29.3709, Review: Applied Linguistics; Sociolinguistics: Coffey, Wingate (2017)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-29-3709. Wed Sep 26 2018. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 29.3709, Review: Applied Linguistics; Sociolinguistics: Coffey, Wingate (2017)

Moderator: linguist at linguistlist.org (Malgorzata E. Cavar)
Reviews: reviews at linguistlist.org (Helen Aristar-Dry, Robert Coté)
Homepage: https://linguistlist.org

Please support the LL editors and operation with a donation at:
           https://funddrive.linguistlist.org/donate/

Editor for this issue: Jeremy Coburn <jecoburn at linguistlist.org>
================================================================


Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2018 15:02:46
From: Joshua Pope [joshua.pope at doane.edu]
Subject: New Directions for Research in Foreign Language Education

 
Discuss this message:
http://linguistlist.org/pubs/reviews/get-review.cfm?subid=36384479


Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/28/28-4562.html

EDITOR: Simon  Coffey
EDITOR: Ursula  Wingate
TITLE: New Directions for Research in Foreign Language Education
PUBLISHER: Routledge (Taylor and Francis)
YEAR: 2017

REVIEWER: Joshua Pope, Doane College

SUMMARY

In their introductory chapter, Coffey and Wingate describe their volume’s
motivations to showcase work being done on foreign language learning and
teaching around the world. They aim to support teachers and scholars as they
strive to not separate language from social, political and cultural contexts.

In Chapter 1 (“Navigating Precarious Territory: Teaching Turkish in
Greek-Cypriot Classrooms”), Panayiota Charalambous, Constadina Charalambous
and Ben Rampton present approaches teachers of Turkish in Cyprus use in the
context of teaching a language that has historically been used by an “enemy”
community. For decades Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots were physically and
legally divided. In 2003, as Cyprus sought EU membership, intercultural
contact increased. This included teaching Turkish as a foreign language to
Greek-Cypriots. In two ethnographies, the authors found teachers employed
three main approaches to present the Turkish language and people to students
who may still view anything Turkish as the “enemy.” The most common approach
was for teachers to only teach language, completely decontextualized of any
sociocultural content.  The second most common approach was to frame Turkish
as a local language. Teachers using this approach organized visits with
Turkish-Cypriots and to Turkish locales. They presented information about
their own experiences with Turkish language and people. They did not employ
this approach without consideration of the students’ maturity and they
frequently continued to avoid politics. Finally, one teacher aimed to make
Turkish a cosmopolitan language used in a multicultural Europe, just like any
other European language.  

In Chapter 2 (“Language Learning as Opportunity Across the Lifespan”), Simon
Coffey presents the language autobiography, elicited written and/or oral data
that comes directly from the participant, as a valid instrument in data
collection. It is a tool that allows for examination of heterogeneity of
social class, unlike many other frameworks and methodologies. He includes one
autobiography that supports his argument that language autobiographies
demonstrate language learning leading to social class mobility and movement
from one language to another. Coffey’s example was Sue, a native speaker of
British English who grew up in the “armpit of the universe.” Upon discovering
an interest in French, she made language learning a “project of self,” a way
to mobilize herself upward socially, into a more sophisticated life. When
speaking French, she felt she was able to free herself of her L1 social
baggage, an accent from the “armpit.” Coffey reminds us that this was a time
in the 20th century during which French enjoyed great prestige in Europe. 

In Mairin Hennebry’s chapter (“Foreign Language Teaching for Citizenship
Development”), the prospect of including citizenship in foreign language
curricula is advocated. Traditionally, citizenship is comprised of three
elements: civil, political and social. Citizens participate in their
communities, vote and enjoy freedoms. There is a distinction between bound
citizenship, referring to nationality, and unbound. The latter is not legally
defined and goes well with cosmopolitan citizenship, being a citizen of the
world, working towards peace, human rights and global democracy. Foreign
language classes can be an optimal context for learners to develop
cosmopolitan citizenship because it allows them to engage with a diversity of
identities, different values and their own multiple identities. Foreign
language teaching can be the means to promote citizenship since it works as a
bridge that connects communities globally, thus facilitating stronger senses
of citizenship allowing learners the integrative motivation that frequently
leads to stronger L2 gains (Dörnyei, 2009; Gardner, 2001). However, Hennebry
presents data from five European countries that find a lack of explicit
mention of citizenship in the countries’ stated foreign language learning
objectives even though they may focus on cultural awareness and engagement
with diversity. This is partially because of a curricular focus on language
teaching. Non-linguistic elements, like citizenship, are marginalized even
though teachers value their inclusion. The connection between weak foreign
language learning and extra-national citizenship is even felt in the UK House
of Lords as it linked such weakness to British isolationism. Particularly in
the wake of Brexit, Hennebry advocates for the inclusion of citizenship in
foreign language teaching to prevent such insularism.  

