who participated in the study was only 430. Furthermore, their average competency in lesson planning was 60%, while it was 64% for classroom management, 54% for assessment, and 52% for language teaching methods. Al-Harbi (2006) investigated the training needs of in-service Saudi EFL teachers in the province of Al-Qassim and found an alarming lack of competence. A total of 551 participants, including 272 male English teachers, 259 female teachers, 8 male supervisors, and 12 female supervisors, comprised the sample. They were given a questionnaire prepared by the researcher to investigate the training needs of English teachers. The results showed that the current EFL teachers were in need of more training in teaching methods, teaching the four language skills, classroom management, teaching grammar, and utilizing teaching aids and technology. Along the same line, Alshuaifan (2009) explored the key components of the EFL teacher preparation program in Saudi Arabia. Participants (96 language instructors from both college and grade school levels) expressed dissatisfaction regarding the current Saudi EFL preparation program. They indicated that such programs lack enough courses and linguistics, EFL syllabus design, and cultural awareness. Similarly, Zohairy (2012) investigated the current status of both professional development and continuous professional development of Saudi EFL teachers in seven state universities and four private universities. The results showed that only two universities out of the eleven offered EFL instructors training opportunities. Additionally, participants were not satisfied with their professional development programs. These studies reveal that the need for such training and professional development for English teachers must be tackled immediately and cannot wait any longer, especially considering the fact that in-service training programs are currently conducted on a limited scale via the local education departments that are scattered all over Saudi Arabia and are handled in a poor manner. Another disturbing observation is that some English teachers have received almost no in-service teaching training, albeit they have been teaching English in public school for over a decade. Related to this, we find that career advancement is not guaranteed for English teachers other than being promoted to a supervisory position. This situation is worsened through knowing that there is no incentive for English teachers who may engage in professional self-development and that teacher-training resources are scarce. 4. Overview of the Proposed EFL Preparation Program and Its Components The reality depicted above and the aforementioned thoughts suggest areas of improvement that must be taken to a greater level and translated into a more systematic, thoroughly conceived or planned EFL pre-service and in-service teacher-preparation program along with a continuing professional-development program. Such programs will help

IJALEL 3(1):143-151, 2014 147 regulate the qualifications and performance of Saudi English teachers. The large-scale pre-service and in-service training program that needs to be implemented should work within the frame of both long- and short-term plans to prepare Saudi EFL teachers, so that both pre-service and in-service teachers can take advantage of such moves or offerings. Through these programs, they can significantly improve their language competency and teaching skills, which puts them in a better position to redress the underachievement of Saudi students in English and as such enhance their level of attainment. Figure 2 delineates, via its visual representation, the long- and short-term plans alongside the four proposed plans with their eighteen component parts. 5. Long-Term Plan: Reconsidering the study plan of the current local EFL preparation programs The first thing that ought to be considered in the supposedly large-scale or long-term training plan is to reconsider the study plan of the current local EFL teacher-preparation programs. Currently, prospective Saudi EFL teachers are required to take only one or two courses on EFL teaching methodology, and they are assigned to teach English in public schools in the last semester of their undergraduate academic programs for four or eight classes per week under the supervision of their college instructors. This fieldwork experience, requisite to student teaching, accounts for a total of approximately 60 hours of the last year of the elementary level and intermediate and secondary levels over the course of a semester for about 15 weeks. Thus, first and foremost, the structure of such academic programs should be changed or redesigned so that more courses are offered in English teaching methodology, second-language acquisition, general applied linguistics, language testing or assessment, theories of learning with respect to the design of language syllabi,second-and foreign language teaching and learning, language planning and policy, language program evaluation, speech therapy, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, language curriculum design, computer-assisted language learning (CALL), and second-language research. Additionally, the amount of time that pre-service EFL teachers spend at practicum sites needs to be further extended in length and intensity in order to allow for more extensive and intensive practical experience for student teachers. Rather than waiting until the last semester to do their practicum, prospective teachers should engage in a gradual and structured apprenticeship to teaching English throughout their university life. These gradually increasing practice opportunities should begin in the first semester of the third year by having candidate teachers indulged in the task of observing experienced teachers of no fewer than five classrooms and complete specific tasks, such as observing closely the amount of teacher talk, questioning techniques, types of classroom tasks, and other instructional techniques. Student teachers should also be assigned the task of assessing the class teacher with class routines and procedures, including preparing lessons, developing and conducting class activities, guiding students’ practice, and monitoring students’ language use. In the second semester of the third year, student teachers should pay a number of structured visits to the school to become acquainted with the school environment and, most importantly, the day-to-day duties of English teachers. In the first semester of their last year, they can practice teaching in a controlled setting using activities such as micro-teaching or peer-teaching. In the second semester of the last year, they should take full responsibility of a teaching load of no fewer than 15 hours per week. It is necessary to have a firmly established link between practical courses and the actual conditions under which future teachers will teach English, as well as the norms of practice expected of teachers in schools in general, and classrooms in particular. This goal can be accomplished by making a connection between what is being taught at colleges of English and the English courses that are taught at schools. Such a connection would fill the gap that currently exists between the knowledge base that prospective EFL teachers are receiving while studying in English departments in colleges and universities and the actual teaching experience in English classrooms. To this end, teacher candidates will be able to apply the knowledge they acquired from coursework theory to English classrooms in schools. The suggestion to establish such a link is in juxtaposition with the trend in the EFL profession that calls against limiting student teachers to a solely course-based approach. EFL teachers should, in addition, be trained according to the principles of standards-based approach. This latter approach is recommended alongside the acquired theoretical knowledge gained from the university coursework. Tomorrow’s English teachers need to be placed for extensive periods of time in schools where they can gain sufficient English teaching experience before they graduate from university. The current language-improvement courses should also be prolonged, and their focus should be redirected. At present, the pattern for the offered language-improvement courses is the prescription of a reading text along with some exercises on reading and listening comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, and composition. These courses should instead focus on grammatical accuracy, extension of lexical range, phonological accuracy and fluency, and developing communication and presentation skills. Additionally, courses should be offered on how English works both inside and outside of the classroom, the ways in which language changes and is changing, the language of the media, the relationship between language and culture, classroom language and meta-language, personal pedagogical grammar, and correctness and appropriateness. No less important than these areas is the importance of promoting competence pertaining to the kind of classroom language that English teachers will need to use effectively during English class when they give explanations and instructions in English, elicit ideas and contributions from the students, give correct feedback on the learner’s language, and conduct classroom activities and other instructional tasks. The level of language proficiency for non-native English-speaking teacher candidates is a key trait that once owned leads to increase the efficacy of the process of teaching English due to both the primary role it plays in language teaching and begin fundamental concern in ESL/EFL teacher-preparation programs. A possible way to help Saudi students/English teachers to reach a threshold proficiency level in English is to require them to spend time in an

IJALEL 3(1):143-151, 2014 148 English-speaking country during the pre-service preparation program part of the bachelor’s degree programs. Creating joint university degree-granting programs with foreign universities would make this proposal even more beneficial. To ensure the effectiveness of the training courses given to the prospective Saudi EFL teachers while they are in college, professors of applied linguistics and English teaching methods courses should participate in training themselves. These professors are no doubt highly qualified academically and have relevant academic qualifications in applied linguistics in particular. However, there is no guarantee that they have the necessary level and type of expertise to deliver effective training in EFL courses instead of merely focusing on disseminating teaching methods and procedural skills to deliver the course materials traditionally. Bearing all of this in mind, such college professors need to enroll in training programs to gain the specific kind of qualifications and expertise as professional trainers of future Saudi EFL teachers. By doing so, they will be in a better position to provide Saudi English teacher candidates with sound, professional pre-service training via linking together theory and practice—or, better said, through attempting to establish a link between what is recommended in the field of language teaching literature and what is actually done in an English classroom. Finally, partnerships between EFL academic programs at colleges and universities and the EFL Department at the Ministry of Education need to be established to give prospective Saudi EFL teachers systematic, school-based teaching practice before they enter the professional community. The initiatives of such partnerships and collaborations could also undertake to conduct capacity-building training programs and should work closely with the EFL Department to identify priorities that will result in sustainable pre-service and in-service EFL training programs. Related to this strategy, colleges and universities that offer similar EFL training programs should set up a system through which they exchange information concerning the training processes that are employed and the performance of program graduates. Hence, universities and colleges must be aware of the experience of real-life teaching firsthand; in turn, schools need to move beyond merely the business of teaching practice to become more up-to-date with respect to teaching practices from the initial trainers of prospective EFL teachers. Such collaboration will pave the way to providing best field practices for aspiring Saudi English teachers. 6. Establishing a National EFL Training Center Another crucial element of the large-scale plan is to establish a national EFL training center or institution and be built at strategic locations, equipped with modern technology, fully funded, and adequately staffed. This center would undertake the responsibility of overseeing and organizing all matters pertaining to the training of Saudi EFL teachers, including applying a single set of standards for pre-service and in-service teacher-training programs across Saudi Arabia, conducting long-term training seminars and workshops within Saudi Arabia and abroad, offering continuing professional development opportunities, and awarding certificates upon completion of the designated training programs. Additional responsibilities would be the accreditation of pre-service preparation academic programs and the development of pre-service standards. Such centers must be established by the Ministry of Education and kept independent of universities. In addition, the suggested national EFL training center should form a national teacher-training committee, which would set standards for the competencies expected of English teachers’ subject knowledge and pedagogical skills and of the quality of English language teacher education. The national EFL center should also establish a standardized system of accreditation for Saudi EFL teachers that is based on well- known international models and would work toward creating standards for advanced teacher certification. Additionally, the center should establish a professional association of Saudi EFL teachers that attempts to link, develop, and support Saudi English language teaching professionals throughout the country, as well as to enhance EFL teaching, profile, and practices. Having such an organization would make it easier to hold regular national and international seminars to disseminate updated information about trends and issues in the field of teaching English as a foreign language. Furthermore, such an organization could serve as an informal forum for teachers to exchange ideas and offer mutual assistance among members. The proposed EFL national training center must also provide professional development and career growth and development opportunities agenda for all Saudi English teachers throughout the country, so that they can remain abreast of new developments in EFL. Moreover, the center needs to allocate funds to the schools to assist in the process of implementing professional development programs. It is recommended that an in-service coordinator be appointed at every school and teacher training college. Finally, the proposed national training center ought to consider establishing partnerships with other world-renowned EFL educational centers. By teaming up with a number of well-respected, long-established schools and language institutes, the center can enhance the development and execution of national plans and training activities pertaining to the training of Saudi EFL professionals, including design, documentation, evaluation, and strategic assessment of a wide variety of EFL training programs. This strategy could also include forming platform partnerships between experienced EFL teachers in these institutions, especially with those who are familiar with the Saudi EFL context, and their Saudi counterparts so that teaching methods, teaching materials, techniques for evaluation, and other related issues can be discussed and exchanged. The center could establish partnerships with local private training institutions and textbook publishers to conduct pre-service and in-service training courses that should vary in terms of both content and quality.

IJALEL 3(1):143-151, 2014 149 7. Short-Term Plan 7.1 Long-term professional development Conversely, the short-term training plan should work toward the goal of providing ample professional development and training opportunities or programs for pre-service and in-service Saudi EFL teachers. It should systematically be planned to promote growth and development in the profession of EFL teaching for prospective Saudi EFL teachers. The suggested short-term training plan should offer both long-term professional development and one-shot training programs. The long-term professional development track is regarded as a culture- building and collaborative process. Thus, its aim should be to provide both formal and informal opportunities or experiences. The formal experiences could include completing an initial teacher-preparation program and attending workshops covering key factors in effective teaching, including classroom management, the roles of teachers and learners, alternative approaches, and ways of combining some of the best aspects of more “traditional” teaching with more innovative procedures involving task-based, learner-centered, interactive methods, as well as language-teaching innovations, including participatory language teaching, sheltered language instruction, and authentic assessments. Such a program should also include required attendance at professional meetings or local, regional, or international conferences, study visits overseas, mentoring programs under the leadership of an experienced senior development professional, collaborating with university-based researchers, and conducting research or, more precisely, action research to closely examine and analyze their own classroom practices. Additional formal training opportunities would enable Saudi EFL teachers to take advantage of multiple and varied growth opportunities through options, such as distance education, audio and video conferencing, asynchronous and synchronous communications, participation in threaded discussions with colleagues and experts, access to online seminars, and enrollment in online EFL professional-development programs. Exposure to such technological advances would equip EFL teachers with the skills needed to exploit computer-based teaching resources, making them better able to adequately and appropriately use online and offline computer application tools in their English classrooms. In more specific terms, this will enhance their technological and pedagogical content knowledge, enabling them to use certain technology, and create materials and activities using technology, thereby increasing their ability to teach with technology. Informal or self-directed learning experiences that enable teachers to engage in an appropriate range of professional practices may include encouraging prospective Saudi English teachers to read and respond to professional publications, submit comments, book reviews, method-neutral techniques, including dialog journals, long-distance collaboration, and to join study groups with fellow teachers to exchange information on instructional issues of concern, such as course planning or developing tests, materials exploitations, and so on. In-house training sessions could be conducted in schools, so that knowledge and skills are passed to less-proficient English teachers from their more experienced colleagues. Furthermore, cooperation, sharing of creativity, innovation, and best practices and forms of inquiry-based teaching and exploratory teaching should be promoted among Saudi EFL teachers, as should other forms of independent professional development opportunities to enable them to develop a better understanding of the teaching and learning that takes place in English classrooms. 7.2 One-shot training programs In contrast to the long-term professional development described above, one-shot, or short-term, training programs pertain to the skills-training process. As a result, their aim should be to provide opportunities to learn particular skills, such as developing teachers’ skills in teaching speaking, listening, reading, writing, grammar, and culture. Other potential areas in need of skill enhancement are creating lesson plans, promoting classroom interaction, performing student assessment, teaching vocabulary and pronunciation, designing communicative activities, using technology in language teaching, developing classroom management, establishing a comfortable classroom atmosphere, managing class time, giving clear directions, and meeting students’ needs. 7.3 Key Designing Issues A number of key curricular and administrative design issues need to be considered to ensure the driven goals of scoring excellence in the affair of the teaching of English as well as the accessibility and effectiveness of integrating the proposed EFL pre-service and in-service teachers preparation programs and the continuing professional development program. First, the content of such programs should consider the needs of teachers and schools in the area of English language teaching and learning. Second, the courses to be offered through the proposed programs should not be too theoretical; therefore, high-quality programmatic content should be maintained with practical applications in the Saudi EFL classroom. Third, teachers should have the freedom to determine their own professional-development plans. Fourth, the training programs should be prepared and conducted by knowledgeable specialists. Fifth, customized training and development opportunities should be offered. Sixth, local and overseas training opportunities should be offered. Seventh, these opportunities should be diverse in terms of topics and length. This would allow teachers to select varied, yet challenging, training opportunities. Eighth, such a training program should be designed in such a way as to allow for deeper and more sustained engagement with primary, intermediate, and secondary English school teachers in order to turn training programs into lasting development. Finally, the effects of such training programs on teachers throughout the academic year need to be closely examined and evaluated. Incorporating these elements into the proposed training program is expected to provide effective, efficient, and lasting development of pre-service and in-service training and professional opportunities that will adequately prepare Saudi

IJALEL 3(1):143-151, 2014 150 EFL teachers for the classroom and will enable them to continue their development expediently and effectively throughout their careers.

Figure 2. The Suggested EFL pre- service and in-service Teacher's Preparation Program 8. Closing Remarks This paper was written to address a number of issues with reference to Saudi EFL pre-service and in-service teacher's preparation program. Specifically, the aims were to closely examine the reality and needs of EFL teacher preparation programs in Saudi Arabia, and to propose areas of improvement to the current EFL teacher-preparation programs in Saudi Arabia. The discussion has demonstrated that the English proficiency level of English teachers in Saudi Arabia is expected to remain at its current level and same as the inadequate preparation of English teachers unless all relevant factors are considered. Teacher training and development need to be greatly considered. Additionally, having national standards in place along with nationwide programs for EFL teacher training must be facilitated. Positive results are anticipated in the competency of English teachers with the implementation of these measures, which should eventually lead to the development of a strategic plan to cultivate Saudi citizens with English abilities. As a result, the fulfillment of such aspirations is expected to transform the teaching of English in Saudi schools, thereby transforming Saudi society by establishing the English language as an indispensable skill deemed necessary in the era of globalization and a new knowledge-based economy driven by the forces of knowledge and information.

IJALEL 3(1):143-151, 2014 151 References Al-Hajailan, T. (1999). Evaluation of English as a foreign language textbook for third grade secondary boy’s schools in Saudi Arabia. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Mississippi State University, Mississippi. Al-Harbi, A. (2006). Training Needs of English Teachers in Al-Qassim Province. Unpublished master's thesis, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Al-Hazmi, S. (2003). EFL teacher preparation program in Saudi Arabia: Trend and challenges. TESOL Quarterly, 37 (2), 341-344. Al-Seghayer, Khalid. (2011). English teaching in Saudi Arabia: Status, issues, and challenges. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Hala Printed Co. Al-Seghayer, Khalid. (2005). Teaching English in Saudi Arabia: Slowly but steadily Changing. In G. Braine (Ed.), Teaching English to the world (pp.115-130). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Association. Alshuaifan, A. (2009). Key elements of ESL/EFL teacher preparation program at the University of Ha'l, Saudi Arabia: EFL practitioners and faculty perceptions. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. West Virginia University,Morgantown. Khan, I. (2011). Professional development of English teachers: The Saudi Arabian context. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business. 3, (2) 1583-1591. Ministry of Education. (2005). Teaching English in Saudi Arabia. Unpublished Study. Rahman, M. and Alhaisoni, E. (2013). Teaching English in Saudi Arabia: Prospects and challenges. Academic Research International Journal, 4 (1), 112-118. Sheshsha, J. (1982). The qualifications of a competent teacher of English in Saudi Arabia. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Indian University, Bloomington. Statistical Department, Ministry of High Education (2009). Riyadh: Saudi Arabia: Ministry of Higher Education Publications. Teachers College: From start to progressing. (2009). Ministry of Education: Riyadh. Dar Al-Hilal. Zafer, A. (2002). A Survey of Saudi School Teachers’ and College Professors’ Perspectives on topics and Roles to Emphasize in English as a Foreign Language in Teacher Preparation Course. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. Zaid, M. (1993). Comprehensive analysis of the current system of teaching English as a foreign language in Saudi Arabian intermediate schools. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Colorado, Bolder. Zohairy, S. (2012).Professional development challenges and possible solutions. In Al-Amri, W., Noor, H., and McGee, I. (Eds.). Saudi Preparatory Year English Program: The Future and Beyond: student, teacher, pedagogy and curricular issues. (pp. 162-183). Madinah, Taibah University.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Verb-Noun Collocation Proficiency and Academic Years

Fatemeh Ebrahimi-Bazzaz (Corresponding author)

Department of English Translation, Islamic Azad University, Tehran North Branch

Language College, Bozorograh Shaid Babaei, roberroye Hakimieh, Chamanara Street, Tehran 1651153311, Iran

Tel: 98-9123444350 E-mail: fatemehebrahimibazzaz@gmail.com

Arshad Abd Samad

Department of Language Education and Humanities Faculty of Educational studies

University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Tel: 60-122987424 E-mail: arshad.samad@yahoo.com

Ismi Arif bin Ismail

Head of graduate Office in Faculty of Educational Studies

University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Tel: 60-126381712 E-mail: ismilina@gmail.com

Nooreen Noordin

Department of Language Education and Humanities, Faculty of Educational Studies

University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Tel: 60-136670573 E-mail: nooyeen@yahoo.com

Received: 23-09-2013 Accepted: 05-11-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.152 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.152 Abstract Generally vocabulary and collocations in particular have significant roles in language proficiency. A collocation includes two words that are frequently joined concurrently in the memory of native speakers. There have been many linguistic studies trying to define, to describe, and to categorise English collocations. It contains grammatical collocations and lexical collocations which include nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverb. In the context of a foreign language environment such as Iran, collocational proficiency can be useful because it helps the students improve their language proficiency. This paper investigates the possible relationship between verb-noun collocation proficiency among students from one academic year to the next. To reach this goal, a test of verb-noun collocations was administered to Iranian learners. The participants in the study were 212 Iranian students in an Iranian university. They were selected from the second term of freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years. The students’ age ranged from 18 to 35.The results of ANOVA showed there was variability in the verb-noun collocations proficiency within each academic year and between the four academic years. The results of a post hoc multiple comparison tests demonstrated that the means are significantly different between the first year and the third and fourth years, and between the third and the fourth academic year; however, students require at least two years to show significant development in verb-noun collocation proficiency. These findings provided a vital implication that lexical collocations are learnt and developed through four academic years of university, but requires at least two years showing significant development in the language proficiency. Keywords: Language proficiency, Collocation, Communicative Competence, academic year, Iranian EFL learners 1. Introduction Generally vocabulary and collocations in particular have significant roles in language learning. Collocations should be correctly taught and learned; otherwise, the production of wrong collocations results in irregularities which ultimately show the learners’ spoken or written language to be awkward and non-native. There have been many linguistic studies trying to define, to describe, and to categorise English collocations. Zhang (1993, p. 13) states that collocations are frequently explained as "conventionalised and prefabricated combinations of two or more words." Collocations have received less attention than grammar and vocabulary even though their number “amounts to tens of thousands” (Shokouhi & Mirsalari (2010, p. 5). Yet, they have been treated marginally in linguistics (Lipske, 2006), and there are

IJALEL 3(1):152-162, 2014 153 "too many fixed expressions for us to simply disregard them as phenomena on the margin of language (Jacendoff, 1995, p. 156). Collocations in English are discussed within two theoretical traditions which can be placed at the end of two continuums: the lexis-oriented tradition and the grammar-oriented tradition. Linguists following the lexical tradition such as (Firth, 1957a; Halliday, 1966), and Sinclair (1966) proposes that the meaning of words is derived from the words they keep company with while those who follow a more grammar oriented tradition (Greenbaum, 1970, Mitchell, 1971, and Kjellmer, 1984) emphasise the role of syntax as a central determinant in the meanings and the use of collocations. On the one end of continuum, in the lexis-oriented tradition, Firth (1968) defines collocations of a given word “as statements of habitual or customary places of that word in collocational order but not in any other contextual order and emphatically not in any grammatical order" (p. 181). He also claims that a collocation is a "mode of meaning" and "an abstraction at the syntagmatic level" (1957a). In addition, he observes that part of a word's meaning can be located in its collocate. He proposes that words obtain meaning from their co-occurrence in texts and suggests that a meaning should be examined in four levels: the orthographic level, the phonological level, the grammatical level, and the collocational level. Firth's innovative concept on collocations has drawn researchers to focus not only on the paradigmatic level of collocations but also on the syntagmatic level of collocations. Firth's concept is echoed by neo-Firthians, the most distinguished of ones are McIntosh (1961), Halliday (1966), and Sinclair (1966). In the 1960's, Halliday (1966) and Sinclair (1966) attempted to research collocations in the same way as grammar. They examined lexis as a linguistic level in parallel with grammar. They proposed that lexical items are selected from lexical patterning as choose grammatical items from a grammatical system that establishes grammatical structure. This notion suggests that a language contains hundreds of thousands of lexical units. McIntosh (1961), furthermore, suggested that the range of collocability of particular items can provide a way of distinguishing words from each other. For example, putrid and rancid are synonymous, but putrid collocates with fish and rancid with butter. Collocations that can collocate widely are normally restricted to certain patterns and are non-substitutable. For example, soft, mild, and gentle can all collocate with voice, breeze or soap, but each word has restricted collocations, such as soft water, soft drink, mild steel, gentle soap, etc. (McIntosh, 1961 cited in Mitchell, 1971, pp. 35-69). On the other end of the continuum, the grammatical oriented tradition, collocations are perceived as lexical and syntactic patterning which are in interrelated levels of structure. This theory has been proposed since the 1970's. The advocates of this view claim that to study collocations, one should not only focus on the linear and syntagmatic co-occurrence of items, but also on the syntactic and semantic aspects of collocations. As Greenbaum (1970) indicates, "a serious disadvantage of a purely item-oriented approach to the study of collocations is that it obscures syntactic restrictions on collocations." For example much collocates with like in a negative sentence as in I don't like him much but not in an affirmative sentence as in * I like him much (p. 11). Greenbaum proposes that the collocability of words should bond to syntax and suggests that some particular collocations come together only in certain syntactic relationships, as the above example shows. Supporting a grammatical tradition, Mitchell (1971) criticised the Neo-Firthians for their separation of lexical study from grammar. He also stresses that in order to discover the nature of collocation, grammar and lexis should be studied as one entity and further maintained that meanings of collocations emerge not only from the lexical level but also from grammatical relations within them. He also argues that "lexical particularities are considered to derive their meaning not only from contextual extension of a lexical kind but also from the generalised grammatical patterns within which they appear". To emphasise more the role of the grammatical tradition, Kjellmer (1984, p. 48) further argued that collocations should be studied in a grammatical framework and defines collocations as "lexically determined and grammatically restricted sequences of words". It can be argued further that collocations can involve a range of different syntactic patterns. To illustrate this range, Benson, et al., (1997) presented a comprehensive explanation of a categorisation criterion with examples to define what knowing a word means. They also classified collocations into two main types: grammatical collocations (for example, by chance) and lexical collocations (for example, valuable asset). It contains eight main types of grammatical collocations and seven types of lexical collocations. Nevertheless, the authors do not include "free combinations" in their dictionary which are, in effect, limitless. A grammatical collocation is a frequent grouping of a dominant word (verb, noun, adjective) and a grammatical word (preposition), like make up (verb and preposition), concerned about (adjective and preposition), and a choice between (noun and preposition). Typical lexical collocations include nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverb. Hence, Benson, et al., categorise lexical collocations by structural types: 1. verb + noun (kick the ball, make a sandwich), 2. adjective + noun (terrible mistake), 3. noun + verb (cars crash), 4. noun 1 + of + noun 2 (a school of fish), 5. adverb + adjective (closely related), 6. verb + adverb (move slowly). While both the lexical oriented and grammar oriented traditions related to collocations seem to have their benefits, it is not a matter of which traditions is superior. A lexical oriented tradition emphasises the need to master many collocations as compared to grammar oriented tradition. However, understanding the existence of both traditions allow us to appreciate the complexity of the nature of the collocations and consequently, the potential difficulty in learning collocations for EFL learners.

IJALEL 3(1):152-162, 2014 154 Researchers and lexicographers discriminate collocations into different types from various perspectives. The compilers of Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English, Cowie, Mackin and MaCCaig (1983), use idiomaticity to categorise collocations and idioms into four groups according to idiomaticity from most to least fixed: pure idioms, figurative idioms, restricted collocations, and open collocations. Pure idioms, such as blow the gaff, are the most fixed with semantic opacity. Figurative idioms, such as catch fire and a close shave, are more transparent and not quite fixed. Restricted collocations are collocations that have one element used in a non-literal sense and the other used in its normal meaning, like, under a shadow, while open collocations involve elements which are freely combinable and each element has its literal sense such as a mad dog. It can be concluded that some scholars regard free combinations as collocations and categorises collocations into free collocations and restricted collocations according to their degree of restrictedness. By the same token, Lewis (2000, p. 116) points out, “the type which names a concept, usually verb + noun (move house) or verb + adjective + noun (take the wrong turn)” is the most important collocation type. Typical lexical collocations consist of nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs. As Hill (2003, p. 51) emphasises, “it is the noun which carries most content and it is the noun which is at the centre of most collocations”. Furthermore, Lewis (1997a) divides collocations into strong and weak ones according to their fixedness and restrictedness, and distinguishes collocations from frequent and infrequent ones due to their frequency of co-occurrence in a corpus. Strong collocations are recognised as tightly linked phrases that almost function like single words. In contrast, weak collocations, such as a nice day and a good play, are combinations of two ordinary words, and each of them may combine with many other words. Collocations can also be any combination of strong and frequent, strong and infrequent, weak and frequent, or weak and infrequent. The correlation between collocations and language proficiency has been investigated by many researchers such as Nesselhauf (2005) who described the use of verb-noun collocations by advanced German learners of English in free writing. He collected thirty-two essays and showed there was a correlation between language proficiency and collocational proficiency and the learners’ L1 had a great influence on it. He also found that the most frequent collocational error types were associated with the wrong choice of the verb. He assumed that the verb in a collocational group contains a restricted sense (p. 239), and showed that learners’ L1 strongly affected students’ collocation productions. Various other studies have also examined collocations from other perspectives. E.g., Al-Zahrani, (1998), Bahns & Eldaw (1993), and Howarth (1998a) looked at verb + noun collocations, Chi, Wong, and Wong, (1993) and Fan (1991) worked on delexical verbs, and Granger (1998) and Lorenz (1999) examined adverb + adjective collocations. Nevertheless, these studies do not emphasise collocations as belonging to one category or another and in fact, deal with very specific aspects of collocations. Some, for example Chi et al. and Fan (1991) focus on rather discrete aspects such as delexicalised verbs, which do not have immediate importance to this study because of its limited relevance. There are numerous researchers studying learners’ collocational proficiency, but among them, Al-Zahrani (1998) discovered that there was a significant difference in subjects’ performance according to their academic levels. The findings were stressed by Nesselhauf (2005), who illustrated that learners’ L1 strongly affected their collocation productions. The most recent works were performed by Martyska (2004), their results coincide with those obtained by previous scholars that most of collocational errors resulted from negative LI transfer. The Martyska’s study (2004) also found that intermediate high school students knew 55% of all collocations in four different tasks, and verb-noun collocations seemed to be relatively easier than other types of lexical collocations under investigation for this group of subjects. Martyska also emphasised the important role of the teacher and the textbooks in the process of second language teaching. Both Al-Zahrani’s study and Martyska’s study imply that exposure to the target language as well as academic maturity may have direct influence on the acquisition of collocations. This is not surprising as the complex nature of collocations as discussed in the previous sections may make them rather difficult to teach in formal classroom situations. 2. Collocation Studies in Iran There are a few studies on collocations in Iran. The first was done by Tajalli (1994) who worked on translatability of English and Persian collocations. He found out that first the main source of difficulty was that students were not familiar with English collocations owing to inadequate exposure. Second, non-congruent grammatical structures of English and Persian collocations were not responsible for possible constraints. Third, some problems may be related to the insufficient proficiency of the full semantic potential of simple lexical items when united to form collocations. Fourth, the experiment showed that the use of collocations was affected by the presence or absence of direct translational equivalence which significantly influences translatability. Finally, it was noticed that some problems were related to lack of sufficient familiarity with Persian collocations. Unlike Tajalli, Morshali (1995) performed comprehensive research on the learning of English lexical collocations by Iranian EFL learners. Her study found out that first, the Iranian EFL learners’ proficiency of collocations was far behind their proficiency of vocabulary. Second, there was no significant relationship between the level of language proficiency and that of the proficiency of English collocations. Third, the Iranian learners did not normally learn collocations without formal teaching. Finally, the number of collocational errors made by the Iranian EFL learners highlighted the need for formal teaching of collocations (1995: iv).

IJALEL 3(1):152-162, 2014 155 Hasan Abadi’s study (2003) was different from Morshali (1995) because he performed a research on both grammatical and lexical collocations. His subjects were 80 Iranian EFL learners at Shiraz University. The Test of Collocations consisted of forty items. He found out that there was a significant relationship between the performance of the learners on lexical and grammatical collocations. There was also a significant difference between the performances of the learners on different subcategories of collocations. Faghih and Sharafi (2006) focussed on the another aspect of collocations because they worked on the impact of collocations on Iranian EFL learners’ inter-language and an error pattern in the vocabulary of Iranian EFL learners, namely the confusion of collocations. Their results showed that collocation confusion was really a common error in the inter-language of Iranian EFL learners. There was also a positive correlation between students’ overall proficiency and their proficiency of collocations; they did not have difficulties with all kinds of collocations, but adjective-noun collocations caused the most problem for them. Unlike Faghih and Sharafi’ (2006), Koosha and Jafarpour (2006) used concordancing materials through data-driven learning (DDL) to observe its effect on the teaching or the learning of collocation of prepositions, to discover whether collocational proficiency of prepositions could be examined at the different levels of EFL students’ proficiency, and to find out how much Iranian EFL collocational proficiency of prepositions is influenced by their mother tongue. To reach this aim, they selected two hundred senior English major students from three universities in Sharkord. Subjects were given a Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency to determine the subjects’ level of language proficiency. There were two completion tests on collocations of prepositions as the pre-test and post-test to check the effects of the treatments. The results indicated that the DDL approach was extremely useful in the learning and teaching, and subjects’ performance in the test of collocation preposition was proved to be positively related to their level of language proficiency. Finally, error analysis of collocations showed that Iranian EFL learners transferred their L1 collocational patterns to their L2 production. Bagherzadeh Hosseini and Akbarian’s (2007) study is different from the above mentioned studies because they investigated the relationship between collocational competence and general language proficiency and examined the go-togetherness of quantitative and qualitative characteristics of lexical proficiency. The subjects were selected from thirty senior students in two Iranian universities through a tailored TOEFL test. An MC test of noun-verb collocations was administered to the subjects. The results indicated that there was a relationship between the collocation test and TOEFL and between the vocabulary section of TOEFL and the collocation test. Moreover, subjects’ qualitative proficiency went with their quantitative proficiency. It can be concluded that collocation had to be taught at the right time through explicit teaching to make students aware of collocations. Keshavarz and Salimi’s (2007) instruments were different from Bagherzadeh Hosseini and Akbarian (2007) as they employed open-ended, multiple choice cloze tests, and TOEFL to measure collocational competence and language proficiency of one hundred Iranian students. A TOEFL test evaluated the subjects’ language proficiency and a fifty item test comprising lexical and grammatical collocations examined their collocational proficiency. They found out that there existed a significant relationship between performance on cloze tests and collocational competence. The results also pointed out that collocational competence was very important to increase language proficiency of Iranian EFL learners in the target language. Unlike Keshavarz and Salimi’s study (2007), Ghonsooli, Pishghadam, and Mohaghegh Mahjoobi (2008) performed research on the effect of teaching collocations on Iranian EFL learners’ English writing. They employed quantitative and qualitative methods in two stages, a product phase and a process phase. To this end, thirty subjects from the English Department of the College of Ferdowsi University in Iran were selected. They were taught their course materials in twenty one sessions. The experimental group were seventeen students to whom collocations were taught by different techniques. However, the control group was taught through the conventional slot and filter approach. The results showed that the experimental group had a higher mean score in their collocation test and English Writing Test at the product stage because of collocation teaching. Their mean scores for different writing section demonstrated that subjects’ vocabulary and fluency increased considerably as a result of collocation teaching at the process stage. Sadeghi (2009) studied the collocational differences between L1 and L2 and its implications for EFL learners and teachers. His study was different from Ghonsooli, Pishghadam, and Mohaghegh Mahjoobi’s (2008) study since he used a comparative method and compared collocations between Persian and English. There were seventy six students who participated in a sixty item Persian and English Test of Collocations. The results showed students might have a lot of problems in using collocations where they negatively transferred their linguistic proficiency of Persian to English. Shokouhi and Mirsalari (2010) also performed research on the relationship between collocational proficiency and general linguistic proficiency among EFL learners. There were thirty five subjects who were chosen by a proficiency test and were administered a 90-item multiple-choice test which had lexical collocations: noun-noun, noun-verb, and adjective-noun, and grammatical collocations: noun-preposition, and preposition-noun. The results demonstrated that there was no significant correlation between the general linguistic proficiency and collocational proficiency of EFL learners, and lexical collocations are easier than grammatical collocations for the students and from among all subcategories, noun-preposition was the most difficult and noun-verb was the easiest. Unlike the mentioned studies, Bazzaz and Samad (2011) discussed the relationship between collocational proficiency and the use of verb-noun collocations in writing stories since collocational proficiency differentiates native speakers and foreign or second language learners and is a major issue in productive skills especially writing. To this end, twenty

IJALEL 3(1):152-162, 2014 156 seven Iranian PhD students in a Malaysian university were selected. The students’ proficiency was measured by a special constructed C-Test and the use of collocations was calculated by the number of collocations that was used by the students in their essays. To reach this end, students wrote six different stories in six weeks based on a written task in which verb-noun were elicited. The results indicated that there was a large positive relationship between proficiency of collocations and the use of verb-noun collocations in the stories. Bahardoust (2012) also performed a research on the rate of lexical collocations in Iranian EFL learners’ writing production between L1 and L2, and the influence of L1 on L2 collocational use. To reach this aim, two hundred subjects were chosen. The data was collected from midterm, final tests, and assignments of the students. The data was analysed by chi-square, and the rate of lexical collocations was estimated. Moreover, the rate of different groups of lexical collocations was compared. The results showed that the rates of verb-noun and adjective-noun were the highest, and the rate of noun-verb was the lowest. The rate and the frequency of collocations were compared in L1 and L2 paragraphs. The results discerned that L1 collocations had higher rate and frequency than L2, and L1 produced both positive and negative influence on collocations. Ganji (2012) went one step further from aforementioned research and studied the relationship between gender and academic years of Iranian EFL learners’ collocational proficiency. He discussed the collocational proficiency of students at the three academic levels of freshman, sophomores, and junior. To this end, forty three English major subjects were selected from English Translation studies in Chahbahar Maritime University. They participated in a 50-item fill in the blank Test of Collocations in which five types of lexical collocations: verb-noun, adjective-noun, noun-verb, adverb adjective, and verb adverb were tested. The results showed that Iranian English major students were weak in lexical collocations because they answered just more than 50% of the questions. There was a significant difference in the performance of the students at the three academic levels; however, no significant difference was observed between girls and boys in their collocational proficiency. The finding also indicated that noun-verb collocations were the easiest type, but the adverb adjective collocations were the hardest ones. The aforementioned studies in Iran discuss the different collocational proficiency of students and language proficiency; however their results are contradictory because some found that students’ collocational proficiency improve as their language proficiency increases such as Bazzaz and Samad (2011), Ganji (2012) and Keshavarz and Salimi’s (2007) while the others indicate that there is no relationship between collocational proficiency and language proficiency like Shokouhi and Mirsalari(2010) and Morshali (1995). Other studies worked on language transfer from L1 and found out that students use collocations incorrectly because of negative transfer and lack of exposure (Koosha and Jafarpour, 2006; Sadeghi, 2009; &Tajalli, 1994). The correlation between collocations and language proficiency has been investigated by many researchers such as Nesselhauf (2005) who described the use of verb-noun collocations by advanced German learners of English in free writing. He collected thirty-two essays and showed there was a correlation between language proficiency and collocational proficiency and the learners’ L1 had a great influence on it. He also found that the most frequent collocational error types were associated with the wrong choice of the verb. He assumed that the verb in a collocational group contains a restricted sense (p. 239), and showed that learners’ L1 strongly affected students’ collocation productions. Similarly, Shehata (2008) studied how advanced Arabic-speaking learners of English use English collocations. Ninety-seven subjects sat for two production tests and one reception test dealing with collocations. The data analyses showed that learners’ L1 and their learning environment had a strong influence on the acquisition of L2 collocations. Furthermore, the findings revealed that there was a moderate positive correlation between learners’ proficiency of collocations. It can be concluded that students’ productive proficiency of collocations was inferior to their receptive proficiency of collocations. Conversely, Zinkgräf, (2008), and Liao (2010) investigated the collocational errors which were the result of negative LI transfer. Their results concur with the findings of Martynska (2004) that most of collocational errors resulted from negative LI transfer. They emphasised the important role of collocations which do not have equivalent in the mother tongue, and the significant teachers’ role to facilitate the learning of collocations. Thus, the research on collocations reviewed so far includes a wide range of discussion from the measure of collocational proficiency to types of collocational errors. These topics seem not to shift from one decade to another, and researchers retain an on-going interest in exploring collocations in the field. Moreover, the empirical studies on collocations attempt to examine learners' collocational proficiency, learners' development of collocations, pedagogical aspects of collocations, and types of collocational errors. The importance of learning collocations was discussed, and now it can be argued whether teaching collocations is significant or not. Some researchers and language teachers have stressed the importance of teaching collocations. Yet others recommend that collocations, which have no equivalents in learners' LI, deserve more attention (Al-Zahrani, 1998; Bahns & Eldaw, 1993; Biskup, 1992; Gitsaki, et al., 1999). Therefore, language teachers should be careful in selecting collocations that may cause learners trouble and difficulties. Hill (2000) also advocates that "medium-strength" collocations between strong and weak collocations should be given priority in expanding learners' mental lexicons, and indicates that not only new collocations but also extension of learned words should be taught. Teachers should play an important role in helping students notice and identify collocations in texts. As Woolard (2000) mentions, as a teacher, he usually tries to draw his students' attention to the surrounding co-text and follow a supplementary

IJALEL 3(1):152-162, 2014 157 exercise to activate the learned language chunks. The above literature review shows that verb-noun collocations indeed merit the attention of linguists and language educators. 3. The present study A review of literature shows that there is a need to do research on the relationship between EFL learners’ verb-noun collocational proficiency and their academic years. However, a number of studies have discussed the relationships between language proficiency and academic years which is closely related to the topic of this study. Al-Zahrani (1988) found that there is a high correlation between language proficiency and academic years among EFL Saudi students. Gitsaki’s (1999) study was on the knowledge of collocations from a developmental perspective. Gitsaki measured the collocational knowledge among 275 Greek learners of English in their junior high school, and they were at three proficiency levels. Al-Zahrani’s (1998) study was different from Gitsaki’s (1999) in which he measured the collocational knowledge among 81 male Saudi Arabian learners of English in their university, and they were at four proficiency levels. The present study adds to and expands those previous studies but tries to fill the gap by measuring the relationship between language proficiency and four academic years of EFL learners in Iran. It raises the following research questions: • Is there a significant difference in the proficiency of verb-noun collocations among EFL students from one academic year to the next? 4. Method 4.1 Participants There were 212 participants in this study. They were four groups of English major students in the English Department in Tehran in April 2010. They were selected from the second term of freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior. There were 44 males and 168 females who were between 18-35 at the time of the study. All of them spoke Persian as their mother tongue. In the test session, a demographic questionnaire, and a blank-filling collocation test were administered to students. The research design utilised in this project is a Cross-sectional design and involves the collection of quantitative data; however, the main shortcoming in the Cross-sectional design which involves quantitative data is the lack of the randomised sampling process and the researcher uses the four intact groups of participants. To overcome this shortcoming, the groups were selected through cluster sampling from the second terms of freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior to collect the data. Krejcie and Morgan’s (1970) Table was used to calculate identical sample sizes in all cases where the researcher alters the t value utilised based on population size and knows the populations. Based on this formula, the population of this study was 480 and the required sample size of the study was determined as two hundred fourteen, but as in most of research, 10% is added to that number in case some students would not like to participate in the study. Therefore, two hundred thirty five students were selected from four intact groups of male and female students. However, some students withdrew from the experiment in the three phases, leaving a final total of two hundred and twelve students. All groups were selected through cluster sampling from the second term of freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years. Therefore, participants in the present study belonged to four groups which represent each academic level. Group 1 comprised fifty one students in the second term of their freshmen year. Group 2 included forty seven students in the second term of their sophomore year, Group 3 consisted of sixty four students in the second term of their junior year, and Group 4 comprised fifty students from the second term of their senior year. All respondents were Iranian nationals and native speakers of Persian. 4.2 Instruments The instruments of this study were a demographic questionnaire and a C-test. In this study, a traditional C-Test is used as the test of collocation. In the traditional C-Test, the second half of every key word in a phrase is deleted, leaving the first and last sentence of the passage intact. With the C-Test, a clue (half the word) serves as a stimulus for respondents to find the other half. In this version of the C-Test, only the first letter of every deleted word was provided, for instance, "m_____ bed," "s______ tea," or " k_____ the ball” in order to elicit the specific collocations intended for this research and to lessen the chance of guessing by subjects (Eckes, 2006; Klein-Braley, 1985; 1997). There is a numerous empirical evidence which supports a positive overall evaluation of C-Tests as tests of general language proficiency. For example, in their work on an English C-Test, Dörnyei and Katona (1992, p. 203) pointed out: “The C-Test proved to be a highly integrative and versatile measuring instrument, working well in samples of various difficulty and homogeneity levels … our conclusion about the C-Test is that not only is it a reliable and valid measure of general language proficiency, but it is also one of the most efficient language testing instruments in terms of the ratio between resources invested and measurement accuracy obtained.” Therefore, C-Tests require the combination of skills and knowledge, a core competence in all types of language use. Furthermore, Read (2000) argues that lexical competence is needed in the processing of tests such as Cloze Tests and C-Tests as both knowledge of individual words and the ability to use contextual clues to find out which word fits a blank is required. The use of the C-Test in this study is also based on previous studies (Al-Zahrani, 1998; Herbst, 1996; Shei & Pain, 2000; Sung, 2003; Zhang, 1993). There were 50 blanks in the C-Test used in this study.

IJALEL 3(1):152-162, 2014 158 Al-Zahrani (1998), for example, used the C-Test and reasoned that giving the first phoneme activates the targeted collocations in the students’ mind. These combinations are stored as chunks in their brains and by seeing the first letter; the students can retrieve them from their memories. C-Test does not permit guessing. Finally, the blanks could also be completely filled with one verb which provided a greater validity to his test because it measured the students’ knowledge of collocations more precisely. The test items in the C-Test used in this study included only lexical collocations or more precisely verb-noun collocations. The C-test was was piloted on 30 students in the university. They were all English major students. The responses attained from the pilot study were carefully reviewed. It was found that some items were whether too easy or too difficult for students; therefore, they were changed and piloted again on the 30 different students there. Consequently, the modified version of the C-test was used. The reliability for the C- test was estimated by Cronbach’s alpha which was .87. The result shows that the C-Test has a high reliability and can be utilised to measure the difference in means between verb-noun collocation proficiency of the EFL students and their academic years. Validity of the test is as important as its reliability; therefore, to validate the modified test of the study, it was administered to a different group of 30 students to measure concurrent validity of the test which was .82 at p = .01. The item facility and item discrimination were calculated to keep the appropriate items in the test. Items facility for the Test of Collocations fell within the range of (.47 and .70 respectively) which means the items were not very easy neither too difficult and were in suitable degree of difficulty and can be used to measure students’ collocational proficiency (see Brown, 2003). 4.3 Data Analysis To answer the research question, a One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used. The results of the One-Way ANOVA showed there is variability in the proficiency of lexical collocations within each academic year and between the four academic years. Table 1 shows the descriptive results.

