Theoretical Considerations in Language Education - Implications for English Language Teaching

Nüans

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ing

THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS

IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION

Implications for English Language Teaching

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English Language Teaching (ELT) is a field that has not produced its own theories.

Instead, the field has been influenced by and has borrowed theories from other

branches of social sciences, such as psychology, linguistics, sociology, anthropology,

and educational sciences. The diversity of theories in social sciences is a great

advantage to ELT as there are many applicable and meaningful theories from its

related fields that have the potential to enhance the practices of language teaching

professionals and researchers around the world.

Designed for from pre‐service and in‐service language teachers todiverse audiences

teacher trainers and researchers, this edited book brings together a variety of

theories from disciplines related to ELT, describing their historical development and

connecting them to language teaching and learning. Each chapter of this volume

displays how a specific theory has influenced principles, practices, and

methodologies in language teaching/learning and language teacher training. Each

chapter also provides additional insights and pedagogical suggestions into how to

adapt and apply the basic principles and guidelines of the theory into classroom

settings.




www.nuanskitabevi.com

Nüans

Publish

ing




TH

EO

RE

TIC

AL C

ON

SID

ER

AT

ION

S IN

LA

NG

UA

GE

ED

UC

AT

ION

Imp

licatio

ns fo

r En

glish

Lan

gu

ag

e Te

ach

ing

English Language Teaching (ELT) is a field that has not produced its own theories.

Instead, the field has been influenced by and has borrowed theories from other

branches of social sciences, such as psychology, linguistics, sociology, anthropology,

and educational sciences. The diversity of theories in social sciences is a great

advantage to ELT as there are many applicable and meaningful theories from its

related fields that have the potential to enhance the practices of language teaching

professionals and researchers around the world.

Designed for from pre‐service and in‐service language teachers todiverse audiences

teacher trainers and researchers, this edited book brings together a variety of

theories from disciplines related to ELT, describing their historical development and

connecting them to language teaching and learning. Each chapter of this volume

displays how a specific theory has influenced principles, practices, and

methodologies in language teaching/learning and language teacher training. Each

chapter also provides additional insights and pedagogical suggestions into how to

adapt and apply the basic principles and guidelines of the theory into classroom

settings.





THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION


Edited by Betil Eröz-Tuğa

THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN LANGUAGE EDUCATIONImplications for English Language Teaching

Edited byBetil Eröz‐Tuğa

NÜANS PublishingMustafa Kemal Mh.

2157. Sk. No:12/A

06510 Çankaya,

Ankara, Türkiye

Phone: +90 312 419 8096

Fax : +90 312 418 4512

e‐mail: [email protected]


First published 2015

Printed by Meteksan Matbaacılık ve Tek. San. Tic. A.Ş.

Cover Design & Layout: Koray Arıkan

Every effort has been made to trace all sources of illustrations/photos/

information in this book, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked,

the publisher will be pleased to make the necessary arrangements at the

first opportunity.

© Nüans Kitapçılık San. ve Tic. Ltd. Şti. 2015

All rights reserved. No parts of this book may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or any

means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or

otherwise, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Nüans Kitapçılık San. ve Tic. Ltd. Şti.

ISBN 978‐605‐5450‐69‐4


CONTRIBUTORS

DEDICATION In Memory of Prof. Dr. Cem Alptekin Hüsnü Enginarlar

INTRODUCTION Aim and Scope of the Book Betil Eröz-Tuğa

SECTION I : Psychology 1 Behaviorism Cahide Çavuşoğlu & Deniz Saydam 2 Cognitive Development Theory Sinan Mısırlı 3 Sociocultural Theory Gökhan Öztürk 4 Social Learning Theory Pelin Erdoğan 5 Personal Construct Psychology Nermin Bilger

Section II : Linguistics and Sociolinguistics 6 Universal Grammar Orhan Demir 7 Politeness Theory Talha Erdali 8 Accomodation Theory Özlem Atalay 9 Acculturation Model Aylin S. Dewan-Türüdü

Section III : Anthropology & Sociology 10 Social Interactionism Betil Eröz-Tuğa 11 Structural Functionalism Mehmet Fatih Ürün 12 Context of Situation Zeynep Aysan

Section IV : Educational Philosophy 13 Critical Pedagogy Mehmet Akkuş & Gözde Balıkçı

9

INTRODUCTION

Aim and Scope of the BookBetil Eröz-Tuğa

Understanding, interpreting, and comparing theories and practices from different fields is an essential step in achieving communication across disciplines and building bridges between scholars who may not always find a common ground to do collaborative teaching or conduct research projects, which makes them seem academically distant from each other. This book aims to show that such a distance is actually superfluous between the field of language education, specifically English Language Teaching, and certain areas of study in the social sciences.

English Language Teaching (ELT) is a field that has not produced its own theories. Instead, the field has been influenced by and has borrowed theories from other branches of social sciences, such as psychology, sociology, and educational sciences. The depth and breadth of theories in social sciences is a great advantage to ELT as there are many applicable and meaningful theories from its related fields(e.g., Behaviorism from Psychology, Universal Grammar from Linguistics)that have enhanced the practices of teaching professionals and researchers.

