Context and Contextualized Language Practice in Foreign Language Teaching

Walz, Joel

doi:10.2307/326571

Cited by 15 publications

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“…At the most basic level, grammar textbooks need to link sentences to each other through a common meaningful theme (Hadley Omaggio, 1993;Walz, 1989). Although this does not guarantee that the task is communicative, it is a necessary first step as it provides some sense of reality for the students (Walz).…”

Section: Issues In Grammar Textbooksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…tion, for in authentic conversations there is rarely only one acceptable response in any situation (Chastain, 1987;Walz). Textbooks must, therefore, strive to reach the highest level of contextualization that forces students to make choices between alternatives.…”

Section: Issues In Grammar Textbooksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Issues In Grammar Textbooksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although this deepens the contextualization, it "does not necessarily force the learner to make choices as true communication does" (Walz, p. 161). These choices, however, are the backbone of true communica-tion, for in authentic conversations there is rarely only one acceptable response in any situation (Chastain, 1987;Walz). Textbooks must, therefore, strive to reach the highest level of contextualization that forces students to make choices between alternatives.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…This is important because, as Brown (1994) points out, language is not spoken at the sentence level, but at the discourse level where meanings are taken from "referents in both previous sentences and following sentences" (p. 235) and not from individual sentences in isolation. This contextualization has many levels, and as the levels increase, so does the communicative purpose (Chastain, 1987;Hadley Omaggio, 1993;Walz, 1989).At the most basic level, grammar textbooks need to link sentences to each other through a common meaningful theme (Hadley Omaggio, 1993;Walz, 1989). Although this does not guarantee that the task is communicative, it is a necessary first step as it provides some sense of reality for the students (Walz).…”

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Form-Focused Instruction in Communicative Language Teaching: Implications for Grammar Textbooks

Millard¹

2000

TESL

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This article examines a number of adult ESL grammar textbooks via an authordesigned checklist to analyze how well they incorporate the findings from research in communicative language teaching (CLT) and in form1ocused instruction (FFI). It concludes that although afew textbooks incorporate some of the research findings in CLT and FFI, they are not necessarily those chosen by the teaching institutions. The Need for New GrammarIt has long been accepted by practitioners and academics alike that communicative language teaching (CLT) is the preferred way ESL should be taught (Savignon, 1991). Research in several CLT programs has, however, continually uncovered serious limitations in the exclusive CLT model. Studies done in the 1980s and 1990s showed that French immersion in Canada, one of the best examples of true CLT as it exists today (Krashen, 1985), consistently produced students who did not develop native-like abilities in written or oral production or sociolinguistic skills even after six or seven years of instruction (Genesse, 1987;Harley, 1991;Harley & Swain, 1984;Lapkin, Swain, & Cummins, 1983;Lyster, 1994;Swain, 1985;Swain & Lapkin, 1982). Similarly, research in CLT-based intensive ESL programs in Quebec (Spada & Lightbown, 1989) and New Brunswick (Lightbown, 1992) has also found that although the fluency of students in the CLT programs differs significantly from that of their counterparts in more traditional programs, there is often a lack of grammatical accuracy (Lightbown, 1991(Lightbown, , 1992Lightbown & Spada, 1990). These findings suggest that some form of grammatical instruction needs to be included in CLT programs.This grammatical instruction, known as form-focused instruction 1 (FFI), was originally designed to be instruction "that overtly draws students' attention to linguistic elements as they arise incidentally in lessons whose overriding focus is on meaning or communication" (Long, 1991, pp. 45-46). Recently, however, some researchers have questioned this exclusively reactive approach to FFI and have suggested that more isolated proactive teaching is necessary for some students to learn some forms (see Spada, 1997 for a review). Further, the issue of how explicit the FFI needs to be to have learners notice the gap between their language production and that of native speakers TESL CANADA JOURNAUREVUE TESL DU CANADA VOL. 18, NO.1, WINTER 2000 47 is largely unclear (Schmidt, 1990). Research does suggest, however, that explicit teaching and/or feedback may be required to learn many, but not all, aspects of a second language (Spada, 1997). Regardless of which approach is favored, it is clear that the grammar teaching must not be done in isolation, but should be incorporated into CLT. This is necessary as research into both CLT and FFI suggests that learners need both communication to obtain high levels of fluency and form-oriented instruction to reduce errors (Long, 1990(Long, , 1991Savignon;Spada, 1997). Issues in Grammar TextbooksTraditionally, authors and textbook publishers have designed ESL gr...

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Section: Issues In Grammar Textbooksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Issues In Grammar Textbooksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Issues In Grammar Textbooksmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Form-Focused Instruction in Communicative Language Teaching: Implications for Grammar Textbooks

Millard¹

2000

TESL

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Practice Is Important but How About Its Quality?

Sato

McDonough²

2019

Stud Second Lang Acquis

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This study explored the impact of contextualized practice on second language (L2) learners’ production of wh-questions in the L2 classroom. It examined the quality of practice (correct vs. incorrect production) and the contribution of declarative knowledge to proceduralization. Thirty-four university-level English as a foreign language learners first completed a declarative knowledge test. Then, they engaged in various communicative activities over five weeks. Their production of wh-questions was coded for accuracy (absence of errors) and fluency (speech rate, mean length of pauses, and repair phenomena). Improvement was measured as the difference between the first and last practice sessions. The results showed that accuracy, speech rate, and pauses improved but with distinct patterns. Regression models showed that declarative knowledge did not predict accuracy or fluency; however, declarative knowledge assisted the learners to engage in targetlike behaviors at the initial stage of proceduralization. Furthermore, whereas production of accurate wh-questions predicted accuracy improvement, it had no impact on fluency.

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When Grammar Instruction Undermines Cohesion in L2 Spanish Classroom Discourse

Toth

2004

The Modern Language Journal

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This article compares ordinary conversational topics and targeted second language (L2) forms for their effectiveness in building and maintaining classroom discourse cohesion. In this study, 16 learners participated in 2 lessons, 1 with teacher turns determined by a grammatical object of instruction, and the other with turns determined by conversation topics. Based on research by Sperber and Wilson (1995) and Vuchinich (1977), extended latency gaps and remedy sequences in learner turns were taken as evidence of poor cohesion. Both lessons were videotaped, transcribed, and coded. Of the 16 learners, 5 volunteers viewed the videotapes and offered written explanations for their extended latencies. Longer latencies and more frequent remedy sequences occurred during the grammatically-determined discourse, with volunteers likewise indicating greater difficulty understanding the instructor, than during the conversational lesson. It is argued that for grammar instruction to work effectively, a focus on form must be transparent as the instructional objective, and targeted L2 forms must themselves be properly treated as discourse topics.THE ISSUE OF HOW BEST TO FACILITATE the acquisition of second language (L2) grammar in classroom instruction has been extensively treated in the theoretical and pedagogical literature, but has yet to be conclusively resolved (cf.

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Context and Contextualized Language Practice in Foreign Language Teaching

Cited by 15 publications

References 0 publications

Form-Focused Instruction in Communicative Language Teaching: Implications for Grammar Textbooks

Form-Focused Instruction in Communicative Language Teaching: Implications for Grammar Textbooks

Practice Is Important but How About Its Quality?

When Grammar Instruction Undermines Cohesion in L2 Spanish Classroom Discourse

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