Table 1. Summary Table of the Differences among the Four Academic Years in the Test of Collocations

N Mean SD SE

95% CIM

Minimum Maximum LB UB

First 51 61.57 9.83 1.376 58.80 64.33 50.00 85.00 Second 47 66.74 8.40 1.23 63.28 68.21 50.00 80.00

Third 64 69.76 8.04 1.00 67.76 71.77 55.00 85.00 Fourth 50 74.50 8.46 1.20 72.09 76.90 60.00 90.00 Total 212 68.02 9.81 .674 66.70 69.35 50.00 85.00

Key: CIM = confidence interval of mean SD = standard deviation SE = standard error LB = lower bound UB = upper bound

Table 1 shows gradual and generally consistent increase in mean score from one year to the next. The increase is seen to be greater between the first and the second years than the second and the third years. Fourth year students' mean scores are higher than the third year students'; this suggests a high increase similar to that between the first and second year students. To observe the variability in the verb-noun collocations proficiency within each academic year and between the four academic years, ANOVA was utilised. The results of ANOVA are depicted in Table 2 that shows there is the variability between-group and within-group in the proficiency of collocations. Table 2. One-Way Analysis of Variance for the Proficiency of Collocations

Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

Between Groups 4660.494 3 1553.498 20.637 0.000

Within Groups 15657.430 208 75.276 Total 20317.925 211

Table2, clearly shows that there was a significant difference in the proficiency of lexical verb-noun collocations both between and within the four academic years, F (3, 208) =20,637 at the p = .0001 level which is much less than α = .05.

IJALEL 3(1):152-162, 2014 159 After the results of the One-Way ANOVA were acquired a post hoc multiple comparison test was carried out by using Tukey's Honestly Significant Difference (HSD) in order to find out which pairs of means were significantly different from each other. Table 3 shows the multiple comparisons of the means of the four academic years in collocation test performance. Table 3. Multiple Comparisons of the Means of the four Academic Years in the Test of Collocations

(I) grade (J) grade MD (I-J)

SE Sig. 95% Confidence Interval

LB UB

First Second -4.17605 1.75432 0.084 -8.72 .37

Third -8.19700* 1.62855 0.000 -12.41 -3.98

Fourth -12.93137* 1.72671 0.000 -17.40 -8.46

Second Third -4.02094 1.66668 0.078 -8.34 .29

Fourth -8.75532* 1.76271 0.000 -13.32 -4.19

Third Fourth -4.73438* 1.63759 0.022 -8.97 -.49

LB = lower bound UB = upper bound MD= mean of difference (I-J) SE = standard error Table 3 reveals that the means are significantly different when first year is compared with the third and fourth years in the test of collocation at α = 0.05, but there is no difference between the first and the second year. From Table 3, it is evident that for the second year and the third year students, there is no difference at α = .05. On the other hand, there was a significant difference between the mean score of second year and the fourth year as shown by significant level p =.0001. Alternatively, the difference in the mean score of third and fourth years, Table 3 represents a significant difference at p = .022. As for the no significant differences found between the performance of the students in the second and third years in the Test of Collocations, it may be argued that students’ proficiency of collocations may not have improved or it may be related to factors such as the test complexity and testing conditions. 5. Discussion and Pedagogical Implication Regarding the research question, the results from one-way ANOVA demonstrated that there were significant differences both between-groups and within-groups in the verb-noun collocations and the academic years. Afterwards, Tukey test was utilised to find out which pairs of means were significantly different from each other. There was a significant difference between the first, the third and the fourth years and between the mean score of second year and the fourth year, but there was no significant difference between the first and the second year students, between the second year and the third year students. It can be concluded that such statistically significant differences obviously indicate the increase in the students’ verb-noun collocation proficiency through the academic years. These findings support the findings of Gitsaki (1999) and Al-Zahrani (1998) who prove that students’ knowledge of collocations improve through their academic years. The result also implies that implicit learning has taken place despite of not receiving any formal and direct teaching of collocations; the students have shown a gradual increase in their knowledge of collocations. While increased knowledge in collocations may be due to exposure to the language both inside and outside the classroom, this does not mean that there is no need for formal learning. The results show that significant difference was mostly in non-consecutive years – i.e. at least two year interval in the academic years of students. Therefore, the teaching of verb-noun collocations in formal classroom settings can play a facilitative role and expedite the process of developing verb-noun collocational knowledge. The results of the present study show that the acquisition of collocations and students' knowledge of collocations increased through their academic years that support input flood technique which is an implicit technique and can help students acquire collocations effectively through exposure inside and outside classroom. The results of the research question add to the current body of research on collocation proficiency. First, the study considers the use of the academic year as an independent variable to assess students' collocational proficiency. The results showed that students' collocational proficiency can adequately be measured through their academic years. Second, the ability of the students to acquire verb-noun collocational knowledge without learning the collocations through formal instruction provides insights into the role of informal language exposure in language development both inside and outside the classroom. In other words, students did not receive any formal and direct teaching of collocations; they have shown a gradual increase in their knowledge of collocations. Finally, the findings indicate that students may have gained collocation proficiency as part of their communicative competence to communicate effectively in English.

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International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Personal Problems and English Teachers: Are They Always Bad?

Muhd Khudri Johari (Corresponding author)

Department of Campus Lifestyles

Universiti Kuala Lumpur – Malaysian Institute of Aviation Technology

43800, Selangor, Malaysia

E-mail: mdkhudri@miat.unikl.edu.my

Nur Zaimah Jamil

Department of Language and Literacy Education,

Faculty of Education, Malaya University

50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Received: 30-09-2013 Accepted: 07-11-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.163 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.163 Abstract Personal problems involve things that are difficult to deal with, felt or experienced by certain people; in this particular study, Malaysian English language teachers. The relationship between personal problems and teaching reflection practice is researched quantitatively as there is a significant concern in the current education system that English language teachers are not doing well in educating the current generation, hence the professional developments needed to be carried out (Masilamani, et al., 2011; Schleicher, 2011; Schleicher, 2011). Based on the authors’ readings, there has yet been any research regarding this matter done in the Malaysian context. Hence, different types of personal problems have been identified via a validated questionnaire specifically made for this purpose. 45 English language teachers participated in this action research; all of whom are currently teaching in the same district in southern Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. Although the results showed that personal problems affected teaching reflection practice negatively, it is hoped that future research will look into how teachers can utilize their problems as personal intrinsic motivators to obtain positive reinforcements and achieve success in their careers. Keywords: personal problems, teaching reflection, Ideal Personal Problem - Teaching Reflection (PPRT) Inventory 1. Introduction In this study, these selected teachers are having difficulties in conducting, managing, reviewing, and later assessing their teaching reflections because of several obstacles, including financial and marital status. This phenomenon is enforced by the exam-oriented nature of education system in this country that has been criticized by the public (Rajaratenam, 2012). Therefore, this research aims to determine how far personal problems really affect English language teachers’ teaching reflection practice here in Malaysia. In order to properly carry out teaching reflection processes, they must first know exactly what to “repair”. The Ideal PPRT inventory will point out several problems from case studies and researches; the teachers must carefully observe the ones that they are facing currently. Guidance and support are critically needed to ensure they do not go off-track, hence brief definitions or explanations will be arranged in the inventory. The support may also come from trusted colleagues or reputable leaders within their departments who have prior knowledge regarding teaching reflections. Peer-coaching in TEFL/TESL programmes has been proven to be beneficial and improving teachers’ performance, resulting in Silvana and Rhoda (Vacilotto & Cummings, 2007) to recommend the implementation of peer-coaching in Brazil’s national teacher development programmes. 2. Literature Review 2.1 Personal Problems In 1979, Anthony P. Mattaliano, a Professor cum Principal from Connecticut pointed out that in reality, teachers are still human beings. Naturally, they would have personal problems and it is very crucial for all teachers’ supervisors to identify and assist in solving their teachers’ personal problems (Mattaliano, 1979). This is simply because Mattaliano also stressed that teaching is a very personal act, hence whatever happens usually stays in the classrooms. Therefore, the relationship between the teachers and their supervisors has been distinguished as highly necessary to rectify any situation that involves personal problems.

IJALEL 3(1):163-169, 2014 164 Specifically for elementary schools teachers and beginning secondary school teachers, Simon Veenman from Catholic University of Nijmegen has determined several personal problems such as reality shock or culture shock, change of attitudes, and their relation with supervisors/administrators, colleagues and parents (Veenman, 1984). This research was not only concentrating on the teachers in one country. The data collection for his study took around 15 years (from 1961 until 1976). Specifically, he gathered the data from schools in USA, UK, Puerto Rico, West Germany, Australia, Netherlands, Canada, Switzerland, Austria, and Finland (Veenman, 1984). Indeed, culture plays an important factor for anyone who is having personal problems. Defined as ‘a phenomenon at the group, institutional, or societal level, even though it has strong relevance for predicting individuals’ behaviours, researchers have proven that there is a strong link between job satisfaction-job performance relationship and cultures (Ng, Sorensen, & Yim, 2009). Even though their study did not focus solely on teachers, they have at least found out that the respondents’ job satisfaction-job performance relationship varied according to the different cultures they live in. Particularly in Malaysia, the cultural values differ as much as the cultural diversity that exists within the country’s population. As explained by Sharan and Mazanah (2000), Malaysians have five general values; collectivistic, hierarchical, relationship oriented, face and religious. These positive values are indicating that supposedly, Malaysian citizens would have no problems living their life, including working here as teachers. The fact is though, it is not. While some may have no personal problems because of cultures, other teachers have been found to suffer with the increasing number of resignation, stress and burnout (Masilamani, et al., 2011) because of being Malay. The same study also concluded that the second factor of the rising number was the absence of superiors’ support. Goris (2003) stressed that the crucial part is the trust in superiors would moderate the relationship between the individual-job congruence condition with both job performance and job satisfaction (Goris, Vaught, & Pettit, 2003). Therefore, administrators must find alternatives or approaches that can help to improve on the matter of teachers wanting to leave their working place or worse, their teaching profession. In particular, schools must provide high standards of caring climate and procedural justice and reduce tolerance of organizational misbehaviour (Shapira-Lishchinsky & Rosenblatt, 2009). Regarding teachers’ personal demographic information, school administrators need to facilitate the knowledge and keep track of issues which may be deemed too sensitive for certain teachers, such as religion or cultural matters. With the five Malaysian values (Merriam & Mohamad, 2000) explained previously, they need to inculcate the strength of unity within the diversity among the teachers under their supervision in order to maximize teachers’ positive attitudes and perceptions towards the school. With these in mind, teachers would naturally become more socialized and committed, making them less inclined to consider quitting their profession (Shapira-Lishchinsky & Rosenblatt, 2009). In this respect, it can also be said that school administrators should be servant leaders to improve job satisfaction, which in turn contributes to the effective work of their teachers and indirectly making them happier to stay (Cerit, 2009). With regards to the effective teaching and learning environments related to teachers’ superiors, Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) did a study on 24 countries (including Malaysia as one of the seven non-members of OECD countries). Schleicher (2011) pointed out several domains which are imperative for school administrators to consider; Supporting Effective Teaching through Appraisal and Feedback, Improving Teaching Practice and Shaping the Development of Teachers through Effective School Leadership (Schleicher, 2011). Even now, it has been proven that personal problems still exist and affecting teachers in schools (Nakata, 2010). 2.2 Ideal PPRT Inventory Other researchers keep on confirming that personal problems are affecting teachers’ performance in general, which after a period of time causes them to slowly deteriorating in motivation, cognitive conflict and social construction (Adey, et al., 2004). Adey’s CA Approach has been designed solely for this purpose; to be used as a tool for professional development. Even though it was originally tailored for students, it has been adapted and implemented by various programmes in different countries. For instance, Dusan Krnel from University of Lublijana, Slovenia and personnel from Palestinian Education Authority have introduced the Cognitive Acceleration (CA) Approach in schools in their respective countries. It seems that other countries which have started implementing this approach have gotten positive results in seeing their students’ progress in professional development (Adey, et al., 2004). With all these positive and encouraging results from different countries, it is in the authors’ optimistic perception that the CA Approach will also be efficient if it is tailored and implemented for the teachers instead of the students. Responding to Adey’s recommendation, this approach has been adapted and combined with another two adapted sets of validated questionnaires for personal problems to form the Ideal PPRT Inventory. Both sets are referring to Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP) (Horowitz, et. al) and Personal Problem Inventory or “15PPI” (Cash, Begley, McCown, and Weise, 1975). They will be used as the primary reference for the construction of the specific inventory for this study, which will be using Lin Norton’s The Ideal *** Inventory (2001) as the main framework. Together with Zeichner and Liston’s Reflection Model (1996) as the main instrument for teaching reflection, the main objective of this study is to find out and confirm whether there is a significant relationship between personal problems and teaching reflection practice among English language teachers in Malaysia. 3. Methodology 3.1 Research Design This research is using the concept of Classroom Action Research which involves English Language teachers in their respective classrooms. Common issues regarding their teaching reflections have been examined during the interview

IJALEL 3(1):163-169, 2014 165 sessions outside classrooms (Ary, Jacobs, & Sorensen, 2006). Practical Action Research method has been chosen to determine the effects of the personal problems faced by these teachers in carrying out teaching reflection activities at their workplace (Creswell, 2008). The area of focus of this action research will only be on the personal problems faced by these teachers as the major crisis for teaching reflection practice, which will also reflect on what are the possible causes for their identified personal problems. After the data has been analysed, an action plan will be devised to solve the problems. 3.2 Data Collection A research was conducted on selected English language teachers from a secondary school in Rembau district in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. They were pre-selected after a few observations made by the authors visually indicated that these teachers were getting more negative responses and feedbacks from their own students during the school period occasionally. Meetings and appointments were made for all these teachers. All selected teachers were called beforehand to arrange the most suitable time and place of their own preferences within their office hours and workplace to ensure their utmost willingness and readiness to participate in this research. If by any reason the selected teacher was unwilling to participate, the authors would find another replacement either from the same or another secondary school within the same district to increase the validity and reliability of the data. They would then meet with the authors to take some time to answer the questionnaire provided. Every teacher was given 30 minutes to answer all the 15 items provided in the questionnaire. These entire processes were repeated for the other secondary school teachers in Rembau district. 4. Results and Discussion 4.1 Results The outputs were arranged in Table. 1 with their respective data analysis and the items from the Ideal PPRT Inventory were interpreted according to the authors’ intended contexts and objectives to indicate whether the main objectives of this research had been achieved or not.

Table 1. Personal Problems

Frequency Percent One Personal Problem 5 11.1

Two Personal Problems 13 28.9 Three Personal

Problems 27 60.0

Total 45 100.0 Next, the numbers recorded show what are the possible causes or reasons for their personal problems and the statistics according to how many personal problems that they have. All 15 items in the inventory will be analysed separately. 4.2 Personal Problems Based on the data accumulated from the teachers, there were 11 different personal problems that have been identified from the questionnaires. The frequencies for every personal problem have been calculated to establish which one has been experienced by most number of teachers.

Table 2. Cause 1

Personal problems Frequency Percent None 0 0.0

Financial 6 13.3 Spouses/Romantic Relationship

16 35.6

Family Matters 6 13.3 Employer 2 4.4 Peers/Colleagues 2 4.4 Working Environment

3 6.7

KPI 3 6.7 Knowledge of Content

1 2.2

Students 3 6.7 Postgraduate Studies 2 4.4 Health 1 2.2 Total 45 100.0

IJALEL 3(1):163-169, 2014 166 Table 3. Cause 2

Table 4. Cause 3

Although the data for the causes have been classified separately (Cause 1, Cause 2, and Cause 3), it does not necessarily mean that one cause has stronger effects compared to the other one or two. For example, Respondent 1, who has two personal problems, wrote that his/her Cause 1 is “Financial” and Cause 2 is “Employer”. From the authors’ point of view, it simply means that Respondent 1 has two causes for his/her personal problems. Literally, Cause 1 does not necessarily mean that it has a higher impact on the teaching reflection practice of the teachers compared to Cause 2. The causes are stated by respondents to indicate what kind of real-life personal problems that they were experiencing at that time. In short, the causes listed by the respondents directly reflect what their actual personal problems are and cannot be perceived as a kind of measurement. 4.3 Interpretation of Data 4.3.1 Interpretation Except for Item 3, 6, 9, and 13, all the items in the Ideal PPRT Inventory will be interpreted directly (not as reversed items). In other words, the whole idea of whether personal problems affect teachers’ teaching reflection practice or not

Personal problems Frequency Percent

None 5 11.1

Financial 7 15.6

Spouses/Romantic Relationship

10 22.2

Family Matters 3 6.7

Employer 1 2.2

Peers/Colleagues 4 8.9

Working Environment

5 11.1

KPI 1 2.2

Knowledge of Content

3 6.7

Students 2 4.4

Postgraduate Studies

2 4.4

Health 2 4.4

Total 45 100.0

Personal problems Frequency Percent None 18 40.0

Financial 2 4.4

Spouses/Romantic Relationship

1 2.2

Family Matters 4 8.9

Employer 2 4.4

Peers/Colleagues 3 6.7

Working Environment

1 2.2

KPI 4 8.9

Knowledge of Content

6 13.3

Students 1 2.2

Health 3 6.7

Total 45 100.0

IJALEL 3(1):163-169, 2014 167 will be determined by the total number of responses given for all 15 items. As a result, these are the indicators suggested by the authors; Table 5. Data Interpretation of the Ideal PPRT Inventory

Respond Result Totally Agree or Agree (Positively-skewed distributions)

Personal problems affect teachers’ teaching reflection practice. (There is a significant relationship between personal problems and teaching reflection practice.)

Neutral or Disagree or Totally Disagree (Symmetrical or negatively-skewed distributions)

Personal problems do not affect teachers’ teaching reflection practice. (There is a significant relationship between personal problems and teaching reflection practice.)

4.3.2 Positively-skewed distributions From the analysis in Figure 6, there are 13 positively-skewed distributions, including Item 3, 6 and 9 which are the reverse items for this inventory. As such, these three items will be treated as the opposite and interpreted as negatively-skewed distributions. As a result, the authors have finalized that there are 10 positively-skewed distributions (Item 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, and 15) which proved that personal problems significantly affect teaching reflection practice among the respondents. 4.3.3 Negatively-skewed distributions Based on the data in Table 6, there is originally one item (Item 11) which signifies a negatively-skewed distribution. However, the addition of Item 3, 6 and 9 in the list has made it four items in total. As a result, the authors has finalized that there are four negatively-skewed distributions (Item 3, 6, 9, and 11) which proved that personal problems do not affect teaching reflection practice among the respondents. Table 6.15 Items of the Ideal PPRT Inventory My personal problems … TA (%) A (%) N (%) D (%) SD

(%) Affected

1. Put me in an extremely difficult situation to pay attention to students.

24.4 55.6 11.1 8.9 - Yes

2. Create a clear distance between me and my students.

40.0 44.4 4.4 6.7 4.4 Yes

3. Affect my emotional judgments in school. 44.4 35.5 11.1 4.4 4.4 Yes 4. Influence my decision-making in classes,

meetings, etc. 35.5 42.2 4.4 15.6 2.2 Yes

5. Are a significant factor for me not doing my teaching reflection.

31.1 51.1 4.4 8.9 4.4 Yes

6. Trigger my argumentative nature with other people in school.

35.6 44.4 6.7 4.4 8.9 Yes

7. Are the reason for me not to conduct consultations with students.

42.2 40.0 4.4 4.4 8.9 Yes

8. Set me off to neglect post-class reviews. 40.0 42.2 2.2 6.7 8.9 Yes 9. Cause me to easily express my anger or

feeling of stress. 44.4 35.6 11.1 6.7 2.2 Yes

10. Keep me back from carrying out discussions regarding lessons in class.

33.3 48.9 4.4 4.4 8.9 Yes

11. Restrain me from being supportive towards my students’ goals and ambitions.

- - 6.7 42.2 51.1 No

12. Discourage me from advising my students on their academic performance outside classrooms.

46.7 37.8 2.2 4.4 8.9 Yes

13. Pose difficulties for me to understand other people’s point of view.

- 6.7 62.2 24.4 6.7 No

14. Reduce my interest in spending time to make extra notes for teaching lessons.

37.8 44.4 4.4 8.9 4.4 Yes

15. Curb my intentions in improving my students’ academic performances.

42.2 40.0 4.4 8.9 4.4 Yes

*Indicators: TA: Totally Agree A: Agree N: Neutral D: Disagree SD: Strongly Disagree

IJALEL 3(1):163-169, 2014 168 It has been confirmed that there is a significant relationship between personal problems and teaching reflection practice among secondary school English language teachers. 10 out of 15 items show positively-skewed distributions, which confirm the authors’ theory that personal problems significantly affect teaching reflection practice. 5. Conclusion 5.1 Implications for Future Research and Practice Based on the responses gathered from the selected 45 English language teachers, it is clear that personal problems faced by them have definitely affected their teaching reflection practice. That means it may also affect other teachers in the same district or even in other states and nations. However, focusing on only English language teachers, their teaching impact on students are critical because in Malaysia’ education system, English is one of the four compulsory subjects in schools (Ministry of Education Malaysia, 2012); from primary to tertiary levels. Hence, all students are at risk of being affected if the teachers could not solve their personal problems. In order to resolve this matter quickly, all teachers in learning institutions must be aware of the consequences and take necessary actions before it gets worse. Administrations can first provide a medium for teachers to express their problems and later conduct or sponsor not just regular functional trainings, but also specific professional development courses to further curb this phenomenon. By time, higher levels of administrations, such as the district education office or Ministry of Education may conduct researches on a bigger scale on different aspects of problems faced by teachers, and implement changes whilst taking teachers’ responds and feedbacks into consideration. 5.2 Recommendations Clearly, teachers’ relationship with their spouses or partners can affect their professional teaching performance in schools because it has been proven that relationship problems such as divorce attitudes, parental marital status and specific relationship scenarios can generate negative behaviours and greater conflicts towards their students (Riggio & Fite, 2006). For this particular problem, it has recorded the highest number of teachers suffering from it (60%). Hence, it is highly recommended that if they are still not married, then they should get married. For the affected married teachers, they must start evaluating their relationship with their partner. These teachers might not be aware of the marriage problem checklists or questionnaires that have been introduced since many years ago up until today. Affected teachers may use them as a primary guidance and they are also readily available on the Internet and have been categorized for both pre-marital and married. Some of them are ‘Marriage Test’ by Kerby Anderson (2001), ‘The Communication Pattern Questionnaire’ (1984), ‘Divorce Triggers’ by Lisa Grace Paul (2010), and ‘Pre-Marriage Checklist’ by Dr. Clyde Narramore (2012). In fact, marriage consultancy is quite common everywhere, including Malaysia (Mohd. Noor, 2010). Researches have also shown that Malaysian government provides fairly low salaries to all teachers in government schools ( (Abdullah, Uli, & Parasuraman, 2009) and (Munaf, 2009)); even the Malaysian government admits that notion by proposing recommendations to review and revise teachers’ salary scales to suit with the continuous hikes in prices of goods and necessities (Official Portal of Economic Planning Unit, 2002). In addition to their salary, they may also have problems adjusting or managing their incomes with cost of living, personal transport, lifestyle budget, addition in family members, etc. From the second highest statistics gained in this matter (33.3%), it is suggested that these teachers find help from financial experts or attend courses on how to manage money effectively. They may have to sacrifice some unnecessary or unimportant spending such as on trends and social engagements which may require additional clothing, gadgets, and other personal items. For those who are living in high-living-cost areas or big towns such as Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru, they might want to consider moving into another living area in the nearest district with cheaper cost of living rates compared to their current ones. Of course, these teachers are also recommended to have part-time jobs such as tuition classes, editing, or proofreading which not only serve as additional income, but also sharpening their teaching or linguistic skills. With 20% and below in terms of the statistics respectively, teachers still need to be aware that aside from financial and family issues, the personal problem(s) may as well come from the workplace itself. From the moment teachers came to their respective schools on the first day, total adaptation process must already be in process. Adding to that, appointed mentor or advisor must be the first reference for any matter regarding their official and unofficial duties in schools. This is because a research in Tawau, Sabah has shown that secondary school teachers in general are dissatisfied with their work itself, co-workers, supervision, and working conditions (Abdullah, Uli, & Parasuraman, 2009). Affected teachers are advised to be aware of their professionalism whenever they are dealing with official matters, such as meetings, undergoing supervisions, and teaching in classrooms. Light moods and jokes are totally acceptable as long as they keep it within the professional ethics boundaries. For example in some schools, ranks may be a distinct boundary between teachers and administration. Sometimes, they even have to be aware of their peers or colleagues in the same department as some of them would be more senior compared to the others. Teachers are also expected to be able to control their emotions and behaviours inside and outside classrooms. From the administration’s perspective, they should conduct continuous functional trainings and sponsor professional development courses for the teachers to ensure their teaching performance improves by time or even maintains at the highest level for as long as they working there. School administrators are also responsible for providing optimum working environments to ensure that the teaching-learning process can be conducted smoothly for both teachers and students. This can be done with proper high involvement management and the implementation of enriched job design (Wood, Van Veldhoven, Croon, & de Menezes, 2012) which allows flexibility for teachers in their work. Therefore, teachers are always welcomed to modify their surroundings to increase the learning mood in and outside classrooms as

IJALEL 3(1):163-169, 2014 169 long as they keep it educational, relevant, and beneficial for all parties in the school. However, teachers sometimes have to bear with the insufficient teaching materials or unusable facilities in their schools because of the school’s limited budget, such as in rural areas. In Uganda, researchers have shown that the academics there are still satisfied with their courses despite having less equipment to use such as access to computers and relaxation facilities (Ssesanga & Garrett, 2005). With the idea of “doing more with less”, they also indicated that the academics’ intrinsic motivation has been contributing towards their increasing performance of teaching and research despite experiencing shortage of stuffs to use during teaching. References Abdullah, M. M., Uli, J., & Parasuraman, B. (2009). Job satisfaction among secondary school teachers. Jurnal Kemanusiaan, 11-18. Ary, D., Jacobs, L. C., & Sorensen, C. (2006). Introduction to Research in Education. Belmont: Wadsworth. Cerit, Y. (2009). The Effects of Servant Leadership Behaviours of School Principals on Teachers' Job Satisfaction. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 600-623. Creswell, J. W. (2008). Educational Research. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc. Goris, J. R., Vaught, B. C., & Pettit, J. D. (2003). Effects of Trust in Superiors and Influence of Superiors on the Association between Individual-Job Congruence and Job Performance/Satisfaction. Journal of Business and Psychology, 327-343. Masilamani, R., Darus, A., Ting, A. S., Ali, R., Awang Mahmud, A. B., & David, K. (2011). Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health. Salivary Biomarkers of Stress Among Teachers in an Urban Setting, 278-287. Mattaliano, A. P. (1979). When Personal Problems Interfere with Teachers' Effectiveness. Educational Leadership, 427-429. Merriam, S. B., & Mohamad, M. (2000). How Cultural Values Shape Learning in Older Adulthood: The Case of Malaysia. Adult Learning Quarterly, 45-63. Ministry of Education Malaysia. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.moe.gov.my/v/ Mohd. Noor, S. Z. (2010, October 30). Portal Rasmi Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia. Retrieved May 24, 2012, from JAKIM: http://www.islam.gov.my/sites/default/files/consultancy_-_ways_to_solve_family_issues.pdf Munaf, S. (2009). Motivation, Performance and Satisfaction Among University Teachers: Comparing Public and Private Teachers: Comparing Public and Private. South Asian Journal of Management, 7-28. Nakata, Y. (2010). Improving the Classroom Language Proficiency of Non-native Teachers of English: What and How? RELC Journal, 16. Ng, T. W., Sorensen, K. L., & Yim, F. H. (2009). Does the Job Satisfaction--Job Performance Relationship Vary Across Cultures? Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 761-796. Official Portal of Economic Planning Unit. (2002, October 18). Retrieved May 24, 2012, from Prime Minister's Department Malaysia: http://www.epu.gov.my/html/themes/epu/images/common/pdf/publication/knowledge_based/CHAPTER_3.pdf Rajaratenam, R. M. (2012, March 11). New Straits Times. Retrieved March 18, 2012, from http://www.nst.com.my/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/exam-oriented-system-evaluate-students-on-all-their-abilities Riggio, H. R., & Fite, J. E. (2006). Attitudes Toward Divorce: Embeddedness and Outcomes in Personal Relationships. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 2935–2962. Schleicher, A. (2011). Lessons from the World on Effective Teaching and Learning Environments. Journal of Teacher Education, 202-221. Shapira-Lishchinsky, O., & Rosenblatt, Z. (2009). Organizational Ethics and Teachers' Intent to Leave: An Integrative Approach. Educational Administration Quarterly, 725-758. Ssesanga, K., & Garrett, R. M. (2005). Job Satisfaction of University Academics: Perspectives from Uganda. Higher Education, 33-56. The Economic Planning Unit. (2010). TENTH MALAYSIA PLAN 2011-2015. Putrajaya: Prime Minister's Department Malaysia. Vacilotto, S., & Cummings, R. (2007). Peer coaching in TEFL/TESL programmes. ELT Journal, 153-160. Veenman, S. (1984). Perceived Problems of Beginning Teachers. Review of Educational Research, 143-178. Wood, S., Van Veldhoven, M., Croon, M., & de Menezes, L. M. (2012). Enriched job design, high involvement management and organizational performance: The mediating roles of job satisfaction and well-being. Human Relations, 419-446.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

EFL Learners’ Beliefs about Language Learning along Gender, Further Education in Language Institutes &

Different Proficiency Levels

Naemeh Nahavandi

Universiti Putra Malaysia

Tel: 0060173942723 E-mail: naemeh.nahavandi@gmail.com

Jayakaran Mukundan (Corresponding author)

Universiti Putra Malaysia

Tel: 0060122099717 E-mail: jayakaranmukundan@yahoo.com

Received: 01-10-2013 Accepted: 08-11-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.170 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.170 Abstract The aim of the present study was to understand the beliefs of Iranian EFL learners’ about language learning. This study was an attempt to understand if there was any relationship between gender, proficiency level and further education in language institutes on beliefs about language learning. Accordingly, 369 EFL engineering students studying in Azad University of Tabriz, Iran were selected based on random sampling. Data were collected using two questionnaires: a demographical questionnaire, and the Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory (BALLI). Data were analyzed using ANOVA, LSD & t-test. The results of the study showed that the highest mean average among the five components of beliefs about language learning was nature of language learning (M=3.91), followed by Foreign Language Aptitude (M=3.85), Difficulty of Language Learning (M=3.42), Learning and Communication Strategies (M=3.35) and Motivation and Expectations (M=3.25). The findings showed that there was a significant difference between learners’ beliefs, gender and further education in language institutes. However, there was not any significant difference between learners’ beliefs and their proficiency level. The study concluded with some pedagogical implications. Keywords: Iranian EFL learners, BALLI 1. Introduction Many areas of education are undergoing changes in the way teaching and learning is understood. Teacher centered classes and structural- syllabus teaching are giving way to more student-centered, practical and flexible approaches. In this paradigm shift, the field of second and foreign language teaching is not an exception (Nahavandi, 2011; Nahavandi & Mukundan, 2012; Nahavandi, 2013; Nahavandi & Mukundan, 2013c). Generally speaking, interest in language learning and language learners burgeoned in the late 1970s due to the cognitive revolution. The paradigm shift from behaviorism to cognitive science in psychology and education research led to efforts for explaining the cognitive processes in all of the aspects of learning, with language being no exception. Previous studies of language learning put an emphasis on describing externally observable behaviors of language learners, followed by attempts in labeling strategic behaviors and ultimately categorizing those strategic behaviors and linking them to language proficiency. During the past two decades, there have been various studies concerning beliefs that language learners hold about language learning and many researchers agree with the idea that beliefs play a major role in learner's language success (Dörnyei, 2005; Sakui & Gaies 1999; Weinert & Kluwe 1987). For Christison and Krahnke (1986) “studies of learner belief and attitude are valuable sources of insight into language learning” (p.78). Language learners beliefs about learning can be affected by the context in which they learn, which in turn affects their learning behaviors. Horwitz (1987; 1988) did a leading work in examining language learner beliefs about learning a new language. She made an instrument calling it "The Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (BALLI)". Since then, BALLI has been widely used in different contexts and cultures to evaluate EFL/ESL students' beliefs. For Horwitz (1987, 1988) learners’ beliefs about language learning are affected by their previous language learning experiences as well as cultural background. It has also been claimed that beliefs about language learning can be closely linked to the learners’ choice of learning strategies (Hosenfeld, 1978; Wenden, 1987a; Yang, 1999). Horwitz (1987a) suggests that understanding language learning beliefs is essential at least for two reasons. The first reason is that these beliefs might influence the expectations that learners have for learning the target language, and the second reason is that such beliefs might be more easily lead to change compared with cognitive style variables or affective variables such as attitude and motivation. To date, no comparative analyses have been conducted, whether university students in Iran with and without further

IJALEL 3(1):170-180, 2014 171 education in language institutes differ with each other in terms of their beliefs about language learning. Furthermore as Bernat (2006) states "there is still paucity in literature on the relationship between language learner beliefs and stable individual differences, such as gender" (p. 80). To bridge these gaps, such a comparison study may provide useful information which may in turn encourage more research in this area in Iranian context. 2. Background of the Study 2.1. Beliefs about Language Learning For some researchers language learners have certain beliefs about how languages are learned and learners have a conscious knowledge of their mental processes (O’Malley & Chamot, 1989; Wenden, 1991; Wenden & Rubin, 1987). Some researchers have differentiated between metacognitive knowledge and beliefs. According to Alexander and Dochy (1995) beliefs are idiosyncratic, subjective and value related. For some other researchers (e.g., Horwitz, 1987; Omaggio, 1978; Wenden,1987a) beliefs about language learning include learners’ notions, ideas ,concepts, opinions, assumptions, or mini-theories of the nature of language or language learning. There is a consensus among researchers that individual language learners have different beliefs about how languages are learned. Individual beliefs about language learning may consciously or unconsciously affect learners’ approaches to or behaviors in language learning. As an example, learners who put more importance on learning grammar will focus on learning the structure of a sentence or the patterns of a language in formal language learning. In late 1980s, Horwitz’s (1985, 1987, & 1988) research on learners’ beliefs made a great contribution to the research of beliefs about language learning. As the first researcher, she systematically assessed learners’ beliefs using instruments based on scaled systems. For Horwitz (1999), by understanding learners’ beliefs we can better understand learner’ approaches to language learning, and learners’ use of learning strategies which in turn enables us to appropriately plan language instruction. 2.2 Studies on Beliefs in EFL Contexts There have been plenty of studies on beliefs in EFL context such as China (Zhang and Cui, 2010), Hungary (Rieger, 2009), Iran (Bagherzadeh, 2012; Ghabanchi & Naji Meidani, 2012; Jafari & Shokrpour, 2012; Mesri, 2012), Korea (Park, 1995), Lebanon (Diab, 2000, 2006), Malaysia (Nikitina & Furuoka, 2006), Thailand (Fujiwara, 2011), Turkey (Atlan, 2006; Buyukyazi, 2010; Kunt ,1997; Oz, 2007). Only the results of studies related to the scope of the present study have been discussed here. In one study, 248 foreign language major students in Turkey were surveyed about their language learning beliefs. The results of the study showed that subjects held a range of beliefs with varying degrees of validity (Atlan, 2006). In another Turkish context, Kunt (1997) studied the beliefs about language learning and language anxiety and the relationship between beliefs and anxiety. BALLI was given to 882 Turkish-speaking university students learning English as a foreign language at two pre-university English programs in North Cyprus. The results of factor analysis identified three categories of beliefs of the Turkish students based on the value and nature of learning English, self-efficacy/ confidence in speaking, and beliefs about social interaction. Furthermore, the results of the study showed high instrumental motivation for learning English for both groups, strong beliefs in the importance of learning English, and high value placed on guessing and repeating during practice. In Lebanese context, Diab’s (2000) used a modified version of BALLI for 284 Lebanese university students learning English and French as foreign languages at three universities in Lebanon. Factor analyses of the results identified four categories of beliefs for each language group. English language students beliefs’ included the following: integrative motivation, difficulty of speaking and learning English, the importance of accuracy in speaking English, and the importance of English in Lebanon. For French language students, beliefs included: motivation/ confidence in speaking French, the nature of learning French, the importance of French in Lebanon, and the importance of accuracy in speaking French. A variety of beliefs about foreign languages, were reported by the participants indicating that learning a foreign language seems to be related to the political and socio-cultural context of foreign language education in Lebanon. For Diab (2000), the differences observed in a comparison of the students’ beliefs about learning English and their beliefs about learning French might be the result of variation in a particular group’s beliefs about learning a different target language. In Chinese context, Zhang and Cui (2010) studied learning beliefs of 90 distance learners in a 3-year undergraduate English program in China. The results of their study showed that the major difficulty in distance learning for many participants was the paucity of communication with teachers and peers. Furthermore, the results showed that anxiety and frustration in the distance language learners lessened as they considered more advantages in the autonomous method of learning. In Iranian context, Bagherzadeh (2012) studied language learning beliefs of 125 non-English majors with different levels of English language proficiency on language learning. The results of her study showed that proficiency level had a significant effect on the motivation of students. The more proficient participants reported holding strong beliefs in the category of ''motivation and expectations''. Furthermore, no significant difference was observed between male and female non-English majors' beliefs in English language learning. In another study Jafari & Shokrpor (2012) surveyed 80 Iranian ESP learners' beliefs about language learning. The results of their study showed that the highest mean average among the five components of beliefs about language learning was belief of motivations and expectations followed by belief of learning and communication strategies and belief of difficulty of language learning. Moreover, there was a significant difference between learners’ beliefs and gender. In the other study, Mesri (2012) surveyed the relationship

IJALEL 3(1):170-180, 2014 172 between beliefs about language learning and gender among 90 Iranian EFL learners. The results of her study showed that that there was no significant effect of gender on Iranian university learners' beliefs in learning English. 2.3 Current Status of English in Iran Due to today’s growing science and technology all over the world, learning English language has been given much more importance compared to past years, and it is not an exception in Iranian context (Nahavandi & Mukundan, 2013a). Nevertheless, teaching English in Iran has been difficult both for EFL learners and teachers due to lack of resources and little contact with the target language outside the classroom compared to other EFL learners in other contexts. (Sadeghi, 2005). There are very few English programs broadcasted on TV or radio. Of course, because of advancements in technology and the more frequent use of the Internet, satellite, and rapid growth of private language institutes in Iran, the opportunities for English language learning have greatly improved (Talebinezhad & Aliakbari, 2002). Furthermore, increasing the number of language institutes can confirm the increase in value and importance that is given to English language in Iran (Nahavandi & Mukundan, 2013b). In the Iranian curriculum, English language is one of the compulsory subjects. English language is a foreign language in Iran and students are officially taught English from the first year of the guidance school. Thus, Iranian students have to study English for nearly seven years. Three years in Guidance school, three years in Secondary school and one year in Pre-University level. Furthermore, those students who study non-English Majors in universities study English in maximum of 6 credits. They study 3 credits of general English instruction and 3 credits of ESP in which the focus is on their field, related English texts and related terminology. Nevertheless, after learning English for almost 7 years in school and one more year at university, Iranian EFL learners’ are not proficient enough in learning English language. The education they receive neither enables the students to attain full competence in using the English language nor helps them to interact with confidence (Nahavandi & Mukundan, 2013a & b). 3. The Study In general, the main purpose of the present study was to understand the beliefs of Iranian EFL learners about language learning. The second goal was to understand if there were any differences between students with or without further education in language institutes in terms of their beliefs about language learning. The final goal of the study was to understand the influence of other variables such as gender and self-rated proficiency level on learners’ beliefs about language learning. 3.1 Research Questions Based on the objectives of the study the following research questions were raised: 1) What are the beliefs of Iranian EFL learners? Are there any similarities or differences in beliefs about language learning among them? 2) Is there a significant difference between gender and belief? 3) Is there a significant difference between self-rated proficiency level and belief? 4) What are the similarities or differences between those with or without further education in language institutes in their beliefs about language learning? 3.2 Research Design This survey study was conducted on 403 Iranian EFL learners in Azad University of Tabriz, Iran. A demographical questionnaire together with (BALLI), Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory were administered to the selected respondents. 3.3 Participants The participants were 403 Iranian EFL learners in Azad University in Tabriz, Iran during the academic year of 2013. A demographical questionnaire together with (BALLI), Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory was administered to the selected respondents in general English classes in the engineering department. The age range of participants was from 18-41with the average mean of 19.04. From 403 questionnaires only 369 complete questionnaires were fed into SPSS for analysis and other 34 distorted and incomplete questionnaires were discarded. 3.3.1 Demographic background of the participants From whole 369 respondents 173 (46.9) were students without further education in language institutes and other 196 (53.1) were students with further education in language institutes. Considering their gender, 213 were male (57.7) and 156 were female (42.3) students. Considering their self-rated proficiency level, 106 (28.7) were beginners, 209 (56.6) were intermediate and the rest 54 (14.6) were advanced students. 3.4 Instrumentation In order to collect the data, a demographical questionnaire along with Horwitz’s (1987) Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory (BALLI, ESL/EFL version) were administered to the selected respondents. 3.4.1 BALLI BALLI includes 36 items in which 33 items are scored on a five-point Likert scale: 1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=neither agree nor disagree, 4=agree, 5=strongly agree. Two items have different response scales (4 and 15). Item 4 asks about the perceived degree of difficulty of the English language & Item 15 asks about the amount of time needed

IJALEL 3(1):170-180, 2014 173 for learning a language. The items of BALLI assess learners’ beliefs in five areas namely as 1) the difficulty of language learning (six items), defined as the difficulty of learning a foreign language, 2) foreign language aptitude (nine items) defined as special ability for language learning and beliefs about the characteristics of successful language learners, 3) the nature of language learning (six items), defined as relevant issues related to the nature of language learning process, 4) learning and communication strategies (eight items) defined as various strategies learners use to master a second or foreign language, and 5) motivation and expectations (five items) defined as the desire and expectation for language learning opportunities. As BALLI identifies learners’ perceptions about language learning, it does not produce a total composite score for the whole instrument. Therefore, the responses to individual items are treated separately. Studies on the BALLI ESL/EFL version have reported reliability of .59 to .71. Since the participants were all EFL students in different proficiency levels, the given questionnaires were translated to Persian language in order to prevent any misunderstanding. First, the translated questionnaires were checked by a Persian language lecturer in Tabriz Azad University to make sure that the items retained their meaning and that the translated versions were easily understood. Then, they were back translated into English by a second Persian lecturer to test for inaccuracies and ambiguities. In case of any inconsistencies in translated English version, both lecturers were consulted. In order to ascertain the reliability of the items, a pilot study was carried out with 38 pre-intermediate students at Jahad-e -Daneshgahi institute. After checking the reliability, the translated questionnaires were administered and the respondents were given 30 minutes to answer the questions. The researcher herself was present in data collection procedure, therefore in case of any ambiguity or problem in understanding the questionnaire items assistance and guidance was provided. It is worth mentioning that permission to distribute the questionnaires was obtained from the dean of engineering faculty in Azad University. Respondents were informed that the information they gave would be used only for research purposes, and there was no need for them to write their names on the questionnaire. 3.5 Procedure First permission to distribute the questionnaires was obtained from the dean of engineering faculty in Azad University. Then, the researcher conducted the survey once the department heads approved the request. In engineering department the number of students in each class ranged from 36 to 42. All classes were requested to fill up the questionnaires. The researcher herself was present in data collection procedure and the collected data were tallied and subjected to parametric statistical analyses. 3.6 Method of Analysis The students' responses to the questionnaire were analyzed in terms of descriptive and inferential statistics. First, the raw data were fed into the computer and after testing for normality, parametric test was run by the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) 20 software. The data were analyzed using MANOVA, LSD and t-test. To ensure the quality of the analysis and interpretations, consultations with statisticians were made. 4. Results of the Study For all variables Minimum, Maximum, Mean, Std. Deviation, Variance, Skewness, and Kurtosis were calculated. To test the normality of data for BALLI one-Sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test was used. Based on the obtained significant level > 0.05, distribution of data was normal for all components of BALLI. Therefore parametric statistics was used. One-Sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test

N

Normal Parametersa,b Most Extreme Differences Kolmogorov-Smirnov Z

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) Mean

Std. Deviation

Absolute Positive

Negative

Foreign Language Aptitude

369 3.8516 .46352 .086 .051 -.086 1.320 .082

Difficulty of Language Learning

369 3.4182 .48810 .103 .103 -.087 1.476 .068

Nature of Language Learning

369 3.9090 .53470 .133 .065 -.133 1.463 .073

Learning and Communication Strategies

369 3.3482 .45107 .084 .056 -.084 1.219 .085

Motivation and Expectations

369 3.2477 .50465 .118 .118 -.080 1.589 .064

BALLI 369 3.5858 .32167 .084 .050 -.084 1.561 .066 a. Test distribution is Normal. b. Calculated from data.

4.1 Descriptive Statistics for all five Components of Beliefs The results of the study showed that the highest mean average among the five components of beliefs about language learning was nature of language learning (M=3.91), followed by Foreign Language Aptitude (M=3.85), Difficulty of

IJALEL 3(1):170-180, 2014 174 Language Learning (M=3.42), Learning and Communication Strategies (M=3.35) and Motivation and Expectations (M=3.25). See table 1 for more information.

Descriptive Statistics

N

Minimum

Maximum Mean

Std. Deviation Skewness Kurtosis

Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Std.

Error Statistic Std.

Error Foreign Language Aptitude

369 2.89 4.89 3.85 .46 -0.20 0.13 -0.43 0.25

Difficulty of Language Learning

369 2.17 4.83 3.42 0.49 -0.01 0.13 0.16 0.25

Nature of Language Learning

369 2.57 5.00 3.91 0.53 -0.66 0.13 -0.05 0.25

Learning and Communication Strategies

369 2.13 4.50 3.35 0.45 -0.09 0.13 -0.15 0.25

Motivation and Expectations

369 2.20 4.40 3.25 0.50 0.04 0.13 -0.40 0.25

BALLI 369 2.83 4.31 3.59 0.32 -0.47 0.13 0.09 0.25 Valid N (listwise) 369

4.2 Comparing Components of Beliefs through t-test To understand amount of beliefs in language learning Independent t-test was used with the test value of 3 as the scores vary in the range of 1 to 5. The results of t-test showed that all five components of beliefs are significantly higher than average. Means are higher than 3, and significant level is <0.05.