Social sciences feeds and guides ELT practitioners and researchersin the sense that critical issues, such as classroom applications, learning behavior and attitudes of students, teacher perceptions, teacher training approaches, and curriculum and instruction related decisions are determined or interpreted meaningfully and systematically by means of the implications derived from research within specific theoretical frameworks.

The reason why the current volume has been compiled is to display the classroom applications of certain theories from social sciences in the language classroom. Classroom teachers, guided by their/own educational background, social common sense or training program tasks, apply the principles of social sciences theories in their teaching, sometimes without knowing the theoretical source of their practices. Each chapter in this book shows how a specific theory has influenced the practices, methodologies, principles, and classroom techniques of language teaching professionals.

This edited volume consists of four parts and thirteen chapters. Each part is devoted to a separate branch of social sciences, and each chapter within a certain part presents the theoretical foundations and historical development of one theory from that particular area of study. Chapters also explain the impact or relevance of these theories to language education and share implications for ELT.

In Part 1, the reader will find chapters devoted to theories from Psychology or Educational Psychology: Behaviorism, Cognitive Development Theory, Social Constructivism, Social Learning Theory, and Personal Construct Psychology. Part 2 consists of theories from Linguistics and Sociolinguistics: Universal Grammar, Politeness Theory, Accommodation Theory, and Acculturation Model. Part 3 presents theories from Anthropology and Sociology: Social Interactionism, Structural Functionalism, and Context of Situation. Finally, Part 4 focuses on Educational Philosophy, specifically and extensively on Critical Pedagogy.

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SECTION I Psychology It would be a great challenge to try to comprehend the density of the human mind through the lenses and research findings of one single area of study. Therefore, various knowledge and inquiry areas have been shaped independently through time within the same field. This led to separate spheres of science branches with respect to the study of the human brain, understanding, and/or psychology. This part of this book covers various theories from one autonomous field of study, psychology.

Psychology is a scientific discipline and it aims at the scientific and systematic investigation of the way people reason, feel, or act. This could include examinations of the mind, such as treatment of certain mental problems, understanding of behaviors, inquiry of perceptual abilities, and so forth. Even though the focus of such an inquiry can be either on an individual or a group, the eventual target of the progression is to be beneficial to the human society. Psychologists study a variety of concepts ranging from cognition to motivation, emotion, and identity of the society and the self. Regarding these concepts, psychologists end up with various theories to explain reasons. These theories, expectedly, provide a basis and open up horizons to different areas of inquiry such as language learning and teaching.

This part, hence, includes four theories from the sub fields of psychology. Chapter 1 presents the origins of Behaviorism and its implications on language teaching, while Chapter 2 covers Piaget`s Theory of Cognitive Development, which focuses on the features of developmental psychology. The following two chapters focus on two theories from social psychology. Social Constructivism of Vygotsky is discussed in Chapter 3 and Social Learning Theory and its implications are explained in Chapter 4. The last chapter is devoted to Personal Construct Psychology and its implications.

It is likely to observe common points in these chapters as there are many overlapping areas in the study of psychology as well. The chapters follow a chronological order in terms of historical development of the theories and their implications for language learning and teaching.

SECTION I

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SECTION IChapter 1

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Chapter 1

Behaviorism and ELT

Cahide Çavuşoğlu & Deniz Saydam

Introduction

Behaviorism, which dominated psychology from the 1920s to the 1950s, is one of the most influential psychological theories of learning that has shaped English language teaching practices. It has led to the development of several language teaching methods, the most widely applied of which is the Audio-Lingual Method.

This chapter will present an overview of the early works of Watson and Thorndike and later developments in behaviorism introduced by Skinner. Then, the link between behaviorism as a learning theory and its pedagogical applications in the context of language classrooms will be illustrated. Behaviorism

Behaviorism was born in the early 20th century out of a reaction against introspective psychology. At the end of the 19th century, the dominant view in psychology was mentalism, which held that the object to be studied in psychology was consciousness and mental processes. To this purpose, introspective methodology, which included mainly verbal reports of sensations and constituents of direct experiences, was widely used. However, psychologists such as Watson, and later Skinner, considered these methods subjective and unquantifiable. In addition, when studying mental processes, data that was not considered “mental”, such as facial expressions, gestures, and movements, had to be discarded, which limited psychological research. As an empiricist, Watson (1913/1994, p. 253) aimed to transform psychology, which had just separated itself as a new discipline from philosophy and physiology, into a natural science that used objective experimental methodology and scientific measurement to test explicit hypotheses, and that could be useful for professionals in other fields, such as managers, educators, and doctors. Behaviorist psychologists claimed that the only possible way to understand the human mind was to study explicit observable behavior in carefully controlled conditions. Assumptions in behaviorist theory Although behaviorists differ in their viewpoints, behaviorist theory includes three basic assumptions about learning: 1. Not internal mental events or oral accounts of events, but observable behavior should be studied.

