View
225
Download
0
Category
Preview:
Citation preview
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
1/33
University students beliefs about
language learning and the effect of a
language acquisition course
Eleni Agathopoulou
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
GALA 14, Thessaloniki 14-16 December 2007
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
2/33
Aim of the study
To investigate
beliefs about language learning in a group
ofGreek students who were alsoprospective language teachers
whether a second language acquisition
course may transform these beliefs
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
3/33
The importance of beliefs
Beliefs about language learning influence
language learning and language-teaching
practices (Borg 1998, 1999, 2003;Peacock 2001).
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
4/33
Students beliefs & language
learningStudents have incorrect beliefs about how
foreign languages are learned, which may
be detrimental on their learning(studies based on results from Horwitzs
(1988) Beliefs About Language Learning
Inventory, in Peacock 2001: 178).
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
5/33
Possible effects of students beliefs
on language learningExamplesBelief: Learning a foreign language is mostly a
matter of learning a lot of grammar rules
Students may focus on learning grammar rules to theexclusion of other tasks.
Belief: People who speak more than one
language well are very intelligent
Students may blame slow progress/failure on lack ofintelligence, which may lead to more frustration
(Peacock 2001: 179)
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
6/33
Teachers beliefs may affect
language teaching (& learning)Example: Assumed target: development of communicative
competence (implies focus on meaning).
BUT: Note teacher feedbackT: What did you do yesterday?
S: I played basketball.
T: Thats correct.
T: What time is it?
S: Half past ten.
T: Very good, Maria!
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
7/33
Such feedback implies a certain belief
about how languages are learned
Stimulus > Response > Reward
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
8/33
Language Learning beliefs are
difficult to change because
They may derive mainly from the many
years of ones prior learning (andteaching) experience, which filters out the
impact of empirically validated scientific
theories (Lortie 1975; Crow 1987; Holt-
Renyolds 1992 among others).
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
9/33
Recommendation
Educational institutes should contribute to
the reconstruction of prospective teachers
lay theories as early as possible (Peacock,
2001; Goodwin, 2006).
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
10/33
Previous research
University students changed their mind
regarding behaviourist beliefs after a one-
semester course in SLA (Macdonald et al.
2001).
University students (incorrect) beliefs
didnt change significantly after a 3-year
program in SLA and methodology(Peacock 2001).
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
11/33
Initial impetus for the
present study
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
12/33
Anecdotal dataExample 1
Question in final term exams of an SLA course:
Should primary school children start English classes beforethe age of eight or nine?
Answer:
No, because it may have negative effects on their L1.
What they had been taught:The younger the better (CPH) but it depends on number of
teaching hours, method etc.
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
13/33
Anecdotal dataExample 2
Question by an young EFL teacher, with previous
exposure to SLA theories at university.
Why do my beginner students omit ed?
Ive taught them the rule for the regular past tense
so many times!
What she had been taught: There seems to be a"natural order" for the L2 acquisition of Englishmorphemes and ed is a late morpheme.
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
14/33
May these examples indicate beliefs about
language learning not amenable to
change?
Need for further research in the relation
between specific course interventions and
student teachers belief development
(Cabaroglu & Roberts 2000).
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
15/33
The present study
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
16/33
Method
Participants: 46 students of the English D/ment, AUTH.Mean age: 19.5, 95% female.
Materials: a closed questionnaire (Lightbown & Spada
1999). It included12 statements, framed in a 6 pointLikert scale (1=strongly agree - 6=strongly disagree).
Procedure: the same questionnaire was administered inthe beginning and at the end of the course.
The final selection included answers only from studentswho had attended the course regularly.
Method of analysis: Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test, SPSS
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
17/33
The SLA course
Part of a four-year B.A. degree in EnglishLanguage and Literature, AristotleUniversity, Greece.
Students normally take this course in theirthird semester alongside with othercourses in theoretical linguistics.
Before this, they take an introductorycourse in linguistics in their first year ofstudies.
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
18/33
Content of the SLA course
1) Learning a first language
2) Theories ofSLA
Behaviourism: The Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis
Innatism: Universal Grammar, Krashens monitor model
Interactionism Other theories: information processing, connectionism
3) Learner characteristics affecting SLA
Personality, Intelligence, Aptitude, Motivation, Learningstyle, Age
4) Learner languageinterlanguage, developmental sequences, fossilization,avoidance, cross-linguistic influence.
5) SLA in the classroom
focus on form/meaning, types of teacher feedback
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
19/33
Results: pre-test
In the beginning, students agreed (mean= 2-) with 4statements:
5. The earlier a language is introduced in schoolprograms, the greater the likelihood of success.
6. Most of the mistakes which second language learnersmake are due to interference from the first language.
7. Teachers should present grammatical rules one at atime, and learners should practice examples of eachone before going on to another.
8. Teachers should teach simple language structuresbefore complex ones.
They didnt disagree (mean= 4+) with any of thestatements.
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
20/33
Results: post-test
After the course students agreed (mean= 2-)
with none of the statements.
