Volume 3 (2012) Issue 2
Veronica Smith: Tertiary
Language Learning. Changing Perspectives and Practical Responses. Tübingen:
Narr 2010 (Tübinger Beiträge zur Linguistik; Bd. 518). X + 112 pages. (ISBN
978-3-8233-6522-8).
The present monograph
documents recent developments in foreign-language methodology which are
implemented in a practical approach, Scenario-based Language Learning, as
well as a model developed by its author, both of which represent the consistent
and logical culmination point of the reflexions made.
The book is outlined
in seven chapters, with the first three chapters presenting the recent history
of language teaching and the last four dedicated to scenario-based learning,
its prerequisites and backgrounds:
- Second Language Learning (pp.1)
- Theoretical Approaches (pp. 11)
- Developing Enabling Skills in Language
Learning (pp. 43)
- Scenario-based Language Learning (pp.
53)
- Assessment in Scenario Learning (pp.
71)
- A Model of Tertiary Language Learning:
Eight Theses (pp. 97)
The eight theses listed
in Chapter Seven, which Veronica Smith elaborates last, can be a logical
starting point for a review of this book because they represent the framework
which the author employs for her reflexions, thus providing readers with a fruitful
orientation as to what will be elaborated further.
Thesis 1: The
fundamental aim of the ideas presented here is the development of a
communicative and interactive approach to language teaching and language
learning. (p. 97)[1]
The background of
this thesis lies in the evolution of language methodology from the
grammar-translation method via the audio-lingual method (pp. 2) and all the
other steps developed by and by, which, via the cognitive and constructivist
approaches, led to the communicative approach(es) that are of importance for
today’s language teaching and learning and which do not have to be explicitly
listed here. In the course of her professional career, the author has come to
appreciate the importance of communication for and in language teaching (e.g.
p. 53) and puts this personal finding into theory and practice here.
Thesis 2: The
development of such an approach requires the integration of reading, writing,
listening and speaking in the course of the language process. (p. 98)
Logically, any
communicative approach has to integrate all the basic skills which enable human
beings to exchange information and show their feelings. Therefore, taking these
very skills into account is nothing but consistent – and, if this may be added
here – realistic. According to the author, these skills, however, are not
simply to be taken into account on a theoretic basis, but teaching methodology
has to orient itself to them, which is expressed in the following thesis.
Thesis 3: The integration
of these skills implies a commitment to what Widdowson calls “use” (or parole,
in the sense of Saussure) and not to “usage” or the system of language
(langue). (p. 99)
On the one hand,
the classroom situation should mirror authentic language as naturally as
possible, whatever “authentic” language use and language teaching in a
classroom situation may be, as the author rightly points out (pp. 8). For her,
this orientation to parole on the one hand not only refers to language
use itself, with students feeling confirmed when communicating successfully and
noticing the linguistic gaps to be filled when communication fails. The
orientation to parole, in her point of view, also means that students’
curricular and personal needs should be reflected in the language taught
inasmuch as, by means of the Internet, they may even contribute to the set of
relevant language samples they would like to learn (p. 99). It is not only in this claim that the author’s
student-centred approach becomes visible.
Thesis 4: In this
communicative and interactive context, oral communication in groups or pairs is
the basis for most classroom activities. (p. 99)
Classroom
interaction in groups and pairs rather than in a plenary approach is fruitful
in multifold ways. As the author states, students do not feel permanently
observed by their teacher, can interact freely and even learn from each other
by giving each other peer feedback (p. 50). What is more, feedback given by the
teacher will, whether in the form of grammatical explanations or just of
prompts and recasts, be more functional and more discreet, thus more efficient,
than given in a plenary context. Moreover, students are naturally motivated by
this form of interaction and may even enjoy language learning practiced in this
way. Finally, group and pair work go very well with scenario-based learning and
are, for this reason alone, the preferred way of teaching. (p. 100)
Thesis 5: Practical,
pragmatic text comprehension and its assessment will require explicit treatment
of metaphors and metonymies. (p. 100)
Smith stresses the
fact that, by means of metaphors, students can “’look beyond’ the immediate
surface representation” (pp. 100) and understand intercultural differences (p.
101). She also highlights that metaphors can boost students’ linguistic
sensitivity (pp. 48). In this context, translations can be of functional value
as students can extend their word banks and learn to understand nuances in
their L2, which they are already familiar with in their L1 (p. 49).
Thesis 6: Apart from
being communicative and interactive, second language acquisition is
intercultural and hence must be oriented towards particular text types which
have a culturally specific character, e.g. advertisements, which represent
aspects of culture as metonymy or synecdoche. (p. 101)
Intercultural
aspects - intercultural differences in the first place - can, not only
according to Smith, fruitfully utilised to enhance students’ motivation to
learn a foreign language. For the author, an appropriate text type to convey
these intercultural aspects are advertisements, be it in magazines or on TV: advertisements,
regularly used, can thus serve to keep language teachers themselves as well as
students updated in terms of identifying and following trends through time. (pp
101)
Thesis 7: From this
perspective, translation between two languages can be viewed as an
intercultural process, which, apart from transmitting linguistic insights, also
develops cultural, i.e. pragmatic awareness. (p. 102)
By translation,
the author denotes ‘functional’ translation which focuses on top-down textual
and / or pragmatic phenomena. In this context, attention here lies on the
macrostructure of texts, i.e. text types and their underlying conventions,
rather than on the language level, which refers to wording and grammar. This
type of macrostructural translation, as the reviewer would like to name it
here, comes with considerable intercultural implications. (p. 102)
Thesis 8: Second
language learning should be geared towards a new category of skills, namely
enabling skills, which reflect the demands society now makes on everyone in
terms of the ability to communicate well in all walks of life. (p. 103).