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Chapter 2

Piaget`s Theory of Cognitive Development and English Language Teaching

Sinan Mısırlı

Introduction

In developmental human psychology, a number of sub- areas might be observed, such as personality development, emotional development, and/or cognitive development. This chapter attempts at focusing on the theory of cognitive development by Piaget. After the clarification of Piaget`s theory, its implications for educational settings and foreign language teaching, learning, and curriculum development are discussed. Common points, links, and promising overlaps between cognitive development theory and certain foreign language teaching methodologies are also presented.

Cognitive Development and Piaget

Cognitive development is the study of an individual`s psychological development in terms of information processing, language learning, and cognition. The study of cognitive development focuses on the ability of thinking, comprehending, and evaluating events.

Despite the dominancy of behaviorism in psychology in the first part of the 20th century, radical changes were observed in contemporary developmental psychology in the second part of the century due to “the cognitive revolution that began in the mid-1950s” (Strauss, 2013, p. 28). One might observe a number of cognitive development viewpoints ranging from psychological nativism and behaviorism to structuralism, all of which commonly have a tendency to refer to the theories which previously emerged. Piaget`s development of his Theory of Cognitive Development followed behavioral theories.

Before the emergence of Piaget`s theory, the behaviorist approach influenced the educational settings for a long time in the 20th century -probably more than any other psychological theory. Behaviorist approach has its roots in the systematic inquiry of animals. It puts the main emphasis on the environment and implies that learning and development might be the result of specific conditional behavior. It posits that when a behavior is rewarded, it will be repeated and learning will occur at the end. Hence, cognitive, language, or emotional development is the equivalent of learning a certain behavior in relation to a certain condition. Therefore, development is believed to be continual and gradual, not in sequences.

SECTION IChapter 2

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SECTION IChapter 3

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Chapter 3

Sociocultural Theory and Language Teaching

Gökhan Öztürk

Introduction

Language teaching is a field that is significantly influenced by educational, psychological or sociological theories. In one way or another, theories of these disciplines have been effective in the development of the field of language teaching both in theoretical and practical ways. Some of them have inspired scholars to study new theoretical frameworks in the field, whereas others have helped teachers organize better and more fruitful lessons for their students in language classes. Among these theories, Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory (SCT) has quite a remarkable place. Due to its impact on the field of language teaching, it is possible to see the doctrines and principles of his theory from theoretical perspectives to classroom implications. As Compernolle and Williams (2013) maintain in their editorial page in one of the current issues of Language Teaching Research, SCT has been a focus of area for researchers in the field of language teaching and acquisition for many years, and this impact has led to the emergence of SCT-based pedagogy and assessment followed by the publication of journal articles, thesis studies or edited volumes (p. 277).

In this chapter, the principles of SCT and how these are reflected in the field of English language teaching with reference to practical applications in the classroom will be presented.

Sociocultural theory

In general, SCT is the study of the content and operation among psychological phenomena which are socially constructed and shared (Ratner, 2002, p. 9). The theory was developed by psychologist Lev Vygotsky, who lived during the revolutionary times of the Soviet Union. His theory and studies became popular many years after his death. Vygotsky was, in fact, a cognitivist, but his ideas were fundamentally different from the scholars in his era. Unlike other cognitivists like Piaget and Perry, who simply define learning as the assimilation and accommodation of knowledge, Vygotsky emphasizes that cognitive development occurs through social interaction and in a social context (1978). For Vygotsky, language and culture play a crucial role in social interaction, and people communicate and interact through these two artifacts. Following these frameworks, he proposes several principles - internalization, mediation, zone of proximal development, and scaffolding - which form the baseline of his theory.

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SECTION IChapter 4

Chapter 4

Bandura’s Social Learning Theory

Pelin Erdoğan

Introduction

The aim of this chapter is to present the Social Learning Theory (SLT) by Albert Bandura in relation to the field of language teaching. First, the basics of the theory will be presented under the light of the current literature. Then the link between the theory and English Language Teaching (ELT) and teacher education will be established. Some implications and tips for practitioners will also be presented in the chapter.

Social Learning Theory

Observational Learning

Social Learning Theory was originally developed in the 1960s and later developed into Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) by social psychologist Albert Bandura, who claims that human beings learn through observing and imitating the models in their immediate environment. In his theory, Bandura (2011) suggests that human beings learn and develop competencies either by means of directly experiencing the effects of their actions or by the power of social modeling within the environment they live. Direct experience might not always be desirable as the consequences of direct experience might be tough and costly for individuals. However, modeling the behaviors that are observed around can be considered as a short-cut to developing competencies in the process of learning. Seeing the positive results of the behaviors within their immediate environment, individuals might develop positive motivation to carry out similar behaviors, or in contrast, they might decide to alter their actions after seeing the punishment of others around (pp. 34-35). Ormrod (2008) highlights that effective role models are competent, prestigious, and powerful beings, and that effective modeling could appear in gender-appropriate ways and in relevance to the observer’s context. The process of modeling affects human behavior in that it might teach a new behavior, influence the frequency of previous behaviors, encourage previously forbidden behaviors, or increase the frequency of similar behaviors (pp. 127- 129). Ormrod (2008) further adds that Bandura’s SLT identifies three general types of models, i.e., modeling can be provided by a live model or a symbolic model, or it could be present in the shape of verbal instructions (p. 128):

● A live model: A live model is an actual person exhibiting certain behaviors, such as a mother putting on make-up, a father shaving, or an adult behaving politely to strangers.