Jennifer Jenkins, in Chapter 4, “Not English but
English-within-Multilingualism,” argues for a reconceptualization of research
into English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), the use of English by only non-native
speakers of English. After giving an introduction into research on ELF, she
presents her reasoning into why such a reconceptualization is necessary. In
general, English should not be the primary focus of the situation. Instead,
the focus should be on multilingualism. The number of non-native speakers of
English is surpassing the number of native speakers, who all live in an
increasingly multilingual world. Therefore, Jenkins provides terminology that
allows for the reconceptualization. For example, instead of ELF, she promotes
English as a Multilingual Franca which is defined as a situation of
“multilingual communication in which English is available as a contact
language of choice, but is not necessarily chosen” (p. 72). This definition
places emphasis on the multilingual environment, acknowledging that all native
and non-native languages spoken by participants are represented in the
interaction even if they are not used. A key implication Jenkins suggests for
researchers in SLA and language educators is to move away from the notion of a
native speaker ideal as, in some situations, this is not the reality learners
are entering. 

 “Glocal Languages: The Globalness and the Localness of World Languages,” by
Manuela Guilherme is a logical progression from Jenkins’s previous chapter.
The author begins by establishing the tradition of seeing English as the
lingua franca of globalization as part of the colonial era. It is a one-sided
perception of globalization. Any linguistic or cultural pedagogy that follows
suit also suffers these shortfalls. Instead, Guilherme proposes the term
‘glocal language’. A glocal language can be the global or the local language;
the colonial language, official language of a new state or the indigenous
language. Even a language that would not be considered global, like Danish,
can be glocal because it is possible to see its evidence around the world as
it is an L1 or early L2 to many. Importantly, a glocal language is not a
lingua franca as it brings cultural baggage, along with the native
speaker/non-native speaker mythical standard. In the end, Guilherme proposes a
focus on critical intercultural awareness in glocal language education,
meaning a post-colonial approach “that responds to globalization, how it
affects localisms and, above all, how the former is dynamically and
intensively affected by the latter” (91). 

Rachel Shively, in Chapter 6, “Language Socialization during Study Abroad:
Researching Social Interaction outside of the Classroom,” presents her
research on L2 learners’ social interactions with host families, peers and
service personnel during their semesters in Spain. She does so under the
theoretical framework of language socialization, which involves learners
participating in social interaction who are thus socialized into the local
linguistic and cultural communities of practice. Shively presents the
qualitative data of her participants briefly in order to give ideas of how
socialization can occur. She demonstrates how participants learned from
implicit socialization how to interact in social encounters. In addition,
multiple participants altered the way they use humor based on their
experiences in social interactions. For example, one participant realized his
deadpan humor was not successful, leading him to use a different tactic.
Finally, when giving assessment statements about their beliefs, Shively showed
participants increased their vocabulary and that native speakers of Spanish
also acted as experts to guide them. She concludes that observing study abroad
research under the language socialization framework is an effective way to
understand how learners become members of a society, increasing their
linguistic and sociocultural competencies.

In Chapter 7, “French Language Textbooks as Ideologically Imbued Cultural
Artifacts: Political Economy, Neoliberalism and (Self-) Branding,” David Block
and John Gray analyze two French foreign language textbooks, finding ways in
which they portray ideologies. The two books analyzed were chosen to represent
two parts of the global economic crisis that began in 2007. The first textbook
was a 2010 edition which was prepared earlier in the crisis, the second from
the text’s 2015 edition, when fuller effects of the crisis were felt and
understood. Their analysis took into account portrayed elements of
neoliberalism and manners in which individuals may brand themselves. The 2010
edition included content that described French workers as “bad” because they
were not branded as exciting or, in some ways, sincere. However, they were
branded as sophisticated and sincere in the sense that they were honest. While
much of this portrayal does not fall in line with neoliberalism, Block and
Gray say that there is an element of it due to a message of efficiency and
preparation. By the time the 2015 edition was prepared, more evidence of the
global financial crisis had made it into the text. For example, there were
stories from people who had immigrated to and emigrated from France, the
latter for various reasons including economic. Block and Gray indicate that
the crisis brings together elements of the neoliberal citizen, excitement and
competence. 

