Download pptx - Developing intercultural language learning textbooks: Dari kami ke kita

Developing intercultural language learning textbooks:

Dari kami ke kita

Lesley Harbon (The University of Sydney) Michelle Kohler (Flinders University and UniSA)

Anne-Marie Morgan (UniSA)

Overview• Historically, textbook development for languages education

has reflected methodological trends in languages learning

• Current orientation to languages and cultures learning is towards developing intercultural perspectives– lends itself to different methodological approaches in teaching and

learning, and in development of resources such as textbooks

• Authors written Indonesian textbook series with intercultural orientation for middle years’ learners

• Presentation explores– historical context of textbook development– intercultural construct and how it has influenced the series– personal account of complexities of development of resource and

thinking and questions that have arisen

Part A: Historical context of textbook development

• Language teaching profession only recognised academically since around start of the 20th century

• Quest to identify principles and processes for the design of language teaching methods and materials in similar historical frame

• Textbooks developed to support and ‘enact’ theoretical perspectives of methodologies

• Informed by the disciplines of linguistics, psychology, sociology, ethnography and education

Nomenclature • Approach: describes set of assumptions or philosophies

about the nature of language teaching and learning

• Method: plan for how to present material to learners, based on the approach, involving instructional system; considers objectives, content organisation, tasks, teachers and learners – Rodgers’ (2001) distinction between method and approach

‘seen as defining a continuum of entities ranging from highly prescribed methods to loosely described approaches’

• Technique: specific stratagem to accomplish an objective as part of the method

• Methodology: links theories of language and learning, instructional design features and observed teaching practices

Nomenclature• Newcomer to nomenclature is ‘orientation’• Orientation: ‘stance’ of teacher and learners, in relation to

– teaching – learning– language(s)– culture(s)– languages and cultures teaching and learning– (inter)relationship of these in learning and using language

(Scarino & Liddicoat 2009)

– sense of ‘self’ in relation to all these• Not tied to particular methodology, or ‘how to’ guide linked to

methods or techniques

Nomenclature

• Flexible positioning in relation to viewing and thinking about languages teaching, of conceptualising, articulating and reflecting on what it is we do as teachers and learners

• ‘Orientation’, therefore, can draw upon many different theoretical positions and methodologies, and make use of a range of methods and techniques, without being compelled to use any

• Choices made on basis of appropriateness of context and need, including learners’ experiences and backgrounds, the teaching situation, the teachers’ background and experiences and with what it is the teacher is intending learners will engage (learning aims)

Languages textbook trends • Grammar-translation period (1900s-1950s)

– texts focused on grammar points and drills; passages for translation; reading and writing emphasis

• Audio-lingual period (1950s and 1960s)– texts focused on listening and speaking tasks; use of

language laboratories; behavioural psychology influence• Notional-functional methodology (1960s and 1970s)

– cognitive psychology influence (SLA and interlanguage); texts organised into notions- ideas, concepts, topics; and functions- operationalisation of target language

• Communicative language learning (1980s- )– texts similar to notional-functional texts, organised around

topics, with exercises to promote learner-centred, meaningful understanding for communication

Indonesian teaching: grammar translation period

• 1958 in Australian universities, early 60s in schools • GTM used until late 60s (and beyond)

– no consideration of suitable method for an Asian language or for Australian learners of Indonesian

– little consideration of applicability to ‘use’ in real, lived contexts • Textbooks

– Sarumpaet (1966)The Structure of Bahasa Indonesia– Sarumpaet & Mackie (1966) Introduction to Bahasa Indonesia– Emanuels (1966) Bahasa Indonesia Sehari-hari (radio course UNSW)– Lie (1968) Introducing Indonesian– Emanuels & Turner (1967 & 1968) Indonesian for Schools 1 and 2

• grammar-translation in format/approach; focus on reading and writing• view of culture as ‘static’ (museum culture)

– Purwanto Danusugondo (1966) Bahasa Indonesia for Beginners• opposed to translation, still very formal (Read & Reeve, 2010)