● A symbolic model: A symbolic model is an actual person in real life or a fictional character in books, magazines, TV programs, cartoons, or computer games such as Britney Spears, David Beckham, Harry Potter, or Spider Man.

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SECTION IChapter 5

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Chapter 5

Personal Construct Psychology and Language Teaching

Nermin Bilger

Introduction

The purpose of this chapter is to review the key tenets of Personal Construct Psychology (PCP) by George Kelly with a specific reference to its implications to the field of English Language Teaching (ELT). First of all, the theory will be illuminated in terms of its fundamental assumptions. Subsequent to this theoretical exploration, PCP will be linked to language teaching methodology, language teacher education, and teacher professional development, including its various implications for each dimension of language education. A Theoretical Look at Personal Construct Psychology (PCP) Personal Construct Psychology (PCP) was contrived by clinical psychologist George Kelly who viewed behaviorism and psychoanalysis as insufficient to elucidate the psychology of human beings. The key notion of PCP is that people make sense of events by means of their own theories (1991). Kelly defines these personal theories or perceptions as constructs which provide meaning for the world around them. Constructive Alternativism: The principal philosophical assumption underlying PCP is ‘constructive alternativism.’ As Fransella and Dalton (2000) clarify, constructive alternativism means people have options with which they can try to understand each other, themselves, and the world. That is, there are always other potential ways of looking at an event. In Kelly’s words (1991), “[n]o one needs to paint himself into a corner; no one needs to be completely hemmed in by circumstances; no one needs to be the victim of his biography” (p. 11). In this sense, PCP centers around the person not as a responder to stimuli, but as an active agent in his/her own right, or rather, the person as a ‘personal scientist’ (Zuber-Skerritt, 2012). The Person as Scientist: According to Kelly, people tend to predict and control the events in their world in a similar way to that of the scientist developing and testing hypotheses. While trying to understand the world, they create personal constructs that function as hypotheses (Engler, 2014). Then, they test out these hypotheses in terms of what actually happens. Based on the outcome, their constructs are either confirmed or replaced by better ones in the case of disconfirmation. Therefore, an individual’s life consists of a series of personal predictions and confirmations or reconstructions (Burnard, 1999), which underlies Kelly’s fundamental postulate. Fundamental Postulate: In his fundamental postulate, Kelly (1991) states that a “person’s processes are psychologically channelized by the ways in which he anticipates events” (p. 32). From the perspective of Bannister and Fransella (1971), this statement underscores people’s expectations of the future and the way in which their behaviors will get into interaction with events in that future (cited in Murray-Prior, 1998). Both their expectations and the manner in which their

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SECTION II

69

SECTION II Linguistics and Sociolinguistics Linguistics, in the broadest sense, refers to all types of systematic study of language. It intends to explain the linguistic properties in a specific language and in all languages at the micro and macro level. Microlinguistics is concerned with the abstract structural forms in languages, irrespective of the effect of meaning whereas macrolinguistics is a notion-based approach to the study of language. Sociolinguistics, which investigates the function and use of language within social contexts, is considered to be one of the umbrella branches of macrolinguistics.

One of the goals of linguistics and sociolinguistics is to describe and make predictions about how people acquire, use, store and process languages. At this point, it is possible to see a clear interaction between the study of language and language pedagogy as the findings of research on language can provide insights into the design and evaluation of instructional activities. On the other hand, language teaching research uncovers the potential and determining factors for the successful attainment and processing of a language as well as for how linguistic structures should be described, presented, and internalized in a second language.

Even though linguistics encompasses quite a vast area of enquiry, this section of the book is assigned to four theories of linguistics and sociolinguistics: Universal Grammar at a micro level, and additionally, Politeness Theory, Accommodation Theory, and the Acculturation Model as sub-branches of sociolinguistics. Each chapter contains background about the relevant theory, its connection with language education, implications in language pedagogy, and practical considerations together with suggestions for an effective language teaching procedure.

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SECTION IIChapter 6

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Chapter 6

Universal Grammar: Theoretical Background and Implications for English Language Teaching

Orhan Demir

Introduction

The systematic study of language has remarkably gone through a chain of radical changes since the 1950s, after an American linguist and thinker Noam Chomsky proposed several arguments about the internal structure of language, and offered insights into the weaknesses of previous arguments on the acquisition of languages. The ideas that Chomsky and the proponents of his theory stated as a reaction to the theories of psychology and linguistics, such as behaviorism and structural linguistics, had a significant impact on the ideation, design, implementation, and evaluation of a good number of studies in various fields of study. Among these fields, the study of first and second language acquisition and language teaching were the ones which have extensively evolved both theoretically and practically due to the fact that the relevant hypotheses underlying the acquisition, learning, processing and teaching of a language are directly related to the way the nature of a language is defined. This chapter aims to provide background information about the basic principles of Universal Grammar (UG) as a reaction to previous theories of the building blocks of a language as well as the process and the ultimate product of language acquisition and language teaching. Furthermore, it attempts to shed light on the impact of the theory on pedagogical concerns with a specific focus on foreign language teaching. To this purpose, the next part is devoted to the historical development of the theory of Universal Grammar, which is followed by a discussion of its applicability in first and second language acquisition. The focus of the final section is on the evaluation of the claims about the implications of the theory in language teaching contexts.

