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Perfecting the Communicative Language Teaching Approach

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Perfecting the Communicative Language Teaching Approach

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I believe there isn't a question that Communicative Language Teaching is an effective method to learning a second language, however I think there are some shortcomings of the method.  One can learn a language if being forced to use it rather than study it, however, if certain aspects are lacking, some damage can be done to the learned language.

Questions:
1)  What should the teacher's role be in CLT?  What policies should the teacher uphold?  Where does he/she make repairs?

2) Could there be cultural resistance to this method?

3) What would an exam look like using CLT?

4) Would any important language factors be lacking in this method?

Projects:
Develop a test for/interview language learners who learned via CLT and those who learned traditionally.

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How do we embrace and support multilingualism school-wide? With teachers and students alike. 

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How do we embrace and support multilingualism school-wide? With teachers and students alike. 

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Q: How do we ensure a safe and open learning environment so that ELLs don't feel like they are rejecting their native language(s) (and cultural identity) in favor of a more dominant language?

Project :
Creating a PD for staff and students that informs them of language ideologies and the negative impacts they can have on ELLs and the school climate.

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Teaching a variety of L2s only in English

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Teaching a variety of L2s only in English

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Question:
I'm fluent in both French and English, and I realize many ELLs don't come from a French-speaking background. How do I support ELLs if I don't know their native tongue? or What are different ways to support ELLs in their native tongue? How much English should be used vs their native tongue?

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A common theme in our readings that has come up time and time again in the classroom is the extent to which use of an L2 can be beneficial/detrimental to an ELL. Through my experiences with both Adult ESL and K-12 I have found that some use of the L2 can be almost necessary for giving instructions, maintaining classroom control, and building a sense of classroom identity through rapport. Use of an L2 in the classroom gets complicated when students have a wide variety of native languages. This made me wonder if any adult language schools have thought of dividing up their classes by L2 and offering classes like "English for Spanish Speakers" for example.

Projects:
Interview teachers/students from Adult ESL classes that are 'English Only' and that employ L2 use

Investigate L2 use by ESL teachers in communities where all students share L2 compared to L2 use in more diverse classrooms in the United States

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Linguistic power structures and sustaining identities

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Linguistic power structures and sustaining identities

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The question that has preoccupied me the most since I have started this program in teaching ESL in a K-12 context has resulted from learning about culturally relevant pedagogical approaches to education and how it may not be enough. While CRP is useful in engaging our culturally and linguistically diverse students and tapping into their prior knowledge, Paris and Alim have showcased the inadequacies of these approaches in addressing the needs of sustaining the identities of our culturally and linguistic students (2017). Consequently, this made me think about my future role as a K-12 ESL teacher and the necessity of teaching certain varieties of English like "academic language" that has been systemically promoted and enforced as the "code of power." Ultimately, I am struggling with the problem of how do we teach such language to our CLD students which is important for their success in school and beyond, while also helping them sustain their cultural identities.

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As someone who worked in government before becoming a teacher, I am always interested in the policies and politics behind decisions made in education. Some questions that I have had include: who does testing (specifically standardized testing) affect students whose first language is not English? Is teaching English to K-12 students better done through immersion in mainstream classrooms or should they have their own classroom?

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What researchable question do I have stemming from various areas of sociolinguistics?  I think Labov's research is fascinating. Because I live in Maryland, I'd like to analyze the Baltimore accent/dialect, as it is distinct and relatively unchanging. For example, why does Baltimore speech have these features:

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What researchable question do I have stemming from various areas of sociolinguistics?  I think Labov's research is fascinating. Because I live in Maryland, I'd like to analyze the Baltimore accent/dialect, as it is distinct and relatively unchanging. For example, why does Baltimore speech have these features:

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/oʊ/ shifts to [ɘʊ] or even [eʊ]. When word-final and spelled as -ow, it is pronounced like /ə/, resulting in spellings like pilla for pillow and winda for window.

/aʊ/ fronts to [ɛɔ] or [æɔ].

u-fronting occurs, where the vowel /uː/ can be fronted to [ʉu].[7]

No cot–caught merger: The words cot /ɑ/ and caught /ɔ/ do not rhyme, with the latter vowel maintaining a raised position. Likewise, the word on rhymes with dawn and not don.

As in Philadelphia, the word water is often pronounced as wooder [ˈwʊɾəɻ] or, more uniquely, [ˈwɔɻɾəɻ].

Possible project: An enthnographic study where I would live in Baltimore for a year, recording voice samples and immersing myself in the culture.

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Q: What are some pros/cons of having an English only classroom? Are we hindering students from their learning if their only allowed to speak English and not their L1? What are some policies we could put in our classrooms to better help all of our students?

Project:
Creating a PD for my colleagues that raises awareness of how some practices serve as implicit/ explicit language policies.

Investigating which policies would work best for a school that has more than 90% students ESL.

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I am still circling around three possible topics, but I want to see what I can do with one of them  in order to impact my teaching of adult ELL

Right now my thoughts are on the following 3 areas:

1. Multilingual classrooms        How can instructors harness the benefits of allowing students to use L1 in a class filled with students with various first languages? What if the teacher only speaks English? How would peer teaching work? What types of activities and procedures could be in place to allow  L1 use on a regular basis? What if there are solo students who do not have another L1 speaker in the class?

