Thus the traditional sequence of the language lesson usually referred to as “PPP” Present- Practice- Produce is motivated by a textbook progression that may result in a sort of inert kno
Trang 1Engaging EFL Learners in Meaningful Communication
Sri Suprapti
English Departmen, Faculty of Letters and Arts
Semarang State University
This paper attempts to suggest a way to engage EFL learners in meaningful communication by encouraging them to communicate their personally-felt opinions about a given issue presented in a speaking course It has long been known that textbooks produced by major English- speaking countries mostly present EFL materials that depict western lifestyle, habit and custom which are very much different from their real lives (Bariboon, 2007) The textbooks typically present materials in the form of model dialogues followed by exercises in the form of (mini) role-plays in which EFL learners are assumed to have various projected identities with situations completely unfamiliar to them Learners are people with their own lives, aspirations, needs, worries, dreams and identities This means, as van Lier (2007) suggests that they must have something to say that is true to the self to each other and
to the teacher in class that goes beyond what are offered by a textbook that lies open
on the same page at the same time on every desk Thus the traditional sequence of the language lesson usually referred to as “PPP” (Present- Practice- Produce) is motivated
by a textbook progression that may result in a sort of inert knowledge that cannot be displayed productively in real life situations To overcome this problem, EFL teachers
can employ meaning-focused output activities in their classroom to facilitate
learner-oriented discursive construction and meaningful communication
Keywords: EFL materials, projected identities, meaning-focused output activities,
discursive construction
Background
Applied linguists and researchers have pointed out that EFL materials found in textbooks produced by major English-speaking countries have created identity
mismatches resulting in negative impacts in the form of “resistance” caused by lack
of interest and motivation in learning or “unspeakability” caused by lack of understanding of the projected identities and situations (Boriboon, 2008: 117-118) Kramsch (1999), as cited by Boriboon, is of the opinion that “learners are people with their own lives, aspirations, needs, worries, dreams and identities so that they need to be listened and respected as speakers in their own right.” Unfortunately, in EFL speaking courses, the traditional teaching practice mostly sticks to a textbook
progression in the form of present- practice- produce (PPP) that does not provide
learners with opportunities to create meaningful communication in their discursive construction in which they can speak using their own identities to share their lived experience and express their personally-felt opinions A textbook by Tillit and Bruder
Trang 2Speaking Naturally which is used in EFL speaking course at the English Department
of UNNES clearly reveals such a practice in which dialogues are presented to be practiced followed by production exercises that project learners in situations unfamiliar to them like babysitting, playing golf, throwing a cocktail party, talking about good parenting, to name a few, in which they are supposed to bear made up identities like a university professor, a medical doctor, a successful executive of a large company, a parent of a collage teenager that can put learners in a situation where they find difficulties in materializing the assumed situations and identities
Although imitation and mimicry are essential elements in learning a second language, Bakhtin (1981) and Rugoff (1996), as cited by van Lier (2007:47), suggest that learners must be given opportunities to appropriate new sounds and meanings and
make them his or her own In doing so, an EFL teacher can make use of authentic
materials in meaning-focused output activities The meaning-focused output strand involves learning through speaking and writing – using language productively (Nation, 2007:4) It can be employed if certain conditions are present:
The learners write and talk about things that are largely familiar to them
Their main goal is to convey their message to someone else
Only a small proportion of the language they need to use is not familiar to them
The learners can use communication strategies, dictionaries or previous input
to make up the gaps in their productive knowledge
There are plenty of opportunities to speak and write
This paper attempts to present an example of how to use an authentic material that can provide EFL learners with opportunities to embark on meaningful discursive constructions in which they share their own views about something familiar to them
so that they can create meaningful communication that may contribute to successful target language acquisition
A creative use of a piece of literary work in meaning-focused output activities