Theoretical & Practical Foundations of UG

The dominant theories underpinning methodological issues of learning and education along with the philosophy of language in the 1950s were the products of the same widely-believed perspective: only observable phenomena could be understood, tested, modified, and evaluated. Therefore, education, which required a meaningful and purposeful process of learning in a desired fashion, could only reach the expected outcomes through methods addressing physical, hence, visible activities which are supposed to cause permanent changes in the behaviors of individuals. Thus, learning was equated with habit formation (Skinner, 1957). This kind of learning was claimed to be realized through the behavioral change strategies that yielded positive output when administered to animals. Stimuli were considered to cause a response by the subjects, and when the response was obtained, it was reinforced positively or negatively to guarantee the desired outcome. The rationale behind the behaviorist theory was that if the expected outcomes were reached in experiments on animals, human beings were predicted to go through the same steps to achieve a similar kind of development. As for the study of

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SECTION IIChapter 7

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Chapter 7

Politeness Theory and Language Teaching

Talha Erdali

Introduction

This chapter aims to present Politeness Theory by relating it to language education. First, the introduction, evolution, and basic principles of the theory will be presented by making relevant links to the Face Theory by Erving Goffman (1967). Then, Politeness Theory from the perspectives of Lakoff, Leech, Brown and Levinson, and Watts will be discussed. Finally, reflections of Face Theory and Politenesss Theory in language teaching will be explained and illustrated. The chapter will be concluded with teaching suggestions for English Language Teaching practitioners.

Goffman and Face Theory

The term face was firstly used and defined by the Canadian sociologist Goffman (1967), in his study On Face Work, “as the positive social value that a person effectively claims for himself by the line others assume he has taken during a particular contact” (p. 5). That is, face is an image like a mask that people wear and change in social life depending on the context (i.e., the audience and the social interaction) in which they are interacting. For example, a person may have the role of a teacher in the classroom; however, the same person may have the role of a father at home. Therefore, that person needs to regulate his role (his face) by taking the audience and the social context into consideration.

After Goffman published his study On Face Work, the term face became a crucial concept for many fields of study, like sociolinguistics, communication studies, sociology, and the like. For example, this concept is an important element in the Symbolic Interactionism theory from Sociology, which is discussed in detail in Chapter 10 of this volume. In his study, Goffman (1967) states that

[e]very person lives in a world of social encounters, involving him either in face-to-face or mediated contact with other participants. In each of these contacts, he tends to act out what is sometimes called a line – that is, a pattern of verbal and nonverbal acts by which he expresses his view of the situation and through this his evaluation of the participants, especially himself (p. 5).

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Chapter 7

Politeness Theory and Language Teaching

Talha Erdali

Introduction

This chapter aims to present Politeness Theory by relating it to language education. First, the introduction, evolution, and basic principles of the theory will be presented by making relevant links to the Face Theory by Erving Goffman (1967). Then, Politeness Theory from the perspectives of Lakoff, Leech, Brown and Levinson, and Watts will be discussed. Finally, reflections of Face Theory and Politenesss Theory in language teaching will be explained and illustrated. The chapter will be concluded with teaching suggestions for English Language Teaching practitioners.

Goffman and Face Theory

The term face was firstly used and defined by the Canadian sociologist Goffman (1967), in his study On Face Work, “as the positive social value that a person effectively claims for himself by the line others assume he has taken during a particular contact” (p. 5). That is, face is an image like a mask that people wear and change in social life depending on the context (i.e., the audience and the social interaction) in which they are interacting. For example, a person may have the role of a teacher in the classroom; however, the same person may have the role of a father at home. Therefore, that person needs to regulate his role (his face) by taking the audience and the social context into consideration.

After Goffman published his study On Face Work, the term face became a crucial concept for many fields of study, like sociolinguistics, communication studies, sociology, and the like. For example, this concept is an important element in the Symbolic Interactionism theory from Sociology, which is discussed in detail in Chapter 10 of this volume. In his study, Goffman (1967) states that

[e]very person lives in a world of social encounters, involving him either in face-to-face or mediated contact with other participants. In each of these contacts, he tends to act out what is sometimes called a line – that is, a pattern of verbal and nonverbal acts by which he expresses his view of the situation and through this his evaluation of the participants, especially himself (p. 5).

Introduction

This chapter aims to present Politeness Theory by relating it to language education. First, the introduction, evolution, and basic principles of the theory will be presented by making relevant links to the Face Theory by Erving Goffman (1967). Then, Politeness Theory from the perspectives of Lakoff, Brown and Levinson, and Watts will be discussed. Finally, reflections of Face Theory and Politenesss Theory in language teaching will be explained and illustrated. The chapter will be concluded with teaching suggestions for English Language Teaching practitioners.