Chapter 8, “The Need for New Directions in Modern Foreign Language Teaching at
English Secondary Schools” by Ursula Wingate and Nick Andon, presents the
increasing problem of demotivation and decreased enrollment in foreign
language classes in secondary schools in England. Wingate and Andon had as
goals to observe teaching methods and consider their impact on learner
motivation, to interview teachers about their beliefs and to make
recommendations. The authors observed lessons and interviewed teachers whose
classes were observed. In general, the methods observed lacked the opportunity
for learners to communicate in creatively produced language. Specifically,
they were led by teachers through tightly controlled language activities like
filling in blanks and choral repetition. They also observed overpraise,
unengaging games that disintegrated due to lack of purpose and a lack of
follow-up on activities, leading to lack of effort by learners. 

>From their interviews with teachers, Wingate and Andon found common themes
about teachers’ backgrounds and their beliefs about methods. There was little
knowledge about communicative principles that should inform lesson plans.
Teachers set low expectations to preserve positive emotions. They claim to
challenge high achieving students and support low achievers but in practice
provide pointless activities. In general, there appeared to be discrepancies
between what teachers planned and what was realized. Therefore, Wingate and
Anton recommend a reconceptualization of teaching methods that are informed by
theory and take into account the whole learner, not just the learner who can
produce grammatical structures.
 
In Chapter 9 (“Developing Competence for French as a Foreign Language within a
Plurilingual Paradigm”), Nathalie Auger argues for language teaching
philosophies that take all learners’ linguistic repertoires into account. She
mentions Roma speakers of Catalan and other migrants that can make up a French
as a Foreign Language class. Such a perspective has typically not been present
in French classes due to strict focus on communication in the target language.
However, having students do activities in which they compare and contrast
languages they speak can show them that all languages are equally valued and
can ease social and identity-related tensions in the classroom. There should
be a transformation in teacher training as well because pre-service teachers
need to learn to think about their own plurilinguistic experiences and how to
facilitate practice, making their teaching of French universal. 

Angela Scarino wrote Chapter 10 (“Assessing the Diverse Linguistic and
Cultural Repertoires of Students of Diverse Languages”) in order to show that
many common frameworks for language learning are generic and do not take into
account the multilingual variety present in K-12 students. Following a summary
of points on globalization and policy, Scarino presents the SAALE study,
carried out nationally in Australia. It was to determine what K-12 learners
could legitimately achieve in learning one of four languages. The study tested
for relationships involving learners’ language and cultural backgrounds and
time-on-task. Findings indicate linguistic background is important since those
who learned the target language as an L2 experienced achievement significantly
lower than the other groups. Intensity of study (i.e., study abroad) also led
to higher achievement in Japanese and Chinese. 

The SAALE study helped administrators in Australia come up with policy under
which different frameworks and standards were adopted for different languages
and for different learner groups. This is as a start towards considering
learner background in their assessments. 

Chapter 11, entitled “Embedding the Assessment into the Learning: A New
Direction for High-Stakes Speaking Assessments,” Martin East presents how
secondary-level learners undergo L2 oral assessments in New Zealand. In all
subjects, this country implemented a new philosophy in high-stakes assessments
that allows for a formative assessment valuing feedback. For L2 oral
assessment, this means a switch from conversations between teacher and student
to a peer-to-peer spontaneous interaction. East presents interview data from
language teachers about the importance of interaction and how they manage the
need for accountability and standarization in assessment. East’s data show
overwhelming teacher support for focusing on interaction. However, it was
common for teachers to worry about stressful spontaneity, difficult
standardization and lack of confidence that learners’ true abilities will be
reflected. In an effort to match the need for interaction with the need for
accountability, teachers suggest learners have much practice with spontaneous
interaction inside and outside the assessment context.