The teaching of productive skills is closely bound up with receptive skill work The two feed off each other in a number of ways When learners produce a piece of language and see how it turns out, that information is fed back into the acquisition process Output becomes input
Learners can become very frustrated when they are engaged in a communication encounter while they simply do not know what to say or write due to lack of the words and grammar they need to express themselves Moreover if they are not interested in a given topic we ask them to write or speak about, it is very likely that they will not work on it with the same zeal as they will when they are excited by a topic of great interest to them To overcome this, Harmer (2003, 252-3) offers some ways summarized as follows:
Trang 3 Supply key language: before assigning learners to take part in a spoken or
written activity, the teacher may check their knowledge or key vocabulary, and help them with phrases or questions that will be helpful for the task
Plan activities in advance: because of the time-lag between the learners
meeting new language and their ability to use it fluently, the teacher needs to plan production activities that will provoke the use of language which they have had a chance to absorb it at an earlier stage
Choose interesting topics by finding out what their favorite topics are
through interviews and questionnaires – or by using our common sense
Create interest in the topics by talking about the topic and communicating
enthusiasm We can provide them with time to prepare what they might say or write and give them opportunities to come up with opinions about the topic
Activate schemata by providing supporting information needed to help learners get engaged in the activities with enthusiasm
This paper describes the use of a poem entitled “Life” by Mother Teresa presented
below:
Life is a challenge, meet it
Life is a duty, complete it
Life is a game, play it
Life is costly, care for it
Life is wealth, keep it
Life is mystery, know it
Life is love, enjoy it
Life is a promise, fulfill it
Life is sorrow, overcome it
Life is a song, sing it
Life is a struggle, accept it
Life is a tragedy, confront it
Life is an opportunity, benefit from it
Life is beauty, admire it
Life is bliss, taste it
Life is dream, realize it
Trang 4Life is an adventure, dare it
Life is luck, make it
Life is too precious, do not destroy it
Life is life, fight for it
(Taken from: Forum, vol 41, No.3 July 2003)
After the necessary routines like greeting the class and check their attendance, the teacher (T) can begin the lesson by telling the students (Ss) that they are going to learn about life as seen by a very well-known philanthropist, Mother Teresa who once won a Nobel Prize for international peace T tells Ss that later they are supposed to share their own view about life based on the poem
Suggested teaching-learning activities
First, T can read the poem aloud for the students (Ss) and ask them to listen carefully
After that distribute a copy of the poem to Ss and ask them to learn it by heart
T checks whether Ss come across some unfamiliar vocabulary items in the
poem (e.g costly, bliss) and discuss them by providing illustrations to help SS
arrive at the meaning by intelligent guessing without looking up the meaning using their dictionary
T conducts teacher-guided classical talk by asking questions dealing with Ss‟s
background knowledge about Mother Teresa Below is a list of questions,
which is by no means exhaustive:
1 What do you know about Mother Teresa?
2 What was her nationality?
3 When did she win the Nobel Prize for international peace?
4 Why was she awarded the prize?
5 How old was she when she left her country and went to India?
6 In what city in India did she devote the rest of her life to the sick and homeless people of India?
7 How long had she dedicated her life for them before she passed away?
Trang 58 When did she pass away and where was she buried?
T, then, leads Ss to get engaged in appreciation task that deals with the
psychological and aesthetic impact of the poem as well the writer‟s biography This activity is aimed at exploring Ss‟s personal impression and their emotional response to both the message of the poem and the life of Mother Teresa Listed below are questions that can be used to explore this aspect:
1 If you are to say something about Mother Teresa what would that be?
2 What do you admire most in her?
3 Do you think she lived a happy life? Why?
4 If life is challenge, how can we meet it?
5 If life is a game, how should we play it?
6 Why is life costly?
7 What causes sorrow in life?
8 How can we overcome sorrow?
9 When is life a tragedy?
10 What are we supposed to do when faced with tragedy?
11 In what things can you see beauty in life?
12 What will you do to realize your dreams?
13 In what sense is life an adventure?
14 Do you agree that life is too precious? Give reasons
15 From the poem what can you learn about Mother Teresa concerning her view about life?
16 If you are to choose between wealth and love, which one do you treasure more? Why?
17 Do you think Mother Teresa wrote the poem based on her own „lived
experience’ or not? Can you provide some proofs?