Independent t-test

N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean Foreign Language Aptitude 369 3.85 0.46 0.02 Difficulty of Language Learning 369 3.42 0.49 0.03

Nature of Language Learning 369 3.91 0.53 0.03

Learning and Communication Strategies

369 3.35 0.45 0.02

Motivation and Expectations 369 3.25 0.50 0.03 BALLI 369 3.59 0.32 0.02

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 3

t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

Lower Upper Foreign Language Aptitude 35.290 368 .000 .852 .8041 .8990

Difficulty of Language Learning

16.460 368 .000 .418 .3683 .4682

Nature of Language Learning 32.657 368 .000 .909 .8543 .9638

Learning and Communication Strategies

14.830 368 .000 .348 .3021 .3944

Motivation and Expectations 9.428 368 .000 .248 .1960 .2994

BALLI 34.985 368 .000 .586 .5529 .6188 4.3 Ranking beliefs based on all five components

IJALEL 3(1):170-180, 2014 175 To rank amount of beliefs Friedman Test was used. The mean and mean of all ranks of variables were calculated. The variable which has the lowest use will have the lowest rank. Based on the results, Chi-square = 499/98, df=4, and level of significance is 0.000. As level of sig is < 0.05, it can be concluded that there is a significant difference between mean of variable ranks. Means of Beliefs from lowest to highest are as follows: Motivation & Expectations, Learning & Communication strategies, Difficulty of language learning, Foreign language Aptitude, and Nature of Language learning.

Friedman Test

N Mean Mean Rank Chi-square df Asymp. Sig. Foreign Language Aptitude 369 3.85 3.98 499.983 4 .000 Difficulty of Language Learning 369 3.42 2.50 Nature of Language Learning 369 3.91 4.00 Learning and Communication Strategies 369 3.35 2.43 Motivation and Expectations 369 3.25 2.09

4.4 Comparing beliefs based on gender & self-rated proficiency level To compare beliefs with gender & self-rated proficiency level, MANOVA was used. Gender was analyzed in two levels and proficiency in three levels of elementary, intermediate and advanced through Wilks' Lambda approach. The results of the study showed that the effect of gender is significant (sig < 0.05) meaning, there is a significant difference between male and female students in their beliefs. Furthermore, the effect of proficiency level is significant as well (sig < 0.05), meaning there is a significant difference between students’ levels of proficiency and their beliefs. The interaction between gender and level is not significant. Only there is a significant difference between male & female students in the component of Learning and Communication Strategies (sig < 0.05). Considering other 4 components, there is not a significant difference between male and female students. Considering the learners’ proficiency level, there is not a significant difference between components of Foreign Language Aptitude, Motivation & Expectations and levels. However, there is a significant difference between Difficulty of Language Learning ، Nature of Language Learning and Communication Strategies & learners’ proficiency level (sig < 0.05). The mutual interaction between gender & proficiency level is not significant in any of the components of beliefs (sig > 0.05).

Descriptive Statistics

Gender Male female Total proficiency

level Mean Std.

Deviation N Mean Std.

Deviation N Mean Std.

Deviation N

Foreign Language Aptitude

Beginning 3.8732 .42892 78 3.6865 .45868 28 3.8239 .44255 106 Intermediate 3.9413 .43352 106 3.7907 .49307 103 3.8671 .46881 209

Advanced 3.8391 .47382 29 3.8533 .51492 25 3.8457 .48859 54 Total 3.9025 .43723 213 3.7821 .49011 156 3.8516 .46352 369

Difficulty of Language Learning

Beginning 3.2842 .43487 78 3.1845 .41658 28 3.2579 .43041 106 Intermediate 3.4528 .44350 106 3.4903 .51546 103 3.4713 .47952 209

Advanced 3.5287 .58937 29 3.5267 .52854 25 3.5278 .55679 54 Total 3.4014 .46966 213 3.4412 .51285 156 3.4182 .48810 369

Nature of Language Learning

Beginning 3.7802 .53635 78 3.7959 .63344 28 3.7844 .56052 106 Intermediate 3.9070 .51112 106 4.0000 .51818 103 3.9528 .51548 209

Advanced 3.9507 .53626 29 4.0229 .51948 25 3.9841 .52483 54 Total 3.8665 .52572 213 3.9670 .54304 156 3.9090 .53470 369

Learning and Communication Strategies

Beginning 3.3446 .41295 78 3.5893 .49048 28 3.4092 .44572 106 Intermediate 3.2465 .38786 106 3.4830 .44764 103 3.3630 .43389 209

Advanced 3.0948 .48603 29 3.2600 .48937 25 3.1713 .49005 54 Total 3.2617 .41725 213 3.4663 .46972 156 3.3482 .45107 369

Motivation and Expectations

Beginning 3.2077 .51818 78 3.3571 .50584 28 3.2472 .51680 106 Intermediate 3.3094 .52672 106 3.2252 .49759 103 3.2679 .51308 209

Advanced 3.0966 .41618 29 3.2560 .47089 25 3.1704 .44537 54 Total 3.2432 .51323 213 3.2538 .49427 156 3.2477 .50465 369

IJALEL 3(1):170-180, 2014 176 Multivariate Tests

Effect Value F Hypothesis df Error df Sig. Partial Eta Squared

Gender Wilks' Lambda .927 5.675a 5.000 359.000 .000 .073

p.level Wilks' Lambda .888 4.375a 10.000 718.000 .000 .057

Gender * p.level Wilks' Lambda .971 1.062a 10.000 718.000 .389 .015

Source Dependent Variable Type III Sum of Squares

df Mean Square

F Sig. Partial Eta Squared

Gender Foreign Language Aptitude .734 1 .734 3.459 .064 .009 Difficulty of Language Learning

.029 1 .029 .126 .722 .000

Nature of Language Learning .230 1 .230 .816 .367 .002 Learning and Communication Strategies

2.940 1 2.940 15.641 .000 .041

Motivation and Expectations .355 1 .355 1.399 .238 .004 p.level Foreign Language Aptitude .440 2 .220 1.036 .356 .006

Difficulty of Language Learning

4.014 2 2.007 8.733 .000 .046

Nature of Language Learning 1.908 2 .954 3.385 .035 .018 Learning and Communication Strategies

2.737 2 1.369 7.282 .001 .039

Motivation and Expectations .426 2 .213 .838 .433 .005 Gender *

p.level Foreign Language Aptitude .367 2 .183 .864 .422 .005 Difficulty of Language Learning

.278 2 .139 .604 .547 .003

Nature of Language Learning .088 2 .044 .157 .855 .001 Learning and Communication Strategies

.063 2 .031 .166 .847 .001

Motivation and Expectations 1.164 2 .582 2.293 .102 .012

Multiple Comparisons LSD

Dependent Variable (I) proficiency level

(J) proficiency level

Mean Difference (I-J)

Std. Error

Sig.

Difficulty of Language Learning

Beginning Intermediate -.2134* .05717 .000 Advanced -.2699* .08015 .001

Intermediate Beginning .2134* .05717 .000 Advanced -.0565 .07318 .441

Advanced Beginning .2699* .08015 .001 Intermediate .0565 .07318 .441

Nature of Language Learning Beginning Intermediate -.1685* .06331 .008 Advanced -.1998* .08877 .025

Intermediate Beginning .1685* .06331 .008 Advanced -.0313 .08105 .700

Advanced Beginning .1998* .08877 .025 Intermediate .0313 .08105 .700

Learning and Communication Strategies

Beginning Intermediate .0462 .05169 .372 Advanced .2379* .07248 .001

Intermediate Beginning -.0462 .05169 .372 Advanced .1917* .06618 .004

Advanced Beginning -.2379* .07248 .001 Intermediate -.1917* .06618 .004

4.5 Comparing beliefs based on further education versus no education in language institutes To compare beliefs between those who had further education in language institutes and those who did not have, MANOVA was used through Wilks' Lambda approach. The results of the study showed that the effect of group is significant (sig < 0.05), meaning there is a significant difference between these two groups in their beliefs. On the whole, beliefs among no education students are more than other group. The results of univariate showed that, Foreign

IJALEL 3(1):170-180, 2014 177 Language Aptitude & Difficulty of Language Learning are more among no education group (sig < 0.05). However, there is not a significant difference between these two groups in other 3 components of beliefs (sig > 0.05).

Descriptive Statistics Group Mean Std. Deviation N

Foreign Language Aptitude No education

4.0199 .39059 173

Further education

3.7029 .47282 196

Total 3.8516 .46352 369 Difficulty of Language Learning No

education 3.4981 .47037 173

Further education

3.3478 .49377 196

Total 3.4182 .48810 369 Nature of Language Learning No

education 3.9364 .47689 173

Further education

3.8848 .58111 196

Total 3.9090 .53470 369 Learning and Communication Strategies

No education

3.3663 .44534 173

Further education

3.3323 .45662 196

Total 3.3482 .45107 369 Motivation and Expectations No

education 3.2717 .48985 173

Further education

3.2265 .51770 196

Total 3.2477 .50465 369

Multivariate Tests

Effect Value F Hypothesis df Error df Sig. Partial Eta Squared

Group Wilks' Lambda .862 11.666a 5.000 363.000 .000 .138

Tests of Between-Subjects Effects

Source Dependent Variable Type III Sum of Squares

df Mean Square

F Sig. Partial Eta Squared

Group Foreign Language Aptitude 9.232 1 9.232 48.517 .000 .117

Difficulty of Language Learning 2.075 1 2.075 8.898 .003 .024

Nature of Language Learning .244 1 .244 .855 .356 .002

Learning and Communication Strategies

.107 1 .107 .523 .470 .001

Motivation and Expectations .187 1 .187 .735 .392 .002

5. Discussion Regarding the five components of beliefs about language learning, the results of the present study show that students have the strongest belief in nature of language learning (M=3.91), followed by Foreign Language Aptitude (M=3.85), Difficulty of Language Learning (M=3.42), Learning and Communication Strategies (M=3.35) and Motivation and Expectations (M=3.25). However, comparing components of beliefs through t-test revealed that all five components of beliefs are significantly higher than average. Means are higher than 3, and significant level is <0.05, meaning Iranian EFL learners have significant strong beliefs about language learning in all five components. Furthermore, the results show that the effect of gender is significant (sig < 0.05) meaning, there is a significant difference between male and female students in their beliefs. Mean of all components except foreign language aptitude among females are more than their male counterparts. Furthermore, the effect of proficiency level is significant (sig < 0.05), meaning there is a significant difference between students’ self-rated proficiency level and their beliefs. The interaction between gender

IJALEL 3(1):170-180, 2014 178 and level is not significant. There is a significant difference between male & female students in the component of Learning and Communication Strategies (sig < 0.05). Considering other 4 components, there is not a significant difference between male and female students. Considering the learners’ proficiency level, there is not a significant difference between components of Foreign Language Aptitude, Motivation & Expectations and levels. However, there is a significant difference between Difficulty of Language Learning ، Nature of Language Learning and Communication Strategies & learners’ proficiency level (sig < 0.05). The mutual interaction between gender & proficiency level is not significant in any of the components of beliefs (sig > 0.05). The results of the study showed that the effect of group is significant (sig < 0.05), meaning there is a significant difference between these two groups (those who had further education in language institutes and those who did not have) in their beliefs. On the whole, beliefs among no education students are more than other group. The results of univariate showed that, Foreign Language Aptitude & Difficulty of Language Learning are more among no education group (sig < 0.05). However, there is not a significant difference between these two groups in other 3 components of beliefs (sig > 0.05). Considering the five components of BALLI, the results of the present study contradict with the studies of Sioson (2011), Shen (2006) & Jafari & Shokrpour (2012) in which the highest mean score were motivation and expectations. While belief of foreign of language aptitude ranked last. Regarding the effects of gender on learners' beliefs, the results of the present study indicates that gender affects students' belief about learning language. The results revealed that female students were more likely than their male peers to agree that certain approaches were important in language learning. Therefore, the findings of the present study is in line with Bacon and Finnemann's (1992) study in which females were more motivated and more open to authentic input, they also showed more positive attitude towards target language speakers. Furthermore, in Rieger’s (2009) study, gender affected a number of beliefs factors that were statistically significant. In Jafari & Shokrpour’s (2012) study, there was a significant difference between male & female learners as well. However, this finding contradicts with the results of some other studies in which no significant relation between language learners' beliefs and gender was observed (Bagherzadeh, 2012; Bernat and Liyod, 2007; Mesri, 2012; Tercanlioglu, 2005). Regarding the effect of proficiency level, the results are in line with Bagherzadeh’s (2012) study in which proficiency level had a significant effect on some components of beliefs. 6. Conclusion & Implications of the Study The aim of the present study was to understand the beliefs of Iranian EFL learners’ about language learning and whether or not gender, proficiency level and further education in language institutes affected learners’ beliefs about language learning. The results of the study showed that Iranian EFL learners have got strong beliefs about language learning. The two components of beliefs with the lowest rank were strategies of learning followed by motivation & expectation. Concerning language learning strategies Oxford (1990) claims that "language learning strategies encourage greater overall self direction" (p. 10). He continues to claim that "self-directed students gradually gain greater confidence, involvement, and proficiency" (p. 10). Therefore it seems that steps might be taken to encourage students to use different learning strategies and to be more self-directed. Concerning Motivation & expectations Gardner and MacIntyre (1991) claim that motivated students are more active in language classes and tasks and are less likely to drop out of language study in the following years. In addition, Gardner (1985) claims that motivation encourages greater overall effort and results in greater success concerning language proficiency and achievement. As the mean of motivation ranked the least in the present study, it is hoped that improvement in our English teaching system in Iranian context could be obtained, and the motivation of our students could accordingly be increased especially at universities. Therefore, it can be suggested that while presenting teaching materials and information content of the lessons, students’ motivation should accordingly be considered. Teachers can assist learners in setting goals for themselves in learning languages and helping them to achieve their goals by giving them feedback, using familiar content or examples of previously learned materials, using praise, having interesting contexts, using simulation and learning games, and being responsive to students’ attitudes. Furthermore, classroom atmosphere should be meaningful, purposeful, creative and encouraging (Nahavandi & Mukundan, 2013 b). Considering the context of learning, (further education in language institutes versus no education group), Foreign Language Aptitude & Difficulty of Language Learning are more among no education group. Intuitively, it would seem that language learning among students with further education in language institutes would be different from those of no education in language institutes because of the context they are learning the language. Horwitz (1999) claims that differences in language learning beliefs among the students in the same cultural group exist. Nespor (1987) reports that beliefs can be affected or shaped by personal events, episodes, or experiences. Private language institute students possess certain skills, strategies, understandings or beliefs that may enable them to approach the process of language learning more effectively than those studying in a university. Although the two sample groups in this study share the same first language, differences in beliefs between two groups might exist because of the vastly different educational environments. Research suggests that if teachers want to help their students, they need to begin to expect and to look for differences in their thinking and behaving. Based on this view, the present study tries to provide information on thoughts and behaviors of learners in learning in order to minimize misunderstanding between teachers and students, prevent academic failures of students, and provide valuable information about their beliefs. Based on the results of the study, some pedagogical implications can be obtained. First, by understanding beliefs about language learning held by Iranian EFL learners’ teachers and educators can better understand the situation of EFL learners in Iran. Teachers can encourage appropriate beliefs and provide effective instruction based on learners’ situation, which in turn can lead to learning and teaching English more effectively. Teachers can increase students’ level of motivation in English language classrooms by setting goals for students in learning English, providing students’ knowledge regarding language

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IJALEL 3(1):170-180, 2014 180 Nahavandi, N., & Mukundan, J. (2012). Task-based Language Teaching from Teachers’ Perspective. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 1(6), 115-121, doi:10.7575/ijalel.v.1n.6p.115. Nahavandi, N. (2013). Task-based activities in reading comprehension classes: Task-based language teaching & learning. LAP Lambert Academic Publishing. Nahavandi , N. & Mukundan, J. (2013a). Foreign Language Learning Anxiety among Iranian EFL learners Along Gender & Different Proficiency Levels. Language in India. 13(1), 133-161. Nahavandi , N. & Mukundan, J. (2013b). Iranian EFL Engineering Students’ Motivational Orientations towards English Language Learning along Gender and Further Education in Language Institutes. International Journal of Linguistics, 5(1), doi:10.5296/ijl.v5i1.2684. Nahavandi , N. & Mukundan, J. (2013c). Task-based cycle in reading comprehension classes. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 1 (6), 115-121, doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.2n.2p.107. Nespor, J. (1987). The role of beliefs in the practice of teaching. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 19(4), 317-328. Nikitina, L., & Furuoka, F. (2006). Re-examining Horwitz's beliefs about language learning inventory (BALLI) in the Malaysian Context. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 3(2), 209-219. O’Malley, J. M. and A. U. Chamot (1989). Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Omaggio, A.C. (1978). Successful language learners: What do we know about them? ERIC/CLL News Bulletin, May, 2-3. Oxford, R. L., Roberta Z. Lavine and David Crookal (1990). Language Learning Strategies: What Every Teacher Should Know. Heinle & Heinle, Boston. OZ, H. (2007). Understanding Metacognitive Knowledge of Turkish EFL Students in Secondary Education. Novitas-ROYAL, 1(2), S. 53-83. Park, G.,( 1995) . Language learning strategies and beliefs about language learning of university students learning English in Korea. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX. Rieger, B. (2009). Hungarian university students' beliefs about language learning: A questionnaire study. WoPaLP, 3, 97-113. Sadeghi, A. R. (2005). ESP in Iran: A transition from present state. In: G. R Kiany, and M. Khayyamdar, (Eds.), Proceedings of the First National ESP/EAP Conference, 2, Tehran. Sakui, K. & Gaies, S.J. (1999). Investigating Japanese learners' beliefs about language learning. System 27, 473-492. Shen, M. C. (2006). The relationship between beliefs about language learning and learning strategy use of junior high school students. Unpublished M.A. thesis, Leader University. Sioson, I, C. (2011). Language Learning Strategies, Beliefs, and Anxiety in Academic Speaking Task, Philippine ESL Journal, 7, 3-27. Talebinezhad, M. R., & Aliakbari, M. (2002). Evaluation and justification of a paradigm shift in the current ELT model in Iran. Linguistik online, 10(1), 21-28. Retrieved from www.linguistik-online.de/10_02/talebinezhadaliakbari.pdf Tercanlioglu, L. (2005). Pre-service EFL teachers’ beliefs about foreign language learning and how they relate to gender. Research in Educational Psychology, 53(1), 145-162. Weinert, F.E. & Kluwe, R.H. (Eds.) (1987). Metacognition, motivation and understanding. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Wenden, A.L., Rubin, J. (Eds.), (1987). Learner Strategies in Language Learning. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Wenden, A L. (1991). Learner Strategies for Learner Autonomy London Prentice-Hall. Yang, D. (1999). The relationship between EFL learners' beliefs and learning strategy [Special Issue]. System, 27, 515-535. Zhang, X. & Cui, G. (2010). Learning beliefs of distance foreign language learners in China: A survey study. System,38, 30-40.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

The Effects of Embedding Information Technologies within ELT on EFL Learners’ Motivation and Interest

Shaker Al-Mohammadi (Corresponding author)

Buraimi University College, Oman

University of Manouba, Tunisia

Po Box 77. Postal Code 512 Buraimi City, Oman

Tel: 00968 96 282 473 E-mail: shaker@buc.edu.om

Emira Derbel

Buraimi University College

Po Box 77. Postal Code 512 Buraimi City, Oman

Tel: 00968 96 649 513 E-mail: emira@buc.edu.om

Received: 02-10-2013 Accepted: 11-11-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.181 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.181 Abstract In today’s globalised world, technologies have been embedded in every aspect of daily activities and discourses. The field of education made no exception and hence technologies have become an integral part of all educational systems worldwide, but with different levels and layers. The presence of information technology in English language teaching has brought about notable changes for teachers and learners alike. Accordingly, this paper investigates the impact of integrating information technologies in ELT on EFL learners’ motivation and interest. Based on an authentic comparative case study, this paper explores the influence of information technology on EFL learners’ perceptions, motivation, and interest in the context of ELT in the Tunisian higher education. The findings of this study suggest that the integration of IT in ELT heavily affects EFL students’ motivation and academic performance and hence EFL instructors should take this variable into consideration. Keywords: ELT, information technology, integration, motivation 1. Introduction From the last century to the present context, the world has witnessed the powerful impact of the technological developments. They have been one of the major factors that brought change in behaviour and attitude of the people. With the growing pace of globalisation affecting all facets of human life, information technologies have become very influential in the modern era. This context paved the way for technologies to infiltrate into almost all aspects of human lives (Bruce & Hogan, 1998). Education made no exception as information technologies have started to be an integral part of this field nowadays. One of the sub-fields of education which has been witnessing a noticeable integration of technologies is Language teaching. In fact, embedding information technology within language teaching is not a completely new phenomenon since this integration has been used since the 1960s (Lee, 2000). Warschaue and Whittaker (1997) argue that “these 50 years witness three main stages which are: behaviorist CALL, communicative CALL, and integrative CALL”. Hence, the presence of technologies in education is not a novelty, but each of these three stages is associated with a definite level of technology innovation as well as specific pedagogical theories. The presence of information technology in English language teaching has brought about notable changes for teachers and learners alike (Kuang-wu, 2000). According to Lewis (2009), the technological advances compelled language teachers as well as learners to acquire and enhance new skills and abilities in order to cope with the new context. Nowadays, the strong connection between technology and language use has motivated numerous language teachers, researchers and experts to reflect how technology has been changing the profession of English language teaching around the globe (Chapelle, 2003). Additionally, the integration of information technology into English language teaching has been under continuous investigation (Hamdy, 2007). An extensive current amount of research is being done on embedding technology with EFL teaching/learning in various Western countries. Nevertheless, this area of research is under-researched in the Arab region, and mainly in Tunisia (Melliti, 2008). It is this gap which lies behind conducting this research which seeks to investigate the impact of information technology innovations on Tunisian EFL learners. Based on an authentic comparative case study that investigates two different groups in a Tunisian higher education institution, this research

IJALEL 3(1):181-186, 2014 182 purports to explore the influence of information technology on Tunisian EFL learners’ perceptions, motivation, and academic performance in the context of ELT in the Tunisian higher education. Accordingly this paper tries to answer the following research questions: (1) What are the EFL learners’ perceptions towards embedding information technology within Language teaching? (2) How does information technology affect EFL Learners’ motivation and interest in the program courses? (3) How is information technology integrated in ELT classes in the context of Tunisian higher education? 2. Methodology The focus of this study is on the effects of Information Technology in relation to language teaching and learning and students’ perceptions at the Tunisian higher educational institutions. To reach the aim of this investigation, one major higher education institution was chosen to the site of this research. Situated in the capital of Tunisia, this institution was established in 1986 and it is one of the largest universities in Tunisia with more than 13.000 students up to the academic year of 2012/2013. The University offers various majors at the Bachelor, Master, PhD, and Post-PhD. 2.1 Importance and Rationale of the study Since English is considered to be the first international language the most important language in the world today, then it is of interest to explore how it is valued by users all over the world. Research on English and how it is valued can be tackled from many angles. This research focuses on the issues related to how English is perceived by EFL university students in Tunisia. It mainly investigates the effects of embedding information technologies on EFL teaching and learning. The rationale behind choosing this topic is mainly linked to the functions that English language and technological advances fulfill in Tunisian society. Technology has been affecting all aspects of human life and latest technological developments are instantly occurring. Within this context, the issues related to the use of information technologies and its effects on the field of education in the world and in Tunisia specifically are to be investigated. In fact, English is generally considered by policy makers in Tunisia advantageous for fulfilling an important role in creating and sustaining links with the world in terms of knowledge and transfer of technology (Derbel, 2001). Accordingly, it is worthy to explore the views of the Tunisian EFL learners regarding the latest strategies and methodologies related to the teaching and learning of English language. Regarding the use of English in the Tunisian society, there is observable evidence of heavy domination of French over English and to some extent over Arabic in the use of electronic devices and in communication with foreigners. However, English has become more present in the lives of Tunisians due to technology, social networking websites and international media that are increasingly available. This paper seeks to empirically investigate the effects of importing the use of information technologies into EFL classrooms. Therefore, the overall motive for conducting this study is to investigate the EFL students’ motivational level and interest when they are exposed to EFL classes that embed information technologies. Hence, the findings of this research can be beneficial in suggesting some recommendations for implementation in the context of English Language teaching. 2.2 Participants The participants in this study consist of 60 students enrolled in one higher education institution and divided in two groups (A and B; A=30, B=30. N total=60). They are selected from two different classes and they are both English language majors who are potential teachers of English language. The two groups are taught by many teachers, but for the sake of practicality two definite teachers were selected: the first teacher is a tech-savvy who is known to be a strong advocate of integrating technology in language teaching and learning; the second teacher belongs to the traditional group who never uses any technological tools in his classes and who prefers the lecturing style of teaching. The participants of the two groups are in their 3rd year (semester six) which was meant to guarantee an acceptable level of maturity in responding to the survey questions. The rationale behind choosing two different groups with a discrepancy in information technology use in their classes is to show the effects of each condition on EFL students’ perceptions, motivation, and academic performance. The investigator is a Tunisian native who has a background in English language learning and teaching at Tunisian higher education institutions during the period from 1998 to 2008. Yet, this background does not influence the researcher’s objectivity at any step in conducting this study 2.3 Research Design and Data Collection Participants are Tunisian EFL university students at one major Tunisian university located in the capital of the country. This selection is convenient for this current comparative study to be conducted in a higher educational environment open to researchers and with a large variety of sample EFL learners who can effectively answer survey questions in English language. Participants were asked to take a survey entitled “Perceptions toward Information Technology”. In this survey, participants responded to questions about their perceptions toward information technology and its integration within language teaching. This survey included a section that contained the background information of the participants, which means their age, gender, department, and specialization (major and minor). It also aimed at collecting data about the proficiency of the students as they claimed it. Besides, the other sections of this survey tackled the general background of the participants regarding the field of IT, their skills in using the latest technological tools, the status of IT resources in the areas where they live, and the frequency in using IT resources in their daily lives as well as in their studies.

IJALEL 3(1):181-186, 2014 183 In addition, participants took a second survey entitled “Course Interests Survey”, where they rate their level of interest in the subjects being taught by their respective instructors. The subjects that were suggested to the participants were taught by various teachers who employ different methodologies and teaching techniques. Some teachers were known for embedding information technologies within their EFL classes and some other teachers were used to the traditional teaching methods and the lecturing style. The participants rated their level of interest from level one to level five where level 1 stands for “not interested at all” and level 5 stands for “very interested”. The first selected group was taught in a way where the instructor used varied information technology tools such as videos, PowerPoint slides, online resources, and mobile dictionaries. The second group was taught by another instructor without using information technology resources. Lesson objectives and students learning outcomes were identical for both groups, whereas the medium was different; a technology-based medium in the first group and a traditional medium based on lectures and handouts in the second group. Both groups took a third survey entitled “Motivation Survey” where they were asked to rate their motivation level toward the materials and the techniques being used for classroom instructions and activities. The participants were given five options that vary from level 1, “not motivated at all”, to level 5, “very motivated”. Additionally, the participants were given the option of explaining the reasons behind their low or high levels of motivation. This alternative was meant to see if the use of information technologies had any link with the motivational levels of the participants. The other sources of data that were utilized by the investigator in this study were observations of samples of EFL classes in the university under study in addition to interviews and open discussions with the two teachers. These two additional instruments of data collection were very useful in giving the investigator the opportunity to gather information, observe situations, and reach conclusions based on authentic practice, real context, and genuine teaching and learning atmosphere. Actually, the class visits allowed for a close investigation of the variables being measured in relation to embedding information technologies within EFL classes. Furthermore, the interviews with the two teachers, known for applying different teaching techniques, were very informative regarding the topic under study and the general situation of the EFL learners belonging to the university where the study took place. An extensive amount of time and resources with different research methods are needed to investigate many issues related to English language teaching in the Tunisian higher educational context. For this study, a mixed method case study approach that employs survey questionnaires, interviews, class observations, and open discussions is the most practical method to investigate the effect of information technologies on Tunisian EFL learners. The variables that are measured and investigated include attitudes and perceptions, academic performance, motivational level, and interest. 2.4 Data Analysis Once all the data were ready, they were imported into SPSS worksheets where the various analyses were run to create reports and to determine significance of the obtained differences. The analysis of the data focused first on the students’ perceptions toward information technology based on the “Perceptions toward information technology” survey. In this section of data analysis, it was decided to go through the whole participants and not the two groups separately. Next, the analysis undertook the interest of the students in the subject based on the data collected through the “Course Interest Survey”. Here also, the investigator preferred to look at the participants as a whole rather than considering the two groups separately. This decision was due to the fact that all the 60 participants are majoring in English language and they all study the same identical courses at the same university. The third phase, the analysis tackled the data collected through the “Motivation Survey” to investigate the motivation levels of the students. Here, the participants were considered separately according to the two groups for the sake of determining the effects of IT on students’ motivation. 3. Background to the Study 3.1 ELT in Tunisian Secondary Schools: From the Audio-Lingual Method to the Eclectic Approach The Tunisian educational system at the Ministry of Education is divided into three main stages: primary education for six years, three years of basic education, and four years of secondary education. Throughout the primary and basic education, the medium of teaching is Modern Standard Arabic, except for French, the second language in Tunisia, which is introduced at the third year of primary education. When students reach the sixth year of primary school, they begin to learn English, which is taught from the last year of primary school to the last year of secondary school. Contrary to the primary and basic school, where most classes are taught in Modern Standard Arabic, in the secondary education most of the math and science classes are taught in French. Only language (Arabic) and liberal arts classes (History, Philosophy, Geography, etc…) are taught in Arabic. English is taught as a foreign language and it is rarely used outside of English language classrooms, as French is the commonly used in everyday life. The audio-lingual method has influenced policy decisions and pedagogy in Tunisia for a long time (Anggraeni, 2007; Daoud, 1996, p. 600). The influence of the audio-lingual method is influential in the primary and secondary schools, which provide the pedagogical foundation for language teaching. The educational system at the primary and secondary school is centrally controlled by the Tunisian Ministry of Education. Hence, education policies, including teaching methods, are also passed down by the decision makers at the Ministry of Education. These policies change very slowly. In addition, even when government policies and approved education methods change, teachers are slow to implement these changes, preferring to continue to use their own methods. Thus, teachers have often used the audio-lingual method in their teaching through nine years of primary and basic school education and four years of secondary school education. Therefore, these students are accustomed to this method when they start to learn English in the sixth year of

IJALEL 3(1):181-186, 2014 184 primary school. Students finish their secondary school education by taking a national general secondary education exam called the “Tunisian Baccalaureate”. Passing this national exam is an obligatory university entrance requirement for all Tunisian students. Throughout the different phases of EFL teaching in Tunisia different approaches have been implemented. Since, each approach has its own strengths and weaknesses, the decision makers responsible for English Language teaching in Tunisia have decided to resort to a “principled eclecticism” that integrates many principles from various approaches in language teaching. Therefore, it can be said that English language supervisors and text books authors have distanced themselves from using any one method. 3.2 English Language Learning at Universities in Tunisia After the country gained independence from France in 1956, education in Tunisia has witnessed rapid developments. Ever since, education has become one of the main concerns of the government as well as the society at large. Gradually it became compulsory and free for all children with no segregated schools based on gender. Currently, there are about 239 higher educational institutions in Tunisia including private and public. These institutions accommodate more than 500.000 university students (Ministry oh Higher Education, 2008). Once secondary school students pass the General Secondary School Education exam, known as the “Baccalaureate”, they can elect to continue their studies in the university. Many of the students who enroll in the university system study English. All university campuses and schools of higher education are under the authority of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. This ministry approves all post-secondary programs and courses. Most liberal arts subjects, such as languages, are taught at campuses that are designated as liberal arts campuses. These liberal arts campuses, along with higher education language schools, teach English as a university major. In all other universities offering other majors, English is a compulsory course. These English courses vary from general English to English for specific purposes that match with the majors offered. All university campuses and schools of higher education generally have the same academic system, because the academic program is decided by the Ministry of Higher Education (Ministry of Higher Education, 2008). In 2006, the government made one major educational reform by introducing a new system called LMD, which stands for “License” (Bachelor) “Mastere” (Master’s), “Doctorat” (Ph.D.) with a specific time completion guidelines; 3 years for Bachelor, 2 years for Masters and 3 to 5 years for Ph.D. The LMD regulations came with the credit hours system and changed the 4 years programs to compressed 3 years of study programs. This system received harsh criticism from many parties including teachers, supervisors, experts and stakeholders. Recently, there have been serious thoughts towards the revision or abolishment for this system. 4. Findings and Discussion Data analysis is drawn from the surveys explained previously. The findings are organized by the surveys, then, by research questions based on the interpretation of the data. 4.1 Findings of Survey 1: Students’ Perceptions toward Information Technology Data collected from this survey show that participants in both groups share positive perceptions toward information technology and its embedding within language teaching. The first section of the survey is related to broad questions to explore the technology culture of the participants. Around 75% of the participants had access to computers at home while less than 10% use laptops in class. More than 70% of the participants stated that they have access to the internet at home but none reported that s/he has access to the internet on campus, despite the fact that 4G networks in Tunisia are available at reasonable prices. Having no wireless access to the internet at the university campus is the main reason behind the lack of this web access. Answering questions about their experience with using computers, around 60% of the participants reported that they use computers at home for learning purposes. 40.4% use computers daily, 24% use computers weekly, and 35.6% use computers occasionally. The vast majority of the participants affirmed that they did not have formal IT training, thus, most participants acquired technology skill through their own. 4.2 Findings of Survey 2: Course Interest Survey Generally, this survey revealed high scores of course interest from the two groups. This indicates that the participants have a high interest in the subject; especially that it was their own decision to major in English language. A comparison between the two groups’ scores showed that both groups had almost the same level. This comparison revealed a slight difference between the two groups’ score which is calculated as non-significant. 4.3 Findings of Survey 3: Motivation The analysis of the data collected from this survey aimed at looking for differences in terms of motivational level among the two groups. The participants from the technology group reported higher motivational level compared to the non-technology group. 90% of the technology group reported that their classes which integrate IT in English language teaching is very motivating and 10% stated that it is motivating whereas no single student mentioned that it was not motivating. Contrary to this finding, 79% of the non-technology group reported that their EFL classes are not motivating at all, 16 % stated that they are not motivating, and only 5% stated that the lectures were motivating. Accordingly, the difference between the technology group and the non-technology group in terms of motivational level is significant.

IJALEL 3(1):181-186, 2014 185 4.4 The Teachers’ Voices: Interviews The first interview with the instructor of the technology group revealed valuable insights and opinions. He stated that even in terms of class participation, projects submission, exam grades and overall academic performance students who are exposed to, and active in, using information technology in their studies on campus and outside it are much better than their peers. Also, he claimed that the traditional way of teaching which relies on the lecturing style using textbooks and handouts does not motivate students nowadays as computer-assisted learning does. In replying to a follow up question about what can be predicted about the future prospects of IT presence in EFL teaching and learning in the Tunisian higher educational context, the teacher said that using IT in teaching EFL and preparing future EFL teachers has made a huge impact on his students. He predicted that IT is gradually spreading in ELT and very soon teachers who are not “tech savvy” and who do not use IT tools in their classes will be outdated. In the second interview with the teacher of the non-technology group the interviewee mentioned that it depends on the teachers who have different opinions and approaches in designing their materials and selecting their techniques. Some teachers use textbooks. Others use a collection of articles as a textbook. Some others create their own learning materials. He claims that multimedia materials and IT based media are good and beneficial, yet, students always need text based documents and materials that they can use to get prepared for exams during the preparation period. He also noted that the university where the study took place is a low technology learning context where even primary levels of technology set up require complete independence of the teacher since the number of IT technicians is very low and some of the rooms are not equipped with basic IT tools. Actually, the teacher stated that the lack of IT resources, the lack of support and training, in addition to the routine of bureaucracy are making attempts of IT integration hard and not easily doable. According to him, these obstacles do not encourage teachers to use IT tools in their EFL classes. 5. Answering the Research Questions 5.1 What are the EFL learners’ perceptions towards embedding information technology within Language teaching? Starting from the survey of perceptions toward information technology, the findings of this study reveal that students in the university under the scope of the study have positive attitudes and perceptions toward information technology and its embedding in language teaching. Tunisian students at this university have a high level of technology literacy. Additionally, students reported that information technology integration in higher education should be enhanced and expanded, as it is considered to be a major source of a great benefit not only for EFL learners, but also for all students from different majors. 5.2 How does information technology affect EFL Learners’ motivation and interest in the program courses? The findings of this study suggest that information technology has greatly affected the process of language teaching and learning. But, not all teachers in Tunisian higher education institutions, even in the same institution as is the case study of this research, are integrating IT in their teaching due to various reasons that are beyond the scope of this research. The interview with the first instructor reveals that students’ who are frequently exposed to IT tools have better academic achievements than their peers. Furthermore, though the findings of the “Courses Interest Survey” do not reveal any low level of students’ interest in majoring in English language since it was their own decision, it is obvious that embedding information technologies with language teaching has a great effect on EFL learners’ motivation. While the technology group showed high level of motivation toward the materials, the lectures, and the instructor’s instructions, the non-technology group expressed considerably lower motivational level toward the lectures and the materials being used. 5.3 How is information technology integrated in ELT classes in the context of Tunisian higher education? Based on the data drawn from the interviews with the two instructors and from the findings of this study, it is clear that IT integration within EFL teaching differs from one instructor to another depending on the instructors’ own decisions. Compared to other majors where IT is an obligation, the field of ELT seems to be gradually and slowly witnessing the integration of IT especially from the part of the new generations of EFL instructors who are “tech savvy”. Yet, this new wave needs much more support, considerate pedagogical planning and decision makers’ readiness and cooperation. In addition, IT integration in ELT classes can overcome some challenges in terms of authenticity of the materials and students’ motivation. 6. Conclusion This study aimed at investigating the effects of integrating information technology in language teaching on EFL university students using a mixed method case study approach. The focus of this research was on EFL students’ perceptions, motivation, and academic performance in relation to information technologies. Although the university under the scope of the study has limited resources of IT integration it constitutes a suitable environment which is a good representative example of many public higher education institutions in Tunisia. Limited IT usage and integration did not prevent Tunisian EFL students from having positive attitudes and perceptions toward integrating IT within English language teaching. Actually, Tunisian youths who heavily use social media and different computer-internet technologies in their daily lives also think that IT have a great place in their advanced education as revealed by the survey results in this study. The findings show that IT has a great effect on students’ motivation and academic performance. Yet, IT integration in English language teaching needs much more support, effective planning and decision makers’ readiness and cooperation as reflected in the interviews with the two instructors.

IJALEL 3(1):181-186, 2014 186 6.1 Recommendations for Implementation The findings of this study are expected to be viewed as a basis for future research and investigation in the presence of technology in education. The findings of this study and other similar studies can be very helpful to decision makers in planning and implementing educational reforms mainly in relation to the integration of IT in all aspects of teaching and learning. Furthermore, in spite of the low technology context where the study was undertaken, supporting university administrative and academic staff to integrate more IT resources in all aspects of the teaching and learning process remains highly needed. 6.2 Limitations of the Study First, the findings of this study are not to be generalized to EFL learners in other countries as the study is strictly related to the university under study and to the Tunisian context in general. Second, it should be mentioned that the findings of this study do not pertain to the universities offering scientific majors, as they are hugely different situation regarding infrastructure and information technologies capabilities. Likewise the number of private colleges and universities is steadily rising in Tunisia. These private institutions are known for differing from the norms established by public higher education institutions. Accordingly, the situation in private colleges and universities and the nature of students enrolled in these institutions are hugely different which can generate different findings to a great extent due to different environmental learning infrastructure. 6.3 Directions for Future Inquiry Further research on the topic under study can allow the generalization of findings on wider population. Also, investigating the situation in private colleges and universities regarding the issue of integrating IT in teaching and learning can generate insightful findings that can be a good foundation for comparing the private and public sectors. Further investigation within the Tunisian higher education system is highly needed to provide accurate and effective findings for decision makers to help them implement appropriate educational reforms and changes. References Anggraeni, P. (2007). Audio Lingual Teaching as an Alternative Method in Teaching Speaking. Semarang : Semarang State University. Bruce, B., & Hogan, M. (1998). The Disappearance of Technology: Toward an Ecological Model of Literacy. Handbook of literacy and Technology: Transformations in a post-typographic world, (pp.269-281). New York, NY: Greenwood. Chapelle, C. (2003). English Language Learning and Technology: Lectures on Applied Linguistics in the age of Information and Communication Technology. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Daoud, M. (1996). English Language Development in Tunisia. TESOL Quarterly, 30(3), 598-605. Derbel, F. (2001). EFL teacher preparation, teacher conceptual frame and the task of implementing pedagogical change: Directions for the future teacher education and development in Tunisia. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). London: University of London. Hamdy, A. (2007). Survey of ICT and Education in Africa: Tunisia Country Report, ICT in Education in Tunisia. Washington DC: The World Bank. Retrieved from http://www.infodev.org/en/Publication.434.html Lee, K. W. (2000). English Teachers' Barriers to the Use of Computer-assisted Language Learning. The Internet TESL Journal, VI(12), 1-7. Retrieved from http://iteslj.org/Articles/Lee-CALLbarriers.html Lewis, G. (2009). Bringing Technology into the Classroom. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Melliti, M. (2008). The Perceived Value of English: The Case of Tunisian University Students. Manouba, Manouba University. Retrieved from http://www.memoireonline.com/08/11/4642/The-perceived-value-of-english-the-case-of-tunisian-university-students.html Ministry of the Higher Education, T. (2008). Higher Education. Tunis: Ministry of the Higher Education. Warschaue, M., & Whittaker, F. (1997). The Internet for English Teaching: Guidelines for Teachers. The Internet TESL Journal, 2(4), 27-33.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Prepositions and ESL Learners: the Malaysian Scenario

Norwati Roslim

English Language Department, Academy of Language Studies

Universiti Teknologi MARA, Negeri Sembilan

Kampus Kuala Pilah, Beting

72000 Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

E-mail: norwati@ns.uitm.edu.my

Jayakaran Mukundan (corresponding author)

Department of Language and Humanities Education, Faculty of Educational Studies

Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

E-mail: jaya@educ.upm.edu.my

E-mail: jayakaranmukundan@yahoo.com

Received: 30-09-2013 Accepted: 11-11-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.187 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.187 Abstract This article presents a review of the literature on prepositions with a focus on definitions and main difficulties faced by Malaysian students. It further highlights recommendations about the role of syllabus designers, textbook writers and teachers in meeting these challenges. It is hoped that this article could provide a platform for any further studies on prepositions. Keywords: English prepositions, Malaysian ESL learners, ESL textbooks 1. Introduction A preposition is defined as a word or group of words (Kaplan, 1989; Tan, 1994; Hughes, 1992) and often has meanings which have something to do with location or direction and movement (Kaplan, 1989; Hughes, 1992) and time or method (Hughes, 1992). The majority of prepositions express relationship between things and events and their basic sense is spatial (Borjars and Burridge, 2001). A comprehensive description of prepositions in Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech & Svartvik (1985, pp. 673-695) presents prepositional meanings in terms of place and time. According to Quirk et al. (ibid.), the prepositional meaning of the chief prepositions of place is presented in a form of diagram. They are in a form of dimensional properties of point (dimension-type 0), line or surface (dimension-type 1/2) and area or volume (dimension type 2/3) between the notions of simple position and direction. The positive position (at, in, on), the positive direction (to, on(to), in(to)), the negative position (away from, off, out of) and the negative direction ((away) from, off, out of)). Quirk et al. (ibid.) furthermore explains, apart from simple position, prepositions may express the relative position of two objects or group of objects. For instance, above, over, on top of, under, underneath, beneath, below, in front of, behind, beside, near (to), between and among. These prepositions can also express relative destination but not generally for above and below. As with verbs of motion, Quirk et al. (ibid.) describes prepositions for relative destination may express the idea of passage (that is, movement towards and then away from a place) as well as destination, even though there is an ambiguity in supplying the meaning of passage or the meaning of destination. In a sentence ‘The ball rolled underneath the table’, the meaning of passage is the ball passed under the table on the way to some other destination. The meaning of destination is the ball rolled under the table and stayed there. Also with verbs of motion, a group of prepositions may express direction or movement, for instance, up, down, along, across and (a)round. Also, many place prepositions have abstract meanings which are clearly related, through metaphorical connection, to their locative uses as shown below: i. in shallow water (purely literal) ii. in deep water (also metaphorical = ‘in trouble’) iii. in difficulties (the preposition is used metaphorically) iv. in a spot (= ‘in a difficult situation’)

IJALEL 3(1):187-194, 2014 188 Quirk et al. (ibid.) further describes the prepositional meanings of time in terms of time position, measurement into the future and duration. The prepositions that are used to indicate time include at, on, in, for, before, after, since, until, till, between, by and up to. While Lindstromberg (1997, p. 15) argues that the traditional division of prepositions into place, direction and time are particularly fuzzy. He then presents his basics about prepositions by using the terms Subject and Landmark and explains the use of prepositions to express a relationship between a Subject and a Landmark. For example, some prepositions say where something is in physical relation to another thing such as ‘There was a candle on the table’. In this sentence, a candle is the ‘Subject’ of the preposition, the table is the ‘Landmark’ of the preposition. The preposition tells us where the Subject is in relation to the Landmark. In the example, on is a ‘preposition of place’. Also, because both the Subject and the Landmark are tangible things, we can say that on is being used literally. Lindstromberg (ibid.) also uses Subjects and Landmarks for prepositions of time and prepositions of path for prepositions of direction, movement or motion. On the other hand, Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman (1999, p. 409) display in chart form the various meanings of common prepositions. These common prepositions even though are in the spatial domain, they also represent their meanings in terms of time, degree and others. At, about, above, against, around, before, below, between, by, for, from, in, of, on, over, through, to, toward(s). under and with are all categorized as space but being described with their extended meanings. These prepositions have also been categorized as time (except for the prepositions above and below), degree (except for before, in and through) and others which include idiomatic usages (except for around, before and below). Even though the prepositional meanings have been looked into various aspects, overall they are firstly discussed in the interest of space, place or location before their meanings are extended to time, direction and others. Apart from the description of definitions of prepositions in terms of meanings, the definition also appears in relation to its form. Pullum and Huddleston (2002) inform the traditional definition of a preposition is ‘a word that governs, and normally precedes, a noun or pronoun and which expresses the latter’s relation to another word’ (p. 598). However, Pullum and Huddleston (ibid.) have substituted the traditional ‘noun or pronoun’ with ‘noun phrase’. With that modification, the traditional definition can be illustrated in the following example: i. Max sent a photograph of his new house to his parents. In (i), the preposition of relates the Noun Phrase (his new house) to the noun (photograph), while to relates the Noun Phrase (his parents) to the verb send. ii. They are both very keen on golf. Similarly in (ii), on relates the Noun Phrase golf to the adjective keen. The complexity of the form of preposition is also observed in the phrase structure rule for a prepositional phrase as suggested by Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1999). By doing this, “several observations can be made about the form of prepositions (PrepP → Prep NP)” (p. 402). In line with Carter and Carthy (2006, p. 916), ‘a phrase with a preposition as the head followed by a complement is called a prepositional phrase (I’ll come with you)’, earlier descriptions of a prepositional phrase according to Quirk et al. (1985, p. 657) consists of a preposition followed by a prepositional complement which is characteristically a noun phrase or a wh-clause or V-ing clause: Preposition Prepositional complement at the bus-stop from what he said by signing a peace treaty The description is further extended to the syntactic functions of prepositional phrases as complementation of a verb (We depend on you) and complementation of an adjective (I am sorry for his parents). The preposition on and for is closely related to and is determined by the preceding verb: depend and the preceding adjective: sorry) In addition to this, Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1999, p. 402) describe the form of prepositions as the co-occurrence of prepositions with verbs and adjectives: Verb + Prep Adj + Prep to rely on to be dependent on to detract from to be free from/of to consist of to be afraid of to substitute for to be sorry for to part with to be content with

IJALEL 3(1):187-194, 2014 189 In the case of the co-occurrence with nouns, it has been described in terms of noun phrases which are preceded or followed by a preposition such as in my opinion, to my mind, from my point of view, objection to, awareness of, belief in. Sometimes, noun phrases are both preceded and followed by prepositions to form multiword clusters, such as with respect to, at odds with, in return for. Biber et al. (1999, p. 103) further provides the structure of a complex prepositional phrase (NP = noun phrase, Prep = preposition, PP = prepositional phrase): PP Prep NP PP Prep NP PP Prep NP PP Prep NP at the of a into the of complex expense brief mathematical numbers excursion realm

Figure 1. The structure of a complex prepositional phrase However, Tan (2002) illustrated her studies on the forms of prepositions in terms of a particular type of fixed expressions called prepositional clusters which are commonly found in everyday informal communication (written and spoken). She looked closely at ‘round about’ (preposition + preposition). On close analysis, it was found that as a cluster, ‘round about’ occurs mainly in adverbial position indicating place (orientation, direction) and time (when), whereas its components round and about could occur as either prepositions or adverbs. Hoffman (2004) studied low-frequency complex prepositions on the basis that these prepositions have received comparatively little attention. He used retrieval algorithm for the compilation of a list of potential low-frequency complex prepositions which forms preposition – noun – preposition (PNP) sequences as illustrated below:

At, by, for, From, in, upon, → any singular noun → with, to, of, On, under, on, for With, without

Baldwin, T., Kordini, V. & Villaviencio, A. (2009, p. 125) on the other hand, proposes prepositions as part of multiword expressions (MWEs) in three types; verb particle constructions (VPCs), where the verb selects for an intransitive preposition, (such as break down, chicken out, hand in), prepositional verbs (PVs), where the verb selects for a transitive preposition, (for instance, rely on, refer to) and determinerless prepositional phrases (PP-Ds), where a PP is made up of a preposition and singular noun without a determiner, (for example, in hospital, at school). Clearly, the descriptions of prepositions in terms of its form and meanings are rather complex and could pose problems to ESL learners.

