24.3104, Review: Applied Linguistics; Language Acquisition: Livingstone (2012)

Tue Jul 30 20:52:55 UTC 2013

LINGUIST List: Vol-24-3104. Tue Jul 30 2013. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 24.3104, Review: Applied Linguistics; Language Acquisition: Livingstone (2012)

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Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 16:52:31
From: Tyler Anderson [tanderso at coloradomesa.edu]
Subject: El enfoque cooperativo y su idoneidad para la enseñanza-aprendizaje de segundas lenguas y lenguas extranjeras

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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/23/23-4285.html

AUTHOR: Kerwin Anthony Livingstone
TITLE: El enfoque cooperativo y su idoneidad para la enseñanza-aprendizaje de segundas lenguas y lenguas extranjeras
SERIES TITLE: LINCOM Studies in Second Language Teaching 17
PUBLISHER: Lincom GmbH
YEAR: 2012

REVIEWER: Tyler Kimball Anderson, Colorado Mesa University

SUMMARY

This 33-page booklet focuses its attention principally on the highlights of
the Cooperative Approach (CA) -- a language teaching methodology that promotes
learning through group-centered activities. While it reads as a review of
literature surrounding this didactic method, the main intent of this work is
to argue for increased use of this methodology in the foreign language
classroom.

The author begins with a discussion on why the CA is a suitable method for the
foreign/second language classroom. He notes that other methods tend to focus
on linguistic competence (e.g. accuracy in verb conjugation) in the target
language, leaving communicative competence (i.e. the ability to use the
language outside of the classroom) somewhat lacking. A brief overview of some
of these methods that have failed to produce the desired communicative
competence is provided. According to the author, one of the reasons for such
failure has been the teacher-centered focus of such methods. Subsequently, the
bulk of the manuscript concentrates on the student-centered method of CA.

The discussion on CA begins with several of the characteristics (e.g. small
groups, cooperation instead of competition) and goals of the approach. This is
followed by a brief overview of the learning theories behind CA, focusing
mainly on interactional psychology. The importance of working in groups is
then highlighted, followed by a discussion of the possible roles (e.g.
encourager, coach, silent captain) of each member of a group.

The manuscript continues with a brief focus on the characteristics of four
models that encapsulate CA: 1) jigsaws, 2) student team learning, 3) learning
together, and 4) group investigation. The author then turns his attention to
group types and other key elements for finding success in group activities,
along with a list of some of the activities inherent to CA. Also included in
this discussion are the benefits of CA (i.e. increased collaboration and
communicative competence), as well as some guidelines (e.g. group make-up,
individual responsibility, physical arrangement of students) for finding
success in implementing CA in the foreign/second language classroom.

To close the manuscript, the author briefly outlines some practical findings
of research dealing with CA. These, according to the author, indicate that CA
can viably be implemented in the foreign language classroom to achieve
communicative competence, as well as social benefits such as solidarity
amongst students.

EVALUATION

While the main purpose of this manuscript is to advocate for the use of
activities related to CA, it simply reads as a literature review for a larger
project. Written in Spanish, it appears to target those who teach Spanish as a
second or foreign language. The booklet begins with a very brief overview of
some of the research methods used throughout the history of language teaching.
However, the treatments of the antecedent methods are very brief, and as such,
would be of little use to the foreign language teacher. Granted, the work’s
purpose is not to discuss methods from a historical perspective, however, the
inclusion of such minimal information on these methods is unserviceable. Other
works such as Richards & Rogers (2001), or perhaps Koike & Klee (2003), would
serve as a much more accessible and useful resource for background information
on second language teaching methodologies.

Aside from being written in Spanish, this manuscript provides little addition
to other sources (i.e. Richards & Rodgers 2001) with regards to CA theory and
praxis. It is simply too brief to add to the extant literature. An example of
the failure to develop an area of discussion occurs when the author states
that “El desarrollo de cooperación y trabajo en equipo es uno de los puntos
más complejos de este método de instrucción” (‘The development of cooperation
and teamwork is one of the most complex points of this instructional method’)
(p. 19); in spite of its alleged complexity, only one brief paragraph is
dedicated to the topic at hand.

While at times the book flows well, the author’s writing style is very
difficult, and at times, impossible to follow. Aside from numerous run-on
sentences, typographical and major grammatical errors abound. For example, on
page 9 there is repetition of the phrase “El trabajo en equipo” and “trabajar
en equipo” (‘work in groups’/ ‘working in groups’)  as the subject of the same
sentence. On the following page, there is a capital ‘L’ in “Las habilidades”
(‘The abilities’) after the abbreviation “etc.”, even though the nominal
phrase does not begin a new sentence. A similar typographical error is
repeated at least one other time (see p. 11). Also adding confusion is the
lack of verbs in several sentences (see p. 10). Misspelled words are also
abundant; for example, errata due to accentuation are found in the subjunctive
of “dar” (dé) (‘to give’) (see p. 11), and the most notable typo for this
reader is “vasta” for “basta” (‘vast’/ ‘enough’) (p. 29). The most glaring
errors are found on page 18, where: 1) the verbs “apoyar” (‘to support’) and
“apoyarse” (reflexive form) are repeated in the same list without
clarification as to the repetition; 2) the non-apocopated form of “primero”
(‘first’) is found before a masculine noun; and 3) the verb “ser” (‘to be’) is
spelled incorrectly.

Not only does this manuscript read as a rough draft due to grammatical and
orthographical errors, but the content also leaves much to be desired. The
lack of development surrounding themes central to the manuscript’s goals makes
for a very rough read. Several times the author provides a list of activity
types without affording any concrete examples or explanations for these
activities (see p. 22). Another time, the author mentions “tres tipos de
tareas” (‘three types of tasks’) (p. 20), but it is unclear what three task
types he is referring to. Other works (e.g. Omaggio 2001) give much more
detailed and practical resources for many of the activities that the author
mentions (e.g. puzzles, jigsaw activities).

Also lacking is a description of some of the weaknesses of CA, which all
methods/approaches have. It would be advantageous to the reader to know in
what situations CA is not useful.

One of the benefits of the work is the culling of an abundant number of
references regarding CA. Anyone interested in researching said approach will
find a great starting point here.

In sum, the idea of a work on CA written in Spanish is one that merits
inclusion in academic writings. Very little writing exists in Spanish on
language teaching methodologies in general, and as one who teaches future
Spanish language educators, this reader was eager to find a book on CA written
in Spanish. However, due to the lack of practical ideas, the abundance of
errors, and the difficulty of the author’s writing style, the book does not
meet this reviewer’s desired expectations.

REFERENCES

Koike, Dale A. & Carol A. Klee. 2003. Lingüística aplicada: Adquisición del
español como segunda lengua. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Omaggio Hadley, Alice. 2001. Teaching language in context, 3rd edn. Boston:
Heinle and Heinle.

Richards, Jack C. & Theodore S. Rodgers. 2005. Approaches and methods in
language teaching, 2nd edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Tyler K. Anderson is Associate Professor of Spanish at Colorado Mesa
University, where he teaches courses in linguistics and second language
acquisition. His research interests include language attitudes toward
manifestations of contact linguistics, including the acceptability of lexical
borrowing and code-switching in Spanish and English contact situations. He is
currently researching the perceptions of phonetic interference in second
language acquisition.

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