Language Competence: Progression in upper secondary school Terje Lohndal

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1 Language Competence: Progression in upper secondary school Terje Lohndal Fagdag for engelsklærere i vgs., Gyldendal

2 Language Competence Central questions: What does our language competence consist of? How do we acquire this competence? What is the developmental path? What is the effect of explicit instruction? How do we make use of this competence, e.g., in oral and written communication? 2

3 The problem of language acquisition Input Output 3

4 Today s topic: Progression-Grammar Year 10 1 st Year University Upper secondary school 4

5 Outline Consider the curriculum Discuss expectations at the university level Conceptualizing progression Language learning and progression Discuss ways in which teaching grammar can be made more exciting for students (and teachers!) 5

6 After Year 10 (Curriculum) The aims of the studies are to enable pupils to use different situations, working methods and learning strategies to develop one s English-language skills comment on own work in learning English identify significant linguistic similarities and differences between English and one s native language and use this knowledge in one's own language learning select different digital resources and other aids and use them in an independent manner in own language learning 6

7 Textbooks (e.g., enter: Basic skills 8-10, Diskin et al.2015) Typically provide an overview of the main grammatical features of English, with some comparison towards Norwegian The main grammatical terminology is covered and is expected to be in place Students are expected to master an advanced metalanguage by the time they finish secondary school. 7

8 Our expectations at the university Expectations at the form level: Students know all the word classes, how to identify them and how to distinguish them The building blocks of the English verbal system, its components and labels (gerunds, future tense, present perfect, passive, etc.), concord Nouns, the difference between nouns and pronouns The difference between adjectives and adverbs 8

9 Our expectations (ii) Expectations at the function level: How to identify the basic functions in a sentence (subject, direct object, adverbial, predicative complement) Be able to distinguish form from function: A noun phrase is not necessarily a subject or vice versa! 9

10 University intro level Sound properties (phonemes, phones, phonological rules, syllable structure) Morphology (decomposition, morphemes, word classes, word formation, inflectional vs. derivational) Syntax (constituents, phrases, functions, syntactic structures, embedded sentences) Semantics and pragmatics (basic aspects of meaning, language use) Coherence, text composition 10

11 In an ideal world 1 st Year University Upper secondary school Year 10 11

12 The real world (sometimes?)? Year 10 Upper secondary school 1 st Year University 12

13 Progression The curriculum for English has undergone revisions already to strengthen the focus on progression. We see evidence of progression through Verbs used in the learning objectives The context of the learning objectives The quality of the learning outcome 13

14 Progression: Verbs Year 4 Year 7 Year 10 Vg1 SF / Vg2 YF Converse about describe comment on evaluate own work in learning English own work in learning English own work in learning English own progression in learning English 14

15 Progression: Context Year 4 Year 7 Year 10 Vg1 SF / Vg2 YF understand the main content of nursery rhymes, word games, songs, fairy tales and stories understand the main content of oral texts about familiar topics understand the main content and details of different types of oral texts on different topics understand and use a wide general vocabulary and an academic vocabulary related to his/her own education programme 15

16 Progression: Quality of outcomes Year 4 Year 7 Year 10 Vg1 SF / Vg2 YF use some polite expressions and simple phrases to obtain help in understanding and being understood express oneself to obtain help in understanding and being understood in different situations express oneself fluently and coherently, suited to the purpose and situation express oneself fluently and coherently in a detailed and precise manner suited to the purpose and situation 16

17 Year 7 and Year 10 The aims of the studies are to enable pupils to identify and use different situations and learning strategies to expand one`s English-language skills describe his/her own work in learning English identify some linguistic similarities and differences between English and one s native language use digital resources and other aids in one`s own language learning The aims of the studies are to enable pupils to use different situations, working methods and learning strategies to develop one s English-language skills comment on own work in learning English identify significant linguistic similarities and differences between English and one s native language and use this knowledge in one's own language learning select different digital resources and other aids and use them in an independent manner in own language learning

18 Vg1 general studies/vg2 vocational The aims of the studies are to enable pupils to evaluate and use different situations, working methods and learning strategies to further develop one s Englishlanguage skills evaluate own progress in learning English evaluate different digital resources and other aids critically and independently, and use them in own language learning 18

19 Vg2 International English Mål for opplæringen er at eleven skal kunne gjøre rede for grunnleggende trekk ved engelsk språkbruk og språkstruktur gjøre rede for grunnleggende prinsipper for oppbygning av tekster i ulike sjangrer analysere språklige virkemidler i ulike typer tekster gi eksempler på andre varianter av engelsk enn dem som brukes i det angloamerikanske kjerneområdet, og reflektere over deres særpreg gjøre rede for egne språklæringsstrategier og språklæringsmål Link between Vg1 and Vg2? 19

20 Vg3 Societal English Mål for opplæringen er at eleven skal kunne drøfte sammenhengen mellom form, innhold og stilnivå i setninger i samfunnsfaglige tekster analysere språklige virkemidler i tekster i ulike sjangrer og vurdere virkningen av dem vurdere egen språklæring i forhold til oppsatte språklæringsmål 20