IJALEL 3(1):187-194, 2014 190 2. Prepositions and Malaysian ESL learners Prepositions, although they are simple words, they are complex to be learnt. Linguists and grammarians do offer descriptions of prepositions which provide help and guidelines for learners to use prepositions correctly in their spoken and written communication, however, problems remain. In fact, it is acknowledged that prepositions are notoriously difficult to learn and they are notoriously hard for non-native speakers to master (Baldwin et al., 2009; Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman, 1999). The problems include the definition of prepositions, the descriptions of prepositions in terms of its forms and meanings and the differences between the use of prepositions in the English language and in the first language of the ESL users. Arguably, the definition of prepositions itself is rather complicated for learners to grasp. The various definitions of prepositions with their multiple meanings which have been proposed by scholars could cause confusions to ESL learners on the starting point to learn prepositions. Even though the prepositional meanings have been looked into in the interest of space, place or location, their meanings have been however extended to time, direction and others. Such complexities which surround prepositional meanings obviously need more time for ESL learners to understand and be able to use them correctly in communication. The traditional definition of prepositions itself is unclear. Second language teachers may understand that noun, verb and adjective complement prepositions. However, second language learners may find the relation between prepositions and their complements is difficult for them to understand. Both teachers and learners need to be aware of which words in the category of noun, verb and adjective could be used with certain prepositions. Yong (2001) in her study on Malay and Indonesian learners revealed the problems between the Malay and the Indonesian learners in using prepositions were quite similar. Errors were found in the use of correct preposition after a verb, adjective or noun in expressions like add to, attend to, allow for, hope for, conscious of, based on. These learners also showed the problem in choosing the right preposition in fixed expressions like with great courtesy, in anger, by the back door, on the radio, by train. The problems in the use of correct prepositions as highlighted in Yong’s (2001) has also been emphasized in Botley’s (2009) personal e-mail communication. Such complexity of prepositions has consequently led to problems for ESL teachers and learners in using prepositions correctly. To further support the complexity of the descriptions of prepositions in terms of its forms and meanings, Swan (2001) introduces aspects in which prepositions could pose problems to ESL learners, which include “vocabulary problems, word order, –ing forms, prepositions before conjunctions and prepositions and adverb particles” (p. 436). This can be summarized in the following tables: Table 1. Summary of vocabulary problems (Swan, 2001)

Problems Descriptions Examples Vocabulary problems Most English prepositions have

several different functions Different prepositions can have very similar uses Many nouns, verbs and adjectives are normally used with particular prepositions

For instance, one well-known dictionary lists eighteen main uses of at in the morning, on Monday morning, at night we say the reason for, arrive at, angry with somebody, on a bus

Word order In English, prepositions can come at the end of clauses in certain structures, especially in an informal style.

What are you thinking about? She’s not very easy to talk to. You’re just the person I was looking for. I hate being shouted at.

-ing forms When we use verbs after prepositions, we use –ing forms, not infinitives. When to is a preposition, it is also followed by –ing forms

She saved money by giving up cigarettes. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Prepositions before conjunctions Prepositions are sometimes dropped before conjunctions and sometimes not.

I’m not certain (of) what I’m supposed to do. The question (of) whether they should turn back was never discussed.

Prepositions and adverb particles Words like on, off, up, down can function both as prepositions and as adverb particles

She ran up the stairs. (prepositions) She rang me up. (adverb particle)

IJALEL 3(1):187-194, 2014 191 According to Swan (ibid), “often the correct preposition cannot be guessed, and one has to learn the expression as a whole” (p. 436). These problems have been found in studies on the problems in the use of prepositions among Malaysian learners in secondary schools. Saadiyah and Subramaniam (2009) found that prepositions were among the six most common errors in the 72 essays written by the 72 Form Four Malay students. The results showed that the students were confused in using the correct preposition, for instance:

i. So many dirty plates and glasses can be seen everywhere at (Preposition) the school canteen. In sentence (i), the correct preposition is around rather than at. ii. The food to cater to (Preposition) the students during recess is not enough. In sentence no. (ii), the preposition for should have been used.

iii. As the secretary at (Preposition) the club I have been assigned to write report. While the preposition of’ should have been used in sentence (iii).

Problems in the use of prepositions have also been found in a study conducted by Nor Hashimah, Norsimah & Kesumawati (2008). This study was conducted on 315 Form Two students from three different schools in Johore, the southern state of Malaysia. They were given a cloze test with multiple choice answers. There was only one question on preposition in the cloze test given to these students. The question was as follows:

i. They can be long and thin ……. shape or heavy and stout looking. The choices of answers were A) at B) in C) on and D) of The correct answer was in, however, the results showed the percentage of students who gave the right answer was only between 26.5 % to 32%. The majority of the students in all the three schools were unable to identify the correct usage of prepositions. Another earlier study by Rosli and Edwin (1989) highlighted the percentage of errors found in the 80 scripts written by the Form Four Malaysian students. The study showed the errors were much higher in those of rural students than those of the urban students in prepositions. Twenty percent of errors were committed by the students in the rural areas and 10% were from the students in the urban areas. The examples of errors in the use of prepositions among students were as follows:

i. wrong choice of prepositions: Examples: a. ln* the other hand, the entertainment in the country is fishing, planting, jogging and so on.

b. At* afternoon, I usually come to school. ii. omission of prepositions: Example: a. I am * Form Science II. iii. redundant use of prepositions: Example: a. After that we went to* swimming.

Abdul Rashid, Goh & Wan (2004) also highlighted errors involving prepositions in their studies on six essays written by Form Four students studying in a national-type Chinese secondary school in Penang in Northern Malaysia. The errors were identified as follows: i. wrong choice of prepositions Example: a. I jumped on my feet … (Correction: to) b. In a hot terrible morning … (Correction: on) ii. Insertion of prepositions Example: a. My mother was comforting at him. b. She ran back to home. iii. Omission of prepositions

IJALEL 3(1):187-194, 2014 192 Example: a. When she heard / the accident, she … (about) b. …wash my face and change / my uniform in a short time. (into) At the tertiary level, Ting, Mahanita & Chang (2010) examined the grammatical errors in spoken English of 42 university students. The oral interaction data for this study were derived from 126 simulated interactions in role play situations. The error analysis revealed the highest frequency of preposition errors. The problem with prepositions was as follows:

i. incorrect choice or misinformation Example: a. Wait for me at this Sunday – umm – at seven a.m.) ii. addition of prepositions when there should not be any Example: a. I will to buy this bag. iii. omission Example: a. We can go / watch movie together.

Another problem that the Malaysian ESL learners may have in using prepositions is the differences between the use of prepositions in the English language and in the first language of the Malaysian ESL users, that is, Bahasa Melayu. In a Malaysian context, it is quite relevant to compare the prepositions in the English language and Malay in an attempt to determine whether there would be difficulties in learning or acquiring English prepositions faced by students whose mother tongue as well as medium of instruction is Malay. A thorough comparison between the two languages has been outlined in Sudhakaran (2008) based on Othman (1993, 1985) as cited in Mukundan & Norwati Roslim (2009). The preposition in (dalam), where in the case of Malay, in is used before nouns that relate to objects such as a picture, story, mirror, while into (di dalam) is used before a noun that indicates content or denote filling an area or space like a room, river, or a container. In the English Language,in’ has a wider application, since it is also used in other situations too, for example, in anger, in aid of; whereas into, too, can be used in a wider context like into despair, into anger. The preposition from (dari, daripada) in Malay has been split into two separate forms; one form to be used before nouns indicating places or direction, for example, dari Melaka (from Melaka), dari angkasa lepas (from outer space), dari utara (from the north); the other daripada is used before nouns related to resources, for example, daripada emas (from gold), daripada kayu (from wood), daripada cermin (from glass), or before nouns related to people, for example, daripada Ali (from Ali), daripada kakaknya (from his sister). However, here there is a distinct difference; while daripada is also used for resources in Malay as in the examples above, in English, the preposition of is used instead, for example, in “made of gold”, “of wood” or “of glass”. However, there are instances of a similar usage too, for example, “made from the bark of the tree”. In Malay, the preposition pada (at) is used for names of objects or things that have a “surface”, for example, pada mukanya (at his face), pada kulit buah (at the skin of the fruit), pada pintu (at the door), pada langsir pintu (at the door curtain), as well as to denote time, for example, pada pukul lima (at five o’clock), pada pagi (at morning). Here too, there are differences between the two languages. In some of the examples above, the appropriate preposition in English would be on – pada mukanya (on his face), pada kulit buah (on the skin of the fruit), pada pintu (on the door), pada langsir pintu (on the door curtain), whereas “at the door” in English would indicate a different meaning that somebody is outside the door. The usage of at for time (as indicated by the clock) is the same for both languages, but with respect to the time of the day, in English, different prepositions can be used as follows: “at dawn”, “in the morning”, “at noon”, “in the afternoon”, and “at night”. Another study conducted by Nor Hashimah et al. (2008) also described the incorrect use of English prepositions could possibly due to the differences between the Malay prepositions and the English prepositions. The majority of the students in all the three schools were unable to identify the correct usage of preposition in and of in the question. The correct preposition is in however more than 70% of students gave of as the answer. The researchers highlighted that the students who were majority Malay students might have translated literally all the options given into Malay language and decided against the preposition in. The preposition in has two possible equivalents in Malay, namely, dalam or di dalam. Imran Ho (2000) proposes that the preposition dalam is conceptualized in a 3-dimensional container whereas in can be conceptualized in 2-dimensional situation and 3-dimensional container as shown in the examples below:

i. The shirt is in the cupboard. ii. Snakes in the desert. iii. They live in Pahang.

The above sentences indicate that the prepositions in/dalam are conceptualized differently in Malay and English. The researchers suggested previous understanding that in is the equivalent of dalam in Malay has to be re-examined.

IJALEL 3(1):187-194, 2014 193 Students have to be made aware of various usage and functions of English prepositions to make them better users of the language. In addition to this, Abdul Rashid et al. (2004) conducted a study on six essays written by Form Four students studying in a national-type Chinese secondary school in Penang in Northern Malaysia. All the respondents had their primary education in vernacular schools where Chinese (Mandarin) was the medium of instruction and English was taught as a subject within the school curriculum. Abdul Rashid et al. (ibid.) explained the errors committed by these students could be a result of ignorance of rule restrictions. This was evident in the example given in the errors on the wrong choice of preposition (i. I jumped on my feet …). The Chinese learners have no frame of reference in Chinese for English prepositions. They apply what they have learnt in new situations. After learning “on foot”, “on one’s feet” and “stand on one’s own (two) feet”, the learners may have associated “on” with “foot/feet”. Hence, “I jumped on my feet” seems to be correct to them. In the case of insertion of prepositions in the other examples ( i. My mother was comforting at him.) and ( ii. She ran back to home.), Abdul Rashid et al. (ibid.) explained most Chinese structures require zero preposition. In sentences like “My mother was looking at him” and “My mother was shouting at him”, the use of at is accepted as grammatically correct sentences, hence, it seemed to them it is correct to use at in the first example. The second example also drew the same conclusion. The Chinese students learnt that it is perfectly correct to say “went back to school” or “walked back to class”, therefore, to say “ran back to home” seemed to be more correct than “ran back home” for these students. Evidently, in a study by Ahour and Mukundan (2012), on 12 university students from three ethnicities, Malay, Chinese and Indians, it was found that only the Malay and Chinese groups performed errors on prepositions in their written descriptions on a picture stimulus. The examples in the misuse of prepositions are shown below: i. Error: …is standing besides the father … Reconstruction: .…is standing beside the father … ii. Error: …sits in… Reconstruction: …sits on… Hence, there were some differences in the use of prepositions found between English language and Malay language (Sudhakaran, 2008; Nor Hashimah et al., 2008) and Ahour and Mukundan, 2012) and between English language and Chinese (Abdul Rashid et al., 2004 and Ahour and Mukundan, 2012). While some of these differences are evident and distinct, others are subtler, and depend to a large extent on the nuances of meaning implied in the context of use of the specific prepositions (Sudhakaran, 2008). Consequently, these add problems to ESL teachers and learners due to prepositions are not used as they are used in the first language of the ESL users. In addition to Swan’s (2001, p. 436) view that “often the correct preposition cannot be guessed, and one has to learn the expression as a whole”, Wahlen (2001, p. 200) also adds that prepositions “do not have a neat set of rules governing their use. These rules are often complex, and may not be able to ensure accuracy.” Hence, the problems in using prepositions correctly among the Malaysian learners need to be addressed and this requires syllabus designers, textbook writers and teachers to play important roles. 3. The role of syllabus designers, textbook writers and teachers Having reviewed the definitions of prepositions and the problems faced by Malaysian ESL learners in using prepositions correctly, it is essential for syllabus designers, textbook writers and teachers to pay attention to prepositions. Firstly, There is a need for syllabus designers to evaluate the present English language syllabus for Malaysian learners. The long list of prepositions must be carefully selected by syllabus designers as to which prepositions need to be taught to the Malaysian learners. For example, the syllabus designers may consider to provide a list of prepositions of place and time for the primary schools students and a list of other prepositions for the secondary schools students. Secondly, the textbook writers should prepare the content of the textbooks according to the English language Syllabus for the primary and secondary schools. A clear description of prepositions must be provided in the textbook. Finally, Malaysian ESL teachers should be able to plan strategies and select or adapt appropriate teaching materials to be used in teaching prepositions. All the prepositions stipulated in the syllabus must be introduced and taught repetitively to enhance students’ understanding on prepositions. The teaching of prepositions should also be incorporated into listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in a meaningful way. 4. Conclusion This article has presented the complex definition and characteristics of prepositions. As such, it contributes to the difficulties faced by Malaysian learners in using prepositions correctly. Hence, it is essential for syllabus designers, textbook writers and teachers to be aware of these problems. Undeniably, ESL learners need to study prepositions due to its importance in communication. Using prepositions correctly allow learners to differentiate the meanings of the multiple functions of prepositions and the grammatical constructions of prepositions. Failure to do so, learners will face problems in communication. If this problem is not tackled from school years, it will eventually affect the learners’ communicative ability at tertiary level and later on in life.

IJALEL 3(1):187-194, 2014 194 Acknowledgements The main author wishes to thank the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia for granting the scholarship and study leave to pursue the Ph. D programme. Thanks are also due to Prof. Dr Jayakaran Mukundan for his guidance and never ending support throughout. References Abdul Rashid Mohameda, Goh Li Lian & Wan Rose Eliza (2004). English Errors and Chinese learners. Sunway College Journal. 1, 83-97. Retrieved from http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/ Ahour, T. & Mukundan, J. (2012). Errors and variations of TESL students’ written description. Pertanika Journal Social Science and Humanities. 20 (1), 55-64. Baldwin, T., Kordini, V. & Villaviencio, A. (2009). Prepositions in Applications: a survey and introduction to the Special Issue. Computational Linguistics. 35(2), 119-149. Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S. & Finegan, E. (1999). Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Harlow: Pearson Education. Borjars, K. & Burridge, K. (2001). Introducing English Grammar. London: Arnold Publishers. Celce-Murcia, M. & Larsen-Freeman, D. (1999). The Grammar book: an ESL/EFL teacher’s course. 2nd ed. Boston: Heinle & Heinle. Huddleston, R. & Pullum, G. K. (2002). The Cambridge Grammar of the English language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hughes, R. (1992). English grammar made simple. Kuala Lumpur: Fajar Bakti Sdn. Bhd. Kaplan, J. P. (1989). English Grammar: Principles and Facts. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Lindstromberg, S. (1997). English Prepositions Explained. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co. Mukundan, J. & Norwati Roslim. (2009). Textbook Representation of Prepositions. English Language Teaching. 2(4), 13-24. Nor Hashimah Jalaluddin, Norsimah Mat Awal & Kesumawati Abu Bakar. (2008). The Mastery of English language among lower secondary school students inMalaysia: A linguistic analysis. European Journal of Social Sciences. 7(2), 106-119. Othman, A. (1993). Belajar Tatabahasa dan Bahasa Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Penerbit Fajar Bakti Sdn. Bhd. Othman, A. (1985). Mengajar Tatabahasa. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. Quirk, R., Greenbaum S., Leech, G. & Svartvik, J. (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar of English language. Harlow: Longman. Rosli Talif & Edwin, M. (1989). Error analysis of Form Four English compositions. The English Teacher. XVIII, 110-124. Saadiyah Darus and Subramaniam, K. (2009). Error analysis of the written English essays of secondary school students in Malaysia: A case study. European Journal of Social Sciences. 8(3), 483-495. Sudhakaran, B. (2008). The use of prepositions among Malay adult ESL learners. (Unpublished Doctoral Thesis). Serdang: Universiti Putra Malaysia. Swan, M. (2001). Practical English Usage. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Tan, K. E. (1994). Pacific PSLE English. Singapore: Pan Pacific Publications (S) Pte Ltd. Tan, M. (2002). Fixed expressions, prepositional clusters and language teaching. In M. Tan (Ed.). Corpus Studies in Language Education (pp. 95-120). Thailand: Institute for English Language Education Press. Ting, S. H., Mahanita Mahadhir and Chang, S. L. (2010). Grammatical errors in spoken English of university students in oral communication course. GEMA OnlineTM Journal of Language Studies. 10 (1), 53-70. Retrieved from http://journalarticle.ukm.my/ Wahlen, G. (2001). Prepositions illustrated. Michigan: University of Michigan Press. Yong, J. Y. (2001). Malay/Indonesian Speakers. In M. Swan and B. Smith (Eds.). Learner English: A Teacher’s guide to interference and other problems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

The Tyranny of Cybernetics in Kurt Vonnegut’s Player Piano

Ruzbeh Babaee

Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia

Wan Roselezam Bt Wan Yahya (corresponding author)

Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia

E-mail: roselezam@gmail.com

Shivani Sivagurunathan

University of Nottingham, Campus of Malaysia

Received: 30-09-2013 Accepted: 13-11-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.195 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.195 Abstract Kurt Vonnegut’s Player Piano (1952) illustrates people who become enslaved to a controlling system of cybernetics that enhances its power through computer, consumer culture, and advertising industry in postwar America. In this study, I investigate Player Piano through the idea of cybernetics that reduces human beings into intelligent machines and mindless bodies. Player Piano constitutes an effort to make sense of powerful systems through the metaphors of the machine. It is a struggle to illustrate a deterministic attitude of the universe that leaves human with no choice. Keywords: Cybernetics, Dystopia, 1950s America, Advertising Industry, Consumer Culture 1. Introduction 1950s Americans is defined as the “good life” of Americans in economic terms. In this era, Americans thought the good life would be permanent and they would enjoy automobiles, televisions, and a luxurious and comfortable life forever. In fact, they were in quest of the American Dream that, according to Lawrence Samuel, promised every American citizen “a family, car, and suburban home full of modern appliances” (xi). Thus, after WWII, mass-production industry turned to the American public who seemed to be eager to gain the advantages of the American Dream. Also, manufacturers seemed to be happy to convince these consumers to purchase more and more commodities. However, many critics and writers found this good life of the 1950s embraced a capitalistic tendency. Antonio Gramsci‘s observation of this system is,

A given socio-historical moment is never homogeneous; on the contrary, it is rich in contradictions. It acquires a personality and is a moment of development in that a certain fundamental activity of life prevails over others and represents a historical peak: but this presupposes a hierarchy, a contrast, a struggle (93).

Also, several authors of this culture employed literature as a means to criticize the consumer capitalist society of 1950s America. Vonnegut’s Player Piano criticizes 1950s American culture of mechanization and consumerism that controlled human mind through advertising industry and information and communication technologies that emerged after WWII. The present study explores Player Piano in the cybernetic environment of 1950s America that controls people through unemployment, advertising industry, and consumer culture. 2. Player Piano: a Criticism of 1950s America Although many critics have found Player piano a futuristic novel, in this study I agree with John Tomedi who sees “Player Piano was [relevant] to the 1950’s” (x) in which “managers and engineers learned to get along without their men and women” (Player Piano 1). In fact, they “had found that the bulk of secretarial work could be done - as could most lower-echelon jobs - more quickly and efficiently and cheaply by machines” (Player Piano 2). In the society of Player Piano people are waiting for the invention of new technologies that tell them what to do. They have lost the feeling of “being” that is the essential foundation of human dignity. According to Robert Tally, Vonnegut’s Player Piano illustrates “what happens to the soul of man in the world of machines” (21). While “machines take over routine human labor in Player Piano, leaving people feeling useless and outmoded,” (Farrell ix) advertising industry and consumer culture employ people for the consumption of their products. Thus, the society controls its people in two ways; first by making them unemployed, and then by making them consumer individuals. In the following, I discuss on the theory of cybernetics as a controlling system that turns human beings into intelligent machines and mindless bodies.

IJALEL 3(1):195-201, 2014 196 3. The Tyranny of Cybernetics Historically, when human beings stopped questioning the conditions, and forgot the significance of thinking, they have opened themselves up for external control. Paul Proteus, the protagonist of the novel, justifies the condition for himself: “Objectively, Paul tried to tell himself, things really were better than ever. For once, after the great bloodbath of the war, the world really was cleared of unnatural terrors - mass starvation, mass imprisonment, mass torture, mass murder” (6-7). Paul thinks, “Objectively, know-how and world law were getting their long-awaited chance to turn earth into an altogether pleasant and convenient place in which to sweat out Judgment Day” (7). Human’s invention of machine created an automated world quite void of any meaningful life. Paul himself, the most important engineer in Ilium, spent his time in the office reading adventure fiction and sometimes checking the switchboard to be sure that the factory was working well. Any signs of actual work were eliminated from the society, and the human was doomed to live in an automated society that attempts to persuade the obsolete bodies to purchase more mass-products. Vonnegut’s Player Piano illustrates a post-war America where machines have replaced almost all human labor and a central computer makes all the decisions. According to Donald Morse,

In Player Piano, the world, having passed through the First Revolution where machines took over man’s manual labor, and the Second Revolution where machines took over all human routine work, is now about to undergo a Third Revolution where machines will do all the thinking (304).

Similarly, Paul Proteus, the protagonist of Player Piano, states, “the First Industrial revolution devalued muscle work, then the second one devalued routine mental work” (14). Paul continues: “In a way, I guess the third one’s been going on for some time, if you mean thinking machines. That would be the third revolution, I guess - machines that devaluate human thinking. Some of the big computers like EPICAC do that all right, in specialized fields” (14). By the third revolution, Vonnegut refers to and warns about cybernetics as a system of mind control. Vonnegut’s Player Piano is a direct reference to Norbert Wiener, the father of cybernetics. Paul Proteus, the protagonist of the novel, states: “Norbert Wiener, a mathematician, said all that way back in the nineteen-forties. It’s fresh to you because you’re too young to know anything but the way things are now” (Player Piano 14). Vonnegut shows that 1950s America is too young to understand the technological changes. Dani Cavallaro observes Wiener divides the history of machines into four phases: “the golemic age (a pre-technological world), the age of clocks (seventeenth and eighteenth centuries), the age of steam (late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries) and the age of communication and control (the era of cybernetics)” (12). For Wiener the body acts “as a magical clay shape, as a clockwork mechanism, as a heat engine, and finally as an electronic system” (ibid). The body as an electronic system acts like a communications network that absorbs “information through the senses and of subsequently acting upon the information received” (ibid). Cybernetics considers the notion that

if the human body can be conceived of as a machine, it is also possible to design machines that simulate the human organism. This is effected by using as a working model the nervous apparatus, a graded system of control governed by the brain. A machine so designed is a cybernetic organism, a technological construct that replicates the human body on the basis of an understanding of the structural similarities between machines and living organisms. (ibid)

Cybernetics affects human’s mind to control his/her behavior. Vonnegut criticizes a cybernetic environment in which “people stuck in one place all day, just using their senses, then a reflex, suing their senses, then a reflex, and not really thinking at all” (Player Piano 14). He sees that in the third revolution people will be replaced by “thinking machines” that “devaluate human thinking” (Player Piano 15). In fact, Vonnegut warns us about a third revolution that machines will think and decide for humans. He reminds us of the first and the second revolutions to talk about a more threatening revolution that would control all aspects of our life. Player Piano depicts a planned society based on production, consumption and profit (Morse 304). In this society everything is decided by computers, thus efficiency and production are maximized, regardless to the effects this process might have on humanity and personal fulfillment. According to Peter Freese, Player Piano is “the first prophetic depiction of “tyranny by computer” in American literature, which in 1952 was a highly speculative anticipation of coming developments but assumes a surprising topicality in our computer-governed times” (90). Postwar American society of Player Piano believes when the individuals are free to enjoy the goods offered by machine production, then they can fulfill their utopian desires of happiness and prosperity. But, in reality, people are dissatisfied, disappointed, and displaced with feelings of obsoleteness. People have forgotten the dynamic function of their bodies and lost their mind capacities, because they become quite passive minds that are significant for the consumer culture and automated society that needs them for more consumption. Vonnegut criticizes the cybernetic society that supplies the means of organizing social existence according to abstract principles that can be represented as data and translated into tangible products for public consumption” (Cavallaro 19). Postwar society of Player Piano is very young to remember life before the machines. The people “couldn’t remember when things had been different, could hardly make sense of what had been, though they didn’t necessarily like what was.” The older generation, who had been “the rioters, the smashers of machines” before society changed, is no longer violent but filled with churning resentment (Player Piano 29). Common people do not know what to do, what to wear, or what to purchase. Engineers and managers of this society enjoy the consumer culture by purchasing new products, while most of the society suffered from unemployment and depression. All the inhabitants are trapped in a cybernetic society in which there is no real place or need for human. Norbert Wiener, in Cybernetics: Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine, argues on a theory of communication and control that considers people send messages

IJALEL 3(1):195-201, 2014 197 within a system to control their surrounding environment. Through this theory, Wiener makes a comparison between human and machine to demonstrate that human communication is similar to the way a machine functions to complete a task by a given order. In Player Piano not only are people machine-like, but also machine provides them with whatever they need in their life. Paul Proteus is unhappy with the present society because machines are not controlled by the human but by other machines. The novel satirizes the typical home life of the average people in America. Vonnegut illustrates Edgar Rice Burroughs Hagstrohm and his family who live in a self-cleaning M-17 house. He has equipment, furniture, car, and automatic pay roll deduction payments in the house controlled by the advanced computer or machine God EPICAC XIV. The computer EPICAC XIV can do hundreds of work or even thousands simultaneously without any confusion. As a result of it, human beings have no work to do. The perfection of machine has made human imperfect and machine-like. Wiener also argues that human operates in a machine-like manner which is based on information processing that desire to monitor our environment as well as the environment of those around us. In Player Piano the citizens are controlled by advertising industry that is based on information processing in a consumer society. Wiener, in The Human Use of Human Beings, states:

society can only be understood through a study of the messages and communication facilities which belong to it; and that in the future development of these messages and communication facilities, messages between man and machines, between machines and man, and between machine and machine, are destined to play an ever increasing part. (15)

The main function of communication is to control our environment. Wiener argues, “information is a name for the content of what is exchanged with the outer world as we adjust to it, and make our adjustment felt upon it” (16). He believes that the purpose of human communication is to get familiarized with an especial environment while at the same time influencing aspects of it. For Wiener, information is the means that preserves organization within an environment (20). Thus, information becomes a form of control. Consumer culture uses information to control its people. In a consumer culture, advertising becomes a form of communication that can be seen through the application of principles drawn from the field of cybernetics that “is the discipline which has made the mechanisms of feedback its primary concern and therefore, it will be argued, offers the tools and perspectives to successfully model the highly complex and dynamic interactions that typify advertising communication” (Miles 308). Cybernetics considers the idea of advertising communication as an observing system that controls the environment. In Player Piano, Vonnegut criticizes the logic of advertising industry as a controlling system. In fact, Vonnegut sees that advertisement- a way of communication between companies and consumers- attempts to persuade the consumers to more consumption. In such a culture, people become thoughtless bodies by advertising industry that controls their mind and reduces them to mere consumers. Wiener, in The Human Use of Human Beings, considers the study of messages as a tool of controlling “machinery and society.” For him, cybernetics is the theory of messages. The control of machinery and society is a significant idea in the study of technology and society. It is impossible to separate technology and society. In advertising communication, we can imagine customers as society and the communication process as technology. Communication is the device through which companies can persuade the consumers to purchase their products. In The Human use of Human Beings, Wiener broadens the idea of cybernetics to emphasize on human as a part of the communication system. He considers consumer behavior deals with the role of the human in marketing communications process and the consumer response to advertising. Consumer behavior considers messages and communications, and produces the communications models, the attempt of marketing scholars to decode the codes persuading customers to move from the reading of advertisements to the purchase of products. In fact, advertising industry uses images to convince people to consume more. The advertisements of 1950s America represented the trappings of utopian thoughts such as abundance, success and equality. These advertisements pervaded into radio and television, cinema, and magazine to sustain the consumer culture. In fact, they represent images of an ideal world but no means through which to achieve that ideal world. According to William Leiss:

Advertising ideology is a set of false and misleading concepts about reality, and in two major dimensions this ideology actually works: the stress on satisfaction through consumption rather than work and the Hollywood set, where the world is portrayed as free from racial and class conflict, idyllic and false (29).

It is the function of advertisements to persuade the audience that they can achieve the feelings offered through the images by purchasing the goods being advertised. In this regard, advertising industry reduces the importance of human life to a stereotype of consumption. In fact, the rising power of the advertising industry is concurrent with the fall of utopian ideal, and the rise of dystopian hell. Such dominant culture becomes omnipresent to persuade the consumers to consume more. Advertising industry conceals the historical process to manipulate the consumers’ mind and encourage them for more consumption without questioning the process of production. In fact, advertising disconnects the commodity from the world of worker that produced it. The image represents no idea about the process of production, or about the impacts of the product in society. According to Janice Winship, in Sexuality for Sale:

Despite its glorifying display of commodities, advertising represents a moment of suspension in their production and circulation: production – the sweat and exploitation of work – is over and

IJALEL 3(1):195-201, 2014 198 hidden in its verbal and visual persuasion: the consumption of someone else‘s (or your own) objectified labour, to which you, the as-yet-passive spectator, are invited, has not begun. Yet in monopoly capitalism advertising has become integral to these circuits of production and circulation: it sustains the movement of commodities, from their social production to their individual but socially repeated consumption, which eventually ensures the reproduction not only of the individual but of capital too. (217)

Consumers are regarded as passive receivers of information from the market, with the message at the center of the model. Advertising industry focuses on the message and on what to put into an advertisement to convince the consumer minds to more shopping. Here, the communication considers how information is handled between the advertisers and the consumers. In cybernetic model of advertising communication, although consumers can participate in the creation of the message, they are trapped and controlled by the advertising agency that bombards them with information. Advertising agency does not let the consumer constructs its own information in virtual and cybernetic metaphysics that reduces human to commodity. In cybernetics, human has lost its subjectivity and just become a mindless body in the service of consumer culture. 4. Intelligent Machines and Thoughtless Consumer Bodies Player Piano opens in Ilium, New York. Ilium is a fictional Schenectady, New York, headquarters to General Electric (G.E.), a city and firm which Vonnegut was very familiar with. He worked for G.E. from 1947 to 1951. Using G.E. is quite relevant to the theme of the story due to Vonnegut‘s familiarity with the company and G.E. as the symbol of the consumer capitalism in 1950s America. G.E. was known as the largest company in the 1950s and the leader in developing technology towards mass-production. In Player Piano, Vonnegut depicts the features promoted by G.E. as profitable to every American. He illustrates advertisements that represent consumer comfort, happiness and progress. According to Moylan, in Scraps of the Untainted Sky: Science Fiction, Utopia, Dystopia, the plot of Player Piano, as it is common in dystopian novel, considers revelation of conflicts within Vonnegut‘s mock 1950s America. The main conflict that the story considers is that between what is promised by industrial production and the conditions that Paul Proteus practiced. Player Piano narrates the story of Paul Proteus who “was the most important, brilliant person in Ilium, the manager of the Ilium Works, though only thirty-five” (1). But “he didn’t feel important or brilliant at the moment” (ibid). In spite of his comfortable life, he feels discontent, trapped, isolated, fatigued, and deindividualized. Although the mass commodities provide Paul with ease and comfort, they do not give him the same feeling of Although the mass commodities provide Paul with ease and comfort, they do not give him the same feeling of satisfaction that is represented by the advertisements. Paul feels discontent since he sees the loss of human dignity in the consumer society. He wants to create a new society, in which human beings are more significant than machines and consumer goods, a society that elevates the worth of humanity. Paul is dissatisfied with the society that makes humans almost useless and reduces them to mere consumer objects. Vonnegut shows human physical and mental labor has become obsolete, and “computers and efficient machinery have eliminated the need for the vast majority of workers” (Simmons New Critical Essays 119). Thus, the society is moving towards a gradual conditioning, robbing dignity from human beings and devaluating human capacities. Paul feels unhappy to live in a world void of human values. He is in a dilemma whether to accept this consumer culture and automated society as a utopia or to leave it. In the middle of this automated system, there is a movement that desires to erase the machines from the face of the society and restore humans to their rightful position. The Ghost Shirt Society is the movement led by Reverend James J. Lasher who talks in support of human dignity and considers the behavior of displaced people. He notes, “For generations they’ve been built up to worship competition and the market, productivity and economic usefulness, and the envy of their fellow men - and boom! it's all yanked out from under them” (Player Piano 90). These people have moved from usefulness to uselessness, and become obsolete in the society. Paul decides to leave his job and joins the Ghost Shirt Society that encourages people to revolt against the worthless values of the contemporary world. Paul believes that The Ghost Shirt Society is a tool for changing the machine-dominated society. Through The Ghost Shirt Society, Vonnegut illustrates the ambivalent tendency towards technology. The rebels are not able to decide which machine should be destroyed and which should not. Ironically the rebels themselves look for undamaged parts of machines among the destructions. Paul sees a member of their society “was proud and smiling because his hands were busy doing what they liked to do best . . .replacing men like himself with machines” (Player Piano 338). Vonnegut shows humans are “eager to recreate the same old nightmare” that they were against before (295). In fact, through the new technology the consumer culture promises to replace the old items with the new ones. Dr. Ned Dodge, the manager of the Proteus Park, observed this system as “simplified planning and production all the way round” (Player Piano 163). Dodge‘s evaluation of the life, offering Americans facilities, is in tune with the 1950s advertising industry. He describes the “radiant heating,” that “cooks by high frequency” and enables its users to have “perfect control” over food preparation, the “ultrasonic dishwasher” that uses “high-frequency sound” in cleaning, and “matter of seconds” the drier needs to give the “clothes a spanking-clean outdoors odor,” this is the lifestyle that family can “live,” Ned states, and “get a little fun out of life” (Player Piano 164).

IJALEL 3(1):195-201, 2014 199 Dodge praises the advertising industry and promotes consumer goods as the way to improve and define a person’s lifestyle. His language is quite persuasive, and encourages excitement and emotions. He does not say anything about the process of production. As I discussed earlier in this chapter, it is the function of advertising industry that just tries to convince the reader without presenting a history about the process of production or explaining conditions of the factory. In fact, advertising industry represents “the state of being” and ignores the historical process in order to replace real with unreal. J. Fisher Solomon, in The Signs of Our Time, argues the function of advertising industry that “substitutes signs for things, framed visions of consumer desire for the thing itself. The success of modern advertising, its penetration into every corner of American life, reflects a culture that has chosen illusion over reality” (76). In the cybernetic environment, advertising creates an illusory atmosphere in which unreal is represented as real through new technologies such as computer, advertising industry, and information and communication. Then, new values are introduced to people. Monica Brasted observes that advertising industry defines the cultural values of the modern time including “leisure, style and success, and luxury and comfort…. Each of these values was framed as being mediated through consumption of the goods” (239). Vonnegut truly recognizes this new system of exploitation and satirizes it in Player Piano. Undermining Dodge’s evaluation of the function and benefit of the mass-products, Vonnegut represents the Shah and Wanda Hagstrohm. The Shah of Bratpuhr, the spiritual leader of the Kolhouri, takes a tour to America to see “what he could learn from the most powerful nation on earth for the good of his people” (19-20). The Shah is a figure of wisdom that sees Americans cannot realize how human can become simpleminded. On his tour to America, the Shah observes the actions of the Reeks and Wrecks, and asks who is the owner of these slaves. Doctor Ewing J. Halyard, “of the United States Department of State, a heavy, florid, urbane gentleman of forty,” explains that they are not slaves, they are “citizens employed by government. They have the same rights as other citizens - free speech, freedom of worship, the right to vote. Before the war, they worked in the Ilium Works, controlling machines, but now machines control themselves much better”. He continues, “Less waste, much better products, cheaper products with automatic control” (20). In the cybernetic environment, individuals become superfluous and their life becomes meaningless. The Shah is curious to know about reasons for such developments and that why things should be done “so quickly”? Why human “mustn't waste any time on these things?” (164). Although the Shah admires the technological developments and states this is best America that can be offered, later he questions the system and sees the emptiness of the cybernetic consumer society. The Shah observes that humans are reduced to the status of thoughtless bodies in American consumer society. Before leaving the nation that is the pioneer of technology, the Shah asks his host “what people are for?” (320) in this consumer automated society. Through this question Vonnegut asks his readers to reconsider the value of humanity in the cybernetic world. Vonnegut also illustrates that Wanda, the housewife who possesses all the appliances, becomes indifferent towards using her “ultrasonic washer” and she “has been doing the washing in a tub for a month now.” Her indifference can be seen in her words: “Oh, I don't mind. Really, I like doin' 'em that way. It's kind of a relief. A body needs a change. I don’t mind. Gives me something to do” (Player Piano 165). Wanda sees the emptiness of advertising industry that promises human being a prosperous and happy life. She finds herself trapped in the automated life. What Vonnegut expresses is the significance that human life should not be reduced to stereotypes of production and consumption. Human should not be treated as a machine. He believes that we should not allow human dignity and values be replaced by machines. Tired of the cybernetic environment, Paul attempts to create a new society, in which people are more important than machines and a society that upholds the worth of human beings. He is not satisfied with the society that has made human beings almost obsolete. He attempts to reassert his message to humanity. Leonard Mustazza, in Forever Pursuing Genesis, explains that Paul is in quest of utopia. But his search is not among the utopian ideals that advertisements created for him. In fact, he wants to escape from this reality. According to Mustazza Paul is in quest of Eden:

Immediately, however, this envisioning of an Eden will have residual effects on Paul‘s way of thinking, though the Eden he will pursue has little in common with the one he considers prior to his drunken oration. . . . Ironically, though, the reader recognizes something about Paul‘s initial plans that he himself does not—that the new way of life he has chosen is hardly new at all; indeed, it is quite conventional. What Paul decides to make for himself is a little Eden, a decidedly personal rural paradise and not the large-scale one he conceived of in the bar. (37)

Paul wants to escape to somewhere far from the materialistic world. He desires to live in “the fantasy of the new, good life ahead of him. Somewhere, outside of society, there was a place for a man and wife” (146). He buys the Gottwald Farm, but his wife makes him disappointed by refusing to live there:

Paul had gone to his farm once, and, in the manner of a man dedicating his life to God, he‘d asked Mr. Haycox to put him to work, guiding the hand of Nature. The hand he grasped so fervently, he soon discovered, was coarse and sluggish, hot and wet and smelly. And the charming little cottage he‘d taken as a symbol of the good life of a farmer was as irrelevant as a statue of Venus at the gate of a sewage-disposal plant. He hadn‘t gone back. (Player Piano 259)

By this farm Paul wants to create utopia far away from the materialistic consumer society, but he fails since his material experiences are not in tune with his ideal desires. Vonnegut expresses his attitude towards the materialistic society through professor von Neumann whose name alludes to John von Neumann who along with Norbert Wiener worked on the theory of cybernetics. Fictional von Neumann, “who had taught political science at Union College in Schenectady,” states: “Man has survived Armageddon in order to enter the Eden of eternal peace, only to discover that everything he

IJALEL 3(1):195-201, 2014 200 had looked forward to enjoying there, pride, dignity, self-respect, work worth doing, has been condemned as unfit for human consumption” (301). He sees human has been deprived of pride, dignity, and self-respect by the materialist world. Professor Neumann notes in the war time:

the right of technology to increase in power and scope was unquestionably, in point of national survival, almost a divine right. Americans owe their lives to superior machines, techniques, organization, and managers and engineers. For these means of surviving the wars, the Ghost Shirt Society and I thank God. But we cannot win good lives for ourselves in peacetime by the same methods we used to win battles in wartime. The problems of peace are altogether more subtle. (ibid)

Vonnegut finds Americans in debt to technological developments that were “used to win battles in wartime.” But in peacetime these technologies reduced human dignity by replacing humans with machines. As fictional Neumann suggests:

men and women be returned to work as controllers of machines, and that the control of people by machines be curtailed. I propose, further, that the effects of changes in technology and organization on life patterns be taken into careful consideration, and that the changes be withheld or introduced on the basis of this consideration. (302)

The automatic machine promised to free humanity from drudgery, and yet was a common metaphor for the nightmare of human annihilation. Vonnegut illuminates marginalization of humanity in the machine dominated society. Vonnegut shows that if machine replaces human beings, it will end in human destruction. Through his dystopian novel, Vonnegut represents a thirst for change and attempts to persuade us to think more deeply about how we can redirect our lifestyle before dystopian fiction comes to reality; as Paul concludes, “machines, organization and the pursuit of efficiency have robbed the American people of liberty and the pursuit of happiness” (314). 5. Conclusion Player Piano criticizes 1950s cybernetic America in which humans become marginalized by machines and advertising industry that created a materialistic valueless world that superficially offered abundance and an ideal life for all. The novel reveals the tendency of 1950s American society towards turning humans into consumer objects. Vonnegut sees discontent in 1950s America, and criticizes the post-WWII automated society, advertising industry, and consumer culture that reduced their inhabitants to intelligent machines and mindless bodies. Vonnegut depicts the unstable foundation of the consumer culture and shows although 1950s America was economically powerful, this strength was based on a fragile foundation that needed constant and satisfied demands for its commodities and if the demands were not satisfied, the system would fall. He criticizes automated society, advertising industry, and the consumer culture that control people’s minds and turn people into intelligent machines and thoughtless bodies. Vonnegut sees that people are told what and how to think, wear, buy, and do, with no permission for their individual ideas about or possible participations to that society. What Vonnegut expresses is the significance that human life should not be reduced to stereotypes of production and consumption. Human should not be treated as a machine. He believes that we should not allow our dignity and values be replaced by machines. He asks us to protect our sense of dignity in our life and work if we want to prevent of dystopia. References

Brasted, M.C. (2002). The Values of the Consumer Culture Reflected in the Advertisements of The Saturday Evening Post: 1900-1929. Diss. Pennsylvania State U. Proquest Digital Dissertations. Cavallaro, D. (2000). Cyberpunk and Cyberculture: Science Fiction and the Work of William Gibson. The Athlone Press. Farrell, S. (2008). Critical Companion to Kurt Vonnegut. Facts On File, Inc. Freese, P. (2009). Kurt Vonnegut’s Player Piano; or, “Would You Ask EPICAC What People Are For?” Bloom’s Modern Critical Review: Kurt Vonnegut. Infobase Publishing. Gramsci, A. (1985). Selections from Cultural Writings. Ed. David Forgacs and Geoffrey Nowell Smith. Trans. William Boelhower. Cambridge: Harvard UP Leiss, W, Stephen K., and Sut, J. (1986). Social Communication in Advertising: Persons, Products, & Images of Well-Being. New York: Methuen. Morse, D. E. (2009). “Sensational Implications: Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano (1952).” Bloom’s Modern Critical Review: Kurt Vonnegut. Infobase Publishing. Moylan, T. (2000). Scraps of the Untainted Sky: Science Fiction, Utopia, Dystopia. Cultural Studies Series. Boulder, CO: Westview. Mustazza, L. (1990). Forever Pursuing Genesis: The Myth of Eden in the Novels of Kurt Vonnegut. Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell UP. Samuel, L. R. (2001). Brought to You By: Postwar Television Advertising and the American Dream. Austin: U of TX. Simmons, D. (2009). New critical essays on Kurt Vonnegut. Palgrave Macmillan.