The final full chapter of the volume, entitled “Toward a Framework for US
Collegiate Foreign Language Instruction: Curricular Considerations” by Heidi
Byrnes, presents issues that primarily plague university-level foreign
language departments in the United States. Across the country, departments are
charged with teaching beginning-level language courses as well as high-level
content courses. Traditionally, the divide between courses has been complete.
However, Byrnes reminds that, if a curriculum is informed by theories that see
SLA as emergent, there should be no divide. Language learning continues during
“content” courses and content is learned in “language” courses. She presents
eight foundational principles to consider when working with curriculum, most
focusing on seeing language and content as linked and part of the real world.
Byrnes concludes her chapter by showing how her own German department used
Systemic Functional Linguistics to reform their curriculum.

Claire Kramsch’s afterward concludes the volume by asserting that the chapters
presented highlight issues in SLA that were not present 30 years earlier. Such
topics include the need to not see binary classifications (L1 versus L2, for
example) and the English bias in literature. The themes present in the volume
better reflect 21st century reality of globalization.  

EVALUATION

My evaluation agrees with that of Kramsch and centers on the book’s effective
division into four parts. The first part, “Change Rationales for Language
Study” includes Charalambous, Charalambous and Rampton’s data about new
rationales for teaching Turkish to Greek-Cypriots in Cyprus to foster positive
intercultural relations. Coffey’s chapter on using language autobiographies to
determine how one’s reasons for learning language can be for upward social
mobility also adds an important rationale. Lastly, Hennebry proposes tying
teaching citizenship development into language learning as a way to promote
cosmopolitan citizenship in learners and to foster intrinsic motivation. These
three chapters provide important rationales for language study that go beyond
those of traditional classroom practices, allowing learners to imagine and
realize their own integrations into target communities. 

Part 2 is entitled “Foreign Language Study for Global Multilingualism.” The
first two chapters complement each other well by focusing on different aspects
of how a wide range of speakers use English as a lingua franca throughout the
world. Both Jenkins and Guilherme promote important updates to the notion of
English as a Lingua Franca, both seeking to remove focus from the English
language and concentrate on the multilingual and multicultural contexts that
exist in communicative situations in which English is used. While both
chapters present important information, one may have sufficed. Shively’s
chapter on social interaction during study abroad fits the section’s theme
well, and differently from the previous two chapters. It returns the volume’s
focus to non-English languages as Shively’s data gives clear images of how
learners begin to become socialized members of Spanish society while abroad. 

The third part is “Critical Perspectives in the Classroom.” All three chapters
promote innovative ways for educators to critically consider practices and
adapt to improve learner experiences. Block and Gray do this by showing how
textbooks can teach more than just language. They can be used to demonstrate
important sociological information such as economic effects in France. Wingate
and Andon provide a particularly useful opportunity for teachers to critically
think about their practices by demonstrating that teachers do not always
facilitate the communicative interactive practice for the students as much as
they think. Such information allows for critical reflection not only for
teachers but for teacher educators. Finally, Auger provides critique on the
notion that the target language should be the only language of a classroom.
Instead, modern day pluralingualism should be embraced for pedagogical
purposes.  

Part 4, “Innovation in Policy and Practice” provides important ideas when
looking toward the future, particularly considering assessment. Both Scarino’s
chapter about taking the whole learner into consideration when assessing their
abilities and East’s chapter on providing formative assessments in place of
only summative, suggest innovation in language assessment, supported by what
has been implemented in their countries. Byrnes’s treatment of the curricular
divide in US higher education is meaningful and should be taken further. 

In conclusion, Coffey and Wingate assembled a volume that informs the language
researcher and educator versed in theory well. It was a particular treat to
read about pedagogical practices implemented in multiple parts of the world.
This helps solidify the editors’ globalized perspective.

REFERENCES

Dörnyei, Z. (2009). The L2 motivational system. In Z. Dörnyei & E. Ushioda
(Eds.), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self (p. 9-42). Bristol:
Multilingual Matters.

Gardner, R. (2001). Integrative motivation and second language acquisition. In
Z. Dörnyei & R.W. Schmidt (Eds.), Motivation and second language acquisition.
Honolulu, HI: University of Honolulu.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Joshua Pope is Assistant Professor of Spanish at Doane University. His
research interests include language learning during study abroad and language
pedagogy.





------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*****************    LINGUIST List Support    *****************
Please support the LL editors and operation with a donation at:

              The IU Foundation Crowd Funding site:
       https://iufoundation.fundly.com/the-linguist-list

               The LINGUIST List FundDrive Page:
            https://funddrive.linguistlist.org/donate/
 


----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-29-3709	
----------------------------------------------------------