Indonesian teaching: audio-lingual period

• Universities– Ichsan, Baker & Lane (1968)Lancar Bahasa Indonesia– Johns (1975) Langkah Baru

• Schools– Hendrata (1969) An Audio-lingual Course in Bahasa Indonesia– McGarry & Sumaryono (1970, 1971, 1974) Learn Indonesian– Partorejo (1975) Bahasa Indonesia Moderen

• packages as they came with sets of tapes, slides and flashcards, and sometimes readers and guided composition texts

– Collins (1977) Bunga Rampai (reader)• Radio

– Gorton (1972) Learn Indonesian • 10,000 Australians bought the booklets and records to participate

(Read & Reeve, 2010)

Indonesian teaching: notional-functional period

• Australia late to take up notional-function method in Indonesian textbooks, after dominance of audio-lingual texts

– White (1988)Bahasa Tetanggaku• 3 stages• still widely used

Indonesian teaching: communicative language learning period

• Australia also late to embrace CLL in textbooks• Several series from 1990s and 2000s

– Taylor & Sedunary (from 1991)Ayo! series– Hibbs (from 1996)Kenalilah! – Miller, Matahelumual, Page & Horne (from 2008) Saya bisa!

• series of chapters arranged in ‘topics’ (greetings and introductions, colours, numbers, sport, the environment, holidays, celebrations, transport, etc),

• possibly a cartoon story or reading• grammar points arising from the cartoon or reading• ‘cultural’ information, replacement activities to practice set phases• range of other practice activities

– Supported by audio packs and workbooks, and teacher resource book

Towards intercultural language teaching and learning

• Different approaches tried with ‘resource banks’, in recognition of the sociocultural dimension of language learning– National Indonesian Language Curriculum Project (1993)

Suara Siswa• not a prescribed ‘course’• graded (less complex to more complex) collections of readings,

realia, authentic texts of many varieties, photo kits, video stimulus materials and teacher resource guidelines

– Reeve (co-ordinator) (1992-1995) Teaching Indonesian as a Foreign Language (TIFL) Tertiary Education Project

• 20 introductory themes and 14 intermediate themes• large body of resources and materials

– Bersama-sama series• texts, resources, activities all intermingled• intercultural awareness- questioning introduced to raise awareness

of diverse perspectives and self as language user

Towards intercultural language teaching and learning

• Textbooks more likely to contain range of approaches– Functional-notional– Communicative-humanistic– Lexico-grammatical– Task-based (Prodromou 2007)

• Conversely, there has also been decline in textbook use and use of a range of resources and real world ‘texts’, and more focus on intercultural perspective, in curriculum documents, pedagogical approaches

Part B: Realising an intercultural orientation

Number of key considerations/underpinning principles• language and culture intertwined• variability and multiplicity, dynamic view of language(s) and

culture(s)• inter-action – interpretation/making sense/meaning,

interpersonal, intrapersonal (who am I and how does this matter to me?), connecting with the individual

• a developmental/longitudinal perspective on learning

Two main design considerations:- Conceptual- Organisational

Realising the intercultural: conceptual considerations

Overall goals • young Australians learning an additional language

(many with other languages), emerging intercultural language learners

• cognitively engaging with increasing linguistic demands (i.e. driven by conceptual and linguistic development, not structurally driven)

• developing a framework for understanding language and culture and for learning language/s

Hence • decisions about what and when• pitch to suit middle years students• how to represent the distinctiveness of the target

language and culture (Indonesia/n)

Realising the intercultural: conceptual considerations

Scope and sequence, coverage:– concept based design (e.g. ‘time’, ‘play’, ‘idol’, ‘place’),

selected according to students’ development and interests, and nature of target language and culture

– linguistic development (structures, vocab & meta-linguistic knowledge – understanding the system)

– learning experiences and interactions that are increasingly complex, demanding and stimulating (with on-going interpretation and reflection)

– representation of target language and culture– what kind of ‘Indonesia/n’ is depicted? – variable, languages and cultures within national language and culture/s, challenge typical exotic treatment, challenge simplistic views of traditional and modern etc.