IJALEL 3(1):195-201, 2014 201 Solomon, J. F. (1988). The Signs of Our Time: Semiotics, the Hidden Messages of Environments, Objects, and Cultural Images. Los Angeles: Tarcher. Tally, R. T. (2011). Vonnegut and the Great American Novel: A Postmodern Iconography. Continuum International Publishing Group. Tomedi, J. (2004). The Great Writers: Kurt Vonnegut. Chelsea House Publishers. Vonnegut, K. (1952). Player Piano. New York: The Dial Press, 2006. Wiener, N. [1948] (1965). Cybernetics: or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine. 2nd Edition, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Wiener, N. (1988). The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics and Society. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press. Winship, J. (1980). “Sexuality for Sale.” Culture, Media, Language: Working Papers in Cultural Studies 1972-79. Ed. Stuart Hall. London: Hutchinson.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Characteristics of Effective EFL Instructors: Language Teachers’ Perceptions Versus Learners’ Perceptions

Negar Hajizadeh (Corresponding author)

English Language Department, Tabriz University

Tabriz, Iran

Tel: 00989141048074 E-mail: negarhajizadeh2012@yahoo.com

Neda Salahshour

School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, Victoria University of Wellington

POBOX 6012 Wellington New Zealand

Tel: 0064 221904324 E-mail: Neda.Salahshour@vuw.ac.nz

Received: 24-09-2013 Accepted: 24-11-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.202 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.202 Abstract Improving the field of foreign language teaching without improving the qualities of the teachers seems impossible. This attempt, at first hand, requires recognizing the qualities of effective EFL teachers. The aim of this study was to find what foreign language instructors perceive to be the most important characteristics of a successful EFL teacher. In addition, the teachers’ perception was compared to that of learners’ to see whether there were discrepancies between the two groups’ perceptions regarding the preferable characteristics of an effective English language instructors or not. A 58-item questionnaire was administered to teachers at a prominent language institute in Iran. This questionnaire was divided into eight sections and addressed issues relating to teachers’ personal qualities, command in English, teaching methods and evaluation methods they used within the class, mastery over teaching, teacher-student relation, class management and finally language skills management. Teachers were asked to specify the importance of each item in the questionnaire using terms like not important at all, somehow important, important and finally very important. Basic statistics were used to convert the qualitative results into quantitative ones for easier comparison. Interestingly however, the study revealed that the students’ perceptions and teachers’ perceptions do not differ in major ways although there are slight discrepancies. Keywords: EFL, effective instructors, leaners’ perceptions, instructors’ perceptions 1. Introduction Without doubt there is a direct relationship between the effectiveness of an instructor and the amount of the learning that goes on in the classroom. Having an effective instructor is a key factor in any field, which provides grounds for enhancing learning. Even if all the other circumstances are met, a low performance on the part of an instructor can minimize the amount of learning dramatically. This fact justifies all the attempts being done by researchers in different fields in general and in ELT in particular to come up with detailed definitions regarding the characteristics of qualified and effective teachers (Borg, 2006; Arikan, Tasher & Sezgi-Sarac-Suzer, 2008; Babai Shishavan & Sadeghi, Khojastemehr & Takrimi, 2009; Ozsevik, Arikan, 2010; Chen, Salahshoor & Hajizadeh, 2012). The qualitative nature of 'being effective' has made it difficult to reach a definite list of characteristics of an 'effective' instructor. Also, except for a very few studies, almost all the other studies have focused on either learners' or instructors' perspectives to identify the characteristics of an 'effective' instructor. However, a comparative study of both instructors’ and learners' perspectives on this matter remains largely under-investigated. Therefore, the researchers of this study were motivated to conduct a research to investigate the perceptions of both parts, i.e. instructors and learners, on the characteristics of an effective EFL instructor and compare their ideas to identify any similarities and differences. In the following sections, a brief overview will be given of previous studies which address the issue of an effective instructor in general and with a specific focus on ELT teachers. This will be followed by detailed reference to a previous study by Salahshour & Hajizadeh (2012) which has identified the characteristics deemed necessary for an effective language instructor from the perspective of Iranian English language learners. Salahshour & Hajizadeh’s study will be used to compare the student’s perceptions with those attained from the teachers in this study. Finally, the methodology for this research will be elaborated on and a table with the results will be presented.

IJALEL 3(1):202-214, 2014 203 2. Review of the Related Literature 2.1 Characteristics of good teachers in general The question of what makes a good teacher is hardly a new subject. A brief look at literature reveals several studies on this matter. For example Thompson, Greer, and Greer (2004) explored the reflections of university students regarding the characteristics of their favorite teachers from whom they were able to learn. Data collected from the students indicated that there are twelve common characteristics that emerged as central to what students conceptualize as good teaching. Those twelve characteristics were displaying fairness, having a positive outlook, being prepared, using a personal touch, possessing a sense of humor, possessing creativity, admitting mistakes, being forgiving, respecting students, maintaining high expectations, showing compassion, and developing a sense of belonging for students. They suggested that all those characteristics center around the theme of caring. Following the first attempts in recognizing the characteristics of effective teachers regardless of what subject matter they are teaching, researchers started to work more specifically. That is, they focused their attempt on recognizing the characteristics of effective teachers of different subject matters one at a time. For example the characteristics of effective language teachers have been the focus of attention in many studies. Some researchers believe that it is the nature of the subject matter that makes language teachers different from teachers of other fields (Hammadou & Bernhar, 1987; cited in Babai Shishavan, 2009, p.130). In the following section previous studies which have focused specifically on EFL teachers will be expounded upon. 2.2 Characteristics of 'effective' EFL instructors It cannot be denied that in developing countries, apart from recent attempts in some English classes, almost all other classes are still run by traditional teaching methods in which learners are not more than receivers of knowledge. However, the new era of English language teaching, especially after the emergence of Communicative Language Teaching with its focus on equipping the learners with the ability to communicate efficiently in English demands that classes be learner-centred and be less structure-centred. Most private English institutions have been trying to move away from traditional language teaching methods to advance toward complete learner-centered classes, but unfortunately the outcomes are in vain. Recently, attempts have been made in different parts of the world in search for learners' perceptions of characteristics of effective EFL instructors to meet their expectations regarding ideal instructors and to implement curricular changes based on what they really expect to receive in class. The fact of the matter is that in EFL environments English class is the prominent, if not the only, true opportunity to ‘learn' and ‘use' English. This fact highlights the importance of the EFL teacher as the prominent 'source of input' for the learners. Therefore having an 'effective' teacher is the fundamental need of an EFL class 'for efficient functioning of educational systems and for enhancing the quality of learning' (Babai Shishavan & Sadeghi, 2009). Defining the characteristics of an effective EFL teacher is not as simple as it may seem at first sight. It is not surprising to come across several studies (Borg, 2006; Arikan, Tasher & Sezgi-Sarac-Suzer, 2008; Babai Shishavan & Sadeghi, Khojastemehr & Takrimi, 2009; Ozsevik, Arikan, 2010; Chen, 2012, Salahshoor & Hajizadeh, 2012) focused on teacher 'effectiveness' since it is a matter of quality and not quantity and naturally difficult to provide a definite description for. In the following section more information regarding some of the studies mentioned above will be given. The findings from Salahshour & Hajizadeh (2012) will be compared with the findings gained from this research regarding teacher’s perceptions. 2.3 Learners’ perceptions In a recent study Salahshour & Hajizadeh (2012) conducted a research in Tabriz, in Northwest of Iran, to find out the characteristics of an effective English teacher according to Iranian students and also to identify the item which had the most priority in each category according to the students. Twenty-two (female=9 and male=33) students were questioned using a 58-item questionnaire. To prevent any misunderstandings on the part of the students to give accurate judgments, the researchers spent a good deal of time going through each item in the questionnaire with each of the students. In addition to this, the questionnaire was translated in to the students national language to ensure the clarity of the items.Therefore, the researchers were certain that every student had understood the items in the questionnaire and that there would be no misunderstanding. In addition to this, the questionnaire was translated into the national language to ensure that student read the questionnaire in the language they are most familiar with thus preventing misunderstandings from occurring. The results revealed that the top ten most important features of effective and successful EFL teachers were: • Having interest in his/her job • Having a sense of responsibility towards his/her job • Being enthusiastic and lively • Being self-confident • Being punctual • Encouraging students to use the target language at all times • Providing explicit grammar correction • Providing detailed explanation during reading and listening tasks

IJALEL 3(1):202-214, 2014 204 • Emphasizing frequent oral quizzes • Emphasizing all skills specially speaking. In a study Chen (2012) aimed to investigate the favorable and unfavorable characteristics of the EFL teachers perceived by Thai university students. The characteristics were grouped into personal trait-related and classroom teaching-related characteristics. The personal trait-related characteristics included emotion, kindness, fairness, lenience and responsibility and the classroom teaching-related characteristics were concerned with aspects of lesson delivery, language used in teaching, classroom activity organization and classroom atmosphere creation. An interesting finding, according to Chen, was to discover that some students liked to study with the teachers who spoke English and Thai in the classroom. Some students preferred to study with the foreign teachers who could speak Thai. According to them, if the teacher spoke English and Thai while teaching, they could understand the teaching better and would have higher motivation to learn. In another study Arikan, Tasher and Sarach-Suzer (2008) aimed to gather data on how Turkish students learning English as a foreign language describe the qualities of an effective English teacher. Their results suggested that students perceive teachers as effective, if they teach both formal and informal English, incorporate games into teaching, and organize group/pair work activities in the classroom. In addition, Turkish students view teachers who use real life situations in the classroom as effective, but do not prefer teachers with high teacher talking time. They also reported that the students in their study found some traits as “ineffective.” The students perceived foreign language teachers who are heavily depended on their lesson plans, who do not employ a variety of methods, who disregard the needs of the learners as ineffective teachers. The quantitative results of this research show that an effective teacher is a friendly, young, enthusiastic, creative, and humorous person, regardless of the gender. Also, it was expected that the teacher be a native speaker of Turkish, but fluent in English who likes playing educational games, teaches grammar effectively, uses real life situations to explain language items, and has correct pronunciation. 2.4 Teachers' perceptions A classroom consists of both teachers and students. To enhance the quality of the class, both teachers' and students' opinions on any relevant matter should be taken into consideration. The characteristics of an effective teacher is by no means an exception. Therefore, researchers have not just focused on learners' perceptions of effective EFL instructors; they have also tried to find out teachers' own beliefs and perceptions concerning EFL instructors, too. As Karavas-Doukas (1996) stated, "one of the causes of the discrepancy between prescribed theory and classroom practice may be teacher attitude" (p. 187). According to Richardson (1996, 1994), as cited by Sato and Kleinnsasser (1999), "beliefs influence teaching practice more directly than knowledge" (p. 496) and "in order to understand how teachers make sense of teaching and learning, one should focus on teachers' beliefs and practices" (p.496) (cited in Rezaul Karim, 2004, p.28). Ozsevik (2010) designed a study to investigate the Turkish EFL teachers' understanding of English teaching, predominantly the difficulties and challenges they face in the implementation of CLT practices in the Turkish context. The results showed that Turkish EFL teachers, whilst aware of the achievements, observe many difficulties in implementing CLT in their classrooms. The difficulties stem from four directions, namely, the teacher, the students, the educational system, and CLT itself. The results of this study suggested that despite showing keen interest in change and being eager to identify with CLT, Turkish teachers were not quite optimistic about the complete adoption of CLT, and thus felt that only by overcoming the difficulties from those four sources, and by establishing more favorable conditions for the implementation of CLT could teachers truly benefit from CLT in their English classrooms. Khojastehmehr & Takrimi (2009) in a study tried to identify the characteristics of effective teachers based on perceptions of the English teachers in Khuzestan, in south of Iran in which 215 male and female secondary school English teachers filled a 50-item researcher-constructed questionnaire. Their study indicated that to those teachers, instructional strategies were viewed as more critical for teacher effectiveness than communication (social) skills, personal characteristics and knowledge. 2.5 Comparative studies Investigating opinions on the characteristics of the effective teachers seems to yield a better result if both teachers and learners' opinions are compared to each other in case there should be any mismatches between what are considered to be of priority to each side. Some researchers, therefore, tried to make a comparison between teachers' and learners' beliefs. To the best knowledge of the researchers of this article, there has been only one study with a comparative nature on this matter in Iran. In an investigation of the characteristics of an effective English language teacher, Babai Shishavan & Sadeghi (2009) compared the perceptions of Iranian English language teachers and learners. They used a tailor-made questionnaire. Their findings showed teachers and learners of English hold different views towards some characteristics of an effective English language teacher. On the whole, in their study, the teachers perceived features like high knowledge of pedagogy and the use of particular techniques and methods such as preparing the lesson well, using lesson plans, unbiased assessment of what students have learned, integrating group activities to class and assigning homework to be possessed by effective English language teachers. However, the learners assigned more weight to characteristics relating to a teachers’ personality and the way he behaves with his students. Moreover, whereas the teachers only concentrated on the positive characteristics of an effective teacher, such as being patient, being flexible and caring about students’ needs, being optimist and having positive attitude toward the students, and being smart and creative, the students-

IJALEL 3(1):202-214, 2014 205 considering these positive qualities important - focused also on the characteristics that may affect a teacher’s efficacy adversely like speaking a lot about his/her personal experiences. Their findings also showed that students, on the contrary, agreed more than teachers that teaching English in Persian (first language of the learners) was one of the prominent characteristics of an Effective English Language Teachers (EELT). All those observations indicated that teachers look at an effective teacher from the professional point of view and their responses are more informed reflecting their knowledge and expertise on theories and methodology of language teaching. The students’ perspectives also seemed very realistic and the fact that they considered both strong and weak points of their teachers can help teachers to reflect on their own behaviors in the classroom and try to overcome the possible problems resulting in deficiency. Having reviewed the findings of the previous studies conducted on characteristics of effective English teachers revealed that there have been only two studies with a comparative nature on this matter in Iran which were mentioned above. As it was mentioned before, 'effectiveness' has a qualitative nature. Therefore conducting the previously mentioned studies did not put an end to further research on this matter and the gap has not been filled yet. This fact motivated us to do this study with a comparative nature on the characteristics of effective EFL teachers in the Northwest of Iran. Salahshour and Hajizadeh (2012) had investigated the perceptions of learners on characteristics of effective EFL teachers in a previous study. The details of that study have been mentioned above. To be able to have a comparison, the researchers decided to conduct this research to study the perceptions of teachers and compare the results with that of the 'students'. We tried to find whether or not there are mismatches between what teachers and learners define as characteristics of an effective EFL instructor which may result in clashes between what is expected and what is experienced by both learners and instructors in EFL classes in Iran. Considering the fact that Iran is a developing country, the number of the private institutes has been increasing significantly over the recent years in response to the high demand for learning a foreign language to be able to catch up with the outer developed world. This fact acknowledges the need to conduct as many studies as possible to investigate and improve the context of the classes as the only true opportunity to learn a foreign language systematically. 3. Research questions By carrying out this research we focused on these questions: 1. What are the characteristics of an effective English language instructor according to instructors themselves? 2. What are the prominent items among the characteristics of an effective English language instructor? 3. Are there any major discrepancies between learners and instructors' beliefs and perceptions concerning the effective English language instructors or not? We also theorized that the probable mismatches between learners and instructors' perceptions may be the reason why English classes are not in line with learners' expectations in Iran. 4. Participants The participants in this study were 18 (female= 12 and male=6) EFL teachers with 21-34 years of age and half a year to twelve years of experience of teaching in different private language institutes in Tabriz, Northwest of Iran. It should also be mentioned that all the he participants in this study were selected randomly. 5. Instrument To be able to make a meaningful comparison of instructors and learners' perceptions, the researchers used the same questionnaire developed by Salahshour & Hajizadeh (2012) to investigate learners' perceptions concerning an effective EFL instructor in a previous research. The items were categorized into eight sections which were titled as follows: Personal Qualities, Command in English, Teaching Methodology, Evaluation Method, Amount of Teacher's Emphasis on Different Skills, Mastery over teaching, Teacher-Student Relationship and Class Management/Institutes Program. Each item was rated on a four-point scale as not important at all, somehow important, important, and very important. The questionnaire also included a free writing section at last to make it possible for the participants to add any other comment regarding the subject of the study. All the items were later translated into the participants' national language, i.e. Persian, to avoid possible misunderstandings. For more details about the questionnaire refer to Salahshour & Hajizadeh (2012). 6. Procedure The questionnaire was administered to the EFL teachers either in person or through e-mail. The teachers were asked to specify the degree of the importance of each item as Not Important At All, Somehow Important, Important or Very important. They were also asked to number the items in each category based on the order that seemed the most appropriate according to them. Having been completed by the teachers, the questionnaires were analyzed based on the percentage of each item calculated. The same procedure and instrument had been used in a previous study by Salahshour & Hajizadeh (2012). They conducted a research in Tabriz, in Northwest of Iran, to find out the characteristics of an effective English teacher according to Iranian students and also to identify the item which had the most priority in each category according to the students. Twenty-two (female=9 and male=33) students had participated in their study.

IJALEL 3(1):202-214, 2014 206 The result for each table in the present study was later compared to that of the learners', the list of which has been provided in appendix 1, to identify whether there were consistencies or inconsistencies between teachers and learners' perceptions regarding each category. 7. Results Table 1 was designed to elicit the teachers' perception about the effective teacher's personal qualities. What is evident in this table is that more than half of the participants (55%) believed that teacher's gender is not important at all. Teacher's age was also perceived to be of no importance by 16% of the participants. The most frequently selected quality in this table was being self-confident which was marked as very important by 88% of the teachers. Having interest in his/her job and feeling responsibility for teaching was also identified as very important by a majority of the participants (83%). Both items, i.e. being self-confident and having interest in his/her job and feeling responsibility, were each also equally marked as the first priority by half of the participants (50%) in this category. Being enthusiastic and lively and being creative and spontaneous are among other factors which more than half of the participants unanimously marked as very important. Similarities between Teachers and Learners' Beliefs Comparing this table with that of the learners' perceptions by considering what the majority of participants in either study believed about each item revealed consistencies concerning most items in this table. Both teachers and learners thought similarly about the degree of importance of items 1, 2, 5, 6, 8 and 10. Differences between Teachers and Learners' Beliefs Teachers' self-confidence seemed to be of more importance to teachers themselves since 88% of the teachers identified this item as very important and half of them also marked it as the first priority while only 54% of the students chose this item as very important and the number of students who marked it as first priority was not large (19%). It was also interesting that half of the students (50%) believed that the teacher's good appearance was just somehow important and about 10 per cent (9.52%) even considered it as not important at all while 40% of the teachers considered it as important. Table 1. Personal Qualities (%)

Item Number

Item Marked as First

Priority in this

Category

Not important at all

Somehow Important

Important Very Important

1 Teacher's gender 0 55 11 33 0 2 Teacher's age 0 16 44 16 22 3 Good Appearance 5 0 27 44 27 4 Being self-confident 50 0 0 11 88 5 Being enthusiastic

and lively 11 0 0 27 72

6 Being creative and spontaneous

5 0 5 27 66

7 Having a loud and clear voice

0 0 16 44 38

8 Being punctual ( in terms of starting the class and returning students' papers)

0 0 11 44 44

9 Having patience with students

0 0 0 38 61

10 Having interest in his/her job and

feeling responsibility for teaching

50 0 5 11 83

Table 2 concerns the teacher's command in English. It is obvious that all factors have a degree of importance because no one marked any factor as not important at all. Apart from 11% of the participants who chose accuracy of teacher's intonation as somehow important, all the other participants marked all factors as either important or very important. The majority of the participants (83%) considered accuracy of teacher's structure as very important and 50% also marked it as the first priority in this category. Seventy seven per cent of the participants believed that both accuracy of teacher's pronunciation and his/her fluency in the foreign language are very important. Although both factors are considered as very important, a look at the second column indicates that being fluent seems to be of more importance to a teacher than having the accurate pronunciation because 33% of the participants marked it as the prior factor while only 22% considered the accurate pronunciation as their first choice.

IJALEL 3(1):202-214, 2014 207 Similarities between Teachers and Learners' Beliefs When teachers and students' ideas were compared, there seemed to be agreement between what they thought about a teacher's command in English concerning almost all items except for the degree of importance they allocated to teacher's vocabulary and structure. Differences between Teachers and Learners' Beliefs A vast majority of students (83%) believed that an effective teacher's accuracy of vocabulary is very important. However, this item was considered as very important only by 55% of the teachers. Teachers on the other hand considered the structure to be much more important than the vocabulary. Table 2. Command in English (%)

Item Number

Item Marked as First

Priority in this Category

Not important at all

Somehow Important

Important Very Important

1 Accuracy of teacher vocabulary

22 0 0 44 55

2 Accuracy of teacher structure

50 0 0 16 83

3 Accuracy of pronunciation

22 0 0 22 77

4 Accuracy of intonation

5 0 11 50 38

5 Fluency in the foreign language

33 0 0 22 77

Table 3 focuses on teaching methodology. Among the 12 factors in this table, using the students' native language when necessary was considered as not important at all by 22% of the participants and 44% marked it as somehow important. On the other hand encouraging students to use the English language ALL THE TIME in class was conceived as very important by a large number of participants (66%) and 22% marked it as their first priority in this category. More than half of the participants (55%) also believed that using appropriate teaching techniques and use of pair work are very important for an effective English teacher. Looking at factors that are considered as important revealed that using pantomime, pictures and acting to clarify points was the most frequently marked item in this column (61%) which implies the fact that translating is not considered as an acceptable means of clarifying by an effective teacher as long as other ways are available. Similarities between Teachers and Learners' Beliefs Regarding teaching methodology, teachers and students were quite unanimous in what they believed about items 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11 and 12. Differences between Teachers and Learners' Beliefs There seemed, however, to be some discrepancies between two groups' opinions, too. More than half of teachers (61%) believed that using pantomime, pictures and acting to clarify points in class was important for an effective teacher. On the other hand students didn't seem to be that much interested in getting the points through pantomime, pictures and acting. Twenty-three per cent of the students even said that it was not important at all which clearly showed that students have an unconscious tendency to receive points through more direct ways. Items 9 and 10 also should to be taken into consideration. All teachers allocated a degree of importance to use of pair work and use of group work in class. More than half of them (55%) marked pair work as very important and 44% reported use of group work to be important. Students, on the contrary, didn't show interest in these items. Forty per cent of them believed that pair work and group work were only somehow important and 11% and 14% of the students considered these two items to be not important at all. It is evident that Iranian EFL students are strongly affected by the traditional ways of teaching at schools and universities. They have got used to work competitively and individually in classes and consequently do not show interest toward working collaboratively in class to learn. This refers to one of difficulties EFL instructors may encounter while trying to put the principals of CLT into practice in a context with a traditional educational system.

IJALEL 3(1):202-214, 2014 208 Table 3. Teaching Methodology (%)

Item Number

Item Marked as First Priority in this

Category

Not important at all

Somehow Important

Important Very Important

1 Using appropriate teaching techniques

55 0 5 38 55

2 Using pantomime, pictures and acting to clarify points

11 0 16 61 22

3 Providing detailed explanations while reading/listening (e.g., checking ALL the new vocabularies)

5 5 44 27 22

4 Using the students' native language when necessary

0 22 44 33 0

5 Going beyond textbook when teaching

0 16 44 33 5

6 Providing cultural information about the target language's culture

22 0 27 44 27

7 Providing explicit error correction

0 11 55 16 16

8 Giving regular homework tasks

0 0 27 44 27

9 Use of Pair work 5 0 27 16 55 10 Use of group work 5 0 16 44 38 11 Using suitable

amount of teacher talk

5 0 5 55 38

12 Encouraging students to use the English language ALL THE TIME in class

22 0 5 27 66

The most obvious fact regarding table 4 which concerns evaluation method is that the majority of participants (83%) who are teachers themselves would rather ask oral questions at the beginning of each session. Comparing the number of participants who marked either item as very important once more shows a tendency toward oral questions, since only 22% of the participants marked quizzes as very important while more than half of them (55%) believed that oral questions are very important. No difference was identified between teachers and students' perceptions of an effective teacher's evaluation method. Table 4. Evaluation Method (%)

Item Number

Item Marked as First Priority in this

Category

Not important at all

Somehow Important

Important Very Important

1 Giving quizzes frequently

27 5 38 33 22

2 Asking oral questions at the beginning of each session

83 0 5 38 55

Table 5 represents the amount of teacher's emphasis on different skills in class. As was expected, no teacher chose any item as not important at all, because emphasizing each item has its own merits. Among the responses, two items exhibited a strong consensus. The first was emphasizing speaking which was selected most frequently (77%) as very

IJALEL 3(1):202-214, 2014 209 important. A large number of teachers (72%) also identified emphasizing listening as very important. An interesting fact concerning this table is that emphasizing grammar and emphasizing vocabulary both have exactly the same degree of importance in each column to teachers. In the case of the item marked as the first priority in this category, emphasizing speaking once more exhibited the strongest consensus as 66% of the participants marked it as the first priority. Similarities between Teachers and Learners' Beliefs Comparing teachers and students' opinions did not show a major difference between two groups concerning the amount of teacher's emphasis on different skills. Therefore, they were in complete agreement on the items in this table. Table 5. Amount of Teacher's Emphasis on Different Skills (%)

Item Number

Item Marked as First

Priority in this

Category

Not important at all

Somehow Important

Important Very Important

1 Emphasizing grammar 16 0 22 55 22 2 Emphasizing speaking 66 0 0 22 77 3 Emphasizing vocabulary 5 0 22 55 22 4 Emphasizing listening 27 0 0 27 72

Table 6 was intended to capture the participants' perception about the teacher's mastery over teaching. The only item selected as not important at all was teacher's knowledge of students' specialist courses which was marked by 27% of the participants. The item selected most frequently (83%) concerning an effective teacher's mastery over teaching was capability to communicate ideas, knowledge, and intended teaching items. Consistency in identifying this item as the most important one in this table was also evident from the fact that 66% of the teachers marked it as the first priority in this category. The second item marked as very important in this category was knowledge of the subject matter which was selected by more than half of the participants (55%). It implies the fact that merely being able to speak a foreign language doesn't make one an effective teacher. Similarities between Teachers and Learners' Beliefs Taking both teachers and students opinions into consideration, the researchers concluded that both groups had almost the same idea about items 2, 5, 7 and 8. Differences between Teachers and Learners' Beliefs The teacher's capability to communicate ideas, knowledge, intended teaching items was not as important according to students as it was to teachers. A large number of teachers (83%) believed that this factor was very important to an effective teacher and 66% stated that it was the first priority in this category. Students did not seem to think the same way since only 45%, i.e. less than half, of them marked it as very important. Half of the students (50%) thought that preparation and lesson planning was very important to a teacher and 38% of the teachers marked it as very important and 55% as important. Therefore, from the students' point of view the degree of the importance of this item for a teacher was conceived to be higher compared to that of teachers'. It was also revealed that teachers and students were not completely consistent in what they thought about a teacher's capability to answer students' questions. More than half of the students were in agreement to choose this item as very important, however only 38% of the teachers believed this way. Table 6. Mastery over Teaching (%)

Item Number

Item Marked as First Priority in this Category

Not important at all

Somehow Important

Important Very Important

1 Capability to communicate ideas, knowledge, intended teaching items

66 0 0 16 83

2 Knowledge of the subject matter

33 0 5 38 55

3 Preparation and lesson planning

5 0 5 55 38

4 Capability to answer students questions

0 0 11 50 38

5 Use of efficient and 5 0 22 44 33

IJALEL 3(1):202-214, 2014 210 adequate methods of elicitation while teaching

6 Ability to guide students to independent learning

5 0 22 55 22

7 knowledge of students' specialist courses

0 27 44 27 0

8 Ability to identify the students learning styles

0 0 16 50 33

To determine the participants' perception of teacher-student relation a list of 12 items was presented as table 7. An effective teacher was strongly expected to be able to create motivation in students; it was evident from the fact that 77% of the participants unanimously marked it as very important. It was not, however, the first priority to all these teachers because only 27% believed it to be the first priority. Although having respect for students and helping to create self-confidence in students both were the second item with the highest percentage (72%) in this category, it was having respect for students which was conceived as the first Priority in this table from the viewpoint of 55% of the teachers. The only factors perceived to be not important at all concerning the teacher-student relation were having contact with the students' parents, being available outside of class and having knowledge of students' mother tongue which were marked by 33%, 16% and 11% of the teachers respectively. Similarities between Teachers and Learners' Beliefs Studying both teachers and students' choices concerning teacher-student relation made it clear that the degree of importance of items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10 and 11 were almost the same to both teacher and students. Differences between Teachers and Learners' Beliefs Regarding attracting and maintaining students' attention showed that 57% of the students thought it to be important for an effective instructor. That the degree of this item was higher according to teachers was evident from the fact that 66% of teachers marked this item as very important to an effective instructor. It was also noted that a teacher's knowledge of students' mother tongue was considered as very important by 14% of the students while no teacher believed this item to be very important. Being available outside of class did not prove to be considered as a remarkable merit for a teacher according to students, because 33% of them thought that it was not important at all and only 4% mentioned that it was very important. However, no teacher marked this factor as not important at all and half of them believed that it was important and it even seemed very important to 27% of teachers. Table 7. Teacher-Student Relation (%)

Item Number

Item Marked as First Priority in this Category

Not important at all

Somehow Important

Important Very Important

1 Having respect for students 55 0 0 27 72 2 Being kind and friendly

with students 11 0 16 33 50

3 Encouraging participation 16 0 11 22 66 4 Creating motivation 27 0 0 22 77 5 Helping to create self-

confidence in students 27 0 0 27 72

6 Attracting and maintaining Students' attention

11 0 5 27 66

7 Individual help to students 11 0 27 38 33 8 Knowledge of students'

mother tongue 0 11 55 33 0

9 Providing appropriate feedback to students

11 0 5 72 22

10 Having contact with the students' parents

0 33 55 11 0

11 Asking for students' feedback (about the class and teaching method)

5 0 22 50 27

12 Being available outside of class

0 16 50 27 5

IJALEL 3(1):202-214, 2014 211 Table 8 was the last table in the questionnaire which takes class management and institutes programmes into consideration. Eleven per cent of the participants believed that using white board efficiently, i.e., using colorful markers and writing well was not important at all while 50% conceived it to be important for a teacher. No other item was marked as being not important at all for an effective teacher. In the case of item 2, that is using class time wisely, a majority of the teachers (83%) marked it as very important which proved it to be the most frequently selected item in this table. Seventy seven per cent of the participants identified maintaining order in class/class control as a very important item concerning class management. Being selected by 33% of the teachers also confirmed this item to be the first priority in this category. Movement around the class, which provides the opportunity to monitor and attract each individual student's attention, was another item which was perceived by more than half of the participants (66%) to be very important in this category. Similarities between Teachers and Learners' Beliefs Using white board efficiently, using the class time wisely and following the material specified by the institute were three items which were identified to have the same degree of importance to both teachers and students. Differences between Teachers and Learners' Beliefs Although maintaining order in class/class control was considered to be very important to both groups, there was a noticeable difference in the number of people who marked it as very important in both groups. Only 45% of the students thought it to be very important while a large number of teachers (77%) chose this item as very important. There was also a considerable difference in number of people who considered teacher's movement around the class as very important. Sixty-six per cent of teachers believed that this item was very important for a teacher, but only 30% of the students had the same idea and 35% stated that it was just important. Table 8. Class Management / Institutes Programmes (%)

Item Number

Item Marked as First Priority in this Category

Not important at all

Somehow Important

Important Very Important

1 Use of White board efficiently ( using colourful markers and writing well)

16 11 11 50 27

2 Using class time wisely 27 0 11 5 83 3 Maintaining order in

Class/Class control 33 0 5 16 77

4 Following the material specified and guidelines provided by the institute

11 0 16 61 22

5 Movement around the class 16 0 16 16 66

To have a better understanding of the items which were marked as first priority in each category by teachers and students the researchers devised another table. Furthermore, to be able to compare teachers and learners' beliefs in detail regarding this matter the researchers also decided to illustrate both first and second items marked as first priority in each category. Table 9 consists of three columns. The first column illustrates the number of the tables in the questionnaire; the second column contains first two items marked as first priority in each category by students and the third column provides first two items marked as first priority in each category by teachers. The first and second item in each part has been distinguished by using 'a' to refer to the first priority and 'b' to the second one. The number of people who chose each item is also mentioned in percentage in front of each one. Similarities between Teachers and Learners' Beliefs Given the total number of items in the questionnaire, i.e. 58, the result was surprising. As can be seen, four tables out of eight demonstrate a complete consistency between teachers and learners' perceptions concerning the first priority in each category. It is very interesting that in tables 1, 3, 4 and 5 not only are the first items identified by both teachers and learners identical, but the second ones also are proved to be the same. Therefore according to half of the tables, an effective teacher's interest in his/her job and feeling responsibility for teaching, use of appropriate teaching techniques, asking oral questions at the beginning of each session and emphasizing speaking are believed to be of priority for both teachers and learners Another fascinating result is that in the rest of tables except for table 6, the relationship between the two items in the second and third columns has the same pattern. In tables 2, 7 and 8 the first item marked as first priority by students has been specified as the second item marked as the first priority in that category by teachers. For example, table 8 shows that using class time wisely is the most frequently marked item as the first priority in this category while it has been specified as the second item which was frequently marked by teachers as the first priority. Taking a look at table 2

IJALEL 3(1):202-214, 2014 212 shows that students believe that it is accuracy of teacher vocabulary which is the most important factor for a teacher while teachers themselves think that accuracy of structure has first priority for an EFL teacher. Differences between Teachers and Learners' Beliefs The only difference between teachers and learners' perceptions concerning the first priority in each category is in table 6. Capability to communicate ideas, knowledge, and intended teaching items was the item marked by teachers as the first priority in this table. Students did not have the same idea. They believed that it was knowledge of the subject matter which was the first priority in this table. Interestingly this item was the second item which was marked as the first priority by teachers themselves. Table 9. Items marked as first priority by students and teachers

Table Item Marked as First Priority by Students Item Marked as First Priority by Teachers

1 a. Having interest in his/her job and feeling responsibility for teaching 59

b. Being self-confident 19

a. Having interest in his/her job and feeling responsibility for teaching 50

b. Being self-confident 50

2 a. Accuracy of teacher vocabulary 52 b. Accuracy of teacher structure 47

a. Accuracy of teacher structure 50 b. Accuracy of teacher vocabulary 22

3 a. Using appropriate teaching techniques 42

b. Encouraging students to use the English language ALL THE TIME in class 28

a. Using appropriate teaching techniques 55

b. Encouraging students to use the English language ALL THE TIME in class 22

&

Providing cultural information about the target language's culture 22

4 Asking oral questions at the beginning of each session 80

Asking oral questions at the beginning of each session 83

5 a. Emphasizing speaking 52

b. Emphasizing grammar 38

a. Emphasizing speaking 66

b. Emphasizing grammar 16

6 a. Knowledge of the subject matter 38

b. Preparation and lesson planning 28

a. Capability to communicate ideas, knowledge, intended teaching items 66

b. Knowledge of the subject matter 33

7 a. Creating motivation 45

b. Having respect for students 42

a. Having respect for students 55

b. Creating motivation 27

&

Helping to create self-confidence in students 27

8 a. Using class time wisely 64

b. Maintaining order in Class/Class control 26

a. Maintaining order in Class/Class control 33

b. Using class time wisely 27

8. Conclusions This research attempted to find out EFL teachers' perceptions concerning the characteristics of an effective English language EFL instructor. It also tried to identify the prominent item in each category according to teachers themselves. In addition, the teachers' perception was compared to that of learners' to see if there were discrepancies between learners and instructors' beliefs and perceptions concerning the effective English language instructors or not. The researchers also theorized that the probable mismatches between learners and instructors' perceptions may be the reason why English classes are not in line with learners' expectations in Iran. The results indicated that according to teachers, some of the most important features of an effective and successful EFL teacher are: • Being self-confident (88%) • Accuracy of teacher structure (83%) • Capability to communicate ideas, knowledge, intended teaching items (83%) • Having interest in his/her job and feeling responsibility for teaching (83%) • Using class time wisely (83%) • Creating motivation (77%)

IJALEL 3(1):202-214, 2014 213 • Emphasizing speaking (77%) • Maintaining order in Class/Class control (77%) • Being enthusiastic and lively (72%) • Having respect for students (72%) • Helping to create self-confidence in students (72%) • Encouraging students to use the English language ALL THE TIME in class (66%) • Asking oral questions at the beginning of each session (55%) • Knowledge of the subject matter (55%) • Using appropriate teaching techniques (55%) Regarding the second research question, according to teachers the prominent item in each category concerning the characteristics of an effective English language instructor are: • Personal Qualities: Having interest in his/her job and feeling responsibility for teaching • Command in English: Accuracy of teacher structure • Teaching Methodology: Using appropriate teaching techniques • Evaluation Method: Asking oral questions at the beginning of each session • Amount of Teacher's Emphasis on Different Skills: Emphasizing speaking • Mastery over Teaching: Capability to communicate ideas, knowledge, intended teaching items • Teacher-Student Relation: Having respect for students • Class Management: Maintaining order in class/class control Comparing the teachers and learners' perceptions meticulously provided evidence that the students' perceptions and teachers' perceptions do not differ in major ways. There were of course some mismatches between the two groups which are now revealed and can be taken into consideration. Therefore, the findings of this study in terms of (the amount of) similarities and differences between the learners and the teachers' perceptions ran against the findings of Babai Shishavan & Sadeghi (2009), the only available study with a comparative nature on this matter. Having studied their conclusions, the present study's researchers deduced that they had recognized more mismatches than matches between teachers' and learners' perceptions. However in the present study much more similarities than differences were identified between two groups' perceptions. Institutions' attempts to educate effective EFL teachers without surveying both learners and teachers' definition of an effective teacher would be vain. Conducting such research to define an effective EFL instructor' characteristics would pave the way for both language institutions and instructors themselves to make the distance between learner's expectations and experiences in EFL classes as shorter as possible. Emphasizing learner's expectations arises from the fact that CLT is a learner centered approach. If the teacher should manage the class, he or she should not fail to take the learners expectations into consideration. It should be acknowledged that the sample of this study was small and it was restricted to one city in Iran. Carrying out other research with a larger sample and in different contexts can give us a clearer picture on the characteristics of an effective EFL instructor. References Arikan, A. (2010). Effective English language teacher from the perspective of prospective and in-service teachers in Turkey. Electronic Journal of Social Sciences, 9(31), 209–223. Arikan, A., Tasher, D., & Sarach Suzer, H. . (2008). The effective English language teacher from the perspective of Turkish preparatory school students. Education and Science, 33(150), 42–51. Babai Shishavan, H., & Sadeghi, K. (2009). Characteristics of an effective English language teacher as perceived by Iranian teachers and learners of English. English Language Teaching, 2(4), 130–143. Borg, S. (2006). The distinctive characteristics of foreign language teachers. Language Teaching Research, 10(1), 3–31. Chen, J. (2012). Favourable and unfavourable characteristics of EFL teachers perceived by university students in Thailand. International Journal of English Linguistics, 2(1), 213–219. Khojastemehr, R., & Takrimi, A. (2009). Characteristics of effective teachers: perceptions of the English teachers. Journal of Education and Psychology, 3(2), 53–66. Ozsevik, Z. (2010). The use of communicative language teaching (CLT): Turkish EFL teachers’ perceived difficulties in implementing CLT in Turkey (Master’s). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Retrieved from https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/handle/2142/16211

IJALEL 3(1):202-214, 2014 214 ResaulKarim, M. (2004). Teachers’ perceptions, attitudes and expectations about Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in post-secondary education in Bangladesh (Master’s). University of Victoria, Canada. Retrieved from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:A7gmudrc8GIJ:dspace.library.uvic.ca:8080/bitstream/handle/1828/560/karim_2004.pdf%3Fsequence%3D1+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=nz Salahshour, N., & Hajizadeh, N. (2012). Characteristics of effective EFL instructors: Language learners’ perceptions. Procedia- Social Behavioural Sciences, 70, 163–173. Thompson, S., Greer, J., & Greer, B. (2004). Highly qualified for successful teaching: Characteristics every teacher should possess. Essays in Education, 10 (Summer), N/A.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

EFL Learners’ Negotiation of Meaning

Samira Saeed Rashid Al Hosni

Department of the Human Resources Development

Governorate of Batinah North

Ministry of Education, Oman

E-mail: Samira.alhosni22@hotmail.com

Received: 01-10-2013 Accepted: 24-11-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.215 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.215 Abstract This study aimed at investigating EFL learners’ frequency of negotiation of meaning when performing focused and unfocused communication tasks. The sample consists of thirty learners divided into ten groups. Three research instruments were used to collect data; communication tasks, field notes and interviews. Data analysis revealed that there is no significant difference in the frequency of negotiation of meaning between the two task types. This is due to the fact that, learners performed both task types as unfocused tasks and they were able to use some communication strategies to keep communication flowing and to go round the target structure. Amazingly, despite the existence of the trigger of negotiation, the indicator of misunderstanding, an important negotiation phase, was absent in many cases from the conversations in both task types. Subsequently, the research findings suggest providing learners with opportunities that urge them to perform as language users rather than language learners. Keywords: communication; focused communication tasks; unfocused communication tasks; negotiation of meaning 1. Introduction The use of English as a foreign language (EFL) in oral communication is, without a doubt, one of the most common, but also highly complex activity which is essential to include when implementing an English language curriculum. This is because we "live at a time where the ability to speak English fluently has become a must, particularly, for those who want to advance in certain fields of human endeavor" (Al-Sibai, 2004, p.3). Krashen (1982) believes that L2 acquisition is similar to L1 acquisition and thus it does not require extensive use of conscious grammatical rules. What it requires is communication rich environments which provide comprehensible input in order to enhance acquisition. Input is given by means of meaningful and communicative activities supplied by the teacher, and plenty of opportunities for oral interaction in the target language. In other words, language teaching tasks in the classroom should aim at maximizing individual language use (Haozhang, 1997). Subsequently, classroom tasks should aim at increasing the frequency of negotiation of meaning which refers to the modification of interaction that occurs when learners experience difficulties in message comprehensibility. However, the frequency of negotiation of meaning triggered by each task type might not be the same. This paper aims to shed some light on how different oral communication tasks such as focused and unfocused communication tasks influence the frequency of negotiation of meaning and what language structures that are triggered by each task type. 2. Literature Review 2.1 Focused and unfocused communication tasks Ellis, Basturkmen & Loewen (2002) & Ellis (2003) have identified two types of communicative tasks that encourage the meaningful use of language and they are focused and unfocused communication tasks. Focused communication tasks are communicative tasks that have been designed to elicit the use of a specific linguistic form in the context of meaning -centered language use. An example of this type of task is a task that necessitates learners to use 'at' and 'in' in order to determine whether two pictures are the same or different without being aware that these two forms are targeted because learners are expected when they perform the task to function primarily as language users rather than as learners. According to Nobuyoshi &Ellis (1993) a focused communication task does result in some linguistic feature being made prominent, although not in a way that causes the learner to pay more attention to form than to meaning. This type of tasks can become focused either through design or through methodology. On the other hand, unfocused communication tasks are communicative tasks designed to elicit general samples of the language rather than specific forms. These types of tasks can be performed without any attention to form (Ellis, 2003). 2.2 Negotiation of meaning and second language acquisition As Kramsch (1986) advocates, learners must be given opportunities in the classroom to interact with both the teacher and fellow learners through turn-taking, giving feedback to speakers, asking for clarification, and starting and ending conversations. In other words, learners should be able to express, interpret and negotiate meanings.