Next, T asks Ss to choose their favorite line from the poem and write down their elaborated personal opinion about it to be presented orally in class later
They may work individually or preferably in pairs or groups of three
depending on the number of Ss Working in pairs or groups provides Ss with
Trang 6opportunities to practice their communicative skills in socially acceptable ways Pairs or groups consist of Ss having the same favorite line of the poem This activity can be assigned as homework
Then comes the time for Ss to present their personal opinion orally in class This activity provides student-student interaction in which they take turns presenting and sharing their personal view about life while the rest serves as the audience who are supposed to ask questions, support or argue with the speaker The allotted time for the presentation is between 2 to 3 minutes
Integrating Language Skills
T may then assign Ss one of the following projects or ask them to choose a project
to complete individually or in groups of three or four
Make posters that illustrate their favorite line of the poem
Read one book containing a biography of a well-known public figure and prepare a written report about what you think admirable and inspiring about the person
Use the Internet or library resources to find more information about Mother Teresa Write a report for classroom oral presentation
Discussion
The assigned talk shares the features of talk as interaction and talk as performance
(Richards, 2008: 22, 27-28) It can be classified as talk as interaction since it reflects
speaker‟s own voice in which each learner expresses their own feelings and opinions
about a given topic It falls within the category of talk as performance in the sense
that it is in the form of monolog (classroom presentations), and is closer to written language than conversational language
In the assignment in which Ss are to work collaboratively in making a poster that
illustrates their favorite line of the poem, they are engaged in talk as transaction
where the language used is associated with other activities (language accompanying
action) The main features of talk as transaction are: (1) it has a primarily information
focus, (2) the main focus in on the message and not the participants, (3) participants employ communication strategies to make themselves understood, (4) there may be negotiation and digression, and (5) linguistic accuracy is not always important (Richards, 2008: 28)
The choice of the poem is not without a hidden agenda Late teenage learners need
to begin thinking reflectively and seriously about life they have to live The message
of the poem is clear As long as we live we should have proper, positive attitude and response to life in order to survive, prosper and flourish The moral teaching of the poem speaks vividly that we must live our life with passion, with undefeatable fighting spirit when faced with sorrow and tragedy
Trang 7Concerning the group work and the writing activity, we can refer to Little (2007) who claims that the key to successful implementation of the principle of the target language use lies in the effective use of group work and the appropriate use of writing Group work is essential because it is only by working in small groups that learners can engage in intensive use of the target language Harmer (2003: 117) points out that group work promotes learners autonomy that allows them to make their own decisions in group without being told what to do by the teacher Group work also encourages broader skills of cooperation and negotiation which is lacking when each
of them works individually This dialogic dynamic is characteristic not only of naturalistic language acquisition but also of exploratory, interpretative techniques that characterize constructivist pedagogy Vygotsky‟s notion of a zone of proximal development (ZPD) captures essential features of both situations Vygotsky defined ZPD as:
The distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peer (Johnson, 2004:105-110)
The definition assumes that learning is the result of doing, acknowledges the role
of expertise in guiding the learning process and identifies autonomy in the sense of being able to do things for oneself (independent problem solving) By applying collaborative principles, it can be assumed that language produced interactively will gradually become part of the individual learner‟s internalized mental resources Writing can be used to produce various kinds of written texts as the output of group projects Moreover, what is written down can be used to support speaking – at the same time speaking helps to generate what is written down The use of writing facilitates focus on linguistic form: as has been observed, there is an important sense
in which literacy is metalinguistic activity
As a follow-up activity, based on their favorite line of the poem, groups are asked
to create illustration in the form of drawings that can be posted on the wall magazine
Concluding Remarks
What has just been presented above can be used as a variety in teaching spoken
communication that must not invariably follow what is presented in a textbook I have found out in my own speaking class last year that my students got very excited
in the whole activities and saw the topic about life meaningful to them as they could gain a more comprehensive insight about it and acquired a much more positive
attitude towards the life they have to live
Trang 8References
Bariboon, Phaisit 2008 Learners‟ Discursive Voices in Role Play, Dialogic Means of Meaning Construction and Their Implications for Innovative Pedagogies
Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 2/2, 117-136
Ceban, Galina 2003 Passion for Life! English Teaching Forum, 41/3, 46
Harmer, Jeremy 2003 The Practice of English Language Teaching.(3rd ed.) Essex: Pearson Education Limited
Johnson, Marysia 2004 A Philosophy of Second Language Acquisition New Haven:
Yale University Press
Little, David 2007 Language Learner Autonomy: Some Fundamental Considerations
Revisited Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 1/1, 14-28
Nation, Paul 2007 The Four Stands Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching,
1/1, 2-13
Richards, Jack C 2008 Teaching Listening and Speaking Singapore: Cambridge
University Press
Tillit, Bruce, Bruder M.N 1985 Speaking Naturally: Communication Skills in
American English New York: Cambridge University Press
Van Lier, Leo 2007 Action-based Teaching, Autonomy and Identity Innovation in
Language Learning and Teaching, 1/1, 46-63