Realising the intercultural: organisational considerations

Structure and organisation, how, where, when e.g.• a fixed product – and associated expectations of audience

(teachers, students and publisher)• finite space and restricted format (genre of textbooks)• design and layout (look and feel)• voice and audience - how to deal with multiple

voices/authors and audiences• consistency – some degree of consistency for scaffolding

learning while some variability in nature and format for student interest


Concept: chapter title with sub-sections e.g. Pulang-pergi: Why do we travel?

– concept in target language (showing language orientation)– question in English (showing learning orientation, a student’s

perspective)

Key Ideas: outlines the rationale and learning focusTexts:

– Dominant organising feature of each chapter– selected for ideas and linguistic content– ranging in authenticity– range of types across the materials (not cartoon driven!)

Boxes – Using (TL), Understanding (TL)Other – Thinking Further, extending possibilities


Tasks:– varied processes e.g. notice, compare, reflect,

communicate, exchange, respond to, list, explain etc.– varied positioning of students e.g. actual (as self), possible

(in future), imagined (as someone/thing else)– developmental, short and long term i.e. single text, series

of texts, chapter section, end of chapter, end of seriesAssessment:

- on-going and end-point, integrated and stand alone- address communicative skills, linguistic knowledge,

intercultural movement, interpretation and reflection- an on-going challenge

Realising the intercultural: reflections

Intentions not necessarily ‘realised’ e.g.- treatment of formal and informal language- scope and sequencing of language structures and textual

knowledge

Tensions exist e.g. - retaining familiar while introducing ‘new’- reframing requires letting go of old ‘habits’

Future: work informed by Australian Curriculum, language specific roadmap

‘Teething pains’: evidence from a professional journal

• Keeping a journal throughout the two year process has been extremely interesting, and now, we find, important, in us knowing what we now know

• Slides that follow show how we have grappled with the key considerations of realising the intercultural in our textbook series

The next slides

• Issues we confronted in the structural choices we needed to make in our text: layout, composition; divisions and relationships of the materials

Conceptual considerations in realising the intercultural: organisation scope & sequence

Sunday 22 Feb 2009 “Finally a chapter draft written... So much to consider. Confronting me is the fact that I want to introduce some intercultural concepts and identity concepts and this will require teaching language which is more complex than might be found in a traditional Indonesian textbook which introduces difficulty of grammar and structure gradually. So much to tell the kids about concepts of Indonesian and Australian ‘time”, and not much room to do it. Chapter 3 they don’t have much language already.”

...and also this journal entry

• 20 June 2009. “Am also coming to the conclusion that writing an intercultural textbook is hard. With the traditional approach to bringing in grammar from perceived ease to perceived difficulty, that is so easy. Now, bringing in work out of the limitations of themes or grammars, it is very very difficult to work out how to teach students this way through a textbook.”

...and also this one

• 9 Nov 2009. “A challenge to remember the ‘intercultural’. I find myself clicking back into the formats and structures of the more traditional communicative, task-based textbook.”

• The co-author finds she is a product of being educated herself through an earlier method/methodology/pedagogy – Indonesian textbooks of the 1970s & 80s

The next journal entry

• What to include in the materials (relevance for middle school learners) and how essentially personal this process becomes? Surely we are more aware of our choices than those early authors quoted earlier, who ran sentence upon sentence of disconnected ideas together, such as angry sweethearts, drinking cold coffee and big fat crocodiles only separated by two or three lines

Conceptual considerations in realising the intercultural: pitch to learner group

20 June 2009. “I am confronted by so many things in this textbook writing. But chiefly the issue of acknowledging what I choose, for a reading passage, or a photograph. How can a textbook writer avoid choosing something she thinks is interesting? Unless the students in Years 7-10 write the textbook themselves, then how can they choose something interesting for them. How can an almost 50 year old Indonesian teacher not lay her perceptions, ideas, choices before the 14 year old student? This became most shocking to me as I realised a text I wrote for Chapter 8 perayaan, was on the topic of marriage. Why did I choose that? It is very middle class, heterocentric, assumes marriage, assumes another age group. Assumes it will be interesting to a 14 year old. But will it be? I need to find a better text.”