IJALEL 3(1):215-223, 2014 216 Based on the output hypothesis, it would seem that, for interaction to facilitate second language acquisition (SLA), learners need to have opportunities for output during interaction. In many second language classrooms, learners often observe the output of others without producing their own output. Nevertheless, it seems that opportunities to produce output are crucial in improving learner's use of the target structure, and negotiation promotes output production (Cheon, 2003). Pica (1994, p.494) has stated that negotiation of meaning (NfM) refers to "the modification and restructuring of interaction that occurs when learners and interlocutors perceive or experience difficulties in message comprehensibility" According to Gass (1997, p.107) negotiation of meaning refers to “communication in which participants' attention is focused on resolving a communication problem as opposed to communication in which there is a free flowing exchange of information". Consequently, meanings are not simply transferred from one person to another but 'negotiated' (Ellis, 1988). "The negotiation of meaning has been proposed as the key to second (and /or foreign) language development" (Allwright, 1998) because it appears to facilitate comprehension and successful communication among learners (Pelletieri, 1999; Blake, 2000). Pica (1994) claims that negotiating meaning, as a particular way of modifying interaction, can accomplish a great deal of SLA by helping learners make input comprehensible and modify their own output and can provide opportunities for them to access the second language (L2) form and meaning. These negotiations tend to increase input comprehensibility through language modifications such as simplifications, elaborations, confirmation and comprehension checks, clarification requests, or recasts. These language modifications provide the L2 learner with feedback to facilitate L2 development (Gass, 1997; Long 1996). Moreover, Long & Robinson (1998) argued that SLA is crucially enhanced by having L2 learners negotiate meaning and therefore it is considered very important for L2 teachers to construct an interactive learning environment in which learners can associate with each other in the target language and negotiate meaning through interaction. Mackey (1999) also highlights the importance of the learner's active participation in the interaction, considering participation as one of the features that facilitate language development. The negotiation of meaning has been taken as the basis for the provision of comprehensible input (Gass & Varounis, 1994; Holliday, 1995; Long, 1996; Pica, Young & Doughty, 1987). Some other SLA researchers have argued for the importance of the negotiation of meaning for the production of comprehensible output as well. They state that negotiations of meaning in interaction are important, not just because they provide non-native speakers (NNSs) with an opportunity to receive input that they have made comprehensible through negotiation, but also because they provide them with an opportunity for inter-language modification and comprehensible output (Pica, Holliday, Lewis, Berducci & Newman1991; Pica, 1994; Branden, 1997; Shehadeh 1999). Similarly, Lyster & Ranta (1997) maintain that negotiation encourages self-repair, involving accuracy and precision and not merely comprehensibility. Although, negotiation of meaning can push the interlocutors to identify and then attempt to resolve a communication breakdown, it may or may not result in mutual understanding (Ellis, 2003). Braden (1997, p. 626-627) argues that L2 learners' enhanced performance is primarily determined not by their level of language proficiency, but by the frequency of negotiation routines that they are engaged in. He emphasizes that negotiation pushes the learners' production level significantly higher. According to Braden's claim (1997, p.630) "during negotiations learners can be pushed to the production of output that is more complete and accurate, far more than merely comprehensible". 2.3 Varonis and Gass model for negotiation of meaning Varonis and Gass (1985b) developed a model that shows how the discourse structure unfolds during the negotiation of meaning. This model proves to be a useful tool to characterize and understand a particular type of interaction that is said to facilitate SLA. According to this model, the discourse of conversation advances in a linear fashion, represented by a horizontal line in their model. When an instance of non-understanding occurs, speakers may engage in a series of exchanges with the purpose of resolving that particular breakdown in the conversation. These instances are viewed as vertical sequences along the horizontal line. In Varonis and Gass’s model (1985b), a negotiation routine consists of two parts: a trigger and a resolution. The trigger (T) is an utterance or portion of an utterance on the part of the speaker which results in some indication of non-understanding on the part of the hearer. The second part of the routine, the resolution, consists of two primes: an indicator (I), by which one of the conversational partners lets the other know that something was not clear, and a response (R), which acknowledges the request for information. An optional prime, the reaction to the response (RR), may tie up the routine. In addition, Varonis and Gass model has offered a useful analysis of the types of primes used within a negotiation routine. This analysis reveals how interlocutors employ their linguistic resources in order: (a) to let each other know that something has not been successfully understood and (b) to solve the communication problem. It also can help to find out the frequency of negotiation of meaning routines that exists within a certain conversation. Excerpt 1 shows an example of the two parts of negotiation routines.

IJALEL 3(1):215-223, 2014 217 Excerpt 1: Example of the two parts of the negotiation routines. Example: model for non- understandings (Varonis and Gass 1985b, p.74): S1. And your what is your… mmm… father's job? S2. My father now is retire. T S1. Retire? I S2. Yes R S1. Oh, yes. RR 3. Methodology 3.1 The sample The sample of this study is represented by one intact class of grade 10 female learners from one school in Batinah North Governorate in Oman. The total number of the participants is thirty learners divided into ten groups. Each group consists of three mixed ability learners. The learners' arrangement was based on their assessment of the previous semester (semester one). The English teacher of that class has arranged learners according to their general level of English, which is out of 100. Learners between 0-50 have been classified as low achievers, learners between51-75 have been classified as average achievers and learners between 75- 100 have been classified as high achievers. This resulted in having three learners from three different levels in each group: low, average and high level. Accordingly, no group consists of learners of the same level. Thus, if any difference in oral production of learners has occurred or established, it can’t be attributed to the level of the learners. The researcher has decided to have tasks to be performed in groups because most of the activities of grade 10 English for Me (EFM) textbook are required to be performed in groups, so the researcher preferred to be consistent with the textbooks. Grade 10 is chosen to represent the sample of this study because it is considered to be the last level of Basic Education in Oman and one of the learning objectives of Basic Education at this level is to " use English for social communication" (Ministry of Education, 2009). 3.2 Research instruments This is a multidimensional study in which both quantitative and qualitative data are obtained. Quantitative data are obtained through learners' oral production while performing the focused and unfocused communication tasks. It is represented by the frequency of negotiation routines that are found from the transcripts of the learners' oral production. On the other hand, the qualitative data is obtained through learners' oral production when performing the focused and unfocused communication tasks and through the interviews from which the relevant language aspects such as the language produced by learners while performing the focused tasks, the communication strategies used by learners to keep communication flowing, the existence of the indicator as an essential phase of negotiation and focus on form versus focus on meaning are investigated. Thus three research instruments were used and they are the tasks, the semi structured interviews and the field notes. 3.2.1 Tasks Two task types were used as an instrument for collecting the data of the present study. The first type is the focused communication tasks and the second type is the unfocused communication tasks. Two tasks of each type were implemented in the study which resulted in a total of four tasks as a whole; two focused and two unfocused communication tasks. 3.2.2 Field notes A decision is made to include field notes as a data collection instrument because learners have refused to be videotaped while performing the tasks. The researcher considered field notes to be useful in noting down any non-verbal language produced by the learners while performing the tasks. 3.2.3 Semi structured interviews In the present study, the researcher has conducted the semi-structured interviews with the ten groups of learners immediately on the next day after they have performed all the four tasks. The learners have been interviewed group by group during the first three lessons of the school day. While one group is being interviewed, other groups are in their class having their usual daily lessons. Copies of all the tasks have been given to the learners before the start of the interview to help them remember their work on the tasks and respond to the interview questions. Each interview lasted 5-10 minutes and they all have been recorded and transcribed. It worth mentioning that the researcher has conducted the interview basically in English but she shifted to Arabic sometimes when learners were noticed not getting the idea. 3.3 Research design This study follows the 'repeated measures” design'. According to this design, the same subjects are used with every condition of the research. Consequently, the researcher takes measurements on the same subjects over time or under different conditions. It requires fewer participants, since data for all conditions derive from the same group of participants (Shuttleworth, 2009). In the present study the researcher measured the two types of communication tasks, the focused and the unfocused, on the same group of learners which is the one intact class. 4. Data Analysis The present study was designed to address the following main questions:

IJALEL 3(1):215-223, 2014 218 1. To what extent do focused and unfocused oral communication tasks increase negotiated interaction between Grade 10 learners in relation to:

a. Frequency of negotiation of meaning. b. Language structures used while performing the focused tasks.

Both quantitative and qualitative data are obtained. The quantitative data which is represented by the frequency of negotiation of meaning, is analyzed using the Varonis & Gass (1985b) model of negotiation of meaning. According to this model, the routines of negotiation of meaning (T, I, R, RR) are identified for both focused and unfocused communication tasks. Then Independent Sample T- Test is administered to find if there is any significant difference in the frequency of negotiation of meaning between the two types of tasks. On the other hand, the qualitative data which is represented by the scripts of the learners’ performance of the four tasks (language produced) are analyzed using Holiday's (2002) approach that suggests organizing data using a thematic approach. According to this approach, data is taken holistically and rearranged under themes according to the questions and the issues which are brought by the researcher to the research. 5. Finding and Discussions 5.1 The difference in the frequency of negotiation Table 1. Means of the frequency of negotiation of meaning (Independent Sample t- test)

Table (1) illustrates the means and standard deviation of the two task types and the level of significance of the difference in the frequency of negotiation of the two task types. It shows that the level of significance is at .256 which indicates that there is no significant difference in the frequency of negotiation of meaning between the two task types. This could be due to the fact that learners performed both task types; the focused tasks and the unfocused tasks as unfocused communication tasks. In both task types, learners produced general samples of language, even when performing the focused tasks in which the structures are pre-determined without paying any attention to form. This might indicate that the meaning- focus aspect of the focused tasks overrides the infused forms in them. 5.2 The language produced while performing the focused tasks In the present study learners have performed two focused tasks; task2 (an imaginary problem description) and task 4 (giving advice). Each task of the two tasks targets a certain structure that is expected to be produced by the learners. Excerpt 1 shows the target structures by the focused task 2 (An imaginary problem description) and examples of the actual structures that are produced by the learners while performing this task. Excerpt 1: The pre-determined language structure that is targeted by the focused task 2 (An imaginary problem description) and examples of the language structures produced by the learners when performing this task. Task2: An imaginary problem description

The pre-determined language structure

'If I were…..I would+ infinitive…'

Examples of the language structures produced by learners: -If I had the smoke …errr… my.. errrrrr.. brother used the smoking. - Overweight. I will eat lets (lots) food - If I had this problem..errr… I walk…errr… lost (lots) of time and…errr… eating healthy food. - I have problem overweight.. I will …errr… play footballs and … - you should do some exercise in your free time.. - go with your friends to anywhere to leave the smoking. -The smoking is very dangerous. I will advise you to keep this smoking and stop to smoke. - I'm overweight. I will …errr… eat healthy food and …errr… don't eat junk food. - Also, I will play sports. - Did you try to stop smoking? - I exercise ev..every morning

In the focused task 2 (an imaginary problem description) the 'second conditional' is the target structure. Learners are expected to produce this structure while describing an imaginary situation of having a health problem and suggest a

Sig T- Value St. Dev Mean N Group

.256

1.174

3.120

3.20

10

Focused communication tasks

2.974

4.80

10

Unfocused communication tasks

IJALEL 3(1):215-223, 2014 219 solution to solve it. As it is shown in excerpt 1, the second conditional is not produced at all by learners while performing this task. Instead, learners have produced different samples of language. Excerpt 2 illustrates the pre-determined language structure that is targeted by the focused tasks 4 (giving advice) and examples of the language structures produced by the learners when performing it. Excerpt 2: The pre-determined language structure that is targeted by the focused tasks 4 (giving advice) and examples of the language structures produced by the learners when performing it.

Task 4: Giving advice The pre-determined language structure The modals of obligation, 'you must /not, should/not…' Examples of the language structures produced by the learners: - you should take fluple at… err… four times - you shouldn't take folo…foloble …errr… when you dra…errr… when you driver because it is very danger. - don (Don't) canno' (cannot) cannot …errr… take …errr… take…errr… - you shouldn't take couple of days because sometimes it …errr… it.. its mean…errr.. - it is wrong because add balling (boiling) and the true …errr… should …errr… be …errr…wote.. should be water hot not balling (boiling). - I think wrong in take fa…errr… fife (five) time …errr…true take four time. -You should stop white (What) your doctor said. - we should go to the doctor before get… take this medicine - Don't give child ander (under) twelve years. Your information is …errr… is …errr…wrong because it's this medicine very strong. -Yes! In your opinion, what the advice. - you should …errr… take …errr…four lobble… four take flobble.. - I give my baby sister help.. hel..helf (half) a bucket . -Take boxixilin for.. before mid.. errr.. before mells (meals). Okay?

As it is shown in except2, the pre-determined structure of the focused task 4(giving advice) is the ' modals of obligation'. Learners are expected to produce the following structure; 'you must /not, should/not…' By looking at the examples of language produced by learners while performing task 4(giving advice), it can be noticed that the pre-determined structure ' you should / should not' is produced in few situations but the structure' you must/ must not' is not. Producing the pre- determined structure ' you should/should not' in task 4 (giving advice) and not producing the pre-determined structure' if I were…I would….' in task 2 (an imaginary problem description) could be attributed to two reasons. The first reason is the familiarity of the learners with the structure' you should…' more than the structure' if I were…I would…' and the second reason is the complexity of the second conditional structure more than the modals of obligation structure. Although the pre-determined structure ' you should/ should not' is produced, other samples are produced as well in many cases when this structure is expected to be produced. It have been noticed that learners were able to go around using the target pre-determined structure and still keep the communication moving. Excerpt 3 shows an example of how learners go around using the target pre determined structure of the focused task4 (giving advice). Excerpt 3: Example of how learners go around using the pre-determined structure.

S1: I am thinks a driver. And..err am ill..errrr…floober../flu:bɅr/ (means: Flupol). S2: No. It's wrong. Why you eat that? You don't eat that because….errrrrrrrr…because your drive.

In this example, student2 (S 2) is expected to produce the pre- determined structure of task 4 (giving advice) which is 'The modals of obligation': 'you must not, should/not…'However, instead of producing the target structure, S2 produced a different structure ''No, it's wrong. Why you eat that? You don't eat that…'' which indicates the same meaning of showing that something wrong is done and it should not be done. This finding is consistent with Jeremy (2010) findings when learners of his study did not use the Pre-determined language structure as well and the focused task turned to be an unfocused one. 5.3 The communication strategies used by learners

IJALEL 3(1):215-223, 2014 220 Learners tend to use communication strategies to compensate for their lack of appropriate target language knowledge when expressing the meaning of their intended utterances (Cohen, 1998). They can always use communication strategies to get round using the target structure (Ellis, 2003). One of the communication strategies that learners of the present study have used to compensate for their lack of appropriate language is circumlocution which according to Celce-Murcia M, Dörnyei Z, Thurrell S (1995) means that the speaker describes characteristics or elements of the object or action instead of using the appropriate target language structure. Excerpt4 shows an example of the use of a circumlocution strategy by the learners of the present study. Excerpt4: An Example of the use of the circumlocution strategy while performing the focused task 2(an imaginary problem description)

S1: now what's your problem? S2: errrrrrr…when you can't listen and when you can't see others. Do you have any ideas because you help? S1: Maybe you play sport and you..errr.. go to friend. Okay? S2: yes

In this example we can see that S2 was unable to produce the word 'disability', so instead she produced a description of that word which is " when you can't listen and when you can't see…''. Time gaining is another strategy that the learners have used a lot. It is a strategy that learners use while communication in order to gain more time for thinking (Celce-Murcia et al, 1995). The use of time gaining strategy by the learners of the present study is represented by the use of fillers. Fillers such as, errrrrrrrrrrrr & mmmmm are used a lot by learners to gain more time for thinking. The researcher believes that this is a strong indication of the learners' low level of English language proficiency. 5.4 The absence of the indicator It is noticed that the indicator which is an important negotiation phase is absent from most of the learners' discussions (oral production) of both task types; the focused and the unfocused. As it is mentioned previously, the indicator refers to the utterance which indicates the misunderstanding. It is usually produced to get more clarification of an unclear utterance. However, in many cases, a trigger that causes a misunderstanding is produced but not followed by an indicator. As a result, all the parts of the learners' speech that misses this phase (the indicator) are not considered as negotiation of meaning routines in both task types. Examples of missing 'indicators' are shown in excerpt 5 Excerpt 5: Examples of missing indicators.

T1 S 1: Drink medicine in the drifings , / drifŋs / ( means driving) car. This is the problem. What you can help? T2 T3 S2: He can…errrrrrrrr (cuss..., / kɅs / (means cause)…errrrr… brooshing, / bru:ʃŋ / (means drowsiness). T4 S3: Do no drifing, / drifng / (means drive) or use this medicine. This advice for you. S 1: yes

As it is shown by this example, the trigger that might cause misunderstanding occurs four times and no expression of misunderstanding is produced to indicate that misunderstanding. Maybe the learners were able to guess the word 'driving' and drive' and that why trigger 1 and 2 are not followed by indicators. However, an indicator of misunderstanding is really expected after trigger 2 and 4, but is not produced. Instead, speaker 3(S3) has produced a response to the question of speaker 1(S1). There are some factors that may contribute to the frequent absence of the 'indicator' in particular. One of these factors is the learners' low language proficiency which could be the main reason behind the absence of the 'indicator' in many cases. Interviews have revealed that, although learners could not understand a certain utterance, they are unable to express their misunderstanding because they lack the vocabulary items required to do so. Learners' high tendency to shift to L1 (first language/Arabic) several times during the communication indicates their low language proficiency as well. Besides, through the observation of the learners' performance of the tasks, it is noticed that some learners tend to give more attention to the accomplishment of the outcome of the task. Consequently, even when they do not understand an utterance, they just continue to produce any language they have in their inter-language system (a response) neglecting the misunderstood utterance. Another factor that can explain the absence of the 'indicator' could be a cultural or psychological one. The culture of asking questions to get more information or more clarification is not really widespread enough, among our learners, in

IJALEL 3(1):215-223, 2014 221 our school communities and as a result learners seem to be reluctant to ask questions when more clarification is needed. Furthermore, some learners might feel shy to ask questions as they think they will be underestimated if they do so. 5.5 Focus on Form versus Focus on Meaning As previously mentioned, focused communication tasks are communicative tasks that have been designed to elicit the use of a specific linguistic form in the context of meaning -centered language use and the unfocused communication tasks are communicative tasks have been designed to elicit general samples of the language rather than specific forms. Using the language in a meaning centered context is the focal and shared point between the two task types. In the present study, one of the target structures in task 4(giving advice), which is a focused task, (You should…) is produced by learners. However, different and general samples of language are also produced while performing the two task type. The interviews have revealed that while performing the four tasks, learners' attention is focused on understanding and conveying the meaning and not on the form. This is implied in the learners' responses when they stated that they have not faced any problems with grammar, although there are many grammatical mistakes in their oral sentences. An explanation for this could be that the learners are unconscious of those mistakes while they are speaking because their attention is focused on conveying the meaning only. Focusing on form requires learners to stop for thinking and checking forms which indicates a kind of conscious learning that has not been reflected in learners' performance in the present study. This is consistent with Krashen (1982) who has argued that there are two processes operating in language development, subconscious acquisition and conscious learning, and that form-focused instruction is aimed at conscious learning which does not necessarily feed into subconscious acquisition. Further evidence of focusing on meaning and not form is that most of the triggers involved in negotiation were lexical ones which requires clarification of the meaning of some vocabulary items and no negotiation of any grammatical form has occurred. Excerpt6 shows an example of a lexical trigger. Excerpt 6: Example of a lexical trigger

Focused task 2 (An imaginary problem description) Speaker1: I have…errr…overweight. Speaker2: Overweight! Oh! It is very important. Why shoes (choose) this problem? Speaker1: because I see it is..err…any building, / bildŋ /. Lexical trigger Speaker1: Any places? Indicator Speaker2: yes, any places. This problem every every places Response

This example shows a part of conversation of the focused task 2(An imaginary problem description) that planned to elicit the form 'if I were…I would….' However, that structure is not produced by any one of the learners and in this example an incorrect structure is produced instead: 'I have overweight'. Yet, learners have not negotiated the grammatical form that is intended to be used when at the same time they have negotiated lexical items like the word ' building' in this example. Taking all these facts in consideration, it can be concluded that, learners are focusing on conveying the meaning only and they are using the language freely. This is consistent with what is believed by some researchers (for instance, Littlewood 1984; Scrivener 1994; Willis, 1996; Kumaravadivelu, 2003; Zhang, 2009; Jeremy, 2010) that language is best learned when the learners' attention is focused on understanding, saying and doing something with language, and not when their attention is focused explicitly on linguistic features. According to them language must be used freely in a situation where meaning is paramount, so the learners will try to get it across, making use of whatever words and phrases they have at their disposal in order to be learnt. 6. Conclusion Second language research has highlighted that progress does not always or necessarily occur when people make a conscious effort to learn. Progress occurs as a result of spontaneous, subconscious mechanisms, which are activated when learners are involved in communication with the second language. The subconscious element demands a new range of activities, where learners are focused, not on the language itself, but on the communication of meaning (Littlewood, 1984). So, "language is best learned when the learners' attention is focused on understanding, saying and doing something with language, and not when their attention is focused explicitly on linguistic features" (Kumaravadivelu, 2003, p.27). Therefore, communication tasks should encourage learners to use language in a meaningful way that lead to having learners' attention to be focused on the content of what they are saying, rather than on the form (Harmer, 1982; Littlewood, 1984; Nunan, 1989, 2001; Willis, 1996; Ellis et al 2002; Ellis 2003). Communication tasks should also aim at maximizing individual language use (Haozhang, 1997).The researcher believes that maximizing language use can positively influence learners’ language proficiency. Therefore, learners should be provided with tasks that encourage them to perform as language users. They should be encouraged to use language to convey meaning and to do things in a meaning centered context because by this their language acquisition is expected to be facilitated. Moreover, since the absence of the indicator is a sign of the lack the skill of questioning. Therefore, the researcher strongly suggests developing learners questioning skill and encouraging

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International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Structural Analysis of Lexical Bundles in University Lectures of Politics and Chemistry

Hadi Kashiha (Corresponding author)

Department of English, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia

E-mail: hadi.kashiha@yahoo.com

Chan Swee Heng

Department of English, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia

E-mail: shchan@upm.edu.my

Received: 05-10-2013 Accepted: 25-11-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.224 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.224 Abstract Referred to as extended collocations, lexical bundles are considered as a main factor in building fluency in academic discourse; helping to shape meaning and coherence in a text or speech. For decades, lexical bundles have attracted considerable amount of attention in corpus-based research in English for Academic Purposes (EAP). While, the focus of the most of the studies on lexical bundles was to explore the use of these multi-word expressions in academic written registers such as research articles, academic spoken registers such as university lectures have not received that amount of attention from the scholars. In this vein, there is still an open question of how they are structurally different across disciplines. With these concerns in mind, this study aimed to explore how lexical bundles are used structurally in a 50291 words corpus of 8 university lectures across two disciplines: chemistry and politics. To this aim, the most frequent four-word bundles in the corpus were classified according to their grammatical types to see the possible disciplinary variations in their frequency of use as well as the structure involved in their use. Results of the analysis revealed that noun phrase and prepositional phrase fragments were the most common structures in the lectures of the two disciplines, accounting for more than half of the bundles in politics. University lecturers appear to apply a variety of structures in the use of lexical bundles often peculiar to the discipline in order to convey their disciplinary messages. This would lead to the need to emphasize the instruction of the most common structures in that discipline in a way for the lectures to be as comprehensive as possible for the intended audiences.

Keywords: Academic lectures, academic registers, lexical bundles 1. Introduction Research in the area of multi-word combinations has a long history in applied linguistics, starting with the work by Jespersen (1924) who introduced the term “collocation”. Since then, many studies have attempted to single out the importance of using frequent word sequences in academic discourse, as these expressions are considered as building blocks of discourse (Biber & Barbieri, 2007) thus resulting in better fluency among speakers of a language. This type of multi-word expressions which recur frequently with a sequence of three or more words is referred to as lexical bundle (Biber & Conrad, 1999), such as in terms of the, found prevalently in writing, or do you want me to in speech. Lexical bundles, in essence, are combinations of words that normally co-occur more recurrently than we expect. This frequency of occurrence is the defining characteristic of lexical bundles and distinguishes them from other types of multi-word expressions such as idioms. For instance, the well-quoted idiom “kick the bucket “occurs less than 1 time in one million words, while there are lexical bundles which occur more than 20 times per million words (Cortes, 2004). Moreover, lexical bundles are not idiomatic in meaning, since unlike idioms, their meaning can be easily retrieved from the analysis of individual words which make them up. It is widely realized that frequent use of lexical bundles can lead to better English proficiency among language learners. In other word, these bundles are considered as the main source of fluent native speech in which nonnative learners could target as useful resources in the learning of the language. Academic lecturers, especially those working in EFL/ESL contexts, can also benefit from the working knowledge of lexical bundles used in relation to disciplines as they help build up academic voice and self-confidence in developing knowledge of language use in various discourse communities so as to develop relevant materials for teaching and learning. A considerable body of research has in fact shown that listening to long academic lectures could be a major problem for nonnative learners (Cheng, 2012; Flowerdew & Miller, 1997; Thompson, 2003; Vidal, 2003; Young, 1994). While listening to academic lectures, even proficient students who may understand the individual words uttered by the lecturer might fail to realize content information of relevant discipline-specific terms. One reason partly comes from the fact

IJALEL 3(1):224-230, 2014 225 that most of these students do not recognize the structural relations that exist between the word elements and thus this would result in only partial mastery of knowledge input. This leads back to the underlying importance of understanding the grammatical characteristics of lexical bundles used by the lecturer. The difficulties would lead to the need to explore the structures of lexical bundles in university lectures of different disciplines to provide insight towards better comprehension of academic lectures. The last two decades have witnessed a growing interest in the study of lexical bundles in English for Academic Purposes (Adel & Erman, 2012; Biber, Conrad & Cortes, 2004; Cortes, 2004, 2006; Hyland, 2008). Many of these studies are corpus-based, analyzing the use of lexical bundles in a variety of academic registers such as research articles, textbooks and classroom teaching. Disciplinary variations in the use of lexical bundles have also been the focus of many other studies (Cortes, 2004; Hyland, 2008), but the main purpose of these studies was to explore the bundle use in academic written discourse. Spoken discourse, on the other hand, has not received that amount of attention from the researchers. Among the few related studies on academic speech, Nesi and Basturkmen (2009) explored the cohesive role lexical bundles play in academic lectures of BASE and MICASE online corpora and found that consistency and organization of university lectures depend heavily on the frequent use of these bundles. Lecturers in academic contexts appear to make use of a range of lexical bundles to link different parts of the discourse. In their corpus, nearly all the target bundles were used to signal discourse relations with some exceptions. In some parts of his study, Khuwaileh (1999) investigated the effect of lexical bundles in lecture comprehension of Jordanian learners. Neely and Cortes (2009) examined the discourse function of five lexical bundles (if you look at, a little bit about, a little bit of, I want you to, and I would like you) which were frequently used to introduce new topics and organize the discourse in spoken academic language, and compared the lecturers’ use of these bundles to those of students. They came to the conclusion that students should be taught lexical bundles in a way that would become familiar to their everyday academic lives. Through a review of a related literature, it was found that research on the disciplinary variations of lexical bundles in academic lectures is minimal. To this aim, the present study attempts to shed light on the structural characteristics of the most frequent four-word lexical bundles used in university lectures of two disciplines, namely chemistry and politics, to come up with possible similarities and differences in use. The rationale behind comparing the two disciplines results from the necessity to conduct such comparative studies on the use of different linguistic features in social and physical sciences to arrive at the better picture of the variations in the language use of hard and soft fields. Chemistry, representing hard fields, is more physical and observable, dealing with experiments and tools, while politics is a representative of soft fields and deals with human behavior. The comparison between the language use of these disciplines with such different characteristics has always been the focus of many research-based studies and would certainly provide valuable results for both students and lecturers working in ESL/EFL contexts in dealing with or presenting disciplinary materials. 2. Research objectives The main objective of this study is to characterize the structural attributes of lexical bundles in university lectures of two disciplines, chemistry and politics. To this aim, the following research questions are presented:

1. What are the grammatical types of four-word lexical bundles in the lectures of chemistry and politics? 2. To what extent and how the university lectures in politics and chemistry differ in terms of structure or

grammatical form of the lexical bundles used? 3. Corpus and method The corpus of this study consists of 8 university lectures transcripts from the BASE online corpus across two disciplines of chemistry and politics (4 lectures from each). The two disciplines were selected on the criterion of comparing the representatives of hard and soft sciences. In addition, the 4 lectures in each discipline were the only available transcripts on transactional lectures which had the same range of words, because in order to make the data as comparable as possible, word counting is also taken into consideration. Both disciplines contain more than 25000 running words and 50291 words overall. Table 1 outlines the detailed content of the corpus. Table1. Details of the corpus

Disciplines No. of lectures Word count Chemistry 4 25106 Politics 4 25185 Total 8 50291

The lecture transcripts were first downloaded from British Academic Spoken English (BASE) corpus and then grouped according to the disciplines. Each discipline was assigned 4 lectures to be analyzed. There were some steps that were followed in analyzing the transcripts. The first step was to set the criterion for a frequency cut-off point to come up with a list of the most salient four-word lexical bundles. There is a common consensus among the scholars that a frequency cut-off point is something arbitrary, and thus differs from one study to another, depending on factors such as the size of the corpus. For example, Biber and Barbieri (2007) argued that a four-word lexical item has to occur at least 40 times per million words in order to be called a lexical bundle. Due to the small size of the corpus, the present study took a rather conservative approach by setting the frequency point at occurring 20 times per hundred thousand words which represents at least 5 raw occurrences in the whole corpus. In addition, in order to avoid the lecturers’ idiosyncratic use, a

IJALEL 3(1):224-230, 2014 226 four-word item also had to be used in at least 3 different lectures. Only those four-word strings which met the above criteria were identified as lexical bundles and thus selected for the analysis. To manage the research meaningfully, this study decided to focus on only four-word lexical bundles because previous literature have proved that four-word bundles are the most prevalent sequences of word forms in academic setting (Biber & Barbieri, 2007; Biber, Conrad, & Cortes, 2004; Cortes, 2002, 2004; Hyland, 2008). They are “far more common than 5-word strings and offer a clearer range of structures and functions than 3-word bundles” (Hyland, 2008, p. 8). This study used a computer program AntConc to create a list of the most frequent four-word lexical bundles in each group. Once the list of the target bundles was prepared, the identified four-word lexical bundles were then categorized structurally using the classification proposed by Biber, et al. (2004). Their structural taxonomy includes three main grammatical types for lexical bundles: 1) lexical bundles that incorporate verb phrase fragments such as is based on the; 2) lexical bundles that incorporate dependent clause fragments like I want you to; and 3) lexical bundles that incorporate noun phrase and prepositional phrase fragments such as at the end of (Biber et al., 2004, p.381). Each main structural type has several sub-structures which are listed in Table 2. Table 2. Structural classifications of lexical bundles (Biber, et al., 2004, p.381)

Structural categories Sub-categories Sample bundles 1. Lexical bundles that incorporate verb phrase fragments

1a. 1st/2nd person pronoun + VP fragment

I’m not going to

1b.3rd person pronoun + VP fragment

and this is a

1c. discourse marker + VP fragment I mean I don’t 1d. Verb phrase (with non-passive

verb) have a lot of

1e. Verb phrase (with passive verb) is based on the 1f. yes-no question fragments are you going to 1g. WH- question fragments what do you think 2. Lexical bundles that incorporate dependent clause fragments

2a. 1st/2nd person pronoun + dependent clause fragment

I want you to

2b. WH-clause fragments when we get to 2c. If-clause fragments if we look at 2d. to-clause fragment to be able to 2e. That-clause fragment that this is a 3. Lexical bundles that incorporate noun phrase and prepositional phrase fragments

3a. Noun phrase with of-phrase fragment

one of the things

3b. Noun phrase with other post-modifier fragment

the way in which

3c. Other noun phrase expressions a little bit more 3d. Prepositional phrase expressions at the end of 3e. Comparative expressions as well as the 4. Result and discussion Altogether, there were 225 individual bundles in the corpus, including 32 different bundle types. The bundles we are going to and to talk about the were the most frequently used bundles in the whole corpus, occurring 14 and 12 times in chemistry, and 18 and 15 times in politics respectively. The high occurrence of these bundles in academic lectures suggests that university lecturers rely heavily on using topic introduction markers to raise the students’ awareness towards the forthcoming information. Table 3 illustrates the distribution of lexical bundles in the two disciplines. As can be seen, politics lecturers used a larger range of lexical bundles than those of chemistry, with 131 individual cases as compared with 94 respectively. Lectures in chemistry also reported a lower number of bundle types (26 different bundles); while politics lectures were found to use all the 32 different bundle types in the corpus. The higher tendency of lecturers in politics to use lexical bundles may translate into the possibility that, explanatory nature of this discipline in which many ideas needed to be connected and argued, requires the lecturers to use a variety of multi-word chunks in order to convey their disciplinary messages. The chemistry discipline, on the other hand, depends more on the reporting of or focusing on observables such as those of experiments, in which less obvious connection is involved to convey the ideas.

IJALEL 3(1):224-230, 2014 227 Table 3. Distribution of lexical bundles in the two disciplines

Disciplines Bundle types Total No. of bundles % of total words

Chemistry 26 94 1.88

Politics 32 131 2.62 4.1 Structures of lexical bundles in chemistry and politics Structurally, the two disciplines showed some similarities and variations in the grammatical types of lexical bundles used by the lecturers. Tables 4, 5 and 6 illustrate the detailed percentages of the three main structural categories with their specific sub-categories in the lectures of the two disciplines using the classification proposed by Biber et al. (2004, p. 381). An initial examination of the data indicates that both politics and chemistry lectures used all the three main structural types, which shows the lecturers’ flexibility in selecting different structures in constructing lexical bundles. The main purpose of this diversity of use is likely to better communicate the content of the lessons and thus help the students to comprehend the specific disciplinary messages. Concerning the first main structural category “verb phrase fragments”, Table 4 indicates that this structure was distributed almost equally in both groups of lectures. This suggests that verbal elements are the key characteristics of academic university discourse in conveying the information to the listeners. However, chemistry lecturers reported a slightly higher percentage of use than those of politics instructors (26% as compared with 23% respectively). This slight difference could be actualized by the fact that the materiality nature of chemistry required the lecturers to use more verbal phrases to guide the students towards the instruction, especially in the case of bundles that signal obligation, such as you don’t have to, you only need to or direction like it is helpful to, it is necessary to.

Table 4. Lexical bundles that incorporate verb phrase fragments Structural categories Sub-categories Politics Chemistry

1. Lexical bundles that incorporate verb phrase fragments

1a. 1st/2nd person pronoun + VP fragment

11% 15%

1b. 3rd person pronoun + VP

fragment

5% 3%

1c. Discourse marker + VP fragment * *

1d. Verb phrase (with non-passive

verb)

4% 3%

1e. Verb phrase (with passive verb) 1% 3%

1f. yes-no question fragments 1% 1%

1g. WH- question fragments 1% 1%

Total 23% 26%

There were also some similarities and minimal differences in the sub-categories. “1st/2nd person pronoun + VP fragment” (e.g. you are going to, I would like to) was the most common sub-category, accounting for 15% of the bundle types in chemistry, and 11% in politics. Lecturers in the two disciplines used this structure either to initiate their discussions or to show the intention, as in:

I would like to speak about briefly problem solving or the integrated approach. (Politics) … but eventually you are going to saturate the surface with oxygen this is the … (Chemistry)

In contrast, politics lecturers were slightly more inclined to the use of “3rd person pronoun + VP fragment” (e.g. it is likely to, it is difficult to) to provide more information about the topic being discussed, as in:

that in order to build up a militarily useful nuclear arsenal it is necessary to test weapons and these tests in most countries still would have to be done physically.

Though less frequent, “verb phrase (with passive verb)” such as is ought to be was more dominant in the lectures of chemistry, with 3% as compared to 1% in politics. On the other hand, “Verb phrase (with non-passive verb)” such as have a look at was slightly more favored by politics lecturers. The two disciplines reported a similar rate of use in question fragments (yes-no question and WH-question fragments), accounting for the least proportion of bundle types. No example of “discourse marker + VP fragment” was found in the lectures of both chemistry and politics.

IJALEL 3(1):224-230, 2014 228 As regards to the second main structural type, “dependent clause fragments”, Table 5 shows that chemistry lectures utilized a higher proportion of use, comprising 36% of the types, while this structure only constituted 24% of the bundles in politics. The popularity of this structure in chemistry lectures could be resulted from the physical nature of this discipline based on which more consciousness-raising and pointing function are required in order to facilitate the process of comprehending the chemistry lectures. One way of raising the students’ awareness is through using a variety of dependent clause structures, especially in the case of “if clause fragments” such as if you look at, if you think about, as in:

if you think about it, a hundred electron volts ionization of a typical organic is about ten (Chemistry) because if you look at cyclohexane you've got the two pairs of hydrogens (Chemistry)

Table 5. Lexical bundles that incorporate dependent clause fragments Structural categories Sub-categories Politics Chemistry

2. Lexical bundles that incorporate dependent clause fragments

2a. 1st/2nd person pronoun +

dependent clause fragment

3% 9%

2b. WH-clause fragments 9% 6%

2c. If-clause fragments 6% 11%

2d. to-clause fragment 6% 10%

2e. That-clause fragment * *

Total 24% 36%

The use of this sub-structure was also dominant in chemistry lectures, occurring almost double more than those of politics. In some cases, the lecturers used the first person plural “we” to make the learners feel intimacy and confidence in the class, as in:

and so if we know the extinction of this, we can work out the yield of the… (Chemistry) The other sub-categories of dependent clause fragments were also higher in chemistry. Table 6 indicates that lecturers in chemistry were found to use “1st/2nd person pronoun + dependent clause fragments” such as I don’t know if, I don’t know what, about three times more than their colleagues in politics. They were also dominant in using “to-clause fragments” like to be able to, to look at the, to talk about the (including 10% of the types as compared with 6% in politics). In contrast, the only sub-category which was used more in the lectures of politics was “WH-clause fragments”. It constructed 9% of the bundle types in politics, while only 3% of the bundles in chemistry were constituted in this way. In comparison, neither politics nor chemistry lecturers seemed to be interested in using “that-clause fragments”, since no example of this structure was found in the lectures of the two disciplines. Results of the analysis showed that the third main structure “noun and prepositional phrase fragments” accounted for the most bundle types in the lectures of the two disciplines, including more than half of the bundles in politics and 38% of the bundles in chemistry. This high reliance of academic lecturers on these structures is indicative of the characteristics behavior of oral language in which speakers rely more on using a range of noun-preposition combinations (e.g. at the end of, quite a long time, a little bit of) to communicate, rather than resorting mainly to verbs. Findings seem to be in contrast with the previous studies on academic English. Earlier findings showed that academic speech primarily comprises more lexical bundles with clause fragments, while academic writing reported to use more bundles incorporating noun and prepositional phrase fragments (Biber & Conrad, 1999; Biber et al., 2004; Hyland, 2008). In contrast to the second structural category which was particularly popular among the chemistry lecturers, the third main structure, “noun and prepositional phrase fragments” was reported to be more favored by politics lecturers. As for the disciplinary variations, lecturers in politics tended to use this structure more than those in chemistry, (53% compared with 38% in chemistry). The difference in the use shows that the language of politics is more varied than that of chemistry, with more noun and preposition expressions. This corresponds to the idea that soft science disciplines, like politics, describe human-related issues and one of the important issues regarding humans is the diversity of behavior. One way to describe or portray different characteristics of people is by using a range of noun and prepositional phrases. A closer look at the sub-categories of this main structure (see Table 6) reveals that most of the bundles were “noun phrase with of-phrase fragments” such as a little bit of, at the end of, a certain amount of, in the number of. This structural type constituted almost a quarter of the bundles in politics. It was also considered as the most common structure in chemistry and formed 20% of the bundles.

IJALEL 3(1):224-230, 2014 229 Table 6. Lexical bundles that incorporate noun phrase and prepositional phrase fragments Structural categories Sub-categories Politics Chemistry

3. Lexical bundles that incorporate noun phrase and prepositional phrase fragments

3a. Noun phrase with of-phrase fragment

25% 20%

3b. Noun phrase with other post-modifier fragment

3% 3%

3c. Other noun phrase expressions 8% 4%

3d. Prepositional phrase expressions 15% 11%

3e. Comparative expressions

2% *

Total 53% 38%

The second common sub-category of noun and prepositional phrase fragments was “prepositional phrase expressions” such as in a different way, in the first place, for a short time. Politics, as well yielded a bigger proportion of this structure (15%) compared to chemistry (11%). This greater dominance was also the same for other sub-categories. For example, the structure “other noun phrase expressions” like the first thing to, a few more examples, was used in politics double more than chemistry (8% compared with 4% respectively). There was no example of “comparative expressions” like as well as a in the chemistry lectures, while this structure comprises 2% of the bundles in politics. Finally, “noun phrase with other post-modifier fragment” such as a little bit about was distributed similarly in the two disciplines, comprising 3% of the bundle types, like in:

what i'd like to do now is to say a little bit about water water is probably the most important system (Chemistry) it's the way in which you achieve your objectives power (Politics)

5. Conclusion The main purpose of the present study was to identify the structural characteristics of the most frequent four-word lexical bundles in university lectures of two disciplines, politics and chemistry. In order to pinpoint any similarities and differences, the frequency as well as the structural analysis was conducted. The analysis of the frequency indicated that, overall, the four-word lexical bundles were more frequently used in the lectures of politics, which suggests that lecturers in politics relied more heavily on the use of multi-word expressions in presenting their disciplinary materials in English. Structurally, the two disciplines were found to use the three main structural categories in a distinctive way. Noun and prepositional phrase fragments were the most frequent structural type used in the lectures of the two disciplines, with of-phrase fragment being the most prevalent sub-category. However, this structure was more favored by the politics lecturers, which is indicative of the fact that the language of the lectures in politics was more varied than those of chemistry. In contrast, dependent clause fragments were more popular among chemistry lecturers. For example, they appeared to use a range of to-clause structures such to look at the or to talk about the in order to attract the students’ attention towards the coming information. The first structural category, verb phrase fragments, was, however, reported to be used almost at a similar rate in the two disciplines. This shows the dependence of academic lectures on the use of a variety of verb phrases to convey their messages in their specific disciplines. Multi-word expressions are commonly used in university lectures. The findings of this study would contribute to the need to learn the structural characteristics of multi-word sequences in general and lexical bundles in specific in order to ease the problem of lecture comprehension, as lexical bundles are building blocks of the academic discourse, contributing to coherence in speech. Therefore, explicit teaching of their structures would be a useful approach in the language classroom to facilitate the acquisition process of these formulaic expressions in academic setting.

References Adel, A., & Erman, B. (2012). Recurrent word combinations in academic writing by native and non-native speakers of English: A lexical bundles approach. English for Specific Purposes 31 (2) 81–92. Biber, D., & Barbieri, F. (2007). Lexical bundles in university spoken and written registers. English for Specific Purposes, 26(3), 263–286. Biber, D., & Conrad, S. (1999). Lexical bundles in conversation and academic prose. In H. Hasselgard & S. Oksefjell (Eds.), Out of corpora (pp. 181–190). Amsterdam: Rodopi. Biber, D., Conrad, S., & Cortes, V. (2004). If you look at . . .: lexical bundles in university teaching and textbooks. Applied Linguistics, 25, 371–405.

IJALEL 3(1):224-230, 2014 230 Cheng, S. W. (2012). That’s it for today: Academic lecture closings and the impact of class size. English for Specific Purposes, 31, 234–248. Cortes, V. (2002). Lexical bundles in published and student academic writing in history and biology. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Northern Arizona University. Cortes, V. (2004). Lexical bundles in published and student disciplinary writing: examples from history and biology. English for Specific Purposes, 23, 397–423. Cortes, V. (2006). Teaching lexical bundles in the disciplines: An example from a writing intensive history class. Linguistics and Education, 17(4), 391–406. Flowerdew, J., & Miller, L. (1997). The teaching of academic listening comprehension and the question of authenticity. English for Specific Purposes, 16(1), 27–46. Hyland, K. (2008). As can be seen: Lexical bundles and disciplinary variation. English for Specific Purposes, 27, 4-21. Jespersen, O. (1924). The philosophy of grammar. London: Allen & Unwin. Khuwaileh, A.A. (1999). The role of chunks, phrases and body language in understanding co-ordinated academic lectures. English for Applied Studies, Jordan University of Science and Technology. 249-260. Neely, E., & Cortes, V. (2009). A little bit about: analyzing and teaching lexical bundles in academic lectures. Language Value, 1(1), 17-38. Nesi, H. , & Basturkmen, H. (2009). Lexical bundles and discourse signalling in academic lectures. Lexical Cohesion and Corpus Linguistics, 17, 23. Thompson, S. E. (2003). Text-structuring metadiscourse, intonation and the signalling of organization in academic lectures. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 2(1), 5–20. Vidal, K. (2003). Academic listening: A source of vocabulary acquisition?. Applied Linguistics, 24(1), 56-89. Young, L. (1994). University lectures – macro-structure and micro-features. In J. Flowerdew (Ed.), Academic listening (pp. 159–176). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

From Slang to Acceptability: Style-Shifting Variation in English Language Usage by Students of CRUTECH, Calabar,

Nigeria

Mercy Ugot

Centre for General Studies

Cross River University of Technology

P.M.B 1123, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria

E-mail: mercyugot@yahoo.com

Received: 01-10-2013 Accepted: 03-12-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.231 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.231 Abstract This paper focuses on informal language usage by students of Cross River University of Technology, Calabar, Nigeria. This includes the use of slang words from primarily the substrate and superstrate language of the mother tongue (MT) and Nigerian Pidgin (NP) respectively. Participant observation was used for this work including lectures and other forums. Focus is on the speech discourse of students. The NP in particular is a contact language which has grown in stature due to factors of relevance as a common language in a pluralistic society like the Cross River State in particular, and Nigeria in general. Its use has also expanded due to urbanization. The MT has been observed to be influential through direct translation of certain expressions. Findings have shown that the informal use of language by the students has inadvertently affected their competence in standard and formal language use. Keywords: Contact language, substrate, speech convergence, slang, style-shifting. 1. Introduction All speeches occur in an interactive context in which interactants–speakers and hearers – make choices from the linguistic system. These include lexical and grammatical choices which express appropriate experiential meaning, that is, meaning concerned with the world of experience (Millar 2007) A continuum of variation is precisely what one usually finds in social context related variation, which is sometimes, referred to as style-shifting (Singleton 2002). In all languages people adjust their language style according to the situation in which communication is taking place and according to the relationship that exists between the participants in the interaction. Secondly, the particular variety or varieties that we use are not imposed on us but rather reflect the models we adopt and attachment affiliations we enter into. Everyone will have been involved in what is usually called style-shifting, that is to say in making relatively subtle changes in the language we use in response to differences in context-adjusting. For example, with regard to the lexical aspects of style-shifting some expressions are relatively neutral in respect of the kinds of contexts in which they are likely to occur. Some are identifiable as unlikely to be used in formal circumstances, whilst others are unlikely to be associated with informal communication. The following examples as cited by Singleton (2000: 122) illustrates this for British English (BE) Formal Neutral Informal 1a) Diminutive Small Teeny-weeny b) Garments Clothes Threads c) Offspring Child Sprog d) Voluminous Large Whopping e) Weep Cry Blub In this paper, we shall focus on the use of slang by CRUTECH students as a style-shifting variation. This style-shifting variation is borne out of a need to communicate at a particular level in an environment where the preferred form of communication is one of formal language usage. This variation is also influenced by the fact that the university community is multilingual in nature. 1.1 Literature Review Slang, according to Holmes (2008) is a somewhat imprecise term used for colloquial informal or non-standard language. An important motivation for language change is to establish and maintain group identity and cohesiveness on the one hand and to signal its distinctiveness from other groups on the other hand. Macgregor (2009) claims that youth and occupational groups often employ some lexical items peculiar to themselves, or give existing lexemes new senses.

