Discourse Analysis and Spoken Language Instruction

Abstract

Several excellent articles and books have been written, based on discourse analyses of spoken language, which can infrom teachers (and teacher educators) about features and conventions that are unique to spoken English (Brown, et al. 1984, Brown and Yule 1983, Bygate 1987, Melrose 1989, Tannen 1989) or about differences between authentic, naturalistic discourse and that fount in textbooks (Cathcart 1989, Scotton and Bernstein 1988). These approaches, clearly, have applications and implications for language instruction. However, it is the intent of this paper to discuss the ways in which discourse analysis itself can be useful for language learners as a tool for speaking and listening instruction. Many of the techniques and activities described in this paper bring students into the role of active participant in their own language learning processes, requiring them to collect and produce their own language “data,” to analyze these materials, and to become conscious of the skills involved with language production.

Applying conversation analysis in applied linguistics: Evaluating dialogue in English as a second language textbooks

“…6 At advanced levels, learners might collect and transcribe the openings of telephone conversations between native and nonnative speakers of English for comparative purposes. This overall approach toward language "study" finds resonance with applied linguistic scholars who advocate using discourse analysis in the classroom, that is, viewing language learners as ethnographers or observers of language in use (Riggenbach 1991;Carter and McCarthy 1995). Given the nature of the tasks of recording and transcribing data, however, the suggested activities perhaps work best with college students and adults.…”

The Pronunciation Component in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

“…The modest number of pronunciation-focused papers of the 1970s was followed in the 1980s by a significant increase in both journal articles and teacher resource books, clearly a reflection of renewed interest in pronunciation teaching principles and practices. First of all, a number of insightful review articles were published in the eighties, including: Leather in Language Teaching (1983), with a thorough state-of-the-art article on second language pronunciation learning and teaching, one that raised pertinent issues that a rationale for L2 pronunciation teaching ought to address, then reviewed the status of each; Pennington and Richards (1986), in the TESOL Quarterly, with a careful reexamination of the status of pronunciation in language teaching and a call for a broader focus on pronunciation within the context of discourse in both second language acquisition (SLA) research and ESL teaching von Schon (1987) in the 25th-anniversary edition of the English Teaching Forum, with a close look at pronunciation in the international context of English as a foreign language (EFL), and an examination of the roles of English and the issue of what models should be taught; Grant (1988) in TESOL in Action, a Georgia TESOL publication, with a discussion of the problems and the possibilities for innovative pronunciation planning for the adult learner; Anderson-Hsieh (1989) in Cross Currents, with a succinct history of approaches toward teaching pronunciation with special reference to Japan, but with useful applicability to other EFL contexts; Yule (1989) and Riggenbach (1990) in Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (ARAL) with reviews of a number of aspects of teaching the spoken language, including pronunciation.…”

“…W. Dickerson (1989) makes the case for a natural ability for self-monitoring of language and the importance of activating it systematically in pronunciation teaching. Riggenbach (1990), in a section on self-monitoring of speaking activities, reviews a number of techniques for self-and peer analysis. 5.…”