Conceptual considerations in realising the intercultural: seen through the practical writing

of the chapters• In this journal entry I am jolted back into

remembering to consider the organisation of our text and layout and our important dialogue and guidance for teachers/sts

26 Jan, Australia Day public holiday 2010. “Have responded to Marghe’s comments that she asked me to respond to when she read my Nongkrong and Bayangan chapters. At some points my intentions for the tasks/tugas were not clear, so she asked me to write purpose statements. That’s been interesting, as it forced me to think about why I wanted students to do something, and how that related to the intercultural nature of the chapter.”

The next journal entry

• How to incorporate highly dynamic, essentially personal and particularly contextual understandings into a fixed, ‘static’ product?

Conceptual considerations in realising the intercultural: final realisation that it has been a

challenging task1 June 2010“What is really hitting me today as I do this proofing is

that actually, becoming intercultural, developing an intercultural stance, is actually never-ending. What I mean is that, well, here’s an example. When I wrote this chapter Nongkrong, one of the final tasks in the chapter is “Write an extended text about what you think about friendship, hanging out with friends, dangers in hanging out, hanging out online on FB and so on. Some of my stimulus questions are: What similarities and differences are there for Indonesian and Australian young people?


challenging task1 June 2010 cont… For young people in cities

compared with those in rural areas? For rich kids compared with poor kids? And suddenly I stopped when I got to proofing my last question there. I thought to myself, Well, what do I mean by rich and poor here? What am I presuming is in the lifeworlds of the school students who will work through my chapter in this textbook? I added another question at that point, I said: “What is the meaning of rich and poor for young people?” It’s never ending, because then I could engage them with more questions, like rich and poor for those who are overtly religious, compared to those who are the opposite (and what would I call that? Materialistic?


challenging task1 June 2010 cont… It is now appearing to me clearer

than ever, that the task of writing a textbook with an intercultural orientation is a real problem in itself, that is, the genre of textbook means you have a finite corpus, but the notion of intercultural means you should keep digging and noticing and asking and languaging and exploring culture for ever and ever, indicating really that the corpus is infinite.”

A deeply challenging writing task

• A textbook series (including student book, teacher book, workbook, multimedia and online materials) conceived to allow Indonesian teachers the possibility of long term scoping and sequencing, as well as shorter term programming and lesson planning

• Journal entries keep noting how ‘hard’, ‘difficult’, ‘challenging’ it has been (and continues to be

Journal entries also note• Relief in their being a team of three authors• Comfort in the ‘writing team’ providing a

check point for bouncing ideas, realising• And a source for delight when we realise

that there is a real inside story (sometimes humorous) behind writing the textbook that is not often shared in public as this is today

• Our soon-to-be-published journal article shares our strategies for solving the difficulties we faced

Developing intercultural language learning textbooks: summary

Need to realise theoretical understandings in practice (textbooks are one way)

We need a way of evaluating materials e.g. – what principles underpin these– how do they represent the target language and culture– how do they treat language, culture and learning– how do they position students– what processes are required of students– how is the developmental nature of learning addressed?

Need to focus on meaning making – students as ‘interpreters’ of language and culture, problematising and disrupting students’ existing knowledge, language and identity (and teachers’)

Developing intercultural language learning textbooks: summary

• Realising an intercultural orientation in language teaching and learning (materials) is challenging; it is a ‘stance’, intensely personal/individual

• We need to continue to explore ways that our understandings can be realised in teaching and learning

• Appreciate that our own learning is dynamic and we need to continue the dialogue…

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