Smith gives the
following definition of enabling skills:
Enabling
skills are then those cognitive skills which are actively drawn on by learners
to learn a new language. They are developed and refined in the process of
interactive confrontation with a different linguistic system and are furthered
by motivation to learn the language and use it for intercultural communication.
(p. 45, original in italics; T.T.)
Enabling skills, thus, are those skills
which allow learners to communicate in a given language. Consequently, the
notion of enabling skills, oriented towards cognition, is closely linked with languages
for specific purposes (LSP) as it goes with the functional and
efficiency-oriented character of the latter. In addition to that, this notion
responds to the need of a fast changing world and creates distinctive language
awareness. (p. 103) What is more, developing enabling skills is a
prerequisite for implementing scenario-based language learning, which
represents the teaching method the present monograph is targeted upon.
Scenarios represent
a set of openly structured classroom activities whose target output is not
foreseeable and which largely depend on student interaction. There is no or
only little guidance from the teacher. In Smith’s view, scenarios show a high
affinity towards business life and, thus, to LSP. The activities which scenarios
are characterized by are interrelated, cover a certain period of time and are
highly contextualised. They are oriented towards situations of the real world
and can, or should, be situated in a (geographical) context which students are
familiar with. (pp. 56) Scenario-based language learning generally follows the
so-called spiral curriculum, i.e. the work in cycles. (pp. 62)
In terms of
learning objectives, scenarios allow students to:
- “Develop independent study skills,
e.g. research, planning, etc.
- Develop a holistic approach to
learning, using knowledge to increase knowledge
- Learn to analyse and structure a
complex problem so that resolution is possible
- Use group for sharing, checking and
reflecting on ideas
- Develop an awareness of personal
language needs” (p. 62)
Resources available
for scenario-based learning are the media, any online language sources,
dictionaries and task-relevant text types. Modes of working can be group and
pair work, individual work as well as class plenaries. Timing can be negotiated
among students. Outcomes of scenarios can be a the creation of a portfolio of
letters, the presentation of a project or the making of telephone calls to arouse
a potential partner’s interest or to arrange a meeting. (p. 65)
An important
advantage of scenarios is that they challenge, and extend, students linguistic
mastery in accordance with the goals of performance they have defined for
themselves. Another advantage, which lies in the location of scenarios in students’
local context, is that the latter convey information about their own country or
home town, which students are normally required to do when being abroad and
communicating with locals. (p. 69)
As advantageous as
scenarios may be, Smith points out that there are also some disadvantages. One
of their disadvantages is that learners, when being forced to express a given content
in the foreign language, tend to use strategies which include transfer from their
mother tongue. This transfer can be negative and lead to interference and
errors. In the author’s view, it is, however, worthwhile giving it a try, as
transfer can just as well be positive. (pp. 68)
Scenarios can be
used in intermediate as well as in advanced stages of learning. As an example
for scenario-based learning at an intermediate language level, Smith quotes the
Klagenfurt City Arcade which consisted in evaluating the influence of
the project of a shopping centre on the retail trade and suburb-based shopping
malls (pp. 63). Her example for more advanced learners refers to establishing a
business plan for a small company (pp. 66). These examples show that
scenario-based learning stands good chances to provide students with authentic
classroom settings (pp 67).
While
scenario-based learning is of high potential interest to students, its
assessment may be a problem. To bread down this potential problem, Smith comes
up with respective checklists – one for assessing oral group performance (p.
75) and one for students’ individual assessment of their performance in a
telephone test (p. 83), which are soundly based on methodology and her own
teaching experience.
All in all, it can
be said that Tertiary Language Learning is a well-written book which presents
a functional approach to teaching intermediate to advanced adult learners (of
English, with findings being extendable to other foreign languages) and which rests
on a sound methodological basis. In some cases, like the first three chapters,
the reader would, nevertheless, be delighted to be provided with some more
visual elements like summarising or clarifying graphs which would facilitate text
reception and which would especially be of help to the novice reader. What is
of importance, however, is that the author presents a functional teaching model
which any interested language teacher can easily apply in his or her own
classes. The eight theses the author presents and discusses can, as she wishes
(p. 103), serve readers as a guiding principle and easily show them the
author’s methodological position. In short, Tertiary Language Learning is
a valuable and inspiring read.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Tinnefeld
Chair of Applied Languages
Waldhausweg 14
D-66123 Saarbrücken
E-mail: thomas_tinnefeld@htw-saarland.de