Home truths from abroad? : a TESOL blueprint for the mediation of L1/L2 language awareness

Abstract

The status of the cross-linguistic dimension of second language learning, and hence of L2 pedagogy, appears to have been systematically underplayed in epicentric, i.e. flowing from centre to periphery, theories of second language acquisition (SLA). Indeed, following the advent of cognitivism, mainstream SLA theory has frequently sought to marginalize anything suggestive of a contrastive paradigm. SLA conceptions of the nature of the influence of a learner’s first language on L2 acquisition and performance have tended to take the form of reductive dichotomies of the interference versus facilitative resource type – a mutually exclusive either/or interpretation. Consciously or otherwise, epicentric theories of L2 learning and pedagogy have filtered down to the language improvement and language awareness components of TESOL initial teacher education (ITE) and in-service education and training (INSET), where the focus is exclusively monolingual L2 and necessity all too often masquerades as principle. Against this backdrop, the present inquiry set out to evaluate the perceived benefits of an explicitly cross-linguistic (L1/L2) approach to language awareness on an L2 ITE program for pre-service trainees from the Japanese EFL context. Based on the evaluative response data from the non-native speaker (NNS) program participants, I invoke the notion of analytic generalization to argue that an explicit focus on selected cross-linguistic aspects of L2 learning, together with awareness-raising in respect of a range of context-specific ESOL-related issues has the potential to positively contribute both to trainees’ L2 development and to their development as pre-service TESOL professionals. The thesis further argues for a more holistic appreciation of the dynamic, complex nature of cross-linguistic influence viewed within a broader, context-specific conception of the L2 Teacher Language Awareness (L2 TLA) construct