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SECTION IIChapter 8

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Chapter 8

Accommodation Theory and Language Teaching

Özlem Atalay

Introduction

Accommodation Theory (Giles, 1973) describes how people adjust their language and communication patterns to those of others. Since its emergence in the 70’s, the theory has been used in the fields of social psychology and sociolinguistics. For example, Gumperz (1982b) examined the link between linguistic variability and its effect on social status. He observed that language is a social practice and thus links human beings to their community and the time and area they live in. This in turn leads to social inequality and difference through communication. Gumperz (1982b) also introduced the notion of speech communities, which are smaller subdivisions of the society we live in. He stressed that communication breakdown occurs when people from different speech communities do not know the cultural linguistic norms of that community, such as where to put emphasis and how to use intonation. It also occurs when individuals fail to understand others’ feelings using contextual cues specific to that community. Hence, it becomes clear that communication even among people from the same society can become a main struggle if they are unfamiliar with these norms.

In order to avoid communication breakdown, people accommodate their language to that of their communication partner. In this chapter, to situate Accommodation Theory, its roots in social psychology and social identity theory will be explored, and then Speech Accommodation Theory (SAT), Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT), Audience Design and their implications for language education will be examined.

Social Psychology and Social Identity Theory

Social psychology is a branch of psychology informed by sociology. Its aim is to explore how, through the mere presence or inferred presence of others, individuals’ thoughts, feelings and behavior change. According to Allport (1985), social psychology is a scientific discipline that tries "to understand and explain how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals are affected by the actual, imagined or implied presence of other human beings" (p. 3). Among other topics, social psychology is concerned with group behavior, nonverbal behavior, conformity, social perception, and social interaction. Especially four theories in social

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SECTION IIChapter 9

Chapter 9

The Acculturation Model and Language Teaching

Aylin S. Dewan Türüdü

Introduction

The aim of this chapter is to discuss a well-known acculturation model, namely that of Schumann (1978) from the field of sociolinguistics. As opposed to students’ learning English as a foreign language, learning the language as a second language provides many opportunities to interact with native speakers and experience the language in the context in which it is spoken. Depending on many factors such as the time spent in the target language culture or reasons for learning the language, learners learn and adapt to the target language culture at varying degrees. This process of learning and adapting is referred to as acculturation (Saville-Troike, 1996, p. 359). A number of acculturation theories have been put forward, but Schumann’s model is considered significant in that it was one of the first to link the psychology of acculturation specifically to the area of second language learning by drawing attention to the importance of social and psychological factors. In this chapter, following a brief definition and history of acculturation, a link is made to language teaching by providing some suggestions for teachers.

Acculturation theory

As a result of the increase in world-wide migration, there has been more interest in acculturation. Some refer to acculturation as “the cultural changes that arise following “contact” between individuals and groups of different backgrounds” (Sam, 2006, p. 11), whereas others define it as “the process an individual needs to go through in order to become adapted to a different culture” (Daniels, 2000, p.1). Acculturation theory is said to have originated in the ethnographic work of Linton (1960), who studied Native Americans integrating into the American society and identified the social distance separating the two groups, and the social and psychological changes needed to integrate into the target culture (Daniels, 2000, p. 2). Redfield, Linton and Herskovits (1936) defined acculturation as “those phenomena which result when groups of individuals having different cultures come into continuous first-hand contact, with subsequent changes in the original culture patterns of either or both groups” (as cited in Sam, 2006, p. 11).

In Schumann’s (1978) words, acculturation is “the social and psychological integration of the learner with the target language group”. He used the notion of adapting to a target language culture to explain the variations in people’s language learning levels. What he did was to put learners on a continuum ranging from social and psychological distance to social and psychological proximity with speakers of the target language, postulating that the extent to which learners acquire the second language is dependent on the degree that they acculturate. In his model, acculturation is regarded as the causal variable of second language acquisition, and

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SECTION III Anthropology and Sociology This part of the book brings together two separate branches of social sciences, namely anthropology and sociology, to demonstrate how language education builds upon theories originated from these disciplines to develop effective language learning and teaching practices. Although these disciplines are viewed as distinct, they share one important point which is that they are all studies of human beings, their way of life, and their socialization processes and strategies from different perspectives.

Anthropology, in the simplest sense, is the study of humans from a broad perspective ranging from evolution of human beings throughout their history to their cultural traits. Similarly, sociology emphasizes the societal level and works on a variety of aspects pertinent to societies, such as work and industry related attitudes, familial relationships, and social interaction patterns. Due to their broad range of study areas, both anthropology and sociology have provided researchers and practitioners from the field of language education with valuable insights to use and develop further to achieve success and satisfaction in language learning and teaching.

This section of the book comprises chapters based on three theories from fields of anthropology and sociology: Social Interactionism, Structural Functionalism and Context of Situation. Each chapter starts with an introduction of the theory in the field it was originated, continues with the relation between the theory and language education, and ends with a presentation of pedagogical implications and practical suggestions for classroom use.

