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<DIV><SPAN class=296594918-15122003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Dan</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=296594918-15122003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Tests,
I suppose, but rather careful observation and sustained interaction to see how
the tests are selective..</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=296594918-15122003>
<P><FONT size=2>Bernard Spolsky spolsb@mail.biu.ac.il
</FONT></P></SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left><FONT
face=Tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B>
owner-edling@ccat.sas.upenn.edu [mailto:owner-edling@ccat.sas.upenn.edu] <B>On
Behalf Of </B>Dan Douglas<BR><B>Sent:</B> Monday, December 15, 2003 8:42
PM<BR><B>To:</B> edling@ccat.sas.upenn.edu<BR><B>Subject:</B> RE: Defining
issues in Ed Ling<BR><BR></FONT></DIV><FONT size=3>Bernard et al.: Well,
that's partly why I suggested revisiting the BICS/CALP distinction. And
while I agree that assessments aren't the answer, they're likely to be part of
the answer, particularly since teachers and pupils are increasingly faced with
often poorly designed tests and unjustified interpretations of test
performance. The bottom line is understanding the nature of language use
in the educational context, it seems to me, and, as you suggest, tests can be
used to encourage teachers to discover the complex language systems pupils
already control.<BR><BR>Cheers,<BR>Dan <BR><BR>At 07:00 PM 12/15/2003 +0200,
you wrote:<BR></FONT>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite"><FONT face=arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Dan, related, but in its labeling unfortunately encouraged the gap by
encouraging the belief that one is inherently (as opposed to socially)
better than the other. Nor am I convinced that assessment instruments are
the answer, unless by that you mean finding a way to encourage teachers to
to discover the complex language systems pupils already control, and find a
way to motivate them to expand this control to other parts of the system
(include e.g. writing).</FONT><FONT size=3><BR></FONT><FONT face=arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Bernard</FONT><FONT size=3><BR></FONT>
<DL>
<DD><FONT face=tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR>
<DD>From:</B> owner-edling@ccat.sas.upenn.edu [<A
href="mailto:owner-edling@ccat.sas.upenn.edu"
eudora="autourl">mailto:owner-edling@ccat.sas.upenn.edu</A>] On Behalf Of
</B>Dan Douglas<BR>
<DD>Sent:</B> Monday, December 15, 2003 6:42 PM<BR>
<DD>To:</B> edling@ccat.sas.upenn.edu<BR>
<DD>Subject:</B> Re: Defining issues in Ed Ling<BR><BR></FONT>
<DD><FONT size=3>Regarding the re-examination of basic concepts defining
educational linguistics, one such would be Cummins' BICS/CALP distinction
(which is related to what Bernard and others have already mentioned as the
"gap between school languages and home languages", I think) We need
a clearer understanding of precisely what we mean by "school language" and
"home language", and this would underlie our need for up-to-date
assessment instruments, particularly in bi/multilingual contexts.
<BR><BR>
<DD>Cheers,<BR>
<DD>Dan <BR><BR>
<DD>At 09:55 PM 12/14/2003 -0500, you wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite">
<DD>In a recent issue of Working Papers in Ed Linguistics (18,2), the
editors mull over proposed definitions of our field:<BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite">
<DD>Spolsky's vision of educational linguistics was that it would be a
field of (applied) linguistics, much like educational psychology or
educational sociology are fields of their disciplines proper, that
"start[s] with a specific problem and then looks to linguistics and
other relevant disciplines for their contribution to its solution"
(1978: 2). <BR>
<DD><BR><BR>
<DD>Following from a recent discussion about definition, I'm drawing
up a list of the top "problems" in our field. When you consider
educational linguistics overall, what problems, theoretical or
practical, most need to be tackled right now and why? Is there a
pressing need for a basic concept (such as communicative competence)
to be re-examined? What connections urgently need to be
made? <BR>
<DD>The following is one example: I suspect that educational
linguistics could benefit from an integrated model of sociolinguistic
and cognitive approaches to SLA, not only to refine theory but for the
sake of solving specific teaching questions, such as what ways are
available to improve the grammatical accuracy of second language
students' writing? One such attempt is proposed by Dwight
Atkinson ["Toward a Sociocognitive Approach to Second Language
Acquisition." <BR>
<DD>The Modern Language Journal 86 (4): 525-545.]
</DD></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>
<DD>Leslie<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite"><BR>
<DD> </DD></BLOCKQUOTE></DD></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DD>Professor, TESL/Applied Linguistics Program<BR>
<DD>Co-editor, Language Testing<BR></I>
<DD>English Department<BR>
<DD>Iowa State University<BR>
<DD>Ames, IA 50011, USA<BR>
<DD>Phone: (515) 294-9365<BR>
<DD>Fax: (515) 294-6814<BR></FONT></DD></DL></BLOCKQUOTE><X-SIGSEP>
<P></X-SIGSEP>
<DL></DL><FONT size=3>Professor, TESL/Applied Linguistics
Program<BR>Co-editor, <I>Language Testing<BR></I>English Department<BR>Iowa
State University<BR>Ames, IA 50011, USA<BR>Phone: (515) 294-9365<BR>Fax: (515)
294-6814<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></BODY></HTML>