The Effects of a Combined Output and Input-Oriented Approach in Teaching Reported Speech

The participants of the study are 74 first year students of the English philology who were divided into four groups: 3 treatment groups and a control one. The study results do not mirror those reported in the vast majority of relevant literature and points that although input manipulation appears to have more beneficial effect on the development of the interlanguage than the analysis of output, a combination of the two approaches turns out to be the most beneficial and economical

Dynamics of classroom WTC: Results of a semester study

The fact that L2 willingness to communicate (WTC) can fluctuate over different time scales is no longer disputed as numerous studies have proved a dynamic rather than trait-like character of the concept (cf. MacIntyre & Legatto, 2011; MacIntyre, Burns, & Jessome, 2011; Mystkowska-Wiertelak & Pawlak, 2014). The changes in the intensity of L2 learners’ readiness to engage in communication in the classroom context have been investigated in a number of studies attempting also to establish factors capable of stimulating or hindering WTC (e.g., Cao & Philip, 2006; Pawlak & Mystkowska-Wiertelak, 2015; Peng, 2014). Many of empirical explorations of L2 learners’ WTC, although representing the ecological perspective, provide solely a snapshot of classroom reality, thus generating a question if such one-at-a-time picture frame can sufficiently accommodate diverse factors that impinge on learners’ readiness to engage in communication. The application of a longitudinal design was thus dictated by the author’s intention to gather information on WTC ebbs and flows not only during single lessons but also continuing over a number of lessons conducted throughout a semester of study, which allowed for exploring a wider spectrum of conditions that affect WTC of advanced learners of English attending speaking classes. Detailed lesson plans, interview and questionnaire data were used to interpret WTC fluctuations reported by the participants at 5-min intervals in the course of 7 lessons. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data revealed that the intensity of communicative behaviour depends on an intricate interplay of personal and group-related factors, with a special role ascribed to the instructor whose knowledge of the group characteristics and needs coupled with didactic skills can greatly contribute to increasing WTC in the classroom

Testing the use of grammar: Beyond grammatical accuracy

Udostępnienie publikacji Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego finansowane w ramach projektu „Doskonałość naukowa kluczem do doskonałości kształcenia”. Projekt realizowany jest ze środków Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego w ramach Programu Operacyjnego Wiedza Edukacja Rozwój; nr umowy: POWER.03.05.00-00-Z092/17-00

Fluctuations in Learners’ Willingness to Communicate During Communicative Task Performance: Conditions and Tendencies

A person’s willingness to communicate (WTC), believed to stem from a combination of proximal and distal variables comprising psychological, linguistic, educational and communicative dimensions of language, appears to be a significant predictor of success in language learning. The ability to communicate is both a means and end of language education, since, on the one hand, being able to express the intended meanings in the target language is generally perceived as the main purpose of any language course and, on the other, linguistic development proceeds in the course of language use. However, MacIntyre (2007, p. 564) observes that some learners, despite extensive study, may never become successful L2 speakers. The inability or unwillingness to sustain contacts with more competent language users may influence the way learners are evaluated in various social contexts. Establishing social networks as a result of frequent communication with target language users is believed to foster linguistic development. WTC, initially considered a stable personality trait and then a result of context-dependent influences, has recently been viewed as a dynamic phenomenon changing its intensity within one communicative event (MacIntyre and Legatto, 2011; MacIntyre et al., 2011). The study whose results are reported here attempts to tap into factors that shape one’s willingness to speak during a communicative task. The measures employed to collect the data - selfratings and surveys - allow looking at the issue from a number of perspectives

INVESTIGATING ADVANCED LEARNERS’ USE OF AFFECTIVE STRATEGIES FOR DEALING WITH TEST ANXI-ETY

Language anxiety has been researched for many decades now and its significance for attainment cannot be questioned. In numerous research accounts anxiety related to learning a foreign/second language comes in different guises, as speaking anxiety, or communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, and finally, test anxiety. In fact, developing linguistic competence in the formal setting is inherently fraught with the need to have one’s skill and knowledge verified in the form of informal and formal, low- or high-stakes tests and examinations. Alleviating the negative consequences of anxiety seems imperative for effective learning, which in the opinion of the present author, will not be possible without gaining a deeper insight into the ways in which learners deal with negative feelings evoked by language study or use. Hence, an attempt has been made to explore the range of strategies employed by a specific group of learners – English majors in their final year of study – to cope with a stressful situation such as a regularly-scheduled achievement test in one of the components of the practical English course. What distinguishes this group of learners is their level of proficiency, which is C1 or nearing C2, but most importantly of all, their long-term experience of dealing with stress that has extended throughout formal education including the duration of MA studies in English Philology. Data collected by means of immediate reports and questionnaires revealed that the participants employed quite a limited scope of stress-reducing strategies and that there were characteristic trends, the analysis of which could serve as a point of departure for offering effective strategy instruction capable of relieving the consequences of negative affective states

Rola produkcji i recepcji w nauczaniu gramatyki

Wydział Neofilologii: Instytut Filologii AngielskiejThe main aim of the present work has been to explore the effectiveness of two pedagogical options, reception- and production-oriented, in the teaching of grammatical forms in the Polish educational context. The preliminary theoretical considerations included in Chapter One provided a relevant background against which both non-interventionist as well as interventionist positions in language teaching were presented in Chapter Two. In Chapter Three the focus of attention was shifted to Input Processing Theory, one of the theoretical frameworks emphasizing the beneficial effects of input-based instruction. The presentation and discussion of the theoretical, empirical and pedagogical arguments for the facilitative effects of reception-oriented intervention in the form of processing instruction and interpretation tasks served as an introduction to the two empirical chapters which provided an account and discussion of the findings of four quasi-experimental studies. Although the absolute predominance of any of the approaches was not established in the course of experimentation, a number of observations were made as to the differential effects of the treatments on the development of the learners’ control over various grammatical structures.Głównym celem niniejszej pracy było zbadanie efektywności zastosowania dwóch podejść do nauczania gramatyki w polskim kontekście edukacyjnym. Pierwsze podejście przykłada szczególną wagę do produkcji formy językowej, a drugie koncentruje się na jej recepcji. Wstępne rozważania teoretyczne, zawarte w Rozdziale 1 stanowią istotne wprowadzenie do omówienia poglądów dotyczących celowości interwencji pedagogicznej w nauczaniu języka obcego przedstawionych w Rozdziale 2. W Rozdziale 3 zawarto szczegółowy opis podstaw teoretycznych oraz badań empirycznych dotyczących Teorii Przetwarzania Danych Językowych, podejścia podkreślającego szczególną rolę recepcji w nauce języka obcego. Kolejne dwa rozdziały zawierają opis i analizę wyników otrzymanych w wyniku przeprowadzenia czterech eksperymentów. Chociaż w toku badań nie udało się wykazać ponad wszelką wątpliwość przewagi któregokolwiek podejścia do nauczania gramatyki, poczyniono wiele spostrzeżeń dotyczących wpływu typu instrukcji na opanowanie form gramatycznych. Dostrzeżono rolę czynników indywidualnych, które wydają się odgrywać często większą rolę niż rodzaj interwencji pedagogicznej

Teaching grammar in second language classrooms: Integrating form-focused instruction in communicative context (ESL & Applied Linguistics Professional Series), Hossein Nassaji and Sandra Fotos, Publisher: Routlege, ISBN: 978-0-415-80205-5, Pages: 167.

Book revie

Book review

Teaching grammar in second language classrooms: Integrating form-focused instruction in communicative context (ESL&Applied Linguistics Professional Serie