They disagreed (mean= 4+) with 2 statements:
(3) People with high IQs are good language
learners.
(10) Teachers should use materials that expose
students only to those language structures which
they have already been taught.
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
21/33
Language learning beliefs before
and after taking the SLA course
* indicates p
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
22/33
Statements reflecting a behaviorist view
Pre Post
(1) Languages are learned mainly through
imitation.
3.91 4.30
(2) Parents usually correct young childrenwhen they make grammatical errors.
2.61 3.87*
(6) Most of the mistakes that second
language learners make are due to
interference from their first language.
1.72 2.22
(9) Learners errors should be corrected as
soon as they are made to prevent the
formation of bad habits.
2.26 3.67*
(12) Students learn what they are taught. 3.20 4.00*
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
23/33
Statements relating to the grammatical sequencing
of language teaching - ((7) with behaviorist
overtones)
Pre Post
(7) Teachers should present grammatical
rules one at a time, with students
practicing examples of each one beforegoing onto another.
1.83 2.74*
(8) Teachers should teach simple language
structures before complex ones.
1.24 2.11*
(10) Teachers should use materials that
expose students only to those
language structures which they have
already been taught.
4.00 4.07
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
24/33
Statements relating to learner variations
Pre Post
(3) Students with high IQs are good
language learners.
3.83 4.26
(4) The most important factor in
second language acquisition
success is motivation.
2.41 2.26
(5) The earlier a second language isintroduced in schools, the greater
the likelihood of success in
learning that language.
1.57 2.07
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
25/33
Statement relating to learner-learner
interaction (with behaviorist overtones)
Pre Post
(11) When learners are allowedto interact freely (for
example in group or pair
activities), they learn each
others mistakes.
3.83 3.50
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
26/33
Summary of group results
Significant changes :
in 3/6 of behaviorist beliefs
In 2/3 of beliefs relating to the grammatical sequencingof language teaching, one of which had behavioristovertones. (However, the unchanged belief had a meanof 4.0 at the pre-test and 4.07 at the post-test, whichcorrectly indicates disagreement).
Changes indicate movement from (incorrect) convictionto skepticism.
No significant changes in beliefs regarding learnervariations (where evidence offered in the SLA coursewas inconclusive).
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
27/33
Individual data analysis of significantly
changed behaviorist beliefs (2, 7, 9,12)
Agreement disagreement 15.8 % (28/184)
Agreement skepticism 15.2 % (29/184)
Skepticism disagreement 19 % (35/184)
Remained skeptical/in disagreement 15.8% (29/184)
Remained in agreement 27.7% (51/184)
Skepticism agreement or
disagreement skepticism
6.5 % (12/184)
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
28/33
Individual data analysis (%) of significantly
changed behaviorist beliefs
correct change no change incorrect change
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
29/33
Discussion
The SLA course did have an impact on incorrectlearners beliefs.
Changes concerned areas of knowledge for whichSLA research has offered conclusive evidence.
The impact of the SLA course was not dramatic asshown by
the degrees of certainty in changed beliefs
the number of students who changed beliefs
the lack of change of beliefs in 3/7 of the areas ofknowledge for which SLA research offersconclusive evidence.
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
30/33
Conclusion
Preservice teaching programs ought to
provide multiple opportunities for studentteachers to wrestle with their own
preconceived and taken-for-granted
beliefs about teaching and learning.
(Goodwin 2006)
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
31/33
Suggestions for future research
Investigation of TESOL University
students beliefs in their final year of
studies, after having being exposed to
more courses relevant with theories about
language learning and teaching.
Combination of quantative & qualitative
measures to assess the impact of relevantcourses.
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
32/33
8/6/2019 Teachers Beleifs Nina Espada
33/33
References
Borg, S. 2003. Teacher cognition in language teaching: a review of research onwhat language teachers think, know, believe, and do". Language Teaching36(2):81-109.
Borg, S. 1999. Studying teacher cognition in second language grammar teaching.System 27(1): 19-31.
Borg, S. 1998. Teachers' pedagogical systems and grammar teaching: A qualitativestudy. TESOL Quarterly32(1): 9-38.
Cabaroglu, N. & Roberts, J. 2000. Development in student teachers pre-existingbeliefs during a 1-year PGCE program. System 28(3):387-402.
Davis, A. 2003. Teachers' and Students' Beliefs Regarding Aspects of LanguageLearning. Evaluation and Research in Education 17(4): 207222.
Goodwin, A.L. 2006. Challenging student teachers' images of teaching.AcademicExchange Quarterly. Retrieved January 2007, from :file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/USER/My%20Documents/BELIEFSPAPER/goodwing%202006%20Challenging%20student%20teachers'%20images%20of%20teaching.htm
MacDonald, M., Badger R. & White G. 2001. Changing values: what use aretheories of language learning and teaching?. Teaching and Teacher Education17(8): 949-963.
Peacock, M. 2001. Pre-service ESL teachers beliefs about second languagelearning: a longitudinal study. System 29(1): 177-195.
Recommended