Possible project: compile/create curriculum/projects/activities for Adult ESL instruction that allows students to use peer teaching utilizing L1. Visiting sites utilize L1 or even those who have an “English only” policy could be a good way to gather some data. This could be related or a completely different Can students work with L1 texts to work on higher-level language arts stills (such as evaluating an argument, identifying tone, what is the author’s purpose, etc.) for this like college or GED prep?

1. Linguistic Landscapes

What are the linguistic landscapes of various adult English schools? How can adult English language classrooms provide more welcoming and affirming linguistic landscapes? Could more multi linguistic landscapes lead to greater student retention?

Possible projects: Visit sites to gather data on existing landscapes. Create PD on the benefits of multilingual landscapes and ideas on implementation.

1. Humanizing pedagogy

Do adult ESL programs have a humanizing pedagogy? If not, what can be done to instill this in our programs? This intrigues me a great deal, but I wonder if it is something found more in adult settings than in k-12 and if it is worth delving into. Could this actually be linked to linguistic landscape in some way?

Possible projects: Produce PD for other adult instructors to increase Humanizing pedagogy within our programs.

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Question:
What should be the advocacy role of an EL language teacher in a school where colleagues have little understanding of the ELL's plight and where funding is lacking?

Possible projects that understanding this question might lead to:
1)  Experiment with a job description for a high school ELL teacher that is part-counselor for gen. ed. teachers on Multilingualism, perspective, and awareness.

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Code Switching and Choosing Which English Variation to Teach 

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Code Switching and Choosing Which English Variation to Teach 

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Question 1: What are the benefits of using code switching as a teaching tool and what are the consequences?

Project: Compiling a list of activities or teaching tools that use code switching as a teaching method.

Question 2: What are the benefits of having an English only classroom? What are the cons?

Question 3: Which variety of English should we teach to best serve the needs of students?

Project: Research a variety of English such as the English spoken in elementary schools, for job interviews, education, and daily lives. How are they different? How are they similar? How can I incorporate all the different dialects and varieties into my teachings?
(I am thinking about this because I was taught mostly educational Spanish and it did not support me as well as I hoped when speaking conversationally.)

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What are the features or components of a translanguaging classroom? What makes it valuable for bilingual students and how can translanguaging inform the development of identity?
Projects:
1. Interview/survey language teachers about their classroom policies around translanguaging.
2. Compile curriculum strategies for use in the classroom.

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What should mainstream teachers know about the benefits of codeswitching? How can teachers utilize the benefits of codeswitching even if they don't know the students' L1s?
Projects:
1) PD for colleagues on codeswitching in their classrooms
2) A proposal for school-wide language use policies

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Language Variation and Code Switching in EFL/teaching English as a global language

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Language Variation and Code Switching in EFL/teaching English as a global language

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Question:
How can EFL teachers teaching English as a world language abroad, best prepare their students to be effective communicators with other L2 English speakers of different variations?

Possible projects that understanding this question might lead to:
1)  Design curriculum that would develop students' understanding of the concept of variation in English and prepare them to have an (unbiased) ear for different variations and to code switch.
2)  A study of middle and high school groups abroad whose schools require English education. Analyze their capacity to understand English variations in correlation with English current teaching practices.

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Questions:

How do we decide to use one variety of English over another in our context and to what extent do we promote this variety?  How do we acknowledge other varieties?  What happens when there are teachers who speak different varieties of English teaching in the same context?

Possible project:

Research how this is addressed in different contexts globally, trying to discover a trend in the English used in teaching and how a variety is decided in the case where teachers come from different backgrounds. Goal: to promote a better understanding of English language teaching.

Questions:

How do identities in language shift?  Does it depend on interlocutor and context (e.g. are there different identities portrayed in and outside the classroom)  How does one’s cultural background play into finding their ideal/comfortable L2 self?

Possible project:

Interview/survey language learners about their L1 and L2 identity, focusing on common successes and struggles with language and identity.

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Language and cultural bias on standardized tests

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Language and cultural bias on standardized tests

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Question:
Are standardized tests used at the elementary, secondary, and post-secondary level culturally and/or linguistically biased in favor of SAE speakers? Are they biased against other varieties of language (including English)?

Possible projects:
1. Analysis of released standardized tests for various cultural/linguistic biases.

2. The creation of a PD for staff on the current research of biases in standardized testing.

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The Dynamics Between Cultures and Gender

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The Dynamics Between Cultures and Gender

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Question: How do multilingual/multicultural students experience the intersections of language and gender while learning English? Are the ways they use the English language to express gender different from L1 English speakers. How do these students negotiate learning English and expressing their gender identity, while also negotiating American culture and their home/family's culture.

Possible projects:
1. Smaller research project interviewing EL students with questions related to gender and language.
2. A language analysis of social media posts from both EL and L1 Englis speaking teenagers.

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Question:
In what ways can multilingual landscapes in an educational setting work to shift teacher, staff, & student language ideologies?

Possible projects that understanding this question might lead to:
(1) small scale study exploring the linguistic landscapes of a school with multilingual/multidialectal students
(2) create a curricular unit where students draw on their home languages to create a multilingual/multidialectal classroom landscape

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Question:
In what ways do teachers make and uphold language policies in their classroom?

Possible projects that understanding this question might lead to:
(1) a small scale research project investigating the implicit/explicit rules about language use in one ESL classroom
(2) design PD for colleagues to raise awareness of how their practices serve as implicit/explicit language policies