IJALEL 3(1):231-239, 2014 232 Youth slangs or jargons distinguish members from older people because they change so rapidly. But it is more than mere fashion that motivates such lexical changes: the fashion serves to distinguish group members from outsiders. All language change has its origin in variation. The possibility of a linguistic change exists as soon as a new form develops and begins to be used alongside an existing form. If the new form (which may be slang) spreads, the change is in progress. If it eventually displaces the old form, the change has gone to completion. One area of vocabulary where this is very easy to see is in the slang words used by young people to mean ‘really good’ in BE. This could be termed as ‘cool’ ‘wicked’. Such words often spread if they have been invented by a popular group such as musicians of popular music. It may survive or be taken over by the next, new word for ‘really good’ (Mcgregor 2009) Akmajian, Demers, Farmer and Harnish (2008) observe that slang is something that everyone can recognize but no one can define. Speakers show enormous creativity in their use of slang. Although a precise definition of slang seems extremely difficult, there are however some salient features of this form of language. Firstly, it is a part of casual, informal style of language use. Furthermore, the term slang has traditionally carried a negative connotation and it is perceived as ‘being low’ and ‘vulgar’ form of language and is deemed to be out of place informal styles of language. Secondly, slang like fashion in clothing and popular music, changes quite rapidly and like fashion the fall out is in a matter of years or even months. According to Millar (2007) this rate of turnover is much greater than other areas of the vocabulary of language. People like to change their speech in much the same way they change their hemlines or neckties. This is particularly noticeable among teenagers for who last year’s clothes and hairstyles can be embarrassing in the same way last year’s speech can also be embarrassing. This awareness is vital since the alternative may be social ostracism. Akmajian et al (2008) observe that specific areas of slang are often associated with a particular social group and hence one can speak of teenage slang, underworld (criminal) slang, the slang of the drug culture and so on. In this respect, slang is a kind of jargon, and its use serves as a mark of membership and solidarity within a given social group. To use out-dated slang or to use current slang inappropriately is to be hopelessly ‘out of date’ and to be excluded from an “in-group”. Slang is sometimes referred to as vernacular(especially when it is associated with a particular social group) and some forms of slang fall under the term colloquialism referring to informal conversational styles of language. These terms however do not carry a negative connotation. Akmajian et al (2008:304) compile slang expressions used by American college students. Word Gloss 2a)Hangin ‘to relax’ b) Hotty ‘physically attractive person’ c) Lamo ‘weird person’ d) Phat ‘good, cool, neat’ e) Peeps ‘parents’ Slang vocabulary often consists of regular vocabulary used in specific ways. For example the words turkey and banana are regular vocabulary items in English and can be used in formal styles with their literal meaning. But in slang they can be used as insults (referring to stupid or foolish people). 3a) He’s such a turkey b) She has gone bananas (Akmajian et al 2008:304) It also consists of words from regular word formation devices used to create new words. For example, slang words can be coined, as was the case for forms such as diddleysquat. He doesn’t know diddleysquat- ‘He doesn’t know anything’. Akamajian et al (2008:305) observe an interesting phenomena in American slang where a suffix –city or –ville is used to create various compound expressions which roughly translate to expressions of maximum concentration or extreme degree. 4a) She cried all night… you know, heartbreak city b) That guy’s really strange – totally weirds-ville. c) What a boring place-talk about nowhere ville. d) We’re in fat city e) What a bummer! It is, like, bug city. Slang use is also of social variation and includes factors of age, ethnicity and even religion. Different generations of speakers often show difference in speech, for instance in use of slang terms such as buck ‘dollar’ ‘wicked’ ‘good’ cool ‘good, up to date’. Some slang terms such as buck, dwindle (of Shakespeare’s time) end up as standard lexemes. Many on the other hand do not survive for long and their use can be characteristic of a particular generation group, the youth of a certain time. A common characteristic of secret registers (which are confined to certain groups) is that in these registers is the replacement of a lexeme by a lexeme opposite in the meaning or nearly opposite in meaning, commonly expressed in slangs as in wicked and sick for ‘good’.

IJALEL 3(1):231-239, 2014 233 Sometimes these changes go hand-in-hand with semantic changes. Semantic changes are not as regular as sound change and are frequently restricted to individual lexemes. Some lexemes develop a pejorative meaning over time: for example silly which from old English meant ‘happy, blessed, blissful’ and took on the meaning ‘humble, simple’ then ‘feeble, weak’ in middle English but is now ‘weak-minded and stupid’ in modern English. The reverse process known as amelioration is seen in a word like ‘knight’ which from old English meant ‘boy’ then shifted to ‘servant’ in middle English and is now ‘a member of noble nobility’ (Mcgregor 2009). Millar (2007) says language change is inevitable. This change is neither in the language resulting in immediate improved communication or as critics often maintain, that most changes represent nothing more than ‘sloppiness’ or ‘corruption’. If the spectacular collection of changes which English has undergone in the last thousand years or so were really mostly ‘corruptions’ of an originally unsullied tongue, then modern English would be so debased that we would hardly be able to use it at all. Language change according to Millar (2007) therefore is best observed in the difference between spoken and written French. The French Academy set up to maintain the proper use of the French language has failed to keep up with spoken French. Millar (2007:12) cites George (1993) who gives examples of contemporary French spoken mostly by young people. 5a) ‘These clothes are very expensive Written: Ces vêtements coûtent très chers Spoken: Cesfringuescoûtent la peau des fesses b)My brother is very good at arithmetics Written: Mon frère est très fort en arithmétique. Spoken: Le frangin, ilestgiga fort en cunu. c) ‘There’s the woman whose bag was stolen’ Written: Voila la femme a qui on a volé le sac Spoken: Vla la meuf qui s’est fait péta son keus Millar (2007) goes on to postulate that a French speaker learning English for example must learn to say ‘bloody car won’t start’ and not “I fear our motor car is declining to start”. Changes in language therefore are often brought about first through speech acts. Apart from fashion, change in language is also brought about by borrowing which can be done for necessity where an original word in the language doing the borrowing does not have that word. For instance, technological words which are often maintained into but the sound of the language may be placed on it following the ordinary phonological patterns of the borrowing language. Borrowing may also be done for prestige as the borrowing did by English for French words, even though they had their own words which were replaced by French words (Millar 2007). 2. The Linguistic Map of Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH). CRUTECH is situated in the Cross River State capital, Calabar. The university is a microcosm of the state as students from all 18 Local Government Areas converge on the University for their Higher Studies. The Cross River State itself is situated within the South South geo-political zone of Nigeria. Other students come from neighbouring states within the zone from states such as Akwa-ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Rivers and Edo. From the South-East states students come from states such as Abia, Imo and Ebonyi states. Others come from as far off as Lagos-some of which may be indigenous to Cross River but reside in Lagos. And yet there is a sprinkling of Yoruba students from the South West states including Ekiti, Oyo, Ondo etc. The student body could therefore be said to be mostly from Southern Nigeria.

2.1 The indigenous languages spoken by the students From such a wide area, a melee of languages is being spoken on the campus. These include students’ indigenous languages which from the South-South geopolitical zone include a wide variety as this is where the majority of Nigeria’s minority languages are spoken. In Cross River State we have languages such as Efik, Bekwarra and Ejagham which are the three state languages. Others are Lokaa, Leggbo, Yala, Bokyi, Mbembe, Mbube. Yet others include clusters such as the Agwagune cluster, the Bette cluster etc. There are roughly 37 languages and a network of dialects in Cross River State (Udoh 2003). Two major sub groups exist in the North of the State-Bendi and Upper Cross all of which belong to the Benue-Congo family following Crozier/Blench (1992) classification. The lower Cross speakers in the state include Efik, Ito and Ukwa. The Upper-Cross sub group is the largest covering several LGAs from Obubra LGA to Biase LGA which include four LGAs. Other sub groups include Idomoid and Bantoid sub-groups, spoken further north in the state from Ikom LGA to Obudu LGA. From neighbouring Akwa-Ibom state,Essien (1990), Urua (2000), all endorse the umbrella term Ibibiod for a variety of cluster of languages which are of the Lower Cross group and which share a common history and are all genetically related. There is a high level of mutual intelligibility among the speech groups in the Lower Cross language group. Akwa-Ibom state is made up of 21 varieties of the Lower Cross Group of languages with the most marked variety being Obolo which is also spoken in Rivers State (Crozier & Blench 1992).

IJALEL 3(1):231-239, 2014 234 In other South-South States, Ijaw is spoken throughout Bayelsa State with pockets of Edo Group in the State. The Ijoidgroup are divided into Izon, Nembe-Akaha and Inland Ijo clusters while Edoid languages are made up of Southern Edoid, Delta Edoid and Central Edoid (Efere& Williamson 1999:95-107). Therefore, inspite of the dominance of Ijo, the state is a linguistically heterogenous state (Akpo 2003). The Ijo language cuts across the five states of Rivers, Delta, Edo, Bayelsa and Ondo States, but Bayelsa has the widest varieties. Obih (2003) cites four linguistic representations in Delta State. Each of these has varieties with some having more diversity than others. The Edoid group includes Urhobo and Isoko among others. The Ijoid is spoken in Bomadi, Burutu and Patani LGAs. The Igboid has Ika as the variety represented in Delta and is spoken in roughly 9 LGAs. Delta is also a heterogenous State. Although Edo (Bini) is the dominant language spoken in Edo State it has several varieties including the Ishan group of varieties, Urhobo and Isoko dialects. There is more diversity in the northern part of the state which includes Edoid, Ijoid, Yoruboid and Igboid (Ibifake 2003). Rivers State has 23 LGAs, 12 ethnic groups and 6 major linguistic sub-groups have been classified. These include Ijoid, Lower Niger (Igboid),Ogoni, Central Delta, Delta-Edoid and Lower Cross. None can be regarded as the dominant language. However, the larger language communities are Izon (Ijo group) Ikwerre (Lower Niger group) Khana and Gokana (Ogoni group) (Udofia 2003). The Yoruba language belongs to the yoruboid group with variations which are dialects. It is one of Nigeria’s 3 major languages. It is spoken widely in the South-West comprising seven states including Lagos state. 2.2 The English language This is spoken widely in the university campus by all students. Passing the English language examination at the West African school Certificate level WASC or ’O’ level and passing it at the university entrance examination, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) exam is a prerequisite for entering the University to do any undergraduate studies. The English language is Nigeria’s official language, it is also the language used in all important spheres of the society. It is used formally in administration, in education it is the language of instruction, in business, in religion, in the media and in many social activities. The English language enjoys institutional support. Students therefore have no choice but to be proficient in the English language and so it is used in their studies and in general interaction. 2.3 The Nigerian Pidgin (NP) The Pidgin, according to Todd (1978) is essentially a communication system that develops among people who do not share a common language. It is also viewed as a self-imposed language that cuts across ethnic, cultural political and psychological barriers (Ejele 2003). NP came about as a result of language contact since it is a product of urbanization (Mafemi 1972). In spite of the fact that English is the official institutionalized language of the university, the NP thrives as a more acceptable language of communication among the student population. Its acceptability in the university is further enhanced by the heterogeneous nature of the campus’s sociolinguistic space which is basically a reflection of what exists in the wider national sociolinguistic space. The Nigerian pidgin is particularly influenced not just by English (the superstrate) but by local languages too (the substrates). According to Mafeni (1972) NP is made up of 70% English words and 30% local languages as a result of language contact. Elugbe (1995:286) sees this combination as “the vocabulary of the NP is English while its grammar is Nigerian. Ejele (2003), observes that students and lecturers alike speak NP.Okon (2003) observes that NP dominates the speech patterns of undergraduates in tertiary institutions and that they speak better NP than English. Okon (2003) observes that the NP is a language accepted and recognized by all Nigerians at all levels of education and class as an effective language of communication and serves in many functions such as in the media for news broadcasts, current affairs, advertisement, socio-political and economic discussions and activities. NP is used in almost all state radios as Elugbe and Omamor (1991:148) observe that “any broadcast in NP would reach more people than English, Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo singly”. 3. Theoretical Framework and Methodology This work is based on the theory of speech accommodation. According to Mcgregor (2009) speech accommodation is a way of reducing the social distance between the interlocutors. Crystal (2003) says the accommodation theory aims to explain why people modify their style of speaking (accommodate) to become more like or less like that of their addressee(s). For example, among the reason why people converge towards speech patterns of their listener are the desires to identify more closely with the listener, to win social approval or simply to increase the communicative efficiency of the interaction. There is the application of the accommodation theory and speech convergence as the students tend to lean towards sounding the same way not just in use of words but also in pronunciation. Their speech therefore converges towards the speech of their fellow students. There is therefore speech accommodation, brought about by their interactions, associating often at different levels – clubs, sports, at the department, in the hostel etc. This accommodation and convergence is played out in the use of slang language among the students. Most of these slang expressions are derived from different sources as will be seen in our discussion. However, most of the slang expressions are also expressed in Nigerian Pidgin, a restricted code, which according to the British sociolinguist Basil Bernstein as cited by Singleton (2000:113) is the code of intimacy. The situation in the university campus clearly calls for restricted code of intimacy

IJALEL 3(1):231-239, 2014 235 among the students who share so many experiences in the same environment and this bond is further cemented by using NP which is a language of intimacy among them in spite of the official language English or their individual indigenous languages. This intimacy is further reflected in slang usage which serves as a ‘code’ and can exclude the situation of formal learning and the elaborate code of standard English (SE) in more formal situations. Data for this study were obtained primarily through “naturally occurring casual speech” (Kadenge and Mavunga 2010) from informal groups on the campus. We also employed participant observation in very casual and naturalistic settings. Although the interactions were naturalistic and casual, a total controlled number of 100 students were involved in the study. Interactions were limited to undergraduate students in the Calabar campus. They included 60 male and 40 female students. This fell within the ratio of the student population. However, within the faculties there were more female students in the study from the faculties of Education and Communication technology. Students fell within the age range of 16 to 22 years, from 100 level to 400 level in their respective departments. Students were selected from five Faculties of Science, Engineering, Education, Communication Technology and Environmental Studies. 4. Discussion and Analysis Among Nigerian youths generally and those from the south-south geo-political zone in particular there is a clear gradual language shift from the indigenous language to NP and Nigerian English (NE) among their peers. Within these usages the NP is highly favoured and there is an intense use of slangs from the NP which is developing into standard vocabulary for the youths. According to Holmes (2008) this usage also serves as a form of acceptability among peers, being able to speak the appropriate language. It all comes down to domain and some specific social factors in order to determine a code choice. The social distance among the youths does not apply as they all fall within the same social distance irrespective of whether they are friends, strangers or even siblings. The use of slang particularly NP slangs are a way of social bonding. Slang forms therefore act as solidarity markers for these youths, as if they were in the same social class, (Singleton 2000). Slang is an area of vocabulary which reflects a person’s age, (Holmes 2008). Slang therefore introduces new vocabulary or forms of words. This is what was discovered among the students of CRUTECH campus, Calabar, as we examine the language and origins of these slang usage. 4.1 Multilingualism, Code-switching and Code-mixing in CRUTECH Students on CRUTECH campus, as mentioned earlier, come from mostly the southern half of Nigeria. This includes Lagos and Delta state which are the hot beds of new vocabulary into NP usage. Lagos has an influential status on NP usage. It is the meeting point for people of diverse socio-cultural and educational backgrounds. Given these differences, NP serves as the most suitable bridge for the people’s communication gap. (Abdullahi-Idiagbon;2007). However, other languages are used in the campus and this is highly reflected inconstant code-switching and code-mixing The major factors that crop up in a multilingual campus like CRUTECH are those of code-switching and code-mixing. According to Hudson (2001) anyone who speaks more than one language chooses between them according to circumstances. The first consideration is which one will be comprehensible to the person he addresses. In a multilingual community such as CRUTECH, different languages are always used in different circumstances and the choice is always controlled by social rules. In CRUTECH the different codes are used as follows: SE for lectures, within and outside the classroom with those in authority, in offices to see to the everyday running of one’s affairs. The student however switches code to NP when speaking to his fellow students particularly his peers in his level. If he is not familiar with a particular student, he speaks to him in SE and if he discovers within the course of the interaction that the other person is from his linguistic community, he switches to his language (MT/LI). Within a day the student may have used at least four codes including NP, NE, SE and MT/LI. He addresses his lecturer in class 6a) Sir, is there a deadline for the assignment? At the bursary department he encounters an unknown fellow student who is rather slow on the queue. b) Why don’t you just hand in your teller? We are all running late. As he gets frustrated, he switches to NP c) Bros, abeg do quick, man get to comot here ‘Brother, please hurry. One needs to get out of here’. On leaving the bursary, he runs into his friend and classmate and hails him d) Hey, badoo! How far? You just land? ‘Hey how are you? You just got here?’ Badoo is a slang word from baddest, also a slang word which has the opposite meaning of best. It is mostly used by yahoo boys to hail one who has fooled a maga. According to Ugot (2009:234) maga is someone who has been fooled into parting with his money. On getting back to the hostel where he shares a room with someone from his linguistic community, he switches to his MT/LI (Agwagune, a language spoken in Biase Local Government area of Cross River State), to complain of hunger. 7e) Mómérézìbànì ‘I’m hungry’

IJALEL 3(1):231-239, 2014 236 These are all situational code switching because the switching coincides with changes from one external situation to another. We have a case of code-mixing which is also very common on campus. This is a linguistic cocktail and could be a balance of two or more languages used all at once. In (8a) we have a case of one student yelling instructions to a fellow student. 8a) Hey bros! Abeg help me carry that bag. Be careful O! I have some delicate things there. Wetin naa? how you dey jack am so?! ‘Hey brother! Please help me carry that bag. Be careful, I have some delicate things there. What’s this? Why are you lifting it up roughly?’ He starts with NP then SE, then back to NP. Note that the expression ‘o’ is inserted where we have SE usage. This immediately puts an NE slant to it as this expression is common in NP and NE usage. 9a) Yes o! b) Sorry o! c) Na wa o! Where ‘o’ could mean anything from a plea as used in (8a) to an emphatic reply as in (9a), a commiseration as in (9b) or a surprise as in (9c) etc. Such code-mixing could be found strictly in one sentence. 10a)Chineke God, see you, na so so chop chop you sabi, nàñásì? Igbo SE NE NP AGWAGUNE ‘God, look at you, you only know how to eat, don’t you?!’ In (10a) the speaker starts with Igbo and veers into NE then NP and ends up with Agwagune his MT/LI. The word God in Igbo also repeated in English is a common expression normally used in NP. In (10b) the speaker chastises another student who is being a nuisance. 10b) Joo, comot for road. Haba, I tire for you. ‘Please get out of the way. I am tired of you. Expressions such as joo and haba are Yoruba and Hausa respectively where joois ‘please’ and haba is simply an expression of surprise, frustration and sometimes disbelief depending on the context. 4.2 Slang Usage from the Genre of music Lagos is the state with the highest number of musicians. The influence of musicians, in spreading slangs among the youths is over-whelming and some of these NP slangs have been incorporated from the Yoruba language as Lagos is the most influential in the Yoruba speaking south west geo-political zone. This, in a nutshell, accounts for a considerable number of Yoruba words and slangs found in the NP, coming from music in particular and other usages. Lagos influence therefore affects the use of NP slang on most Nigerian campuses and CRUTECH as well. Let us look at some NP slangs in use from current Nigerian popular music and some Yoruba words incorporated there in. Ugot (2009) points out that NP features prominently in contemporary Nigerian music with new words coined and adopted into the lexicon of NP. Nigeria also churns out a number of artists in popular music and this has helped to swell the lexicon of NP. Let us examine some of the slang expressions used by CRUTECH students. Expression Gloss 11a) Oluwa is involved ‘God is there’ b)Berry pondise ‘On that” c)Kush ‘Indian hemp’ d) SK/Street king/Skunk ‘Indian hemp, marijuana’ e) Blau ‘to smoke Indian hemp’ f)Long tin ‘No problem’ g) Omobabalawo “boss” Literally ‘child of medicine man’ (11a) and (11b) are both taken from songs by the musician wizkid. The expression in (11a) is used in reply to questions relating to one’s health or examinations. Oluwa is Yoruba for ‘God’. (11c), (11d) and (11e) are lifted from American rap music into NP lexicon. Also from the genre of music and reflecting Nigeria’s multilingualism from the Local community of Calabar and its environ comes the following Word Gloss 12a) Etighi ‘Literally ‘Okra’’ b) Kukere ‘Do not worry’ c) MfunaIbagha ‘No problem’ (12a) and (12b) are names of a dance and song respectively. (12c) is also from a popular musician, Tuface, and is Ibibio spoken in neighbouring Akwa-Ibom State.

IJALEL 3(1):231-239, 2014 237 4.3 Slang expressions from Lagos and Delta States From Lagos, words in the NP slang lexicon used by students include Word Gloss 13a) No lele ‘No problem’ b) Carry go ‘Go ahead’ c) Chassis ‘It’s okay, correct’ d) No dulling/No sleeping on the bicycle ‘Be sharp, lively’ e) Shekpe ‘Alcohol’ f) Notin spoil ‘No problem’ g) Notin do you ‘You’re alright’ h) Your fada ‘You are not serious’ I) No be beans ‘It’s not easy’ In (13h) this expression is used especially if the other person is perceived to be telling a lie in an argument. The expression was once highly offensive but has since evolved from a serious abuse of one’s father to a light hearted reprimand. Warri NP which is also from Delta State, is very strong in NP general usage. This is because the NP in Warri is practically creolized (Mafeni 1972). The Warri variety is spoken by a large number of people in southern Nigeria. It is also highly productive in supplying new vocabulary to the NP lexicon. Here are some examples of NP slang of the Warri variety spoken on the camps. Word Gloss 14a) Yawa ‘Trouble/problem’ b) Kolo ‘Mentally deranged’ c) Yawa dongas ‘There’s trouble brewing’ d) Kasala ‘Trouble, problem’ e) Kasala don burst ‘There’s trouble’ f) Form ‘Pose’ g) Chicala ‘Girlfriend’ h) Tank ‘Drink’ i) Butty ‘From Ajebota ’A rich kid’, literally “one who eats butter” j) Carry shoulda/ Show bodi ‘proud’ k) Nakakpako ‘have sex’ l) Tomashanko ‘locally brewed gin’ 4.4 Slang usage from campus cults and societies Not all slang in NP derives their source from the Lagos influence. Some slangs are exclusively used by cliques of students who belong to particular cults or societies, although the expressions used openly finally find their way into the general students vocabulary. Some of the vocabulary are therefore highly technical and can only be understood by those “who belong”, the associates or initiated. Slang in this perspective normally generates negative impressions from the non-aligned students and other members of the campus community. Such expressions are hardly used by the general student body. However, others have gained currency into the vocabulary and include Expression Gloss 15a) Wetin be your logo? ‘Identify yourself, who are you?’ b) The guy don gaz ‘The man is dead’ c) Shine your eye well well ‘Be vigilant/careful/observant’ d) Chill ‘Be calm” e) Fashy de guy ‘Ignore the man/lady’ These are expressions that are now common usage and (11c) in particular is now in use not just by the youths all over Nigeria but by adults as well and has been used in an advert by The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC) a Nigerian government agency that raises awareness on fake drugs. Expression Gloss 16a) Jazz down ‘Kneel down’ b) Bloody civilians ‘Non cultist’ This is an expression from the military era in Nigeria.

IJALEL 3(1):231-239, 2014 238 c) On the high sea ‘Not around’ d) Typhoon blasted sailor ‘Someone in a high position’ The core register of the initiated was difficult to come by, as students were not willing to openly admit being in the cult. 4.5 Slang Usage from the Language of Technology Students make up slangs from the language of technology and these are very current among the student population. They are mostly to do with the use of the computer and include Expression Gloss 17a) Abeg delete yourself ‘Please leave here’ b) Why your brain no dey boot? ‘You are not using your brain’ c) Men, I don shut down for the day ‘I’m done for the day’ d) Abeg, log in ‘Please join me’ (usually used to invite someone to eat) e) Log out ‘Stop talking’ (from an argument) 4.6 The Creative versatility of NP slang It is observed that there may be several slang words or expressions with the same meaning. Sometimes they may be coming from different sources as in all the expression for ‘no problem’. See (11f, 13a, 13f) or the students’ versatility in borrowing words for marijuana/indian hemp as in (11c) (11d) (11e). The students’ versatility is also reflected in the number of greetings depicting practically the same sense. 18a) Which level? b) Wa gwan? c) Wetin de sup? d) Waz up? All practically mean ‘what’s happening?/What’s going on?’ While e) How far? f) How you dey? g) How now? Are all greetings of ‘How are you?’ h) Badoo! i) Hey Bros! j) Hey, my guy! Are all ways of just hailing a friend. 5. Conclusion On the positive side, slang usage in NP has helped to build up the vocabulary of the language in that some do manage to slip past the slang stage and are accepted into current usage. This has been the case of many words and expressions prior to this. However, it is believed that the majority of these words and expressions will die out as the next crop of youths /students who fall within the age group that use new slang words come up with their own forms. Unfortunately, many of the youths / students tend to forget that this is not standard English and sometimes use these slang expressions in their everyday studies and communication. Therefore, using it as if it were standard English in studies is highly detrimental. Again there are those who argue that constant use of NP is also detrimental to one’s capacity to speak ‘good’ English. We agree with Wardhaugh (1986:55) who asserts that pidgin is not a ‘bad’ variety of a language but has its own legitimacy, that is, its own history, structure and array of functions. The versatility of students and youths in general in coming up with innovative expressions to introduce into the NP lexicon is nothing short of amazing. This vibrancy in the language is due to the ability to find new forms to suit daily needs in language use. We have also witnessed the origin of some of these new expressions that all come in as slang expressions. There is a need however for students to maintain their situational code-switching so that they can discern when it is appropriate to use a particular code. It is now up to Linguists to be able to know the difference between slang expressions and non-slang in the process of codification and standardization of the NP.

IJALEL 3(1):231-239, 2014 239 References Abdullahi-Idiagbon, M.S. (2007). The sociolinguistics of Nigerian Pidgin (English) on university campuses. In D. Adeyanju (ed) Sociolinguistics in the Nigerian context. Pp 201-218. Ile-Ife: Obafemi Awolowo press Adeyanju, D. (2007). Slang usage in educated Nigerian English: A sociolinguistic overview. In D Adeyanju (ed) Sociolinguistics in the Nigerian context. Pp 265-277. Ile-Ife: Obafemi Awolowo press Akmajian. A. Demers, R. A. Farmer, A. R & Harnish R. M (2008) Linguistics: An introduction to language and communication. New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India. Akpo. R. (2003). Bayelsa State. In I.I. Udoh (ed) The languages of the south south zone of Nigeria; A geo-political Profile Pp40-50. Lagos: Concept publications. Crozier, D. H. & Blench R. M. (1992). An index of Nigerian languages. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics Crystal, D. (2003). A dictionary of linguistics and phonetics. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Efere, E. E. & Williamson, K. (1999). Languages: In E. J. Alagoa (ed) The land and people of Bayelsa State: Central Niger-Delta Pp 95-107. Port Harcourt: Onyoma Research Publications Ejele, P.E. (2003). Language use in a multilingual society: An update on the Nigerian situation. In O. Essien & M. Okon (eds) Topical issues in sociolinguistics. The Nigerian perspective. Pp 111-113. Aba: National Institute for Nigerian Languages (NINLA). Elugbe, B.(1995). Nigerian pidgin: Problems and prospects. In A. Bamgbose & A. Thomas (eds) New Englishes: A West African perspective. Pp284-299. Ibadan: Mosuro (British Council). Essien, O. E. (1990). A grammar of the Ibibio Language. Ibadan: University Press Limited Holmes, J. (2008). An introduction to sociolinguistics. Essex: Pearson Education Limited Hudson, R. A (2001). Sociolinguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kadenge, M. & Mavunga, G. (2010). Shona metaphors created during the Zimbabwe crisis: A cognitive grammar analysis Linguist Atlantica 31, 1-21 Mafeni, B. (1972). Nigerian Pidgin. In J. Spencer (ed) The English language in West Africa. Pp London: Longman Books Limited. Mcgregor, W. B. (2009). Linguistics: An introduction. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. Millar, R. M. (ed) (2007) Trask’s historical linguistics. London: Hodder Education. Okon, B. (2003) Communication and social perception of the Nigerian Pidgin in Cross River State. In O. Essien and M. Okon (eds) Topical issues in sociolinguistics: The Nigerian perspective .Pp 403-417. Aba: National Institute for Nigerian Languages (NINLA). Singleton, D. (2000) Language and the lexicon: An introduction. London: Oxford University Press. Todd, L. (1984) Modern Englishes: Pidgins and Creoles. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Inc. Udoh, I.I .(2003) The Languages of the Cross River State of Nigeria. Uyo journal of humanities. 8. 87-109. Ugot, M (2009) Lexical pidgin innovations in contemporary Nigerian popular music. Oniong: A contemporary journal of interdisciplinary studies. I (I) 225-238 Urua, E.E. (2000) Ibibio phonetics and phonology. Cape Town: Center for Advanced Studies of African Society. Wardhaugh, R. (1986) An introduction to sociolinguistics. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Inc.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Self-regulation from Educational Psychology to L2 Pedagogy: an Alternative to Language Learning Strategies

Maryam Banisaeid (Corresponding author)

School of International Studies, Zhejiang University

Zijingang Campus, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, PR China, 310058

Tel: 15382320064 E-mail: banymary@yahoo.com

Jianbin Huang

School of International Studies, Zhejiang University

Zijingang Campus, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, PR China, 310058

Tel: 13185030966 E-mail: jianbinhuang32@126.com

Received: 24-10-2013 Accepted: 05-12-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.240 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.240 Abstract Language learning strategy was the focus of many studies during the last two decades. Because of definitional fuzziness and unreliable instrument, the concept of language learning strategy was replaced by self-regulation in educational psychology. Subsequently, this shift affected L2 research. The notion of self-regulation is used in some L2 studies today (Tseng, Dörnyei & Schmitt, 2006; Rose, 2011b, Banisaeid, 2013a, 2013b). Self-regulation is more process-oriented while language learning strategy is more product-oriented. Although it only encompasses the metacognitive strategy, the general domain of it is meaningfully wider than the strategic framework. It covers some aspects in the learning process as motivation, goals and self-efficacy. Keywords: self-regulation, language learning strategy, L2 studies, educational psychology 1. Introduction After more than two decades research on language learning strategies, it is believed that strategic framework should be replaced by self-regulated learning (Tseng, Dörnyei & Schmitt, 2006; Rose, 2011a, Dörnyei, 2005).

Although the theoretical inconsistencies surrounding the learning strategy literature in general had been known since the early days, it was not at all unreasonable that the L2 field showed remarkable tolerance of these shortcomings. (Dörnyei, 2005, p. 169)

He also concludes that learning strategy renders a shift not only in educational psychology in favor of the self-regulation, but also in L2 research. 2. Language learning strategies The first attempt that led to some very careful defining of specific learning strategies came from works on poor and good learners and individual variations by Rubin and Stern in the mid 1970s (Brown, 2000). This beginning point was then followed by many other scholars who tried to shaped different classifications of language learning strategies (O’malley & Chamot, 1989; Oxford, 1990, Nation, 1990; Dornyei, 1995) Ellis (1994) emphasizes on the mediating role of strategy between learners and situational factors and learning outcomes. He defined learning strategy as “the particular approaches or techniques that learners employ to try to learn an L2” (1997, P. 76-77). Although there are many definitions for language learning strategies (Rubin, 1975; Stern; 1975, 1986, 1992; Naiman, Fröhlich. Stern & Todesco, 1978; Tarone ,1981; Chamot ,1987; Weinstein & Mayer ,1986; Wenden ,1987; Schmeck ,1988; O‟Malley & Chamot ,1990; Oxford ,1990; Ellis ,1994; Ridley ,1997; Cohen ,1998; Purpura ,1999; Goh ,1998, 2002), Ellis (1994) lists some problems underlying these definition:

1. It is not clear that learning strategy is something mental or behavioral. 2. There is considerable uncertainty on the precise nature of the behavior. 3. It is not clear that learning strategies are to be seen as conscious and intentional or subconscious. 4. Whether learning strategies are seen as having a direct or indirect effect on interlanguage progress. 5. There are differences in opinions about what motivated the use of learning strategies.

IJALEL 3(1):240-244, 2014 241 Rose (2011a, 2011b) declares that language learning strategy classification system is criticized regarding definitional fuzziness and invalid and unreliable research instrument. Dörnyei (2005) notes that based on the strategy theory, the quality of the employed strategies are important in the strategy use, while in Strategy Inventory for Language Learning, it is the quantity that matters:

“Thus, the scales in the SILL are not cumulative and computing mean scale scores is psychometrically not justifiable. A high score on the SILL is achieved by a learner using as many different strategies as possible and therefore it is largely the quantity that matters. This is in contradiction with strategy theory, which has indicated clearly that in strategy use it is not necessarily the quantity but the quality of the employed strategies that is important….all this means that although the SILL may be a useful instrument for raising student awareness of L2 learning strategies and for initiating class discussions, its use for research purposes is questionable (p.182-183)”

These problems in the framework of language learning strategies make some scholars to think about replacing it with self-regulation (Dornyei, 2005; Rose, 2011a; Tseng et. al., 2006). Dörnyei (2005) expresses the differences between self-regulation and language learning strategy. Self-regulation is process oriented while language learning strategy is product oriented. The former is a dynamic concept that has a broader perspective. He believes that self-regulation is a more general term for learning strategy use. The term learning strategy was replaced by the more versatile concept of self-regulation (Dörnyei, 2005, p. 170) 3. A brief history of self-regulation Self-regulated learning is a newly derived topic from educational psychology to language learning field. It was first introduced in 1978 by Vygotsky’s works on children learning and cognitive development (Duckworth, Rodie Akerman, Salter, MacGregor, Vorhaus, 2009). Johnson (2004) states:

Cognitive development requires that the child move from reliance on others to reliance on his or her inner speech, in which the control over his or her mental functioning takes place. The beginning of the child’s quest for self-regulation and cognitive independence is signaled by the emergence of egocentric speech—a vocalized form of inner speech—in which the first attempt at self-regulation emerges (p.113)

Different terms as self-directness, self-control and autonomy are used for self-regulation (Bnadura, 1991). During 1980s and 1990s, there were numbers of studies trying to shape its aspects, phases and models especially those by Bandura, Pintrich and Zimmerman (Duckworth et al., 2009). In the following years of self-regulation emergence, it becomes more goal-oriented and specific rather than a general idea in children learning and skill development. For many years, self-regulation was investigated in different fields as language disorder (LD), ADHD, impaired brain, giftness and also in academic contexts as math, writing and other disciplines (Carver & Scheir, 1981). ). Self-regulation can be traced in pedagogy as well as educational psychology. At first, self-regulation was used to regulate learning for academic purposes (e.g. academic achievement) but these days, although with some difficulties, a number of studies focus on its concept in specific areas of second language learning as reading, writing, vocabulary and even critical thinking (Ammar, 2009; Banisaeid, 2013a; Pratontep & Chinwonno, 2008; Ramezani, 2009; Tseng, Dorniye & Schmitt, 2006). 3.1 Self-regulation in educational psychology Since learning is defined as changes in behavior, the educational psychology deals with self-regulation from a socio cognitive perspective in which not only the person itself but also the feedback from the environment affects learning. Williams and Burden (1997) present different theories of learning, two of which are cognitive and social interaction theories. Self-regulation gets its meaning from these two theories. While cognitive theories regards learners as active meaning makers and problem solvers, social interaction theories view learning as a results of interaction between teachers, learners and tasks (Williams & Burden, 1997). Bandura (1991) states “in social cognitive theory human behavior is extensively motivated and regulated by the ongoing exercise of self-influence” (p. 248). He presents a model of self-regulatory system through which learners are to self-monitor, judge upon their behavior and give affective self-reaction. Schunk and Zimmerman (1997) state that “as students observe their own performances, they judge them against goal standards and react to those judgments” (p.3).

From Vygodsky’s (1978) point of view on children acquisition and development, until now, numbers of self-regulation models have been presented. Terry (2002) present five theories regarding self-regulation respectively: socio-cognitive model, the metacognitive model, volitional control, Constructivist theory and Vygotskyian theories.

1. Socio cognitive theory of self-regulation as Zimmerman’s, is broader than metacognitive skills and includes behavioral, social-behavioral sources of influence and subsequently it may affect environment and personal processes. Based on this view, self-regulation includes learner’s beliefs (goal setting and self-efficacy) and self-regulated learning strategies and processes (of socio cognitive theories include self-observation, self-judgment, and self-reaction).

IJALEL 3(1):240-244, 2014 242 2. Metacognitive model deals with cognition and affection and its main focus is on metacognition. While these two models are somehow similar, they differ in the presence of human agency 3. Volitional theories, the third model of self-regulation theories, are based on information processing model like metacognitive theory and do not involve human agency or “self”. 4. Constructivist theories describe how people transform and organize reality according to common intellectual principles as a result of interactions with the environment 5. The internalization of higher psychological functions that is inner speech is the view of Vygodsky on self-regulation and is the underlying construct of self-regulation when dealing with the knowledge and self-control in the social interaction (Terry, 2002, p. 45)

The general framework of self-regulation includes four main assumptions: 1. Learners are actively participating in their own learning i.e. goals, and strategies from the information in the

external and internal environment. 2. The second underlies the roles of learners in a general framework for self-regulated Learning in monitoring,

controlling, and regulating their cognition, motivation and behavior and environment. 3. Third, there should be some standards or criterion to reach 4. fourth deals with the mediatory role between person and context and performance (Wolters and Pintrich and

Karabenick, 2003, p.3) By the mentioned assumptions, self-regulation is defined as:

“an active, constructive process whereby learners set goals for their learning and then attempt to monitor, regulate, and control their cognition, motivation, and behavior, guided and constrained by their goals and the contextual features in the environment and the self-regulatory activities can mediate the relations between individuals and the context and their overall achievement” (Wolters et al., 2003, p.5).

Zimmerman (1989) on the other hand defines self-regulation as” the degree that the learners are metacognitively, motivationally and behaviorally active participants in their own learning process (p. 1). In general, metacgognitively includes self-monitoring, motivationally involves affective self-reaction and behaviorally is the judgment of behavior. 3.2 Self-regulated learning strategies In the self-regulation framework, there are some strategies that shape it. For checking the learners’ uses of self-regulated strategies, Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, and McKeachie (1991) developed a new version of Motivated Strategies for learning questionnaire. In their model, motivation is linked to self-regulation and includes two main parts: motivation and learning strategies scales. Learning strategies scale includes cognitive and metacogintive strategies and resource management strategies. The former consists of strategies of rehearsal, elaboration, organization, critical thinking, metacognitive self-regulation and the latter includes time and study environment, effort regulation, peer learning, help seeking. Pintrich and his associates’ (1991) attempt in educational psychology leading to the formation of MSLQ that today is used in some language learning research. 3.3 Self-regulation in L2 studies Not only the term “self-regulation was borrowed from educational psychology, but also the questionnaires and scales measuring self-regulation is used in second language field. Banisaeid (2013b) works on 49 Chinese EFL learners’ use of language learning strategy and self-regulation. She uses SILL and MSLQ respectively proposed by Oxford (1990) and Pintrich et al (1991). The finding of the study shows that there is a significant relationship between language learning strategy use and self-regulation. Nikoopour, Salimian, Salimian & Farasani (2012) declare that “language learning strategies are one of the cognitive variables that are highly associated with success and achievement (p. 1277)”. So the learners who use more language learning strategies are more self-regulated and successful. Tseng et al (2006) try to find a new approach for assessing strategic behavior in vocabulary learning with regards to self-regulation through three phases. At the first phase, they elaborate on five facets of self-regulation and develop the item pool by item-generating process.

1. Commitment control 2. Metacognitive control 3. Satiation control 4. Emotion control 5. Environment control (p. 87).

8 strategies under the category of metacognitive control were found. Dörnyei (2001) defines metacognition control from action control mechanisms (self-regulation) in process model of L2 motivation as “strategies for monitoring and controlling concentration and for curtailing unnecessary procrastination” (p.25). Although, Liu (2009) mentions that self-regulatory capacity vocabulary scale in Tseng et al. (2006), can serve as a diagnosis tool for self-regulatory

IJALEL 3(1):240-244, 2014 243 capacity in English language learning, Banisaeid (2013a) found no relationship between metacognitive-based vocabulary learning and self-regulation. 4. Discussion and Conclusion Dornyie (2005) declares that not only strategic framework has some problematic areas, but also self-regulatory mechanisms carry the same problems. As it was mentioned, the origin of self-regulation refers to the educational psychology in which many theories of second language learning and first language acquisition come from. But the numbers of research in the field of self-regulated language learning are rare and the reasons are:

1. There is no straightforward definition of self-regulation (Duckworth et,. al, 2009) and also it is new construct rooted in Vygotsky’s (1978) work on children in regulating their own learning.

2. How this psychological concept may be added to the language learning and teaching when it is not clear that the self-regulation itself is a strategy, skill or competence.

• Since children develop the concept of self-regulation, it can be called a competence. • Since some strategies are added to it such as metacognitive one, it can be named a strategy. • Since according to Zimmerman (2006), all the writing processes are self-regulatory, it is also called a

skill to be taught. 3. Some may conflict SR with language learning strategies because of the overlapping parts i.e. metacognitive

strategies. While the former is more process oriented, the latter is more product oriented (Tsen et al. 2006). There are also some problems in defining language learning strategies themselves (Dornyei, 2005; Ellis, 1994; Tseng et al., 2006).

4. Although Pintrich and Degroot (1990), Zimmerman and Martinez-ponz (1988) and Tseng et al. (2006) use questionnaires and interviews for self-regulated learning, as stated by Pintrich (2004) “The MSLQ only measures a small portion of the potential self-regulatory strategies suggested by the model” (p. 400).

Self-regulation includes learning different strategies. Metacognitive strategies (how to set goals, evaluate, plan and monitor one’s learning) as well as some affective factors such motivation and self-efficacy are part of it. So in the field of language learning, it can be a kit of strategies but not as comprehensive as the one in language learning strategies classifications by Oxford (1990) or Omally and Chamot (1989). It also includes motivational beliefs and self-efficacy that are different from motivation questioned and interviewed in Dornyie’s works. Self-regulated learning is to train, improve and develop the sense of self-efficacy and motive learners in their own language learning. Any attempt to motive the learners toward their achievement (e.g. learning how to write in English) and to improve self-efficacy with setting the proper goals, giving feedback and training metacognitive strategies is related to self-regulation. Self-regulation is a broader sense while lacking specific techniques as cognitive, memory, social or compensatory ones. Although it only encompasses the metacognitive ones, the general domain of it, is meaningfully wider than the strategic framework in that it covers some aspects in the learning process as motivation, goals and self-efficacy. References Ammar, A. (2009). The effects of self-regulated reading strategy development on the prospective EFL teachers’ critical reading skills and reading motivation. Retrieved April 2012 from http://repository.ksu.edu.sa/jspui/handle/123456789/4671. Bandura, A. (1991). Social cognitive theory of self-regulation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 248–287. Banisaeid, M. (2013a). The Relationship between Self-regulated Learning Strategies and Strategy-based Vocabulary Acquisition of Iranian EFL Learners. Iranian EFL Journal, 9 (3), 80-81. Banisaeid, M. (2013b). Self-regulation in the language study: from psychology to pedagogy. Paper presented on October 2013 in the 9th International Symposium on Teaching English at Tertiary Level, Hangzhou, China. Brown, H, D. (2000). Principles of language learning and teaching. Pearson education. Chamot, A. U. (1987). The learning strategies of ESL students. In A. L. Wenden & J. Rubin (Eds.), Learner strategies in language learning (pp. 71-83). Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall International. Carver, C. S. & Scheier, M. F. (1981). Attention and self-regulation: A control theory approach human behavior. New York: Springer Verlag. Cohen, A. D. (1998). Strategies in learning and using a second language. London: Longman. Dörnyei , Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition. Mahwah, N.J.: L. Erlbaum. Duckworth, K., Akerman, R., MacGregor, A., Salter, E. & Vorhaus, J. (2009) Self regulation: A review of literature. Centre for the Wider Benefits of Learning. London: Institute of Education. Goh, C. C. M. (1998). How ESL learners with different listening abilities use comprehension strategies and tactics. Language Teaching Research, 2(2), 124-147.