21 Vg3 Literature and culture Mål for opplæringen er at eleven skal kunne drøfte sammenhengen mellom form, innhold og stilnivå i setninger og tekster beherske terminologi til å analysere skjønnlitteratur, film og andre estetiske uttrykksformer drøfte språklig særpreg ved tekster i ulike sjangrer fra ulike perioder og regioner vurdere egen språklæring i forhold til oppsatte språklæringsmål 21

22 Progression Vg2 à Vg3 gjøre rede for grunnleggende prinsipper for oppbygning av tekster i ulike sjangrer analysere språklige virkemidler i tekster i ulike sjangrer og vurdere virkningen av dem drøfte språklig særpreg ved tekster i ulike sjangrer fra ulike perioder og regioner METALINGUISTIC KNOWLEDGE! 22

23 Progression and the curriculum The curriculum is overall doing well when it comes to incorporating progression as an important factor Discrepancy between Vg1 and Vg2 (International E.) What about the way we teach English? Language learning itself, the development of grammar Employing language skills in composing and understanding texts (literacy). One example to illustrate the point: Marit Westergaard Unlearning V2. EUROSLA Yearbook 3: MRW-Eurosla03.pdf 23

24 Progression - language learning Do-support is difficult, also for native speakers! *Where sits the cat? *What gives Emma to Paul? Where does the cat sit? Where is the cat sitting? 24

25 Textbooks Westergaard (2003: 96): [S]entences with do-support are avoided in the teaching material until 7th grade, presumably because of the complexity of this construction. Questions with V2 are very frequent in the material. Therefore, one could argue that by being exposed to such limited input, the children are actually led to believe that English is like Norwegian (Westergaard 2003: 97). 25

26 Interim summary Progression is a natural aspect of the curriculum How is this actually achieved in textbooks and in the classroom? A crucial aspect involves the development of the student s own meta-perspectives on language learning and development. Progression of language learning needs to involve a sufficient amount of relevant input! How, then, can we convince students that learning a metalanguage for describing language is FUN?! 26

27 Grammar teaching Metalinguistic knowledge Students already know all aspects of grammar when it comes to their native language(s) They also know a lot about English as a a second (or n) language Q: How can we make use of their existing (but tacit) knowledge to teach them the relevant metalanguage? Hypothesis: An answer to Q will make grammar seem more fun and more exciting to students (and teachers!). 27

28 Away from memorization Jan Kristian Hognestad (2013, Norsklæreren): «paradigmegymnastikk: mekaniske puggeøvelser som ikke formidler noen forståelse av hva språk er, og som er dørgende kjedelige». Form before function! 28

29 Language mixing Det er place-en å hang-e out. The happy couple er out of town. Å, det er så freakings teit! Adda! Du hoppet ned fra taket. Jeg spaca ut during den første sessionen. Aftenposten

30 Not new American Norwegian Så playde dom gamer. Så happ[e]n-a de så at e kåm inn på office-en te stats kasserar-en då officen sin great aunty mi (Haugen 1953)

31 Spoken Corpus of American Norwegian Men jeg still f- # fant folk who hadde # hørt of him (decorah_ia_01gm) og så gikk han på # husparty og danser da veit du så hadde han en stor # overcoat med lommer i den # så hadde han den full med halvpinter (westby_wi_01gm) og så er det et company i # Minneapolis som sendte meg stuff og så # (westby_wi_01gm) Verbformer: catcha, watcha, walkte, shute, spende, visita 31

32 Multiethnolects Suna: Egentlig jeg synes det er bra på en måte Olav: Etterpå jeg skal ta alle de brus Kine: [skal de være norske] de må ha brune øyne og brunt hår (Opsahl 2009: 117) All three are teenagers born and raises in Oslo, the latter two by parents born in Norway. 32

33 More examples Aysha: [Uansett hva hun sier] jeg forstår det. Samir: [Hvis man er på skolen] man skal lære. Mike: Plutselig jeg spiller. Anders: Nå de får betale. Suna: Egentlig jeg synes det er bra på en måte. Anders: [Når vi spiser] vi spiser med fingra. Lukas: I dag hun lagde somalisk mat. (Opsahl 2009) 33

34 Implicit knowledge Petter liker is og brus Hva liker Petter? Is og brus liker Petter. Hva liker Petter is og? Hva liker Petter og brus? The teaching of grammar should take the implicit knowledge of the student as the point of departure 34

35 Suggestions Nouns vs. verbs Mari kicka ballen. Verbs are not adjectives *Mari sparket den kicka ballen Verbal inflection: *Jeg saved dokumentet. Jeg savet/sava dokumentet. Even those of us who are not balanced bilinguals from birth, have intuitions about these phenomena! 35

36 Suggestions (ii) Multiethnolectal varieties and other second/n language varieties can be used for many purposes: Discussion of language variation and registers Structural differences between the languages Discuss why immigrants learning English (or Norwegian) make certain errors and thereby raise awareness and understanding of their grammar and speech. 36

37 Summary The curriculum for English already incorporates progression. Does the teaching itself and the teaching material make sufficient use of research on language development? The teaching of grammar and metalinguistic knowledge ought to focus on the student s tacit knowledge and based on examples from their own speech. 37