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Chapter 10

Symbolic Interactionism and Language Teaching

Betil Eröz-Tuğa

Introduction

This chapter attempts to bring sociology and language education into the same discussion by comparing and relating the theory of Symbolic Interactionism to language teaching methods and language teacher education, specifically focusing on the field of English Language Teaching (ELT). Symbolic Interactionism will be explored by mainly referring to the works of George H. Mead, Herbert Blumer, and Erving Goffman. The theoretical and philosophical contributions of these scholars will be connected to theories of language learning, methodologies of language teaching, and language teacher preparation.

Symbolic Interactionism

Symbolic Interactionism is a sociological theory that focuses on the meaning making processes of individuals interacting in social life and the effects of those processes on their actions and understanding. Influenced by Darwin’s theory of evolution, Symbolic Interactionism was founded on the idea that individuals and their dynamic social environment have a reciprocal relationship. An individual’s interpretation of the world around him affects and constantly causes changes in his/her ideas while also determining his/her behavior in social life (Benzies & Allen, 2001, p. 542). Social Interactionists examine “the meanings emerging from the reciprocal interaction of individuals in social environment with other individuals and focus on the question of ‘which symbols and meanings emerge from the interaction between people?’” (Aksan, Kısac, Aydın & Demirbüken, 2009, p. 902.). The social and reciprocal aspects of this theory are highlighted in the following excerpt:

Symbolic interactionism views human beings as social beings. Individuals and society are inseparable with each being created through social interaction and understood in terms of the other. Behaviour is not determined solely by forces within human beings such as instincts or drives or by forces from the external environment, but rather by a reflective, socially derived interpretation of the internal and external stimuli that are present. (Meltzer et al. as cited in Burbank & Martins, 2009, p. 27)

Symbolic interactionists see human interaction as the main source of information about how people develop social interaction strategies, how they learn to resolve conflicts by cooperating with others, and how they maintain the flow of communication in daily conversations (Stryker, 2008). In this dynamic and continuous process, human beings decode the verbal and non-verbal

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Betil Eröz-Tuğa

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Betil Eröz-Tuğa

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This chapter attempts to bring sociology and language education into the same discussion by comparing and relating the theory of Symbolic Interactionism to language teaching methods and language teacher education, specifically focusing on the field of English Language Teaching. Symbolic Interactionism will be explored by mainly referring to the works of George H. Mead, Herbert Blumer, and Erving Goffman. The theoretical and philosophical contributions of these scholars will be connected to theories of language learning, methodologies of language teaching, and language teacher preparation

Symbolic Interactionism is a sociological theory that focuses on the meaning making processes of individuals interacting in social life and the effects of those processes on their actions and understanding. Influenced by Darwin’s theory of evolution, Symbolic Interactionism was founded on the idea that individuals and their dynamic social environment have a reciprocal relationship. An individual’s interpretation of the world around him affects and constantly causes changes in his/her ideas while also determining his/her behavior in social life (Benzies & Allen, 2001, p. 542). Social interactionists examine “the meanings emerging from the reciprocal interaction of individuals in social environment with other individuals and focus on the question of ‘which symbols and meanings emerge from the interaction between people?’” (Aksan, Kısac, Aydın & Demirbüken, 2009, p. 902.). The social and reciprocal aspects of this theory are highlighted in the following excerpt:


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Chapter 11

Structural Functionalism and Language Education

Mehmet Fatih Ürün

Introduction

The aim of this chapter is to present a brief discussion about the presumptive affinity between structural functionalism and language education through clarification of both fields of study with historical and methodological development, linking the theories by means of educational policies conducted all over the world, and providing pedagogical perspectives in language education.

Sociology and Education

Educational sociology is a new field of research within the field of sociology, and it meets on a common ground with many other subfields, such as religion, politics, economics, and culture. It aims at understanding the association between educational organizations and society by examining its building blocks at the micro and macro levels.

The relationship between sociology and education sets a good example of an interoperability; that is, education gives form to society while it is shaped by the society reciprocally. In this part, the issue under scrutiny is the impact of sociology on education under the title of 'educational sociology'. There is a growing tradition of research on educational sociology, and this affects the attitudes of people and the institutions towards education in a positive manner. Boocock (1980) reminds that education has started to acquire more resources, and that more people dedicate more time to schools in many countries (p. 3). For instance, the proportions of people who acquired advanced professional degrees have significantly increased all over the world as a result of the advancing fashion of education (Schaefer, 2012, p. 310) (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Current Higher Education Graduation Rates (BA/BS), Selected Countries (Schaefer, 2012, p. 309)

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Figure 1. Current Higher Education Graduation Rates (BA/BS), Selected Countries (Schaefer, 2012, p. 309)

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Figure 1. Current Higher Education Graduation Rates (BA/BS), Selected Coun2012, p. 309)

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Chapter 12

Context of Situation and ELT

Zeynep Aysan

Introduction

The context of situation theory is one of the key theories originally derived from the anthropological studies of Malinowski and has become central to discussions concerning the role of context in language learning in the area of ELT. The present chapter first introduces how the theory of context of situation was developed in anthropology, and then demonstrates how the theory became an interest in linguistic studies and how ELT builds upon knowledge from those anthropological and linguistic studies regarding the context of situation.