IJALEL 3(1):240-244, 2014 244 Goh, C. C. M. (2002). Exploring listening comprehension tactics and their interaction patterns. System, 30(2), 185-206. Ellis, R. (1994). The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Liu, HT (2009). The Scale development and causal-effect studies of self-regulation in English language learning. Unpublished Master's Thesis, National Taiwan the Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan. Naiman, N., Fröhlich, M., Stern, H., & Todesco, A. (1978). The good language learner. Research in Education Series No. 7. Toronto: The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Nation, I. S. P. (1990). Teaching and learning vocabulary. Boston, Mass: Newbury House. Nikoopour, J., Salimian, S., Salimian, S., & Farasani, A. M. (2012). Motivation and the Choice of Language Learning Strategies. Journal of Language Teaching and Research,, 3 (6), 1277-1283. O’Malley, M. J., Chamot, A.U. & Küpper, L. (1989). Listening comprehension strategies in second language acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 10, 4, 418-437. O‟Malley, J. M., & Chamot, A. U. (1990). Learning strategies in second language acquisition. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Oxford, R. (1990). Language learning strategies: What every teacher should know. New York: Newbury House. Gu, Y., & Johnson, R. K. (1996). Vocabulary learning strategies and language learning outcomes. Language Learning, 46, 643-679. Pintrich, P. R., Smith, D. A. F., Garcia, T., & McKeachie, W. J. (1991). A manual for the use of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, National Center for Research to Improve Postsecondary Teaching and Learning. Pratontep, Chitchon. & Chinwonno, Apasara. (2008). Effects of Extensive Reading and Self-regulation on Thai StudentsQ English Reading Comprehension. Paper presented at the Ninth RGJ- Ph.D. Congress, Thailand, 4-7 April, 2008. Purpura, J. (1999). Learner strategy use and performance on language tests. A structural equation modelling approach. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Ridley, J. (1997). The role of the first language in foreign language learning. Philadelphia: Multilingual Matters. Ramezani, A. (2009). Promoting students’ attitude toward writing skills through self-regulation strategy instruction. Paper present at 7th international TELLSI conference, Yazd, Iran. Rose, H. (2011a). Reconceptualizing Strategic Learning in the Face of Self-Regulation: Throwing Language Learning Strategies out with the Bathwater. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 33(1), 92–98. Rose, H. (2011b).Kanji learning: strategies, motivation control and self-regulation (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/446999/Kanji_learning_Strategies_Motivation_control_and_self-regulation Rubin, J. (1975). What the “good language learner‟ can teach us. TESOL Quarterly, 9, 41-51 Schmeck, R. R. (1988). Individual differences and learning strategies. In C. E Weinstein, E. T. Goetz & P. A. Alexander (Eds.), Learning and study strategies: Issues in assessment, Instruction, and Evaluation 171-191. San Diego: Academic Press. Schunk, D. H. & Zimmerman B. J. (1997). Developing self-efficacious readers and writers: The role of social and self-regulatory processes. In Reading engagement: Motivating readers through integrated instruction, 34–50., ed. J. T. Guthrie and A. Wigfield. Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Stern, H. H. (1975). What can we learn from the good language learner? Canadian Modern Language Review, 34, 304-318. Stern, H. H. (1986). Fundamental concepts of language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Stern, H. H. (1992). Issues and options in language teaching. London: Oxford University Press. Terry, P. (2002). The effects of online time management practices on self regulated learning and academic self- Efficacy. Dissertation of curriculum & instruction, Virginia University. Tseng, W. T., Dörnyei, Z. & Schmitt, N. (2006). A new approach to assessing strategic learning: the case of self-regulation in vocabulary acquisition. Applied Linguistics,78-102. Tarone, E. (1981). Some thoughts on the notion of communication strategy. TESOL Quarterly, 15(3), 285-295. Weinstein, C. E., & Mayer, R. E. (1986). The teaching of learning strategies. In M. C. Wittrock (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (pp. 315-327). New York: Macmillan. Wenden, A. L. (1987). Incorporating learner training in the classroom. In A. L. Wenden & J. Rubin (Eds.), Learner strategies in language learning (pp. 159-168). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Williams, M. & R. Burdon. 1997. Psychology for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wolters, C., Pintrich, P. R. & Karabenick, S. A. (2003). Assessing academic self-regulated learning. Paper presented at the Indicators of Positive Development Conference, Washington, DC, March 12-13, 1-49. Zimmerman, B. J. (1989). A social cognitive view of self-regulated academic learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81, 329-339.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

The Use of Personal Pronouns: A Comparison between Iranian and Malaysian Dyads

Seyed Yasin Yazdi-Amirkhiz

Institute of Research Management and Monitoring

University of Malaya (UM), Malaysia

Tel: +60 17 305 97 37 E-mail: yasin_yazdi@um.edu.my

Kamariah Abu Bakar

Institute for Mathematical Research, Universiti Putra Malaysia

Karim Hajhashemi

School of Education,

James Cook University, Australia

Received: 05-10-2013 Accepted: 07-12-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.245 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.245 Abstract The present paper is part of a larger study which comparatively examined the collaborative discourse of two Iranian and two Malaysian dyads. The members of the dyads were all female and of the same English language proficiency. Core findings of the study on the typology and the frequency of the pronouns used by the participants in the course of eleven sessions of collaborative writing are reported. The content analysis of their pair talk for pronouns indicated that Iranian participants tended to use “I” and “you” considerably more than their Malaysian counterparts, whereas Malaysian participants were found to have a stronger tendency to use “we” more often. The findings are discussed with regard to the macro-cultural dichotomy of world cultures (collectivist/ individualist). Keywords: Pronouns, collaborative writing, culture, collectivist, individualist 1. Introduction The interlocutors’ tendency to use certain personal pronouns has been linked to their cultural affiliation (e.g., Chen, Hsu & Caropreso, 2006). According to Triandis (1993), “the most important cognitions of individualists use sentences that include I, me and mine; of collectivists, sentences that include us, we, and ours…” (p. 156). Li and Wang (2004) similarly ascribe the tendency towards using a particular pronoun to the cultural orientation of the discourse producers. A number of research studies do exist in the literature, which have investigated the relationship between the use of pronouns and the cultural affiliation of the interlocutors. For example, Na and Choi’s (2009) study demonstrated that the use of pronouns could reveal important characteristics of culture; the study showed that an individualistic or a collectivist orientation affects ones’ use of first person singular and plural pronouns. According to the researchers, their study could establish “a truly bidirectional relationship between cultural orientation and first person pronouns [i.e., first person singular and first person plural]” (p. 1498). In a similar way, Chen, Hsu and Caropreso (2006) who cross-culturally scrutinized five Taiwanese and ten Americans’ online collaboration found out that Taiwanese students did use the words “we” “our” “us” in their language more often than American students who tended to use “I” “my” and “me” more frequently. The researchers attributed the findings to the influence of collectivism in Chinese culture and individualism in American culture. Individualism vs. collectivism has been one of the salient benchmarks for the categorization of the cultures around the world. The orientation of people in different cultures towards either collectivism or individualism is typically studied in connection with the notion of “power distance Index” (PDI), that is, people’s attitudes and behaviors to power and authority. Hofstede (1986) defines power distance as “the extent to which the less powerful persons in a society accept inequality in power and consider it as normal” (p.307) or it could be simply defined as the degree of accepting the other’s authority. People who are low on the dimension of power distance prefer the reduction in the differences in power and authority between members of society. However, people who are high on the dimension easily tolerate the dominant inequalities and bow to them as unavoidable facts of life. His (i.e., Hofstedeh’s) study showed that most cultures which rate high in collectivism also rate high in power distance, and the other way round. It is interesting to know that Malaysia with the power distance index of 104 ranks first and Iran ranks twenty-ninth with the power distance index of 58 among fifty countries and three regions.

IJALEL 3(1):245-248, 2014 246 Now, with reference to the findings of the above studies on the use of pronouns by cultural learners on the one hand, and the connection between the PDI rank and collectivist/individualist orientation and its relevance to the use of personal pronouns on the other hand, one might wonder what the usage of pronouns would be like by Iranians and Malaysians. Thus, the main objective of the present study is to find out and describe the patterns of pronoun use, if there be any, by both Iranian and Malaysian participants of the study in connection with their standing in Hofstede’s PDI scale. 2. Method 2.1 Participants The study included 4 female Malaysian and 4 female Iranian students at a private university in Kuala Lumpur. The eight participants, who were homogeneous in terms of English proficiency, were divided into 4 dyads: 2 Malaysian dyads and 2 Iranian dyads. The Iranian dyads were named dyad A and dyad B, and the Malaysian dyads were named dyads C and D. 2.2 Data Collection Procedure In order to identify the patterns of using the personal pronouns by the participants, it was necessary to scrutinize the verbal interactions between the peers in the four dyads of the study across time. For this purpose, the four dyads were provided with the same graphic prompts (IELTS AM task 1) and were asked to collaboratively perform the tasks within the same time limits. The participants performed fifteen collaborative writing tasks and their verbal interactions (collaborative dialogues) taking place between the peers in each dyad were audio-recorded for the later analysis. 2.3 Data Analysis The pair talk data from eleven collaborative sessions (out of fifteen sessions) was transcribed for each of the dyads. The reason behind having an equal number of collaborative session for all the dyads was to accurately quantify and reflect the pronouns used by the participants within the equal number of sessions. The specified transcribed data were examined, the types of pronouns were identified and the frequency of them was calculated for each dyad. Some general notions and principles which were used for the analysis of pronouns are mentioned below. For the purpose of accuracy, the performance type slips such as “… you see, if we… if we look at Laotians…” [Dyad C, Task C, L 105] were considered one pronoun. Also, the use of “you” in expressions such as “you know” were not counted as a pronoun, in that in such cases the pronoun “you” is not used to address someone, but rather the expression is used as an appeal to a shared knowledge between the interlocutors (Schiffrin, 1994). According to Donato (1988), the way the pronouns are used, the way they are distributed and what follows the pronouns are very significant in the study and analysis of pronoun use. For instance, first person singular pronouns could be an indicator of a non-collaborative tendency on the part of a discourse producer when it is used as a kind of distancing device, an element which is meant to accentuate the individuality and individual stance (“I think”/I want/I disagree”) of the discourse producer. 1. Negar: …but I say they were… [Dyad B, task BS, L 311] In some cases using first person singular pronouns reflects a participant’s intention to control the task which is a non-collaborative orientation as well. Examples: Niloofar: …just employment…but I’m talking about the… ok… cross out this… [Dyad B, Task A, L 140] Using first person singular is not always corresponding to non-collaborative orientations, but rather collaborative tendencies. In some cases first person singular pronoun indicates a participant’s agreement with the other participant’s line of thought and reasoning, or sometimes reflects the fact that the person’s perspective has been changed in response to the influence of his/her partner’s perspective. Teng: I think so...Maybe we can just start with foreigners… [Dyad C, Task C, L 20] Teng : Oh, I know what you mean now. As in the range of 10 to 2, it is the.. [Dyad C, Task B, L 212] Teng: Yeah, correct. So, I have got an idea from what you have said. [Dyad C, Task B, L 149] First person singular pronoun is sometimes used in requests or is followed by “we”. In such cases using it reflects invitations to work together which is a collaborative orientation. Gin: I think we should state the cause why the rate for UK dropped suddenly [Dyad D, Task A, L 92] Similarly, second person pronouns may have both collaborative and non-collaborative functions. Making use of authoritative directive discourse could be a clear indication of non-collaborative tendency. When second person pronouns are used to issue directives (examples 1-2 below) or to emphasize the other participant’s individual contribution (example 3), it will have a non-collaborative orientation. 1. Niloofar …just stop talking about exact time…

IJALEL 3(1):245-248, 2014 247 [Dyad B, Task B, L 364] 2. Negar: …there is a balance… Niloofar: you wanted to say …there is a balance…say your sentence… [Dyad B, Task B, L 278-279] 3. You didn’t finish your sentence [Dyad B, Task A, L 77] However, if second person pronouns are used to invite contributions, they would have collaborative orientation. Teng: …or right now you want to separate already? [Dyad C, Task C, L 67] 3. Findings Scrutiny of the transcribed pair talk data from the four dyads revealed consistent findings with regard to the usage of personal pronouns by the cultural dyads. The type of pronouns and the frequency of them were calculated for each dyad. The findings about the pronouns for each dyad are presented in Table 1 below. Table 1. Type of Pronouns Used as a Percentage of Total Pronouns

I YOU WE Dyad A 22 14 64 Dyad B 28 16 56 Dyad C 16 7 77 Dyad D 13 4 83

As the Table 1 shows, there was a considerable discrepancy between Iranian dyads (A & B) and Malaysian dyads (C & D) in terms of quantitative distribution of pronouns. Whereas Malaysian dyads tended to use the first person plural pronoun “we” more often than their Iranian counterparts in their pair talks, the Iranian dyads used first person singular and second person pronouns more than Malaysian participants. The proportion of using “we” to the total pronouns was 64% and 56% for dyads A and B and 77% and 83% for dyads C and D, respectively. As for first person singular and second person pronouns, the number of cases that Malaysian dyads used “I” and “you” was smaller compared to the Iranian dyads. Whereas first person singular pronouns accounted for 16% and 13% of the total pronouns used by dyads C and D, respectively, Iranian dyads used a considerably higher percentage of first person pronouns in their collaborative discourse: 22% for dyad A and 28% for dyad B. As far as second person pronoun was concerned, the proportion was 14% and 16% for Iranian dyads and 7% and 4% for Malaysian dyads. The point to be made here is that although quantitative analysis of pronoun distribution and frequency (represented by Table 1) brought some intra-group dynamics and developments to light, a qualitative and closer analysis of the context in which the pronouns were used could even reveal certain aspects of language use by the dyads which numerical values (quantitative analyses) normally fall short of accounting for. A finer analysis indicated that Iranians used first person singular mainly for articulating their personal positions and individual stances: 1. “I can say the diagram below…” [Dyad A, Task A, L 15]; 2. “I will explain that…” [Dyad A, Task B, L 49]; 3. “I know that” [Dyad A, Task A, L 15] 4. “…but I am talking about the...” [Dyad B, Task B, L 140]. 5. “I think this was better” [Dyad B, Task B, L 308]; 6. “…but I say they were…” [Dyad B, Task B, L 311]. However, Malaysian learners tended to use first person singular to express agreement and to consent to what was said by their interlocutors (e.g., 1. “I think so” [Dyad D, Task C, L 21]; and in many of the cases they tended to use first person singular followed by first person plural “we” to denote what ought to be performed collectively. 1. “I think we should compare…” [Dyad C, Task C, L 7]; 2. “I guess we can see the…” [Dyad C, Task B, L 15]; 3. “I think we need to insist…” [Dyad D, Task B, L 21]; 4. “I think we should state the cause…” [Dyad D, Task B, L 92]. By the same token, a qualitative analysis of the use of the second person pronouns revealed that in the case of Malaysian dyads the pronoun was majorly used for suggesting the agreement to what was said by the interlocutor; For example, 1.“As you say…” [Dyad C, Task B, L 37]; 2. “Oh, I know what you mean now. As in the range of 10 to 2, it is the…” [Dyad C, Task B, L 212]; 3. “Yeah, correct. So, I have got an idea from what you have said.” [Dyad C, Task B, L: 149]. However, In the case of Iranians there were more of the instances in which the second person pronouns were used in a non-collaborative fashion; they were used for issuing directives (e.g., “no, no…look… compare yellow and grey parts” [Dyad B, L 74], or to emphasize the peer’s individual contribution (e.g., “You cannot mention anything about the…”[Dyad B, Task B, L 139]; “You didn’t finish your sentence” [Dyad B, Task A, L 77]. 4. Discussion and Conclusion Examining the collaborative discourse of Iranian and Malaysian dyads showed a discrepancy in the frequency of the pronouns used. The Iranian dyads tended to use first person singular and second person pronouns considerably more often than their Malaysian counterparts, whereas Malaysian participants were found to have a stronger tendency to use first person plural pronouns more. The predominant use of first-person and second person singular pronouns in the discourse of Iranians could be an indication of their stronger individualistic tendencies in comparison with their Malaysian counterparts. According to Donato (1988), the use of personal pronouns by group members could indicate

IJALEL 3(1):245-248, 2014 248 the orientation of group members to the group functioning. Villamil and Guerrero (1996) have also noted that the use of first person singular and plural pronouns could distinguish collaborative from non-collaborative dyads. In other words, the more first person singular pronouns are used in the collaborative discourse of the peers, the higher degree of individualistic tendencies is expected to prevail in the group and vice versa. The findings do also go in parallel with the predictive capacity of Hofstede’s power distance index, according to which the Iranians with their ranking of twenty-nine on PDI scale are expected to display stronger individualistic tendencies compared to their Malaysian counterparts with their first rank of PDI among fifty countries and three regions. Along the same lines, Triandis (1993) contends that “the most important cognitions of individualists use sentences that include I, me and mine; of collectivists, sentences that include us, we, and ours…” (p. 156). Other researchers whose studies have found discrepant patterns of using pronouns among cultural groups have also primarily attributed the discrepancy to the individualist/collectivist dichotomy of cultures (Chen, Hsu & Caropreso, 2006; Li & Wang, 2004; Na & Choi, 2009). Thus, based on the findings obtained from this study, it could be concluded that the cultural affiliation might function as one of the influential parameters in the choice of personal pronouns. 5. Limitations of Study The smallness of the size of the population in the present study precludes the generalizeability of its findings to other contexts and populations. Given the nature of the study, the small sample size was inevitable. In support of such a condition for a study, Lynch (2007) recognizes the diversity and locality of contexts, and accordingly emphasizes the importance of ‘particularizing’ research to one’s own learning and teaching context. Moreover, since the participants of this study were all female and gender is associated with collectivist and individualist tendencies (Triandis, 1993), the findings are only applicable to females. According to Triandis

“…men are more individualistic than women. Age is slightly related to collectivism.” References Chen, S. J., Hsu, C., & Caropreso, E. J. (2006). Cross-cultural collaborative online learning: When the west meets the east. International Journal of Technology in Teaching and Learning, 2(1), 17-35. Donato, R. (1988). Beyond group: A psycholinguistic rationale for collective activity in second-language learning. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Delaware. Hofstede, G. (1986). Cultural differences in teaching and learning. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 10(3), 301-320. Li, X., & Wang, H. (2004). Cultural influence and beyond: Investigating L2 writing. In K. Kaur & M. E. Vethamani (Eds.), Second language writing (pp. 93-117). Petaling Jaya: Sasbadi Sdn. Bhd. Lynch, T. (2007). Learning from the transcripts of an oral communication task. ELT Journal, 61(4), 311-320. Na, J., & Choi, I. (2009). Culture and first-person pronouns. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35(11), 1492-1499. Schiffrin, D. (1994). Approaches to discourse (Vol. 8): Wiley-Blackwell. Triandis, H. C. (1993). Collectivism and individualism as cultural syndromes. Cross-Cultural Research, 27(3-4), 155. Villamil, O. S., & Guerrero, M. (2006). Sociocultural theory: A framework for understanding the social-cognitive dimensions of peer feedback. Feedback in second language writing: Contexts and issues, 23-42.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 3 No. 1; January 2014

Copyright © Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Poetical Theory

Angela Brown

E-mail: brownlas6@aol.com

Received: 25-10-2013 Accepted: 09-12-2013 Published: 01-01-2014 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.249 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.249 Abstract African-American literature has both been influenced by the great African diasporic heritage and shaped it in many countries. It has been created within the larger realm of post-colonial literature, although scholars distinguish between the two, saying that African American literature differs from most post-colonial literature in that it is written by members of a minority community who reside within a nation of vast wealth and economic power. Keywords: Literary Analysis, Poetical Theory, Poetical Verse Jackson poems bring back memories of growing up in the seventies. I feel I can relate to meaning of the imagery displayed in his poems. The seventies were from my childhood. Dad had an old Oldsmobile car. It was yellow with leather interior. Every Sunday we went to church. I was Catholic. Back then the pariserners believed in dressing up. The old ladies wore big hats to church. Back then church was a fashion show for the Lord. It was pertinent for the family to praise and thank the God for the blessings in our lives. Boys would hang out at the school to play basketball, while the girls double ditched and played hop scotch. The dress attire was different. The girls wore low cut jeans as a fashion statement. We would walk to the neighborhood candy lady to buy now a laters, blow pops and candy. The old men hung out at the corner store playing checkers. The drug dealers lived lavishly. The girls I knew had an idea of which they were to marry and how many kids they had. A fatal attraction started at an early age. The housing was poor on the West side. We had tin top roofs that would make a special sound when it rained. I don’t think Vegas were no different to Philly during those times. Dungy’s poems are archaic. His poems touch a sensitive area for me to read. I since Dungy had a precarious life as a gay man. He describes his sexual experiences as forbidden to secrecy. I can relate to his poems being a victim of abduction by my brother since an early age. It was a feeling I resent. It was incest which is a sin. How Dungy describes his moral faith with God is a truancy of empathy. I feel that he also resents his sexuality choice he made. I find his poems sensitive in defining my sexuality, because, I chose to be a virgin until after I marry. I am 44 years old and I am a virgin. I never consented in sexual sex acts or intercourse. It is my Catholic faith that I chose to be this way, because, I am uncomfortable with engaging in sex. It is surprising that so many men who were abducted in the Catholic Church as young boys also resent it. I feel Dungy is defining his sexuality at a time that people are admitting to be openly gay in the military and President Obama wants to permit same sex marriage. Young’s poems are very diverse. Young speaks about how relationships founder between broken friendships. He speaks about love and adultery as being pervious to life experience. Young tells about how authentic lovers are subservient to nature. Young wrote about black male hair in how thick, curly and beautiful it is. The similarities in Jackson, Dungy and Young’s poems have something in common. There poem are reflective of a younger audience who can relate to the ambivalence of the message they are trying to convey in the poetry. Each poet is pungent in how they create empathy towards conflicting interest. The message each poet is conveying is saying something that is not commonly spoken to create awareness of something that is sensitive to understand. The message they convey is something that has to be said. The message has to be told. It is recording history of our times. It is recording a social condition reflective of our society. The people who read their poems are looking for gratification of an artistic craft. Lord’s poems relay a hidden message mortification of sin. Lord speaks of adultery of how her father had more than one relationship while being married. Lord speaks about how she needed her real mother in her life. Lord speaks about finding her own identity through the entire disturbance in her life. McElroy’s poems are reflective of black mannerism. McElroy uses tradition to define black culture in her poems. McElroy’s poems reflect the social graces of the south in how women are perceived to be. She discusses the foundation of human experience to relay the message of human consent. Knight’s poems speak of so much anger and hostility in it his poems become an imagery of containment. Knight comes from the Civil Rights era and his poems are a reflection of an understatement of surrealist thought processes. Knight undermines life for hidden ailment of regret. I feel that in his era it is a reflection of mystery from not knowing the outcome of what is expected of black people of his generation.

IJALEL 3(1):249-259, 2014 250 McKay’s poems are lyrical poems of organized behavior. McKay’s poems are a lethargic ensemble of patterns. The patterns describe the emotions of black people during hectic times of a transitional movement. He addresses issues during this time period as mosaic creating apathy towards his subject matter. The message he is conveying is painful and morbid. Baraka’s poems are an apithamy of realism. Baraka relates to his subjects from experience. I find some of the language in his poems vulgar and offensive. I disagree with the usage of synergy and violence in his poems as a defect of love. The Similarities. Lord, McElroy, Knight, McKay and Baraka’s poems are about relationships. The poems are written on the hardships of blacks during their era. Often they speak about a negative response which alienates a persona of euphemism. The message the poets are sending is of regret and change. The poets speak of an ambivalence of power and restraint through their protest. Angela Brown. I feel that my poems have something in common with these other poets I have discussed, because, I write about an ailing relationship of black people who have suffered through their struggle as a race. I talk about in my poems relationships with family that have faltered; yet, remain strong because of the love that generates inside of our hearts. I talk about the pain of hard times I experience growing up living in poverty and surviving neglect and abuse with the gift of hope that things will change. I write poems for others to understand and relate to my condition and create a since of awareness and change. I want others to feel a since of pride in who they are. I want to inform others that there is someone out there that feels and understand their weaknesses. Angela Brown Style. Every poet has their own writing style. Kevin Young’s poems is written differently than my style, because, I have my own nitch for writing. I write in free verse. My poems are strong because of the analogy message it contains. The placements of the words in my poems create added meaning to the poem. There are painters who apprentice other artist; but, they have their own style of painting. It is the same way with poetry. I use words to convey a message that is unique than other poet’s style. I feel that once I have developed my own technique, that I should foster my style by transforming my craft of writing. I can do this by reading other poets work. I can see how other poets use words to convey meaning to what they write; but I have my own vision on what my life experiences are all about in how I relate to the world. This is what makes my writing a different style than other poets. I am glad to express myself. I feel good to use my own thoughts and feelings in my poems. I feel I am a spokesperson from my generation. Jackson and McKay express them openly similar to how I feel. They use free style words in their poems. Their poems are free verse. I feel strongly when I read their poems. I can identify with the words they use in their poems. Lucile Clifton is my role model. I have been admiring her style of writing because of the physical contact she has with reality. Lucile creates a setting that is realistic. My favorite poem she wrote is, “Kitchenette Building.” I have never lived in an apartment with my family; but how she uses imagery to create an affectionate setting is realistic. Another poem Lucile wrote, “Homage to My Hips,” translates black pride in women that her hips are special. Patricia Smith is also a role model. I like her poem, “Burial,” because I relate to it. I can understand with the morality of the poem assonates the responsibility of taking care of our people even at the time of death. I would not prefer to use some of the profanity the men use in my writing. I feel men view life differently than women. When I write a poem I want it to convey a message of hope. I write dark poetry from experience in a different approach than Kearny or Ealey. I feel the reader’s response should be a habitual reflection on life instead. As socialist, we should create a climate for our readers to perceive dialect and form. The Community of poets express what confronts us as a unit. The community involves more than just race, gender and social construction. The poems the dialect teaches a structure of conformity and discipline of a culture. The poems are perceived to be uniform with how we identify with being Americans as a melting pot. As Americans we come from a common belief that we are no different than any other American, when we are confronted with social conflict. We all feel pain, sorrow, happiness, love and anger so we learn from our mistakes and heal from our pain. 911 was an example of the American faith. We came together for a reason. The reason Americans bonded was because of the meaning of determination. It is something as a country has struggled with since the American Revolution. I feel how we see others are how we perceived to be. America is a resilience of our own reflection. The poems are archaic speaking of the ailment of human strength and hope. The poems speak of honest humility. The poems are a reflection of society norms which others can identify with granting empathy and understanding to issues readers do not understand. The poems message states this is who our community is as a people in that we are no different than others. It expresses poets are human and poets have feelings too. Poets are a group of writers who want to be understood and respected. I feel that we are all humans. There is good and evil in everyone. We must learn to look beyond human value to replace with personal ambition and determination to define who we are. If we are afraid to define who we are, we die as a community. It is important for writers to perceive things differently, because, with reason we change in time. Let us not wait for time to defy reason in who and what we have become. I write about my cultural experience on cultural diversity and social conventions in society. I feel I have a lot of anger inside that I want to come to understand my purpose. I grew up poor and the students teased me about this. I had an abusive mom who made me feel suicidal. I feel mom took her anger out on me because my parents were going to get a divorce. She wanted me to stay with my dad and my brother to stay with her once they were separated. I was sexually abducted by my brother at a young age. I resented it; but I loved my family. Out of alienation, I grew up angry at God and myself for not understanding my purpose in life. I was a loner in school. I knew people and had no friends. I did not grow up racist. I could cope and get along with everyone. I was being told off and made fun of. This hurt. Morally it was wrong. Being suicidal I lost every friend I had known in college and was making more enemies because of my

IJALEL 3(1):249-259, 2014 251 grades. At this point, I wanted to know what it meant to be black and so each research paper in college was about my race. I had seen a psychiatrist for several reasons. One of them was because they denied I had an ability to write. The other reasons were because I needed someone to talk to, because, I felt suicidal because I was going to flunk out of school. I always loved school because, my parents were educators. It was when I had my first poetry class that I realized I wanted to write poetry. I started to read great poets such as Dickenson, Plath, Frost, Browning, Angelou, Hughes, Giovanni and fell for their craft. It a teacher and psychiatrist wanted me to fail because of my writing, I wanted to pursue writing poetry. My first group of poems which were published were about black pride. There was a need for me to not be ashamed of being black, but being proud of who I am. I became a cultural activist who wrote about racism during my generation in how I reflect on images which society dictates. It became a time when I wanted to reach an audience to feel the struggle of my race in this generation. This generation where blacks thought it is cool to go to jail. It is a generation where lot of boys and girls who get locked in prison. It is a generation of a large population of aids victims. It is a generation where single women have to raise a family alone. It is a generation of the poverty gap is large amongst blacks. It is a generation of high drop-out rates in school. It is a generation of girl prostitution. High rate of gays and lesbian women who live privately outside the church. I am reflective to our troubled youth that a black poor person can become an educated poet as an inspiration to young readers. Angela Brown was born on January 5, 1969 in Meridian, Mississippi. Angela is a poet fellow and poet ambassador. Angela is on the board of poetry for Kentucky, University. Angela is an editor for IJALIL journal of literature. Publish America has listed Angela as Who's Who in American Literature. The Library of Poetry named Angela as Who's Who in Poetry, Hall of Fame in poetry, Poet scholar and Poet Laureate. Angela graduated the first in her family majoring in General Studies at Clark County Community College. Angela was the first to graduate wish a Bachelor of Science degree in Post-Secondary Workforce Education. Angela has two honorary doctorate diplomas in Humanities and Fine Arts & Communication. Angela has been published by the Library of Poetry anthologies. Angela is published by Black Crow, Caloloo, Pendleton, Black History anthology, African American Registry. Angela's first poem was published by the Sentinel Voice Newspaper, CCCC Red Rock Review, CSN student paper, UNLV student paper. Angela has books published by Durance publishing, Air leaf publishing, Publish America and Outskirt press publishing. Angela journal entries include the national journal network, IJALIL journal, Columbia journal. Angela poems are published by Affilia, LKDN, Scribd and academia. Angela has published lesson plans on poetry. Angela poem lesson plans appear on the edu2 web page. Angela has written articles for the Las Vegas Sentinel Voice Newspaper, the National Press club, Newsweek, New York Times and Helium. Angela has written over 20 published books around the world. Angela has won script writing contest from Skyfest, Act One, the Black Screen Writers Association, Fade In Line. One of her screen plays was accepted by Warner Brothers. Angela has a documentary from her fictional biography, “A Walk Together,” with Publish America. Angel is learning disabled. Angela Brown aspires to be a professional writer and to teach Creative Writing. Angela is a political and cultural activist. Angela song label will soon appear with Little Wayne web site. Several of my songs went to the grammys. I was an applicant for the Cave Canen Fellowship, the Borens Fellowship and, the NEA fellowship. I was an applicant for the book award with NAACP Image awards, the Loretta Scott King Jr. award, the Pulitzer award, and the Hurston/Wright book award. I won the Writer's Digest book award twice. One of my books made the best sellers list. I have done hip hop poetry, poetry slam and underground rap poetry. I aspire to be an English instructor or a librarian. Intro: I like to read poetry and short fiction. The types of poems I like to read are from the Harlem Renaissance. My favorite poets are Nikki Giovanni, Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes. I also like to read other famous poets modern poem anthologies. I read poetry every week to study the poet’s style and craft. My favorite poem by Nikki is Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day. My favorite poem by Angelou is Why the Caged Bird Sings. My favorite poem by Langston is America. I like Gwendolyn Brooks’s poem Kitchenette. I also like Browning, Frost, Plath and Emily Dickenson. I find myself writing once a week. I pressure my thought process to think, read and to write poetry. Poetry is like therapy for me. I write about cultural issues reflected of my Las Vegas culture in how I relate to having mental illness. Some African American instructors consider my form of writing like Civil Rights poem. A Resolution is a poem written about the social conventions of African American struggle for cultural diversity. America is a poem written about the struggle for African Americans in our conquest to having equality. When I write I am happy for others to reflect on my ideas and relate to them in their own way. My short term goals is to express myself with clarity in my poems. My long term goal is to develop a quality poem to get my poems published. A Resolution Yet deterred, by fate alone Many questionable conclusions, theories, details

Yet to determine who is the blame A resolution, only to retroact an opposition Yet to insist the muddied possibility for change

IJALEL 3(1):249-259, 2014 252 America If I die, let it not be in vein. For whom I am, I am not ashamed. For what I’m not, for who is to blame? For praise and glory, I have yet claimed. For all the sins, indebted to my name, For bitter hatred, cries and pain, I made my choice, with sovereign reigns, For my fate deterred, its meaning estranged. At 44 At 44, my strands of hair become thin and grey and the skin begins to darken like darted fists underneath my eyes and the gentle skin I had as a child becomes wrinkled like a crunched, paper bag and my gums soft holds my teeth with many fillings and loss of memory dissolves in fractures of disturbed imagery from lost dreams and lost ties become a shattered universe of unsorted, ragged premises in untimely space and health is a means of retaining a sound mind in all the chaos of maintaining order in my life and at 44, I wait for answers that have been long forgotten and I wait for signs, it is what I want to believe in and for those who depend on me is the reason for why I live and old age is when loneliness becomes an inevitable truth to escaping insanity By, Angela Brown A Milestone Look not on what you have succumbed; yet seek to determine your destiny. Know not the tolerance failure brings; but, to measure your ability. Listen to emotions softly unfold; to quietly defuse self-hate. Inhale love within grasp; for life encounters many mistakes. Cherish the need to be loved; for you only have one chance. Develop who you are, and what you lose becomes circumstance. By, Angela Brown Becoming, By Angela Brown I tip toe through shattered glass, A broken bottle of a washed dream. Wept blood flows through the streets, With another token of apathy. Another uncomfortable imposition Left behind a mellow, cold heart. Emotions pardon, as My heart cries from the Pleasures we never consumed. Each moment is too intense To deny, you will never love me. You managed to puncture A wound in my heart, because You control me. A clay, ceramic bowl is broken. I surrender my love to you. Lovers, By Angela Brown A relationship will hold water in its cusp,

IJALEL 3(1):249-259, 2014 253 An understatement to many sleepless nights. I am the measurement of hard times of matter, From the amount of hours we spent together. I ponder with unending emotion, Through concurrent times. Many nights I attempted to Contemplate suicide, as you watched me Afraid to die in my sleep. Prison I pace, I pace my steps Walking back and walking forth I stand tall casing four blank walls Each step I take in modesty. Fidgeting hands, bad nerves Fidgeting, anticipating the voices in my head. Silence, I stare at a vacant room. I answer my voice calling, calling, calling Afraid of what I think, words trash back at me. I must contain my hands, I place them in my pockets. I realize I am alone, alone I contain my composure. Silence I contemplate a motive Trapped in an isolated Asylum By, Angela Brown Forgiven, by Angela Brown Navigate the currents, I am intolerant to pain. The current drifts of abuse, by the women I love. Empty air could not filter the lashes of the whip that made me suicidal, of the physical abuse. Maybe I will wait for the messiah, to tell me I am a strong woman. The jealousy of her pilled the black off my skin. I followed her instruction, for I honored her integrity. The roots of terror stocked my troubled conscience. It was a terrible thing. Hoping things could be different. She chose my friends. She chose who I was to marry. It came with the package of child birth. As a turtle, I dragged behind all the garbage that sprang up. I waited the path to finding peace from her verbal abuse saying that I would not amount to nothing. From the voices in my head that I was not worth shit as I gazed down and was slapped in the face. Remembering the thoughts, I became weak scorned from happiness. She told me I dishonored her. I was to obey her. She owned me. Anyone who got close would be doomed for I was not worthy to be their friend. Deep in my heart, I knew this experience with my Mother; but what would make me a better person or break me. Now, a light flickers in the room, to replace the guilt, I’d long forgiven. A Mother’s Relationship, by Angela Brown Touched by an angelic figurine, Mother’s soul will travel in space. The intimacy of our relationship is unfounded. The fluid that slithers in water underneath my feet Is the energy generated from a Mother’s love. It is the love that surpasses time. My love for her will clasp the sun, while The weight of life measures to exist within the galaxy above. Our relationship will always remain with good reason, For she is the pendulum of hope, I aspire.

IJALEL 3(1):249-259, 2014 254 Dad’s Guitar, By Angela Brown Dad’s a shadow, a ghastly spirit, I have yet, come to know. The cold, moist air aroused his temperament, In which he hung his hat, we call home. An authentic office, provided support Each etching that made a difference. He flicks his fist out of anger, Demanding respect, to mark his territory. A guitar picks his last note, A quarter note, a flat note, a rest note, As he thumbs away into uncertain space - Now silence. Issues, By Angela Brown My Dad has issues, he abandoned death, absent to life. Wisely reaching out, longing for rain to touch his tongue. His bitter empty heart, swelters his state of mind. Clamping his soul with guilt, under the eve of deception. The moment of remission will harness his fate. For his desire to release affection, remains a matter of substance. A Relationship with Time, By Angela Brown Our youth is trying to escape time, Running, running before time is out. Stumbling amongst obstacles of redemption. Failing to understand what is circumstance. There is no schedule, no plan, no strategy. Their fate is based on a map, Sketched in their minds in a language They cannot read. Silent Rivalry, By Angela Brown Dedicated to my niece Silently, nature calls out The scent of pine cones filter the air The sweet smell from grass cover the ground Trees whistle in the wind Another Christmas passes The winter chills through the home Snow covers the land with frost

IJALEL 3(1):249-259, 2014 255 A child has passed another season in prayer "God bless, my family" All she has is her mother’s love Word Practitioner, By Angela Brown Dedicated to Maya Angelou Give me your hand Let me interpret words of wisdom Guide me to communicate phrases To develop the freedom of expression Nurture my passion to listen To remediate music through meter Grant me the ability to interpret The language of humiliation Guide my mind to escape imagination To feel a dream of compassion Brotherly Love, by Angela Brown In dedication to my brother and all other brothers It only takes a blank sign to question A kind heart with a one word phrase A vivid imagination with a quick nod A mad mind to sear a gentle conversation A blank stare to act a simple gesture An eager need for mediation A question is the final query to recognize My need for love Bird in Hand, By Angela Brown In dedication to the love of my life My gift to you is circumstance A pondering of psalm I speak with truth and somber thoughts To dictate essence of songs I speak with grand fertility To have you to myself I light a candle to give you praise Under what faith was built And with God’s consent The choice is ours to make Save the hideous mistakes From our past, I ask of fate To rancor our innocence A Fatal Attraction, By Angela Brown In loving memory of my first lover Where did it all start? We fell between sins

IJALEL 3(1):249-259, 2014 256 We were fools in love Why did it end? Our love was naïve To have thought We fell in love From the very start. Love is not the same There were missing parts A mere misunderstanding We had to part. The deed is done A mere mistake We must learn from loss To know our fate. Biography of a Black Woman, By Angela Brown

1. Cultural Diversity: A diverse group of women who have common interest in learning how to develop the community to become a better place. Women in this community questions things they do not understand. Women try to change conditions which are detained. Women control their fate peacefully.

2. Breaking the glass ceiling: Women who want to be considered equal to men and are trapped in a social convention which will not let them free. This community of women embraces conflict to reach their goals to unknown consequences.

3. Human Conventions: A human convention is where there is an outside force that controls your life from having absolute freedom. This community determines convictions of opposition by teaching integrity through experience to create a civic awareness to conflicting issues.

4. Moral Activist: A leader who leads their life, according to their religious faith. Women in this community have a foundation which determines their character by asserting reason and giving empathy to sensitive issues they confront on the daily basis.

The Slave Curse, By Angela Brown I am ashamed of who I am. My past is cursed from slavery. My heart pleads silently afraid. I am soft spoken, I cry somberly. I am confused of who I am. My heart shattered of one thousand times. I am confused of my moral faith. My soul stripped of integrity. My head bowed down to my senses. I burry my burdens before God, to be forgiven. What if Means to be Black, By Angela Brown Being Black means that you look them in their eyes to be ignored It is a disease when your skin in dark and inferior to other skin It is when they whisper silently of oppression against you It is how they degrade you for being poor It is where they spread rumors you will always regret It is when the pain in your heart cries every night plotting suicide It is a feeling where you are neglected for being unacceptable

IJALEL 3(1):249-259, 2014 257 It is to live your life day to day without expression Being black is the feeling of being alone because no one really listens Being black to me, means to be out of touch with reality In Your Own Skin, By Angela Brown Being light skin, people will support your goals It is when you pass people nod and greet you It is when they accept you for who you are It is when people will support your dreams It is when people hold good intentions for you It is when your outlook on life is always positive It is when people show interest in you It is to live a blessed day everyday Being light skin is a feeling that people care Being light skin to me, means you are loved. Soul Mate, By Angela Brown When your man has come back from prison, you must beware of him for he is not the same man you knew when he left you pregnant. He is not a whole person. His spirit within him if full of anger. Different from the pride he had when he became a father, for he is now full of shame. He is embarrassed that he once envied his father for being a man and now he is belittled for being half the man who cannot support his own family. He has guilt within him, for he cheated on you when he stole to support his family. Going to prison was a noose, chained him in shackles which enslaved him for ten years for a crime he said he did not comment. “I did nothing to nobody, officer.” For ten years he wore a scar that said, “Whore.” He was being marked a demon for the color of his skin was the color of charcoal. “Guilty as charged.” Prison took away the respect he had as a free man. The prison, he must learn to survive in hostility, a slave to the master guard’s command. Branded a number on his uniform. The prison number became his name. He must learn to fight to survive. He had nothing else to live by. When he returned home, he must take the agility of self-hate, to learn to love his family he had lost fate in the prison ward. His wife must learn to cleanse his scar and nurture his soul to return home knowing he is somebody and that his family loves him for that is all that matters. He has come home to a family who accepts him and loves him. Slavery, By Angela Brown In the land I come from, I am free to roam the savanna to hunt. I am able to demonstrate my man hood through rite of passage. Today, I wonder about to find something to make a drum. I am captured. I am taken by a rival enemy. I am shackled and chained to the bottom of a ship. For months I travel by sea. Extra cargo is thrown overboard. Some are sickened from the fetus and vomit. We Africans speak different tongues and cannot communicate. I stand on a platform, naked. My skin is branded with a number. The number indicates who owns me. I am sold for less than a penny. I live in a foreign land, called America. I cannot escape harsh treatment. I am beaten with a horse lash. My back holds gasp of blood from the whip. If I fight back, I will be lynched, shot or burned to death. If I fled, I will be branded with an r, a runaway slave. The dogs will find me and rip my body to pieces. I ran away more than once. My punishment left me crippled. My foot was shot off my leg. I miss my family. I watched black women raped by the white man that sickened me. The slave master fucked her dry. If the women submit, there is a chance their children would be free from slavery. If my master allowed me to learn to read and write, the salt on my tongue is dry. The sole purpose of a slave is to serve. A plantation has no place for a slave to read and write. It is a threat on a plantation to read and write afraid there will be a slave revolt. My spirit is gone. I have no reason to live. My personal freedom is beseeched. I lie awake in my death bed. If I am a good slave, and I do as told, they may grant my freedom. I am a captive of slavery. I am betrayed by demons. I have no life as I speak. For two centuries, a life sentence, I surrender to sin. I rise to pick cotton. I live under the whip. During the revolution, to death, you cannot see what you cannot find. Afraid, as a slave, I lie still, on my death bed. The Black Community, By Angela Brown It takes a village to raise a child. But how am I raised, without family. My gang is my family. We come from a community of host who protect us from harm. United we stand as family. We live together. We die together. We help our brothers and sisters from destruction. We mark our community from harm’s way. In our community, everyone knows when we go wrong. Our community of peers testifies in our behalf. It gives us a second chance from going to prison. The village gives us a chance to lead a moral life. Our community of peers supports us, to gain success. We acknowledge our own kind. We are a community of faith, who thrive on faith, making life a better place to live.

IJALEL 3(1):249-259, 2014 258 Rosa Parks, By Angela Brown It was a historic day, The clouds were dark and heavy It was a day of apithamy. Blacks were second class Citizens. You read it. The signs said No blacks allowed. Blacks were not Permitted in public domains. The law Read separate; not equal. Blacks Were to give up their seat for whites To sit at the back of the bus. Rosa May have heard the voices in her Head, when it served her time to say “No.” ‘Not today.’ Rosa took a chance That led a revolution to equal rights. The police were waiting for to put her In jail. Rosa broke the law. How can A country is free, without just cause? We are not truly free. In the seventies in Las Vegas, a young Boy told his sister that blacks out of respect Must sit in the back of the bus. This girl Too refused to give up her seat and Realizing the just cause is an absolute right Words of Endearment, By Angela Brown

1. Slots - Are you ready to rumble. Vegas is known for glitz and glitter. You have to be a keen eye to guide you through all the slot machines. You cannot afford to enter a casino without chump change. Every patron knows this. A rule of thumb. Beware of the noise of coins dropping out of a slot machine. Temptation has it. You are deemed to become a victim of placing a few coins every time you enter a casino. Today is your lucky day.

2. Blackjack – Once you pass the slot machine, there are the table games. You will be a sucker for gambling a hand of Blackjack. It is a $5 dollar minimum. Surely you played 21. It is a sucker bet. The excitement builds at the table. There are people yelling. They won! There are high fives in the game. The cocktails keep your belly warm. You feel the momentum. You got to have it. Luck that is. Cha-Ching. You are in the money.

3. Craps – Your luck is running. After you played blackjack, why not play craps? Once you look around and see the table is loaded with money, you begin to feel a lucky streak. You place a prop bet and win, you feel like a high roller and so you stay to try the odds at beating the dice.

4. Sports book – After you wind down from the excitement, you will come across the sports book and it is football season. You sit at the bar and watch the game with the guys on a wide screen television. You know who you are pulling for, because like the lotto, you bet the ticket. It is the next best thing to being at the game. You have something in common at a casino. It is the fun of the game and your team is winning. You have a winning streak.

5. Comps/Lotto – You are getting hungry and you want to eat, so you got a free ticket to eat with your buddy at the buffet. You had not eaten all day and you pile the food up on your plate; but while waiting, your lotto ticket is in and you wait to hear the winning number.

6. Poker – You are tired now that your tommy is full and you want to go home, when you see the Poker room is full. You know the game you played with friends in college, only it was strip poker. You have won and you have $500 to kill, so you buy in a game of Texas Hold’em. You have pocket Aces and it is the turn with a possible full house. The river card is the determining factor. The board plays one ace and a king. The river plays another king. You played the highest hand. Yes! You won the pot. You dedicated a day at the casino, you’re tired and now it is time to go. Your pocket change just got fatter. You leave with a big poker face. What a day.

IJALEL 3(1):249-259, 2014 259 References Brogan, T. (1994). The New Princeton Handbook of Poetic Terms. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Culler, J. (1997). Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction. Ciardi, J. (1959). How Does a Poem Mean?. Cambridge, MA: The Riverside Press. Depts.washington.edu/lsearlec/510/Texts/Olson-Outline.pdf Drew, E. (1933). Discovering Poetry. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. Harmon, W. (2003). Classic Writings on Poetry. New York: Columbia University Press.