Malinowski and Context of situation

Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942), who is known as one of the founding fathers of anthropology and credited with the concept and method of ‘participant observer’ in qualitative studies, coined the term ‘context of situation’ as a result of his extended fieldwork on the Trobriand Islands. Although it was approximately a century ago, Malinowski’s ethnography on Trobriand Islands is still regarded as one of the most famous and important works in the area of anthropology. As stated by Leach (1957), a “whole generation of his followers were brought up to believe that social anthropology began in the Trobriand Islands in 1914” (p. 124).

Having obtained a doctoral degree in mathematics and physics, Malinowski started to show a deep interest in anthropology and went to London to work with C. G. Seligman, thanks to whom he was able to find funding to support his research in New Guinea (Young, 1979, p. 4). During the period of 1915-1918, Malinowski lived on the Trobriand Islands, which are off the eastern coast of New Guinea. As a result of his close contact with natives of the islands, he was able to depict the islanders’ lives successfully. He wrote about domestic, marital and ceremonial lives; sexual behaviors; religious beliefs; gardening activities; and linguistic characteristics of the Trobrianders. At the beginning of his ethnographic investigation, Malinowski learned the vernacular language and worked in the natives’ language during his stay on the islands (Young, 1979, p. 5). As Malinowski had already mentioned in an earlier work, Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922), he experienced great difficulty while translating texts especially regarding magical rituals of Trobrianders into English. In order to compensate for this semantic disparity between the texts in the Trobrianders’ native language and their English translations, he put forward the idea that it would be necessary to observe the people’s actions at the time they were uttering their sentences during magical activities, which is magical ‘context of situation’ (Langendoen, 1968, p. 16). As he also states in The Problem of Meaning in Primitive Languages (1956):

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SECTION IV Educational Philosophy Educational Philosophy or Philosophy of Education is a major field of enquiry which aims to shed light on the definition, meaning and goals of education in general. It involves investigating arguments, identifying and questioning assumptions, evaluating claims, and clarifying concepts related to concerns and issues in education. There are a variety of leading theories such as idealism, Hegelian, and Kantian traditions of education. On the one hand, Plato’s idealism considers education as a means to reach the ideal republic; on the other hand, John Dewey’s educational philosophy is associated with pragmatism and progressivism. However, it is acknowledged that (Enslin, 2010) none of the great thinkers or schools of thought has been able to propose a single grand theory addressing all the controversial issues in the field.

This chapter focuses on the critical (pedagogy) theory, one of the leading educational philosophy theories in the current post-structuralist era. Critical pedagogy theory will be further explored to discuss the implications for language teaching and second language teacher education.

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Chapter 13

Critical Pedagogy and Language Teaching

Mehmet Akkuş & Gözde Balıkçı

Introduction

In the 20th century, the paradigm shift in power relations in terms of political, economic and social entities brought about a radical change in the sphere of education. This chapter aims to bring together the critical (pedagogy) theory and foreign/ second language education, with a special focus on the reflections of critical theory in exclusively English Language Teaching (hereafter, ELT) and teacher education. Firstly, the advent of critical theory in the context of the Frankfurt School and the way Paulo Freire appropriated and re-constructed the theory as critical pedagogy in education are presented. Then, the development of the critical pedagogy by a variety of scholars from the United States such as Giroux, McLaren, and Kincheole is explored in order to gain a deeper understanding of the current implications for education in general. It is inevitable to find the influence of the critical pedagogy and theory in a field where the status of English is a matter of controversy as a language which is conceived to create inequalities among its speakers (Phillipson, 1992; Canaragajah, 1999). Finally, taking the influence of the critical pedagogy on ELT into account, practical suggestions for transformative teacher education are provided and the post-methodology concerning the implications of critical pedagogy is discussed.

Critical Theory

The term critical has been widely used in humanities: critical discourse analysis or critical language awareness in linguistics, critical pedagogy in education and critical ethnography as a qualitative research method. The common point that all these disciplines share is their ultimate goal which targets the empowerment of people and betterment of society. As Luke (2004) states, “what has counted as the critical in recent years has focused on how people use texts and discourses to construct and negotiate identity, power, and capital” (p.21). Critical theories acknowledge that the world around us is socially constructed and everything that human beings produce (e.g. language, culture, history, etc.) is subject to implicit or explicit relations of power. Critical theories attempt to disclose and explore these power relations and strongly suggest that people should take a stand against social inequality.

Origins: The Frankfurt School

The Frankfurt School was founded at the University of Frankfurt in 1923 when Fascism and Nazism were becoming prevalent in Germany. Horkheimer, Adorno, and Marcuse, who were the key members of the Frankfurt School, proposed a form of Marxist theory, known as Critical Theory. This theory changed the way of studying social theory, class, politics, culture, and ideology, suggesting that there was a need for new ways of understanding the society and